Liverpool F.c.

[longstebe]

Not another yank????

Edited October 5, 2010 by longstebe

[Jimjim]

Yes, I hate Yanks! Oh wait, I am one. Not fond of that term, myself.

Anyway, here's a statement from the LFC site and a short film by Mike Jeffries about the whole situation.

LFC Board Statement

Mike Jeffries' Anti-H&G short film

Apparently Hicks is trying to remove Purslow and Ayres from the board to put his people in there and that's some pretty big news, I think. Signs of desperation.

Anxious times await.

[rijit]

Sounds like total warfare

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9064239.stm

[smokie36]

Sadly these vultures won't leave until the carcass has been fully stripped of meat. Let's hope the 'fit and proper person' test is properly applied in future.

No consolation to a recently huge club.......and no plaudits to the bank for sitting back and raking in the cash when they should have taken direct action.

[StevieH]

i genuinely want tom hicks to die a painful death. he is a subhuman vermin of a creature.

[nev]

i genuinely want tom hicks to die a painful death. he is a subhuman vermin of a creature.

Stevie not having a dig but you did welcome the yanks when they took over your club,saying things like we now have the money to compete with united chelsea arsenal.

united never wanted our yanks and we protested against the take over.

[StevieH]

i genuinely want tom hicks to die a painful death. he is a subhuman vermin of a creature.

Stevie not having a dig but you did welcome the yanks when they took over your club,saying things like we now have the money to compete with united chelsea arsenal.

united never wanted our yanks and we protested against the take over.

i don't think united were ever lied to on a scale that hicks and gillett have lied to liverpool fans nev. we believed we were getting genuine owners who had the club's future prosperity at heart. that's what david moores assured fans when he sold to H&G instead of DIC for an extra £8m. we were then told by H&G that they were 'custodians who understood the importance of the club'. that there would be a spade in the ground on the new stadium in 60 days. that there would be NO DEBT placed on the club. that we'd be signing players 'from the top table'. on the ground again that 'we're gonna build that sucker'.

rafa benitez knew what these guys were back in 2007 and he fought against them alone for 3 years.we're finally at the endgame of paying £10m a month in interest alone to RBS - the bank which holds our finances and has categorised liverpool FC as 'a toxic asset' - and still hicks can't do the decent thing and fuc_k off from where he's not wanted and from where he's practically destroyed a football club.

so i don't really see what you're bringing united into it for. for all the yellow and green scarves the anti-glazer movement has still achieved nothing. the ronaldo money still vanished like our alonso, keane and mascherano money did - and you'll still probably face similar problems to us when loans and debts are called in over the next few years. you just might be better placed with bigger revenues to manage them for a bit longer.

[PattayaParent]

i genuinely want tom hicks to die a painful death. he is a subhuman vermin of a creature.

Stevie not having a dig but you did welcome the yanks when they took over your club,saying things like we now have the money to compete with united chelsea arsenal.

united never wanted our yanks and we protested against the take over.

If you look up the meaning of 'fickle' in a dictionary, it's got a picture of a Liverpool supporter.

[StevieH]

i genuinely want tom hicks to die a painful death. he is a subhuman vermin of a creature.

Stevie not having a dig but you did welcome the yanks when they took over your club,saying things like we now have the money to compete with united chelsea arsenal.

united never wanted our yanks and we protested against the take over.

If you look up the meaning of 'fickle' in a dictionary, it's got a picture of a Liverpool football supporter.

fixed that for you.

[Digitalbanana]

A done deal

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/board-agree-proposed-sale

[StevieH]

A done deal

http://www.liverpool...e-proposed-sale

long way to go yet with the legal stuff etc but i may be going out to get very drunk tonight.

cracking bitchslap from broughton to hicks and gillett at the end as well.

[Jimjim]

Wow, this is amazing. Hope it can all go through.

Don't feel we're out of the woods yet. With all that's gone wrong, I don't want to celebrate too soon.

Well I do admit it's a bit weird the owners would be American again, wouldn't it be a bit bigoted to denounce them from the off just because they're American. Not to mention archaic thinking...

Other clubs have American owners and they are fine. Well, not all, but...

Anyway, it's all about due diligence this time. I'm sure much, much more due diligence has been done on this group than on Hicks and Gillett, wouldn't you agree? Hopefully the lessons of the past have been heeded and we will not have the same problems.

C'mon, please let it be true...

Edited October 6, 2010 by Jimjim

[StevieH]

Wow, this is amazing. Hope it can all go through.

Don't feel we're out of the woods yet. With all that's gone wrong, I don't want to celebrate too soon.

Well I do admit it's a bit weird the owners would be American again, wouldn't it be a bit bigoted to denounce them from the off just because they're American. Not to mention archaic thinking...

