Liverpool Desperate to Land £9m Premier League Starlet and Greek Right Back Apparently!

Retryboy - February 1st, 2010 at 4:28 pm

Ridiculous how many Fucking defenders do we need? What about our own young talent? In a huge squad we only need one left winger, one right winger, one striker suited to the lone role that rafa always plays but we need 6 right backs!! Johnson, kelly, Darby, degen, Carragher(gonna include him as he gets picked there over Darby ridiculously) and now some greek dude to take away the youngsters chances just like his ponytailed compatriot has done so how many centre backs do we need now then? 8?? Carragher, agger, skrtel, Kyrgiakos, san jose, kelly, ayala and now he wants tomkins

Scouse Magic - February 1st, 2010 at 4:39 pm

This is bull, there will be no more business until the summer, when hopefully there will be a huge clear out, including the manager and the backroom staff and the deadwood playing staff.

Retryboy - February 1st, 2010 at 6:42 pm

Kyrgiakos is winning me over not been tested though, i could have stood there and headed the long balls all day at stoke. At spurs he played well but hauled over defoe in the box certain penalty if the ref saw it and fucked up to give defoe a goal that was wrongly ruled out so really he should have ruined a good performance there if the officiating was any good and Bolton come on one of the bottom clubs in the league and he cleared off the goalline from whose fuck up? Would be his own wouldn’t it? That coupled with his mistakes in lyon mean that i will wait a bit longer on that one. Carragher and insua have done well recently does that mean you would fancy one of them playing a decent winger? Anyway the point you have chosen to miss was that we have top young players for what is 4th choice centre back. Our young defenders really aren’t top quality eh? san jose has done really shit out on loan in bilbao this season having played in their last 11 games in that shitty spanish league! Martin kelly he looked well shit at RB hate to think what he would do in his best position at CB and ayala terrible options we had there! If he was going to let Hyppia go it should have been to let the young lads come through otherwise why not keep sami. Stephen Darby deserves chances too as do Nemeth and pacheco most of the ‘true fans’ with their tongues up Rafa’s arsehole only see a player when rafa picks them for the first team some of us have watched them develop for years and seen the reserve games

rassell - February 1st, 2010 at 8:13 pm

Firstly this is a joke we ain’t signing no one till summer……Why raffa don’t trust our youngsters i don’t know and look we sold butchman the german to fulham 17yr old who has great potential and was brilliant for the germans in the under 17’s, why?

BECAUSE he can see that players like pacheco and jose, ayala, kelly, darby…….don’t get a look in then the same will happen to him so he cut his losses and went to fulham, hodgeson ain’t no mug and he can see potential in this player thats why he took him. But the worst thing for these young players is they can see the first 11 and see how shit some of them really are and can’t see why they ain’t getting a chance.

Donavan Ried - February 1st, 2010 at 9:24 pm

Retryboy – February 1st, 2010 at 4:28 pm Find myself agreeing with you again….
How many F*%king defenders do we need???… and what of thoughs we have already????…… Take note followers of Rafa, This is why we never seem to have money, This buying you talent paying them sign on fees, wages then letting them go cheap…Madness

trav09 - February 1st, 2010 at 11:23 pm

…it just beggers belief. C.Butchman, goes to fulham. …. I mean I know rafa is a fat f*ck useless piesce of sh*t, but I really am starting to think that the man just is counting don the days till he leaves. He had ample opportunity to play the likes of pacheco, and butchman. Insted, due to injury he chose to play the useless brazzilian man of glass on the wing, Dossena ffgdmfs, and the other useless git degen on a wing. And you rafa rent boys wonder why we have no faith in this sh*t 4 brains. He could of tested how our young players would go, but no he put defenders, who have NO IDEA how to play the position, a game before our young attacking talent.
Now, when we are crying out for some attacking flair, to make it seem like we know how to score goalsand that they dont just come by accident, he looks set to sign, NOT A STRIKER….but a RB…yeah we need that. Babel will probably never play again, degen will be a permanent right mid, and we will probably see this right footed greek RB playing LM before too long!
RAFA MAY AS WELL GO WORK FOR UNITED AIRLINES< cus he is just a useless passenger!

Scouse Magic - February 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 am

Rafa is a fucking knob head. Why sell one of the brightest prospects from the under 18’s, who has already represented Germany @ U16’s, U17’s, U18’s, U20’s and U21’s and who was probably the stand out player of the U20 World cup.
It makes no sense whatsoever. Buchtmann can play anywhere down the left and can even be deployed on the right and has real prospects.
Oh hang on a minute it must be because Buchtmann didn’t kiss Rafa’s arse enough like Lucas.
What a prick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1_RED_AUSSIE - February 2nd, 2010 at 2:14 am

Hey whats the story with Chamakh is he coming to the Reds or going to the Gunners? Isn’t it funny how the people who are slating Rafa for getting rid of the German kid are then turning around in the next breath and complaining we have too many defenders!!!!! Personally I would have kept him and loaned him out to the championship for a few years….

1_RED_AUSSIE - February 2nd, 2010 at 3:02 am

anon 2:20am – mate we still get news feeds live over here!!!!!
Just hadn’t heard anything in regards to the Chamakh deal and I read reoprts a few weeks ago that he would decide before the end of the transfer window what club he would be signing a precontract at….

RAF - February 2nd, 2010 at 5:34 am

Damn right 1_RED_AUSSIE!

Being 7/8 hours ahead doesn’t help!

Can’t slate Benitez for something he MIGHT be doing… No matter how like him it may be!

Crouch and Torres would have been a quality pairing, but could not get Torres without selling Crouch.

Bellamy IS setting the league on fire!!! You watch any Man City games???

trav09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 7:05 am

We need a manager with some balls, not rafa soft-cok beneathus.

Allthough I must conceed, RAFA DOES HAVE MASSIVE SUPPORT. Chelski, Manure, Man.c, Arsenal, all their supporters are voting Rafa as “manager of the year.”
It seems they will do as much as the rafa loving rent boys to keep him at liverpool.

RAF - February 2nd, 2010 at 8:26 am

ha ha ha

Everybody says it. Too defensive, too worried about the oppostion.

Formation and personnel changes for each game? Teams are not afraid of us… Benitez is afraid of them!! Even those in the bottom 5

Time to go

Aquaman - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:00 am

I’m going to get in trouble for saying this, but I’ll take Tomkins. The lad has a bright future and I’d like to see that happen at Liverpool. Though we do have plenty of kids like that of our own, so hmm.

