The saga keeps right on
Trying to get to the bottom of the current Carson Yeung controversy is like attempting to unravel a never ending plate of spaghetti.
There is no clarity, no certainty to anything. Secrecy, hearsay and speculation rule.
Any hard 'facts' can be interpreted a number of ways and ultimately the only man who really knows what's going on is Yeung himself, and he's not telling.
Birmingham City's finances are in a worrying state.
It's not in Ken Wheldon turns the lights off territory, and predictions of a Portsmouth seem to be way off the mark.
But certainly there is cause of concern and the next few months are likely to be crucial is ascertaining just which way Yeung and Blues are heading.
Relegation was absolutely disastrous. Chris Hughton (pictured) certainly has his work cut out to try and re-establish Blues in the top-flight and the new manager and the team he fashions needs the unqualified support of every fan at this moment.
Even before Yeung's arrest over alleged money laundering, the situation was grim.
Shortly after the Carling Cup victory, Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL) announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that their businesses had totted up debts of more than £29 million.
A share placement designed to raise £24.5 million brought in £6.8 million, which was fully underwritten.
Yeung mortaged property, including his 'des res' on The Peak - the second most expensive road in the world to live on - against a £12.5 million loan.
Yeung had also struck a whole host of land and property deals which may or may not bring in money in years to come.
All this came after warnings back in October 2010, from Birmingham City's full year accounts.
It was stated that £7.5 million from parent company BIHL was needed in the short-term to operate as a going concern.
And it forecast that a further requirement of funding of up to £3 million was needed in June 2011 - and that was if Blues avoided relegation.
Blues and BIHL are inextricably linked. Blues represented 94.5 per cent of BIHL's turnover for the six months to December 31, 2010.
At the season's end I was told that a financial black hole estimated to be in the region £25 million - £30 million had to filled. That figure, however, may have been conservative as this was despite 17 players leaving.
Players need to be sold, and Alex McLeish was told this before he jumped ship. Hughton received the same communication too.
McLeish embarked on a Bosman hunt, for obvious reasons, before he opted to quit, and Hughton has carried on that philosophy.
I believe a wage ceiling was mooted, with a proposal that no new recruit could be added to the ranks on more than £15,000-a-week. If indeed implemented, this may
not be cast in stone. The manager may be able to argue special cases, or juggle the overall budget.
Ultimately, the players who could fetch the most in transfer fees, and the high-earners, are open to offers.
The gravity of the situation became clearer when Craig Gardner went.
It was swift, to help see Blues through these next months as most of the money was paid up front. And at £25,000-a-week, plus appearances, his was such a wage in
the Championship that the board were decidely uneasy about.
Peter Pannu has promised, and reiterated, that there would be no firesale. Most people and observers seem to believe that half the squad will be flogged off regardless.
But I am led to believe it could well be that some of the big hitters are kept, if asking prices are not met, or once the board feel they have brought in enough revenue.
Just exactly how much that would be is not clear. Only those in Hong Kong know, and most of the parachute payment of £16 million may even be swallowed up.
Yeung's arrest over alleged money laundering has only added to the fog of uncertainty and heightened concern about Blues long-term validity.
If convicted Yeung could face 14 years in jail and the implications for Blues would then be huge.
It has been suggested that everything would fall apart and Blues would go under. That is not necessarily the case when you consider Yeung holds 26.31 per cent of BIHL.
The other shareholders, or new shareholders, could take on Yeung's stake and run BIHL.
And a statement issued by BIHL to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said the charges against Yeung did not relate to the company or Blues.
However, to this point BIHL has certainly been Yeung's baby and he has been the driving force of it, and the club.
Blues and BIHL are inextricably linked. Blues represented 94.5 per cent of BIHL's turnover for the six months to December 31, 2010.
There are dozens of minor shareholders and whether they would have the financial clout, the acumen or the will considering what has been happening to BIHL - it's as if they have been quite happy to let Yeung get on with it - is anyone's guess.
