mao tse tung
Vital Champions League
A Greek geezer has made an interesting post on the LTLF Forum regarding our prospective new owner; He does not sugar coat his analysis but does not paint too gloomy a picture either.
There are few items of interest that may put some peoples minds at rest; no doubt some have already made their minds up.
Greeksbearinggifts
Greetings from Greece and an Olympiacos fan. I’ve been browsing your forum ever since it was mentioned that Marinakis was interested in taking over the club, and must say I’ve enjoyed the overall sense of humour here despite the fact that this was not exactly a wonderful year for you (other) Reds.
I don't know much about British football, but I thought a view from Greece on M. would be useful for you. So, here's a few things I can say about him:
1. He is a hardcore Olympiacos fan, brought up as an Olympiacos fan (his father was the only small shareholder who refused to sell his share to Giorgos Koskotas, an infamous high-profile swindler, who bought Olympiacos along with half of Greece, including the government, in the 80’s, and ended up in jail after he had successfully ruined Olympiacos -and the government). So, as some of you have correctly guessed, don’t expect him to pose as a Forest fan. It would be silly and hypocritical, and he would be laughed at if he were to try.
2. He is a successful businessman who, unlike most rich people who are involved in Greek football, did not have financial dealings with the state or the media. It is only fairly recently that he got into politics, acquiring media, etc., mostly, I suspect, to defend himself from the attacks he has had to face (more on that below).
3. He spent a lot of money to buy Olympiacos in 2010 in a very difficult period for the club and invested heavily with hard cash in his first year as the club’s majority shareholder. After that initial period, he has not injected a lot of money into the club, but he did not really need to, given that other theoretically competitive Greek clubs were in dire straits, financially, administratively and otherwise. Instead of signing expensive players with borrowed money, thus putting the club’s future in danger (the standard Greek way of football ‘investment’ in the 90’s) he put a lot of effort in cleaning up the financial situation of the club, paying back past loans, etc., while at the same time investing heavily on infrastructure and the academy. At the moment, the club is very healthy financially, and owns one of the best training centers in Greece.
4. I suppose that you are mostly worried about his adventures with the law. I will spare you the ugly details, but you need to understand how toxic Greek media is. From what I've seen from the preliminary investigative material that was (illegally) leaked to the press by owners of a rival club, there is no substantial evidence against him. He's no saint, obviously, but Greek football is not a place for saints, I assure you.
5. Why was he interested in bying Nottingham Forest then? Partly as an investment on its own merit (a historic club with a solid fan base, currently in Championship and with a worthless owner, hence relatively cheap, with a good academy, therefore potentially highly lucrative should promotion to the Premier League occur in the near future) and partly as a strategy of diversification of (football) assets. Over the last few years, Olympiacos has created networks of collaboration with various football clubs in Belgium (e.g. Standard Liège), France, and elsewhere, especially through our director of football, Christian Karembeu; the acquisition of another football club seemed the next logical step. I am not sure what his plans are, exactly, but I am pretty sure that he will want the best for both clubs, first of all from a business point of view. I see you worry that you will become a feeder club for Olympiacos; the funny thing is that some of us are worried that we will become a feeder club for Forest.
6. What can you expect? It depends on how much money he is willing to invest, I suppose. Judging by his past in Olympiacos, there will probably be a hefty initial investment, but then the club will need to find success on its own. There are two good reasons why I think he has plans for Forest: I don’t know if this has been already discussed in your forum, but there is a Uefa prohibition for owners with more than 50% of more than one club in a European competition. The fact therefore that Marinakis will share (in theory…) ownership with his good friend Kominakis seems to suggest that he wanted to be prepared for a possible European future of both Forest and Olympiacos. The second reason is that acquiring the club would not make any sense as an investment unless promotion to Premier League was not a realistic goal.
7. As far as the personnel is concerned, Montanier and Pereira were his choice, as you know, and it is also rumoured here that your new CFO, Samantha Gordon, was his choice, too. That last appointment is particulary interesting for us Olympiacos fans, because in the past it was widely rumoured that our CFO (a highly competent fellow) would be ‘transferred’ to Nottingham; I am not sure this is the case anymore. I am certain that the marketing department will be strenghtened (I am pretty sure the new Adidas deal was brokered by him, lovely new kit by the way). You can also expect continuity and investments in the academy; Marinakis is really proud that three academy graduates were often starting players for Olympiacos this year, so I’m sure that he will greatly value the success of your academy. Finally, the tricky subject of managers. Marinakis has had a difficult past with managers. Contrary to what our mess this season would seem to suggest, he is not particularly fond of sacking managers. The problem is, he really has to trust the manager and his football vision in order to support him. If he does, as was the case with his first choice back in 2010, Ernesto Valverde, there are no limits to his support, even contrary to the opinion of the fans. If he does not, he is not the most patient of bosses, contrary to my taste. At least he never meddles with the manager’s decisions (until he fires him…).
http://www.forestforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=45226&page=311
There are few items of interest that may put some peoples minds at rest; no doubt some have already made their minds up.
