I obviously heavily paraphrased earlier but effectively the plan is to add new members to the board in place of Missy & Pete. These would be investors, one of which could be Lomtadze (I’ll take your word on that being how his name is spelled). I say ‘could’ because it’s clearly not locked in yet.
Ultimately Rob is “looking to pass on the club to someone that will make it stronger” but he did not elaborate on this, nor could he clearly say much on who or when.
So, according to Forbes, we now have somebody worth $5 billion at our club. A silent partner who just keeps us ticking over with cash from the back of the sofa? Or somebody who goes mental and buys us a Champions League place in 2028 with Shota Arveladze as our manager?
I am so good at Championship Manager. Itook Woking from the Conference to the Champions League in six seasons. That sort of thing doesn't go unnoticed. Now to do it in real life.
I wasn't there last night but very odd indeed for the lawyers to screw up so badly. Pure conjecture on my part, but I wonder if they jumped the gun and any proposed investment fell through at the last moment. In any event, Rob seems committed to handing over the baton when the time is right. Seems quite sensible and I guess we will find out who that is in due course
Sounds like we now have a Lame Duck Chairman, treading water until Lomtadze passes the fit and proper person test and can be added as a director and takes over.
A simple google search, Hansard for example, show the complexities in getting EFL approval. Just have to follow the money.
With the U.S having sanctioned an additional 500 individuals since the murder of Navalny alone, and the E.U. yet to respond, the EFL must be bricking it about giving Mr. Lomtadze clearance.
Some alarming trends in economic activity, co-operation with Putin, in former Soviet States, helping to circumnavigate sanctions.
This is basically my view as well. When Margaret Hodge is naming you in parliament it's hard for the EFL to simply wave things through, no matter how tempted they might be.
My fear is that the Couhigs - who don't strike me as having any notable personal wealth - have borrowed money from Mr Lomtadze on the assumption that they could simply hand over the club to him rather than repay the loans. If that becomes impossible because he doesn't pass a test, what then happens when he wants his money back?
I cannot possibly see how Lomtadze can possibly pass the fit and proper persons test, having been specifically named in Parliament as one of the protagonists of a dubious money laundering scheme.
The EFL should have learned from the Dai Yongge saga at Reading. But who knows?
His company is named though for alleged money laundering, so there is no way even our pathetic EFL will allow any takeover, and even if it did, our Government would step in to stop them.
It's fiction. The article that @aloysius disingenuously posted while making the claim doesn't say that he was mentioned in parliament, and you can search for his name on Hansard and not find anything. Hopefully @aloysius was just being playful at the expense of the overly credulous like @bargepole, rather than maliciously trying to start a yet another grudge.
Oh god, look what he's started. A search for Kaspi on Hansard also bears zero results. Please, if people are going to make these kind of claims, back them up with citations.
The bloke has an MBA from Harvard Business School, so there is at least the possibility that he is a very clever chap who has transferred that cleverness into the business realm, rather than taking advantage of the fall of the Soviet Union like the oligarchs.
It's good to be cautious either way, but his career profile is at least widely different to the aforementioned Russians. I have read one or two question marks over some of his business dealings so I am certainly not being naive (it would be no shock if there were to be some shenanigans found related to business dealings in an area of the world not exaclty knowing for financial fair play), but it would also not surprise me if he is no more corrupt than your Todd Boehlys or Stan Kroenkes (who probably are corrupt to a degree, but not Soviet corrupt).
Ultimately, I think most billionaires are likely to be a little murky, so the question may be how murky? And how much is too much?
Comments
Rob blamed the lawyers. Irony somewhat lost.
I obviously heavily paraphrased earlier but effectively the plan is to add new members to the board in place of Missy & Pete. These would be investors, one of which could be Lomtadze (I’ll take your word on that being how his name is spelled). I say ‘could’ because it’s clearly not locked in yet.
Ultimately Rob is “looking to pass on the club to someone that will make it stronger” but he did not elaborate on this, nor could he clearly say much on who or when.
It was all a bit of a dud really.
Cheers @BlueBoy!
So, according to Forbes, we now have somebody worth $5 billion at our club. A silent partner who just keeps us ticking over with cash from the back of the sofa? Or somebody who goes mental and buys us a Champions League place in 2028 with Shota Arveladze as our manager?
