Asian Tiger
In 2010, it's the Chinese year of the tiger.
And it's then that we will really know what the Carson Yeung takeover is all about.
Appropriate it's a tiger, as the Chinese deem them to be lucky, vivid, lively, engaging and not afraid to engage in a battle.
The January transfer window is likely to be crucial for the Premier League future of the club, and let's hope those sort of characteristics come into play.
With the summer deadline on September 1, Blues - much to Alex McLeish's frustration - are struggling to get Michel from Sporting Gijon. The move is all but dead, in fact.
When you consider it, it's pathetic really.
The current directors should just do the business. After all, it's not going to affect the share price Yeung and his group are paying for control of the club. And it would be his tab to pick up.
Unfortunately, it looks as if McLeish will have to make do and mend to the New Year when it comes to players. There could be the odd freebie floating about - Peter Lovenkrands anyone? - or a loan, but otherwise there will be 16 games to negotiate before Eck can get seriously busy.
Yeung was keen to contribute £5 million to help with player recruiting but the Hong Kong Stock Market regulations, and the actual terms of his offer for Blues, meant he was unable to.
Tuncay was targeted and, sources close to Yeung and his associates have told me, McLeish was informed via the board and granted his blessing to go for it. Then realisation dawned.
Sammy Yu, chief operating officer of Grandtop International (pictured), spoke to Boro's chief executive Keith Lamb.
He was at the Spurs-Blues game on Saturday and Karren Brady, in her newspaper column, described him as 'the chap who is replacing me'.
Brady, as we have predicted, is unlikely to stay on in her present capacity. Joining The Apprentice shows the direction her career is heading. I bet she will start to get offers for the various reality television shows on our screens too.
Anyway, back to future. In January, that's when Yeung will show the colour of his money to impact the happenings on the pitch.
Speaking to people close to Yeung and Yu these past few days, McLeish will have the final say and won't have players hoisted upon him.
Just how much will be made available to spend remains to be seen but the Yeung camp are acutely aware that Premier League survival is the be all and end all of their first eight months at the helm (the takeover is on course to be completed in around five weeks).
Steve McManaman won't be parachuted in either to take control of team affairs. His role is likely to remain one of a figurehead's to boost Yeung's prestige in the Far East.
Sources have stressed that the finance and backing is there, and the plan to make the club financially healthy primarily off the back of the huge Chinese market is workable.
Deliberately, Yeung and his cohorts have - apart from one Hong Kong press conference - maintained their silence.
Again, speaking to people who know them, this has been a deliberate policy. They want to to gain power before revealing their hand, and I sense this time there is a quiet determination about them all.
Certainly, they don't seem as naive and excitable as they were two years ago when Yeung bought a 29.9 per cent stake and then matters descended into farce.
Personally, from what I have heard and been told, I am more encouraged now than I was back then about which way the club could be heading. But I will reserve my right to remain cautious at the same time.
Especially with January still to come and go.
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Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum’s view of what’s going on at Birmingham City FC.
Tatts its a simple one : Katy Perry - yes or no?
Or
Lilly Allen
Who da f@ck is Katy Perry?? Huh?
See the local idiots are still about, why doesn't care in the community work?
Nice blog Tatts, assuming this takeover goes through by end of September, how soon before David Sullivan and Golds leave the club?
My guess is as soon as possible, due to the ungracious behaviour displayed by many fans, pity they spent 16 years overhauling and keeping the good name of Birmingham City Football Club going, the fans it has now are parasites expecting everyone, other than themselves to spend money unconditionally, this present board have tried many schemes to drum up backing, but the internet louts started a hate campaign and have successfully driven away potential fans by the bus load.
Carson Yeung may have a dignified silence at present, but the moment these louts round on him and Grandtop, will be the day when Tesco's occupy the patch of ground crrently known as St.Andrews.
Eric, thats biggest pile of excrement that I have ever read. And i've been reading Kristoffs posts on SHA for years!
But I agree about your care in the community comment, your post is a shining example of its failings.
Care in the community doesnt work because people dont care.
Why bother doing a blog Tatts on the most significant event in Blues history when some people are more concerned with their childish 'banter'? The present board have got to go. I am glad Brady is off all she cares about is herself and her career as a 'celebrity' (cough, splutter). The joke of the Michel transfer says it all really. It sounds like Yeung means business this time and I really do hope they listen to fans and provide proper investment, in the team and in the club. They only need to treat fans like they care and understand they are customers not cash machines to be cynically ripped off and fed spin, spin and more spin.
Tosh Thongs, total Tosh, you need to get away from sha, it's turned you into a deluded fool!
