Is the door firming shut on Hammam now

The Malaysians are in for next season and are looking for promotion push which was great to hear. According to a statement on the official Cardiff City website yesterday Sam Hammam will not becoming back in any capacity at Cardiff City.

The Malaysians are not interested in working with the controversial ex-chairman and are hiring a team of forensic accountants to look into the Langston loan. The forensic accountants are to investigate the "legitimacy" of loans taken out while the former owner was in charge. Hammam and his ever decreasing band of followers have been running a campaign to see his return to the club, but the majority of Cardiff City fans would not welcome him back at any cost. On the subject of debts the Club is making progress with outstanding debts and looked to have trashed out an understanding with property developer PMG which is again good news.

Club statement on Hammam

"Reaching a satisfactory agreement with Langston remains the club's prime focus, but continues to prove difficult in light of the stance taken by Mr. Sam Hammam representing Langston.

"The circumstances behind the original loan and the application of the funds remain difficult to establish to the satisfaction of the board, and as a result the club had engaged third party forensic accountants to further investigate the issue of validating the legitimacy of the loans and expenditure incurred when the club was under the full management control of Mr. Sam Hammam.

"In order to put the record straight we can also reassure the supporters of the club that as part of these negotiations, Mr. Sam Hammam representatives will not return as director of football or something similar." >>>>> Club Statement

Has for Hammam he is reported in the South Wales Echo to be happy with his life and is looking to move on once the Langston debt is paid. There was on offer for the Club to pay £10m, plus £5m from any naming rights for Cardiff City Stadium. There would have also been an extra £5m payout if the Bluebirds had been promoted to the Premier League, but the deadline passed by.

Quote from Sam Hammam,

"I will be quite happy to move on with my life once the debt has been settled.

"But I am more than pleased after the end of last season that the Malaysians have come out publicly and said they are committed to Cardiff City's future." >>>>> Quote from South Wales Echo story

Now we fans will have to sit back and wait for the outcome chairman Dato Chan Tien Ghee and billionaire backer Vincent Tan must be hoping that the forensic accountants will find something in the deal between Sam Hammam, Langston and Cardiff City they could use. Hammam could demand the debt be paid in full with interest, but either way I feel a court battle could be on the cards.

Something that hopefully comes out of this is the identity of Langston and the names of the mystery men are they out there. If you ask most Cardiff City fans who they thought was behind them most would put their hand on their heart and name Sam Hammam.

Quote from Sam Hammam after

"I am not Langston and I cannot tell it what to do. Langston got fed up with me long ago. I have no power over it." (December 2007) >>>>>> See The Lone Gunman blog for more Hammam quotes