Interesting times.
Not sure you would lay a new pitch mid season
If we are going to build a road across it, you'd be surprised what else the council would allow to be built
Planning permission. Wycombe Council. Billionaire?
I feel slightly more confident.
I am so good at Championship Manager. I took Woking from the Conference to the Champions League in six seasons. That sort of thing doesn't go unnoticed. Now to do it in real life.
You sound like Jay from the Inbetweeners!
I wasn't there last night but very odd indeed for the lawyers to screw up so badly. Pure conjecture on my part, but I wonder if they jumped the gun and any proposed investment fell through at the last moment. In any event, Rob seems committed to handing over the baton when the time is right. Seems quite sensible and I guess we will find out who that is in due course
Sounds like we now have a Lame Duck Chairman, treading water until Lomtadze passes the fit and proper person test and can be added as a director and takes over.
Is the new road going free to travel on for the 6000 fans that don't come every week (that will no doubt be at Wembley), or is there a £3 toll?
A simple google search, Hansard for example, show the complexities in getting EFL approval. Just have to follow the money.
With the U.S having sanctioned an additional 500 individuals since the murder of Navalny alone, and the E.U. yet to respond, the EFL must be bricking it about giving Mr. Lomtadze clearance.
Some alarming trends in economic activity, co-operation with Putin, in former Soviet States, helping to circumnavigate sanctions.
We'll end up with a Lomtadze puppet who's in a "safe" location
This is basically my view as well. When Margaret Hodge is naming you in parliament it's hard for the EFL to simply wave things through, no matter how tempted they might be.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddawkins/2022/02/04/kazakhstan-billionaires-named-and-shamed-in-uk-parliament-by-senior-politician-as-corruption-sanctions-near/amp/
My fear is that the Couhigs - who don't strike me as having any notable personal wealth - have borrowed money from Mr Lomtadze on the assumption that they could simply hand over the club to him rather than repay the loans. If that becomes impossible because he doesn't pass a test, what then happens when he wants his money back?
He’ll probably send the lads around!
@aloysius Lomtadze wasn't named by Hodge in parliament?
Slightly worrying to say the least
@aloysius doesn't believe in facts
Lomtadze is the worst Georgian billionaire in the League. (or not...depending on EFL vetting procedures.)
But...Lomtadze isn't mentioned in the article you linked.
I cannot possibly see how Lomtadze can possibly pass the fit and proper persons test, having been specifically named in Parliament as one of the protagonists of a dubious money laundering scheme.
The EFL should have learned from the Dai Yongge saga at Reading. But who knows?
See @aloysius - you make up a story and people repeat it as fact.
Is this fact or fiction @bargepole ?
His company is named though for alleged money laundering, so there is no way even our pathetic EFL will allow any takeover, and even if it did, our Government would step in to stop them.
It's fiction. The article that @aloysius disingenuously posted while making the claim doesn't say that he was mentioned in parliament, and you can search for his name on Hansard and not find anything. Hopefully @aloysius was just being playful at the expense of the overly credulous like @bargepole, rather than maliciously trying to start a yet another grudge.
Oh god, look what he's started. A search for Kaspi on Hansard also bears zero results. Please, if people are going to make these kind of claims, back them up with citations.
I'm just concerned about any possibility of money linked to the club having even the slightest ties to Russia. If that's not the case, fair enough.
The bloke has an MBA from Harvard Business School, so there is at least the possibility that he is a very clever chap who has transferred that cleverness into the business realm, rather than taking advantage of the fall of the Soviet Union like the oligarchs.
It's good to be cautious either way, but his career profile is at least widely different to the aforementioned Russians. I have read one or two question marks over some of his business dealings so I am certainly not being naive (it would be no shock if there were to be some shenanigans found related to business dealings in an area of the world not exaclty knowing for financial fair play), but it would also not surprise me if he is no more corrupt than your Todd Boehlys or Stan Kroenkes (who probably are corrupt to a degree, but not Soviet corrupt).
Ultimately, I think most billionaires are likely to be a little murky, so the question may be how murky? And how much is too much?
Exactly, these are legitimate concerns, although more or less impossible to answer.
There’s no evidence that either he or his company have been ‘named by the government.’