Cats, cash and the takeover – Smith answers your questions
It has been another dizzying week or so of change at Sunderland, with the footballing operation undergoing a significant restructure.
Here, in Part One of two, our Black Cats writer Phil Smith answers questions from supporters on those matters, as well as some of the key unknowns that still surround the club, including the progress of the proposed takeover deal ...
What’s the difference between this takeover and acquiring additional funding?
This is probably the biggest question around the club at the moment.
We’ve seen a couple of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place of late, with the arrival of Kristjaan Speakman and Lee Johnson as Sporting Director and Head Coach.
Both have spoken very well about the challenge ahead, and their desire to move Sunderland away from being a club defined by short-term decision-making.
The biggest piece of the puzzle, though, remains the ownership question and here, supporters still wait for clarity.
The difference will ultimately depend on how the shareholding breaks down and who ultimately has the controlling stake in the club.
If it is a combination of Juan Sartori and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, then there are questions that will need to be answered over the scale of change and to what extent the direction will be different from the last twoand-half years, particularly as Sartori’s political career in Uruguay seems very strongly to remain his main focus, and makes a significant increase in presence around his football club seem unlikely.
If Louis-Dreyfus is taking a controlling stake on his own, then that clearly marks a fairly significant change.
Both Johnson and Speakman have spoken about the vision they were sold by the ‘ownership group’, but are clearly limited in what they can say while the takeover has still not gone through.
It led to alarm when Johnson discussed his conversations with Stewart Donald, as supporters are clearly expecting a takeover, as promised, to lead to a major reduction in Donald and Charlie Methven’s influence.
It’s our understanding that Donald is likely to become a sleeping partner in the new structure, but there remains much unclear.
The commitment to the academy and an attacking style of play, as well as a long-term vision for recruitment, are all encouraging and represent exactly what fans have been hoping for.
Which is precisely the point. It also stands at odds with what we have seen from the current regime, and so there will be a healthy scepticism until it is clear exactly how this deal will break down and who will be leading the way forward.
Clarity on this will be absolutely key if Speakman and Johnson are to get the clean slate they need with which to try and drive the club back towards where it belongs.
Why have the fans had no update whatsoever on the takeover?
It’s a fair question. There has been no public comment from the club on the proposed deal, other than when Jim Rodwell confirmed a party was in exclusivity on the official club podcast in October.
No senior figure has given any interview on the matter in recent months, and a proposed meeting with supporter groups last month was postponed by Rodwell.
It’s our understanding that subsequent attempts to arrange another meeting or establish some element of clarity on the state of play have had no response.
As I’ve mentioned before, it will have to be addressed at some stage if Speakman and Johnson are to get the clean slate they need.
Everyone on Wear side is desperate to throw their weight and support behind a sustainable, long-term plan.
But there are just too many key unknowns at the moment.
If we take some money from the EFL rescue package will that stop us spending in the transfer window?
If so, how can Lee Johnson rebuild?
Not necessarily. The EFL rescue package is essentially split into three sections.
The first is a payment of £375,000 to all clubs in League One. This is handed out automatically and comes with no restrictions on future spending.
That’s also true of the second section of the rescue package. This is a further £15 million which will be shared between League One and League Two clubs, but this will be distributed proportionate to the money clubs have lost from gate receipts. Clearly, clubs like Sunderland and Portsmouth are therefore going to get a bigger chunk of this based on their high gate revenues. The Black Cats will be able to claim this money with no further restrictions.
Those restrictions come into place when it comes to the third aspect of the rescue package. This is the £20 million that is available for clubs to claim in the form of a ‘monitored grant’.
This is not automatic, and clubs will have to apply for it. A decision will be made by a joint EFL and Premier League panel as to whether the club in question is indeed eligible and requires the further injection of funds. It’s once this grant has been handed out that a club then becomes monitored in terms of their transfer and wage spending.
If the club sticks within the rules they are set, they do not have to repay the money.
If they don’t, they then become liable for the repayment.
So whether Sunderland will face any additional restrictions beyond the salary cap depends on whether they apply for any of that ‘monitored grant’ money. There have been no suggestions as of yet that they have or will.
Read Part Two of Phil’s Q&A in tomorrow’s paper.