Liverpool FC Forum

[craig da Toxteth iron]

He won't throw cash about like Roman either, he'll give Rafa a certain budget like he does with his American football team.

most deffo mate

[MaccaLFC]

Fuck this, don't want him, if you're reading this Mr Kraft, please piss off.

[48-1119859832]

Fuck this, don't want him, if you're reading this Mr Kraft, please piss off.

He'll be much better than Moores and Parry have been. He'll treat this club with the care and commitment that Parry and Moores have always soon.

I'm so excited, bring on some world class players and not Aurelio and Zenden's of football.

[red37]

Rick Parry: The truth on Anfield Sep 20 2006

EXCLUSIVE by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

LIVERPOOL FC today denied it is facing a 48-hour deadline to decide the future of the club's stadium plans.

Chief executive Rick Parry confirmed that a routine board meeting will take place on Friday, not an urgent session tomorrow as widely reported today.

At that meeting progress is expected on the search for multi-million pound investment.

He moved swiftly to calm the latest round of hysteria regarding a possible takeover of the club.

He said: "We have a board meeting on Friday. It's our regular meeting, not specially arranged.

"We're not expecting it to be a momentous occasion."

Liverpool's search for private funding for an £180m stadium on Stanley Park is, however, entering its final stages.

The club hoped the situation would have been resolved in July, but remain confident the plan will go ahead.

However, Mr Parry says claims that the club has until midnight on Thursday to prove funding is in place are also wide of the mark.

He said: "We have been speaking to the council every day, will continue to do so and will be speaking to them again after the board meeting on Friday.

"We are confident we are going to get funding for the stadium and we're continuing to work hard to proceed with our plans."

*********************************************

watch this space...

[adamnbarrett]

Its Morgan we have to be careful of he is all in favour of a groundshare. Even though he's a Liverpool fan.

Morgan's a wannabe. End of debate.

even if he is.

We all know he is a true fan.

I'm not sure about the Kraft family. I don't know much about them except Phil Neal speaks very highly of them.

[red37]

I'm not sure about the Kraft family. I don't know much about them except Phil Neal speaks very highly of them.

theres a lot to digest here in this superb thread:

if you scroll down there is a piece on Robert Kraft.

http://www.liverpoolfc-newkit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=7542&hilit=takeover

[red37]

and this informative article. ripped shamelessly from anfield road:

Written by Tom Wilson
   
Wednesday, 20 September 2006
 
The two main stories on the TV news last night will have had Liverpool supporters pricking up their ears. The BBC’s Panorama programme exposing “bungs” and tapping up in English football was explosive enough to be top story on at least the BBC’s news programmes, but thankfully the names featured involved clubs like Bolton, Portsmouth and Chelsea. One name that did stand out in that programme was Peter Harrison, the Newcastle based agent that Liverpool would have been speaking to towards the end of the transfer window, as he represents Blackburn’s Lucas Neill. Obviously that story has a long way to run yet.

The other story was regarding the military coup in Thailand, where the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in his absence. Shinawatra was one of the many names mentioned in recent years as a potential investor in Liverpool FC. Whether he’d have got close enough to actually buy any part of the club will never be known, but an outcry in his own country about the fact he seemed to be planning to use public money for his plan soon brought it all to an end. Obviously he’s got far more important things on his mind now than buying a football club, which is just as well really from Liverpool’s point of view.

Whether it was just a coincidence or not I’m not sure, but no sooner had Shinawatra been ousted by his own people than the local newspaper in Liverpool was doing a big feature on investment at Anfield. In fact they were heralding big things happening this week at the club, hinting than an Anfield takeover was imminent.

The printed version of the Daily Post, like the electronic version, had a headline that screamed: “Millionaires battle to takeover Liverpool FC”. The suggestion was that things really had started to move, and there were numerous reports supporting this.
Then this afternoon the sister paper to the Post, the evening paper The Liverpool Echo, was damping it all down with an interview with Rick Parry. “Rick Parry: The truth on Anfield” was the headline, and like so many times before the Chief Executive of the club was explaining patiently how the sensationalism was a little premature.

Larry Neild was one of those reporting, “exclusively” on events at the club. His story started “Directors of Liverpool Football Club have been summoned to an urgent meeting tomorrow to debate three potential bids to take over the club.” He linked this with another of those non-deadlines we keep hearing about: “The meeting at Anfield comes just 24 hours before the club must deliver details of its package to fund the new £180m 60,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park.”

Neild said that there were three bids about to be put to the board, including one from former Redrow owner Steve Morgan. The other two bidders’ names were “shrouded in secrecy” but he said it was thought they were “possibly from the US or Far East.”

