What is the point of Kretinsky?

[Fauxstralian]

Major shareholder in the Post Office which is in the shit As West Ham part owner he seemingly has no interest in taking control or driving the club on with substantial investment. Seems to be just a cuckoo in the nest riding the value of his investment up on the backs of fans. The club is going nowhere until an active committed owner with a serious ON FIELD plan emerges. That means Kretinsky needs to join Sullivan in heading for the exit

[Monsieur merde de cheval]

Show me the wonga

[eusebiovic]

I think he split from his girlfriend whom is worth serious money. 

He was attached to the ex-show jumper and daughter of Petr Kellner who was the richest person in the Czech Republic before he died in a helicopter crash in 2021. He owned PPF Group which was a huge conglomerate of various interests.

Died in Alaska... probably whist having a nosey at the potential of the filthy tar sands.

[Swiss.]

I think he split from his girlfriend whom is worth serious money. 

[northbankfrank]

"Purely an asset in his portfolio that he wants to see appreciate over the long term with zero personal investment."

So where did the £125 million that Kretinsky put into the club via a share issue in 2021 come from? Somebody esle?

Kretinsky invested money with the expectation of a return in the mid to long term greater than he could get elsewhere.  It wasn't a sentimental gift because his old granny lived on Green Street.  Like almost any owner, his only interest in the club is how much money he can make out of it.

[Westside]

"Purely an asset in his portfolio that he wants to see appreciate over the long term with zero personal investment."

So where did the £125 million that Kretinsky put into the club via a share issue in 2021 come from? Somebody esle?

[Sir Alf]

Purely an asset in his portfolio that he wants to see appreciate over the long term with zero personal investment.  Financial interest only in other words.  

The harsh reality might be that arab investment ( eg Qatar etc ) is the only way to secure owners who want to improve the standing of the club from a footballing perspective.  Even that has the underlying motive of what they term “sportswashing” an attempt at achieving legitimacy and improve the image of nations with poor records on human rights, treatment of women etc.  a proper pact with the devil?

The yanks are the other option. Most want success on the pitch but the trade off is often foregoing a club’s identity or history ( fan demographic change from traditional fans to tourists and exorbitant ticket pricing to increase revenues which is at the heart of current protests).    

Not great choices morally speaking.  A british based consortium of West Ham fans with ambition would be nice but unrealistic. That said anyone who doesnt lie and mislead on the scale of Sullivan and Brady is a start. 

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

I've just been looking at how Sparta Prague have been doing since Kretinsky became President there in 2004. Prior to his arrival Sparta Prague totally dominated, winning 8 of the 11 seasons since the formation of the Czech league. They've won 6 out of 21 since then.

Apparently Sparta fans view him as a bit of a cheapskate. According to transfermarkt, in terms of transfer spending they've made a profit of €20m+ in the last 5 years; €30m+ in the last 10. The club's been running at a loss for years and FFP means Kretinsky can't spend more on players, so he says.

In his 21 years in charge they've had about 25 different managers, including 10 in the 5 year spell before he invested in West Ham.

All in all he just seems a bit shit and hopefully he sells up soon along with the rest of them.

[Mike Oxsaw]

Could the Royal Mail end up as our main shirt or even stadium sponsor.

Sub-editors right across sport have probably already written thousands of "whacky" headlines in the hope.

[Massive Attack]

Still keeping an open mind about Kretinskys long term intentions and how he wants to play all this. He's not here just to make up the numbers having a 27% stake already. Could well be waiting for the right time to take full advantage when he's ready for a possible takeover. £170M ain't an insignificant amount out in to the Club. It's 4 years almost to the day since he decided to jump on board. 

[MaryMillingtonsGhost]

The point of Kretinsky?
He subbed the midget a few quid to spunk up the wall on bad signings when money was tight, with the promise of a decent payday when the clubs eventually sold.
The cunts a mercenary, and is not West Ham's saviour.

[RBshorty]

Like Sullivan. Getting involved with us was a “Means to a End.” For Kretinsky. It was getting hold of The Post Office. Sullivan was the OS. One got their deal. The other is still waiting. Neither want the long term project that we require. Let alone the money it needs. So here we all are waiting.

COYI.

[Mex Martillo]

When is he going to turn his attention to West Ham
Doing very nicely with his other businesses...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... hareholder

[Eerie Decent]

I don't think you'll find a West Ham fan who would disagree with that, we've all discussed it to death on here.

He clearly doesn't put much leverage on managers and the job they do, that's because he himself doesn't understand football. But he certainly does blow a truck load of money (the clubs, admittedly, but the point still stands) on transfer fees AND wages. We're paying Danny Ings 125 bags a week ffs

A club like ours needs to do their research, and pluck a manager out like Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford seem to be able to. Even Wolves now, fucking hell. Obviously never gonna happen, but that doesn't mean we should blindly stick to Potter, who is clearly not cut out for a club like West Ham.

[southbankbornnbred]

That’s what I really don’t get about Sullivan.

You’re right - at times, we have spent the huge revenues generated by the premier league (not really our board). But the chairman consistently hinders the club with his approach to managers. We’ve had the odd success (mid-era) Moyes. But by and large we’ve appointed poor, cheap managers to steer the ship. And guess where we often end up?

[southbankbornnbred]

Yeah, I take the point about net spending - we’re the 7th biggest club by revenues and our net spend broadly reflects that.

