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

[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%.

[El Scorchio]

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

Exactly.

[goose]

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

[Pshyco scored all 4]

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 . 

[Fauxstralian]

The point of my original post was that he appears to have no interest in taking control.
Just investing on the basis that a rising tide lifts all boats & that no matter how badly Sullivan is running the club his holding will increase in value 
More so if the dismal midget dies and someone competent wants to buy 100%
He has similar investments in Sainsbury’s & Foot Locker but for now he has Royal Mail on his plate 
Obviously with that he thinks he can grow the parcel business as sending letters is a near dead business 

[El Scorchio]

Yeah, I don't think he wants it either, unless he's somehow waiting for an opportunity to somehow get more for less. Maybe go over Sullivan's head (not difficult) and buy out the Golds although god knows what's going on with that share now and in the future. Even the ownership is a fucking mess.

[goose]

Goose he's going to own the club sooner or later. Like all proper business men he knows when to strike. Unlike the dwarf whos held on way longer than he should have .

The price has gone up since then, so he’s either not as sharp as you think or he just doesn’t want to own the club.

[Pshyco scored all 4]

Goose he's going to own the club sooner or later. Like all proper business men he knows when to strike. Unlike the dwarf whos held on way longer than he should have .

[goose]

If he wanted to buy the club he would have already. He paid for an option on both gold & Sullivan’s shares.

He declined to exercise this option.

[Pshyco scored all 4]

One things for certain. When he owns this club and he will sooner or later . We will be finally be run professionally.

[El Scorchio]

Does his percentage of ownership of the club affect his other interests when it comes to sponsorship deals? Could we get away with a Man City or Chelsea?

Not a bad plan. Get paid half a billion for sponsorship by Royal Mail or some random Czech company and change the mascot to Pavel the postbox.

Actually I just had a quick look at his wiki and there's quite a comical quota from him regarding investment strategybearing in mind he's a major investor and shareholder in West Ham United:

In a speech in 2015, Křetínský said: "We want to make money in industries that are dying because we think they'll die much more slowly than the general consensus says."

Fabulous. (Removes tongue from cheek)

[Mike Oxsaw]

Does his percentage of ownership of the club affect his other interests when it comes to sponsorship deals? Could we get away with a Man City or Chelsea?

[Cerveza Para Mi]

He's bought a new toy now so I suppose he's a handy bloke to know if you want to post a letter or send a parcel.