Leicester City and our 'financial situation'

[Guest Col city fan]

I thought I'd start this thread for two reasons:

The Jan transfer window is upon us

We currently sit bottom

When we got promoted to the Prem League after ten long years out, I thought the Thais would probably spend some serious money to enable us to make a real fist of remaining in the top flight. As it was, we signed Ulloa for a sizeable sum and I personally think this is still money pretty well spent. But that was about it. We increased in terms of squad size, but refrained from spending much more.

There were rumours that we 'tried' to sign more but, for a multitude of reasons (or so it was discussed), we didn't obtain further signatures.

This makes me wonder about a few things:

1. Are the Thais very wealthy? I believe they are so that signing players for big money wouldn't be a major issue for them?

2. Was one of the stumbling blocks to signing players, their wage demands? And again, if so, why would this neccessarily be a big concern for the Thais

3. What would happen in Jan? Would we look to sign big?

Well where are things at, ladies and gents? Are we a wealthy club? Should we now push the boat out and really spend big on players that would be willing to join us if we do so? Or will we/should we rely on loan signings rather than on permanents?

What can we do or will we now do?

Opinions please......

[The Doctor]

IIRC A recent Forbes list had them as billionaires, they've got plenty of money - at a guess they're trying to build a sustainable club that won't cost the earth but is up high enough to advertise their brand...

[Babylon]

As they keep saying they want the club to be sustainable. The way they ran the club for a year or two before promotion showed they also took FFP seriously... Or it least didn't have the appetite to pump money in over and over. They also learnt lessons that pumping money in doesn't guarantee success.

[Charl91]

As they keep saying they want the club to be sustainable. The way they ran the club for a year or two before promotion showed they also took FFP seriously... Or it least didn't have the appetite to pump money in over and over. They also learnt lessons that pumping money in doesn't guarantee success.

 

This.

 

I imagine the Thais trust Pearson to get value for money. I personally think that pumping stupid money into the club is a terrible idea. I'd rather we continue our policy of looking for bargains, albeit at a slightly higher quality/price then we were looking for in the championship. I trust our scouting team enough to do this, and I think they've done a relatively good job so far.

 

For example, I think Ulloa was a shrewd buy. I think that's the kind of signing we should be looking for. I don't want us spending 30 million trying to buy Lee Cattermole.

 

I don't think we're quite as bad as our league position shows, I just think it's a combination of needing a few more quality signings, and Pearson not being great at motivating a team out of a poor run of form.

[DB11]

Maybe the stumbling block was a certain Terry Robinson

[Sir Fynwy]

As they keep saying they want the club to be sustainable. The way they ran the club for a year or two before promotion showed they also took FFP seriously... Or it least didn't have the appetite to pump money in over and over. They also learnt lessons that pumping money in doesn't guarantee success.

I've heard from a decent source that city have been asked to pay an FFP fine in seven figures so I'm not so sure that the club really understood the FFP rules

[Guest Sharpe's Fox]

I like the way we are doing things, got the core of a good young squad on four year contracts with a smattering of quality around we could get back money on. If we go down its not like we lose half our first XI like Cardiff or Norwich if we want to keep them.

We have a good a chance as anyone to stay up atm without going overboard.

[Guest seanfox778]

I may have imagined it but I'm sure I remember reading on here once that they are in the top 5 richest people in Thailand.

[Raj]

My main aim(apart from staying up obv) is to ensure we do not put ourselves in financial jeapordy.

I feel we should have bought some class players in Summer as soon as we were promoted but now thats over and the Jan window is uponus,is it all to late now anyway?

We all knowits hard enough in the Jan window,but to get decent players in when your bottom anyway,that makes it twice as hard surely?

Im not too excited about Defoe,ideally i want young hungry players rather than those who've only played a handful of games in some mickey mouse league.

We all laughed at QPR and their signings last time-lets not make the same mistake,but lets also not go out without a fight.

Albeit a larger than normal LCFC fee or SLIGHTLY over the normal LCFC wages so be it-ASLONG as its the right sort of player...