Aquaman - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:08 am

Wow, it sure didn’t take much to have all the Rafa-bashers resurface. Where did you all go after the Bolton game? None of you posted then. Could it be that you found nothing to rant about because we won?

Damn it people. Support the team! I have no problem with you disliking the manager and thinking we can do better (that’s your right as supporters) but trashing the players themselves is not acceptable. I don’t mind criticising a bad performance or a reasoned argument as to why someone isn’t good enough, but name calling and broken-record bile is just wrong.

In case you lot haven’t noticed we’ve won 4 of our last 6 games and are unbeaten in that run. Things are getting better, so please stop the bile. As always I enjoy a good argument and relish the opportunity against some of you Rafa-bashers, but there’s no arguing against bile because it has no substance. It’s like an X-rated exchange of “Is TO! Is NOT!”. It proves nothing and simply wastes my time.

jimmyk - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 am

as much as its great to bolster our squad with youngsters, i feel it would be unfair to not give our young lads a proper crack.

Scouse Magic - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:26 am

Aquaman, although we are unbeaten in the last 6 games have you seen all of these games? We have not played well in any of them, i will support the team to the hilt and have done for all my life (30 years), but Rafa is far to cautious which is why we are drawing games against the likes of Stoke etc and in some cases losing to Pompey, B’ham etc.
We need to get back to playing football rather than worrying about what our opposition could do to us, we have lost the fear factor, teams used to come to Anfield scarred shitless, but now they arrive thinking we can’t get all 3 points here.
We need a change and we need it now!

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm

rafa’s amazing he’s the best manager in the world! fuck off the useless bastard cried for months he wanted total control of transfers as it was taking parry too long to seal deals (which it was) then the only signing we make for the first team is a 29 year old winger who couldn’t get a game for athletico who are having a shite season! we’ll thats really strengthened us.
we never shifted babel, still only got kuyt and n’gog to cover torres and although kuyt is upto it he needs a better standard of partner n’gog’s got potential but he’s not ready for the burden of trying to fill torres boots

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 1:30 pm

been looking on another site about kewell’s agent saying our medical staff are poor and that the problems he had hear have been sorted easily by a doctor in austrailia, even though our staff thought it was incurable. any one else think he’s right we do seem to have stupid amounts of injuries that just wont go away gerrards groin, torres calf and groin, agger, riera and aquilani taking ages to get fit i think he could be right maybe our staff aren’t upto it and have held us back, it would make sense surely one club can’t be unfortunate enough to have that many players with re-occuring injuries maybe there just not been put right to begin with

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 2:34 pm

i think our weakest positions are-

lb- insua’s ok but thats it, and aurelio is injury prone
rw- kuyts not a winger, maxi will be ok but well past his best he couldn’t get a game for athletico who are having a shit season yet rafa thinks he’s gonna save our season
lw- riera’s injury prone and form flux’s too much for my liking, yossi is good but better through the middle so we lack width on the left
st- torres is awesome but too injury prone, n’gog ok but not good enough, kuyt better striker than a winger but needs a decent partner when torres is out

and where did rafa strenthen? rw- by getting a past his best winger who he’s gonna play lw as kuyt will play rw when torres is fit. i would have prefered jobe mcanuff who plays for reading he tore us apart and is a lfc fan and played just as well on the lw as he did the rw

Donavan Ried - February 2nd, 2010 at 3:23 pm

Afternoon baggins09, and aquaman,….

baggins09 – February 2nd, 2010 at 1:30 pm ….. I have been banging on for the last two plus season how poor our coaching staff are, but I never thought it when as far as the medical staff as well….. Seems like when you strip away the paper that things are rotting underneath…. We really are in need of a complete overall, Clear ever one out(Management,coaches, scouts and Medical staff) and rebuild…..

Retryboy - February 2nd, 2010 at 4:54 pm

Afternoon all lot of posts to sift through, Rassell- think you are right there at 17 you would see the likes of Nemeth, Darby and el zhar 21 and 23 and not like the thought of waiting 4-6 years for any chance. Aquaman know your post wasn’t aimed at me but doesn’t mean i can’t answer it…before the spurs game all of the brigade were waivering. After the spurs game they began shouting their support from the rafters again(and they call us fickle) that was it we were going to storm to the title! We then followed it through with another totally inept draw with wolves no shots on goal and where were the brigade then to comment? Funny we get called the ‘glory hunters’ for not agreeing with the brigade but check the threads again. We are on here win, lose or draw and never saying i told you so even after all the abuse we get, we are Pissed off for the team when we lose and celebrating when we win. Yet a lot of the brigade really do only sing or even speak when we are winning, none of them on here after wolves or most inept performances of which there have been a lot more than victories they take a holiday. You are doing a rafa putting positive spin on things 6 games undefeated eh sure we got outplayed and beaten by reading so i make that 4 games. Stoke and wolves were both shit performances against teams that were eminently beatable on the days. Bolton are a relegation favourite and it was looking very shaky before the lucky 2nd goal, least we started playing afterwards. Spurs was the only performance worthy of the liverpool name and even then spurs should have had 2 goals courtesy of Kyrgiakos and the draw it was only shit refereeing that gave us the win. We are in better shape going into the difficult games and business end but i still don’t think rafa can deliver any consistency in his own performances, selections or tactics and think that his constant mistakes will cost us top four and be disaster for the club. I still feel that Kenny dalglish with these players would get us in the top four. Think after february we will know more about our own credentials under him. I personally haven’t got to my views purely off the results its performances, decisions, treatment of players, stubborness, use of youth, negativity, tactics the way we see him taking the club. So if you think a win against a relegation favourite counteracts all of that and the 30 games of terrible football before you are wrong.

Retryboy - February 2nd, 2010 at 5:11 pm

Top posts by trav and scouse magic, raf, Donovan and baggins think you have answered all the arguments. On the kewell thing rafa changed loads of back room staff start of this season and about 4/10 new staff were fitness related amazing the amount of players that have broken down on their returns this season after being declared fit and the constant injuries it can’t just be a coincidence got to agree with Donovan again total clear out needed.

