Hello everybody, I think Piterman will sell his Alavés shares this summer and will dedicate his time entirely to the Victory. At least that´s the impression I´ve got here in Vitoria. We must still save our Liga BBVA status (I hope we can do it soon) and after that I think he´ll start to negotiate with the different groups interested in our club. We´ve got around 30 players with contract for next season, so I imagine he´d try to convince some of them to join his american franchise. I must admit I´d be the happiest person in the world if this hapens Cheers Diego ATZO, GAUR ETA BETI.... GLORIOSO DIMITRI KANPORA !!!
Deportivo Alavés won their game yesterday against Xerez 2-0. They now find themselves five points clear of relegation, with three games left. After consecutive wins, things are looking better for them now. We'll have to wait and see how the next several weeks play out for them now.
And with Real Madrid B losing today, Alaves appears to be safe. Congrats to the fans in Vitoria, I'm sure these two wins have salvaged an otherwise forgettable season.
On June 3rd, Deportivo Alavés lost to Valladolid 2-1, who are the leaders of the Spanish Segunda División. They are now four points clear of relegation, with only two games left to play. One game is at home, which should be a big factor in keeping them in the Spanish Segunda División next season.
Yup,the win puts them in the clear as the best the Real Madrid Castilla can finish with is 51pts and Alaves already has 52pts.
Hurrah! kinda... Two relegations in a row certainly would have been embarrassing, especially with the high calibre of players that play with Alavés. Next year they should be looking to fight for promotion, not away from relegation.
Piterman vendera a Alaves (Piterman to sell Alaves) http://www.as.com/articulo/futbol/P...ves/millones/dasftb/20070615dasdaiftb_63/Tes/ Few things stand out. a) The article says never give anything as a given with Piterman. Better wait until contracts are actually signed. b) The selling price is 30 million Euros. HOWEVER: Alaves is currently 22 million Euros in debt and 7 of those are debt to the state. Another 8 million Euros are for players salaries and transfer fees that haven't been paid yet. c) Piterman has to either sell his shares or declare the club in bankruptcy. It is unclear how much Piterman himself would actually receive from the transaction. I can't imagine it would be much though. With all the debt that Alaves has, one really has to be leery of who actually owns the Victory. If Piterman owns it or if it is under Alaves. If it is Alaves, it really is hard to believe they will keep the Victory themselves as they have a crap load of other debt they have to pay off and the Victory is in no way a money maker. What's more, they may even recuperate some of the losses by selling the Victory to help pay off the debt. If it is Piterman as the owner, one will have to see how committed he is to keeping the Victory and see if he is personally willing to sustain the losses that the Victory will incure this year (I don't see them making a profit) and for the upcoming seasons if he decides to keep the team. We'll see how this plays out the next couple of days ... Maybe our friends in Vitoria may have the inside scoop and may know some of the new owners since they are local and are ex Alaves managment. Be nice to know what the thoughts are there ... Edit: One other thing I didn't add is that with all the talk about the Quakes returning to San Jose as early as next year, either Alaves/Piterman will have to take this into account and we'll have to see to what extent it hinders their abiltiy to operate.
Wow, this is gonna get dicey. Looks like Dmitry had the team leveraged to the hilt thinking they would turn around and get promoted right back up to La Liga where the huge TV revenues would allow him to pay down his debts. This would go a long way towards explaining why the Vics organization has been a complete farce off the field, he probably didn't have much free cash to properly market the team. Now if the Quakes were to announce their return next season that could be the death knell for this club, at least in terms of playing in San Francisco. However, they do hold the territorial rights to Sacramento and the Rivercats baseball team are starting to dabble in soccer (they're hosting an international friendly next month between a Monterrey of Mexico and Preston North End of the UK.) I could definitely see them buying the team and combining their front office staff similar to what Portland and Fresno currently do. It makes so much more sense from the marketing and cost standpoints. Oh well, I will continue to enjoy the D-1 action in the Bay Area this summer and also watch to see how this soap opera unfolds.
