Prince Abdullah speaks to BBC Radio Sheffield

[Frank the tank]

Mccabe progressed the club as far as he could with his wealth
The Prince progressed us further with his wealth
Both had very limited wealth ( in football terms) and it looks like the new owners are of the same vein
So let's hope they steadily progress us as much as the last two and we will be OK

 

[originaltrueblade]

Mccabe progressed the club as far as he could with his wealth
The Prince progressed us further with his wealth
Both had very limited wealth ( in football terms) and it looks like the new owners are of the same vein
So let's hope they steadily progress us as much as the last two and we will be OK

How does it look like the new owners are of the same vein.

 

[Frank the tank]

How does it look like the new owners are of the same vein.

Don't think they will be pumpiing tens of millions into the club ,based on the fact that buying the club was such a long drawn out protracted affair and rumours I heard that they had difficulty proving they could sustainably run the club for the next few years in accordance with the EFLs new takeover stipulations

I'd caveat that by saying I heard these rumours before the consortium had a reshuffle

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Think Palace

 

[originaltrueblade]

Don't think they will be pumpiing tens of millions into the club ,based on the fact that buying the club was such a long drawn out protracted affair and rumours I heard that they had difficulty proving they could sustainably run the club for the next few years in accordance with the EFLs new takeover stipulations

I'd caveat that by saying I heard these rumours before the consortium had a reshuffle

You and me know nothing as to what really went on….ignore rumours let’s see how it pans out

 

[Frank the tank]

You and me know nothing as to what really went on….ignore rumours let’s see how it pans out

Yeah true
I have very low expectations but not angry or disappointed it's where we are as a club
If these guys progress even slightly as much as the last two we will be in a very strong position

 

[Eric_Brooks]

Don't think they will be pumpiing tens of millions into the club ,based on the fact that buying the club was such a long drawn out protracted affair and rumours I heard that they had difficulty proving they could sustainably run the club for the next few years in accordance with the EFLs new takeover stipulations

I'd caveat that by saying I heard these rumours before the consortium had a reshuffle

Why is the rhetoric is that it was a long drawn out process due to the new owners, considering how the prince flip flopped on selling the club. Just because they didn’t want their pants pulled down by the prince doesn’t mean anything about the new owners.

The future funding is something new and I imagine makes everything difficult.

I don’t think the wealth of the chairmen are, but the wealth of their friends and partners in COH

 

[Nick Jansky]

Best chairman in living history, sad that we have so many cretins following the club who don't understand business or football. Funny really, let the transfer window slip by without us shelling out 50 million and the same cave dwellers will be all over the new owners like every day's fucking groundhog day.

Absolutely spot on. There is a cretinous nature to a significant lump of our support. People trot out the excuse that every club has them. I’ve no idea, this is the only club forum I go on & I’m only bothered about us. We certainly have them, it wouldn’t be so bad if there was an IQ test to qualify people to post on the internet, but I hope the new owners ignore them in the same way that the Prince has learned to do.

 

[Danetheblade]

Best chairman in living history, sad that we have so many cretins following the club who don't understand business or football. Funny really, let the transfer window slip by without us shelling out 50 million and the same cave dwellers will be all over the new owners like every day's fucking groundhog day.

Bang on the money. Best owner I’ve ever seen us have. Spent within his means, arguably spent over his comfort limit all for the betterment of the club.

 

[McGrath]

Much better owner than McCabe

I disagree on that one.

McCabe left a lasting legacy of the academy and a stadium fit for the Premier league.

He also got the ball rolling by hiring Warnock which got us promoted 15 years ago to the Prem.

Granted he ballsed up massively by hiring Robson and buying those foreign clubs.

Without McCabe taking over and putting an end to the constant boardroom shambles of the 90s, I'm not sure where we'd be now!

 

[UddersBlade]

Listened to the whole interview this morning. Hasn’t really changed my view that overall he did a good job - but that he just did not have the funds to take us forward. Everything was a gamble on securing promotion back the Premier League. Quite rightly he pinpointed Covid - and the defeat to Forest in the play offs as being key turning points during his ownership. If those had gone our way I agree with him that we would have avoided the difficult financial situations and history may well have been very different.

He ended up saying that although he had recently thought about staying on - he was exhausted from the ownership and needs a break from the stress it brings. Although he did seem genuine in saying that he offered the COH new owners any advice he could as he would always be a fan.

Good luck to him, right decision/time to sell but deep down a good guy who loves sport & tried his best for us.

