• The first stage of the forum upgrades has now been completed but they remain in a degraded state and are still being worked on. Normal posting/reading should now be possible.
    Please read this thread for more details.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.

Methven still claiming credit


Lord Potts said:
The were desperate to sell it after we lost the Play Off final against Charlton.

An extraordinary situation arose during the summer where Jeff was telling everyone the the Club had been sold to the Yanks and Mutt had to come out publicly and say it wasn't the case . This was a clearly a genuine shock to Jeff who as a joint owner must have been given the very convincing impression that it had been sold.

It was at that point that I realised just what a shambles those two were.
Click to expand...

I remember Donald being pissed as a fart in the Hilton after the Wimbledon game the Yanks attended. Totally convinced it was all done and dusted. God alone knows what happened after that. By that stage he and Methven were barely speaking, having fallen out over whether Ross should have been sacked (Methven wanted him gone).
 
hertsmackem said:
Where to start, a week on from the tumultuous play-offs weekend of the EFL? Probably the most professionally satisfying weekend of my career. Not because I was there lifting trophies - I was not, being here in Jamaica watching on the TV - but because promises had been kept; plans had come good.
When I met with Ellis Short in April 2018 prior to taking the club over a few weeks later, it is hard to overstate just how broken Sunderland AFC was. £180 million in debt (much of it to aggressive money-lenders at exorbitant interest rates), and losing £27 million per annum on an operational basis, the club had just finished bottom of the Championship, four points behind Burton Albion. The average crowd that season at the SoL had been a paltry (by SAFC standards) 27,000. We inherited players on multi-season multi-million £ contracts who were quite open about not wanting to play for the club (indeed, several failed to report for pre-season training)
Now is not the time to recount the whole rollercoaster ride (losing twice in the play-offs and making a notorious failed signing!) but certain recollections merit re-visiting, as seminal moments in the re-birth.
Sat alongside Stewart Donald at a Wearside desk, with our red pens systematically chopping out the waste that had brought the club low; Luke O'Nien driving up from L2 Wycombe Wanderers, with his worldly possessions packed in the back of his battered old VW; interviewing (Sporting Director) Kristjaan Speakman on Zoom during the pandemic and seeing his IQ as something rarely encountered in football; being told not to let (head of recruitment) Stuart Harvey get into his car without signing him up, after his interview; travelling to the Italian Lakes in late 2020 to persuade Kyril Dreyfus that he was the guy that could take the club to the next level. From the co-owners to the Sporting Director, the head of recruitment and the club captain, Stewart and I brought them all to the club, believing that they could continue and complete what we had started. Seven years from disaster and possible extinction back to the Promised Land is not bad going, though it is a year or two more than I originally predicted!

Charlton was a different kettle of fish. Much of the club was healthy (not least its Academy and Community Trust), and its fanbase resilient.
However, the business operation and the First Team environment were muddled. The culture (unlike SAFC's) was not toxic but weak. Learning from Sunderland, where we were slow to get the executive team right, strong appointments were made early. In amidst all the deserved praise for others this week, a word for Andy Scott, who left the club in January, but who signed Kayne Ramsay, Thierry Small, Conor Coventry, Greg Docherty, Macualey Gillesphey and Matt Godden for a combined £450,000. Nathan Jones was always Andy's first choice manager, but we eventually got him in Jan '24... and the rest is history. A hugely gratifying 2 year turnaround for a club I'll always love.
Click to expand...
Donald was the wealthiest of the pair and he was only worth 8m at time, most of which was his house in Oxford
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
I remember Donald being pissed as a fart in the Hilton after the Wimbledon game the Yanks attended. Totally convinced it was all done and dusted. God alone knows what happened after that. By that stage he and Methven were barely speaking, having fallen out over whether Ross should have been sacked (Methven wanted him gone).
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to know when the Americans pulled the plug on that deal. It can’t have been long after the visit
 
hertsmackem said:
Where to start, a week on from the tumultuous play-offs weekend of the EFL? Probably the most professionally satisfying weekend of my career. Not because I was there lifting trophies - I was not, being here in Jamaica watching on the TV - but because promises had been kept; plans had come good.
When I met with Ellis Short in April 2018 prior to taking the club over a few weeks later, it is hard to overstate just how broken Sunderland AFC was. £180 million in debt (much of it to aggressive money-lenders at exorbitant interest rates), and losing £27 million per annum on an operational basis, the club had just finished bottom of the Championship, four points behind Burton Albion. The average crowd that season at the SoL had been a paltry (by SAFC standards) 27,000. We inherited players on multi-season multi-million £ contracts who were quite open about not wanting to play for the club (indeed, several failed to report for pre-season training)
Now is not the time to recount the whole rollercoaster ride (losing twice in the play-offs and making a notorious failed signing!) but certain recollections merit re-visiting, as seminal moments in the re-birth.
Sat alongside Stewart Donald at a Wearside desk, with our red pens systematically chopping out the waste that had brought the club low; Luke O'Nien driving up from L2 Wycombe Wanderers, with his worldly possessions packed in the back of his battered old VW; interviewing (Sporting Director) Kristjaan Speakman on Zoom during the pandemic and seeing his IQ as something rarely encountered in football; being told not to let (head of recruitment) Stuart Harvey get into his car without signing him up, after his interview; travelling to the Italian Lakes in late 2020 to persuade Kyril Dreyfus that he was the guy that could take the club to the next level. From the co-owners to the Sporting Director, the head of recruitment and the club captain, Stewart and I brought them all to the club, believing that they could continue and complete what we had started. Seven years from disaster and possible extinction back to the Promised Land is not bad going, though it is a year or two more than I originally predicted!