Retryboy - February 2nd, 2010 at 5:14 pm

Anon 4.59 total opposite to rafa. The only thing i am negative about is benitez. The only thing rafa believes in is benitez. If he gave the players the same level of faith as himself he would be a good manager.

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm

i’d definately be asking questions about the medical staff according to kewells agent benitez has been calling kewell to ask for his doctors number for help for torres. kewells condition was deemed untreatable by our staff and now he’s in the form of his life and fighting fit so somethings not right.

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 6:10 pm

anon 5;43pm not moaning mate, we’re refering to points raised the agent of an ex player that our medical staff said had a problem that was incureable but has now been treated by an aussie doctor who has curred the problem with relative ease.
so either jesus is working as a doctor in oz or our staff are below par mate i personally due to all the re-occuring injuries our squad keep having would be inclined to believe the later of the two, i read it on walkon.com its all over there look it up and make your own mind up.

as for big name summer signings i would hope there will be more than one i’m hoping and praying for at least 4-5 my prefered 5 would be-

turan,lennon,vdv,milner and hulk/adriano

spota - February 2nd, 2010 at 6:13 pm

THIS IS 4 THE BRIGADE people are not saying butchman was a world beater but what we are saying is this why train these youngsters up . simple to finally make the first team or bring in some money to buy better replacements . not to get 100k for a german under 18 player . a good one at that. also he we are desperate for a striker or at least some attacking options regards width . and look here rafas after more defensive players if we go backwards anymore we will be in the fucking mersey . we are by far the most defensive team in the league . hence the nil nils at both wolves and stoke . hardly real and barca . and we still could not break down these so called lesser clubs . . we need a top striker and now the window has gone . the mans a discrace . like i said before get behind the team . but the only reason to get behind rafa is to push him from a great hight . enough is real enough . we are the famous redmen from anfield . not rafas personal freak show . if he dont gosoon we will lose more than just prestige and the fourth place . mark my words torres steve g etc they all want cl football not the europa league . and for the people saying we will win the europa league = GET REAL WE FUCKIN SHOULD!

spota - February 2nd, 2010 at 6:15 pm

sorry about my mistakes i was in a rafa rage!

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:10 pm

i’m only repeating what i read and it would make sense when you look at players gerrard, torres, riera, agger, aurelio and who ever else you can think of, it’ll be sods law the 25-50% he’s kept is a piss poor medical team sounds about right for raffa!

how old i jovanovic just out of curiosity 28-29? we’re meant to be getting loads to spend yet we’re linked with players who’ve not played in a top league

baggins09 - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm

just looked for jovanovic on wiki he’s 28 and not even played 200 senior games so since he was 18 he’s either a) averaged less than 20 games a season b) been plagued by injury c) is just been shit all his life and only just had a good season or two and got some attention either way i’d not bother with him

Aquaman - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 pm

Very late reply, I know, but please bear with me.

Scouse Magic:
I agree that we are not playing well but then, as we all know, we’ve had a truly crap season. Confidence was literally in the bog after the loss at Portsmouth and we truly looked dead and buried. That was 6 games ago. That was the last game we lost. Excluding Reading, which is damn inconvenient to my argument so I’m going to exclude it by calling it just a cup game. Sue me If it really bothers you then substitute Portsmouth with Reading and go from there.

The whole season has floundered on our inability to keep a clean sheet. Three of our CL losses were suffered when we had been leading. If we’d kept our usual defending standards up, then we’d still be in the competition. The 5 clean sheets that we have kept now have rebuilt a little bit of our confidence. Our defenders are beginning to find their feet (Kyrgiakos has been epic and will no longer be called a barabarian by me. He deserves it). Insua has been good. Kyrgiakos has been excellent. Skrtel has been… well… better. And Carra’s been upbeat. Oh and Agger has been injured (big surprise there).

So we’ve been erring on the side of caution a bit recently. Personally I can see why this is necessary. If we’d conceded late in any of the last 6 games then we could very easily have fallen back into our old habits and lost the game. It’s easy to say that attack is the best form of defense, but when you’re low on confidence then you don’t trust your own ability to do anything really, and it’s very easy to get caught on the break if you miss a pass. These thoughts become a poison that can cause the very mistake you’re trying so hard to prevent.

Now that the confidence is back a bit, we are using attack as defense. Against Tottenham, Stoke and Bolton we looked like the more likely team to score at the end. Things are coming right, and I expect to see us at our best from last season within a month.

Retryboy:
What you say is true about our performances, but what do you use as a manager to build confidence in your team. Do you say “Boys that was crap. Completely unworthy of the Liverpool shirt. You may have got three points, but its still not good enough,” or do you say “Look guys. That wasn’t the best performance against Wolves and I know that you can play better. But see here, we’re undefeated in 5 league games with 4 clean sheets and 3 wins. We’re getting better, keep it up.”

For me? The second. It’s very easy to destroy confidence but so much harder to build it.

Incidentally you missed my point again. I was trying to prevent some of the “Fat spanish waiter”s and “brazilian rent boy”s by pointing our to people that their comments are not helpful or, actually, worth anything. As I said, I want debates not bile.

Apologies to those who may have used those comments. I took random examples and did not intend to single anyone out.

baggins09:
Past his best? He’s 28! That’s usually called your prime. Still if you can think of any better right wingers that we could have got for the same price, feel free to share. I know of none. Do you have to welcome a new signing by judging him before he’s settled? That is not the Liverpool way. Not even slightly.

Still I agree with the rest of your post.

...samlfc.... - February 2nd, 2010 at 9:57 pm

anonymous – February 2nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm

i’ve always been here lol but on this particular article i don’t really no what to say without repeating myself from other articles.
but thanks for mentoning me lol
RaNE i have no clue where he could be
and i would say Aquero for me as a marquee signing

and Aquaman so very very true on the “It’s very easy to destroy confidence but so much harder to build it.” many of our players has had a major confidense decreasement.

Aquaman - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 pm

This is why the whole “too defensive” argument is bugging me, …samlfc… Our defense is where everything has fallen down, and yet when Rafa prioritises our major flaw, then people get on his back when it doesn’t give immediate results. Seems he can’t do anything right at the moment, even when he does.

Also RaNE has been out and about. Haven’t seen him post today though.

dr.Barnard - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:26 pm

out of that sort of investment.

“There’s no evidence that there’s a queue of people out there, is there? It’s hard to see who’s going to pay that kind of money and get any kind of return?”

