Often Partisan

The Carson Trial: Adjournment Analysis

News broke this morning that Carson Yeung’s criminal trial on five counts of money laundering has been adjourned for five months until April 29 2013.

I will admit my complete and utter shock. I’d been told by a contact in Hong Kong on Monday to expect an adjournment of one or two weeks whilst Carson got his act together and when it broke on RTHK that there was an application for an adjournment this morning I naturally assumed this was it. Five months however is a big delay and my immediate thought is that it’s the worst possible news for the club.

The problem is for a lot of people the trial was a chance for the saga to come to an end. A decision either way removed the sword of Damocles hanging over Carson’s head and would allow us as Blues fans and the club to have a better idea of what was happening moving forwards. To have that decision put back means more uncertainty and doubt in the minds of the fans and it’s not going to be good for any of us.

I don’t think it will affect the sale of the club in that I believe that will still happen. I hope it will still happen – Blues cannot afford for it not to happen. Without wishing to be a doom-monger, should the wheels not be at least in motion soon then Blues will be selling players in January. Furthermore, I think people will be shocked when they see figures – we won’t be getting ten million for Butland or a similar figure for Redmond – it will be far, far lower than that. The fact is whilst debt is low at the club cashflow is now down to the fumes and to be able to keep paying the bills players are going to have to be sold.

Down the pike, it gets worse – umpteen players out of contract at the end of the season, and a lack of promotion (can you see us going up at present?) equals an eight million pound drop in revenue – that’s £160,000 per week less Blues can spend on wages for players. The “R” word would be even more disastrous as that would equal Blues losing all the parachute money… a £320,000 per week drop in revenue. That would be an absolute killer.

My fear is that the trial hanging over the head of Carson is scaring off potential bidders who fear being called into court over the purchase of BCFC. I understand it has scared off one potential consortium and I think it would take administration of BCFC or the parent company for potential purchasers to be more relaxed with regards to buying Blues and dealing with the authorities. The big problem is that we don’t know when or if that would happen – with the incredible lack of accounts from BIH no one knows what the score is there and thus we’re left scratching for news as and when the holding company deign to give it to us.

As much as I can smile at the thought from some on Twitter that Carson returning complete with bearskin coat and a wad of money would be a brilliant change in fortune I can’t see it coming. As much as people think that logically Carson has to let go now instead of losing everything I can’t see that happening either – Carson isn’t known for his rational choices and the way I hear it he’s still nuts about owning a football club. He might be an enforced armchair fan but I hear he’s had every single game recorded onto DVD by the club and sent to him.

So what now? It’s more of that “wait and see” for us at the moment – unfortunately now it’s going to be with hands in front of our faces in dread at what might happen next.

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56 Responses to “The Carson Trial: Adjournment Analysis”

  • Kaje says:

    I’m petrified of January. I simply cannot see us sold in time and we’re going to lose two of the brightest young talents ever to have come through our youth system.

    If I could hire a hitman to take Carson Yeung out, I would without hesitation.

    He’s killing our club, so it would be poetic justice.

    • Mickey07 says:

      Don’t forget pannu as well,only interested in what’s best for him……

    • John says:

      As i said in a previous blog, selling Marlon King would be the biggest worry,he’s the only one who knows where the net is, i’m not too worried about Redmond and Butland. As for the Carson saga,how different are the Hong connection,that it would appear,Pannu is trying to sell the club to. With a Hong Kong judge now giving Carson “more time” to sort out his defence (he’s already had 12 months), it seems the Hong Kong legal system is somewhat clouded !

    • Paul Carter - The Voice Of Reason says:

      You’ll get this blog closed down with comments like that.

  • Lee says:

    I may be wide of the mark here, but I think this is good news for BCFC in the long run. I’ve never believed that the club would be sold by January any way. That’s a date that has been banded about by journalists and fans alike without any real substance, and football clubs just don’t get sold that quickly, especially blues as there is such a mountain of crap to wade through for the potential new owners. The delay in the court case means CY has more time to collect funds for his court case and you’d think that would be taken from the eventual sale of the club. This means that PP doesn’t have to accept the first offer that comes along, which in my view will sort the chancers out from the genuine buyers. In the long run that would mean genuine owners who know how to run a business properly and have the funds to back it up. Unfortunately the best we can hope for in the next few months is that we stay away from the relegation zone as long as possible, so next season the new owners can build a serious promotion campaign unlike the “hope for the best” attitude we have at the moment..

