Good grief, now we are hand wringing, pearl clutching and dare I say bed wetting because we find out that Yongge duped us. FFS he has been doing that to the RFC faithful for years, so we perhaps ought to have seen it coming but most of us felt he had been backed sufficiently into a corner that he would play it with a pretty straight bat; how wrong we all were.
I for one am relieved not embarraased that this deal has been pulled.
Taking both WWFC statements together & at face value I see very little (other than some predictably bullish American enthusiasm) for WWFC & RC to be embarrassed about (PC's social media behaviour is a totally different matter).
I surmise that the interim funding would have been deducted from the agreed sale price (a bit like a bridging loan) and the most recent statement is pretty clear no funds changed hands. Yes Yongge probably used us to ensure the Sports.com consortium asked for the training ground to be included in the deal & he probably squeezed them for a few million more to make it happen; more fool them. As they say "a fool and his money are easily parted".
As for the oleaginous Beeks a short sharp "go forth & multiply" seems appropriate, before we get on with our search for an appropriate site to develop our own first class training facility.
If that is the case... And I suspect that's a harsh hypothetical summary for RCs actions, then all he's done is put in a preliminary bid to allow due diligence to be done on what they saw it as a potentially good investment deal.
If DY has used that as leverage to encourage another bidder to up their price or hurry up as they want all of the club, then what's the problem? That's business. If that deal for Reading falls through or doesn't include the training ground, who's to say the deed issue won't be investigated by RC further? Doesn't seem likely to me that it would be difficult to change in court if the training ground was shared.
I'm not convinced about the merits of the bid and I'm worried about the huge risk, but I don't get the"embarrassing" or angry comments towards the ownership over how they've acted to follow up the potential investment that they believe is beneficial, especially with the little information out there still.
Been away...I was as guilty as anyone for reacting to such a loony tunes plan but surely the bright side is after years of scrimping and 'little Wycombing' we now have £25 million to spend. They could give Ivor and his mates a million for Marlow and still have enough for roofs, loos, The Players and Championship football.
I'm embarrassed that as Wycombe fans, we got sucked in to the speculation over this deal when:-
1)We all knew WWFC didn't have the money, it was never "our" money that would be involved.
2)We're still talking as if WWFC avoided a big mistake, when I fact the latest statement makes it clear that Feliciana Efl avoided a big mistake.
Maybe the media team got caught out by the story leaking to the press, but they really ought to have been clearer in the original statement that it was Feliciana Efl who were involved in talks with Readings owner (not Reading FC). Much of the online mud slinging might at least then have been directed in the right direction.
Have to agree with most of that. The leak of the story probably put us on the back foot. A more British and measured response was required not the American jubilant ‘nothing can go wrong guys’ statement we got.
This whole affair seems to have flushed out lots of emotions (and morons). Once again a club with multi-million self inflicted debt is playing victim here.
Nothing lost. A lesson learned by the owners and the media team I hope. And now let’s see how Reading pay their bills in 2 weeks and beyond. Trading your way out of £83m of debt is gonna be hard.
I think speculation was natural with such a massive story (let's face it, there was no way we were all going to shrug and say "we'll see" when the story broke), it is those who took premature action (such as joining with Reading sticker protest) that are probably more embarrassed. I think most sane people knew we did not have all the facts.
I actually (deliberately) said that we ‘HAVE had’ 3 members of the Couhig family on the board since the poster I was responding to has already mentioned Pete Couhig.
Now it's all the media team's fault is it. Well, when a story leaks that you are under NDA over, you're literally not allowed to say anything other than what has been leaked, outside of a rewritten NDA agreed and signed by all parties. What is it with Wycombe fans and the need to blame someone for every single thing? We're our own bitterest rivals.
I am fully in agreement with drcongo’s recent posts on this issue, particularly his last one. I am also intrigued why some people castigate Pete Couhig for defending himself against vile abuse on social media but feel it’s perfectly acceptable to mock our owner and call for him to go.
Hysterical as it may have seemed to the more serene level headed posters...it is understandable for us to react to the media report and look for clarification as to what was going on in my opinion. it's not like the report claimed we were just signing a crisp deal, exciting though that may have been. And reacting to some of the reactions is what a football forum does...does not mean those who wanted to know what the hell was going on at the club were ****ing idiots.
If it turns out we did not offer 10-25 million quid (which was what shocked me) fair enough...but if we DID there are, again perhaps only for me, still questions to be asked.
I slightly disagree. The statement was pretty emphatic. It could have been toned down massively and the white knight angle was ill advised.
‘We are aware of speculation linking Wycombe Wanderers to the purchase of the training ground owned by <I don’t even know>. Due to the nature of commercial transactions Wycombe Wanderers and its owners are unable to comment further at this time.’
and then wait for some spotty 12 year old to go on google and find its a non starter due to a public document that’s in the public domain. Our excited press release made us look like the latest victim of Mr Young and his fast and loose attitude to business practices.
I think some of us on here and an awful lot more on X & FB need to wobble their heads and take a few moments quiet reflection.