[Babylon]

I've heard from a decent source that city have been asked to pay an FFP fine in seven figures so I'm not so sure that the club really understood the FFP rules

I'm not sure it's a case of not knowing the rules, but more leaving ourselves too much to do in terms of cut backs.

We'd invested heavily prior to FFP coming into effect so to cut all that back in a couple of years was always optimistic.

They were obviously trying to cut back.

[st albans fox]

I've heard from a decent source that city have been asked to pay an FFP fine in seven figures so I'm not so sure that the club really understood the FFP rules

Well if it's 1 mill then that's a result. If it's 9,999,999 then it isn't!

Both are seven figures

[cc_star]

The fact we're bottom is due in part to the lack of action in the summer

It's much harder to turn things around in January than it is to start as you mean to go on, also thanks to our league position we may not get the signatures on the dotted line once the agents start making deals public in an attempt to get more clubs interested

The other reason it's hard in January is because all the signings need to hit the ground running, else we'll effectively be down by Feb.

Not sure how much money the Thais have, I have a feeling their supposed billions is an inflated figure and that most of their wealth is the value of their business rather than money burning a hole in their pocket

Since the Sven debacle they've proven to be shrewd, hopefully they'll continue to be while pushing the boat out just enough to give Nige the best possible chance

[Captain...]

The people that own this club are very wealthy, that doesn't mean we have a wealthy club.

They are wealthy because they are good businessmen, they took a calculated risk when they first came the immediate rewards of a quick promotion would offset the millions splashed on Sven's misguided revolution before FFP came in.

The FFP rules are in place so that wealthy owners can't just bank roll clubs so we need to spend responsibly or suffer consequences.

It could be that the owners are underestimating the rewards of being in the prem and are being overly cautious with the purse strings or it could be that Terry Robinson fvcked up a lot negotiations and we lost a lot of targets, but when our targets include Deeney, who was highly sought after but stayed at Watford. Can't blame that one on Robinson when other clubs failed. Or Pelle who went to Southampton who we couldn't compete with Ribinson or not.

To be honest I think TR got sacked for offering out shed loads of four year contracts didn't really make sense. Or for not covering us with relegation clauses, but that is pure speculation.

[Sir Fynwy]

I'm not sure it's a case of not knowing the rules, but more leaving ourselves too much to do in terms of cut backs.

We'd invested heavily prior to FFP coming into effect so to cut all that back in a couple of years was always optimistic.

They were obviously trying to cut back.

The chief execs claim last season that there was no way we'd fall foul of FFP would indicate they weren't very clued up if we really have received the letter from the Football League. We all know they were trying to meet FFP but if they didn't know they were going to miss it by miles we should worry about the quality of the executive team.

[Rob1742]

The owners are spending sensibly, based on the normal risk / reward scenario.

There are clear benefits to stay up, but saddling yourself with potentially massive debt would be irresponsible.

So they are doing what they can. For sure we are not a Man City or Chelsea and never will be as they are just toys for billionaire owners, rather than clubs that are trying to be ran profitably

[The Horse's Mouth]

They want it to be a tangible investment 

[HitchinFox]

1. Are the Thais very wealthy? I believe they are so that signing players for big money wouldn't be a major issue for them?

 

They definitely are. Undoubtedly so.
http://www.forbes.com/profile/vichai-srivaddhanaprabha/

 

King Power, as a company, has a monopoly in what it does - airport retail sales - and has revenues of US$1.6bn. The good news is that revenues grew by a massive 25 per cent last year despite tourism numbers on the whole falling across South East Asia. 

If they wanted, they could sign whoever they liked and for silly money. If they decided to throw, say, £200m at LCFC, they would definitely feel it, but it wouldn't bankrupt them. Not even close.
 

 

2. Was one of the stumbling blocks to signing players, their wage demands? And again, if so, why would this necessarily be a big concern for the Thais

 

Yes and no. I'm not ITK so I don't know whether there is any truth whatsoever in the much-publicised £30k wage cap. However, it's clear that the club (including Pearson if I remember correctly) made loud noises about there being at least some method of control regarding wages and that contracts for silly money would not be happening. 