Other clubs have American owners and they are fine. Well, not all, but...

Anyway, it's all about due diligence this time. I'm sure much, much more due diligence has been done on this group than on Hicks and Gillett, wouldn't you agree? Hopefully the lessons of the past have been heeded and we will not have the same problems.

C'mon, please let it be true...

they've been carrying out due diligence for weeks according to broughton, which would make sense. i also hope they wouldn't be stupid enough to mess the club around having seen the way the fans can react and protest recently.

don't give a dam_n where they're from so long as they genuinely have the club's interests and success at heart, don't lie and are prepared to wipe out the existing debt and let us start again. never wanted a sugar daddy, just a fair crack of the whip on a level playing field. if the rumoured £300m buying price is correct then it also means H&G get nothing. which is nice.

this could be considered encouraging - sports illustrated's best baseball franchise owners. look who is top. and look who is in the worst category: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/05/08/mlb.owners/index.html

[Devil]

A done deal

http://www.liverpool...e-proposed-sale

long way to go yet with the legal stuff etc but i may be going out to get very drunk tonight.

cracking bitchslap from broughton to hicks and gillett at the end as well.

I am still in shock with this news!!

cracking bitchslap from broughton to hicks and gillett at the end as well.

love your last sentence Stevie!

[Englander]

Ive read there were 2 bids, does anyone know who were the losing bid ... just out of curiosity.

And how much have they leveraged to buy the club with, im aware the money wont come from RBS but are another financial institution funding it .... wonder if the Premier League will look into this for the fit and proper persons test.

Theyre also talking of rebuilding Anfield aswell as looking into building a new ground, being a cynic that tells me theyre going to stick an extension on wherever they can!

Its good to see those 2 potentially lose the 100 million of their own money they used.

[longstebe]

Yes, I hate Yanks! Oh wait, I am one. Not fond of that term, myself.

Anyway, here's a statement from the LFC site and a short film by Mike Jeffries about the whole situation.

LFC Board Statement

Mike Jeffries' Anti-H&G short film

Apparently Hicks is trying to remove Purslow and Ayres from the board to put his people in there and that's some pretty big news, I think. Signs of desperation.

Anxious times await.

Jim, You know that anyone north of the I-10 is classed as a Yankie.

Looking forward to the sh!t getting sorted out. Court case first.

I hope Hicks can"t find anyone to help him out, that would be the last thing we need.

[MSingh]

Ive read there were 2 bids, does anyone know who were the losing bid ... just out of curiosity.

Its good to see those 2 potentially lose the 100 million of their own money they used.

As of yesterday, there was an " Asian " bid in there so i read somewhere..

I'll be amazed if those 2 Fell'a drop one hundred Mill of their own money, i don't think people as sucessful as them are in the habit of doing things like that to be honest, whether you loathe them or love them..

[StevieH]

Ive read there were 2 bids, does anyone know who were the losing bid ... just out of curiosity.

Its good to see those 2 potentially lose the 100 million of their own money they used.

As of yesterday, there was an " Asian " bid in there so i read somewhere..

I'll be amazed if those 2 Fell'a drop one hundred Mill of their own money, i don't think people as sucessful as them are in the habit of doing things like that to be honest, whether you loathe them or love them..

the second bid was a chinese-backed one out of singapore. didn't have the sports experience that the NESV bid has though.

you see martin broughton's interview with sky yesterday? he was very impressive and adamant that hicks and gillett don't have a legal leg to stand on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQUbjrrnK0E

incredible what hicks is trying though. on tuesday he tried to fire purslow and ayre from the board and replace them with his son and the head of his investment vehicle to swing the sale vote. broughton refused, sought legal advice and told hicks to <deleted> off. can't see them going without a fight and it will get dragged through the courts, but at this point it looks like broughton has played a blinder. fingers crossed.

[StevieH]

Ive read there were 2 bids, does anyone know who were the losing bid ... just out of curiosity.

And how much have they leveraged to buy the club with, im aware the money wont come from RBS but are another financial institution funding it .... wonder if the Premier League will look into this for the fit and proper persons test.

broughton said that leverage is the danger, so that will have been fully looked into this time round to ensure it's not the pile of <deleted> that the H&G bid was.

Theyre also talking of rebuilding Anfield aswell as looking into building a new ground, being a cynic that tells me theyre going to stick an extension on wherever they can!

majority of liverpool fans will be absolutely fine with that. when you see what NESV did with the red sox's fenway park, why not?

Its good to see those 2 potentially lose the 100 million of their own money they used.

yes. yes it is. gillett's already bankrupt, hopefully this will tip hicks over the edge.

