The Fosun Plan/ Agenda

[The Wolf Of Wombourne]

Sorry if this has been mentioned elsewhere but what do we realistically think Fosun's plans and expectations are for us and timescales to achieve this.

We heard talk of the 3 year promotion plan etc but listening to Laurie lately has been quite remarkable. When he's asked about where he want's Wolves and what the plan is there is no down playing of where they want us to be, no we'll take it as it comes, it's simply, we want to be a top club, but he seems to say it with such confidence that nobody, not even the media are taking it lightly.

Also in the documentary on sky the other week Jeff was asked about the Mendes link and the so called 'carousel' was referenced. He quashed this definitively saying Jorge is his friend but he will not be making decisions for him.

We're also starting to act off the field like a club that means business, facilities wise, sponsorship wise etc.

I'm actually starting to dream that all this could be a reality and in quite a short space of time.

That said do you think the club has a time frame to be playing in Europe and if so what do you think, interested to see if people are of the same mind set as me or are still doubtful?

 

[Staten Island Wolf]

Fosun want top four premiership stability and champions league football.

 

[arctic rime]

Fosun want top four premiership stability and champions league football.

And Quickly

 

[1972 i began]

Well I am enjoying the ride,the same as the rest of you are.I'm not walking around town saying we will smash everyone,but we will definitely be competitive with the top 10 sides.Fosun are not gonna mess around now we have made it there.Put it this way I am 66 this year and I want a European cup final before I'm 70.Will that do or do ya think it will be sooner.

 

[The Wolf Of Wombourne]

My worry is personally that the level of spending to break the top 4 would need to be huge, I don't know if they will be willing to spend 70 mil on one player personally ...

 

[VancouverWolf]

I think/hope Fosun would want silverware by year 4, ((with some luck maybe FA cup in 3).

 

[Stratman Wolves]

I'm still confused about FFP regulations that would potentially prevent Fosun from spending what is required. These regulations after all were put in place to prevent another City or Chelsea. I know it is based on incoming revenue, and based on what next season's revenue would be, could Fosun realistically spend what is needed to make the jump?

 

[clivewolves]

Personally, I think the plan will be less Chelsea & Man City, and more Spurs in approach. Buy good young players, develop them and sell one occasionally, all the while developing the team as a whole and a style of play. I haven't got a clue what Fosun's plans really are other than to improve the club.

I know there are fans on here who say they 'hear this and that' about the plans and how much we will spend. I don't believe them. Only Fosun and the senior people at the club know definitively, and I doubt they'd be telling anyone else anything concrete.

 

[1972 i began]

Think you have to try and interpret yourself what Laurie is saying.In one interview they asked him about transfers.Will you soon be looking at who you would like to bring in.He said yes but we have already been looking.I think they have a drawn up list of the potential players and this will be presented to Nuno so he can pick who he thinks is best for HIS team.

 

[stuj4z]

What happens if the Premier League FFP is broken? A fine?, points deduction?
I can't find this anywhere.
Bournemouth cheated their way out of the championship and paid a small fine, same as Leicester

 

[Old Heathen]

If Fosun are looking at a top 4 finish it will probably take 4 or 5 transfer windows.

 

[GoldenHorseshoe]

Nuno has tried to lower expectations by saying that we're 1 year ahead of schedule, but that's what happens when you exceed management expectations. They (management) always want more, I can picture the goals setting in the board room, Jeff arguing for a top 4 goal, Nuno saying top half will be a major achievement while in the background lurks Chairman Gao on Skype "Gentlemen, 2 years ago I asked you what is the team to aspire to and you told me 'Manchester United'. There is your goal"

 

[Alex Rae The Substitute]

I hope they also have plans & contingencies in place for if we’re still hanging around the top 8 but not breaking into the top 6 in around 6/7 years time. Not taking for granted we have any right to even dismiss a few years of consolidation, but the talk from the club seems to be aiming for Europe and fast.

 

[Eastleigh Wolf]

I've got a feeling that they are hoping to break into the Chinese market to increase our revenue streams. Thereby not getting round FFP so to speak but to open up a huge cash cow.
Would Adidas be interested in offering us what (hopefully) looks like a non-std kit with our 25000 shirt sales ???? Now if Fosun were to promote us big time to the Chinese market.... that' a different ball game altogether. This is what makes me think that our new sponsor, whoever it may be, will be promoting a Chinese brand rather than a run of the mill MoneyShop sponsorship.
Only an opinion mind.

 

[kaohsiungwolf]

Also in the documentary on sky the other week Jeff was asked about the Mendes link and the so called 'carousel' was referenced. He quashed this definitively saying Jorge is his friend but he will not be making decisions for him.