Oh & I thought a great interview by Rob Staton. And I think that if Prince A had been willing to do a few more with him over the years - it would have been better communication as Rob S certainly asked him some difficult questions which Blades fan run social media often skirted around giving him an easy time.

 

[McGrath]

Did anyone else find the answers to consultancy fees paid to "United World" somewhat vague.

I mean at one point he claimed it was for scouting, which seems a hell of a little of money for little return.

 

[Berkshire Blade]

It was a 'victimless crime', in that the clubs that were owed the money got the money without delay from a fund set up for that purpose - it was us that took the rap, and nobody else.

So we are the victims then...

Did anyone else find the answers to consultancy fees paid to "United World" somewhat vague.

I mean at one point he claimed it was for scouting, which seems a hell of a little of money for little return.

Think he tried to link it to his faith being against interest fees...?!

Quite why he waited until it didn't matter to speak out is beyond me.

All of the success in his era is because Wilder was appointed. Happens to be the era he took a step back to be Saudi minister

I will never be a fan of his but can admit he had a lucky streak just like this summer with finding buyers for average players!

 

[Addison]

Good interview and not before time with a credible media outlet. Staton did well with a mixture of questions on not discussed before matters and reminiscing about PA's tenure. Its a shame PA felt the need to isolate RS and use you tubers and Spanish accountants. They lacked journalistic skills and were afraid to ask challenging questions. Good probing on United World payments in the accounts, how we got into an embargo and why did we ever entertain Dozy.

PA comes across as a genuine owner who just couldn't provide the funds to run an EPL club. He makes valid points that we are in a much better place than when he first came in, we got good returns on a number of sales, unlike the previous incumbent and we are in a much healthier financial state now. His biggest regret the mega spend when he first became sole owner in 2019. Poor purchases and losses on player values.

Interesting bits. PA wanted to continue to be a part owner. He met with the new owners again yesterday in London to offer advice going forward. EFL approval only came through 2 weeks ago. In supporting his assertion that sometimes owners have to say no to managers he referenced wanting to give Peck a run in the team rather than purchase a midfield player from Ipswich. So we were in for Sam Morsey after all .

It was time for PA to move on. He made mistakes not least the shambolic communications strategy and the dalliance with United World that sidelined the club financially for a while. Yet his record will say screwed a partner that was trying to screw him and brought the property assets back under club ownership. 3 Years in the EPL when we were languishing in league 1 when he arrived and the club in a much better financial state on him leaving.

 

[loveWalrusDaveTheBlade]

So we are the victims then...


Think he tried to link it to his faith being against interest fees...?!

Quite why he waited until it didn't matter to speak out is beyond me.

All of the success in his era is because Wilder was appointed. Happens to be the era he took a step back to be Saudi minister

I will never be a fan of his but can admit he had a lucky streak just like this summer with finding buyers for average players!

No, we are very obviously not the victims. There were no actual victims, which is why I described it as a 'victimless crime'. We were the recipients of the fine for committing the transgression. To describe that as making us victims would be to say that everybody that goes to prison as a result of committing a proper crime is a victim. You make no sense.
We have been penalised with a two point deduction, but this is hugely outweighed by the benefit of securing promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season in which we broke the rules. Without that, we would be in a very different place indeed. Take Cooper, Anel, Burrows, O'Hare and Hamer out of yesterdays starting line up and replace them with five off that bench, and that would be pretty much what our starting line up would be by now.

 

[McGrath]

So we are the victims then...


Think he tried to link it to his faith being against interest fees...?!

Quite why he waited until it didn't matter to speak out is beyond me.

All of the success in his era is because Wilder was appointed. Happens to be the era he took a step back to be Saudi minister

I will never be a fan of his but can admit he had a lucky streak just like this summer with finding buyers for average players!

Agreed, he's been a lucky owner, which is different to being a great owner.

I think the interest comment was him changing the subject as there was no way he was going to justify £3.8 million to United World last year.Plus the millions in the previous years. There's no scrutiny on that and what's the club got from it?

That £3.8 million would have been very useful at the end of August when we tried to bring in a left winger and striker in on loan

 

[Berkshire Blade]

No, we are very obviously not the victims. There were no actual victims, which is why I described it as a 'victimless crime'. We were the recipients of the fine for committing the transgression. To describe that as making us victims would be to say that everybody that goes to prison as a result of committing a proper crime is a victim. You make no sense.
We have been penalised with a two point deduction, but this is hugely outweighed by the benefit of securing promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season in which we broke the rules. Without that, we would be in a very different place indeed. Take Cooper, Anel, Burrows, O'Hare and Hamer out of yesterdays starting line up and replace them with five off that bench, and that would be pretty much what our starting line up would be by now.

