Thaksin Completes Man City Buyout

[parryhandy]

This city fan understood from the start:

You will note that, as of this evening, some bookies are refusing to take bets on Hughes being the first manager to go and the money has been taken down to 1.02 on betfair.

This club is in turmoil at the moment. The ckub wil rue the day that it ever got involved with this absolute pr1ck who has tried to use it for his own political ends. That hasn't worked and there probably isn't much reason for him to stay involved.

That decision is likely to be taken out of his hands however as the Premier League must do what they should have done a year ago and declare him not to be fit and proper to run a football club. Those rules are supposed to protect clubs and their fans from being used like this by immoral and totally deluded clowns. They did not work and now it is for City to face the consequences.

Who knows how far they will reach and whether this will by the start of something very, very serious for the club. It will not be good though, whatever happens.

Talk of Spurs taking legal action to secure the sale of a player behind the back of the manager just shows a glimpse of how the people who own the club currently work. I am no huge fan of Mark Hughes and his managerial behaviour but I would not hold it against him in the slightest if he decided that he wanted out of this mess. He has been lied to and made to look a fool.

The club is attempting to sell players behind his back a few weeks after the pr1cks in charge spent £19m (yes, £19m) on a Brazilian from the Russian league in the hope that it might attract Ronaldinho and they both can sell shirts and increase exposure in Thailand.

That shows where the priorities lie with this pr1ck. I am fuming and perhaps next time some <deleted> who is obviously an awful thing to be involved with a football club comes along promising money people will look beyond his wallet and run the facker out of town.

[steveromagnino]

This city fan understood from the start:

yeah, but I bet the city fan enjoyed the show put on by Lydia and Mai, the good kind of 3 some that shows the kind of behaviour that earned TRT the title 'Thailand's cabinet to rival the Kennedys'

[plachon]

This city fan understood from the start:

yeah, but I bet the city fan enjoyed the show put on by Lydia and Mai, the good kind of 3 some that shows the kind of behaviour that earned TRT the title 'Thailand's cabinet to rival the Kennedys'

Those "numpties" that enjoyed it seem to have gone awful quiet on here, lost for ways to justify their disgraced Chairman for once perchance?

The Sinatras brought Patpong to Man City for a night, in the mistaken belief that a free cowpat and sexy entertainment, would swing it for them, just like the free morlam sing and a "Soo Thaksin" would do back in Isaan. A few sad dickheads were impressed with his largesse and even admitted it on this thread, but as was predicted all along, it was never a match made in heaven and karma catches up with evil bar stewards in the end, no matter how large their wallets appear to be.

Now, how long will Toxin be able to remain an exile in London, without a daily fan club waiting outside his Knightsbridge and Weybridge residences with custard pies in each hand to welcome him to England's fair and tolerant shores.

[mrtoad]

Even more interesting stuff coming out in the sports pages. I'm sure the British sports hacks are going to get their teeth into this somewhat. All is not what it seems as The Fugitive's football club....

EXCLUSIVE: City in crisis as Shinawatra forced to borrow £2m from ex-chief Wardle just to pay the players

By Ian Ladyman

Last updated at 12:11 AM on 12th August 2008

Daily Mail

The shocking extent of Thaksin Shinawatra’s financial difficulties at Manchester City can be revealed today as it emerged that only last month he had to borrow £2million from former chairman John Wardle to pay staff wages.

Sportsmail can reveal that Wardle, who resigned in protest at Thaksin’s reign on July 9,was so concerned City staff were not going to be paid that he agreed to loan the club’s owner £2m for the third time in less than a year.

Although Wardle has been repaid and no staff wage payments were missed, it is

clear City are operating on a hand-to-mouth basis each month. There are fears

within the club the problem will soon recur, with Wardle no longer around to bail

Thaksin out.

Barclays Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is demanding urgent talks with Thaksin, who fled Thailand to avoid facing corruption charges.

He said: ‘We are clearly going to have to establish the status of his return to England and where that leaves him in regard to the legal process in Thailand.

‘Our rules are clear that somebody has to be convicted of something to fail the “fit and

proper person” criteria and, until someone does, he still falls within our rules. But there is no point in having this test unless it is meaningful, as we have always said it is, and it has to be applied.

‘We need to make sure that, if somebody is guilty of something, we will deal with it.’

It is understood that if Thaskin is convicted in his absence, the Premier League

would investigate whether they could force him to relinquish control of City.

Last night Wardle would not comment, but he is known to be distraught at the manner in which the club he sold last summer are struggling under Thaksin’s leadership.

Thaksin has invested considerably less of his own money in City than first thought and has been seeking fresh investment while relying more heavily on other borrowed capital.

Meanwhile, City manager Mark Hughes faces a struggle of his own to gain direct

control of transfer policy after a weekend in which he came into confrontation with the

club’s new chief operating officer, Paul Aldridge, over the proposed transfer of Stephen

Ireland to Sunderland.

Hughes was said to be incandescent when he learned Ireland was not at the City of

Manchester Stadium for the club’s friendly against AC Milan on Saturday and blamed

Aldridge for allegedly trying to engineer the transfer.

