Walking Down The Halbeath Road

[D.A.F.C]

My doubting Thomas question would be how and why the chairman and the board broke their promise on never selling the club to a major shareholder?
As said as well what is the angle of these germans? A second tier football club to make a profit from?
Still not totally comfortable with it all.

[D.A.F.C]

Hate to be a pedant but we’ve just signed the core of a team on long contracts that have between them experience of winning this league, a recent Scotland international, players familiar with doing well at East End both for and against us, others that we can hopefully sell on. Plus we have players out there on sell-on clauses. With Ryan Dow and Dom Thomas we’ve got arguably a couple of the best players in the league. 
It’s hard to see, in the short term, having new backers effectively sticking a huge wedge of cash in to ensure the club runs okay whilst talking about helping to secure permanent training facilities in the medium term gives much fuel for schadenfreude. 
Of course there’s no guarantee it will all be rosy but compared to the basket cases that have bought in to Scottish clubs before this lot seem positively Germanic in their efficiency, diligence and sensible approach.
 
 
 
 

Occasionally you do get a German who has bad ideas though.

[parsforlife]

1 minute ago, D.A.F.C said:

Occasionally you do get a German who has bad ideas though.

can’t really think of any examples tbh

[Rob1885]

can’t really think of any examples tbh

Berti Vogts asking the media to call him "McVogts"

[da_no_1]

It boils down to this. If these guys were investing in our wee cousins 15 miles along the A92 they'd be all over it like a rash. Because it's us they can't see anything other than a desperate need for it to turn out like the "Anelka" years which apparently have set them back 87 years on their path to conquering Scottish football.

They hate us. They can't bear the thought of us being in any way successful and they will not stop knicker-wetting until we are punished properly for cheating & are put out of business for good.

[parsboi]

22 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:knicker-wetting 

Lederhosen, surely?

[R.R.FC]

18 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

 

It boils down to this. If these guys were investing in our wee cousins 15 miles along the A92 they'd be all over it like a rash.

 

You are correct but I can guarantee there would be Pars fans all over our thread saying the same things as some Rovers fans.

The truth is, nobody knows how it will work out. There is always suspicion when foreign investors come in Scottish football, particularly the lower leagues where there have been very few success stories.

However, all takeovers are the same, fans of the team being taken over see it as all sunshine and rainbows and won’t have a bad word said, everyone else is ‘jealous.’ Opposition fans come in predicting the worst and forecasting oblivion but absolutely nobody knows. It is not a Raith Rovers/Dunfermline thing, it happens with everyone.

[EdinburghPar1975]

2 minutes ago, R.R.FC said:

However, all takeovers are the same, fans of the team being taken over see it as all sunshine and rainbows and won’t have a bad word said

Agree with most of y our post, just the bit above that i don't think is right. Even a quick glance through this thread shows that a lot of Pars fans have understandable caution with what's happening (given not to distant history) albeit we're probably all excited about what this could mean longer term.

As has been said the fact that existing players have been given longer term deals would show me that the model won't be purely based on German non-leaguers but there's bound to be a few come over each year and fit in with a better operating local youth programme. The investors obviously believe that there is a decent market there and they have the know how to make some cash from it...time will tell but at this stage i'm cautiously optomistic...

[Chubbychops]

I think we will certainly see a few German faces pop up, much like we do now with English guys like Gabby McGill, Bowman, Coley etc.

Think a lot of folk are jumping to conclusions that our who squad is going to be filled with non-league Germans though. I expect that Scottish players will continue to dominate our starting 11.

[da_no_1]

24 minutes ago, R.R.FC said:

You are correct but I can guarantee there would be Pars fans all over our thread saying the same things as some Rovers fans.

The truth is, nobody knows how it will work out. There is always suspicion when foreign investors come in Scottish football, particularly the lower leagues where there have been very few success stories.

