Birmingham City: David Sullivan hits back at Carson Yeung
David Sullivan
David Sullivan today questioned Carson Yeung and his thirst for poring over club finances following Blues takeover.
Sullivan said the previous board had nothing to hide and wondered whether the Hong Kong tycoon was looking for ways to avoid producing the promised transfer kitty of between £20 million - £40 million in January.
Yeung has instructed his lawyers to go through Blues accounts with a fine tooth comb, dating back to 2007 when he first appeared on the scene and took a 29.9 per cent stake in the club for around £15 million.
It emerged that Yeung and his group were left with bills of around £6 million to deal with once the £81.5 million takeover had been completed last month.
And the controversial £1 million pay-off and packages of perks to former MD Karren Brady, sanctioned by the old regime, infuriated Yeung, who put the block on it.
Now, after reports suggesting fraud squad officers could be due in to take a look at the books, and that Yeung has also hired a top criminal law firm to probe the finances, Sullivan decided to speak out.
He contacted the Birmingham Mail and said he was angered by the insinuations as he, the Gold brothers and Brady had operated Blues as a ‘model’ club during their reign.
“If you think about it, we have done nothing different to any other Premier League club,” stated Sullivan.
“It’s said there’s £6 million in unpaid bills for transfers, agents, on players, but that is not unusual. Every club does things on the drip.
“For Roger Johnson we only paid one half of the fee [up front], for Scott Dann we only paid one half of the fee, for James McFadden we still owed one half of the fee.
“I’m sure when Wolves agreed a £6 million fee for Kevin Doyle they’ve only paid one third of it by now.
“When we sold Jermaine Pennant to Liverpool and Matthew Upson to West Ham, the money was paid to us over a two-year period.
“It’s normal practice and any business, when paying the bills, won’t do it straight away but take two months.
“I think they are naive to be shocked by it. I would bet that when Aston Villa were bought, it didn’t just cost £60 million but there were other liabilities the new owner had to meet.