As Nuno says one game at a time. On the point above, it was a bit of a silly reference, he's not going to acknowledge the carousel/network publicly, just as he isn't going to mention Mendes is more that a 'friend' to the club, that would be daft. We know it exists, we've seen the patterns of transfers on the youtube clip between the clubs - lots of movement within, but precious little leaving.

I've just watched a BBC interview with Mendes, the man is clearly a single-minded obsessive, not hard to see why he's been so successful. He mentions clubs needing to 'find a mechanism to compete' near the end, which is what all this is about, new ways to make money now the Chelsea/City ladder has been pulled up.

 

[LG Wolf]

They want us to be one of the best clubs in Europe and use that vehicle to expose the Fosun name, much like we’re already seeing with the trophy being flaunted at their British meeting and a few months ago the Bristol City game being referenced at their big conference in China.

Whether they’ll get us there only time will tell, but their ambition will be trophies and Champions League football. No doubt about that whatsoever.

 

[Stafford]

Spurs Approach is too Risky, they fluked it with Harry Kane, and once pochettino they will go back to an Everton Leicester level.

Where have we said top 4?

 

[Downing Streete]

Fosun will have everything in hand. Relax and enjoy the ride! To quote Blackadder -

 

[Woody]

I've heard that next season the aim is a minimum 10th position, with sights set on top 4 the following season.

That gives us some idea of what we've got to look forward to.

 

[MattyWWFC]

What I like about this, and what is different from my mindsight last year, is that Mendes wants to actually help us. I know it’s early days, but I haven’t seen many signs that indicate that Mendes wants to use us as a carousel, maybe when we consolidate in the top 4, but that is a few yearrs away.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride, don’t think of goals or timeframes, just enjoy what’s put in front of you, that’s what it’s all about afterall.

 

[Deleted member 3604]

The quality of players required to finish top four would probably demand £250M a year in wages between them. To be able to do that our turnover has to at least triple. If Neves starts very well and attracts the top four teams who can double his wages he will be sold. There are six teams currently competing for top four and the gulf between them and those below is massive. Fosun may be able to do many things but if they can get top four on £70M a year wages that would be phenomenal. How much extra a year in terms of ££££ are supporters prepared to put into the club?

 

[The Wolf Of Wombourne]

As Nuno says one game at a time. On the point above, it was a bit of a silly reference, he's not going to acknowledge the carousel/network publicly, just as he isn't going to mention Mendes is more that a 'friend' to the club, that would be daft. We know it exists, we've seen the patterns of transfers on the youtube clip between the clubs - lots of movement within, but precious little leaving.

I've just watched a BBC interview with Mendes, the man is clearly a single-minded obsessive, not hard to see why he's been so successful. He mentions clubs needing to 'find a mechanism to compete' near the end, which is what all this is about, new ways to make money now the Chelsea/City ladder has been pulled up.

I wouldn't say it was a silly reference, he was very very quick to dismiss it and the fact Fosun own a percentage of his agency changes things massively in comparison to the other clubs involved.

 

[wwfc9]

Fosun want top four premiership stability and champions league football.

Makes me laugh when other fans think it’s to buy players to sell at a profit !! If we were to sell 50 players at 20m point profit each it would only equate to 1billion or 1/60th of fosuns worth !! How long would it take to achieve this and that’s not even factoring in buying the odd dud !! Thats not why fosun are here at all ...

 

[cannockwolf]

I've just watched a BBC interview with Mendes,

have you a link to that interview?

 

[kaohsiungwolf]

have you a link to that interview?

Yup.. I expected him to be far more of a polished character than he seems on this clip.

 

[cannockwolf]

cheers @kaohsiungwolf

 

[lostwolf]

To gain soft power in the west, curry favour with their domestic Nomenklatura and provide a platform to advertise their organisation. It's not about profit. To do all this they probably won't want to accept mid-table mediocrity, instead I reckon they'll be after as much success as possible (top 4 isn't realistic IMO) within a few years.

With the Mendes link (or is it not a link, I can't keep up?) I reckon we can achieve that within a few seasons. I think those of us concerned about Mendes' power to dictate to the club might be proven wrong, as if we're right up there in the Prem (top 6 or 7) we'll actually be towards the apex of his system.

 

[kaohsiungwolf]

Makes me laugh when other fans think it’s to buy players to sell at a profit !! If we were to sell 50 players at 20m point profit each it would only equate to 1billion or 1/60th of fosuns worth !! How long would it take to achieve this and that’s not even factoring in buying the odd dud !! Thats not why fosun are here at all ...