Again, going purely on what the Thais are worth, it wouldn't be a big concern for the Thais to hand out a couple of £100k a week contracts. But it's been made clear that the relationship that the Thais want to have with Leicester City FC is one of mutual benefit. They make Leicester a successful club and their ROI is in the increased exposure LCFC gives King Power and the Kingdom of Thailand as a tourist destination. 

Vichai and King Power were given the Royal Appointment recently and Vichai is active within the "Visit Thailand" infrastructure - which is government-owned. The Royal Appointment is a rather big deal in Thailand, which takes hierarchy and tradition very seriously. Again, they could spend whatever they want on wages but have decided not to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_warrant_of_appointment_%28Thailand%29

3. What would happen in Jan? Would we look to sign big?

 

This, of course, is down to personal opinion. Mine is that Vichai bought the club in 2010 and it took four years to achieve his goal of making LCFC a Premier League club. Earlier this year he intimated his goal of establishing LCFC as a Premier League club in the long run. 

I would very much doubt that, having seen LCFC finally climb up from the Championship, he'd risk losing Prem status and losing further time in achieving his plans. Therefore, making sure that Nigel Pearson gets what he wants in January – especially given the relatively quiet (and cheap) summer of 2014 – I wouldn't be surprised if we see a number of big money signings to ensure we stay up. 

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Promotion-just-start-Leicester-City-says-club-s/story-21061806-detail/story.html

Well where are things at, ladies and gents? Are we a wealthy club?
 

I don't know whether we are a wealthy club but we certainly have wealthy owners. FFP aside, Vichai and the family could - on paper at least - sign pretty much any player in the world as long as they would be happy to come to Leicester. What actually happens is completely different, of course.

Should we now push the boat out and really spend big on players that would be willing to join us if we do so? Or will we/should we rely on loan signings rather than on permanents?
 

Personally, I would hate to see any loan players come in. By default, I would question their commitment. Spend big but spend wisely and we will have no problems in staying in this league. Two strikers, a central midfielder to cover for our current spate of injuries (and worry about keeping people happy later when everyone is fit), a left back and a central defender. Five players is a hell of a lot to bring in but I genuinely we need it. 

What can we do or will we now do?

Heavens knows what will happen - but given the choice, I'd be over the moon if we get Kramaric and Defoe. Add Winston Reid and we'd be halfway there.
 

[MooseBreath]

I've heard from a decent source that city have been asked to pay an FFP fine in seven figures so I'm not so sure that the club really understood the FFP rules

If we are going to be fined then the football league will publicly announce it just like they did with Forest, Leeds and Blackburn a couple of weeks ago. They said the promoted clubs were going to be evaluated next. In the meantime I seriously doubt that the football league are leaking sensitive financial information about clubs so until there is an official announcement anything else is pure speculation.

[Sir Fynwy]

If we are going to be fined then the football league will publicly announce it just like they did with Forest, Leeds and Blackburn a couple of weeks ago. They said the promoted clubs were going to be evaluated next. In the meantime I seriously doubt that the football league are leaking sensitive financial information about clubs so until there is an official announcement anything else is pure speculation.

Supposedly letters have been sent to QPR, Leicester and Burnley from the Football League outlining the fines that they are planning to apply and asking for a response, once they have the responses they will announce their plans. I was told this by a credible but not infallible source close to the club.

[Out Foxed]

Maybe the stumbling block was a certain Terry Robinson

can't have helped. we try and present ourselves as a modern, professional, forward thinking outfit and then we have some casually racist throwback who you can barely understand trying to convince people to come here.

[Jace]

I heard they are poor and they actually live in their helicopter, they are the #1 choice of mobile home in Thailand, much more popular than caravans over there.

[whitwickfox]

Just to quash the idea of wealth, the owners net pay last year was just under one billion. Their total assets are believed to be in the region of 17billion

[dmayne7]

1. Are the Thais very wealthy? I believe they are so that signing players for big money wouldn't be a major issue for them?