Aquaman - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:27 pm

anonymous – February 2nd, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Wow. You may just be the first person to dislike both Rafa and his biggest antifans. Dunno why you’ve lumped Donavan in there though. He’s been pretty quiet recently.

As for the players you mention.
Kuyt, Degen … maybe.
Insua, N’Gog … definitely not.
Fabio … agreed.

dr.Barnard - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:27 pm

Twenty-four hours after Liverpool were held to a dire goalless draw at Wolves a week ago, the club’s increasingly grim predicament was starkly illustrated a mile away from its Anfield Road stadium.

Across a darkened Stanley Park, on which Liverpool hopes to build a new home, neighbours and bitter rivals Everton were cruising to a 2-0 victory against a poor Sunderland team. Midway through the second half, Sunderland’s Trinidadian center forward Kenwyne Jones, found himself in space in the Everton penalty area after the opposing defence fell asleep.

Jones, a transfer target for Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez but who on current form combines the mobility of a Zeppelin with all the menace of a rabbit, poised himself and seemed certain to score – before unleashing a shot that ballooned so far wide that it resembled a sliced defensive clearance.

Among the watching Evertonians an acerbic chant built from the Park Stand, encircling the entire stadium until it was clearly audible to the watching television audience: “Rafa, Rafa sign him up.” Tellingly, Sunderland fans joined in as well.

Nothing symbolises Liverpool’s decline like their hapless attempts in the just-closed January transfer window.

Their big name buys of yesteryear read like a who’s who of English football aristocracy – Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, John Barnes, even Fernando Torres – but their failed pursuit of Jones, who cannot currently hold down a place in a relegation threatened Sunderland team, signifies their hard times.

Indebted as far as the banks will lend following the 2007 leveraged buy out by American businessmen Tom Hicks and George Gillett, there appears to be no money to spend. Worse still, out of the Champions League and far from assured of qualification for next year’s competition, the club have become a less attractive destination for Europe’s elite players. Jones and his ilk seem to be the summit of Liverpool’s means these days.

Dark clouds hanging over Anfield
The off-the-pitch problems facing Liverpool are well documented. Hicks and Gillett financed their purchase of the club with a £350m ($559m) loan from Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia; the club effectively pay interest on this mortgage, reckoned to be 4% above the base rate (which is far less onerous than the 16.5% interest Manchester United’s owners were recently paying).

Last year, the club boasted record turnover of £164.2million, but partly because of the costs of servicing Hicks and Gillett’s debts it suffered a £42.6m loss. This has reduced Liverpool’s ability to compete with their rivals, particularly in the transfer market where a new austerity has taken over.

Despite claims that work will soon get underway on a new 60-000 seat stadium, Liverpool’s debt problem combined with the global economic crisis has also meant that financing for it has been impossible to secure. So Liverpool will remain at Anfield for the foreseeable future, which has contributed to the torpor. This self-perpetuating circle of stagnation has now threatened to turn into decline.

While most supporters still back Rafael Benitez, that majority is declining as the realization dawns that the club have underachieved under his rule.

But just as Liverpool cannot afford to significantly bolster his squad, his sacking also seems beyond their means. Paid £4 million a year on a contract that runs until 2014 and with a backroom staff of 20 plus, his dismissal might cost the equivalent of the British transfer record of £32 million.

One well-connected source told World Football Insider that there’s a growing acknowledgement within the club that Juventus’s reported pursuit of Benitez might provide “the most convenient solution” for a manager they cannot afford to sack.

The club no one wants to buy
Earlier this month Liverpool’s managing director Christian Purslow said that there was a “serious possibility” of investment in the “foreseeable future”.

Hicks and Gillett are seeking to sell a 25% stake in the club, but unless they are willing to give up more control via a rights issue or some other mechanism to turn the club around, it seems unclear why anybody would buy into Liverpool.

“It’s very difficult to see that [investment] happening for all kinds of reasons,” said football finance expert Tom Cannon, professor of strategic management at Liverpool University Management School.

He doesn’t believe that an additional £100 million is anywhere near enough to turn around Liverpool’s fortunes.

“What does that £100m buy you? It doesn’t buy you a stadium. It probably buys you three ‘marquee players’. But £100m in the world of Chelsea and Man City isn’t a lot of money,” he told WFI.

“Then you have the incredible unpopularity of the current owners. Does the new investor buy into their unpopularity? They’re still going to be a minority owner and if you’re talking 25 per cent they’re not even going to be the largest minority owner.”

Indeed, the Americans represent nobody’s idea of ideal business partners. A year after taking over Liverpool the two had fallen out to such an extent that Gillett publicly declared their partnership “unworkable”.

Although acrimony has since been played out in private, factionalism remains rife at Anfield with “dual administrations” operating from different offices within the city. The buyer of a minority stake in Liverpool would effectively be buying into a family on the brink of divorce.

Liverpool’s reported valuation of £400-500 million also seems inflated, and represents a considerable increase on the £218.9 million Hicks and Gillett paid three years ago.

Quite what they’ve added to the club besides a massive debt burden is unclear: the promised new stadium is mothballed, Benitez’s squad is no stronger – and arguably weaker – than when they took over, and no further trophies have been won to add to the club’s “brand value”.

Cannon believes that the “perception” that Liverpool, in common with Manchester United, are a “global franchise” has inflated its price.

“It’s probably the case that there’s 20 plus million people who say they support Liverpool worldwide,” he said.

“The reason that you buy into these clubs is that you can in some way tap into that global market place.

“But most [overseas fans] are in very poor countries. Most of them are very poor people in poor countries. Most of them are not going to spend anything other than watching them on television. And nobody’s demonstrated any mechanism apart from the sale of international TV rights that you can make any money out of that.”

The billion pound makeover
Unless he knows some very rich and naive Liverpool supporters, the assumption must be that Purslow’s search for a minority investor will be forlorn. No right-minded investor would buy into the current status quo.

But what if someone bought Hicks and Gillett’s stakes at the asking price? What further capital expenditure do Liverpool need – on top of an initial £400-500m investment – to be able to keep challenging at English football’s top table?

With Manchester City and Chelsea floating on oil fortunes, the equation is less fair than in the past but the proposed new stadium seems essential to Liverpool’s long term planning. Each week Liverpool pull in 32,000 less fans than Manchester United and 16,000 fewer than Arsenal and so immediately face an uphill struggle to keep up.

