Oh well. We should have known better!!!!!! Build are hopes up one week, shoot them down the next. I suppose it reflects the way the team plays.
I just hope there is something at the end of the line. Because if the ststement was untrue, about a potential investor being in talks, the board should be sacked.

Jeff,
If last week's statement is untrue, the board can be prevented from holding any directorship. However, I'm sure the statement was true but it does not mean the club intend to do anything more than talk.

Nice story: we now know who it isn't; we shouldn't get too excited by the amount of money that it clearly won't be; we still don't know who it is and it has gone from potentially being sorted in Jan to the summer. Expcetation management in the extreme don't you think?!! All this does is fuel the fire that it has been nothing more than a smokescreen to prevent criticism from the shareholders at the AGM. I hope to God this is not the case and that for once, something positive will come from it. However, as has been stated before if it is a smokescreen, the Board really are playing with fire. Surely it can't be too hard to find who it is? I reckon it would only take one of us lot a fortnight to find out who if we could get the time off work, so come on MUEN, set your dogs on 'em.

City will always be City. No money or ¿¿100 billion - we will stiil be the "same old City".

pearce should be very worried if we get a new backer simply because they wont be happy with the away results over the past year!!! mind you neither are the supporters

I think what is refreshing is stuart pearce as always remaining grounded and realistic about the proposition. Okay maybe the money will be there but being a shrewd businessman about spending would suit city better. Having a good coach, good youth set up is better, spending 30m would satisfy only the boo-boys not the real supporters of the club. Spend it wisely, on proven players and well scouted youngsters.....build for the future

I love CITY. I av a few mates who are Utd or Liverpoll fans, but I was born a MCFC fan. I didn't choose, and I would never choose another. City is religion... Jesus played for City 2006 years ago

It is obvious the big investment won't come from anyone until it is clear our premiership status is assured. If it comes at all. I remain one of the doubters who thinks the statement was made to ward off criticism at the AGM. Whhy mention it then? And why mention it when they said themselves the negotiations are only in the first minute of a 90 minute game. The long term future of playing staff is a problem. Reyna, Distin, Jordan, Mills, Sun, Weaver and I think also Trabelsi & Thatcher are all out of contract next summer. Beasley is only on loan. So nearly half our squad needs replacing. We need around 6 players just to keep the numbers as they are, before we even look at improving the team. We seem to be treading water.

No takeover will go ahead untill we are certs for the ¿¿30/40 mill Sky money next season, so it look like a summer job.

Tim, Jesus was just nearly one year old 2006 years ago, he would have been still at the academy I reakon at that junction in his career.

DI,
I think the club have an option that they can exercise on Trabelsi.

I don't wish to sound overly cynical, but does anyone REALLY believe this story? And for the MUEN to claim there is a "frenzy" of excitement about the prospects of a new investor clealy doesn't move in the same City circles as I do! It's gone from "in talks"... "we have to tell the shareholders because it's only right"... to "not before the transfer window"... to "maybe next season"... to "even then it won't be a big backer"! It's all a conspiracy and the club know we're all suckers for good news reports! If this turns out to be true I'll come on here praising Poll and Ferguson! Wake up everybody, you've been fooled... the greatest rockn'roll swindle?

Er Sorry that should be DJ.

Not bothered. If anybody thinks an Abramovich-style take-over will work out in the longer term, they might yet be surprised. The investment Abramovich has made in Chelski is in new training facilities, which may help them produce their own players, and certainly attract stars and keep them uninjured. Buying up all the good players in the world is just spending, won't foster any long-term team spirit, and will not attract promising youngsters to the club. If your money is generated in the main by ANOTHER business (e,g, oil) unlinked to football, your club is unstable. West Ham may live to regret the arrival of their new owner who seems a tad impatient. Villa have invested in a good manager (so far), let's see how patient the new money is with a mid-table team outperforming itself. Leeds are learning a hard lesson about spending instead of investing. No (more) false dawns at City, please. If you had to put a bet on which will be the PL top team in 10 years, where would you put your tenner? Chelsea, West Ham and Villa, City with ¿¿100m? Or on Arsenal or the Swamp Dwellers? These 2 have both turned good players into better players (unfortunately) and sold their football to the world to make money. They are more secure because football and producing footballers is their staple business, not new money. Money? Depends what you do with it ... didn't we recently have a ¿¿50m investment in players under KK?! I think a nice minor investment would be in a specialist coach for the present strikers and attacking midfield players ... can't see any striker thriving at the front of the present formation and way of playing.

I totally agree with some of the comments below;the club really is playing with fire here. Mr Wardle clearly spoke of significant investment of such size that it would enable us to operate at a higher level.Of course negotiations might break down but if it turns out there was never such interest in the first place then I fear that this will be the final straw for many fans.For myself I can just about accept that we are skint,frustrating though it is,but I could not accept being lied to especially if it amounts to a cynical attempt to deflect criticism/encourage season ticket renewals etc.I continue to cling on to the hope that not even our club would make such an announcement without it being true but also continue to wonder why they went public before the deal was done.