If the two points cost us then the so called benefit of being taken apart worldwide last year was for nothing!

 

[Addison]

Did anyone else find the answers to consultancy fees paid to "United World" somewhat vague.

I mean at one point he claimed it was for scouting, which seems a hell of a little of money for little return.

It was vague I agree but at least he was finally asked a direct question about it. To be fair he did say it covered recruitment but then digressed for some reason into UW not charging interest on loans to the Club. Whether he was suggesting some of the consultancy charges covered the loss of interest we are unlikely to ever find out.

UW built a recruitment model across all 5 of its clubs and brought in a Technical Director Stephen Vanharen to roll it out. It involved a number of scouting appointments. SUFC will have benefited from this to an extent again how much is questionable as we already had Paul Mitchell and his team .There were also reports that player sales were being negotiated by third parties one being from Jordan on the Ramsdale sale to Arsenal. These are probably areas where the costs built up but it would have been preferable to have a Sporting Director alternative in situ at SUFC imo.

 

[McGrath]

It was vague I agree but at least he was finally asked a direct question about it. To be fair he did say it covered recruitment but then digressed for some reason into UW not charging interest on loans to the Club. Whether he was suggesting some of the consultancy charges covered the loss of interest we are unlikely to ever find out.

UW built a recruitment model across all 5 of its clubs and brought in a Technical Director Stephen Vanharen to roll it out. It involved a number of scouting appointments. SUFC will have benefited from this to an extent again how much is questionable as we already had Paul Mitchell and his team .There were also reports that player sales were being negotiated by third parties one being from Jordan on the Ramsdale sale to Arsenal. These are probably areas where the costs built up but it would have been preferable to have a Sporting Director alternative in situ at SUFC imo.

I think the interest on loans remark was an attempt to change the subject.

UW just looks like a financial millstone around the clubs neck, this season at least it may have cost us a better squad

 

[Sean Thornton]

It was vague I agree but at least he was finally asked a direct question about it. To be fair he did say it covered recruitment but then digressed for some reason into UW not charging interest on loans to the Club. Whether he was suggesting some of the consultancy charges covered the loss of interest we are unlikely to ever find out.

UW built a recruitment model across all 5 of its clubs and brought in a Technical Director Stephen Vanharen to roll it out. It involved a number of scouting appointments. SUFC will have benefited from this to an extent again how much is questionable as we already had Paul Mitchell and his team .There were also reports that player sales were being negotiated by third parties one being from Jordan on the Ramsdale sale to Arsenal. These are probably areas where the costs built up but it would have been preferable to have a Sporting Director alternative in situ at SUFC imo.

Likelihood is that the FC would have had some expenditure if everything had been done in house. Obviously we’ll never know.

 

[Addison]

Good interview and not before time with a credible media outlet. Staton did well with a mixture of questions on not discussed before matters and reminiscing about PA's tenure. Its a shame PA felt the need to isolate RS and use you tubers and Spanish accountants. They lacked journalistic skills and were afraid to ask challenging questions. Good probing on United World payments in the accounts, how we got into an embargo and why did we ever entertain Dozy.

PA comes across as a genuine owner who just couldn't provide the funds to run an EPL club. He makes valid points that we are in a much better place than when he first came in, we got good returns on a number of sales, unlike the previous incumbent and we are in a much healthier financial state now. His biggest regret the mega spend when he first became sole owner in 2019. Poor purchases and losses on player values.

Interesting bits. PA wanted to continue to be a part owner. He met with the new owners again yesterday in London to offer advice going forward. EFL approval only came through 2 weeks ago. In supporting his assertion that sometimes owners have to say no to managers he referenced wanting to give Peck a run in the team rather than purchase a midfield player from Ipswich. So we were in for Sam Morsey after all .

It was time for PA to move on. He made mistakes not least the shambolic communications strategy and the dalliance with United World that sidelined the club financially for a while. Yet his record will say screwed a partner that was trying to screw him and brought the property assets back under club ownership. 3 Years in the EPL when we were languishing in league 1 when he arrived and the club in a much better financial state on him leaving.

Forgot to add to the interesting points. On the embargo PA said he was unhappy SUFC were being charged for late payments over 100 days when other clubs in his opinion were in the same situation. I suspect as this wasn't the first time we'd defaulted that was the reason for the charge. The EFL wanted to impose a 2 window transfer ban but SUFC employed an eminent sports lawyer and negotiated the 2 point deduction as a lesser penalty.