  • DoctorD says:

    Al — what’s going on? I thought you wrote in a previous blog last week

    http://oftenpartisan.co.uk/archives/7221/judge-refuses-adjournment-in-carsons-criminal-case.html

    that the judge had refused CY’s application for an adjournment for six months. Now he has got a five-month adjournment. Am I missing something?

  • Clive says:

    Fans boycott = Admin and it’s the only way now to bring a quick conclusion..
    Sad but True as this is indeed a black day in the history of bcfc.

  • Mickey07 says:

    This is actually worse than the black days of the wheldon and kumaur era,I can’t remember it as bad as this…..

  • Bluenosesol says:

    Guys, surely this is not a surprise, you must have known this was going to happen? It will probably be delayed again in April. So much for the HK courts. One minute the judge says “How dare you hijack the court”!!, the next he says “5 Months suspension? That’ll do nicely”. Its all just total B*********S. As I said about the prospects of a delay in an earlier blog “I would bet my house on it”!!

  • Evesham Blue says:

    Chaps. Think we have wasted enough time on this. Things aint changing anytime soon re ownership. Looking on the positive side – the team looked more solid yesterday. To stay in this division is the main priority now.

    Did I read this right that we wont get a parachute payment if we go down to league one? Why is that?

    If we have to sell Butland and/or Redmond so be it if it means we keep going. I do not want admin just to change ownership. I think wage drains are killing us as well Mr Zigic being the chief culprit. No chance of offloading him until his contract is run down

    • almajir says:

      Did I read this right that we wont get a parachute payment if we go down to league one? Why is that?

      You did. Those are the rules. Portsmouth lost out to this when they went down.

  • paul says:

    I predict the next you will hear is that he will be requesting that his fund be unfrozen to enable him to pay his defence team. if that hapens then i think he will hold on to bcfc if that is what he is after doing, but this delay untill April will give them the time and space to decide what they want to do next. It could be the offer they have now from the HK group will still be done but without all the rush.

  • BobBobandTrev says:

    Just a quick reality check guys,This man is fighting for his very existence,wouldn’t you use everything in your armoury to defend this?
    Believe me this situation is not anywhere near as bad as the Wheldon era, any funds raised by sales will not go to CY but to the running of the club. Talk of boycotts is at best stupid at worst deluded,how can you profess to loving the club and suggest this?
    I humbly suggest the only way through this is to do what we do best,support the club we love,get down to the ground and sing our hearts out. it’s been said before, BCFC will still be here long after we’ve all gone.
    KRO

  • chris says:

    One of two scenario’s, admin is round the corner or our best players are sold in January, and either way this group of useless players need to get their finger out and get us ten points clear of the relegation zone.
    Trouble is most of them aren’t bothered as they will be out of contract in June and they will be getting their agents to find them a club in January (so Blues get a fee) and will have moved on by the end of Jan.
    The ones left will bleed us dry like Zigic and then leave once again after another relegation.
    The club will not be sold while Yeung belives he can still be a part owner under new far east investors and this could drag on till the summer.

  • chris says:

    ok who’s idea was the advert banner at the top, very amusing!!

  • jon says:

    this is running longer than the forsyte saga or dallas ……. if this means we go into admin …. i dont want it ………….. but so be it at least as previous posters have said it might push the sale through quicker i just hope we have enough points to stay up if not i fear the worst but isnt this typical of blues if theres a hard way to do things we will always find it

  • blueboseb says:

    This decision isnt gonna do anythink for the club at all, we are already down in the dumps as a club top to bottom, and realy hope it doesnt affect the sale of the club cus if we have to have another 5months of the way were playing, the effort from the players and the atmos from the stands its truly depressing and all stems from whats goin on from the top. Carson you are litrally single handly killing our club the longer you hold on to it, do the honurable thing and sell. Got to admit if we dont hear any annoucements from BIHL thjis week regarding club, the atmos at the boro game will be even more subdue than already has been. CLARK OUT SOTV

  • Bluenosesol says:

    Not sure I have this right but at the end of the day it matters nothing to the Blues as to how little a buyer pays for the club as that money rides off into the sunset. Remember Sullivan and his crew paid peanuts for the actual purchase. The cheaper the club is to purchase, the more attractive it is to potential buyers. Pannu and CY are holding out for as high a price as they can get. The current ball park asking price is too high to attract a serious bid.
    So all that said, if we go into admin with a caveat we win enough points to stay 10 points clear of relegation, then we stay up, we get the parachute payment, the club price will plummet and serious bids will come in. So if admin is unavoidable, as fans our number one priority is to Forget about the nonsense and Sing Your Heart Out for the Lads!!!!