However, all takeovers are the same, fans of the team being taken over see it as all sunshine and rainbows and won’t have a bad word said, everyone else is ‘jealous.’ Opposition fans come in predicting the worst and forecasting oblivion but absolutely nobody knows. It is not a Raith Rovers/Dunfermline thing, it happens with everyone.

You got your arse felt with Anelka. It doesn't mean that every club in the country should dismiss foreign investors out of hand. As has been said there are plenty Pars fans queueing up to scrutinise these guys, your faux concern isn't required. 

[Wardy]

1 hour ago, da_no_1 said:

It boils down to this. If these guys were investing in our wee cousins 15 miles along the A92 they'd be all over it like a rash. Because it's us they can't see anything other than a desperate need for it to turn out like the "Anelka" years which apparently have set them back 87 years on their path to conquering Scottish football.

They hate us. They can't bear the thought of us being in any way successful and they will not stop knicker-wetting until we are punished properly for cheating & are put out of business for good.

Now this is just a lot of pish isint it?

Don’t really care what happens to Dunfermline. As long as you’s survive then fine. If you’s become successful? Fine with me. 

[CALDERON]

Good on Dunfermline.  It's difficult for clubs to get any meaningful investment of cash, especially in this current climate, so they've thought outside the box a bit and are showing a bit of ambition.

Of course it comes with risk, and could go horribly wrong, but it could also go really well.  Will be interesting to see how it turns out.  

[renton]

15 minutes ago, da_no_1 said:

You got your arse felt with Anelka. It doesn't mean that every club in the country should dismiss foreign investors out of hand. As has been said there are plenty Pars fans queueing up to scrutinise these guys, your faux concern isn't required. 

I'm not concerned, but it is a matter of interest. Probably the most interesting thing to happen in Scottish football for a wee while.

And there is always a range of opinions from fans of a club that gets taken over, ranging from happy clappers to doom mongers. The point I'd make is not that it's fine because there is the latter group, but why there is any of the former group at all.

That's not a Pars thing, but something that applies to Scottish football generally. You don't invest in Scottish football to make money. Most boards in the country do it out of loyalty to their clubs. Most of the clubs that post profits don't do so on a scale that would make a disspationate, 3rd party investor think it was worth the time and effort.

So what's the angle? With Anelka at Raith he just wanted to play football manager with a real club, prove himself and become the footballing colossus he's been in his head. Pure ego trip. He was stupid rather than malevolent. Some other famous outside investors have tended towards more casual relationships with the truth and have been disruptive, destructive influences on those clubs when their investment proved not to be enough to achieve their short term aims. Generally though it's a case of big boys playing with big toys to feed their ego mostly. 

So are these guys the same? Or is there a longer term plan at work here? Is Dunfermline a stepping stone for them? To what? How will they achieve that?

 

[parsforlife]

They have said they aren’t doing it to make money.   It’s pure guesswork what their goals are.  My guess would be they want to make things a success with us in growing the club and create a name for themselves that they can go get jobs with bigger clubs.     f**k knows tbh. 

[Shandon Par]

3 minutes ago, renton said:

 

So are these guys the same? Or is there a longer term plan at work here? Is Dunfermline a stepping stone for them? To what? How will they achieve that?

 

"Access to the English leagues" is probably a key phrase from Ross McArthur. The investors seem to have little interest in buying East End Park, but do want to invest in a permanent training base. They see no point in attracting talent if we don't have the facilities to nurture them. We'll have a "sporting director", so obviously there will be an eye on Europe to bring in players who could potentially be punted on. 

They are also St Pauli fans and have spent time in and around Dunfermline so presumably the "exciting plans" McArthur can't mention yet will be along the lines of community involvement, maybe trying to associate other sporting ventures with DAFC (eg a training hub that could be used by various sports teams), brand awareness - making Dunfermline appeal as a cult team, synonymous with good causes, who can also sell merchandise around the world. 

