Liverpool Receive £118m Investment Bid: Good News or More of the Same?

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 12:30 pm

40% control isn’t enough to make these two idiots stop making stupid decisions… 51% is required!

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Read this yesterday in a few articles and there are a lot more offers expected so will be a while before H&g decide which is the best offer. Thing thats going to put investors off this sort of deal is H&g can start voting together on things and still basically have the controlling stake. Other articles added that the stadium would finally get under way if the deal was done. The investments coming, the americans are selling their shares, not players to pay for their debt. The standard charter money will be there on top and we have players that need to go anyway so the new manager will have plenty of funds maybe now the doom and gloom merchants will lay off a bit

isaac hunt - March 15th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

cant get any worse can it?

Donavan Ried - March 15th, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Morning Retryboy, Mickey,isaac

isaac hunt – March 15th, 2010 at 12:31 pm …… WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO JINX IT

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 1:02 pm

Afternoon Donovan-they have got a month to respond with 6/7 other bids to be considered in that time. Loving Purslow! Guys a deal making machine! In Purslow we trust!

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 1:02 pm

Afternoon Donovan-they have got a month to respond with 6/7 other bids to be considered in that time. Loving Purslow! Guys a deal making machine! In Purslow we trust!!

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 1:06 pm

Hmm. More yanks. Sigh.

But, much like any new signing I will give any new investor time to prove himself. I will not judge him by the company he keeps.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 1:13 pm

Haha. “In Purslow we trust”. Love that.

Must say I agree though. He’s been a real godsend. May he never leave.

redrob - March 15th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

i dont care who takes over, within reason. we all said it months ago. we need big investment, sooner rather than later.

i agree. in purslow we trust. he is the only good thing to come from the americans for two yrs.

come on the lads lets put pompey further in the dulldroms.

Donavan Ried - March 15th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

Retryboy – March 15th, 2010 at 1:02 pm…..
If there is one thing that Hicks did good it was identifying that Parry had done little to nothing in regards to promoting the club and getting more sponsors…. Exit Parry and enter Purslow
“In Purslow we trust!!”….So good you said it twice…lol

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 2:17 pm

afternoon Donovan,

Still hoping DIC or the indian Billionaire takeover the club 100%

stupid little investments here and there is still going to leave us with these two looney tunes

Warren Bloggs - March 15th, 2010 at 5:06 pm

In Purslow we trust, love it Retryboy.

Actually i am a little more optimistic about this, remember this will leave the ‘Rhode group’ in chief control as Hicks and Gillet have (currently) a dual-ownership so as YNWA rightly says their percentage will drop to 30% each. The owners/founders Robert Agostinelli and Steven Langman are worth reportedly in excess of $3 billion between them, there have already been ‘claimed promises’ that the debt will be wiped and the stadium, Stanley will begin building again. If there is any reason why i am more optimistic about this is because as everyone has said in the above, Purslow is in charge. Now i may be wrong – quite horribly wrong – but it would seem that Purslow is a fantastic businessmen with the ‘Standard Charter’ deal amongst others that he has orchestrated since last summer, i would bank on Purslow making a far more astute decision then Parry did before him and for this reason i am confident we have now (this season) seen the worst of liverpool and will now again go from strength to strength! No doubt that the stadium is immensely important to any Liverpool future so again the fact that it will commence construction once more is great news. Purslow promised investment and futher construction on the stadium by April and it seems quite brilliantly that he is delivering on that promise.

One cautionary note though, i do not expect the ‘new yanks’ to wave a magic wand and make everything better, so i imagine it will be steady development which will probably be wise especially when you look our opponents tonight Portsmouth’s predicament due to un-wise and un-controlled spending. Another fear of mine is that i do not know how the club can work under 4 owners who may not all agree? I mean Hicks and Gillet have been attacking each other since 2007 so how is the arrival of Robert Agostinelli and Steven Langman going to ease that?

