I assumed the debt was to him and we dont owe external sources. And therefore he was wiping it.

Yeah the debt was to Roman and since he is not allowed to receive any money from the club he had to legally wipe it out in order for the club to be sold.

Actually glad of an international break coming up for a change. Hopefully something is well in the works then.

Also I would hope our players have the common decency to agree to delay their wages so the club can pay the regular staff members the wages they need to pay their bill, mortgage etc. A month without their wages certainly won't destroy any of the players and could be a huge difference the the hundreds or more of regular workers.

2 hours ago, Chris Gundleton said:

I saw on the BBC webpage that Pay Nevin thinks the league cup final might be the last major cup final he'll ever see Chelsea in again, do any of you really think that?  For that to happen it'll mean that Reece, Mount, Havertz et al have all been sold off...!!! I just don't see that... If we are forced to sell some players to fill a sponsor black hole, sell Lukaku and Kepa.  Bring in Broja and sign some other back up keeper, I just don't see this scenario where the entire first team has gone and we're left playing the loan army as our first team!!!

I think Pat is jumping the gun, with so much uncertainty at the moment over what comes after Abramovich.

He might be right, but there's also a possibility nothing changes drastically. We may not dominate the way we used to, but I think we'll still be thereabouts competing for the major trophies.

3 minutes ago, Jezz said:

I think Pat is jumping the gun, with so much uncertainty at the moment over what comes after Abramovich.

He might be right, but there's also a possibility nothing changes drastically. We may not dominate the way we used to, but I think we'll still be thereabouts competing for the major trophies.

Indeed. We won't know until the new owners settle in.

I think any new owner coming in, will have that ghost of Roman to try and live up to, his legacy won't be forgotten by fans, and i'm sure with all interested parties, he'll pass on the club to the people he believes best suit the spirit of cfc........., i'm personally hoping it will be a consortium led by Mr Candy, who could ask for more than a longterm season ticket holder, who is seriously minted, and a property developer, the new Bridge beckons.......KTBFFH

30 minutes ago, Ballack & Blu said:

I think any new owner coming in, will have that ghost of Roman to try and live up to, his legacy won't be forgotten by fans, and i'm sure with all interested parties, he'll pass on the club to the people he believes best suit the spirit of cfc........., i'm personally hoping it will be a consortium led by Mr Candy, who could ask for more than a longterm season ticket holder, who is seriously minted, and a property developer, the new Bridge beckons.......KTBFFH

They are not going to want to lose money either. If they don't look after the club and asset strip us and we end up relegated how much will they get back then? They will need us to be in the PL and CL.

Surely Roman not having Chelsea running up billions of debt is a financial asset to Roman? We were a drain on his resources! 

I just hope we aren't forced to sell our top players, unless they are lukaku and werner.

Is Chelsea FC in its current state a good investment?

There are buyers lining up and making inquiries. As a pure investment probably not the way it is run today and the last 20 years but the brand and sports it is involved in is a massive asset.

Russian (some anyway) owners use their sports teams to make further connections in the business world and show their stature amongst the wealthy. So making profit (with the sports club) never seems the goal in their world. The money they make come from something else. 

Now that we are looking at a non-russian owner to take over it is more simple. Make money or have that sports-team make the owner synergy-benefits. American owners insist on making revenue. In fact many times that is their only goal. Winning is just a plus. 

Not that I have anything against American owners I know we will change as a club, the culture will change and the way Chelsea is perceived in the sports community. It is more shiny marketing, making some things look better and winning secondary. Under Roman there was no free-pass on that. Don't win, thank you but get out.

What I don't understand is, if Roman is not getting a penny out of the sale, why is he asking full market value?

Might as well sell for a pittance to make sure it goes to the right owner.

Is there some kind of law that says that cannot happen?

 

It’s clear a takeover will happen sooner rather than later. The big question is… do we run out of money in the meantime. 4-6 weeks is a long time with our wage bill and outgoings.

If the takeover isn’t completed quickly, do we get a bailout or get put into administration, and deducted points. All through no fault of the club. It’s unprecedented.

13 minutes ago, Adamrb said:

It’s clear a takeover will happen sooner rather than later. The big question is… do we run out of money in the meantime. 4-6 weeks is a long time with our wage bill and outgoings.

If the takeover isn’t completed quickly, do we get a bailout or get put into administration, and deducted points. All through no fault of the club. It’s unprecedented.

I don't exactly know what that 'government message' meant but they say there is no reason to hurt the operation. However you UK people know the culture better in your country. Will they use Chelsea as an example...?

I heard yesterday that the monthly expenses of Chelsea FC are around £28m and at the moment the club has about £16m in the bank. If we can't get money in soon, not sure how this is going to leave us at the end of the month.

