Prestwich_Blue said:
Gary James said:
It was only when his assets were frozen that he struggled financially and was unable to do what he had planned to do.
Good points about Thaksin Gary but the above isn't right. His assets were actually frozen just before he took over City (about 10 days before) so in view of that, City's lawyers wanted to ensure he still had the wherewithal to complete the deal and asked him the question.
It's my understanding that he produced statements from a number of offshore accounts that were beyond the reach of the Thai authorities, as they were nominee accounts or otherwise couldn't be traced back to him legally. Those accounts held over £1bn allegedly so he wasn't short of money. I don't believe he had any intention of using his funds to further City's cause as one year later we were on the very cusp of going into administration. He'd have seen us go under without a second thought by then.
Just to illustrate how money minded he was, when he took over he also took over the £20m+ of loans that John Wardle & David Makin had made to the club. We never had to pay any capital or even interest on these but interest had accumulated. I think the total owing to them was £25m at that time. He paid them far less than this in return for assigning these loans to him so they lost money.
When ADUG took over, I believe he took the full £25m (which he was entitled to do) but it might have been nice if he had at least split the difference with Wardle and Making, particularly as Wardle had lent the club money to pay wages while Shinawatra owned us. Instead he made a profit of around £10m on those loans alone. David Conn reckons he made about £60m overall (although I think £20m of that related to a loan he'd made soon after the takeover.
Ultimately he got as much for the club as he could and made a profit. Whether Makin & Wardle should have got more is a separate issue - entirely up to them whether they wanted to sell to him or not. In my interviews with John Wardle he has made it perfectly clear that he still feels it was the right thing to do to sell to Thaksin. I personally believe Wardle & Makin were two guys who loved City so much that they didn't particularly care about their own financial gain - naturally Thaksin (and some of his predecessors) held a different view. Wardle & Makin should be applauded for that because, in the modern history of football, few major leaders have put the well-being of their clubs above personal gain.
Thaksin cannot be blamed for getting the club on the cheap - like anything in life the price is what someone's prepared to pay and someone's prepared to sell at. Had City's majority shareholders not wanted to sell for the price offered then they could have held on to the shares (unlike those of us with a few dozen). Likewise the deal between the Sheikh and Thaksin was made at a point that the new owner was content with - otherwise they would have walked away (I've discussed this and the possible outcomes with those directly involved in the negotiations). I know it irks us that Thaksin made some money out of City but, sadly, football's a business.
The fact that the Sheikh was prepared to pay the amount to Thaksin he did isn't Thaksin's fault and, to be frank, when the day comes for the Sheikh to sell the club on that may also see him make significant money out of the club. Of course, we'll feel differently about that (assuming we continue to win trophies and can still see real investment by that time). If the value of City is considerably higher than when bought then so be it.
In terms of Thaksin's financial state at the time he bought the club - John Wardle told me he did all the appropriate checks and was happy that the finances were there.
During Thaksin's ownership there was a very definite change in emphasis at one point from planning for the future to sell, sell, sell. That did tie up with the issues in Thailand. Like you say he could have put the club into admin; he could also have done a Glazer and borrow even more against the club; but instead he appointed a man who knew how to 'sell' the idea of the City 'project' to potential buyer, and then chose to sell to a man with real vision.