But the projected cost of this scheme is anything between £250 million and £400 million.

Besides Arsenal – whose Emirates Stadium project was fraught with funding difficulties and supported by the sale of high-value real estate on the site of Highbury – no club in Europe has ever embarked on so bold a project. Arsenal’s difficult move to the Emirates occurred during the boom years; no bank is able or willing to help finance such a project now, so cast iron financial guarantees are imperative for it to progress.

Then there’s the state of Benitez’s squad.

The spending curbs are a recent thing, and until last year the Spaniard spent a net average of £18 million in each of his first five years at Anfield.

Some of this was spent wisely, for example the £20 million used to buy Fernando Torres in 2007. But much more has been wasted on overpriced foreign players who have brought little return and eroded the club’s local roots. A very minimum of £100 million – perhaps as much as double that – is necessary to revitalize this flagging Liverpool team.

A new manager might also be provident. Benitez has had money before and largely wasted it. Many fans back him, but why would a hard-nosed outside investor give him a second chance? Throw in the £30 million alimony needed to get rid of the Spaniard and his entourage and the total cost of turning Liverpool around stands at around a cool £1 billion.

“Most of the evidence is that Hicks and Gillett want some kind of return – they’re not going to go away and say, thanks for the memory,” said Tom Cannon, who puts a more conservative figure of £750 million on turning Liverpool around.

“You’re probably talking about some philanthropist, who has not put in an appearance in recent years. An oligarch, like the Abu Dhabi people or Abramovich. Or somebody who’s got a magic solution to making a return out of that sort of investment.

“There’s no evidence that there’s a queue of people out there, is there? It’s hard to see who’s going to pay that kind of money and get any kind of return”.

dr.Barnard - February 2nd, 2010 at 10:34 pm

Sorry boys, this a reprint from “World Football Insider:
Author James Corbett.
Title: Analysis: Liverpool Billion Dollar Problem (I think)
Worth reading, a cold financial analysis of our present situation,

baggins09 - February 3rd, 2010 at 12:13 am

hi aquaman not judging him before he’s played mate i should have made it a bit clearer i do think he’ll do a good job for us but he’s not got the pace he did have and for a winger i would say they peak slightly younger mate about 24-27 strikers i’d say 27-28 but proper wingers need a more youthfull energy in my mind. he wasn’t getting in the athletico team who are doing so poorly at the minute plus changing to a far more physical fast paced league i’d expect him to struggle settling for a season by which time he’s gonna be 29-30.
when we’ve got a fully squad i’d like to see maxi play off torres with gerrard on the right

1_RED_AUSSIE - February 3rd, 2010 at 12:33 am

Baggins09 – yes we do have Jesus working as a doctor for us in Australia, he has a medical practice in Sydney!!!!
On a serious note though – you make a very good point as the vast majority of Australian players playing in Europe will all come back to Australia for medical treament when they pick up an injury. And I now notice more and more players are venturing to countries in europe,asia and the USA to have treatment on injuries, so perhaps this raises the question…is the english sporting medical system up to scratch????

slicky4 - February 3rd, 2010 at 12:42 am

THESE AIN’T MY WORDS, BUT A VERY LEVEL HEADED FAN WHO TALKS ENORMOUS SENSE……AND GETS PAID FOR HIS VERY SENSIBLE VIEWS…………….SO JUST READ IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whisper it quietly, but Liverpool could be six games into a very important run of form.An eight point deficit to fourth place is now down to one, and it’s another week closer to the major attacking threats of Torres, Benayoun and Johnson returning.
With every passing month, another top-four challenger falls away; as happens every year. People worrying about the threat of Birmingham has been made to look premature.
After the draw at Wolves, I had to check if Liverpool had dropped into the relegation zone, such was the overreaction from some quarters.
While it was one of the least enjoyable games I can recall – rubbish pitch, ball in the air (much like at Stoke) – I never, ever see a draw away from home as a disaster. It was a battling performance, and in order to maintain momentum, defeat had to be avoided.
Another clean sheet helped build some confidence ahead of the Bolton game. And it’s a truism of the sport that anyone building a team, or rebuilding confidence, starts from the back.
It’s a football basic.
Liverpool’s problems this season, injuries aside, stemmed from some uncharacteristically lapse defending. The Reds actually started the campaign with the club’s highest number of goals in the opening seven games for 114 years. The problem was conceding them. Even in winning, the back-line never looked confident.
Of course, a large reason for that is because defending is based on understanding; and with Benítez forced, due to injuries and suspensions, to use a dozen different defenders by the autumn, including four players making their first starts in the shirt (Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ayala, Kelly) and two others yet to really feature (Degen, Darby), plus another youngster in 20-year-old Insua, it was a horribly disjointed time, not to mention a steep learning curve for many of these individuals.
That set the tone, and once you develop problems, they can, for a time at least, become habits.
And on occasion Liverpool, if anything, were too positive in the first months of the season, leaving central defenders exposed. The main problems were a) marking at set-pieces, which I’ve always argued is tougher with new faces in the side, and b) getting caught on the counter attack with not enough cover.
Once you start conceding goals you stand a greater chance of losing games; lose games, and you lose confidence, at the back but also at the front. Pressure mounts, and it gets harder to play good football. And start conceding late goals, and it will play on the mind. Only now do Liverpool appear to be breaking this cycle.
The Reds may not be playing their best football of the season, but with five clean sheets in six unbeaten games, four of which were won, form is returning.
While it’s too late this season, this (admittedly small) run of games equates to title-winning form; over 38 games it scales up to almost 90 points. But of course it’s just a six-game run, and I present it as nothing greater; my aim is not to predict that it will continue, merely to show that the Wolves result was disappointing rather than disastrous.
Add that this run of points has been based mostly on clean sheets, and you can see how confidence breeds from the back forward. After all, United won the league last year based on a record-breaking defence; Liverpool were the Premiership’s top scorers.
The past six games have not pitted the Reds against the very best sides, but Villa away and Spurs at home were big games. And anyone who thinks going to Stoke is a doddle is seriously deluded. It’s like trench warfare.
If anything, the most pleasing facet of the recent defending has been the opposition faced. Stoke, Wolves and Bolton may be capable of some good football on the ground, but each encounter centred around big battles and an aerial bombardment. And lest we forget about how tall forwards like Carew and Crouch are.
These were not Benítez’s supposed stock-in-trade ‘European’ style matches against teams that let you play, but about as British as football gets: in your face, and for much of the time, over your head.
Much of the success has to go down to the inspired form of Kyrgiakos; a low-key signing, but an absolute rock when called upon.
The highest compliment I can pay him is that he’s looked like Sami Hyypia at his very best. Of course, Sami is a legend because of ten years of brilliance, not four or five games – but my point is that you could not have asked for any more from the giant Greek, now that he has settled in.