Aldridge, formerly at West Ham, has denied this and the club have insisted that the

blame for the embarrassing affair lies at the door of agents.

Nevertheless, it is understood Hughes has made it clear to the club over the last 48 hours that he must be left in control of transfers if he is to continue in the job he took on in June.

Bookmakers have slashed the odds against Hughes being the first managerial casualty of the season over the last day or so and although there is not thought to be much likelihood of the former Blackburn boss quitting, he is said to be shocked at the manner in which the club is run.

The official line from City on the Ireland situation, and indeed Vedran Corluka’s aborted transfer to Tottenham, is that Hughes was in the loop throughout

and has not been undermined.

But Spurs are so angry at the way they feel City messed them about over Corluka that

they were considering legal action last night against their Premier League rivals.

With the Croatia defender having undergone a medical and agreed personal terms at

White Hart Lane, the transfer was about to go through until City pulled out on Sunday.

Last night the Premier League revealed that although Spurs’ transfer documents had been completed and submitted, City’s had not. This should leave City in the clear.

City are also known to be in negotiations for two new players, though given the financial turmoil now gripping the club, they are unlikely to involve large sums if players cannot be shifted out first.

As revealed in Sportsmail yesterday, Thaksin is back in London after refusing to

return to Thailand to face trial on corruption charges.

[Briggsy]

Even more interesting stuff coming out in the sports pages. I'm sure the British sports hacks are going to get their teeth into this somewhat. All is not what it seems as The Fugitive's football club....

EXCLUSIVE: City in crisis as Shinawatra forced to borrow £2m from ex-chief Wardle just to pay the players

By Ian Ladyman

Last updated at 12:11 AM on 12th August 2008

Daily Mail

The shocking extent of Thaksin Shinawatra’s financial difficulties at Manchester City can be revealed today as it emerged that only last month he had to borrow £2million from former chairman John Wardle to pay staff wages.

Sportsmail can reveal that Wardle, who resigned in protest at Thaksin’s reign on July 9,was so concerned City staff were not going to be paid that he agreed to loan the club’s owner £2m for the third time in less than a year.

Although Wardle has been repaid and no staff wage payments were missed, it is

clear City are operating on a hand-to-mouth basis each month. There are fears

within the club the problem will soon recur, with Wardle no longer around to bail

Thaksin out.

This is standard operating procedure in many Thai businesses. All cash is kept outside of the business, maybe in a personal account, maybe in cash or other assets. Cash is deposited into the business account on the day that payments are due and only just enough to cover the expenses due. This safeguards the owner from debt recovery particularly in the Thai environment where bank regulation and law enforcement can be patchy. It also affords the owner complete control of the cash. Not sure if it would fall foul of accounting conventions in the UK if the distinction between a limited company and its chief shareholder were blurred. Looks like he has exported the practice to the UK.[/color]

Thaksin has invested considerably less of his own money in City than first thought and has been seeking fresh investment while relying more heavily on other borrowed capital.

As he always did with his Thai businesses. It was usally borrowed from the Ministry of Finance or the Krung Thai Bank.

[Prakanong]

This city fan understood from the start:

yeah, but I bet the city fan enjoyed the show put on by Lydia and Mai, the good kind of 3 some that shows the kind of behaviour that earned TRT the title 'Thailand's cabinet to rival the Kennedys'

Yeah - like no other puu yai from top to bottom in Thailand puts on that kind of show and does not have mia noi's.

Then there is the stuff we can not talk about that would be front page news in the UK every day

[mrtoad]

This is standard operating procedure in many Thai businesses. All cash is kept outside of the business, maybe in a personal account, maybe in cash or other assets. Cash is deposited into the business account on the day that payments are due and only just enough to cover the expenses due. This safeguards the owner from debt recovery particularly in the Thai environment where bank regulation and law enforcement can be patchy. It also affords the owner complete control of the cash. Not sure if it would fall foul of accounting conventions in the UK if the distinction between a limited company and its chief shareholder were blurred. Looks like he has exported the practice to the UK.[/color]

As he always did with his Thai businesses. It was usally borrowed from the Ministry of Finance or the Krung Thai Bank.

I would take a guess that this would be in reach of Company regulations and certainly Tax. But then, he's never reaslly cared too much for Tax laws.

There are the Football regulations which he may also be in breach of.

His shady business practices should not be welcome in the UK.

[marshbags]

BBC Sport, Page last updated at 07:02 GMT, Tuesday, 12 August 2008 08:02 UK

Thaksin could face League probe

Shinawatra fled to Britain with his wife on Sunday

The chief of the Premier League says he would be willing to subject Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra to the fit and proper person test.

Thaksin faces corruption charges in Thailand and a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court in Bangkok on Monday.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said: "If we feel the rule has been breached, we will invoke it.

"(But) we have a club owner who has not yet been found guilty of any offence."

The test was introduced to ensure that only "fit and proper people" are owners or directors of Premier League clubs.

It states that "any director of a club is automatically disqualified" if convicted of one of a number of offences by a 'competent court' anywhere in the world." Richard Scudamore, Premier League chief executive

Thaksin is currently facing charges of corruption and abuse of power in Thailand, which he has denied.

