Eisner’s ownership that is ?
I can see two likely end games, there are plenty of others but less certain.
1) Eisner dies (or becomes non compos mentis)
He’s 80 next year and the grim reaper hovers, I’m older and am constantly reminded of the frailty of life by the number of funerals I attend (and money doesn’t buy immortality as Steve Jobs and Jimmy Goldsmith found out).
My bet is that if he goes in the next 4 or 5 years his family will sell up PDQ in the same way as did Martin Gregory. They will appoint M&A specialists to get the best price…..and you can forget the ‘safe pair of hands’ nonsense, it will be best all-cash offer buys PFC.
2) Eisner remains hale and hearty
The North Stand improvements eventually get finished with its increased capacity, it will be a great, great time to sell, Eisner will be around 85/86 and probably bored with PFC. He will look to maximise the sale price so he can claim “I bought it for chicken feed, spent nothing on it and sold it at a super profit, I’m still a player”.
He knows exactly how the divestment game is played and is therefore increasing the value of one of the key PFC assets ie Fratton Park from the revenue stream (ticket sales, merchandising, sponsorship, TV and iFollow etc) not from debt, all the money spent on the ground will of course be added back to the value of the asset- a win, win if ever there was one.
At the same time he is ruthlessly cutting back on spend (players, employees etc, cut back anything that doesn’t show an immediate return).
My expectation is he will try to sell for NAV plus Goodwill of around 8 x Profits (well above average but Eisner is clearly financially very savvy). His building up of the assets and reducing costs whilst maintaining turnover will simply jack up profits and cash (on his assumption that the Fratton Faithfull can be relied upon to troop up to Fratton Park as they have for the last 4 seasons).
All this may stick in the throats of we Pompey fans but PFC is a very, very rich man’s plaything, he does what he wants, not what we want, he’s not a football man, he is simply an investor.
Welcome to The Pleasure-dome !
He's certainly not getting my money very often anymore. Fecking shyster!
It seems an awful lot of hassle for a very speculative return. Time will tell and I know your experience in business matters so it's a possibility.
My question would be that at the time it was bought were there really no better prospects around for turning a profit, either here or the US?
He bought it for his family and son Eric takes a much more active role in the club than he does so if he dies it does not necessarily mean they will sell. Not saying they might not sell anyway, just that his health need not be a factor in that decision.
Any profit from selling would be small. Despite getting it cheap we know they have spent 10m on the ground plus whatever they had tp put in to keep things going during Covid. I can't see anyone paying 20m for the club at the moment , so any decent profit will depend on promotion and they are not rushing that so selling for a profit does not appear to be high on their priority list.
Interesting conjecture Wight.
Do any of us know why he bought the club in the first place?
Was it purely financial to make a profit & sell on or was it more as a philantropist to be a Chairmain of an English Football Club as other wealthy American owners have?
He admitted he didn't know much about U.K. Soccerf as Americans refer to it as so appointed advisors & a manager he thought he could trust.
He comes across as a genuine genuine Nice guy in interviews but feel he's a bit out of his depth & too cut off frm the Day to Day running of the club.
I'm sure he' sas fed up as all the supporters are of lack of promotion again last season but if & when we do finally get there. I don't think he realises how much h ewill need to invest in players & wages at Championship level so my hunch is he will try to sell out then. He'll get a higher price but there's No guarantee we'll get promoted for some time.
and been a lot more cut off due to covid. But still agreed to buy roko despite much reduced income.
Still building off the pitch despite the ticketing chaos.
Urgently need to see some signs that this squad can play together in a postitive manner.
As a professional football club after having a decent ground & pitch the next important bit is have your own training ground that you own & Not be reliant on 3rd parties. The on the pitch bit is down to the manager & the players which started well but has come off the rails. I recommend that DC holds out the Olive branch to Jacobs who can help in the attacking formation. Don't sideline him like Jackett did with Pitman & Evans. He cost us promotion by doing that!
The owners are playing a long game which is fine but most supporters rightly think of what’s in front of them week in week out, and there hasn’t been a great deal to crow about recently has there. I’d just like to see some passion and fire and giving back as good as we get, if we lose 2-3 a fair bit then so what. So Danny, mate - bin the friggin Ipad and bollix talk about 6 and 8s and give us something to cheer……please…..
Do remember, all the money Eisner spends on Assets (‘Improving’ the North Stand, buying Roko etc) is money he will get back as and when the club is sold, he is shrewd enough, I am sure, to get more for the assets than he paid.