[bkkjames]

Steve my only question is unlike the citeh owners, won't this new group be looking to recoup these monies anyway possible? Selling players, raising prices?

[mrbojangles]

gillett's already bankrupt,

Is he officially bankrupt? I didn't think a person who has been bankrupt can own a football club. If I remember rightly, that is one of the clearest rules in the Fit and Proper Persons Test.

[smokie36]

Steve my only question is unlike the citeh owners, won't this new group be looking to recoup these monies anyway possible? Selling players, raising prices?

Sensible club ownership allows for a profit margin. Not for payment of ridiculous loans and interest payments. The slippery slope for any club......

[StevieH]

Steve my only question is unlike the citeh owners, won't this new group be looking to recoup these monies anyway possible? Selling players, raising prices?

if you look at what they have done with the red sox they have invested in the playing staff and the stadium with a view to making a sustainable business. LFC is already highly profitable commercially, to the tune of £40m a season, it's the debt and the crippling interest payments that have been killing the club. with the debt wiped out there should be no need at all to sell further players to service interest payments. hopefully we get to start over again.

Is he officially bankrupt? I didn't think a person who has been bankrupt can own a football club. If I remember rightly, that is one of the clearest rules in the Fit and Proper Persons Test.

gillett no longer owns his half of liverpool fc really. his 50% was seized by mill financial after he defaulted on a loan of £75m which he'd used his part-ownership of LFC to secure.

[Englander]

if you look at what they have done with the red sox they have invested in the playing staff and the stadium with a view to making a sustainable business.

The Red Sox dont have to compete with the equivalent of Abramovich and Abu Dhabi, from what i know about US sports is they pretty much share the money out equally, and they dont have the lottery of the transfer market, i dont think any Americans truly grasp this concept.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Englander

[StevieH]

if you look at what they have done with the red sox they have invested in the playing staff and the stadium with a view to making a sustainable business.

The Red Sox dont have to compete with the equivalent of Abramovich and Abu Dhabi, from what i know about US sports is they pretty much share the money out equally, and they dont have the lottery of the transfer market, i dont think any Americans truly grasp this concept.

we were competing just fine with and even outstripping abramovich's chelsea prior to hicks and gillet raping the club. all liverpool fans ask is that we are well-run, well-administered and allowed to spend what we make. it's simple stuff. the majority of liverpool fans do not want a sugar daddy which sees the club become a rich man's plaything.

[Englander]

if you look at what they have done with the red sox they have invested in the playing staff and the stadium with a view to making a sustainable business.

The Red Sox dont have to compete with the equivalent of Abramovich and Abu Dhabi, from what i know about US sports is they pretty much share the money out equally, and they dont have the lottery of the transfer market, i dont think any Americans truly grasp this concept.

we were competing just fine with and even outstripping abramovich's chelsea prior to hicks and gillet raping the club. all liverpool fans ask is that we are well-run, well-administered and allowed to spend what we make. it's simple stuff. the majority of liverpool fans do not want a sugar daddy which sees the club become a rich man's plaything.

Im not saying that, what im saying is being successful in US sports where they dont have transfer fees and the money is evenly divided no matter how a team performs, is a whole business to English Football.

But whether Liverpool fans want a sugar daddy or not, theyre going to need at least 100 million quid or so to compete in the top 4, not taking into account that Gerrard is 30 and Torres seemingly injury prone, this on top of the stadium that sounds as if theyll rebuild.

Who knows time will tell, itll be difficult to do worse then these 2.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Englander

[Jockstar]

Takeover set for High Court next week

By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent and ESPNsoccernet staff

October 7, 2010

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Liverpool have confirmed that they have failed in their bid to have their High Court hearing on Friday and that the civil war with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is now scheduled for "early next week".

GettyImages

Tom Hicks and George Gillett are on their way out of Liverpool and the Premier League

• Redknapp: Americans are blameless

• Board sets out investment plan

• Owners to stick with Hodgson

• Brewin: Out of the frying pan

• In profile: John W Henry

• Forum: In favour of the takeover?

ESPNsoccernet understands that Liverpool applied for the the case to be fast-tracked through the High Court, but now are resigned to the matter being heard by as early as Tuesday as Liverpool's lawyers, Slaughter and May, seek to derail the American duo's attempts to block the £300 million sale to the owners of the Boston Red Sox.

Hicks and Gillett are plotting their own sale of the club to give them back their £144 million investment, and want the courts to block the takeover, which has been agreed by Martin Broughton over their heads.

One of the most fascinating civil wars in football history needs to be aired ahead of the October 15 deadline when the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have the power to call in their £237 million debt.

Broughton is confident that Hicks and Gillett will not be successful in blocking the sale due to the written undertakings they made when handing over control of the club. Broughton says he was given the power to change the composition of the board and that efforts by the Americans to remove Ian Ayre and Christian Purslow, prior to the sale being announced, were not legitimate.