I love Pat Nevin he's a Chelsea legend who was so unlike 80's footballers but I do think he plays to the populist view at times. He doesn't wear his Chelsea heart on his sleeve at all and sometimes comes out with questionable statements he was making the case for Emma Hayes to get the job instead of Tuchel which was never going to happen. He still works for the club but he's still basically from the outside looking in so I don't know how he's made that statement about us never challenging for any trophy again.

Shockingly fair comments from Garth Crooks, of all people:

Chelsea managed a gutsy win in testing circumstances…. 
 

Antonio Rudiger: Under normal circumstances a win at home against Newcastle United by the European champions, regardless of the Geordie resurgence, would not have required special mention. However in the current climate I thought this was an outstanding performance by Chelsea who have been thrown into turmoil by government sanctions imposed on them. Rudiger is one of their key players who is out of contract at the end of the season, with the club now unable to renegotiate his contract due to the sanctions. You would never have known by the passion, determination and sheer enthusiasm of his performance. Looking at the attitude of the players and manager after the match one or two might still hang around regardless of their contractual situation. Read more about this extraordinary situation unfolding at Chelsea in the Crooks of the Matter below.

Did you know? Rudiger has made more headed clearances (36) and won more aerial duels (48) than any other Chelsea player in the Premier League this season.

The Crooks of the Matter

I find myself, and for the third consecutive week, writing about the fortunes of Chelsea Football Club and its owner. The truth of the matter is no-one actually knows their fortunes anymore, particularly since Her Majesty's Government imposed sanctions on the club. The sanctions have left Chelsea unable to sell matchday tickets, merchandise, or renegotiate contracts due to the new measures. It has also left supporters unable to attend games unless they are season ticket holders. No transfers in or out will have a big impact on the club as this could allow some of their best players to leave Stamford Bridge having not renewed their contracts. 

These sanctions were supposed to hurt Roman Abramovich, who has now lost a £3bn asset and £1.5bn in loans. But it has also hurt a football club's ability to operate. The players might be loaded and can wait until the club is sold in order to be paid and for the club to renew its financial activities but there will be people on their payroll who can't.

This will cause massive uncertainty for all the club's employees, however glorified they might be, not least the manager Thomas Tuchel. The German seems to have been thrust into the glare and appears to be the only articulate voice at the club prepared to say anything remotely coherent on this matter at all.

I'm sure it was never the government's intention to hurt the innocent parties in this particular matter, and they would say they are doing it so money can't be taken out of or made for Chelsea by one of Vladimir Putin's known associates as part of a so-called cultural war.

It's right and proper that individuals should be made accountable for their actions and, where appropriate, even their relationships. But this issue here is about Abramovich and not Chelsea Football Club, and I'm not sure the licence they have been granted does enough to protect the club as a cultural asset - as it was supposed to do.

Edited March 14, 20224 yr by Upsetter

I can understand sanctioning Abramovitch on the basis of guilt by association, right or wrong. But destroying the club cannot be right. I wonder if a legal challenge is possible. 

7 hours ago, Ballack & Blu said:

I think any new owner coming in, will have that ghost of Roman to try and live up to, his legacy won't be forgotten by fans, and i'm sure with all interested parties, he'll pass on the club to the people he believes best suit the spirit of cfc........., i'm personally hoping it will be a consortium led by Mr Candy, who could ask for more than a longterm season ticket holder, who is seriously minted, and a property developer, the new Bridge beckons.......KTBFFH

Candy alone sadly doesn't have the money to improve us, just to balance books. We will still have to sell players and let go of Rudiger if he buys us. 

Edited March 14, 20224 yr by Mana

9 hours ago, Oli said:

I assumed the debt was to him and we dont owe external sources. And therefore he was wiping it.

Debt in football is a very very interesting one because for me it’s the Elephant in the room that is conveniently ignored

I posted an article yesterday that was talking about the debt that we seem to have in relation to Lukakus transfer and anyone with an ounce of common sense would readily acknowledge that as being likely but the counter to that is that are nett transfer debt is close to zero. There are very very few PL clubs that don’t have to pay  nett significant sums from cash flow in respect of historical transfers indeed again as I pointed out if you look at just Arsenal they  owed over £200 million and that’s before you talk about the £200 million they owed the owners in respect of the fact they had to refinance the stadium debt and in all likelihood, according to Arsenal Supporters Trust had to inject more money and had also to use the £70 million facility they have at Barclays.

For me close season, which we will get to we really have to move on the really big earners such as Kepa, such as Lukaku, such as Kante and indeed Jorginho. If we can sell them great but the first two may well have to be on loan.

