This business of the Americans looking to sell, perhaps, and perhaps not for the first time, all brings me back to the same questions I have had since they arrived: Why did Parish sell to them, and why did they buy in?
I remember Parish talking about his impatience to meet the milestones of his grand plan, those being training ground, academy, stadium. From what I could gather the Americans were associated with a funding boost on these fronts. That makes sense as the Americans can't spend much money on players, only infrastructure (see FFP) and it was reported that a capital investment of £50m was part of Parish selling 18% to them. In other words, he sold part of his shares to accelerate the projects, rather than plodding away trying to pay for them out of the clubs turnover.
Only, it is also reported in places that Textor paid towards the academy, or the sale of AWB. I'm not sure these stories add up. The academy was well underway before Textor arrived (though perhaps he helped), and selling AWB offset loses and/or gave us the meagre transfer budget that Hodgson somehow scrapped by on in his first spell.
Perhaps Parish got exactly what he wanted from Blitzer, Harris, and Textor? Even if selhurst park never gets so much as a lick of paint the infrastructure legacy of the training ground and academy appears to be fantastic, and to make us unrecognisable as a club behind the scenes compared to that which Parish took over. If so, then fair play. Hard to be sure, though.
Even then, why did the Americans do it? Did they expect the asset to become that much more valuable that they could cash out at a profit? That seems unrealistic, and these are shrewd people. Plus, any potential profit seems like to be modest at best. Maybe £10m or £20m? That would go a long way to keeping me happy, but it's small change to these guys. Why take the risk? Is it just part of a massive, diverse portfolio?
Parish must've known that diluting his ownership might lead to someone else having majority control. Is his position secure somehow? Even if it is, would he then just do as his new boss tells him? I'm sure he'd be happy to be superceded by someone with deep enough pockets to complete the grand vision by building a new ground (or rebuilding selhurst), but is he now in any position to control who buys the shares? What if it's a scavenger? Or a mad, irresponsible dreamer? Can Parish prevent that? Or would he just have to watch on in horror?
Of course, all these things are inherently private, and so it's very difficult to know. One thing is for sure, it's a reminder that for all the cultural and social significance, football clubs are private companies and we are paying customers. We have no influence beyond that and, unlike in other markets, do not really have the option of using the services of other, rival companies if dissatisfied with Palace.
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