Quote Originally Posted by lisvaneblue View Post
Of course there was strategy. Tan didn't purchase the club on his own. He was part of a consortium of investors, and such people do not spend money on a whim.

The strategy basically was to spend £100m on increasing the stadium capacity, build a new training ground, and rebrand the colours to red to appeal to the Asian markets. On top of that was the aim of top flight football.
Liz, I think the truth was there was some sort of half baked "strategy" of sorts worked out on the back of a fag packet. Though I believe him to be largely a man of honour, I also think Tan is an opportunist who eschews proper advice. I think he's a 'my way or the highway' sort of guy. How else could you explain the bizarre idea of turning a club with a strong identify into something different?

He obviously didn't factor in fan and indeed community opposition and his naive notion that fans were only 'customers' who could be bought and ignored was nonsensical arrogance. If he wanted to develop a red club for Asian marketing then there have always been many ready made clubs available. Let's be honest, he would probably have made a wider decision had he purchased a club 40 miles east of us with an even bigger catchment area!

I say all this because this is the nub of the problem; an overly confident opportunistic dictator looking for easy riches and a boost to his ego without seeking sound advice and now drowning in a sea of troubles. Unfortunately our cherished ambitions for the club are going down the plughole with him.