Liverpool FC Forum

[Judge]

Heres a better rumour :-

The Premier League have made an approach for Rick Parry. 

Sources at the Premier League claim Liverpool Chief Executive Rick Parry has been sounded about about replacing the unpopular Richard Scudamore says today's People newspaper.

Scudamore's position has been shaky since his plans for a 39th Premiership game to be played abroad were criticised by almost everyone involved in football.

Rick Parry was the Premier League's chief executive at it's foundation in 1993 and could favour a return to his old job although it is said he wants to secure Liverpool's future first.

Parry will go on loan from Liverpool to the Premier League for 18 months.

They can make the deal permanent for a fee of 10p and a bag of fizzy cola bottles.

i think your going over the top with the fizzy cola bottles

[Dundalk]

Ripped from TLW

Its been suggested elsewhere that the The Game (the times) podcast, and Balague is over in dubai at the moment meeting "with the people who want to buy Liverpool to find out what's going on"

The latest information coming to Marcotti was that DIC have made a final take it or leave it offer and given him till the end of the week (didn't say which day that is classed as) to accept it, and in their words "he'd better accept it this time or we're off for good"

they then speculated (as they have no one meeting anyone in the Hicks camp) that Hicks would probably just laugh at them as they said that last time so won't take them seriously.

Seems like this could be a pivotal week.

Anyone got any sources to comment on this?

Also in the Mail just updated.

Meanwhile, Tom Hicks moved a step closer to sole control of Liverpool after securing the funds needed to buy out co-owner George Gillett. The Anfield power battle between Hicks and Dubai International Capital could be resolved in the next week

[JoeTerp]

this thread has reached page One HUndred and Eighty!!  I love the way darts commentators say that

[god_bless_john_houlding]

Rick Parry was the Premier League's chief executive at it's foundation in 1993 and could favour a return to his old job although it is said he wants to secure Liverpool's future first.

Yeh he wants to destoy us first before movin on the should never be employed in football ever again

If he never gets employed then we're stuck with him love and i'm sure you don't want that.

so reinstate him in the FA they're already a joke.

[Igor Zidane]

TIMES

George Gillett Jr ready to trigger Liverpool bidding war

Oliver Kay
The battle for the ownership of Liverpool escalated last night as Tom Hicks indicated that he is ready to buy out George Gillett Jr, his co-chairman, just as Dubai International Capital (DIC) sought to increase the pressure on the two American owners to accept a £400 million offer that was made to them last week.

It emerged last night that DIC, the private equity investment arm of the Dubai Government, made a formal offer to buy out Hicks and Gillett on Wednesday.

The offer, which has not been rejected, was made by Amanda Staveley, a senior partner at PCP Capital Partners, who once dated Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The 34-year-old businesswoman is acting as an adviser to DIC and will be given an influential position in the Liverpool boardroom, overseeing the day-to-day running of the club, if the takeover bid is successful.

With discussions continuing behind the scenes, contrary to Hicks's frequent claims, DIC is confident that Gillett will accept its £200 million offer for his 50 per cent stake in the club, possibly even by the end of this week.

But there were claims from Dallas last night that Hicks is ready to exercise his option to buy out Gillett's stake and to assume sole ownership of the club, having secured an off-market placement of his shares in Hicks Sports Group, which includes investments in the Texas Rangers baseball team and the Dallas Stars ice hockey franchise, as well as in Liverpool.

DIC remained unconvinced by the claims from Dallas last night, given that Hicks has appeared to encourage its interest in buying his stake in recent weeks. One source claimed that Hicks could be forced to sell, taking, along with Gillett, a £25million profit on his investment. But no one at Anfield is certain what will happen during a critical week in which the future of the club could finally be determined.

Related Links
Everton throw down gauntlet to Liverpool
Shadow over Rafael Benitez
Hicks in denial but takeover on course
The king-maker is likely to be Gillett, whose partnership with Hicks has disintegrated since they arrived on Merseyside in a blaze of glory 13 months ago.

Gillett is eager to put the unhappy experiment behind him and is understood to have voiced his unwillingness to sell to Hicks, given the antipathy that has developed between them, but sources in the United States have suggested that he may be forced to do so, given Hicks's considerable influence in American industry.

Gillett effectively holds the club's future in his hands, but his feelings on the matter are unclear. What is known is that his departure would be welcomed by Rafael Benítez, the manager, who views Gillett as the greatest threat to his future at Anfield.

Having sought to repair his relationship with Hicks, with whom he exchanges regular e-mails, Benítez feels more secure in his position than he did in the autumn, when the American owners tried and failed to line up Jürgen Klinsmann, the former Germany coach, as his successor.