How much is Fosun actually worth? Forbes says $13 Billion - but I've heard various figures banded about.

 

[JuliusCaesar]

In that Sky documentary Jeff Shi says, quite matter of factly, Wolves is one of Fosun's most important investments.

Now, you could say 'well he would say that, wouldn't he?' - or - you could take him at his word.

I've seen a lot of comments from people who seem to have the view that Wolves is an almost meaningless, token gesture part of the Fosun mix. This is probably because the price to acquire was so small and, in my view, a bit of a hangover from the previous regime, in particular Moxey and Steve seeming to want to point people's attention to the part of the deal where Fosun had to guarantee a certain level of spending, which meant people (at that time) assumed that this was some sort of cap on investment or an indication as to how much finance Fosun were looking to commit. As we've seen, that was a meaningless issue. Fosun have already gone way past the figure that was made public at the time of the sale (a figure that I thought was poor from Steve if, for no other reason, it indicated to the rest of the football world what sort of money Wolves were playing with).

It's never been in doubt that Fosun has the means. Initially it was questionable if they had the method (Zenga and Lambert). But the real question was whether they had the intent to simply join the football party or become a major player. Surely, surely, people can now see they are not here to make up the numbers with a weird vanity purchase. There were even people who were saying things like 'well Fosun's an investment company, they'll want to turn a profit on player sales'. Well, yes. They may sell players - they may have no choice if a player want to leave and yes, they will make a profit (for the club). But the very idea that a company who made more PROFIT in six months of trading than combined sum of every single Wolves player sale through the club's entire history....well, it's a little wide of the mark.

 

[JC14M5 Wolf]

I aye got a clue TBH.

I could speculate.Far too many sensible posters already done that.

I think we'll be sound...

 

[bod101]

I would call the agenda, or plan which is how I would like to call it, is to use wolves as a marketing platform. That means success is massively important. I guess it also furthers the Chinese governments soft power which I'm sure is a favourable side effect. If all goes well i very much doubt we will be sold off in the short to medium term. I believe it is a long term strategy.

 

[MutchAdo]

Look at the stages so far after losing out on Lopetegui; signing Cavaleiro, Costa, Neves and Jota while hiring the standard of manager they were originally after (and did they ****ing do us proud there!). Quickly moving to brush off The Money Shop and announcing the Adidas deal. After getting the *********** of the first season out of the way they've been extremely aggressive in their plan for progression. I'm in awe at what they've done in such a short space of time, they've brought the club back together and have a better relationship with the fans than any Wolves board has had in decades. Bringing in Laurie Dalrymple was another masterstroke, the guy just oozes charisma.

Fosun have massive plans for us and I really don't think we'll be ****ing about in this transfer window. How far can we go and how quickly? I really don't know, but I think they're aiming for as close to the top as we can go. I'm certainly looking forward to it.

 

[Shifnal Wolf]

Whatever their motives are, it will be a great ride along the way.

They seem very ethical so I’m sure they won’t leave us high and dry like Ellis Short @ Sunderland.

I suspect the next 10 years (sustained premiership and redeveloped stadium) will be more interesting than the last 20 that’s for sure.

I just hope us fans stick by them all the way and don’t become too demanding and expecting.

 

[Mr Wolf]

They’ve ****ed off mediocre Managers, Players & even Sponsors so that shows how much it means to them.

They clearly have a set plan & are going for it, it will take a few seasons but you get the impression they have the intent of not necessarily the knowledge yet.

 

[Stoichkov]

And Quickly

adidas

 

[Stoichkov]

I would call the agenda, or plan which is how I would like to call it, is to use wolves as a marketing platform. That means success is massively important. I guess it also furthers the Chinese governments soft power which I'm sure is a favourable side effect. If all goes well i very much doubt we will be sold off in the short to medium term. I believe it is a long term strategy.

which includes legacy. If there was an exit strategy, they wouldn't want it to all disintegrate without a trace

I think we're good for 10-15 years

Next few years gonna be a bit different to the last 35

 

[Andy]

Lads, it'd gonna be ****ing great, and we're all here on the ground floor.

 

[thetwistedsock]

I aye got a clue TBH.

I could speculate.Far too many sensible posters already done that.

I think we'll be sound...

Stood in the same footsteps I think mate

 

[GuzzWolf]

And Quickly

Within the next few months.

 

[JC14M5 Wolf]

Stood in the same footsteps I think mate

Exactly the same spot and angle of the dangle by the looks of it.

I don't mind an afternoon in calle de tapas, when in that neck of the woods.
Even payed a visit to last years version of the Oktober fest, I think, or so I'm told.
Anyhow I made the train & taxi home......