A Word of Praise

Statistics are a strange thing. I never use them to provide the be-all-and-end-all to an argument, but I do like to use them as one part of my evaluation methods. Providing they are not abused, they present handy evidence.
As someone said to me this week, “Digging for facts is a better mental exercise than jumping to conclusions”.
Take these figures. Based on the latest available data (up to 25th January), Lucas Leiva has made the most successful passes in the entire Premiership: 1,200. This is achieved at an 85% success rate (higher than anyone else in the top five). He has also made the 3rd-highest number of successful tackles.
So, he’s in the top three in both categories.
Now, this doesn’t mean that they were all extravagant or incisive passes; however, a quick look at The Guardian’s ‘Chalkboards’, which illustrate the direction and distance of his passes, will show that there is a huge variety to how he plays the ball. And as we’ve seen in recent weeks, he’s less the “defensive” player as which he’s portrayed, and is clearly becoming ever more box-to-box (even if his finishing is yet to match his bright ideas).
Lucas isn’t one for frequent killer passes, although the ball to Benayoun in extra-time against Reading was one of the best of the season; the sort he supposedly can’t play.
Indeed, even Xabi Alonso rarely had direct assists from open play; my analysis of last season showed that he was involved in a lot of goals, but much earlier in moves, often with simple passes. Lucas’ goal ‘involvement’ figures have increased this season, and unlike Alonso, he’s also been frequently getting into the opposition box.
However, he’s a very different player to Alonso, and it’s a shame that anything good he does is obscured by the fact that he’s not Alonso.
Now, I’m not using these figures to say that Lucas is therefore the best central midfielder around, and that the sublime Cesc Fabregas, for example, is a lesser player. Lucas has played a lot of minutes this season, and that will help boost his figures.
But as some deluded soul told me earlier in the season, ‘Lucas can’t even play a simple five-yard pass, and doesn’t even win 50% of his 50-50s’. Now, those statistics suggest otherwise. He’s made 1,200 successful passes and won seven out of every ten tackles.
Indeed, in this context, they are facts, not statistics. They prove otherwise.
Javier Mascherano is also in the top five for both successful passes and tackles won.
This backs up my assertion earlier in the season that the problems with the team mostly lay elsewhere. If you have two overlapping full-backs, and an adventurous centre-back (Agger) you need a solid centre to the side.
After months out with injury, Alberto Aquilani has come in and done well, although the Bolton game seemed to pass him by at times; which, of course, is to be thoroughly expected. Arsene Wenger often states that any import should be allowed a season of adjustment.
Unfortunately for Aquilani, there was a ludicrous amount of pressure and expectation surrounding him, at a time when he had to find fitness in the first team spotlight, when that team was struggling.
But even though Bolton wasn’t one of his better games, he did brilliantly to set up Dirk Kuyt, and got another 65 minutes under his belt. The Reds have won all four league games that he’s started, and that bodes well; but at times, such as against Spurs, he’s been deployed ahead of the midfield, and, of course, better defending as a whole has given the team the platform to go on and win these matches.
The next three games, two of which are away, are all big encounters against in-form sides. After their own injury-ravaged start to the season, which saw them languishing near the bottom of the table, Everton have hit their stride.
If Liverpool can remain undefeated and gain five points, that would satisfy me; any less could leave a gap, and any more would be a wonderful bonus, particularly as one game is the Mersey derby, and the other two are trips to Arsenal and Man City.
But in many ways these games could be what the Reds need; there’s less overpowering expectation to win, and ‘big game’ atmospheres – which help all players – will be guaranteed.

Written By …PAUL TOMKINS………look him up and read his stuff!!!!!!!! Y.N.W.A………..J.F.T.96

dr.Barnard - February 3rd, 2010 at 12:51 am

Aldo, this was my first reaction to the piece in “Football World Insider” I posted earlier. I just reviewed the minutes of the meeting between C, Purslow and Spirit of Shankly, and will respond in a few minutes.
So the crux of the matter is all laid out here, by author interviewing financial experts, who looked at our financial situation professionaly, and rejected “wishful thinking” scenarios disseminated by some people blinded by their love and loyalty to LFC. The Hicks and Gillette, bit more than they can chew, we are at a limbo. They can’t or do not want to invest their own capital in the club, they are hoping for some naive investor to show up ond overpay. Remember the last purchase of the club was that of Man City, the price was around 200M, for the club and a modern stadium, the previous owner was on the ropes, took the best offer, The Sheik Maktoum, who was buying, was getting a good (not great) club, with a relatively new stadium.
In our case, in order to put us on the same, level playing field with Chelsea, Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan etc. we have to find a billionaire with lots of money and no brain.
So much for the stories “weaved” by Hicks about upcoming big summer spending spree on new players. Without new owner(s) the stalemate will continue. Something will have to give eventually. either H&G will be forced to sell at a price market is willing to pay (much less, than 500M, asked for at the moment), the owners will have to find their own capital or we will go into bankcruptcy protection. Things will accelerate if we don’t qualify for the Champions League.

dr.Barnard - February 3rd, 2010 at 1:22 am

Aldo, this is my reaction to the minutes of last nights meeting between SoS and C.Purslow.
1. Well, so the cat is, at last, out of the bag. No longer any obfuscating, equivocating, i.e bullshit the Americans have been feeding all of us. They invested 130M, pressed by the bank, and will not put in another shilling. Now, in order to get another extension of the loan (total loan is at 237M), the banks request the paydown of the loan to a “manageable” 137M. The meaning of it all is, the bank’s (RBS) value of the LFS is about 300M at best. If the Americans do not produce another 100M in additional capital from their own pockets, or get an investor that will invest at least 100M to buy shares in the Liverpool Enterprise by June/July, the bank may call the loan, and put LFC on the market.
2. As I said, many time before, they realize and acknowledge, no self-respecting investors are likely to get into a partnership with H&G. So, yes, they admit, are trying to sell the 100% of the club.
3. The big buying spree promised thiscoming summer was a smoke screen, whoever is in charge of buying players then will only be able to use the proceeds from the sale of current players.
4. What is today unspoken, but appears more than likely, if no outside investment is found, the 100M to satisfy the RBS and buy time to continue looking for a buyer will come from a sale of Torres, Mascherano, Gerrard or whoever could be sold.
5. The 100M at one time was supposedly to be used as a seed capital to get the stadium going. Now it is clear, the money will go towards debt repayment, not the stadium or new players.
6. If the 4th place is not achieved, we will slide towards resolution quicker, the RBS may call a loan in, we may be put into administration, the american owners will sell at whatever price the market is willing to pay, the fire sale of asset can take place or any combination thereof.