Brilliant comments keith, exactly my sentiments. I cant see chelsea up at the top in 5-6 years once abramovic is fed up of his toy. Mourhino i dont rate either. You have to bear in mind 5 yrs ago we were in big trouble and things are now looking up, we are a lot more shrewd, its going to be a frustrating period but we must do the following
a) Keep the manager
b) Spend wisely
c) Maintain our youth policy
Id rather watch a young kid come and do good, than watch an old timer go through the motions and count his money

My moneys on Phillip Green, topshop man. That's if we're in talks in the first place. It seems too good to be true, city with a bit of money to burn. We can only wait and see.

I want to play devils advocate. We currently have city fans on the board who havent invested 20 mill in the club other than the shares they bought. They have loaned city the money and we pay interest on the outstanding amount which will one day have to be repaid in full so its not a gift its a loan. Why would any buisness man want to buy a football club? They either want to make money out of the club which means profits go to them or as in Chelsea's case have a big ego. The clamour to buy PL clubs at the moment is probaly more to do with TV money than the love of the game. If tv money goes down and attendaces continue to fall at most clubs what then? If a club got relegated in 2 or 3 years time what will happen? They may decide to pull out and asset strip the club of their best players and sell the ground (if they own it) before winding the club up. These guy are in it for the money not because they have always supported the club. Busines is buisness, if a buisness continues to lose money they asset strip and shut it down. Look outside of football say at Rover, the chinese wanted the technology not the buisness as one example. I would love a city fan to buy the club and invest millions because he wants to see the club win things like the late Jack Walker did for Blackburn. But please dont sell the club to someone looking to make a fast buck on the back of sky money!

Maybe they'll paint the stadium now? What about gold? They've got some on a 50% discount at Wilkies. If it's a colour we might be able to give it a proper name eh, any ideas???

Frenzy? What frenzy? We have heard it all before too many times. Does anyone here remember Franny Lee and his grandiose schemes for Maine Road? Looked great on paper. In fact it might be good to do a memory lane feature on this and that was going to happen but this was actually what did happen. Usually f........airly little. I am in total agreement that if anyone was going to invest they would leave it until our Premiership place is secured. Now given that there is potentially 30/40m gbp at stake what happens if we drop down the table. Is it worth say spending 15m to save 15m and what happens after January.

Abramovich has done his will and if he dies chelsea still get ¿¿50 mill each year for transfers for 10 years, and im not making this up.

The club is in talks, however talks are at an early stage and therefore parties to not want to be named! Lets just hope Mr Wardle and Co are not gfoing to be greedy and sell the club off at a resonable price so that more funds are available for transfers!

Why are we interested in this smoke screen. It seems blindingly obvious that the announcement last week was to deflect massive criticism of the board and it has clearly worked. We should be far more concerned about how much money SP will be given in January and who he will buy/sell. Personally, I think we will comfortably stay up and then, come the summer, maybe we will find a backer. What is clear is that if a backer is to invest ¿¿70M then that clears the debts and allows ¿¿20M for new signings. That is peanuts in the PL world. We need someone who is prepared to put in double that amount and then consistently put in money every season moving forward if we even want to start to compete at the highest level. Clubs like Everton are starting to find the going tough, like us, without the investment. And don't forget one fact that nobody has mentioned. Simply this, if the majority of the clubs are taken over because the PL is such a great investment opportunity, (in some people's opinions), there are still only one league title, one FA Cup, three other CL places, three EUFA Cup spots (now a complete mickey mouse tournament) and a League Cup up for grabs and the chances are, that will mean that the same clubs that are winning the trophies now will be the ones who are winning them when the dust has settled. Significant investment in City is not going to take us to the promised land of trophies every season. It will merely allow us to catch up some of the ground we have lost over the years whilst the Rags, Cheslki, the Arse and the Scousers have moved on.

I'm in agreement with most people on here about this but "if" this takeover goes through I pray we won't have a repeat of the Lee/Horton saga we had at Maine rd...we all knew Brian would get the push,it was just a matter of "when..."If you were a new owner and you had 30 million to spend on players would you entrust Pearce with it?I think on away results alone SP would be "mucking out" on his farm with the missus pretty sharpish.....two bad results,and he'd be history.

I see the MEN, with its army of undercover reporters, has not uncovered any evidence to say that the mystery man is indeed Lakshmi Mittal, as I have been saying all along. Here's another scoop for you - our first signing, a done deal, if you will, is Djibril Cisse who will be arriving Jan 1. Start getting excited, I know he never cut it at the 'pool, but he will be great for us.