Excellent stuff. Up the Lilywhites! Regarding Sacramento, you said Could you elaborate? Which way round? Rivercats buying The Victory? I think it would be a great city for something like USL-1. Having said that, the Sacramento Knights, based on my one visit, are doing a great job at their more modest level and maybe that's sufficient for now, although that region is of course still suburbanizing at a phenomenal rate (including in flood zone areas, but that's another story.... Cali's next great calamity and all that). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preston's US tour July 26th it is then. Laying down grass just for this? Wow. Roooode trip! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, I could see the Rivercats buying The Victory franchise, under the right circumstances (i.e. fire-sale price). The Vics D-1 territory includes Sacramento County; when I first saw that I thought it was a good escape hatch in the event the Quakes returned to the Bay Area. There has been a trend for minor league outfits to combine to promote multiple sports utilizing a single front office. Both the Portland Timbers and the Fresno Fuego are joint operations with minor-leage baseball teams. It makes sense from the business perspective in that off the field costs are shared while creating greater leverage for bringing on sponsors. You can pay full-time sales staff decent wages since their ability to sign up sponsors is greatly enhanced in comparison to a stand alone soccer outfit. The Knights have done a great job at the 4th Division level but the Rivercats would offer up much more clout and $$ for a 2nd tier team.
Wow, this totally came out of left field didn't it. As a Bay Area soccer fan I'm also sorry to see this kind of uncertainty crap (there is no other word for it) hit the Victory already, especially after what the Quakes went through for years leading up to 2005. I hope he kept the Victory on a separate account at the bank, but frankly it doesn't seem likely he'll be able to hang on to the team if he's that deep in debt with Alaves. Hopefully someone is interested, like the Rivercats. Sacramento would be a good home for them, especially if the Quakes are coming back next season as seems likely. It would accomplish two things in my mind. Give them a more stable fanbase (since some SF fans may be lured away by the MLS team), and would present a roadblock to any moves to bring the Quakes to the Sacto area should the current stadium deal in SJ fall through. That said SF losing the team would suck, but considering how bad attendance and more importantly advertising has been, I doubt many people would notice. Which is a shame after the recent turn around the Vics have had.
Last year Monterrey played Cruz Azul at Raley in Sacto. As with any FMF match in the state, it was well attended. Mexican clubs are the draw and at Stanford it will still be more about America than even a popular outfit like Chelsea. In Sac, I would guess Monterrey supporters will be 90% of the crowd. No slight on Preston intended, that's just the way it breaks down in Calif. ...(I'm sure a Preston home match offers all the atmosphere anyone could handle.)
Today's version of AS, the Spanish sports daily has Piterman selling the club ... VITORIA SE DESPIDE DE UN MAL AÑO Y DE DMITRY PITERMAN [FONT=Century Gothic,Trebuchet MS,Arial,Helvetica]El ucranio vende el club[/FONT] Vitoria says goodbye to a bad year and to Dmitry Piterman The Ucranian sells the club http://www.as.com/articulo/futbol/V.../Piterman/dasftbB00/20070616dasdaiftb_54/Tes/ Even though the team is saved from relegation, the supporters group is inviting everyone to go into the stadium 15 minutes after the game as a form of protest against Piterman. Hopefully this means that Piterman can now concentrate on the Victory!
I apologize for sounding naive, but if he is a jerk and so disliked over there with a top club like Alavés what will make him better if he focuses on a new club stateside? Will he suddenly turn over a new leaf?
Agreed. And has it ever been confirmed who actually owns the Vics? Is it Piterman or Alaves? I guess this will be revealed in short order.
Thats the million dollar question and I guess we will have our answer in the weeks to come. I fear that if it Alaves and not Piterman this could be one and done. If its Piterman now he can concentrate on the Vics.
Its Friday and it was my understanding that today was the deadline for any sale of Alaves...anyone hear anything?