Charlton was a different kettle of fish. Much of the club was healthy (not least its Academy and Community Trust), and its fanbase resilient.
However, the business operation and the First Team environment were muddled. The culture (unlike SAFC's) was not toxic but weak. Learning from Sunderland, where we were slow to get the executive team right, strong appointments were made early. In amidst all the deserved praise for others this week, a word for Andy Scott, who left the club in January, but who signed Kayne Ramsay, Thierry Small, Conor Coventry, Greg Docherty, Macualey Gillesphey and Matt Godden for a combined £450,000. Nathan Jones was always Andy's first choice manager, but we eventually got him in Jan '24... and the rest is history. A hugely gratifying 2 year turnaround for a club I'll always love.
Click to expand...
Hi posh wanked, someone well connected to the top of the club described you to me as a bell end, who could barely detect the difference between his arse and his elbow.

But they also reckon Stewart Donald was actually what the club needed and heart was in the right place (not my opinion at all, I fking hate the pair of you.)

But be safe in the knowledge those in power now reflect on you as being a no-ability, nobody.
 
Dirge said:
Donald was the wealthiest of the pair and he was only worth 8m at time, most of which was his house in Oxford
Click to expand...

That was a piece of gibberish put out by an idiot journalist who added together the asset values of his companies from published accounts and assumed that was money. In fact, he was worth much more as he had inherited wealth from his father, who had set up and sold on Admiral Insurance. His net worth was probably closer to around £75m. Still not a lot of money for a club owner. The problem wasn't his wealth; it was more that he was a typical second generation business owner who had inherited the wealth, but not the business acumen. I saw a number of business insolvencies in the 80s which resulted precisely from this.
 
MustardAndOnions said:
It’s still hard to believe it actually happened with these 2

Ashley wasn’t a saint but he kept them financial stable and it always annoyed me how much the national press criticise him and just ignored this period

It was genuinely nightmare stuff

I still have a hard time forgiving some of the fanzines n co who indulged them early on

That Conor lad or whatever he was called
Click to expand...
They used him to put positive propaganda about anything and everything they did
In return he got on their payroll and as result his site got ‘exclusives’ and increased traction they wouldn’t of had
Horrific time it was, it was embarrassing how small time we were
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
I remember Donald being pissed as a fart in the Hilton after the Wimbledon game the Yanks attended. Totally convinced it was all done and dusted. God alone knows what happened after that. By that stage he and Methven were barely speaking, having fallen out over whether Ross should have been sacked (Methven wanted him gone).
Click to expand...
Would love to know what really happened there
 
Safc1987 said:
They used him to put positive propaganda about anything and everything they did
In return he got on their payroll and as result his site got ‘exclusives’ and increased traction they wouldn’t of had
Horrific time it was, it was embarrassing how small time we were
Click to expand...

Small time is the exact right phrase
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
That was a piece of gibberish put out by an idiot journalist who added together the asset values of his companies from published accounts and assumed that was money. In fact, he was worth much more as he had inherited wealth from his father, who had set up and sold on Admiral Insurance. His net worth was probably closer to around £75m. Still not a lot of money for a club owner. The problem wasn't his wealth; it was more that he was a typical second generation business owner who had inherited the wealth, but not the business acumen. I saw a number of business insolvencies in the 80s which resulted precisely from this.
Click to expand...
He was out of his depth, gambled on the fact that he'll achieve a promotion on the cheap and then sell the club for a big profit. £70m inherited and thinking he should own a club of Sunderland's stature.😂
 
I'll always remember him saying the piss taking party stops here then proceeded to brag that he got his mate a job by texting him (Chris Maguire)
 
StayPuft said:
I'll always remember him saying the piss taking party stops here then proceeded to brag that he got his mate a job by texting him (Chris Maguire)
Click to expand...
I remember being down Wimbledon and he was in the boozer talking to fans about who was in for the job, mentioning Ince and McLaren by name telling us all how Ross was the biggest prospect management wise in Britain etc
Amazing how many fans were lapping it up
Proper jackanory stuff, fans branded him ‘refreshing’ it was sheer unprofessional and non league Esque for me
Zweiguys said:
My opinion of the two.
SD had his heart in the right place but was way over his head.
CM was nothing more than a carnival barker.
I’ve no real love for Short as he left us exposed to this type of ownership.
Click to expand...
Nail on the head
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top