Liu Xingcheng is the largest individual shareholder after Yeung. He owns 11.66 per cent but is mystery figure. It has been suggested that he is a lawyer based in Beijing, but hardly anything is known about him, or has been disclosed on request.
Kingston Securities, an arm of Kingston Financial group co-founded by Pollyanna Chu and her husband, has 6.10 per cent and Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) 10.26 per cent. Blues chairman Vico Hui owns 4.21 per cent.
Out in Hong Kong, some observers of the case against Yeung insist that it is weak and he has been targeted because of his name. There has also been doubt cast over whether the money in the scrutinised bank accounts has indeed come from criminal activity.
And then in the last few days, we heard news of a request to freeze the assets of Yeung, his ex-wife Li Yongshi and an investment company, on a separate issue.
The whole saga is set to drag on and if there does come a tipping point either way, then it's unlikely to be any time soon.
Older/Newer
10 Comments
Profile
Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum's view of what's going on at Birmingham City FC.
I wish we had a sennsible man at the helm like Steev Morgan
It's very difficult to draw any positives out of all this. Fact is had we stayed up Yeung still would have got arrested and the increasing speculation about his finances and impact on Blues would have still continued regardless. Even if he comes out of this with all allegations dropped it'll still be with a tarnished reputation and then still the question remains- what does the future hold for Blues? I feel we'd have gone down next season anyway...it's the only way I can cope with what's going on now, players I believe would have still been sold and out of contract players and loanees left to go, it seems we've just got there quicker (The Championship). Who will want to invest in BIH or Blues after all this is over one way or another? Would anyone in their right mind invest? There's more questions than answers, it seems Peter Pannu is the only one who can answer these questions right now, he needs to keep the supporters informed, we need to know the truth. It's our club.
it's not, it's their's
Tatts in your opinion, did Gardner go on the cheap and is the fee for Johnson that is being reported also too cheap? Is our intelligence being insulted once more?
Colin, on the day Yeung sealed his takeover of the club your then editor - Steve Dyson - wrote an editorial saying that Yeung should take care of the club and that the Mail would be watching.
From what I can see the Mail have been asleep. It's about time you woke up. Thanks
whoo an anonymous poster - how brave! I don't think you've been reading much then and I too blame the Mail for being 'asleep' to Yeung in the six year period under investigation by the police before he came to the club!
This is the worst nightmare possible. forget promotion and forget what the board are saying. there IS a firesale and the best players ARE being sold. Gardner and now johnson - on the cheap. And to wolves - how low have we sunk??????
the fans deserve openess and transparency from the board and we are not getting that at the moment.
this is the club I and many others have loved all of our lives and the systematic destruction is unacceptable.
@ Johnny Zulu.
Where do I say anything about Yeung before he came to Birmingham? It's the period since then. From the day Steve Dyson ran his editorial. That's what matters.
In case you hadn't noticed the club's a complete and utter shambles from top to bottom. If you can't see that then it's not only the Mail that's been asleep over the last couple of years. I believe Colin has the ability to be a proper journalist and not just a regional sports hack. Time for him to show it.
The mail needs to find out what the plan is for our club selling players for decent money is one thing but why would we want to sell ferguson or ridgewell for1million each hughton needs backroom quickly in Ireland he's flying the plane driving the bus cooking the food and will be running on with the bucket and sponge find out what's happening to the transfer money demand some answers or try hacking the phones
why is Colin and the Birmingham Mail getting stick for the Carson Yeung mess?
I suppose all of those being critical of colin and the BM were also analysing the transfers of every single transfer made since Yeung took over? Of course you weren't,. You embraced it in the same way we all did, pretending everything was fine.
Easy to be critical with hindsight but it's taken this long for the police in HK to catch up with Yeung. On that basis why should the Bham Mail have done so any sooner? They are a newspaper not a law enforcement department.
Colin and BM are experts on Bham City not the financial manouvreings of Yeung