Gold hopes for Blues stay

Gold: Keen to be involved

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David Gold is hoping Carson Yeung will find a role for him in his new Birmingham City regime.

The current chairman at St Andrews is set to hand control of the Blues over to his Hong Kong associate in the next few weeks.

A takeover is expected to be pushed through some time in October, with an exciting new era set to be ushered in.

Gold hopes he will be allowed to remain part of the set-up at Birmingham, but has made it clear that he will not accept a back-seat post at a club he has helped build.

"I want to make it clear that I am not a willing seller," Gold told the Birmingham Mail. "I never have been.

"Suffice to say, had I not agreed to sell my shares this would still be going ahead and I would be left in no man's land, a bit like Carson Yeung was when he took 29.9 per cent.

"My brother, Ralph, was not a willing seller either in the past but now he is and we know David Sullivan's views.

"It's a bit different for me. I've been here 16, almost 17 years, and for the past 12 years as chairman. I would like to think that when the change is made the club will have been left in a better state than it was due to our work.

Transitional period

"And I would sincerely hope I could stay on in some capacity.

"Not as a nodding dog you see on the back shelf of a car, but in a role whereby I could take an active part in the running of the football club.

"It has been mooted that they might want to do that but Carson Yeung may bring in his own people. But certainly, even if for a transitional period, I would be happy to stay involved."

Gold also believes that Yeung would be well advised to retain the services of managing director Karren Brady.

He added: "Whether Karren will stay, nobody knows for sure. But in talks with the Chinese, I have been trying to persuade them to make sure she does.

"They need someone to keep the ship steady as we move from one era to the next. Carson Yeung and his backers are serious people, but they are without experience of running a Premier League football club.

"I would imagine that with their business sense - these people wouldn't be in this position now if they did not possess decent business acumen - they would have worked that out for themselves, that they need key personnel to stay, if only for a while.

"I have taken over a number of businesses myself in the past and I know how important it is to keep together key staff to maintain continuity. Without that, then it is extremely difficult, and especially in the case of a football club coming into the hands of overseas owners."