Sources at Anfield have stated, however, that “no one knows what Tom Hicks will do if he gets his hands on the entire club”.

That is a prospect that is seen with dread by many at Anfield - perhaps not least David Moores, the former chairman, and Rick Parry, the chief executive, who feel that they were wrong to sell to Hicks and Gillett, rather than DIC, a year ago.

Parry would be unlikely to survive under Hicks, but nor is there any guarantee that he would be retained by DIC in the long term, particularly because Staveley has been identified as a central figure in the running of the club along with Sameer Al-Ansari, the group's chief executive, who is known to be a Liverpool fan.

It is not clear whether Al-Ansari would be based on Merseyside in the event of a takeover, but sources close to DIC have said that it would recruit “the best football brains in the country” to work closely with the team manager.

In the meantime, sources at Anfield talk of “chaos” and a situation where “no one knows who is running the club”. DIC is confident that it will be doing so shortly, but if the whispers from Dallas last night are to be believed, Hicks is planning to tighten his grip on the club, not relinquish it.



That yank tw@t cannot take control of the club , come on gillett do the right thing for once . Lets hope DIC's confidence is well founded.

[Kharhaz]

hat yank tw@t cannot take control of the club , come on gillett do the right thing for once . Lets hope DIC's confidence is well founded.

Unfortunately he already is in control of the club. I dont think Gillett is as spineless as he appears, he has given nothing away with regards to our media as to what his plans are. Who knows? maybe gillett himself is looking at DIC as a partner to oust hicks from the club. There have been more speeches from hicks and practically nothing from gillett. In that respect id say hicks is panicking.

[Kharhaz]

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has hit back at suggestions he would view UEFA Champions League glory as failure this season in the wake of his club's domestic shortcomings.

The Reds had been tipped to be Premier League title contenders this year after a summer of heavy investment, but Liverpool sit fifth in the table and 15 points behind league leaders Arsenal and also face a battle for fourth place with Everton.

Rafa Benitez's side are strongly placed in the last 16 of the Champions League after securing a 2-0 first-leg advantage over Serie A leaders Internazionale ahead of the return match at the Giuseppe Meazza on 11th March.

But with Liverpool offered as domestic competitors at the start of the season, Gerrard was recently quoted as saying that he would view even a repeat of Liverpool's famous 2005 European success as failure.

However, Gerrard insists his words were 'twisted' and that, while he is keen for an improvement domestically, reaching a third Champions League final in four seasons would mark an accomplished campaign.

Message

"We are winners and we want to try to win every competition we are in," Gerrard told Liverpool's official website.

"The message I was trying to get across was that, even if we do win the Champions League and finish fourth, we'll still look to improve in the league.

"As captain of the club it's very easy for your words to be twisted into something that doesn't really reflect the interview.

"We are disappointed with where we are in the league, but we're going to try to get into the top four and improve our league situation next season.

"Hopefully while we're going along we can get to another Champions League final. That would be a really good season.

Nonsense

"But the headlines got twisted into, 'If we win the Champions League it won't be important' - which is nonsense.

"That is not what I meant at all. There won't be anyone happier in Liverpool than me if we do win the Champions League again.

"But, because we're Liverpool football club, even if we do win it, we'll still worry about and try to improve our league form.

"The important thing short-term is to get in that fourth position, then we can re-group in the summer and have another go at winning the league.

"The players here know we've underachieved in the league this year. Now we've got to finish as high as possible this year and have another go next season."

Rather than open a pointless thread i'll post it here, Steve just said it all. Always everything is twisted to make it worse than it actually is, always some reporter offers his opinion and it is taken as fact.
The press are simply a public forum in which what they say is gospel. Regardless of peoples opinion on the owners the fact is early in the season there was so much negative opinions based on what the press wrote. We have our stadium in developement, we have mascha on a full term contract and still there are supporters doubting the occasion, the attention has turned to scapegoats, I mentioned earlier that kuyt could offer more as an attacking midfielder, and he has, right or left wing, he has performed. Enough of the bs press, lets concentrate on the team.

[JoeTerp]

but there is a "Gerrard: this isn't good enough" thread which would have been more relevant since this does not involve rafa, hicks, gillettt or DIC

[Boocity]

Its been reported in the Daily Mail today that Hicks has raised the £200m to buy out Gillett.
I just hope Gillett see's sense and does not sell out to Hicks, if Hicks gets hold of Liverpool completely I dread to think what will happen. He will have hocked himself so much I cannot see any money available for transfers or a new stadium.
I cannot understand the guy, he would rather get into deep financial sh1t rather than make an easy £50m. If we do not qualify for the CL next season he (we) will struggle to pay the interest on the loans. The club would go into a downward spiral getting deeper and deeper into the sh!t, players would go wages cut. Please Hicks take the money and run.