At that stage in the story I’d already started to wonder if this story was a storm in a tea cup. To know that Steve Morgan is involved, but not to even know which continent the other two came from seemed a little too much like an example of the local paper being manipulated to suit the agenda of someone else. The Liverpool Echo, and sometimes the Post, are excellent resources to look to when someone wants to find out what’s happening at the club, but when the story is investment the political issues always seem to cloud the facts.
Neild speculated at the cost of the investment to whoever makes those bids: “Any offer would almost certainly need to value LFC at at least £200m to be taken seriously. The last major investment in the club was in 1999 when Granada paid £22m for a 9.9% stake.”

As ever a “source close to Liverpool FC” was on hand to provide a quote. “There are definitely two or three parties involved in the ownership of the club, but it would be wide of the mark to say the club will be sold on Thursday. It will take longer for arrangements to be made.”

The Post were also trying to get Liverpool’s Head of Press, Ian Cotton, to talk about the developments, but he wasn’t going to answer any questions at all: “We have no comment to make,” he said.

The paper was clearly proud of its scoop, and added that it understood “private investors are ready with funding to help pay for the new stadium”, but also went on: “The outcome of tomorrow's meeting, possibly one of the most crucial in the club's 114-year history, will probably decide the fate of the controversial stadium plan that has already won planning permission from Liverpool City Council.” 

Clearly the current hierarchy at Anfield know how long they can wait to make decisions about how the new stadium is funded and they feel they’ve got no need to hurry. Outsiders, including more often than not certain members of the council, seem to feel it’s a lot more urgent than Parry and Moores make out.

The Post article is full of references to the various deadlines that the club have so far allowed to pass. Some people are angry at the way the club seem to be acting so blasé about things, but nobody ever seems willing to accept that the club are acting this way because there’s really nothing to worry about. The article talks about the 999-year-lease we were granted on the part of Stanley Park we’ll use for the new stadium, and the “vital” £18m funding package from the Merseyside Objective One committee and the Northwest Regional Development Agency.

The Post also claimed to be speaking to a “senior source close to the negotiations”, who told them: “The next few days will be crucial in deciding the future of the new stadium plan. By next week the picture will be clear.”

It was inevitable that there would be a quote from Liverpool city councillor Flo Clucas. She is the Chair of the Objective One Committee and has been telling anyone who’ll listen for weeks now that Liverpool FC need to pull their finger out. She’s made many ultimatums and imposed many deadlines, but all of them have been ignored by the club who seem happier to work to official deadlines rather than those spouted to the press. She told the Post of her latest ultimatum and latest deadline: “We have told the club that to release European funding, I will need to see evidence by Friday or the weekend at the very latest that the club has the financial means to fund the ground. The final decision will be made on Thursday, September 28.” Maybe this deadline will be for real, but it does seem to be one of many that has been shifted in the past few years from one committee or organisation or another.

Laughably, the possibility of ground sharing is still being dreamed about by some. The article ends: “It is also likely that the NWDA will want to determine the attitude of a new owner towards sharing a stadium with Everton FC.”

Then there’s more to be added from one of the Post and Echo’s most well-known reporters Len Capeling. Building it up even further than his colleague, he talks about the meeting as if it really is going to be something Liverpool fans will never forget: “David Moores’ ocean-deep love for Liverpool will ensure that he makes the right decision for the club and its famous fans at Anfield tomorrow night. Before him and his fellow directors will be three bids for ownership of one of football's most illustrious names. They are bids that will put Liverpool on an exciting expansionist trip whose riches will include a new £200m super-stadium within a mis-hit goal kick of the old faithful arena.”

He also says that the long-running saga of who will be the next owner of England’s most successful club has long-since exceeded its sell-by date: “Their search for a saviour has dragged on far too long, infuriating easily-fretted fans and frustrating the best intentions - and I think they have been best intentions - of chairman Moores and his able chief executive, Rick Parry.”

There was also a quote from Les Lawson, the secretary of the official Liverpool Supporters Club: “This has come completely out of the blue. The situation has been going on for nearly three years and it is about time a line was drawn under it. Either David Moores says he is not prepared to sell his shares or they accept a takeover bid.” Like probably all Liverpool fans, Les says that we shouldn’t be owned by just anyone: “It has to be the right person - it should not just be about money. We believe this is a special club and we would prefer a Liverpool supporter, someone who has a feeling for the club. But it has got to come to a head soon.”
   
Finally the afternoon came and with it the Liverpool Echo. The reporter in charge of bringing us all the facts about the club we love for that particular paper, Chris Bascombe, was ready to put the record straight, from the official point of view of the club. He’d spoken to Rick Parry.

So, had an urgent board meeting been unexpectedly called by the board for tomorrow? Er, no it hadn’t actually – but there was a routine one planned, for the day after. He did confirm that the meeting was expected to be told about progress on the investment front though, but nothing particularly ground-breaking.

Parry said: “We have a board meeting on Friday. It's our regular meeting, not specially arranged. We're not expecting it to be a momentous occasion."

