The 4hr Interview with Ellis Short



Terribly bad judgement during his tenure, however in a perverse way, had we not plunged to the depths and subsequently financially bailed out by him then we wouldn’t be in the verge of getting these owners in.

Most expensive mistake he will ever make
 
I always said i thought he was a good guy at the time but his biggest mistake was appointing the wrong people to run our club. I still think the same.
 
I think Short’s biggest problem was that Sunderland was a completely unattractive place for top-flight footballers to come and live and play.
He ended up paying big wages (which we essentially couldn’t afford) for very mediocre players, hence ended up losing £20m per season.
Hopefully the new owners appreciate this issue.
 
PTR said:
www.chroniclelive.co.uk

Fulwell73 filmed a big interview with Ellis Short about Sunderland, but never used it - here's why

Ellis Short was the owner of Sunderland AFC when the club agreed to be the subject of a Netflix documentary, but they didn't use an in-depth interview
www.chroniclelive.co.uk www.chroniclelive.co.uk

I said all along that Short might have put loads of money in, but he had no idea what he was doing, and that this money was totally wasted due to a long line of bad decisions.
Seems the lads at Fullwell73 came to the same conclusion:

""An hour and a half later and we're still talking in detail about all of his mistakes in his time at the club, and that conversation was all driven by him. He knew he had a made a mess of it, but by this point he just did not know how to get out of it."

So pleased that he was able to hand the club to someone else. I really hope Donald and his team stay on at the club in a meaningful way - they know football, and they know SAFC.
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We all know he got things wrong, but he put big bucks in and had the decency to accept they were his losses and paid them all off. Nobody else in the history of Sunderland AFC has spent more money on the club than Ellis Short.

I don't blame him. I thank him for having the decency to realise he got things wrong and to write off those debts. If he comes into Chaplins before the MK Dons game I would shake his hand and buy the bloke a beer.
 
His number one mistake IMO without a shadow of doubt, was putting the club's legal secretary in charge.She was young ,inexperienced and totally unqualified for the massive role she was given. An experienced candidate from outside the club who had a similar role elsewhere would have been a much wiser choice
 
bowers2 said:
He probably lost the equivalent of 1000 quid in real money.
He won’t have sleepless nights.
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He’s worth around $1.4 billion and it cost him somewhere in the region of $200 million in the end. So around 15% of his personal wealth.
That’s a lot of money in any terms and he would have had liquidate a lot of other assets to make it happen and I’m sure the people who look after his money would have been strongly advising him against it.

He made lots of mistakes (and I wanted shot of him) but writing off that debt is one of most generous and benevolent things anyone has ever done for this club.

You only have to look at Bury to work out what could have happened if he hadn’t done it.
 
Fact Hunt said:
I think Short’s biggest problem was that Sunderland was a completely unattractive place for top-flight footballers to come and live and play.
He ended up paying big wages (which we essentially couldn’t afford) for very mediocre players, hence ended up losing £20m per season.
Hopefully the new owners appreciate this issue.
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Move the training ground to London sorts this issue. I have said it before and its obvious but it also seems to be a toxic issue amongst the fans. Why let the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, Leicester and Brighton use thier proximity to London to put us in the shade when we can compete and give players a better fan base for home games on top?

Man City and Man Utd players don't live in Manchester, Liverpool and Everton players don't live in Liverpool. Do you think all the Leicester players live in Leicester? It seems like a sell out but it could be the exact opposite. Moving the training ground to London could ironically put Sunderland on the map.
rebelsafc said:
His number one mistake IMO without a shadow of doubt, was putting the club's legal secretary in charge.She was young ,inexperienced and totally unqualified for the massive role she was given. An experienced candidate from outside the club who had a similar role elsewhere would have been a much wiser choice
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I was told there is a story behind that and its blindingly obvious when you stand back and think about it.

I am not about to pretend to be ITK but I think most people can work this one out for themselves. Its staring you in the face.
 
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tynevalleyblackcat said:
Move the training ground to London sorts this issue. I have said it before and its obvious but it also seems to be a toxic issue amongst the fans. Why let the likes of Watford, Bournemouth, Leicester and Brighton use thier proximity to London to put us in the shade when we can compete and give players a better fan base for home games on top?

Man City and Man Utd players don't live in Manchester, Liverpool and Everton players don't live in Liverpool. Do you think all the Leicester players live in Leicester? It seems like a sell out but it could be the exact opposite. Moving the training ground to London could ironically put Sunderland on the map.


I was told there is a story behind that and its blindingly obvious when you stand back and think about it.

I am not about to pretend to be ITK but I think most people can work this one out for themselves. Its staring you in the face.
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No idea what ya getting at me like.


I always thought Ellis had the right intentions but again like everyone thought he made the wrong choices.

The only time I disliked him was when it was clear in the championship that he had decided to stop bothering. That was soon forgotten when he pumped more money into getting rid of the debt then be would have done making us more competitive in the championship, for me it showed that he wasnt putting money in as he had enough of getting it wrong and wanted away but was happy to clear up his mess.
 
BumbleBee said:

Ellis shirt , ST holder

If he wants to invest in us now I would welcome him He didn't appoint the right people
www.readytogo.net www.readytogo.net
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Aye, me defending him earlire that year, near the end of the season we came down to League 1 and getting shot with shit for it by certain posters:

The Short Apologists

Thin on the ground these days. People are realising what a complete disaster he has been for our football club. Sick of players, directors and managers prepared to take the Emperor's shilling and care not one jot for the poor souls at the club who lose their jobs and the fans who spend their...
www.readytogo.net www.readytogo.net

It would be nice if situations like this would make some posters take stock of exactly how far they go with their vitriol towards our owners, managers, players and staff, but alas I suspect precious few lessons will be learned.
 
rebelsafc said:
His number one mistake IMO without a shadow of doubt, was putting the club's legal secretary in charge.She was young ,inexperienced and totally unqualified for the massive role she was given. An experienced candidate from outside the club who had a similar role elsewhere would have been a much wiser choice
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Like Bain, you mean? ;)
 
Fact Hunt said:
I think Short’s biggest problem was that Sunderland was a completely unattractive place for top-flight footballers to come and live and play.
He ended up paying big wages (which we essentially couldn’t afford) for very mediocre players, hence ended up losing £20m per season.
Hopefully the new owners appreciate this issue.
Click to expand...
Are they going to make Sunderland an attractive place for top flight footballers? Shame if thats what its going to take for us to have a canny team of superstars... mind our superstars of old werent a bunch of prima donna fannies
 
TopCat said:
Sacking MON wasn't a mistake. It was justified. Appointing that clown PDC was a gigantic mistake as was DiFanti and Angeloni. Sacking Quinn was a mistake, giving Margaret f***ing Byrne control of the club was a mistake. I could write a book on Short's mistakes and MON wouldn't even come into consideration for a mention
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Margret Byrne was his biggest mistake - a joke of an appointment!
 
We were in a vicious circle every season. Gave manager money to spend, bad start, sack manager, new manager comes in, keeps us up and repeat. Had a dressing room full of players who were not wanted by new manager but nobody would take them.

Could only work for so long. Fans (myself included) have to take some responsibility. I know Keane had a fall out but I honestly think if we'd kept O'Neill or Poyet we'd have become an established mid table team.
 

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