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Cardiff '£30m debt' row steps up

Peter Ridsdale maintains the club's case is robust

Cardiff City's financial backers Langston have countered claims made by the club's chairman Peter Ridsdale in the row over an alleged £30m debt.

Earlier in the week Langston accused the club of financial mismanagement and said they wanted £30m back now.

But Ridsdale, claimed to have documents showing they had until 2016 to pay off a debt he said had been agreed at £15m.

Langston, who are threatening legal action, have now hit back saying they are in a "very strong position."

In a statement issued by their solicitors Hextalls LLP, they also rebutted Ridsdale's claim he had no way of contacting Langston and that the club's only point of contact had been former owner Sam Hammam.

"The club has the address of Langston in Switzerland; a current representative of the club has met the Swiss representative of Langston," the statement said.

"It follows that it is not true that Sam Hammam was or is the sole point of contact that the club had had with Langston," the statement went on.

It also added: "Langston remains confident that it is in a very strong position and that its claim will be determined on the basis of all documents and not extracts, which may well be misleading."

Langston also said they had asked Sam Hammam to contact Cardiff City, but his "attempts to generate dialogue over the lastfew months have been ignored."

On Wednesday, Ridsdale had urged Hammam to get in touch to avoid a messy court battle and maintained if it did go to court, the club's case was "clear and robust."

This latest news comes on the day that Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink was set to sign for Cardiff City.

Okay, so which side of the story do you believe?

I Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He's as dodgy as a hooker in Lumpini Park. I'd like to know how this guy, given his track record is able to get himself into the position of running another club?

So, will this guy now do to Cardiff what he did to Leeds?

Edited August 16, 200718 yr by mrtoad

Oh I do hope so !!!

God Bless Peter the lying slug Ridsdale.

There are a lot of Leeds fans that feel very sorry for us.

This guy is so low he could sneak under a snakes belly with a top hat on.

There are a lot of Leeds fans that feel very sorry for us.

This guy is so low he could sneak under a snakes belly with a top hat on.

Yeah, I can't understand why he hasn't becom a politician yet. He's got all the attributes.

I'm no fan of Cardiff (and they tend to hate Leeds), but there is no way I would want them or their fans to have to go through the sort of turmoil that has hit us in recent years, culminating in the last few months.

Ridsdale? I don't know. I can't really believe he is as dishonest as it appears on the surface. In his time at Leeds, I'm not aware of anything particularly duplicitous that he did. However, he and O'Leary made some astonishingly profligate decisions which have ultimately destroyed us because of some results going the wrong way. They spent huge (but no worse than many other clubs) and banked on success which didnt come.

There but for the grace of God could have gone any number of other clubs and - frankly - still might.

Dishonest and criminally negligent? No

Irrationally exuberant and irresponsible? Yes

Bendix, you have made some good points. What intrigues me the most, is that given his track record two other clubs have felt comfortable in retaining his services as a Chairman. Certainly his brief period at Barnsley wasn't anything to bad, but there are some worrying signs coming out of Cardiff.

I'm also at a loss to explain why he is claiming that he is unable to contact Sam Hamman, when surely there must be some form of avenue open for commuhnication, with the owner. It almost sounds schoolboy like.

Exhuberance and incompetence are certainly no defence in being classed as a criminal under courts of law in the Uk under the Company act, so how Ridsdale has been able o avoid any responsibilty for companies run by him trading illegaly with debts to the IR I have no idea. Maybe I just don't have a good enough understanding of it.

If it's illegal to trade while having debts to the IR, 99% of corporate America would come grinding to a halt.

As I said, I don't think he's done anything illegal. Frankly, you could probably take a microscope to the operation of just about any premier league team over the last ten years and find similar levels of ineptness, mismanagement and ludicrous spending. It's not something that was limited to Ridsdale or Leeds.

It's just that in Leeds' case, the spending was based on getting finance which required future football success in order to pay back the loans. We didnt get it; the a house of cards came tumbling down.

Look at some clubs today even. Look at Chelsea's books. You think they are run well? Not a chance. They are trading at a massive loss, week in week out. They are knowingly running an unprofitable company and are kept afloat solely by Russian money and - frankly - I fear for the day comes when Roman realises they will never win the Champions League and he gets bored and takes his money back. If that happens, players leave, they slip down the table, get relegated etc etc . . .go figure!