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

Warren-Purslow has been given the task of finding investment H&g still have to negotiate the sale of their shares. Long way to go but with Purslow finding so many interested parties like you am very optimistic. On a cautionary note we have to remember these companies are purely about money and our ticket prices are 30% lower than united and Chelsea’s. Sure any incoming investors will look at that and see opportunity. If the new stadium gets under way finally will be happy would rather gillett left totally. The only thing i have ever had against hicks was his statement that liverpool would provide extra money for his baseball team think that was just an ill conceived attempt to appease the fans of the american sport. Gillett on the other hand has a mountain of evidence against him.

kopman - March 15th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Well its a step in the right direction, like a few have already said could it really get much worse?
I would prefer it if it wasnt more yanks investing much rather sum1 from a country who cares about football not just about making money but i could be proven wrong, i know football is a business but it would be nice if the investors want us to do well not like the 2 we have at the min.
If it brings funding our way to help us get so0me better signings and a new stadium then fair play, gotta say tho i couldnt care less if we have a new stadium as long as trophies start coming to anfield, all the history of anfield will be a shame to see it go.
Anyway hopefully H&G will agree sumthin good with sum1 who can sort the club out. good times ahead for liverpool!

anonymous – March 15th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Im shocked and appauled at what you just said mate, i know you might think 4th spot is out of reach but you shouldnt be wishing liverpool to lose under any circumstances even if you think it will cause drastic changes (which it wont)
no way should youy be wishing that pal, sort it out

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 6:34 pm

4th place isn’t lost yet… City and Villa drew at the weekend.

Don’t forget that Tottenham have to play Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea in succession

And City have to play Man Utd, Arsenal and Villa in succession

We aren’t that far behind

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 6:35 pm

Anon-5.58 rafa will be gone whatever happens, 4th is not gone by any means maximum we can be behind spurs, villa and city after their games in hand is 4 points with 9 games still to play we aren’t out of anything especially with the other teams dropping points as often as us. Want us to destroy Pompey we want to be in that champions league next year, we need the income, we need to keep our best players and attract new stars can’t see anybody agreeing with your way of thinking!

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Anon 7:06pm

Good player but what is your source… Please don’t tell me tabloid press

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Ok, confession time. I’m not going to be watching the game tonight. There I said it.

I hope you can all forgive me and will do me a favour by posting some sort of match review so that I can at least get a feel for the game. Please oh please let me hear good things. I hope we smash them in payment for the humiliation earlier in the season, but in truth I’m nervous and that makes me angry.

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 8:16 pm

I’ll post how the match went Aquaman.

You’ll know exactly what happened in the game cos i am pulling an all-nighter to watch the game and the missus has taken the day off tomorrow so she can watch it… So if it ain’t good you’ll definitely be hearing about it from me

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 8:25 pm

Omg! No Kuyt, no lucas! Babel and Aquilani start! If i am dreaming nobody wake me up!

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 8:28 pm

Thanks Mickey.

anons
Strange. That line up looks pretty much exactly the same as it always has. Just sub in the uninjured starters for the squad players. Aquilani on the bench (sigh), No Maxi (AT ALL!), Kelly and El Zhar there too. Sigh. Nothing new or exciting anywhere.

Hope the players get it right this time.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 8:38 pm

hmm

Apparently my source for the lineup sucks ass. I shall try looking again and will never ever trust that site again.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 8:40 pm

Wow! That is absolutely amazing! That is exactly the lineup that I have been dying to see for the whole season!

Nooooooooooo. Screw it. I’m watching the game even though I’m really going to regret it later. See you guys later.

Mickeyfinn1983 - March 15th, 2010 at 8:44 pm

Aquaman,

Maxi is playing so is Aquilani…

From the official Liverpool website:

The Reds side in full is: Reina, Insua, Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Mascherano, Aquilani, Gerrard, Babel, Rodriguez, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Benayoun, Kuyt, Lucas, Kelly.

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 9:01 pm

As long as Aquilani isn’t shackled to the half way line will be good. Come on boys!!

redrob - March 15th, 2010 at 9:37 pm

rafa changes the system now we look more like a team. come on lets give them a stuffing.

Warren Bloggs - March 15th, 2010 at 10:59 pm

Aquilani, Torres(2), Babel

Warren Bloggs - March 15th, 2010 at 11:14 pm

ratings and match analysis anyone?