If we can cut our wage bill by £30 -£50 million that will significantly change the landscape similarity we have to accept that we  can’t carry the levels of amortisation we have seen in the past . In other words we are going to have to trust the academy even more and the transfer mistakes we have witnessed such as Drinkwater, Bakyoko and yes Kepa can not be repeated.

But back to transfer debt.  It really isn’t much talked about but fair few number of PL clubs sell on the out saying sums they are owed. In business it’s known I believe in factoring Chelsea haven’t ever done that.

 

In effect how it works  .Leicester are one such club that adopts this practice say made a  down payment of say £15 million  when they sold Mc Guire to Utd  but the balance of say £70 million , was sold for say £65 million  cash to a company who Utd continued to pay the balance.

But it goes further than that because some clubs sell in advance the central TV monies that they will receive 

We have been totally insulated because of RA but I suspect not just at Chelsea but things are going to change everywhere

 

On 12/03/2022 at 11:50, nonotnowjim said:

No it isnt....

If you genuinely think that the UK government have taken the war in Ukraine, as an opportunity to target Chelsea out of jealousy, then you really need to do a bit of studying about how government and foreign policy works....

I wasn't referring to the government targeting us out of jealousy, I was referring to the wider football community, media, pundits, rival fans and the like but thanks for the tip sweetheart. 

If Roman has any leverage on Putin that card is already played by putting on that sanction by UK. 

It doesn't need to go beyond Roman. Government can make it so. With ease. Lift the sanctions, let Chelsea operate as a business making sure Roman doesn't get any money or have anything positive come to his end. 

Could Roman sell Chelsea to someone for 1 pound and let the debt unpaid? Bruce Buck for example. 

I’m surprised how many people still seem to think we’ll survive this sanction on Abramovich. I believe the government could not care less if we disappear. In fact, it’s probably easier for them if we do go bankrupt quickly.

Rather than discussing which Arab might chuck money at us (which they won’t), we probably should be discussing if and how a new Chelsea FC can re-enter the football pyramid.

21 minutes ago, Snedger said:

I’m surprised how many people still seem to think we’ll survive this sanction on Abramovich. I believe the government could not care less if we disappear. In fact, it’s probably easier for them if we do go bankrupt quickly.

Rather than discussing which Arab might chuck money at us (which they won’t), we probably should be discussing if and how a new Chelsea FC can re-enter the football pyramid.

Guess it will be FC Chelsea and like the phoenix we would rise again. 

If we get bought out we will survive as Chelsea FC but things might be different. Been a supporter since 1976 (born 71) so I have seen it all. Relegation/promotion, Bates saving the club, Johnny H's blue and white army, Johnny Neal getting club back on track with some terrific signings. 

On the plus side the fans own the ground. Imagine FC Chelsea v Slough Town et al at the bridge. FC Chelsea on non league tour and before you know, we are the boys in division 2 and we won't be here for long.

34 minutes ago, Snedger said:

I’m surprised how many people still seem to think we’ll survive this sanction on Abramovich. I believe the government could not care less if we disappear. In fact, it’s probably easier for them if we do go bankrupt quickly.

Rather than discussing which Arab might chuck money at us (which they won’t), we probably should be discussing if and how a new Chelsea FC can re-enter the football pyramid.

We will survive, I am not sure in what form, we might do something akin to what happened to Rangers at worst in my opinion.   

3 hours ago, terraloon said:

In effect how it works  .Leicester are one such club that adopts this practice say made a  down payment of say £15 million  when they sold Mc Guire to Utd  but the balance of say £70 million , was sold for say £65 million  cash to a company who Utd continued to pay the balance.

But it goes further than that because some clubs sell in advance the central TV monies that they will receive 

We have been totally insulated because of RA but I suspect not just at Chelsea but things are going to change everywhere

Excellent post. It really is frightening. Maybe you can answer this. If a debt is sold to a third-party, can said third-party control the level of interest or is this fixed in the sales contract and cannot be altered. A lot of clubs are robbing Peter to pay Paul as you say and no-one is immune, except for perhaps City and the barcodes.

1 hour ago, Snedger said:

I’m surprised how many people still seem to think we’ll survive this sanction on Abramovich. I believe the government could not care less if we disappear. In fact, it’s probably easier for them if we do go bankrupt quickly.

Rather than discussing which Arab might chuck money at us (which they won’t), we probably should be discussing if and how a new Chelsea FC can re-enter the football pyramid.

I think a lot in the short term will depend on how flexible the government are over their controls. The suggestion is that they may relieve some of the restrictions over their controls once they see some progress over a potential sale. Assuming a bid is accepted then the change of ownership is then in progress. At that point the restrictions may change a little as they would potentially damage the asset of the new owner, leading to legal issues. Roman isn't in a position to take legal action against sanctions. But a new owner could sue the government.