As for Cardiff, I can't comment. Don't know enough about it.

From where I sit, there is probably only one club that you can point to know that is being run as a tidy business and that, ironically, is Leeds where they have been forced to live within their means. It's akin to the maxim that the best time to visit a restaurant is immediately after they've been prosecuted for having a dirty kitchen; at least you know they've been forced to clean it up recently.

Fair commment, which I agree. The law and the reality are two very differnt things, although it does seem very much that there appears to be a vastly differing set of rules for big clubs and high profile copmpanies in comparison to John Smith the local grocer.

If Risdales plan had gone to plan then he probably would have been hailed as a brilliant man the only problem was, that brilliant plans often boarder on being either very stupid or very risky, and with that there is good chance that it will all come tumbling down. Which in this case it did.

The Leeds situation in faireness is very similar to the situations that Bristol City and Swansea City found themselves in back in the 1980's. What Leeds have as an advantage is that they have a big fan base and if they start doing well this seson, they will probnably start filling up Elland Road again. Cardiff on the other hand look far more precarious at present, as they certainly do not have a big stadium although they are fairly well supported. Bristol and Swansea took years to recover from their misadventures of placing players on big long term contrascts, in fact at City they had players on 10 year contracts when they were in the 1st Division. So when results started going wrong they had players that they could not move on because of the length of contracts, or when they did, they were still paying them.

Anyway Bendix I think in respect of Football clubs there are actually very few truly profitable clubs around, most are running up large debts and there existence is supported hevily by the TV rights and sponsorship. Chelsea is almost an accident waiting to happen should Roman decide enough is enough.

If Ridsdale carries on like this, he will be wanted by so many fans that he'll have to change his appearance. Maybe he should accompany Natalie Imbruglia's cousin

If Ridsdale carries on like this, he will be wanted by so many fans that he'll have to change his appearance. Maybe he should accompany Natalie Imbruglia's cousin

Might not be a bad idea, and I hear Australia is nice this time of year.

If Ridsdale carries on like this, he will be wanted by so many fans that he'll have to change his appearance. Maybe he should accompany Natalie Imbruglia's cousin

If he/she get's through customs .

I'm sure in the case of Risdale there are a few Leeds fans who would happily help him with some gender reassignment surgery, using a rust BIC razer

I'm sure in the case of Risdale there are a few Leeds fans who would happily help him with some gender reassignment surgery, using a rust BIC razer

Ouch

Not really. Leeds fans aren't the brightest bunch, sadly. Most of them seem to reserve all their hatred for Ken Bates who, while I am no fan, is probably responsible for Leeds being run properly and efficiently for the first time since the mid 1970s.

Not really. Leeds fans aren't the brightest bunch, sadly. Most of them seem to reserve all their hatred for Ken Bates who, while I am no fan, is probably responsible for Leeds being run properly and efficiently for the first time since the mid 1970s.

Bendix, there is an excellent article on the decline of Leeds entitled "Shattered Dreams" by David Conn. It is in the latest addition of Four Four Two, and goes into some detail about the various activities of Ridsdale, Leighton, O'Leary, McKenzie, Krasner, Richmond and finally with Ken Bates. It certainly doesn't paint Bates in a good light, and there are certainly some very shady goings on in relation to how he has taken control of the club.

Edited August 24, 200718 yr by mrtoad

Thanks. Will have to check it out, although I've never seen 442 over here.

While I'm sure there are some shady dealings, these days I just count my blessings that I have upcoming matches to look forward to. There were moments a month or so ago that i genuinely believed that wasnt the case.

Bates may be in it for himself - frankly, who isnt these days?

All I know is that the club is debt free, solvent, can finally pay wages. If we continue the season as we've started and can attract 20-25000 for every home game, our finances will be close to the best outside of those earning Sky TV money.

I'm grateful for small mercies.

Thanks. Will have to check it out, although I've never seen 442 over here.

I have a vague recollection that 442 is sold at the bookstore on the 3rd floor of the Emporium, not Asia books. I don't know if that is still the case as it was a little while ago, and it was priced at about 750bht. As good as a read that it is, I thought that to be a little on the steep side. In the end it was cheaper to have it sent from the UK to here.