Aquilani4goals - March 15th, 2010 at 11:15 pm

why is it that rafa need to be under intense pressure to do the right thing?this is why he can not take us anywhere…..good to see aquilani ,he is so sharp,babel awesome ,torres brilliant,maxi better then kuyt……………….

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Finally a performance worthy of the liverpool name! Bet you are glad you watched it now aquaman! Reina-6 hard to mark as a spectator but when called upon did the business great distribution too johnson-6 not quite happening for him but on way back from injury insua-6 did his job Carragher-7 snuffed out any danger agger-6 needs games to get to the level he was at before good to see him carry the ball out of defence Mascherano-7 was the lynchpin that allowed the creative players to stay forward hope his knock isn’t serious Aquilani-8 was awesome first half interchanged with Gerrard, got in the box, passing was quality less so second half but game was won great finish too! Babel-8 great link up play, stunning strikes still forced to cut inside to cross but needs to be a first team regular Gerrard-7 could have had 5 goals! Was in the areas we want to see him. His hassling broke the deadlock and a nice forearm smash to michael brown too enjoyed that! Torres-8 unplayable at times and the strike that hit the post was unbelievable no dejection with that much creativity and support! Rodriguez-6 working really hard and plays some quality passes still adapting to the league but looking good…subs kelly-6 looked good again so powerful for a young lad Benayoun-6 little mazy runs started coming out nearly put Torres through a couple of times in the short space he was on ngog-5 didn’t do the lot apart from give the ball away didn’t have much time though.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 11:24 pm

Now that’s what I wanted to see against Lille! Great stuff and loved the urgency shown by retty much all of the players. Should have had a bigger score, but that’s just nitpicking.

Starters

Reina – Sits for the whole game examining the different shades of grass green, and then out of the blue he pulls off a truly world class save. Best pass of the season? He’s got my vote for that as well. Magic!

Johnson – This is going to be a theme. I’m soooooo gad he’s back! made a few fantastic forward runs and was always a threat. Taken off for his fitness which was a good decision in my book.

Carra – Good solid Carra at his shouty best. Was livid at the goal which is typical Carra and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Agger – Nothing much to do really but did what was needed without fuss. Made a few trademark forward runs. Good stuff

Insua – Probably our only player to have a suspect day. Seemed out of sorts. Sliced more than one clearance away, and fell over when under no real pressure a couple of times as well.

Masch – Monster Masch! Need I say more?

Aquilani – Ok, I’m going to be blamed for being biased here, but that was sensational! Technically magic, drifted into space, always had an option (even flicking over defenders), scored a fantastic goal. Ahhhhhhhhh! Rafa play him against Lille!!!! Unsurprisingly my joint man of the match.

Maxi – Did well. Lots of clever runs, some good balls into team mates. I’m liking him more and more.

Gerrard – Had 5 shots and none of them were really threatening. His desire looked much better, but he’s still not the Stevie I remember. I wonder what’s wrong… Subbed off for a rest.

Babel – Ok, so he’s got the whole desire thing sorted out. Now he needs to work on his awareness. Great bit of skill for his goal. Gave the ball away quite a lot though when he had options.

Torres – Getting there. I’m sure Vidic is getting that creeping feeling. Classic Torres goal in the second half together with a poacher’s dream in the first. Class in every way. Spent a lot of time isolated and looked a little frustrated sometimes though. Also subbed for Lille. My joint man of the match.

Subs

Kelly – I really wish I hadn’t missed his debut. I’m liking what I see though. Looks like he really may be something special. Next season should be a big one for him.

Yossi – Didn’t really do anything even though he was on for 15/20 mins. strange. Very un-Yossi-like.

N’Gog – Well we took our only striker off, so he had to come on. Didn’t achieve anything though.

So. Three points in the bag. Torres up to 15 in the league. No clean sheet though. I don’t think anyone can really be blamed for it. If I were forced to pick a culprit then it would be Insua and Kelly, but that would be really harsh. A bad shot at goal turned into the perfect cross by chance. Sad but, hey.