The broader point I was really making was about the approach to managers. Under Sullivan, we have never appointed a manager who was under contract elsewhere, and never bought anybody out of contract. Sulli’s TKMaxx approach to that is clear, and it means that, more often than not, we’ve had poor or bang average managers leading the way: Grant, Allardyce, Lopetegui, Potter etc.

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

Basically, under Sullivan’s board leadership we’re always shopping in the bargain bins at TKMaxx.

We do the odd deal for promising young players like Todibo, but only on the basis that we’ll sell at the first sign of a good profit (not a bad model, but a fact).

We all know the Sullivan model. Let’s not pretend it will change until he goes.

It's not really true, this, is it? It's not like we used to spend loads until he rocked up. There are only 6 clubs with a higher net spend than us in the last 10 years.

And we definitely don't buy players to sell at a good profit. Steidten clearly tried to start us doing that with Todibo and Guilherme but Sullivan has never been into that. Apart from home grown players like Rice and Diangana, the only significant profit we've made on a player was Payet, and that wasn't by choice. 

Personally I don't have an issue with how much the board have spent in recent years. It's HOW they've spent it that's the problem.

[Eerie Decent]

Basically, under Sullivan’s board leadership we’re always shopping in the bargain bins at TKMaxx.

We do the odd deal for promising young players like Todibo, but only on the basis that we’ll sell at the first sign of a good profit (not a bad model, but a fact).

We all know the Sullivan model. Let’s not pretend it will change until he goes.

Paqueta - £50mil
Haller - £45mil
Anderson - £45mil
Kilman - £40mil
Scamacca - £35mil
Alvarez - £35mil
Kudus - £35mil
Aguerd - £35mil
Zouma - £30mil
JWP - £30mil

Bargain basement signings at TK Maxx? Are you sure you support West Ham?

I can't stand him, and the signings on whole have been poor considering what else we could have signed for all that dough, but stop talking bollocks. We spend big money for a team that's never been in the Champions League, just not very wisely.

[southbankbornnbred]

So why hasn’t he bought the shares that he paid something like £12m just to have an option on?

Because he’s a businessman above anything else and, since he had that option, he considered alternative investments (like Royal Mail) as better money-making options.

I’m not being flippant, but it really is that simple. Kretinsky didn’t buy into West Ham to turn us into a Premier League force - not yet, at least. We’re “just” an investment to him. He will make a lot of money on his 27% when he sells.

Thats exactly my point. He hasn’t bought West Ham because he doesn’t want to.
If buying the club outright was his plan, he had the opportunity and passed it up.

Yep - agreed. He probably had one eye on potentially buying us outright. But then Ukraine, and his Russia-linked gas businesses, happened, money got tighter and he looked around for other additions to his business portfolio. Hence, Royal Mail etc. He’s an investor first and foremost.

[southbankbornnbred]

Basically, under Sullivan’s board leadership we’re always shopping in the bargain bins at TKMaxx.

We do the odd deal for promising young players like Todibo, but only on the basis that we’ll sell at the first sign of a good profit (not a bad model, but a fact).

We all know the Sullivan model. Let’s not pretend it will change until he goes.

[goose]

So why hasn’t he bought the shares that he paid something like £12m just to have an option on?

Because he’s a businessman above anything else and, since he had that option, he considered alternative investments (like Royal Mail) as better money-making options.

I’m not being flippant, but it really is that simple. Kretinsky didn’t buy into West Ham to turn us into a Premier League force - not yet, at least. We’re “just” an investment to him. He will make a lot of money on his 27% when he sells.

Thats exactly my point. He hasn’t bought West Ham because he doesn’t want to.
If buying the club outright was his plan, he had the opportunity and passed it up.

[southbankbornnbred]

The board all became extremely (even more) wealthy the moment Brady took the gullible civil servants to the cleaners over the stadium negotiation. Kretinsky bought into that. The value of the club soared, and now they’re awaiting the deal that allows them to cash in. In the meantime, Sullivan carries on penny-pinching by only appointing managers who are out of contract etc. That’s why we get Lopetegui, Potter and “D-list” managers.

[southbankbornnbred]

They’re all waiting for a rich Arab, or a Todd Boehly-style Yank consortium - to make them an offer they can’t refuse. They’re all going to make a shitload of money, and we’re just the monkeys who fill the stadium. We all know that.

[southbankbornnbred]

So why hasn’t he bought the shares that he paid something like £12m just to have an option on?

Because he’s a businessman above anything else and, since he had that option, he considered alternative investments (like Royal Mail) as better money-making options.

I’m not being flippant, but it really is that simple. Kretinsky didn’t buy into West Ham to turn us into a Premier League force - not yet, at least. We’re “just” an investment to him. He will make a lot of money on his 27% when he sells.

[eusebiovic]

At the moment he is like a beermat covered in an advertisement for abstinence...

[Westside]

He wants to be the majority shareholder. As he's pissed off with Sullivans running of the club . Dwarf even admitted as much through the club stooges site . Saying there's far more chance of him increasing his shares . Than him selling his Whufc shares . 

If he increases his shareholding to more than 29.9% (currently he has 27%, the Gold estate 25.1%, Albert Smith 8%, Sullivan 38.8%, numerous small holdings the rest), under company law, he has to offer to buy everybody's shares, at the same price, as the acquisition of shares, that takes him above 29.9%. (assuming there have been no higher value share sales in the previous 12 months). It is not compulsory, for the offers to be accepted. He may not want a share holding as potentially as high as 100%.