Liverpool FC Forum

[HacksawJimDuggin]

Support the owners and their vision of LFC. As much stick as the Glazers got at Manure, the club is in great shape and we need somebody who can do this with LFC and they have the experience in sports clubs to do it.

Yes, let's support their vision of lying to the fans and talking sh*t to the manager whilst going behind his back to have him replaced. Let's support their vision of them taking a massive Yankee style sh*t on the moral and traditional values that makes LFC LFC.

Agreed.

Manure take over had teething problems but what the Glazers have done is leave the footballing matters to the football people, trust them and whoeheartedly support them in the transfer market (look at the summer signings!!).

What our guys have done is take over, stick there noses in where they're not wanted and make the managers position unatenable.

The sooner DCI make a formal bid and get these american idiots out the door the better!!

[Hij]

How can we trust these guys in charge of our club.

The quote about the media saying they were gonig to sack Benitez and Hicks saying, 'We were never considering that, its quite funny really' or something along those lines sums it up for me personally. How can you come out and say that then a couple months later admit you were looking for a successor.

Ive been fairly positive about the situation so far an right now Im absolutely gutted. Besides the fact that I cant afford to go to the game tonight even though I have tickets and can't show my support, Im seriously worried Benitez will be gone at the end of the season and thus am worried where that leaves us.

And none of thise rubbish is helping the players.

[radun5]

In addition to the thread starters topic, I thought I would add some views I found at liverpool.kop relevant to the subject here.

By J.Kenwar


Liverpool - A footballing Phoenix ready to rise from the ashes

The death knell is sounding for Rafael Benitez, and the ominous drums of inevitable fate are banging louder and more frantically with each passing day.

It is increasingly clear that Rafa is on his way out of Liverpool. Reading between the lines over the last few months, it seems obvious that the club is conspiring and scheming behind the scenes, laying the groundwork for the future and preparing for the Spaniard’s exit.

I write this with genuine sadness as I can see, like so many others, that Rafa is a fantastic manager and fantastic man – exactly the type of character Liverpool need and deserve. He embodies everything that a Liverpool Manager should and shares many of the same personal qualities as Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley,Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish.

Despite his qualities, this season has, so far, been an unmitigated disaster on and off the pitch. Rafa’s perceived faults have been ‘discussed’ to death all over the net, so I won’t explore them here, but it is these faults (and in some cases limitations) that have played a major part in all the negative aspects of Liverpool’s season so far.

Gone are the triumphant cries of ‘Hail the Rafalution!’. Save for the blinkered blind-faith brigade, the relentless optimism that defined the first years of Rafa’s reign has all but disappeared, and the club is in turmoil, plagued with public recrimination, transitional uncertainty and maddening inconsistency on the pitch.

Whether it’s press conference petulance, public warfare with the owners, incessant rotation, formational inconsistency, poor team selection, depressingly negative tactics, persisting with mediocrity, refusal to consistently play the best XI, playing players out of position or pig-headedly ignoring deserving players, Rafa has to take much of the blame for many of the negativity both on and off the pitch.

The only thing negative that *hasn’t* happened is Rafa’s dismissal.

And if this *was* to happen, it would be the worst possible decision imaginable. I am a fervent critic of Rafa, but he does not deserve the ignominy of a mid-season sacking.

This is not the Liverpool way. The club has *never* sacked a Manager in mid-season, even when they deserved it! That’s left to the likes of Newcastle United, who will never understand the concept of Managerial consistency – something which explains why they have never and probably will never win the league.

It’s a well-worn cliché, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I truly believe that, right now, things are as bad as they are ever going to get under Rafael Benitez.

The same slide into the abyss happened under Gerard Houllier, but the difference is that with Rafa, I genuinely believe things *can* get better. I never felt that with Houllier, which is why he had to go.

Rafa has the skills and the ability to win Liverpool the league, but he is sabotaging himself with his stubborn refusal to change his managerial philosophy.

People can keep going on about what he did with Valencia, but that is IRRELEVENT now. Liverpool are not in La Liga – the Premiership is massively different to the Spanish League, and Rafa cannot just import the same methods, stick to them and stubbornly and hope for the best.

Whatever Rafa is doing in the Premiership is failing on a grand scale and this needs to change. As such, Liverpool fans should just write-off the league for this season. It's 'totalled' as Hicks or Gillette would say. Forget about it. Accept the title dream is gone and just deal with it. There’s no point feeling angry about it. What’s done is done.

There is still so much to play for though, and I for one am excited about the possibility of winning the Champions League again. Of course, this is not how any Liverpool fan wants it to be, but this is the reality.

There is an old Chinese proverb that is especially relevant to Liverpool’s current malaise:

‘A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials’.

Rafa has to learn from this season’s ‘trials’ and come back next season with a different footballing philosophy. Yes – I believe that Rafa should be given one more season, but only if he is willing to address his flaws that have been so painfully apparent this season.

I genuinely hope Hicks and Gillette have some patience and faith, and grant Rafa a second chance for next season. If Rafa learns from this season’s mistakes, then the sky could be the limit for Liverpool.