I've said before it's a model that would have been perfect for Hibs so really chuffed that it's a project we'll be involved in instead. Also, as there's no debt, the money coming in made/makes and instant impact in terms of the team on the park this season. 

[Hedgecutter]

46 minutes ago, Chubbychops said:

Think a lot of folk are jumping to conclusions that our who squad is going to be filled with non-league Germans though. I expect that Scottish players will continue to dominate our starting 11.

I suspect that it'll be similar to the phase that occurred when Jimmy Calderwood rocked up to EEP with all his Dutch contacts.  Largely Scottish but with a dash of Ruitenbeek, Doesburg, Dijkhuizen, de Gier, Karnebeek etc etc.

[Rob1885]

I suspect that it'll be similar to the phase that occurred when Jimmy Calderwood rocked up to EEP with all his Dutch contacts.  Largely Scottish but with a dash of Ruitenbeek, Doesburg, Dijkhuizen, de Gier, Karnebeek etc etc.

Blending McManus, Dom Thomas, Ryan Dow and Paul Watson with Jerome Boateng, Kai Havertz and Arnautovic.

[smpar]

. One of 2 things will happen, they will use your club to bring over players and put them in the shop window, DAFC will not receive any transfer but your German investors will or EEP will be sold for development.
 

McArthur stated in his interview that the attraction of English football could play a big part in bringing some lower league German players over. He seems to believe one of the investors who says there’s an abundance of talent going unnoticed all the time. Part of the model is to bring in such players who show promise, offer them a 2-3 year contract and hopefully sell them on to the Premiership or down south, with a sell-on clause that’ll provide another good bit of financial backing for us.

. Let's just sacrifice playing a left sided midfielder and play them both on the right. 

Jim Jefferies likes this.

Good on Dunfermline.  It's difficult for clubs to get any meaningful investment of cash, especially in this current climate, so they've thought outside the box a bit and are showing a bit of ambition.
Of course it comes with risk, and could go horribly wrong, but it could also go really well.  Will be interesting to see how it turns out.  

I suppose we’ve thought outside the box in the sense that the board has accepted the offer, but it was the investors who approached the club and not the other way around. McArthur even said there was interest from multiple potential investors, the club weren’t actively seeking investment at any stage.

[vikingTON]

The idea of selling Scottish clubs as a staging post to the English leagues is smart and I've been calling for Morton to do something similar by investing in scouting the former Eastern Bloc instead of grubbing around the English non-league bins and the Scottish market for overpaid mercenaries instead. I'm a bit sceptical as to how the financial side of that pitch would apply to the German domestic market though: it's not quite England in terms of strength but there are pretty large and well supported clubs for a quite long way down their pyramid. What level are players going to be playing at where a two-three year deal on, say, £500 a week in Scotland becomes more appealing?

If the investors have decent knowledge of other European markets as well then it could well be a success but I'm not convinced that they're just going to import unearthed gems from the Bundesliga III no bother. 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by vikingTON

[HoBNob]

14 minutes ago, virginton said:

The idea of selling Scottish clubs as a staging post to the English leagues is smart and I've been calling for Morton to do something similar by investing in scouting the former Easern Bloc instead of grubbing around the English non-league bins and the Scottish market for overpaid mercenaries instead. I'm a bit sceptical as to how the financial side of that pitch would apply to the German domestic market though: it's not quite England in terms of strength but there are pretty large and well supported clubs for a quite long way down their pyramid. What level are players going to be playing at where a two-three year deal on, say, £500 a week in Scotland becomes more appealing?

If the investors have decent knowledge of other European markets as well then it could well be a success but I'm not convinced that they're just going to import unearthed gems from the Bundesliga III no bother. 

 

In the interview with the chairman when someone said Germany, McCarthur was pretty quick to say that it wouldn't just be Germany, citing that players would often go to Eastern Europe to further there careers and wouldn't be that well paid, he elaborated more on it but truthfully I can't remember the exact details.