  • Alex T says:

    Dont know if anyone can answer this, but isn’t any sale dependant on the out-going player agreeing terms with the other club?

    I know Nathan Redmond is unhappy at the moment, but wants to play for Blues and become a legend at Stans.. Its his club, so would be one hell of a loss to both him and us (the fans) if he were to move on.
    Jack Butland may not feel as much loyalty, but he wants 1st team football. Im not sure any Prem club will promise that.

    With that in mind, I just hope we cant make the sale, even if we tried….. Am I clutching at straws here??

  • pedantic_pete says:

    I can only hope that the said DVDs Carson’s been sent will tell him that on current form BCFC isn’t a club worth holding on to

  • Paul Carter - The Voice Of Reason says:

    Before Carson arrived I went down the Blues
    After Carson arrived I went down the Blues
    When Carson was nicked I went down the Blues
    When Carsons trail got put back 12 months I went down the Blues

    Guess where I’m going Friday night?

  • Macca Salop Blue says:

    Seems like a long long painful death. What is his defence going to come up with in the next 5 months that they haven’t found in the last 17 months? I wouldn’t be suprised if come 29th April they ask for another 2 or 3 month extension. Fed up with it, completely fed up with it now.

  • Paul Carter - The Voice Of Reason says:

    It’s my belief that Pannus sale of the club is secondary to his legal advice on Carsons case.

  • phil says:

    Fair enough if Carson Yeung is found guilty, he would have deserved all of the verbal abuse he’s had for a while now. But, what if he’s found not guilty? What if he is innocent? I really hope our fans will cut him some slack if he was to be found innocent because if he was, then that would make him a victim.
    That would mean that none of this was his fault. He’d have put money into the club had his assets not been frozen would he not?
    It’s just a thought.

    • Oldbluenose says:

      phil,; Comon sense thinking mate, We will just have to wait and see, !!.

      In the meantime, ?. What will happen next, !!. It is fast becoming a soap opera at Blues, !!.

    • Grizzly says:

      We were in financial difficulty long before Carson had his assets frozen. There was talk of us having to sell players even if we hadn’t gone down under McLeish, but relegation just compounded the misery as no financial contingency plan was in place. Why do you think we couldn’t sack McLeish? We couldn’t afford to pay him off. The three candidates to replace him, Hughton, Di Matteo and Zola all had one thing in common, they were out of a job so required no compensation.

  • Atahualpa is a BlueNose says:

    It would appear that PP is more in control of the situation than CY at the moment. Who is really making the important decisions at this juncture?

    CY does not seem to be delaying the inevitable, but may even truly believe that he has a sound chance of being acquited. A legal member of his team has commented that the prosecution’s case boils down to how a hairdresser came to become a multi-millionaire in the space of a few years. In the very next sentence he also stated that prior to 2001 – when the charge period relates from to 2007, CY and his father owned a hotel on the mainland of China amongst other interests. It does not matter how many boxes of ‘evidence’ the prosecution have and who the ‘expert’ witnesses are, it all depends on proof. Having interests in casinos and hotels means large amounts of cash. Where the defence may fall down is what CY’s tax returns show. He could always claim that this was negligence on part of his accountants at the time. Now that his old man is no longer around, it’ll be interesting to see what is considered his role in the whole affair.

    I honestly believe he still harbour’s a great desire to hold on at all costs and will favour any bid which allows him to retain some control surreptitously.

    No doomsday scenario will take place in January. We will not go into administration; were we not going into admin for the last 18 months or so?? Do you not believe that PP or CY will do whatever it takes to stop this happening and thus retain power??
    It is more than likely that a player or two may be sold – would prefer this over some of the other scenaarios being mentioned and soon it will pass after initial hostility from us the fans. Who knows, the much mentioned HK group may even come to the fore.