1_RED_AUSSIE - February 3rd, 2010 at 1:39 am

Where are some rich Saudis when you need them?????

spike - February 3rd, 2010 at 6:19 am

yes…i do agree Rafa is a good coach but doesn’t have a eye for young talent……….

pete - February 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 am

funny people believing kewell now and i bet its the same people who were calling for his head when he played for lfc
rafa at the time suggested there was no injury
kewell said what player would want to miss a cup final and he had an injury
people didnt believe kewell then but now their using this point to turn on rafa
it makes me laugh so called supporters

Aquaman - February 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm

dr.Barnard:

Purslow did give the impression that all sales go into the transfer account, which means that they are only used for player purchaces, contracts, signing on fees, etc. He did say also that no sales go to any other part of the club. I trust the man and really do believe that he is telling the truth. If so then no players will be sold to pay off debts. The only way taht this account is accessed other than transfers is to put the profits into it (and we don’t have much of that at the moment)

What irks me the most though, is that the yanks have essentially put 130m into the club in total and are trying to sell it for 400+m. A profit of 270m for doing nothing. Ridiculous.

And, no extra money will be given for transfers this summer. If Hick’s promise was based on any truth at all then it would mean that Rafa already has some funds that he hasn’t spent yet. The owners only gave 15 – 20 mil for “the first few seasons” in Purslow’s own words.

Also, no work will be done on the stadium until new investment is found. The planning and logistics will only start then and construction is only likely to start early next year at the earliest if all goes well.

Finally, The yanks can get no credit for bringing Purslow in. He hates them and volunteered for the job because he hated to see his club abused so badly. The man is a hero as where would we be without him?

pete - February 3rd, 2010 at 3:08 pm

thats the main thing we need the yanks out

spota - February 3rd, 2010 at 3:10 pm

to put kryiagos in the same league as yppia is pure scandalous and yousauy this guy gets paid.

spota - February 3rd, 2010 at 3:11 pm

sorry had to change my keyboard but you no wot i mean

pete - February 3rd, 2010 at 3:14 pm

not the same league
but soitros is playing well hope he keeps it up
himself and dirk are have the right attitude

Donavan Ried - February 3rd, 2010 at 3:44 pm

pete – February 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 am …. Pete see your point, and in one way what you says makes sense, But I think that If you take into account that he is a footballer and wants to play week in, week out so why would he fain Injury for so long?……

I was one of them who wanted him out….. I openly admit that.

Given what his agent as said, which I believe his agent has no axe to grind; I can see a lot of truth to it, especially when you take into account the fact that the same Liverpool medical staffs are sending players abroad for horse placenta treatment……

This is by no mean an attack on Rafa, or Liverpool Fc but rather questioning the ability of the medical staff, and rightly so……

dr.Barnard - February 3rd, 2010 at 4:25 pm

Aquaman, Aldo and all those that care about our club (to many to mention). This is what appeared in the pages of “The Independant” today. The bottom line is the same as what I drew from examining the minutes of the meeting between SoS and Christian Purslow yesterday:
1. We are on the brink of being put on market by the Bank (RBS) not later than July, or even sooner.
2. The H&G duo, stopped pretending they are looking for a minority investor, who would plow 100M into the club. They want out.
3. If now investor is found, the owners may start selling the assets, i.e Torres, Mascherano, Gerrard for start.
4. Only a new ownership, with deep pockets, can build the new stadium and bring new players.
5. The bank’s value our club around 300M pounds, they demand a further repayment of the loan, by at least 100M, as a condition of extending a new loan in July.
6. The Americans may end up with very little profit if kicked out of the club by the bank.
7. If we dont grab the fourth spot in the Premiership, things can be brought into a quick conclusion, by the banks.
8. These matters much more for the future of our beloved club, than any fan’s views as to who should play the RB, behind the striker or whatoever else.
Also, it sheds light on the difficulties Benitez his crew, Purslow (not a bad guy possibly) have in navigating through the rough waters. And now the piece from the Independent.