However – If he persists with his irrational stubbornness and does not make the changes required, then he will have no one but himself to blame when he ends up on the Liverpool scrapheap.

Come on, Rafa! Just swallow your pride and learn from your mistakes! The majority of Liverpool fans want you as the Manager, but you have to earn that loyalty. And to do that, you need to accept that you’ve strayed from the path and led the club in the wrong direction.

Everything is still possible!

Liverpool are like the mythical bird, the Phoenix. At the end of its life-cycle, the Phoenix builds itself a nest and sets itself on fire. Both the nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, regenerated phoenix arises.

Liverpool’s season is burning, but next season, Liverpool and Rafa can be like the Phoenix and rise triumphantly from the ashes

Well at least we found out Bigmick´s real name 

[Ciggy]

Richard Linskell, an employment partner with Dawsons Solicitors, said: “Certainly I would say he [Hicks] was not well-advised. He may well, of course, have an American approach to employment law; in America they have what is called employment-at-will and they can say what they like and dismiss people without any repercussions. He may be coming from a legal system where he can say that sort of thing without fear of legal consequences. I couldn’t really say whether he has even thought about the issue or whether he has just shot from the hip, as people in that sort of position often do.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol....303.ece

[Ciggy]

Woooo hooo there is a golden sky:

And this week, it became clear that Gillett and Hicks will likely be forced to sell Liverpool next month after failing to refinance the massive debt in the face of the global credit crunch.

http://www.csweekly.com/weeklyColumns/article/id/109

Liverpool debt dispute forces Americans to consider sale
By Nick Harris and Jason Burt
Published: 16 January 2008

A dispute between Liverpool's American owners and the club's board over whether to laden the club with massive debts has cast fresh doubt over Tom Hicks and George Gillett's future at Anfield as new rumours circulated yesterday that they have agreed a deal to sell up.

One source, a major football financier, claimed last night that Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club, which they co-own, for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way.

The potential buyers most consistently linked with Liverpool in recent months are Dubai International Capital, an investment vehicle ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men. DIC came close to buying Liverpool a year ago and are certainly still circling, although the source suggested that a different investor – or partnership – might be behind the £350m bid. A DIC spokeswoman said: "We can only say 'no comment' at this stage."

Insiders at Liverpool denied a deal had been concluded with DIC, or that any due diligence was underway. Equally, both Hicks and the club maintain in private that Hicks, at least, is an unwilling seller, to anyone, at the moment.

However, a senior source at Liverpool told The Independent that "it is difficult to say categorically what is going on" and it is understood there is a growing schism between the board – which is trying to run the club on a day-to-day basis – and the owners.

The source of this rift is money, specifically a divergence of opinion about how Hicks and Gillett will restructure their finances. When they bought Liverpool last year, they paid for the club entirely with borrowed money, in the form of a £270m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Of that, £174.1m was spent on equity, £44.8m on pre-existing debt, and the balance on working capital. The RBS loan is due to be repaid next month.

The Americans' representatives insist they are close to securing a new £350m loan, most of which will clear their first loan, with the rest spent on initial outlay on the proposed new stadium. The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own.

Contrary to reports, the so-called "global credit crunch" has not been a significant factor in delaying a new loan. Rather, according to a well-placed source, "the very significant block" to the Americans' borrowing plans has been the board's opposition to heaping that debt on the club.

When Hicks and Gillett took over, they made much of the fact, referring to events at Manchester United two years beforehand, that theirs would not be a "Glazer-style" takeover, with the club potentially imperilled by debt set against its assets. Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money – which they may be unwilling or unable to provide – the impasse will continue.

In that sense, a buyer offering them £350m for their 100 per cent stake could well be attractive. It would allow them to repay their £270m RBS loan and walk away with an £80m profit between them after just a year's involvement. Yet as recently as last autumn, they were valuing the club at an extraordinary £1bn, a figure unrelated to financial reality.

Hicks and Gillett's relationship with the board is rapidly becoming as fractious as that with their manager, Rafa Benitez, upon whom they heaped huge embarrassment on Monday when Hicks revealed he had interviewed Jürgen Klinsmann in November as a stand-by candidate for Benitez's job.

"You might be able to make a case that they let Rafa know this had happened," said one exasperated Liverpool source. "But what on earth Hicks thought he would achieve by telling the world is beyond anyone."

Until the Americans have either resolved their financing problems or sold the club, plans for the new stadium, like Benitez's future, will remain up in the air.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/footbal....139.ece

[NANNY RED]

I just nearly fell off the couch reading that

Mind you did you notice cigg there were a few arabs in the crowd tonight just sitting near the dug out

Doing a bit of recci i think

[Pedro Maradona]

Woooo hooo there is a golden sky:

And this week, it became clear that Gillett and Hicks will likely be forced to sell Liverpool next month after failing to refinance the massive debt in the face of the global credit crunch.

http://www.csweekly.com/weeklyColumns/article/id/109

Liverpool debt dispute forces Americans to consider sale
By Nick Harris and Jason Burt
Published: 16 January 2008

A dispute between Liverpool's American owners and the club's board over whether to laden the club with massive debts has cast fresh doubt over Tom Hicks and George Gillett's future at Anfield as new rumours circulated yesterday that they have agreed a deal to sell up.

