Originally Posted by
Penarth Blues
It's about here that it becomes all about individual viewpoints.
My viewpoint is that VT was begged to invest by TD (TG?) and that he did so after initially saying you'd have to be mad to invest in a football team.
It appears he got the bug after some of our performances - especially the League Cup Final - and decided to take the plunge despite his initial reservations. In his initial discussions with some of the 'favoured' fan base he appeared to make clear that his intention was to run the Club in a business-like manner and he did indeed state that he was hoping to make the team attractive to the Far East market. The intentions he outlined left some people distinctly unhappy about the proposals and set fan against fan.
It's at this point your view of VT as a benefactor or dictator will depend on how important you viewed the need for his investment at the time. There was also a third viewpoint from those who just wanted to see money spent and Cardiff 'playing with the big boys'.
Not being in any Inner Circle I have assembled what I think has happened from reading Club, Press and MB articles. I think the key point in all of this is that it appears VT sought opinions on rebranding to Red and was encouraged to do so. In this I think the Club wanting the money badly (and some individuals!) meant that common sense was supressed and the long-term was sacrificed to short-term needs (wants?).
My view is that in terms of honesty and intentions VT has never shied away from saying what he was going to do AND in following up on his promises if he could. People will talk about 'debt-free' promises not fulfilled but I have no idea what is possible to be done within FFP and I'm just grateful to have had an extended period of not worrying about the Club going bust. Anything after that is a bonus and right now I'm in a really good place personally as a supporter. I understand other people's experiences may differ...