"I am confident we will prevail, but you can never be 100% when you go to court," Broughton said. "We will be seeking a judgment that we acted within our rights. They tried to remove Ian and Christian, and after taking legal advice I told them that was invalid.

"I think we'll get there, but I can't make a promise. If the case goes against us, we do have a fallback position, but we're not prepared to discuss this at present."

Hicks' New York-based spokesman, Mark Semer, has said that Broughton's claim that the sale cannot be blocked is false.

"There were no such undertakings given to Broughton. The board has been legally reconstituted, and the new board does not approve of this proposed transaction,'' Semer told Bloomberg News.

An attempted coup, which would have seen Hicks' son Mack and Lori McCuthcheon, of Hicks Holdings, replace Purslow and Ayre, was rejected.

Broughton is confident he and the other two England-based members of the board have acted appropriately but they will not be able to have that confirmed until the issue is thrashed out in court.

The Premier League is also expected to approve the takeover by New England Sports Ventures (NESV) that will see John W Henry's company purchase Liverpool for £300 million - which will wipe out most of the club's debt - on Friday.

It is thought the deal will be fully completed by the time Liverpool cross Stanley Park for the Merseyside derby against Everton on October 17 and it is reported that, even if Hicks and Gillett win the court case, RBS will call in the debt and immediately sell the club to Henry.

[Jockstar]

Fuller roles planned for Dalglish and fans' figurehead

By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent

October 7, 2010

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The roles of Kenny Dalglish and fans' leader Rogan Taylor will be high on the agenda of the new American owners, ESPNsoccernet can exclusively reveal.

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Kenny Dalglish will be an important figure in the new NESV era

• Hodgson's contract has release clause

• Redknapp backs Hicks and Gillett

• Liverpool set for High Court

• Board sets out investment plan

• Brewin: Out of the frying pan

• In profile: John W Henry

• Forum: In favour of the takeover?

As they wait for the legal battle to play out in court, New England Sports Ventures' (NESV) top brass, led by founder John W Henry, are busy planning the first days of their new regime. Henry and his team are keen to understand as much as they can about all the players in the Liverpool drama, knowing that first impressions will be very important when they arrive on Merseyside.

One of the key issues for Liverpool's potential new owners is how they engage with the fans and the local community from day one. NESV are extremely savvy businessmen who are acutely aware of the need to conduct themselves in a different manner from that of Hicks and Gillett.

An insider told ESPNsoccernet: "How best to engage the fans is always going to be a delicate issue after Hicks and Gillett, but it is nonetheless a major issue and one of great importance."

To that end, they are already thinking about how best to begin listening to local ideas and concerns as they look to develop their plans for the Club.

Kenny Dalglish is one figure whose views they will doubtless seek. Rogan Taylor, leading local academic and head of ShareLiverpool, the group promoting fan involvement at board level, is another who may have a role to play.

"We have to remember Liverpool fans will never greet with open arms any incoming owner because they have been badly burned once,'' Rogan Taylor told the Daily Telegraph. Taylor's group can potentially bring the prospect of additional investment to the table. He said: "I think I can get 100,000 Liverpool fans to write out cheques for £500 each if they can guarantee they won't be shafted again.''

What Taylor might get for his putative £50 million remains to be seen. It is far too early to say whether there is a realistic prospect of the additional cash being deliverable or of it buying the fans anything as tangible as a seat on the board.

However, the potential new owners will arrive in Liverpool very much in listening mode. They know that it is vital not to promise too much and then fail to deliver and they want to make sure that they can build solid long-term relationships with supporters groups.

The role of Dalglish in the new regime, and how best to engage the fan base in a real and workable way, is a key issue. Dalglish is seen as a marginal figure within the Tom Hicks/George Gillett ownership, though he is an ambassador and Head of Football Development for the club.

Hicks and Gillett arrived at Anfield with plenty of hype about engaging the fans, but never attracted any warmth to say the least.

The NESV team understands how their fellow Americans failed to embrace the fan base as positively as they should have done, and how an icon like Dalglish is part of the fan culture of Anfield. It is also intriguing to note Dalglish's view that renovating Anfield should not be dismissed in the quest to build a new £400 million stadium which might be out of the financial reach of the club.

[nev]

Jumping out of the frying pan in to the fire me thinks.

And how can you force your owners to sell,this could go on for a long time through the courts.

[Englander]

And how can you force your owners to sell,this could go on for a long time through the courts.

Because they agreed with RBS to appoint these people to the board in exchange for RBS extending their debt ... in the hope theyd find a buyer, and they have. This is my take on it someone correct me if im wrong.