Rafa got this one absolutely right, at last! Best teamsheet of the season. I agree with all the subs off, and his subs on were pretty self explanatory. Pity Maxi can’t play on Thurs but I hope to see Aquilani starting yet again. He certainly deserves it.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 11:28 pm

And yes, Retryboy, I am very glad that I saw the game. Knew it would be good the moment I saw the REAL teamsheet. Now I suffer for it though. 0:27AM as we speak and I have at least 3 hours of work to do before 8 tomorrow. Sigh.

Aquaman - March 15th, 2010 at 11:31 pm

Oh that reminds me. What the hell was up with the ref in the first half an hour? Should have had two penalties and a couple of freekicks for hand ball. I think we’ve had the fewest penalty decisions in the league this year (read that somewhere…) and it seems that’s the way it’s going to stay. Until Man U, of course, as Vidic will be sent off at some stage.

Retryboy - March 15th, 2010 at 11:37 pm

Aquaman- You will sleep a happy man though! Like you as soon as i saw the teamsheet(after the shock had faded) knew we were going to create. The movement and passing with those players is something we could never achieve with Lucas and Kuyt in the team or 4-2-3-1 people are saying ‘its only portsmouth’ but it was only wigan last week! We have struggled against these lesser sides when this is what we should have been giving them!

Hitachi Red - March 15th, 2010 at 11:53 pm

Enjoyed that. Great to see Liverpool dominate a game and win it convincingly. First time in a while. Quoting Rafa before kick off:

’some will think my selection is very positive but always my idea is to keep the balance’

For me that was a good balance at last. A top goalkeeper, 4 solid defenders and a top class defensive midfielder – enough defensively. Going forward Aquilani, Gerrard and Torres supported by Babel and Maxi worked well. It was not too long ago that we had 4 full backs on the pitch! Much better.

Hopefully we have seen the last of Lucas and Mascherano playing together. It just does not work. When they play together, you are looking to Masch to create and playmake and that is not his game. Let him tidy up and do his thing and he will chip in with some great passes. A top player. I really enjoy watching Aquilani. Not everything he tries comes off, but he is very creative and his performance tonight underlined why he should be starting every week. Some great passes and a nice goal.

Great to see Babel get a full 90 minutes and he did well with a great goal and a nice effort onto the bar. It would be great to see him getting a consolidated run in the team on the right where his extra yard of pace would give him a chance to get crosses in with his right foot and shots in when more central. More time for Babel!

Nice to see Kelly getting a run out too. We hear so much about the pool of talented youngsters, but rarely see them.

Retryboy - March 16th, 2010 at 12:06 am

Spot on hitachi red! Agree totally about Babel amount of times he got the ball and if he was on the right in that much space on the right would have just got to the byline and whipped it in. He was everywhere though and the little neat intricate passing between him, Gerrard, Aquilani and Torres in the first half was a joy. Benayoun only just passed a late fitness test though so Babel was actually needed on the left for this one.

tintaal - March 16th, 2010 at 12:20 am

Great result! Bench looked unusually thin tho…hmmmm, wonder why

Don’t get too excited tho guys. Rafa’s not about to change his spots overnight. I suspect he was just resting Lucas and Kuyt. They’ll both be back against Man U on Sunday.

Red_Phoenix - March 16th, 2010 at 12:34 am

well well well. best lineup in ages and good performance to boot. i hope we get 4th but rafa to go whether we get it or not with him or without him.

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 12:46 am

tintaal
Bench looked so thin because all the meatiness was already on the field for once.

anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Ok, if one more person mentions Graeme Souness then I may have to be interred for justifiable homiside!

Number 1: He was crap.

Number 2: True red my foot. He did an interview with the Sun on the 3rd anniversary of Hillsborough. How out of touch do you have to be to make that big a cock up?

Number 3: The only reason you want him at all is because he always has to have his little say about how badly things are done at Liverpool. If all he’s going to do is criticise then why the hell should I respect him?

And Number 4: He was crap.

I’m all for Kenny, as he deserves nothing but respect, but don’t try and claim that Souness is better than Rafa. He just isn’t, ok?