Scudamore added: "We will not turn a blind eye to issues of a serious nature (but) it is quite a complex matter and we can't just make a judgement on the spot."

He also said the league would seek advice from the UK Home Office and Foreign Office before making any decision.

Thaksin's wife, Pojaman, was sentenced to three years in jail for tax fraud two weeks ago but was granted bail.

The couple fled to Britain on Sunday after watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

The Thai government could ask for Britain to extradite Thaksin so he can face trial in Bangkok.

The two countries have a long-standing extradition treaty and Thailand's democratic government is recognised by Britain.

Unquote

Only when he vacates the club, will it become apparent just what funds he put in and what his debts are, possibly left unpaid along with obligations he entered into and passed on to the next administration / owners.

Be prepared for a few possible shocks, Man City football club, from the board to the fans and pie sellers and most of all, a good kick in the teeth for the incompetent, hypocritical, double standard authorities who call themselves executives of the collective football leagues.

What would have been his chances of taking the club on had it been a club like Rotherham, Luton or Bournemouth ect. ect. ect. ?

NFC,s, he,d have failed the fit and proper test immediately for something far less questionable than the reasons they gave relating to Man. City.

marshbags

[sriracha john]

Who'll be next on the "Dump That Annoying Little Guy From Taiwan With The Square Head" bandwagon?

Hughes Threatens To Quit City

Manchester City could start their Premier League campaign without a manager, as the relationship between Mark Hughes and owner Thaksin Shinawatra continues to tauten.

Hughes made it clear when he arrived at Eastlands earlier in the summer that he would not be bullied into compromising his playing squad by the Thaksin or anyone else at the club. But that is exactly the situation the Welshman currently faces, as City have supposedly attempted to sell Vedran Corluka and Stephen Ireland without the manager's consent.

Indeed, Corluka's agent revealed recently that the Croatian defender underwent a medical and agreed personal terms with Tottenham Hotpsur at the weekend, while Ireland has long been on the radar of Sunderland boss Roy Keane.

Combined with the fact that Hughes has been given nowhere near as much spending money as expected, the 44-year-old is crying foul over broken promises *Welcome to Thakky World* and could quit the club following a bust-up with director Paul Aldridge.

The Citizens are already in crisis mode over the Thaksin's future at the club, as the former Prime Minister of Thailand has had his assets frozen amid corruption allegations in his homeland. And Hughes' departure would only add more woe to what is fast becoming a catastrophic summer for the Sky Blues. "This is not the dream package sold to Mark," a City source told The Sun.

"The club is falling apart and nobody knows how much longer Shinawatra will hang around.

"It feels as though we’re in meltdown and all Mark is trying to do is hang on to everything for the sake of the club.

"But if it carries on — and players are sold without his consent — he won’t stand any more. He’ll just walk."

- Goal.com

[sriracha john]

with Hughes resigning, perhaps it's time to revisit an early contender for the post of manager...

Which coach do you guys think is currently more suitable for Manchester City?

You might be surprised, but it's...

Robert Mugabe!!!!

Mugabe to take Eastlands hotseat

Manchester City fans, still reeling from the sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson, are set for more anguish today. City's eccentric human-rights-wizard chairman Thaksin Shinawatra seems set to offer the manager's chair at the City of Manchester Stadium to not-quite-deposed-yet, you'll-never-take-me-alive Zimbabwean funster Robert Mugabe.

Thaksin is thought to have grown tired by Eriksson's failure to win every single match ever, after a promising start to his tenure saw him win the first three. In the following 34, however, City have also experienced draws and losses, causing Shinawatra to darkly suggest that whilst loss of life is acceptable, loss of a football match could simply not be tolerated.

Also high up on Thaksin's list of grievances against Eriksson was his perceived failures at dealing with the playing staff. "Too many human rights," Thaksin scribbled. "They sit on their farms all day with no fear of eviction. And their children are hardly starving at all."

Mugabe has been looking for a new club since his tenure in Zimbabwe was forcibly ended by means of democracy. Thaksin, who got his number out of the special Dictator's Handbook, jumped on the opportunity to offer him a 3 year deal. Mugabe is said to be delighted at the opportunity, exclaiming that he'll "teach those bastards a thing or two".

Manchester City's supporters are outraged at the move, however. Most, still firmly behind Eriksson, offered him "a go on their wife" if he'd just stay at the club.

One fan said, "At first we were delighted to have a mad, rich, foreign chairman, a man not afraid to make the decisions no sane man would. A man to take mad choices for this club. Now he's made his first mad decision, we're mad. It's just madness."

- The Onion Bag (quite possibly this is satire, but in this circus, who knows)

[marshbags]

with Hughes resigning, perhaps it's time to revisit an early contender for the post of manager...

Which coach do you guys think is currently more suitable for Manchester City?

You might be surprised, but it's...

Robert Mugabe!!!!

Mugabe to take Eastlands hotseat

Manchester City fans, still reeling from the sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson, are set for more anguish today. City's eccentric human-rights-wizard chairman Thaksin Shinawatra seems set to offer the manager's chair at the City of Manchester Stadium to not-quite-deposed-yet, you'll-never-take-me-alive Zimbabwean funster Robert Mugabe.