@drcongo has very succinctly & accurately described the commercial realities of contract negotiation, due diligence & what can be done in the vent of a leak during a negotiation covered by an NDA.
I highlighted in a much earlier post how little we actually knew & alluded to how little we might actually end up knowing.
Of course there are questions that we would like to know the answers to, some of which we (via the Trust) should reasonably ask & some we will never get answers to.
I think it is reasonable for the Trust to seek answers to the following:
with regard to the cancelled negotiations with Dai Yongge in respect of Bearwood Park what was the likely source of funding?
will a similar level of funding be available if we find an appropriate site for a new training ground
what commitments will this funding & its repayment place of WWFC &/or the Trust
what relationship does Mr Lomtadze have with Feliciana &/or WWFC
I personally think it was quite an interesting few days. I think we should throw our newfound financial muscle around a little more just for the reaction.
'Wycombe to buy Shankly gates, donate to Manchester United training ground.'
'Wycombe to buy Old Trafford trinity statue, spray paint light blue.'
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub you do the Couhigs, their advisors & especially the club media staff a disservice with the continued assertion that they were unaware of the planning restriction until someone disclosed it on X/found it on google.
I suspect they were fully aware of it for some time, were most likely in conversations with Wokingham's planners about the likelyhood of overturning the restriction & then someone leaked the story to The Athletic (probably either one of Yongge's team or less likely at the council). We are unlikely to find out the true sequence of events in the short term but we probably will know in the fullness of time.
I agree the clearly rushed press releases are a little ham fisted but what else could the media team do...
As our statement today cites the planning as the big barrier to progression it makes the empathetic nature of the statement even more premature. And as Matt was saying how excited he was about the training ground it was clearly infectious.
Hey. I’m British. We don’t do excitement that easily compared to our American cousins. I would have been happy with a statement of ‘we don’t fucking know’.
Anyway, we will never be told the truth about what went on and who was funding it No football this week. Gonna be a long one.
Comments
Good grief, now we are hand wringing, pearl clutching and dare I say bed wetting because we find out that Yongge duped us. FFS he has been doing that to the RFC faithful for years, so we perhaps ought to have seen it coming but most of us felt he had been backed sufficiently into a corner that he would play it with a pretty straight bat; how wrong we all were.
I for one am relieved not embarraased that this deal has been pulled.
Taking both WWFC statements together & at face value I see very little (other than some predictably bullish American enthusiasm) for WWFC & RC to be embarrassed about (PC's social media behaviour is a totally different matter).
I surmise that the interim funding would have been deducted from the agreed sale price (a bit like a bridging loan) and the most recent statement is pretty clear no funds changed hands. Yes Yongge probably used us to ensure the Sports.com consortium asked for the training ground to be included in the deal & he probably squeezed them for a few million more to make it happen; more fool them. As they say "a fool and his money are easily parted".
As for the oleaginous Beeks a short sharp "go forth & multiply" seems appropriate, before we get on with our search for an appropriate site to develop our own first class training facility.
for accuracy it’s actually ‘Bobby C. III’ which scans rather nicely
If that is the case... And I suspect that's a harsh hypothetical summary for RCs actions, then all he's done is put in a preliminary bid to allow due diligence to be done on what they saw it as a potentially good investment deal.
If DY has used that as leverage to encourage another bidder to up their price or hurry up as they want all of the club, then what's the problem? That's business. If that deal for Reading falls through or doesn't include the training ground, who's to say the deed issue won't be investigated by RC further? Doesn't seem likely to me that it would be difficult to change in court if the training ground was shared.
I'm not convinced about the merits of the bid and I'm worried about the huge risk, but I don't get the"embarrassing" or angry comments towards the ownership over how they've acted to follow up the potential investment that they believe is beneficial, especially with the little information out there still.
So about half of the regular posters!
Far too sensible for the gasroom @Username. It's as if you're actually aware how a business deal over property needs to be conducted.
Been away...I was as guilty as anyone for reacting to such a loony tunes plan but surely the bright side is after years of scrimping and 'little Wycombing' we now have £25 million to spend. They could give Ivor and his mates a million for Marlow and still have enough for roofs, loos, The Players and Championship football.
Or Mr C
I'm embarrassed that as Wycombe fans, we got sucked in to the speculation over this deal when:-
1)We all knew WWFC didn't have the money, it was never "our" money that would be involved.
2)We're still talking as if WWFC avoided a big mistake, when I fact the latest statement makes it clear that Feliciana Efl avoided a big mistake.
Maybe the media team got caught out by the story leaking to the press, but they really ought to have been clearer in the original statement that it was Feliciana Efl who were involved in talks with Readings owner (not Reading FC). Much of the online mud slinging might at least then have been directed in the right direction.
Time to move on, I hope.
Well, it was Reading FC as the training ground owners are a subsidiary of the Reading Football Club Ltd. Both of which are controlled by DY.
And similarly Feliciana is the controlling shareholder of Wycombe Wanderers Football Club Limited.
