Tony Gillan: Invested wisely the FPP Sunderland loan could be SAFC’s shrewdest move in years

Negotiations seemed to go on for longer than Coronation Street. My guess – it doesn’t even qualify as a theory – is that one or other side made last minute amendments, and the takeover went pop.

Stewart Donald remains chairman and majority shareholder. Plus ça change as they say in Witherwack.

Well the main change is that Madrox, the holding company controlled by Donald, is £10m in debt. Or should that be another £10m in debt?

Money owed to previous owner Ellis Short was secured against the parachute payments, which end this season. This new loan is secured against the Stadium of Light and the Academy of Light. Nothing to worry about there then.

If it all goes wrong and those assets end up in the hands of FPP Sunderland, in essence some extremely wealthy Americans, then what happens is anyone’s guess.

Extremely wealthy businessmen tend not to be sentimental; particularly about a club they had never heard of in a sport they know little about.

Nor do they stand or fall by the loan. They have a £10m flutter with the same insouciance that you and I might stick a quid each way on the Grand National.

The pressure is only felt on one side; although it isn’t obvious why FPP think the whole enterprise is worth their while. Let’s just hope it’s sporting blood.

The main reason Sunderland landed in such huge debt (it was £139m at one stage) and fell down two leagues, was bad investments.

Players were bought for large fees, given huge salaries that they were clearly unworthy of, then left the club for little or no money. Let’s not dredge up a shameful past, so we’ll just say they departed for various reasons.

What gives FPP any confidence their £10m won’t be squandered on the dregs of football as it was in the past?

True, the vast bulk of the bad investments were made under a different regime. But one or two signings from the last 18 months have yet to justify their transfer fees too.

Another bargain like Kevin Phillips, or even Luke O’Nien, would put minds at rest. As always, this is easier said than done.

The best anyone can realistically hope for is that if Phil Parkinson buys a player for say, £2m, the player in question is actually worth the money.

Players who are worth £2m, as opposed to players who are merely bought for £2m, will get Sunderland out of this division.

Polonius said to a friend of Hamlet, in some play or other: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”

But Polonius didn’t have to worry about the transfer window or being ninth in League One. In fact he was a dreary old buzzard and audiences frequently cheer when he is stabbed through the arras.

Financial fair play rules mean the Americans couldn’t just donate money to Sunderland, even if they wanted to. So what was Stewart Donald to do?

Four years ago £10m was not an amount that Sunderland would live or die by. Well it is now.

Invested wisely, this loan could be SAFC’s shrewdest move in years. Or ... actually I don’t want to think about the alternative.

Off you go then Parky. No pressure.