Greeksbearinggifts
Greetings from Greece and an Olympiacos fan. I’ve been browsing your forum ever since it was mentioned that Marinakis was interested in taking over the club, and must say I’ve enjoyed the overall sense of humour here despite the fact that this was not exactly a wonderful year for you (other) Reds.
I don't know much about British football, but I thought a view from Greece on M. would be useful for you. So, here's a few things I can say about him:
1. He is a hardcore Olympiacos fan, brought up as an Olympiacos fan (his father was the only small shareholder who refused to sell his share to Giorgos Koskotas, an infamous high-profile swindler, who bought Olympiacos along with half of Greece, including the government, in the 80’s, and ended up in jail after he had successfully ruined Olympiacos -and the government). So, as some of you have correctly guessed, don’t expect him to pose as a Forest fan. It would be silly and hypocritical, and he would be laughed at if he were to try.
2. He is a successful businessman who, unlike most rich people who are involved in Greek football, did not have financial dealings with the state or the media. It is only fairly recently that he got into politics, acquiring media, etc., mostly, I suspect, to defend himself from the attacks he has had to face (more on that below).
3. He spent a lot of money to buy Olympiacos in 2010 in a very difficult period for the club and invested heavily with hard cash in his first year as the club’s majority shareholder. After that initial period, he has not injected a lot of money into the club, but he did not really need to, given that other theoretically competitive Greek clubs were in dire straits, financially, administratively and otherwise. Instead of signing expensive players with borrowed money, thus putting the club’s future in danger (the standard Greek way of football ‘investment’ in the 90’s) he put a lot of effort in cleaning up the financial situation of the club, paying back past loans, etc., while at the same time investing heavily on infrastructure and the academy. At the moment, the club is very healthy financially, and owns one of the best training centers in Greece.
4. I suppose that you are mostly worried about his adventures with the law. I will spare you the ugly details, but you need to understand how toxic Greek media is. From what I've seen from the preliminary investigative material that was (illegally) leaked to the press by owners of a rival club, there is no substantial evidence against him. He's no saint, obviously, but Greek football is not a place for saints, I assure you.
5. Why was he interested in bying Nottingham Forest then? Partly as an investment on its own merit (a historic club with a solid fan base, currently in Championship and with a worthless owner, hence relatively cheap, with a good academy, therefore potentially highly lucrative should promotion to the Premier League occur in the near future) and partly as a strategy of diversification of (football) assets. Over the last few years, Olympiacos has created networks of collaboration with various football clubs in Belgium (e.g. Standard Liège), France, and elsewhere, especially through our director of football, Christian Karembeu; the acquisition of another football club seemed the next logical step. I am not sure what his plans are, exactly, but I am pretty sure that he will want the best for both clubs, first of all from a business point of view. I see you worry that you will become a feeder club for Olympiacos; the funny thing is that some of us are worried that we will become a feeder club for Forest.
6. What can you expect? It depends on how much money he is willing to invest, I suppose. Judging by his past in Olympiacos, there will probably be a hefty initial investment, but then the club will need to find success on its own. There are two good reasons why I think he has plans for Forest: I don’t know if this has been already discussed in your forum, but there is a Uefa prohibition for owners with more than 50% of more than one club in a European competition. The fact therefore that Marinakis will share (in theory…) ownership with his good friend Kominakis seems to suggest that he wanted to be prepared for a possible European future of both Forest and Olympiacos. The second reason is that acquiring the club would not make any sense as an investment unless promotion to Premier League was not a realistic goal.
7. As far as the personnel is concerned, Montanier and Pereira were his choice, as you know, and it is also rumoured here that your new CFO, Samantha Gordon, was his choice, too. That last appointment is particulary interesting for us Olympiacos fans, because in the past it was widely rumoured that our CFO (a highly competent fellow) would be ‘transferred’ to Nottingham; I am not sure this is the case anymore. I am certain that the marketing department will be strenghtened (I am pretty sure the new Adidas deal was brokered by him, lovely new kit by the way). You can also expect continuity and investments in the academy; Marinakis is really proud that three academy graduates were often starting players for Olympiacos this year, so I’m sure that he will greatly value the success of your academy. Finally, the tricky subject of managers. Marinakis has had a difficult past with managers. Contrary to what our mess this season would seem to suggest, he is not particularly fond of sacking managers. The problem is, he really has to trust the manager and his football vision in order to support him. If he does, as was the case with his first choice back in 2010, Ernesto Valverde, there are no limits to his support, even contrary to the opinion of the fans. If he does not, he is not the most patient of bosses, contrary to my taste. At least he never meddles with the manager’s decisions (until he fires him…).
http://www.forestforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=45226&page=311