    The sad part of it all is that we will have to write this season off after the hope and promise of the last on.

  • tamuffblue says:

    This was always gonna happen – they are murky waters out in the East – I believe there is nothing different from 3 months ago just some bullshit spouted out to HKSE – feed a little bit of bullshit to the mushrooms but continue to do as before – let christmas come and go – drop more bullshit out about this HK group or that HK group get to April adjourn again WHILST BCFC sell what assets they have ie Redmond Butland Davies King etc etc – supporters blame the nearest victims of this charade ie management while the real culprits sit out in the east – then another bit of bullshit about how Carson as lost everything and really loves the club all in all BULLSHIT AFTER BULLSHIT

    and yes i havent got a clue how this will be resolved too much bullshit in my eyes !!!!!!

  • Paul Kimber says:

    How do you know he gets DVD’s sent to him?

  • kirkus says:

    the whole history of the club,tells u that after a great decade. we are in for ten or fifteen years of madness

  • bcfcjv says:

    id rather lose butland and redmond over the club anyday. al if possible could you put up a list of players who are out of contract end of this season possibly, please

  • motozulu says:

    *Nicked From SHA*

    Out of Contract End of Season

    Elliot
    Murphy
    Doyle
    Spector
    Ibanez
    Caldwell
    Lucas
    Asante
    Jervis
    Carr
    Rooney
    Burke
    Fahey
    Packwood
    Deaman (think his contract is up at the end of this year)
    Hancox
    Robinson

    may well have options on some of them but could be left with the following;

    Zigic – 1 year left
    Lovenkrands – 1 year left (12 month option)
    King – 1 year left
    Davies – 1 year left
    Mullins – 1 year left
    Ambrose – 1 year left
    Butland – 4 years left
    Redmond – 2 years left

  • Paulo says:

    This has to be bad news for the club, and worse for the fans. CY has had a year to prepare for this, in fact he’s actually had more time than that. He’s had his mortgage case going on in the meantime, along with his asset freeze, but I suppose, for a man who is under great suspicion of money laundering ..he still lives an extravagent lifestyle and has no time at all to make a few calls and hold a few meetings with ‘lawyers’. But then, PP got promoted, and became his right hand man, which left the club to simply tick over and become a financial nightmare in the process ..but so what, I suppose if he’s gonna go down, then he’s going to make sure he doesn’t go down alone.
    To me, this is embarrasing, scary and downright dangerous for us, and the only thing it is for CY and BIHL is selfish. It does feel like we are being set up for a big fall, and to be honest, I dont think any buyer would look at us as a sound business interest at the moment. With the way the finances are, it would not be out of the question for any new owners to asset strip us anyway at the first instance, just to get on an even keel, and build from there. Zigic’s wages alone are killing us, and I agree that PL clubs will be snapping up Redmond and Butland on the cheap in January.
    If only PP gave a flying sh*te when he gave LC a job, because the one thing that is going to save us ..is a team that can win games …not draw or lose them.
    I wouldn’t be surprised if another protest song was born from this sorry arsed sage from HK.

  • Art Watson says:

    Question is how many players would you like to retain?

    I have only 13 on my list the others can move on for me and that tells me a lot about our current league position.

  • BobBobandTrev says:

    Atahualpa, do you rally believe if a player wants to move on he deliberately loses form?
    I know that most of them would be burgularing our houses if they weren’t footballers but really!!
    This would take thick to a new level.
    KRO

    • Atahualpa is a BlueNose says:

      Two Bob an’ Trev

      I would say that it has nothing to do with being thick or thin for that matter, and merely to do with job satisfaction, security, desire and commitment amongst other things. Case in point would be Ridgewell last season.

      We can draw parallels with most work places and how if staff do not know they will be in a job at the end of the year, will tackle some form of uncertainty. Trev you should know this as it was Matty lad -your offspring, along with some other players at the time who lived on the same estate as my brother and used to meet for a few beers around each others homes and tell about various anecdotes about the club and players.

      Honoured to have contact with such ‘names’ from our past.

      As a club jester points out; KRO

  • Paul Carter - The Voice Of Reason says:

    Keep right on boys

  • tamuffblue says:

    Ruddy at Norwich out for thee months – music to Peter Pans ears


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