Thaksin is thought to have grown tired by Eriksson's failure to win every single match ever, after a promising start to his tenure saw him win the first three. In the following 34, however, City have also experienced draws and losses, causing Shinawatra to darkly suggest that whilst loss of life is acceptable, loss of a football match could simply not be tolerated.

Also high up on Thaksin's list of grievances against Eriksson was his perceived failures at dealing with the playing staff. "Too many human rights," Thaksin scribbled. "They sit on their farms all day with no fear of eviction. And their children are hardly starving at all."

Mugabe has been looking for a new club since his tenure in Zimbabwe was forcibly ended by means of democracy. Thaksin, who got his number out of the special Dictator's Handbook, jumped on the opportunity to offer him a 3 year deal. Mugabe is said to be delighted at the opportunity, exclaiming that he'll "teach those bastards a thing or two".

Manchester City's supporters are outraged at the move, however. Most, still firmly behind Eriksson, offered him "a go on their wife" if he'd just stay at the club.

One fan said, "At first we were delighted to have a mad, rich, foreign chairman, a man not afraid to make the decisions no sane man would. A man to take mad choices for this club. Now he's made his first mad decision, we're mad. It's just madness."

- The Onion Bag (quite possibly this is satire, but in this circus, who knows)

It was of course, just a convenient Money Laundering Exercise that like everything else he cunningly did in recent times, is about to back fire big time on him and his coherts in crime are about to get similar results.

marshbags

[george]

Thaksin committed to the club - Cook

Manchester City chief excutive Garry Cook said Thaksin goes no where

Cook has assured fans that the club's future is not in jeapardy, saying Club owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, is staying. However, Cook has denied that the shock development would destabilise the club.

"City's future is not in jeopardy," Cook told the Manchester Evening News. "In the short term, it is business as usual. We don't rely on Dr Thaksin's money.

"When Mark Hughes makes a decision we go through the normal process, which can include banks, finance, or a whole bunch of different things just like any other club."

Cook claims that the former Thai Prime Minister - who fled to London instead of facing graft charges in Thailand, might look in the long term to get extra investment in through 'partnership' deals.

"He is willing to look at whatever it takes to make City a great football club," said Cook.

"This is a guy who loves City." Cook spent time with Thaksin in Beijing before he returned to England.

"I gave him an update on the club and we talked about new player acquisitions," said Cook. "We also talked over dinner about why he had bought the club and his intentions.

"It was really clear he wants to be at this football club for the next 10 years.

"He wants to build a dynasty and he was disappointed that people think he wanted to get in and back out."

-- The Nation 2008-08-12

[george]

Thaksin committed to the club - Cook

Manchester City chief excutive Garry Cook said Thaksin goes no where

Cook has assured fans that the club's future is not in jeapardy, saying Club owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, is staying. However, Cook has denied that the shock development would destabilise the club.

"City's future is not in jeopardy," Cook told the Manchester Evening News. "In the short term, it is business as usual. We don't rely on Dr Thaksin's money.

"When Mark Hughes makes a decision we go through the normal process, which can include banks, finance, or a whole bunch of different things just like any other club."

Cook claims that the former Thai Prime Minister - who fled to London instead of facing graft charges in Thailand, might look in the long term to get extra investment in through 'partnership' deals.

"He is willing to look at whatever it takes to make City a great football club," said Cook.

"This is a guy who loves City." Cook spent time with Thaksin in Beijing before he returned to England.

"I gave him an update on the club and we talked about new player acquisitions," said Cook. "We also talked over dinner about why he had bought the club and his intentions.

"It was really clear he wants to be at this football club for the next 10 years.

"He wants to build a dynasty and he was disappointed that people think he wanted to get in and back out."

-- The Nation 2008-08-12

[Plus]

Didn't we hear the same denials about Ericsson?

[hammered]

Whether Hughes stays or goes. It does look like the Man City adventure is unravelling. With a lot of expensive installment son transfer deals coming up Thaksin is faced with a few hard questions. He cant now sell or even attract other investment except at massive discount prices with all the rumours. That means he either bears responsibility for the expense himself, but with his Tahi politcal career increasingly written off what is the incentive to throw more money away on what was always a publicity stunt to keep himself in the limelight. On the other hand to not take responsibility for your business commitments in a country you wish to live in could be a grave mistake unless he actually has run out of credit/money.

The unravelling of the Man City adventure is the thing that indicates Thaksin's position right now is actually weaker than many of us assume, and that the flight may not have been a carefully pre-planned operation.

[Tony Clifton]

Somewhat of a historic and revealing tv moment when Mugabe and Thaksin made the news back to back on BBC tv.

What's next over there in the British media world regarding Thaksin, seems very quiet?

Give us interviews! Talk to the guy. (Surely he will make a speech for his zombies on Youtube or elsewhere soon)

Where's Sakur, Hard Talk and the other media outlets?

[marshbags]

Somewhat of a historic and revealing tv moment when Mugabe and Thaksin made the news back to back on BBC tv.

What's next over there in the British media world regarding Thaksin, seems very quiet?

Give us interviews! Talk to the guy. (Surely he will make a speech for his zombies on Youtube or elsewhere soon)

Where's Sakur, Hard Talk and the other media outlets?