A few options for what that stands for over this comedy little period
I did chuckle.
To be fair I have had a view bosses who think they are Machiavellian masterminds but in fact were completely incompetent.
oddly none of the people who have ever worked for me have ever thought the same…….
Have to agree with most of that. The leak of the story probably put us on the back foot. A more British and measured response was required not the American jubilant ‘nothing can go wrong guys’ statement we got.
This whole affair seems to have flushed out lots of emotions (and morons). Once again a club with multi-million self inflicted debt is playing victim here.
Nothing lost. A lesson learned by the owners and the media team I hope. And now let’s see how Reading pay their bills in 2 weeks and beyond. Trading your way out of £83m of debt is gonna be hard.
I think speculation was natural with such a massive story (let's face it, there was no way we were all going to shrug and say "we'll see" when the story broke), it is those who took premature action (such as joining with Reading sticker protest) that are probably more embarrassed. I think most sane people knew we did not have all the facts.
Over on X the Reading fans are saying "Oh dear. Hope things work out ok for both of us in these difficult times"
Not really, It's mostly "Go back to that shed you train in, you non-league twats (and vultures)"
I actually (deliberately) said that we ‘HAVE had’ 3 members of the Couhig family on the board since the poster I was responding to has already mentioned Pete Couhig.
Reading fans don’t quite understand football finances.
Now it's all the media team's fault is it. Well, when a story leaks that you are under NDA over, you're literally not allowed to say anything other than what has been leaked, outside of a rewritten NDA agreed and signed by all parties. What is it with Wycombe fans and the need to blame someone for every single thing? We're our own bitterest rivals.
I am fully in agreement with drcongo’s recent posts on this issue, particularly his last one. I am also intrigued why some people castigate Pete Couhig for defending himself against vile abuse on social media but feel it’s perfectly acceptable to mock our owner and call for him to go.
I think you will find that Dai transferred the training ground to one of his companies recently, Chris
You may find that attitude with some of the younger Reading fans, not most of us, Kim.
Hysterical as it may have seemed to the more serene level headed posters...it is understandable for us to react to the media report and look for clarification as to what was going on in my opinion. it's not like the report claimed we were just signing a crisp deal, exciting though that may have been. And reacting to some of the reactions is what a football forum does...does not mean those who wanted to know what the hell was going on at the club were ****ing idiots.
If it turns out we did not offer 10-25 million quid (which was what shocked me) fair enough...but if we DID there are, again perhaps only for me, still questions to be asked.
This is the Al Hamadi moment where everyone now pretends they were never worried anyway.
Do you know which company he transferred it to?
And it would be more accurate to say ‘a different one of his companies’ given that he controls RFC Bearwood Ltd.
I slightly disagree. The statement was pretty emphatic. It could have been toned down massively and the white knight angle was ill advised.
‘We are aware of speculation linking Wycombe Wanderers to the purchase of the training ground owned by <I don’t even know>. Due to the nature of commercial transactions Wycombe Wanderers and its owners are unable to comment further at this time.’
and then wait for some spotty 12 year old to go on google and find its a non starter due to a public document that’s in the public domain. Our excited press release made us look like the latest victim of Mr Young and his fast and loose attitude to business practices.
I think some of us on here and an awful lot more on X & FB need to wobble their heads and take a few moments quiet reflection.
@drcongo has very succinctly & accurately described the commercial realities of contract negotiation, due diligence & what can be done in the vent of a leak during a negotiation covered by an NDA.
I highlighted in a much earlier post how little we actually knew & alluded to how little we might actually end up knowing.
Of course there are questions that we would like to know the answers to, some of which we (via the Trust) should reasonably ask & some we will never get answers to.
I think it is reasonable for the Trust to seek answers to the following:
I personally think it was quite an interesting few days. I think we should throw our newfound financial muscle around a little more just for the reaction.
'Wycombe to buy Shankly gates, donate to Manchester United training ground.'
'Wycombe to buy Old Trafford trinity statue, spray paint light blue.'
'Wycombe to buy Pride Park, rename as HMS HMRC'.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub you do the Couhigs, their advisors & especially the club media staff a disservice with the continued assertion that they were unaware of the planning restriction until someone disclosed it on X/found it on google.
I suspect they were fully aware of it for some time, were most likely in conversations with Wokingham's planners about the likelyhood of overturning the restriction & then someone leaked the story to The Athletic (probably either one of Yongge's team or less likely at the council). We are unlikely to find out the true sequence of events in the short term but we probably will know in the fullness of time.
I agree the clearly rushed press releases are a little ham fisted but what else could the media team do...
As our statement today cites the planning as the big barrier to progression it makes the empathetic nature of the statement even more premature. And as Matt was saying how excited he was about the training ground it was clearly infectious.
Hey. I’m British. We don’t do excitement that easily compared to our American cousins. I would have been happy with a statement of ‘we don’t fucking know’.
Anyway, we will never be told the truth about what went on and who was funding it No football this week. Gonna be a long one.