CASH-strapped Manchester City plan to recruit more directors to revive the club's financial fortunes.
M.E.N. Sport can reveal today that one of several names in the frame is former Manchester policeman and now millionaire Keith Pinner.
Chairman John Wardle, who has sunk more than '10m of his own fortune into the club, is vowing to boost numbers on the five-man board by headhunting entrepreneurs willing to invest in Kevin Keegan's under-achieving team.
In the last three years City have borrowed heavily to fund transfer spending and the move to the new stadium, and the club's debt stands at around '50m.
It is understood Wardle wants two more directors to work alongside the current board of Bryan Bodek, Ashley Lewis, Alistair Mackintosh and Dennis Tueart.
Mackintosh has a globe-trotting brief to boost investment and has already travelled to Russia, while Bodek has built up contacts in Thailand after taking part in a city council-sponsored cultural exchange trip in April.
Wardle refused to comment today but it is known he is determined to press ahead and an announcement could be made as soon as next month.
Ex-Blue Ray Ranson made a hush-hush move to join the City board in January in return for a '1m investment. Ranson, who made his fortune through insurance and player management, was knocked back and is not thought to be on Wardle's shortlist.
Pinner, 62, who as a PC walked the beat in Manchester, is the chairman of Disley-based sports sponsorship company Arena International.
Pinner, who played a key role in BSkyB's decision to invest in the Blues, has been a City fan for 50 years. He refused to comment this morning on whether he would want to switch from his role as honorary president to a position on the board.
He told M.E.N. Sport: "I've just got back from holiday and there has been no approach. If they did ask me I would have to check with the wife!"
Pinner who brokered Barclaycard's and Carling's sponsorship in top flight football has a reputation as a Mr Fixit.
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He's a Blue, hes got a Mr Fixit reputation. Definitely worth pursuing. We are skint and need some investment for sure. This bloke sounds like he could be a good addition to the boardroom.
Bloody hell, how desperate are we. We need someone who can invest about 50 million into this club, not someone who is going to invest a couple of million at tops. The only way to save city is an abramovich type, which apparently we were close to getting, but it was all hot air, as everything at city usually is.
gud! he's got alot of fixin to do
There is only one man Wardle needs to invite-David Bernstien, then Wardle can resign and go back to selling rag shirts, and allow Bernie to pull us back up the table!
We desperately need fresh ideas on the board and more investment. I'd also like to be told where all the extra cash we are making on an increased ground capacity and higher merchandise sales is going, because we aren't spending any on players at the moment. We were supposed to have a structured debt payoff which was set up by Bernstein, which would allow us to keep competing in the transfer market and add to the squad. So is this debt being repayed ? If we do get relegated then we will lose 20 million at least and the crowd attendance will drop by ten thousand as well, so we have to keep investing in the team to stay in the premiership. After yesterdays performance and Keegans recent comments about SWP not seeing his contract out and KK going in two years then it looks as though Keegan has thrown the towel in. The one thing we cannot do is sack Keegan because we can't afford to pay him off. If his heart isn't in making City a top six team which we should be with our fanbase, then he should let the board know he wants to quit so we can find a replacement. The strike force is very weak apart from Anelka, Fowler is finished and Macken isn't a premiership player. We should have sold Wanchope the season before for two million, and bought a new striker or Van Buyten then, because the half million we got for him won't buy us another player.
Best way to fix things is sack Keegan and get Bernsein back on the board
If we do manage to secure more finance then Kevin Keegan must not be allowed to waste it in the way he has so far during his 3 years at the club! He has unashamedly spent nearly 50 million assembling this rag-tag squad of mi-fits that wouldn't recoup even half of the transfer fees he paid for them!
like fixing a bucket with sticking plaster. local entrepreneurs are not the answer. back to the days of swales and the pastel blazer brigade
We want BERNSTEIN to return has chairman and BRING RANSON in as a director and KEEGAN to resign, he,s lost the plot has he had a breakdown or what? he just sits in his chair playing with his zip on his jacket during a game HOW CAN HE KEEP PICKING FOWLER HE HASN,T GOT IT ANYMORE HE LOOKS FAT AND OUT OF SHAPE MAYBE WE SHOULD GIVE HIM TO CITYS MASTERS TEAM HE WOULD FIT IN PLAYING WITH THE OLDIES kevin let somebody else have a go this is our club and we want someone who can motivate the team and have a plan b when things aren,t going our way and start picking up points home and away with you in charge wev,e got NO CHANCE OF SURVIVING
Rubbish! What a daft idea! More board members loaning the club a few quid and charging enormous amounts of interest to feather their nests with guaranteed seat in director's box, tickets for their mates, meals before during and after the.........er, sorry, forgot, can't really call it football with the shower we put out! A nice little gravy train for Wardle and his mates that keeps him in and City totally f@**ed! What happened to the Russian investment and why, why, why, if Ranson has B#30M to spend is he not on the shortlist?