It also seems that the club are working hard behind the scenes with their funding efforts, and that they had hoped to have already had it sorted in the summer. This didn’t happen, but the claims of the club having until midnight tomorrow to prove their funding is lined up are wrong. Parry continued: “We have been speaking to the council every day, will continue to do so and will be speaking to them again after the board meeting on Friday. We are confident we are going to get funding for the stadium and we're continuing to work hard to proceed with our plans.”

So another storm in a teacup seems about to pass us by again.

***********************************************

a lot of points raised here and there but it seems no clearer as to the true 'goings on' behind the scenes yet. we'll have to wait and see....

[tubby]

Well im sure all will be revealed by the weekend. Whatever the outcome lets al hope its in the best interests of the club.

[matrix]

Liverpool supporters have spoke of their surprise over reports of an imminent takeover bid for the club.

Directors from the Liverpool board could meet tomorrow to debate potential takeover bids, according to reports in a local newspaper.

Multi-millionaire businessman Steve Morgan, who has been linked with a takeover of the club before, has been reported as one of the bidders.

The club has previously been linked with major investment or a takeover, with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - who is facing a military coup in his own country - and American Robert Kraft among the names suggested.

David Moores, a member of the family which founded the Littlewoods shopping empire, is currently the majority shareholder at the club.

Les Lawson, secretary of the official Liverpool Supporters Club, said the latest development had come as a shock. He said: "This has come completely out of the blue. The situation has been going on for nearly three years and it is about time a line was drawn under it.

"Either David Moores says he is not prepared to sell his shares or they accept a takeover bid. But it has to be the right person - it should not just be about money. We believe this is a special club and we would prefer a Liverpool supporter, someone who has a feeling for the club. But it has got to come to a head soon."

The takeover speculation comes as Liverpool prepares to reveal details of how it will fund a new £180 million, 60,000-seater stadium


well things could come to a crunch soon...

i would like this matter solved as soon as, a total buy out of the club concerns me...a new buyer might demand us to share with everton... that would be the end of the world for me 

[The Manhattan Project]

"Howdy y'all, mah name is Big Tex Smith and ahm in da oil biznesss. Ah come from Houston, Texas and ah jus want y'all to know that ahm mighty proud to be da new owner of your Liverpooled Footbawl Organisation and ah can't wait to travel across da little ole' sea and visit y'all. Now tell me, how do ah get tickets to see dose Beeeeetle fellas?"

[anti-hero]

Well...


Things I know about the Kraft family:



1) Their franchise teams, the New England Patriots (gridiron football) and the New England Revolution (football) are doing fairly well.

The Revolution (the soccer team to avoid anymore confusion) currently lie 3rd in a table of 6 teams in the MLS Eastern Division; while the Patriots, are currently one of the more succesful teams in the whole of the NFL, with three SuperBowl wins in 4 years, becoming only the second team ever to do so.

It is well noting that Robert Kraft saved the Patriots when they were literally in the toilet.

2) In 1988 he bought Foxborough Stadium (where the Patriots currently play) out of bankruptcy for 28 million dollars.

3) In 1992 another millionaire bought the whole Patriots franchise with the intention of moving the team to another city. Kraft refused and put in a 175 million dollar bid to prevent the team from relocating which the owner had no other choice but to accept.

The Patriots at this time were one of the more shitty and unfashionable teams in the NFL. Robert Kraft paid 175 million dollars for them.

4) Robert Kraft has appointed 3 head coaches in his time. (It works this way in American football. But I doubt that Moore will let him have such an important say.)

Bill Parcels - Widely regarded as the best coach in NFL history. His record stands at 163 wins, 123 losses, and 1 draw.

Bill Belichick - Current head coach of the Patriots. 101 wins, 77 losses, 0 draws.

Pete Carrol - Current head coach of the USC Trojans. THE football team in College Football. 54 wins, 10 losses

5) Robert Kraft has been a New England fan and season ticket holder since 1971.

6) In November 2005, met with Rick Parry, the Chief Executive of English Football team Liverpool. Kraft is rumoured to be interested in investing money into the 2004-05 European Champions.

Kraft told BBC Radio Five Live: "Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot. We're always interested in opportunities and growing, so you never know what can happen."

7) Has strong Jewish connections.

[Ciggy]

Is the deadline for the funding at 12 midnight tonight?
Anyone know?

[ste123lfc]

"Howdy y'all, mah name is Big Tex Smith and ahm in da oil biznesss. Ah come from Houston, Texas and ah jus want y'all to know that ahm mighty proud to be da new owner of your Liverpooled Footbawl Organisation and ah can't wait to travel across da little ole' sea and visit y'all. Now tell me, how do ah get tickets to see dose Beeeeetle fellas?"

 

[Ciggy]

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_objectid=17793315%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=show%2dus%2dthe%2dmoney%2d%2d%2dor%2dlose%2d%2d23m-name_page.html

[Smeg]

It is also likely that the NWDA will want to determine the attitude of a new owner towards sharing a stadium with Everton FC.

No feckin way, p.iss off Bluesh.ite.

I wont go back if we share with them . When I say share I mean squat