I don’t know why he purchased the club (maybe its an old guy’s vanity project) but he paid a pittance for it so probably (and correctly) felt that he couldn’t go wrong, he might just come a bit unstuck if the revenue from fans and sponsors suddenly fell dramatically but he is probably right in assuming the fans will continue to buy tickets and merchandise.
The emotional tie to Pompey is an almost unbreakable bond for somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 fans, Eisner knows this full well and relies on them to carry the greater weight for providing the revenue stream.
His main mistake thus far has been not to employ a real ‘heavyweight’ football man to advise him, someone who knows the pitfalls of club ownership and who can flag up potential problems (especially in the area of management both on and off the field). Someone who might even have engineered promotion (I do say ‘might’).
Neither Catlin or Cullen had/have anything like the experience required, but maybe Eisner is happy to soldier on in League 1.
The employment of a team manager is fraught whatever division Pompey are in and employing any new manager is a high risk business but someone who knows the ropes and issues would have been invaluable during Eisner’s ownership, he might well have advised against extending KJ’s contract for instance.
I can’t make my mind up whether we are in Limbo or Purgatory but whichever it is, I think we are going to be in it for a long, long time !
(21-09-2021, 11:44 AM)Wightblue Wrote: [ -> ]Do remember, all the money Eisner spends on Assets (‘Improving’ the North Stand, buying Roko etc) is money he will get back as and when the club is sold, he is shrewd enough, I am sure, to get more for the assets than he paid.
I don’t know why he purchased the club (maybe its an old guy’s vanity project) but he paid a pittance for it so probably (and correctly) felt that he couldn’t go wrong, he might just come a bit unstuck if the revenue from fans and sponsors suddenly fell dramatically but he is probably right in assuming the fans will continue to buy tickets and merchandise.
The emotional tie to Pompey is an almost unbreakable bond for somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 fans, Eisner knows this full well and relies on them to carry the greater weight for providing the revenue stream.
His main mistake thus far has been not to employ a real ‘heavyweight’ football man to advise him, someone who knows the pitfalls of club ownership and who can flag up potential problems (especially in the area of management both on and off the field). Someone who might even have engineered promotion (I do say ‘might’).
Neither Catlin or Cullen had/have anything like the experience required, but maybe Eisner is happy to soldier on in League 1.
The employment of a team manager is fraught whatever division Pompey are in and employing any new manager is a high risk business but someone who knows the ropes and issues would have been invaluable during Eisner’s ownership, he might well have advised against extending KJ’s contract for instance.
I can’t make my mind up whether we are in Limbo or Purgatory but whichever it is, I think we are going to be in it for a long, long time !
God you’re a bundle of fun aren’t you?
I take it the antidepressants aren’t working.
I can honestly say that I never give the owners a second thought, except when they make some announcement on the ground, training ground or management. I don’t begrudge them any money they may make, as long as the club progresses. I know things aren’t going well on the pitch at the moment but I have a feeling things will pick up.
During the football season I think, heaven forbid, about the football. That is, after all, the point if it all.
Actually ExG, I am as happy as Larry !
I’ve just heard that Mrs WB and I can resume our annual trip trip to Palm Springs (from Mid January till end of April which means Pompey on iFollow for me).
Four months of sunshine playing some great golf courses, jaunts to Vegas, San Diego, LA, Phoenix and Tahoe, I really don’t need any anti-depressants.
Funnily enough, the four and a quarter seasons of near dross served up by Pompey seemed to matter a lot less when the sun was shining in PS and my iFollow season ticket cost me the thick end of bugger all.
I meant that I was not sure whether Pompey were in Limbo or Purgatory, I still can’t work out which, perhaps you can enlighten me as to which one word best sums up Pompey’s condition……transition maybe ? But transition to what ? Or maybe consolidation but for how long will we be consolidating ?
You see ExG, I’m way into my eighties and have hoped to see Pompey back in the Premiership before I die but under current circumstances, I stand absolutely no chance……but there and again, I did see the greatest team to pull on The Pompey Shirt and see them win back to back Championships, perhaps that’s enough for any Pompey supporter !
(21-09-2021, 01:50 PM)Wightblue Wrote: [ -> ]Actually ExG, I am as happy as Larry !
I’ve just heard that Mrs WB and I can resume our annual trip trip to Palm Springs (from Mid January till end of April which means Pompey on iFollow for me).
Four months of sunshine playing some great golf courses, jaunts to Vegas, San Diego, LA, Phoenix and Tahoe, I really don’t need any anti-depressants.
Funnily enough, the four and a quarter seasons of near dross served up by Pompey seemed to matter a lot less when the sun was shining in PS and my iFollow season ticket cost me the thick end of bugger all.