 

[McGrath]

Forgot to add to the interesting points. On the embargo PA said he was unhappy SUFC were being charged for late payments over 100 days when other clubs in his opinion were in the same situation. I suspect as this wasn't the first time we'd defaulted that was the reason for the charge. The EFL wanted to impose a 2 window transfer ban but SUFC employed an eminent sports lawyer and negotiated the 2 point deduction as a lesser penalty.

If the EFL were talking about a 2 window ban, then I think that they would have thought the crime to be a lot more serious than just being a little bit late on a payment.

 

[Montymagic]

I think some expected a hug or something?

Lots on here have daddy issues.

Prince unfortunately had a DNA test and the search continues for the poor sods.

 

[Norwood's 6 iron]

If, and I know it's a big if, but if our new owners take the club forward in the same way that PA has done over the last 8 years then we are in for exciting times.
We have to look at what Brighton have done, and what Forest are doing as examples as to what can be achieved.

 

[Sean Thornton]

If the EFL were talking about a 2 window ban, then I think that they would have thought the crime to be a lot more serious than just being a little bit late on a payment.

“Crime”

If you look closely at the post there’s a suggestion that maybe it wasn’t the first default (or defaults involving more than one other club). Maybe they were going to charge him with funnelling funds to UW?

 

[loveWalrusDaveTheBlade]

If the two points cost us then the so called benefit of being taken apart worldwide last year was for nothing!

If we weren’t the beneficiary of the funds resulting from promotion to the Premier League (painful as it was), then we would have had to sell our key playing assets to balance the books, and certainly wouldn’t be troubling the promotion places this season.
If we do happen to miss out on promotion this season, then it will not be as a direct result of the points deduction. We started the season with the potential to achieve 136 points, compared with the 138 point potential of our competitors. Nobody will come anywhere close to achieving this potential, because loss of points on the field will dwarf any loss of points in the boardroom.
Thanks to the actions of the Prince, among others, we have a competitive squad, and a decent chance of promotion. These are the clear facts.

 

[McGrath]

“Crime”

If you look closely at the post there’s a suggestion that maybe it wasn’t the first default (or defaults involving more than one other club). Maybe they were going to charge him with funnelling funds to UW?

I read it (and listened to the interview) and interpreted it as lots of other clubs default (including United), it's kind of accepted in the industry, nobody ever complains, but United were unlucky because some club decided to. Which if that's the case, a 2 window ban seems excessive. But perhaps the EFL ballsed it up anyway and that was why it was reduced to a 2 point deduction.

You're a forensic accountant. UW payments vex me. So how much do we pay to UW, and what comes back in return that presumably makes it worth the outlay?

 

[N20 Blade]

I disagree on that one.

McCabe left a lasting legacy of the academy and a stadium fit for the Premier league.

He also got the ball rolling by hiring Warnock which got us promoted 15 years ago to the Prem.

Granted he ballsed up massively by hiring Robson and buying those foreign clubs.

Without McCabe taking over and putting an end to the constant boardroom shambles of the 90s, I'm not sure where we'd be now!

It's hard to compare the two, because football finance changed massively between McCabe becoming chairman and the Prince's arrival in 2016(?). In fairness to McCabe he did his best, the Academy is a fitting epitaph to his tenure. I'm afraid the 2008 recession destroyed his business strength and financial weight, coinciding with arguably his worst decision - the appointment of Robson. The failure to bounce straight back in 2008, followed by the aforementioned economic crisis, handicapped the club massively. Even to this day, there are reminders.

 

[Davalon]

The dislike and distrust some have for the Prince is utterly baffling to me.

No-one's perfect and you can't please all the people all of the time but god only knows what some thought of our previous rogue's gallery.

 

[McGrath]

It's hard to compare the two, because football finance changed massively between McCabe becoming chairman and the Prince's arrival in 2016(?). In fairness to McCabe he did his best, the Academy is a fitting epitaph to his tenure. I'm afraid the 2008 recession destroyed his business strength and financial weight, coinciding with arguably his worst decision - the appointment of Robson. The failure to bounce straight back in 2008, followed by the aforementioned economic crisis, handicapped the club massively. Even to this day, there are reminders.

There are I agree are reminders.

But like I say, in the 90s we are a shambolic mess in the boardroom. There were a succession of mad and bad owners. McCabe came in and stabilised that. There's a lot you can criticise him for. But the club was perpetual mess when he took it on, when Prince got sole control, it was in the Premier League with an academy churning out players who'd go on and captain England and win Champions Leagues.