Definitely not a critical observation T.C.

I,d love to see him one to one on News Nght with Jeremy or Hard Talk with Tim Sebastian or maybe Stephen Sakar, sadly it takes two to tango ( sorry for the boring qoute in bold )

I reckon Thaksin is running scared of any verbal stuff in the U.K., as we all know, it,s not condescending, nose up your ar*e stuff like it is / has to be, in Thailand.

No offence meant Thailand, but it just isn,t.

I reckon also he fears dropping himself further in the brown stuff by giving press / media interviews, due to the probably contradicting of his given word.

Given word, there,s a laugh for you, he lies that much, he,s dropping some right bollo,s of late in this area.

Last of all, the British media is tied by certain obligations / rules when it comes to interviewing so called high profile celebrities ( re written just lately by the way )

I reckon any sort of news media would love to get a hold of genuine information here, plus the fact he isn,t considered page one material on a regualr basis.

When there is news effecting the U.K. side of things, it will change, that,s for sure.

Man.City and the fit and proper test for one, or the getting rid of, as we are on the thread.

The there are others that could effect the club, while making the front page for other reasons political asylum refusal, extradition proceedings, photo,s of him and his personal singer ect. ect.

marshbags

[plachon]

with Hughes resigning, perhaps it's time to revisit an early contender for the post of manager...

Which coach do you guys think is currently more suitable for Manchester City?

You might be surprised, but it's...

Robert Mugabe!!!!

Mugabe to take Eastlands hotseat

Manchester City fans, still reeling from the sacking of Sven-Goran Eriksson, are set for more anguish today. City's eccentric human-rights-wizard chairman Thaksin Shinawatra seems set to offer the manager's chair at the City of Manchester Stadium to not-quite-deposed-yet, you'll-never-take-me-alive Zimbabwean funster Robert Mugabe.

Thaksin is thought to have grown tired by Eriksson's failure to win every single match ever, after a promising start to his tenure saw him win the first three. In the following 34, however, City have also experienced draws and losses, causing Shinawatra to darkly suggest that whilst loss of life is acceptable, loss of a football match could simply not be tolerated.

Also high up on Thaksin's list of grievances against Eriksson was his perceived failures at dealing with the playing staff. "Too many human rights," Thaksin scribbled. "They sit on their farms all day with no fear of eviction. And their children are hardly starving at all."

Mugabe has been looking for a new club since his tenure in Zimbabwe was forcibly ended by means of democracy. Thaksin, who got his number out of the special Dictator's Handbook, jumped on the opportunity to offer him a 3 year deal. Mugabe is said to be delighted at the opportunity, exclaiming that he'll "teach those bastards a thing or two".

Manchester City's supporters are outraged at the move, however. Most, still firmly behind Eriksson, offered him "a go on their wife" if he'd just stay at the club.

One fan said, "At first we were delighted to have a mad, rich, foreign chairman, a man not afraid to make the decisions no sane man would. A man to take mad choices for this club. Now he's made his first mad decision, we're mad. It's just madness."

- The Onion Bag (quite possibly this is satire, but in this circus, who knows)

It was of course, just a convenient Money Laundering Exercise that like everything else he cunningly did in recent times, is about to back fire big time on him and his coherts in crime are about to get similar results.

marshbags

Beg to differ Marshy. While money laundering may have been a factor, it wasn't the primary motivators by a long chalk. Those I would contend were first and foremost 1/ "face" (i.e. becoming a bigshot UK footy club owner along with the moneybags nouveau riche kind of people Toxin aspires to emulate, like al Fayed), 2/ "votes" and popularity back home with the Thai masses (he learned the pull of British footy during his failed attempts at buying Fulham and Liverpool, and 3/ "profit" - a chance to make big bucks across Asia (but especially China) by marketing MCFC merchandise and the soccer school idea through his network of contacts in the region, again in the mistaken belief that he has what it takes to succeed at every business he dips his sticky fingers into. But like so many of his greedy, grandiose schemes, it was bound to fail, not so much because of his corruption and nepotism, but because of his absolute arrogance and inability to take advice from anyone bar his bouffant Mrs and baldy lawyer.

Contrary to many people's assessment of Toxin as a good businessman, I've long thought him to be pretty crap at business acumen, outside of his original field of building a telecommunications empire through his talent for absolute corruption and nepotism, which in the real world are poor substitues for talent. This has been proven in the talentless spawn he has produced who would be nothing, if not for their parents money and power.

[marshbags]

It was of course, just a convenient Money Laundering Exercise[/b] that like everything else he cunningly did in recent times, is about to back fire big time on him and his coherts in crime are about to get similar results.

marshbags

Beg to differ Marshy. While money laundering may have been a factor, it wasn't the primary motivators by a long chalk. Those I would contend were first and foremost 1/ "face" (i.e. becoming a bigshot UK footy club owner along with the moneybags nouveau riche kind of people Toxin aspires to emulate, like al Fayed), 2/ "votes" and popularity back home with the Thai masses (he learned the pull of British footy during his failed attempts at buying Fulham and Liverpool, and 3/ "profit" - a chance to make big bucks across Asia (but especially China) by marketing MCFC merchandise and the soccer school idea through his network of contacts in the region, again in the mistaken belief that he has what it takes to succeed at every business he dips his sticky fingers into. But like so many of his greedy, grandiose schemes, it was bound to fail, not so much because of his corruption and nepotism, but because of his absolute arrogance and inability to take advice from anyone bar his bouffant Mrs and baldy lawyer.