I meant that I was not sure whether Pompey were in Limbo or Purgatory, I still can’t work out which, perhaps you can enlighten me as to which one word best sums up Pompey’s condition……transition maybe ? But transition to what ? Or maybe consolidation but for how long will we be consolidating ?
You see ExG, I’m way into my eighties and have hoped to see Pompey back in the Premiership before I die but under current circumstances, I stand absolutely no chance……but there and again, I did see the greatest team to pull on The Pompey Shirt and see them win back to back Championships, perhaps that’s enough for any Pompey supporter !
Well cheers Wightblue, I hope you really enjoy your time in the sun.
Actually I’m champing at the bit to travel again, although my next trip is in the UK to Durham for a week in November. I doubt the UV levels will compare to Palm Springs
.
I can’t say I miss the Premier League but I hope we make it back there, obviously.
Have fun.
(21-09-2021, 01:50 PM)Wightblue Wrote: [ -> ]Actually ExG, I am as happy as Larry !
I’ve just heard that Mrs WB and I can resume our annual trip trip to Palm Springs (from Mid January till end of April which means Pompey on iFollow for me).
Four months of sunshine playing some great golf courses, jaunts to Vegas, San Diego, LA, Phoenix and Tahoe, I really don’t need any anti-depressants.
Funnily enough, the four and a quarter seasons of near dross served up by Pompey seemed to matter a lot less when the sun was shining in PS and my iFollow season ticket cost me the thick end of bugger all.
I meant that I was not sure whether Pompey were in Limbo or Purgatory, I still can’t work out which, perhaps you can enlighten me as to which one word best sums up Pompey’s condition……transition maybe ? But transition to what ? Or maybe consolidation but for how long will we be consolidating ?
You see ExG, I’m way into my eighties and have hoped to see Pompey back in the Premiership before I die but under current circumstances, I stand absolutely no chance……but there and again, I did see the greatest team to pull on The Pompey Shirt and see them win back to back Championships, perhaps that’s enough for any Pompey supporter !
"
I did see the greatest team to pull on The Pompey Shirt and see them win back to back Championships, perhaps that’s enough for any Pompey supporter !"
Lets face it, we are never gonna reach those highs again so I'd not worry too much. You've seen more in your lifetime than the vast majority of current PFC supporters will ever see. I'd happily forgo a few promotions over the next few years in a trade for such memories. Aside from the top 10-15 or so clubs, pretty much every other team in my lifetime has spent more years battling the lows than celebrating the highs.
(21-09-2021, 11:44 AM)Wightblue Wrote: [ -> ]Do remember, all the money Eisner spends on Assets (‘Improving’ the North Stand, buying Roko etc) is money he will get back as and when the club is sold, he is shrewd enough, I am sure, to get more for the assets than he paid.
I don’t know why he purchased the club (maybe its an old guy’s vanity project) but he paid a pittance for it so probably (and correctly) felt that he couldn’t go wrong, he might just come a bit unstuck if the revenue from fans and sponsors suddenly fell dramatically but he is probably right in assuming the fans will continue to buy tickets and merchandise.
The emotional tie to Pompey is an almost unbreakable bond for somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 fans, Eisner knows this full well and relies on them to carry the greater weight for providing the revenue stream.
His main mistake thus far has been not to employ a real ‘heavyweight’ football man to advise him, someone who knows the pitfalls of club ownership and who can flag up potential problems (especially in the area of management both on and off the field). Someone who might even have engineered promotion (I do say ‘might’).
Neither Catlin or Cullen had/have anything like the experience required, but maybe Eisner is happy to soldier on in League 1.
The employment of a team manager is fraught whatever division Pompey are in and employing any new manager is a high risk business but someone who knows the ropes and issues would have been invaluable during Eisner’s ownership, he might well have advised against extending KJ’s contract for instance.
I can’t make my mind up whether we are in Limbo or Purgatory but whichever it is, I think we are going to be in it for a long, long time !
TBH Wight Blue you're totally on the money with this post. Improving the ground which he had to do anyway for a PCC H&S certificate or have part ground closure. The Roko was an astute piece of business assuming th eprice was right & is another asset on the balance sheet when prospective buyers are doing their due diligence on the club. You're right that financially M.E. is pretty astute but allowint KJ a contract extension was a criminal act in most people's book for achieving nothing!
EG you are also right in thinking of what's happening on the pitch. That's been pretty apauling for sometime. a couple of seasons ago with Lowe & Curtis & few others we should have skated this division but KJ & Jacketball halted that. For some reason it may all come down again to the make or break dreaded January transfer window hopefully for a promotion push but it may be to stave off relegation who knows at this stage. PUP!
Based on all the previous January windows we are doomed then