[Dundalk]

Liverpool's American owners have been accused of living in "dreamland" by the government-run Dubai investment fund interested in buying the Anfield club.

Dubai Investment Capital confirmed on Tuesday it had been in talks with US duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett about purchasing a stake in the Reds.

DIC chief executive Sameer al-Ansari said: "It's no secret that we have been in discussions with the current owners.

"It's not easy because (they) are in dreamland about valuations."

Al-Ansari later clarified that one of the club's owners "had come out of dreamland", without giving further details.

Texan billionaire Hicks said last month he was not planning to sell a stake in Liverpool, denying media speculation he was in talks with DIC over a sale.

He also revealed that Gillett could not sell his stake in the Premier League club without his approval.

However, both Hicks and Gillett have become increasingly unpopular among Reds fans, drawing criticism for their treatment of manager Rafael Benitez and their financial management of the club.

That has given fresh hope to DIC, who were considering buying Liverpool before the Americans joined forces to complete their own takeover in February 2007.

Hicks said in January he had talked to DIC "once" about a 10-15% stake, but DIC said the valuation was too high.

DIC are thought to want a controlling stake at Anfield, meaning they would need to convince Hicks to relinquish part of his 50% of the club as well as buying out Gillett.

Another obstacle is the refinancing package announced on 25 January that has loaded £105m of debt on to the club.

Of that, £60m is earmarked to kick-start the new stadium development at Stanley Park plus £45m for future player transfers and to meet the club's working capital needs.

DIC, which manages about £6.5bn of assets, is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

Al-Ansari was the man behind the takeover bid a year ago and looked to have succeeded until then Liverpool owner David Moores suddenly opted to sell to the Americans.

"It took me two weeks to get over that," said al-Ansari, who is a Liverpool fan. "But it didn't dent my passion - I still go to every match when I'm here."

[NANNY RED]

Reds owners living in 'dreamland' 

Gillett (left) and Hicks have become unpopular among Liverpool fans
Liverpool's American owners have been accused of living in "dreamland" by the government-run Dubai investment fund interested in buying the Anfield club.
Dubai Investment Capital confirmed on Tuesday it had been in talks with US duo Tom Hicks and George Gillett about purchasing a stake in the Reds.

DIC chief executive Sameer al-Ansari said: "It's no secret that we have been in discussions with the current owners.

"It's not easy because (they) are in dreamland about valuations."

Al-Ansari later clarified that one of the club's owners "had come out of dreamland", without giving further details.

Texan billionaire Hicks said last month he was not planning to sell a stake in Liverpool, denying media speculation he was in talks with DIC over a sale.

He also revealed that Gillett could not sell his stake in the Premier League club without his approval.

However, both Hicks and Gillett have become increasingly unpopular among Reds fans, drawing criticism for their treatment of manager Rafael Benitez and their financial management of the club.

That has given fresh hope to DIC, who were considering buying Liverpool before the Americans joined forces to complete their own takeover in February 2007.

Hicks said in January he had talked to DIC "once" about a 10-15% stake, but DIC said the valuation was too high.

DIC are thought to want a controlling stake at Anfield, meaning they would need to convince Hicks to relinquish part of his 50% of the club as well as buying out Gillett.

Another obstacle is the refinancing package announced on 25 January that has loaded £105m of debt on to the club.

Of that, £60m is earmarked to kick-start the new stadium development at Stanley Park plus £45m for future player transfers and to meet the club's working capital needs.

DIC, which manages about £6.5bn of assets, is owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

Al-Ansari was the man behind the takeover bid a year ago and looked to have succeeded until then Liverpool owner David Moores suddenly opted to sell to the Americans.

"It took me two weeks to get over that," said al-Ansari, who is a Liverpool fan. "But it didn't dent my passion - I still go to every match when I'm here."


Well its the first time anyone from DIC has openly said anything regarding this Gillette needs to make amends for the wring he done in bringing the other in and sell

[NANNY RED]

beat me to it Dundalk

[Ciggy]

Not looking good is it folks  Looks like that kunt has raised the cash to buy Gillett out.

[tommycockles]

Man- Gillette if you're going to do one right thing for this club, please don't sell to Hicks. He WILL ruin our club and rather than that warm feeling we'll constantly be in a state of nervousness and battle with the owner. If Hicks gains control be prepared to have months/years of stories/dramas that have nothing to do with football!

Hicks take the money that's on offer and run!

[NANNY RED]

Cigg i think Hicks is bluffin hes gonna try an con them like he did us but there to big for him hell cave in eventually at least Gillette has come round