No probs., plachon and all the additional reasons are pertinent, acceptable and applicable.

Contrary to many people's assessment of Toxin as a good businessman, I've long thought him to be pretty crap at business acumen, outside of his original field of building a telecommunications empire through his talent for absolute corruption and nepotism, which in the real world are poor substitues for talent. This has been proven in the talentless spawn he has produced who would be nothing, if not for their parents money and power.

I also agree with the last paragraph, he used his criminal instincts and knowledge of loopholes within the law, with the help of his baldy lawyers equally cunning criminal instincts and ability to expose loopholes to gain all that they are about to loose, big time which incidently for the doubters, will be done lawfully and according to the true meaning of the law and it,s institutions.

Apologies if this seems a bit off topic, but at the end of the day it has serious implications on the fit and proper requirements, once he is convicted, and he will be, based once again purely on evidence obtained.

Man. City are going to be set a few temp. problems, but they will, i,m sure be better off, once they are sorted and under new ownership.

IMHO of course

marshbags

[Sarpedon]

SSN say Mark Hughes press conference 3pm today (UK time)

[Briggsy]

Tomorrow night sees Man City at home against Midtyjlland at Eastlands in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

As The Shinawatras are in the UK for the duration, I wonder if they'll take the chance to catch a bit of the European midweek atmosphere. Him being the owner of the club and all that.

Will he risk attending any of the away games? The next one is in Denmark. That should be fairly safe. However Spanish and Belgian judges have been known to issue arrest warrants against third world dictators, deposed. He'll be hoping to avoid those countries in the next round.

Finally, Dr Thaksin is known to be a superstitious sort. Is the Danish team that City are playing tomorrow pronounced as "Mid Thailand"? I'm sure his fortune tellers would find this portentous. It would be interesting to get the inside track on this. There must be some Danish fortune tellers on this forum.

[Tony Clifton]

[sriracha john]

Before:

After:

"I can't beweeve it didn't fool the police."

[sriracha john]

Premier League must shoulder Thaksin blame

It could only happen to Manchester City. Mark Hughes has been forced to distance himself from reports of an early exit from Eastlands as the club's erstwhile owner seeks political asylum in Guildford. The theatre of base comedy has plunged to a new low. Though few Blues will see the funny side, their despair giving way to wondering just how their club was allowed to collapse into this mess.

And they could ask what football's authorities did to stop it happening in the first place. The answer is very little indeed.

When former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought the club last summer amid much fanfare, many observers wondered just how a man on corruption charges who has long been accused of human rights' abuses was allowed to take over a Premier League club.

Surely safeguards against such a thing existed? Yet Dr Thaksin sailed past the 'fit and proper persons' test supposedly set down to any prospective owner by the Premier League.

Tuesday saw Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore say that his organisation is monitoring the situation at City closely. A classic case of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Too little too late. The damage looks likely to be already done.

With Thaksin having fled Thailand rather than answer charges of corruption and fraud, his wife also skipping bail from appeal after being found guilty of similar charges, City's chances of gaining access to Thaksin's £800m fortune became just higher than zero.

Reports suggest that Sven Goran Eriksson's heavy spending of last summer is still yet to be paid for, with much of the money owed to European banks.

There are scant funds for new manager Hughes to spend as the transfer window creaks shut. Young stars Verdran Corluka and Stephen Ireland were put up for firesale only for Hughes to cling on to them as both seemed destined for the Eastlands exit.

Hughes has described recent events as a 'difficult week'; typically understated from a former Blackburn and Wales boss who also bears the look of a bemused man. Hughes is a fighter and will keep fighting, that is his nature. If only the Premier League had shown a fraction of his determination in a fight to keep bad pennies out of the English game.

Questions have been asked of several owners over the last few years; Roman Abramovich had his doubters on his arrival at Chelsea and Sacha Gaydamak's ownership of Portsmouth was under heavy suspicion. However, neither of these Russian émigrés faced criminal charges at the time of their purchase of their respective club.

Thaksin was able to seize control of City, despite it being public knowledge that a major proportion of his assets were being impounded by Thailand's government. This may also have begged questions whether he truly possessed the assets to buy and then run a Premier League club.

Players Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer have been withdrawn from England duty in recent years when facing criminal charges. No such action on ownership was taken by a Premier League too happy to count the cash and congratulate itself on becoming a global brand.

Some of those, including outgoing chairman John Wardle, who received the £81.6m Thaksin paid for the club are said have expressed regret at making the wrong decision. Rumours of unpaid solicitor's bills arising from the sale abound too.

The depth of City's problems is yet to be fully revealed. By then, with Thaksin said to have placed the club in the hands of his children via shell companies, there may be little that the Premier League can do to change the situation. Those likely to suffer most are the club's fans and Hughes, who seems set to be denied the chance to take the step to a bigger club he stated as his desire on leaving Blackburn.