Banks ready to force sale of Liverpool this summer
Club’s managing director admits that RBS may pull plug on American owners unless they secure £100m investment
Liverpool’s pursuit of £100m in new investment is being carried out on the orders of the club’s bankers, it emerged yesterday, and with the managing director admitting he cannot “guarantee” success, the genuine possibility is emerging of owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett being forced to sell up this summer.
Though it has been known for several months that MD Christian Purslow is seeking cash by selling equity to alleviate Liverpool’s £237m debt, only yesterday, in the published minutes of a recent meeting between Purslow and the club’s Spirit of Shankly (SoS) fans’ group, bankers Wachovia and Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) express “requirement” of the new cash become clear.
The deadline for securing the £100m is July – when Hicks and Gillett must refinance their debts once again. Fail to find the cash and the Americans will be out of Anfield after a rocky and largely unhappy three years on Merseyside. The consequences of that for Liverpool could be defining ones – conceivably a fire sale of the club similar to the one which West Ham United have just undergone, with the attendant loss of money, elite players and status.
The pursuit of the investment seems to be proving more difficult than Purslow had originally foreseen, with initial hopes that a number of investors could be sought to secure the £100m in return for a 25 per cent share now giving way to the acceptance that no new investor will be prepared to lay out millions simply to take a minority stake in Liverpool. As The Independent reported on Monday, a 34 per cent stake seems to be the minimum a buyer will accept, with Hicks and Gillett owning 33 per cent each.
The picture is further complicated by the fact that Purslow firmly rejects SoS’s minutes of their 21 January meeting with him, in which he portrayed RBS as extremely unhappy with Hicks and Gillett and keen to be rid of them. But even his less eye-catching account of the meeting confirms that securing £100m to reduce borrowings was agreed when he, a former merchant banker, was appointed last autumn. “There are now five or six potential investors with whom we are talking,” the MD says in his own minutes. Purslow has rejected suggestions that the Americans are so desperate for cash that they are willing to sell 40 per cent of the club for £100m. Some prospective buyers may now be waiting for a fire sale, which would bring the price tumbling from the £500m offered by Dubai International Capital (DIC) two years ago – and which Hicks rejected.
Purslow’s version of his disclosure to fans did not include their claims that he told them failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League would damage the pursuit of investors. SoS said Purslow had told them: “The team’s performance… is talked about by potential investors, as while we might make up the loss [of] Champions League revenue through a good run in the Europa Cup [sic], the loss of Champions League football next season would impact upon income and this has a relevance to investors.”
Purslow’s minutes also excluded the assertion that he told them RBS was “annoyed and unhappy” with Hicks and Gillett and “they want a change of ownership”. SoS say he told them the club is for sale: “It will be sold. The owners have to sell it, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it.”
Neither did the MD repeat the fans’ claim that he told them that he expected a deal with new investors concluded “by Easter” with the initial expectation of something in place this month.
But Purslow, whose club yesterday agreed a three-year deal to sign Milan Jovanovic, the Standard Liège striker, on a free transfer in the summer, does paint a more rosy picture of the money available to Rafael Benitez in the transfer market than had been widely believed, suggesting that while there had been “plenty of funding available” last month, Benitez had “chosen not to bring in anyone other than Maxi Rodriguez, the Argentine international”. That is not how Benitez has characterised things over the past few months, suggesting only last month that servicing the club’s debt was now a bigger priority than buying players.
Ian Herbert and Nick Harris (The Independent)

Aquaman - February 3rd, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Thanks anon. And yes, you will be hearing an article from me very soon.

Aquaman - February 3rd, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Dr Barnard:
3 is not at all the impression that I got from the interview. I’d hate to be proved wrong here.

As for the article, it’s close to how I feel. However I do not believe that a fire sale will occur simply because of the way that the club’s finances are set up. The transfer account receives and distributes all money gained from the sale of players and used for buying players, paying wages and signing on fees. That was how Purslow described it and he refuted claims that players would be sold to finance the 100m that needs to be paid.

The reason that the yanks can’t find a buyer is that they value the club at 400-500m according to Purslow. No one is goin to pay that for a debt laden club. They really are mad, and their madness may cost us more than we care to imagine…

Aquaman - February 3rd, 2010 at 5:14 pm

Here’s a quote from Purslow’s version of the minutes: “CP – No proceeds from player sales are used to pay down bank debt. The proceeds go into our player account and are available for buying players. Full stop.” I think that makes it pretty clear.

dr.Barnard - February 3rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Aquaman:
A propos #3. Well, first of all you have to consider the track recorord of the “gentlemen” in question. Hicks and Gillette bought the club through a leveraged buyout. i.e. putting 5 M each, hoping to flip it quickly to the next in line, maybe even DIC people. There were a lot of promises made, none in good faith, I’m afaid, none of which were fulffiled. The fact that the duo is still there, means they were overreached asking for a pile of money, that not even DIC wanted to pay. They are like 2 vultures sleeping by a body of an anitilope they stumbled upon. Now they’ll have to move on, unless they can throw another piece of meat (100M) to keep the approaching lions (RBS) at bay. Sorry, could not help myself with this metaphor. I’ll leave it alone now.
So do they have credibility in what they are saying? Not im my eyes. They are desperately trying to sell the club and get their meagre investment back.(, I personally think the sum of 130M in capital supposedly invested by H&G is a bit high). Anyway, the ballon is sinking, the land they they are trying to reach is barely visible. They already threw food supplies overboard, and then (Hick’s) son. If, still they are a distance away, from the safety of the land, meaning they can see a better offer coming in, they will stop from nothing to buy time. What are the assets, they can liquidate quckly to stay afloat? The answer is obvious; the players who Man City, Real, Inter, Chelsea feel can get them to the top. Carragher is safe, Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano would be sold if the american owners deem it neccessary. Remember, they plan for today, not the next 10 years. Until this happens, of course they will deny, obfuscate and so on.
Also, do not forget that Purslow is not really the decision maker.He executes the orders. He is there at the indulgence of the owners, and can be ejected from the board in a New York minute.
Last point, who other than the three mentioned can bring in any substantial money, that can be used for purchases of new players and pay the interest on debt? I hear what Purslow says, about not using the money from sales for debt service. That undertaking can change quickly, with or without Purslow there. Remember, there will be reduced cash flow the club can use in a near future, no CL involvement this spring, and God knows about next year. Out of FA, Carling Cup!
Also remember, the sale price of 400M-500M (or whatever it may be) would include the H&G paying whatever debt is there at the moment of closing the future sale.

Aquaman - February 3rd, 2010 at 9:30 pm

Aldo:
Well the 100mil is due in July and if they can’t pay it then the bank will auction the club to pay off as much of the loan as they can (just like any other mortgage). In other words we may have this problem solved by next season, but then again we might end up with paupers for owners as we will have no choice in the matter. So we may end up back at square one.

dr.Barnard - February 3rd, 2010 at 9:53 pm

Aquaman, Aldo:
Under such circumstances, the Americans will sell our best players first, to meet RBS’s request, buy some time and will sell the club eventually on their own terms. This is nothing new for Hicks, he unilaterally suspended debt payments on his Texas Rangers baseball club last spring, to force better repayments terms for himself. In the meantime he was negotiating the sale of the club, which just closed. These are “high stakes poker players”.
All that will lead to even more uncertainty, will keep the club in limbo and may lead some of our players to request trade and others refusing to come to play for us..
Aquaman, you said: “but then again we might end up with paupers for owners as we will have no choice in the matter”. Arre you under an illusion, that the fans ever do have a voice that counts in selecting the club ownership?

pete - February 4th, 2010 at 8:35 am

im sure they cant touch h and gs other assets the company would be limited
but if the bank is comin down on them, they sell to the highest bidder
hopefully dic orsomebody who cares about the club with the money to
challenge chelsea and man city

pete - February 4th, 2010 at 8:36 am

reply to anon 1212