 

They definitely are. Undoubtedly so.

http://www.forbes.com/profile/vichai-srivaddhanaprabha/

 

King Power, as a company, has a monopoly in what it does - airport retail sales - and has revenues of US$1.6bn. The good news is that revenues grew by a massive 25 per cent last year despite tourism numbers on the whole falling across South East Asia. 

If they wanted, they could sign whoever they liked and for silly money. If they decided to throw, say, £200m at LCFC, they would definitely feel it, but it wouldn't bankrupt them. Not even close.

 

 

2. Was one of the stumbling blocks to signing players, their wage demands? And again, if so, why would this necessarily be a big concern for the Thais

 

Yes and no. I'm not ITK so I don't know whether there is any truth whatsoever in the much-publicised £30k wage cap. However, it's clear that the club (including Pearson if I remember correctly) made loud noises about there being at least some method of control regarding wages and that contracts for silly money would not be happening. 

Again, going purely on what the Thais are worth, it wouldn't be a big concern for the Thais to hand out a couple of £100k a week contracts. But it's been made clear that the relationship that the Thais want to have with Leicester City FC is one of mutual benefit. They make Leicester a successful club and their ROI is in the increased exposure LCFC gives King Power and the Kingdom of Thailand as a tourist destination. 

Vichai and King Power were given the Royal Appointment recently and Vichai is active within the "Visit Thailand" infrastructure - which is government-owned. The Royal Appointment is a rather big deal in Thailand, which takes hierarchy and tradition very seriously. Again, they could spend whatever they want on wages but have decided not to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_warrant_of_appointment_%28Thailand%29

3. What would happen in Jan? Would we look to sign big?

 

This, of course, is down to personal opinion. Mine is that Vichai bought the club in 2010 and it took four years to achieve his goal of making LCFC a Premier League club. Earlier this year he intimated his goal of establishing LCFC as a Premier League club in the long run. 

I would very much doubt that, having seen LCFC finally climb up from the Championship, he'd risk losing Prem status and losing further time in achieving his plans. Therefore, making sure that Nigel Pearson gets what he wants in January – especially given the relatively quiet (and cheap) summer of 2014 – I wouldn't be surprised if we see a number of big money signings to ensure we stay up. 

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Promotion-just-start-Leicester-City-says-club-s/story-21061806-detail/story.html

Well where are things at, ladies and gents? Are we a wealthy club?

 

I don't know whether we are a wealthy club but we certainly have wealthy owners. FFP aside, Vichai and the family could - on paper at least - sign pretty much any player in the world as long as they would be happy to come to Leicester. What actually happens is completely different, of course.

Should we now push the boat out and really spend big on players that would be willing to join us if we do so? Or will we/should we rely on loan signings rather than on permanents?

 

Personally, I would hate to see any loan players come in. By default, I would question their commitment. Spend big but spend wisely and we will have no problems in staying in this league. Two strikers, a central midfielder to cover for our current spate of injuries (and worry about keeping people happy later when everyone is fit), a left back and a central defender. Five players is a hell of a lot to bring in but I genuinely we need it. 

What can we do or will we now do?

Heavens knows what will happen - but given the choice, I'd be over the moon if we get Kramaric and Defoe. Add Winston Reid and we'd be halfway there.

 

 

Good answer. The only thing that most people don't seem to get about the Jan transfer window in the flight, is that many of the deals will be loans because of the insecurity of the clubs in staying up, getting in Europe etc. Often they become loans with a view to a permanent move or big transfers will have relegation release causes. So we'll struggle to might struggle to get the permanent moves we crave.

Having said that, its looking good re Defoe/Kramaric, so we'll see.

[Bagworthblue]

reminds me of the famous saying / questions....

 

Q} How do you become a millionaire??

 

A} Be a Billionaire and buy a football club 

[Danizen]

Just to quash the idea of wealth, the owners net pay last year was just under one billion. Their total assets are believed to be in the region of 17billion

Holy shit!