That 'Exclusive' Interview With Derek Llambias

Last updated : 09 March 2012 By Footy Mad - Editor

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Nothing much "exclusive" about it, to be honest.

The usual "can I have your babies" arse-licking of Mike Ashley, that we've come to expect from Llambias.

And how the club would have gone under if Marvelous Mike hadn't put in his millions. (* Although there is no proof it would have).

He claims our current league position is "punching above our weight".

Derek Llambias: “Look at Rangers, it's such a big club for it to happen to. They’re a giant.

“I think it could have happened to us if Mike hadn't have come in. I would say we were heading in that way.

“I'm not throwing stones at Sir John (Hall) or Freddie (Shepherd) there.

"They did the job while they were here and brought a lot of excitement and they are what they are.

"Freddie might criticise us from time to time over naming rights or whatever but he's like every fan, he's entitled to his opinion. We have no issues with that.

“Who is to say their business plan didn't work at that time? But with the economic downturn, would it have been able to take a punch on the nose as the world changed? I'm not so sure it would have done.

“It's like me saying ‘I'll buy a car and then I'll buy another one while I'm still paying for the first one’. All of a sudden I've got 20 cars and none of them are paid for. It's a strange sort of world we live in and it's a bit irresponsible at times.

“I'm not saying that clubs do it, I'm just saying that they have the possibility to do it. Look at the creditors law as well . . . Why should football be different to anyone else?

“For us, we like to pay up front. We have had one or two contracts – very small ones – that we've paid dating because the club we are buying from, it helped them with their cash flow and didn't make any difference to us.

“You see all these players like Papiss, we've paid up front. We have done that since Mike came in and that's different to most clubs.

“We would like to see dating phased out over a number of years.”

“We're punching way above our weight.

“But we can't touch that top level (of wealth). We have to have a smartness about it. We have to recruit correctly. We have to recruit that we can afford, that can give us something on that pitch that people want to watch.

“I think we have done a good job of that, with a combination of the chief scout, the manager and the team behind. I think we've done a very good job of that.

“It's a long-term plan.

“We're not doing it to antagonise people. We're doing it for the revenue streams.

“Look at Liverpool. They go Standard Chartered for £17million and then Warrior for £25million, that's £32million for shirt and sponsorship. Ours is £5million for both – and we need to compete against them.

“It's a different league they live in.”