St.Andrews & BCFC were on the verge of obscurity before Sullivan arrived, the only other contender was Lynch, of Lynch scaffolding, no-one else waded in and bought the club, warts, debts and all!
Give Sullivan & Gold some credit, as well as Karren Brady, they have transformed the club into what it is today albeit the Taylor report and recommendations were significant in the re-development of the ground, but year on year BCFC has remained in profit, not once going into the red, due to the crafted management of the three mentioned above.
Of course they were in it for the money, that's exactly what business men do, the problem with their plan was fans expecting them to dip into their own fortunes to spend whenever the fans demanded it, their act of prudency has been the mainstay of the club, if this was left to the fans, we'd have fallen foul of the league rules a long time ago, we'd have probably been playing non-league football alonsgside solihull borough!
You won't know wat you had until it's gone!
Eric, don't blame the fans, thats the board's biggest mistake.
Eric, "crafted management"? What sort of crafted management reduces the club to a point where even the Birmingham Mail's correspondent is driven in his frustration to describe the current situation as "pathetic".
16 years or so is a long time for the fans to remain grateful - the board are now walking away with their share of £81m. I'm so pleased for them.
Good riddance to them and I suggest you go and get a season ticket at their next port of call (Norwich, Dagenham, West Ham, Cardiff etc etc).
I think Eric's been on the ecstasy tabs again, he's so loved up with dirty Dave and the Golds.
True enough they saved us from the mire the Kumars left us in, but they've been a bit disingenuous over a few issues.
They've kidded us that they have only the best interests of Blues at heart but a significant minority of Blues fans have refused to subscribe to the spin.
They lambasted Yeung and his cronies first time round, saying they wouldn't sell to such a person. Yet they suddenly about faced when he showed he had the necessary wonga to make a deal.
Believe me, they would sell us to Mugabe if he had enough readies! Fair enough, it's a business after all.
They have told us they have listened to Blues fans' concerns. I notice they still want to charge £48 for the Villa match though.
What happened to the planned development of the main stand promised years ago? A three-tier stand that would take capacity up to 36,000. Nothing.
They had to be boycotted and abused before they came out with a 10-point plan to re-engage fans. I suspect they did this, not because they give a monkey's about the fans, but because they knew many fans would boycott games if things didn't change. Many Blues fans have stayed away because of prices and Villa won’t sell out.
I get fed up with mindless criticism of the board. After all if you swim with sharks, etc. But I also get tired of listening to these Sullivan/Gold/Mrs Peschisolido apologists who carp on about their endless generosity.
They bought the club for £1. They have made loans through their various companies and those loans have been repaid in full, plus interest. They now "trouser £40m" according to Colin's blog.
Not bad for 16 years' part-time work!
I've no doubt Yeung is in it for the money too but selling shirts and club knick-knacks in Beijing seems to me to be fairer than incessantly fleecing the poor people of Brum, who incidentally love their club through thick and thin - even if they don't want to line Sullivan and the Golds' pockets.
The fans will come back when Yeung takes over and they’ll give him the benefit of the doubt just like they did to the last lot. It’s up to Yeung whether he really respects the wishes of the fans, who will vote accordingly by either turning up to the ground or staying at home.
I will be sorry to see Karen Brady go as she has done a sterling job over the last 16 or so years. We have to remember that Carsen Yeung may not have been interested in a club that was financially astable and we would have to stay in yo yo land living off the Premiership handouts that you receive after Championship promotion - always assuming we could do it again?
The type of football you get in this environment is never going to sell tickets and if we are to free ourselves from this futile position, we have to move forward with new and greater resources. Hopefully Carson Yeung can provide these and when the football improves, tickets will sell and those who have a problem with the club or feel they have some emotional right to have a say in the running of the club will get left behind.
Finally there are not many businessmen who would wait 16 years for £40m, as there capital and efforts could be employed for a better return on investment over such a long period, so I for one am grateful to the board for providing safe hands.
It's clear that the only way to survive in the Premiership is by having the resource to compete and when the resource comes the football comes and the tickets get sold. Man U don't sell 70,000 tickets per game because of some Manc loyalty.
Man City and Tottenham are now proving what can be done with 100m and if Big Eck had the resources i,m sure he would bring us on, although that would take some time. Kaka wouldn't turn up at the blues unless he thought we could win something at international level as he can demand the money anywhere, so it would be 3 -5 years of investment before the big players would start to come and then we would need a new stand with 60,00 seats!
The future is bright for BCfC
Tatts, you do realise that the Chinese new year - the year of the tiger - doesn't start until February 14th don't you? Until then it's the year of the Ox, slow, hard working and dependable.
Great.