As a result of their inaction on Thaksin's takeover, the Premier League may suffer further loss to a reputation already sullied by the '39th game' fiasco. It would only be fit and proper that it did.

- ESPN

[dee123]

...ALLRIGHT GUV!!...I'LL PLAY,BUT MY LEGS AIN'T WHHAT THEY USE TA BE !!

[sriracha john]

Tomorrow night sees Man City at home against Midtyjlland at Eastlands in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

As The Shinawatras are in the UK for the duration, I wonder if they'll take the chance to catch a bit of the European midweek atmosphere. Him being the owner of the club and all that.

Will he risk attending any of the away games?

He won't even risk attending home games....

Thaksin to miss cup clash as he fights threat of extradition

Thaksin Shinawatra has indicated he will stay away from Manchester City's UEFA Cup qualifying tie against the Danish side FC Midtjylland tonight as he contemplates the first stages of a legal battle to avoid extradition back to Thailand.

Five days after jumping bail and fleeing to London rather than risk being sent to prison on corruption charges, Thaksin is aware his presence at the City of Manchester stadium could be unwelcome for Mark Hughes in what the manager, with a hefty amount of understatement, described yesterday as a "difficult week".

Hughes spoke of supporters being "upset and bewildered" because of the flood of negative publicity. He revealed that Thaksin was still wealthy enough for transfer money to be available. "I've been reassured," he said.

"People may have been concerned that I wouldn't have the funds to bring in players but that's not the case. We are actively pursuing players as we speak."

It is clear, however, that City are not in the financial position that Hughes assumed when he left Blackburn Rovers to take the job 10 weeks ago. Thaksin is unable to free the £800 million worth of assets that are frozen in Thailand and Hughes had to intervene to prevent Vedran Corluka being sold to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this week, as well as having to investigate whether Stephen Ireland had also been put up for sale.

He described himself as "stimulated" by the new challenges but there was also a telling admission that he was still waiting for his first face-to-face meeting with Thaksin. :D

He did confirm, however, that he had been promised nobody would be sold against his wishes.

"I had a meeting with the players to make the group aware that I'm in charge and will make the decisions that affect the players," he added. "If players leave or if they go, that decision will be mine and mine solely."

The truth, however, is that City will face an uncertain future for as long as Thaksin is living in exile, with Thailand already making preparations to try to extradite him. A team of government lawyers has been assembled to examine his case, according to the state prosecutor.

- Guardian

[plachon]

Premier League must shoulder Thaksin blame

It could only happen to Manchester City. Mark Hughes has been forced to distance himself from reports of an early exit from Eastlands as the club's erstwhile owner seeks political asylum in Guildford. The theatre of base comedy has plunged to a new low. Though few Blues will see the funny side, their despair giving way to wondering just how their club was allowed to collapse into this mess.

And they could ask what football's authorities did to stop it happening in the first place. The answer is very little indeed.

When former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought the club last summer amid much fanfare, many observers wondered just how a man on corruption charges who has long been accused of human rights' abuses was allowed to take over a Premier League club.

Surely safeguards against such a thing existed? Yet Dr Thaksin sailed past the 'fit and proper persons' test supposedly set down to any prospective owner by the Premier League.

Tuesday saw Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore say that his organisation is monitoring the situation at City closely. A classic case of bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted. Too little too late. The damage looks likely to be already done.

With Thaksin having fled Thailand rather than answer charges of corruption and fraud, his wife also skipping bail from appeal after being found guilty of similar charges, City's chances of gaining access to Thaksin's £800m fortune became just higher than zero.

Reports suggest that Sven Goran Eriksson's heavy spending of last summer is still yet to be paid for, with much of the money owed to European banks.

There are scant funds for new manager Hughes to spend as the transfer window creaks shut. Young stars Verdran Corluka and Stephen Ireland were put up for firesale only for Hughes to cling on to them as both seemed destined for the Eastlands exit.

Hughes has described recent events as a 'difficult week'; typically understated from a former Blackburn and Wales boss who also bears the look of a bemused man. Hughes is a fighter and will keep fighting, that is his nature. If only the Premier League had shown a fraction of his determination in a fight to keep bad pennies out of the English game.

Questions have been asked of several owners over the last few years; Roman Abramovich had his doubters on his arrival at Chelsea and Sacha Gaydamak's ownership of Portsmouth was under heavy suspicion. However, neither of these Russian émigrés faced criminal charges at the time of their purchase of their respective club.

Thaksin was able to seize control of City, despite it being public knowledge that a major proportion of his assets were being impounded by Thailand's government. This may also have begged questions whether he truly possessed the assets to buy and then run a Premier League club.

Players Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer have been withdrawn from England duty in recent years when facing criminal charges. No such action on ownership was taken by a Premier League too happy to count the cash and congratulate itself on becoming a global brand.

Some of those, including outgoing chairman John Wardle, who received the £81.6m Thaksin paid for the club are said have expressed regret at making the wrong decision. Rumours of unpaid solicitor's bills arising from the sale abound too.