One source, a major football financier, claimed last night that Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club, which they co-own, for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way.

The potential buyers most consistently linked with Liverpool in recent months are Dubai International Capital, an investment vehicle ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men. DIC came close to buying Liverpool a year ago and are certainly still circling, although the source suggested that a different investor – or partnership – might be behind the £350m bid. A DIC spokeswoman said: "We can only say 'no comment' at this stage."

Insiders at Liverpool denied a deal had been concluded with DIC, or that any due diligence was underway. Equally, both Hicks and the club maintain in private that Hicks, at least, is an unwilling seller, to anyone, at the moment.

However, a senior source at Liverpool told The Independent that "it is difficult to say categorically what is going on" and it is understood there is a growing schism between the board – which is trying to run the club on a day-to-day basis – and the owners.

The source of this rift is money, specifically a divergence of opinion about how Hicks and Gillett will restructure their finances. When they bought Liverpool last year, they paid for the club entirely with borrowed money, in the form of a £270m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Of that, £174.1m was spent on equity, £44.8m on pre-existing debt, and the balance on working capital. The RBS loan is due to be repaid next month.

The Americans' representatives insist they are close to securing a new £350m loan, most of which will clear their first loan, with the rest spent on initial outlay on the proposed new stadium. The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own.

Contrary to reports, the so-called "global credit crunch" has not been a significant factor in delaying a new loan. Rather, according to a well-placed source, "the very significant block" to the Americans' borrowing plans has been the board's opposition to heaping that debt on the club.

When Hicks and Gillett took over, they made much of the fact, referring to events at Manchester United two years beforehand, that theirs would not be a "Glazer-style" takeover, with the club potentially imperilled by debt set against its assets. Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money – which they may be unwilling or unable to provide – the impasse will continue.

In that sense, a buyer offering them £350m for their 100 per cent stake could well be attractive. It would allow them to repay their £270m RBS loan and walk away with an £80m profit between them after just a year's involvement. Yet as recently as last autumn, they were valuing the club at an extraordinary £1bn, a figure unrelated to financial reality.

Hicks and Gillett's relationship with the board is rapidly becoming as fractious as that with their manager, Rafa Benitez, upon whom they heaped huge embarrassment on Monday when Hicks revealed he had interviewed Jürgen Klinsmann in November as a stand-by candidate for Benitez's job.

"You might be able to make a case that they let Rafa know this had happened," said one exasperated Liverpool source. "But what on earth Hicks thought he would achieve by telling the world is beyond anyone."

Until the Americans have either resolved their financing problems or sold the club, plans for the new stadium, like Benitez's future, will remain up in the air.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/footbal....139.ece

thank god, the sooner this soap opera ends the better for everyone. A sorry sorry day these k unts got involved! hopefully Moores and Parry wont have a say in the running of Liverpool FC after this whole sorry episode, Noel White had to resign for slagging Benitez a couple of years ago, I dont see why Moores and Parry are any different for bringing in the two yanks who are destroying the club.....they shud resign as soon as the yanks get the road. (and before if possible)

[Ciggy]

Mind you did you notice cigg there were a few arabs in the crowd tonight just sitting near the dug out

Doing a bit of recci i think

DICS men with their Liverbird wallpaper on their mobies where deffo there tonight

Ive never felt such like wanting a DIC tonight 

[NANNY RED]

Mind you did you notice cigg there were a few arabs in the crowd tonight just sitting near the dug out

Doing a bit of recci i think

DICS men with their Liverbird wallpaper on their mobies where deffo there tonight

Ive never felt such like wanting a DIC tonight 

   

[Ciggy]

   

Back on the ciggies an the ale girl 

[Bermenstein]

Dubai Group Ready To Buy Liverpool? 

Speculation about the ownership of Liverpool Football Club is again rife, with the current American owners reportedly ready to sell, and Dubai International Capital said to be monitoring developments closely ahead of an expected bid.

Full Story Here.

Hopefully this wil happen quickly.....

[NJD83]

Jesus, how the hell our board let us get in this situation in the first place I just don't know!!!! . But if we do sell out to Dubai group then the board are just admitting they made a mistake not selling to them in the first place, we can't afford to make this kind of mistakes in this day of money running football, if we sell again to someone who isn't in it to help us win everything then that will put us a further 5 years behind the big 3, and could even end up like Newcastle or even Leeds. Liverpool football club is not a toy, we need someone who will come in and love the club as much as we do.

[nobybob]

Besides us sitting here critasizing these yank fockers is there anything that we the fans can do to encourage these 2 tosspots to leave our club now. Anyone any ideas???

[JBG]

Besides us sitting here critasizing these yank fockers is there anything that we the fans can do to encourage these 2 tosspots to leave our club now. Anyone any ideas???

Mass boycott of games and merchandise.

[LFC2007]

Besides us sitting here critasizing these yank fockers is there anything that we the fans can do to encourage these 2 tosspots to leave our club now. Anyone any ideas???

Mass boycott of games and merchandise.

That is definitely NOT the way to go.