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 12:57 am

anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 12:50 am
Um….

So I mentioned Kenny meaning that if we were looking for a “true red” to lead us, then he’d be my man. But I don’t want Rafa out. He does more good than bad and has improved every season except this one.

As for that list of your might as well add Reina, Skrtel, Yossi, Riera, Gerrard, Carra, ah hell, just add the whole team. Every one of them is crap.

Pahahaha. Ahhhh….. I kid.

Retryboy - March 16th, 2010 at 12:57 am

Anon-souness is one of the worst managers in our history!! Keegan never won anything and Rafa’s signings are excellent. The fact he has waited till we are out of 4 competitions before doing what a lot of us untrained fans have been shouting for all season is a different story.

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 1:05 am

Retry
His Souness follow up (with everyone is crap) was so bad that I actually wasn’t sure if he was serious.

Anyway, I just hope that Rafa has now seen the light. I doubt it though. Lille on Thursday will be judgement day. Before today I would have said that Lucas and Masch should start against Man U, but now I just can’t leave Aquilani out. If he doesn’t start against Lille, then I think I may become completely disillusioned with his management. I don’t think he’ll be quite THAT daft though.

Still….

Donavan Ried - March 16th, 2010 at 1:05 am

A good win for the team tonight…. And a massive well done to Rafa for selecting a more positive and attacking team…..

We played well tonight, Aquilani passed the ball well, movement was good and for me the most important thing was he was always looking to be on the ball…. Torres, Babel and Aquilani deserved their goals and hopeful that will help Aquilani to settle….

The one disappointment for me was that Gerrard Did not get on the score sheet…

My concerns…..

While in the tunnel Gerrard and Carragher look as if they were disinterested and did not want to be there, and to some extent so did Torres…. Things going on behind the seen I feel

Gerrard’s not right, physically and mentally. I know Michael Ball is a dirty, and malicious player, and yes Stevie G did throw an elbow to the back of his head, but I do not believe it was as bad as Ball made out, (plus it couldn’t have happened to a nicer player)

It was a red card incident and Stevie G will pick up a ban, but this may help him to get his self back on track and sort out his future…..look in need of a hiatus

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 1:12 am

Hehe. Just been on the official site reading the post match interviews. Rafa praised Aquilani even saying that he’s got a selection headache now. Aquilani himself seems ecstatic with his goal. Also it seems I’m not the only one who thinks Aquilani deserves man of the match. He’s got 73% of the votes on the website.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this good coming out of a game. Loving it. Probably couldn’t sleep if I had the time.

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 1:18 am

anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Glad to hear that anon. Forgive me for my outburst but we get some real nutcases in here every now and then.

Donavan
When I first saw the elbow incident it looked really bad, but on one of the replays it looked like he was trying to reach around to push his way past and hit his head by accident. Maybe I’m giving him too much credit, but I don’t think it was malicious.

If he does pick up a ban then hopefully, as you say, it will help him get properly fit and sort his head out. For all his good positioning and shooting chances his shooting was atrocious! Gerrard buries those in the net, not the grandstand.

Donavan Ried - March 16th, 2010 at 1:22 am

Donavan Ried – March 16th, 2010 at 1:21 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.
THE CHOSEN ONE

Donavan Ried - March 16th, 2010 at 1:37 am

anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 12:16 am and anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 1:15 am

Question …… Is that all you are good for, making little sinpes at retryboy????
You have nothing to say on football what so ever… Grow up

Donavan Ried - March 16th, 2010 at 1:41 am

anonymous – March 16th, 2010 at 1:25 am…..
OMG! you did make a footballing comment…….

Aquaman - March 16th, 2010 at 1:50 am

Must say that it is very sad when a Liverpool fan can watch his team play as well as they did today and still only be able to make snide comments. Yes Villa-hating anon, I’m talking to you. If the first thing that comes into your mind after a win like that is “Yay, now I can rag Retryboy” then you need your head checked. He’s a Liverpool fan just like you, so celebrate with the rest of us.

Now I need to stop procrastinating and get to work….. sigh.

RAF - March 16th, 2010 at 2:41 am

D’oh. Above is me