The depth of City's problems is yet to be fully revealed. By then, with Thaksin said to have placed the club in the hands of his children via shell companies, there may be little that the Premier League can do to change the situation. Those likely to suffer most are the club's fans and Hughes, who seems set to be denied the chance to take the step to a bigger club he stated as his desire on leaving Blackburn.

As a result of their inaction on Thaksin's takeover, the Premier League may suffer further loss to a reputation already sullied by the '39th game' fiasco. It would only be fit and proper that it did.

- ESPN

Can't let this pass without a comment.

While it now seems to be time to take stock and count the costs of letting a dodgy, ex-dictator type PM from the other side of the world take over a British footy club, the suggestion that it is all the "football authorities" fault is wrong. Sure Richard Scudamore and the committee that judge who is a "fit and proper" person all need kicking out of their posts for poor judgement, if not dereliction of duty, but the fans have to shoulder some of the blame too. OK, they are not maybe the best educated bunch of sports fans in the world as a collective group, but the ones who were quite happy to go and collect the Toxin-coated freebies and watch Mai strut her sexy stuff last year should now be examining their pierced navels too. Just as I said at the time, they are no different from the Isaan farmers who flocked to support the Square Head with the lolly who dropped them peanuts from above in Roi-Et, and were/are just the pawns in a deluded, megalomaniac's gameplan. Unfortunately, they could not see it then, but at least the Eastland crowd's learning curve has been faster than the Isaan crowd and now the scales have finally fallen from their eyes.

There could be a strong case for making Amnesty International and Human Right's Watch Asia reports required reading on the terraces this season and next, just so that this fiasco is not allowed to repeat itself again.

However, the notion that all of Toxin's ill-gotten gains is tied up and frozen in Thailand is a total myth, that no doubt he would like to perpetuate. Now there's apparently unpaid bills and he's reneged on a thousand promises of buying some decent players for this season, and he's apparently put the club in his kids name through "shell companies" (could he have tried "Ample Rich" again?) maybe the more foreward thinking and investigative amongst British sports journalists should be looking into the overseas destinations of his piles of loot. Anyone fancy a trip to British Virgin Islands or Cayman Islands?

[abdulrahman]

However, the notion that all of Toxin's ill-gotten gains is tied up and frozen in Thailand is a total myth, that no doubt he would like to perpetuate. Now there's apparently unpaid bills and he's reneged on a thousand promises of buying some decent players for this season, and he's apparently put the club in his kids name through "shell companies" (could he have tried "Ample Rich" again?) maybe the more forward thinking and investigative amongst British sports journalists should be looking into the overseas destinations of his piles of loot. Anyone fancy a trip to British Virgin Islands or Cayman Islands?

Agree 100% with your analysis.

But I don't believe,in today world climate,any Media,be it a newspaper or TV station,is able and willing to pursue the kind of investigative journalism requested.

Not by far!

[sriracha john]

FC Midtjylland 1

Manchester City 0

Mark Hughes wearing haunted look after nightmare

If Mark Hughes was already fretting about the size of the task he has taken on at Manchester City, this embarrassing result left him grimacing as jeers filled the stadium at the final whistle.

City badly needed a victory in this UEFA Cup second qualifying round, first-leg encounter to bring stability to a club who have been rocked by the uncertainty over their chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, but this will only heighten the sense of crisis that has engulfed Eastlands over the past week.

Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.

Thaksin was not in attendance as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.

- The Times

[marshbags]

FC Midtjylland 1

Manchester City 0

Mark Hughes wearing haunted look after nightmare

If Mark Hughes was already fretting about the size of the task he has taken on at Manchester City, this embarrassing result left him grimacing as jeers filled the stadium at the final whistle.

City badly needed a victory in this UEFA Cup second qualifying round, first-leg encounter to bring stability to a club who have been rocked by the uncertainty over their chairman, Thaksin Shinawatra, but this will only heighten the sense of crisis that has engulfed Eastlands over the past week.

Defeat by FC Midtjylland, a spirited and well organised, if little-known, Danish team, could be said to have confirmed Hughes’s worst fears about a squad that lacks the spirit and the fitness that he insisted upon at Blackburn Rovers, but the problems on the training ground and on the pitch are minuscule compared with the others that the club face at present. With an arrest warrant issued for Thaksin in Thailand, after his refusal to face corruption charges, this is a club in danger of exceeding their well-known reputation for the absurd, even without results such as this.

Thaksin was not in attendance as he tries to avoid extradition to Thailand. Clearly more pressing things are on his mind, but if last night does not tell him something about the mess his club are in, nothing will.

- The Times

No slight on you S.J. but the result should read Manchester City 0 vs FC Midtjylland 1 thus correctly indicating the home team Man City lost 0-1.

An after match comment from Mark Hughes on the match:-

Quote

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes:

"Perhaps we were a bit behind them in terms of sharpness and match fitness but that is no excuse.

"In the first half we had too many unforced errors. We needed to be more dynamic, show more personality, and to try to drive the play.

"We need to get up to speed before the weekend and hopefully this game will let us know where we are at and what we need to do."

Unquote

That,s only on the field of play, off it there are mega problems that may just have a knock on effect to boot, ( forgive the unintended pun )

marshbags