Liverpool FC Forum

[woof woof !]

It seems that the reports of the 24 hour deadline are all bollox. SSN have just reported that DIC have made no such demands.

Typical SSN, 3 hours ago it was them reporting the so called deadline.

Well at least now that it's open ended we're in with a chance but I expect those carpet baggers will try and squeeze even more money out of DIC .

Just keepin' everything crossed and hope DIC can get what they and we want.

[redmikey]

what is 25 mill to a billionaire who thinks he has been made to look a tw@t.

the cowboy b@stard will dig his heels in and ruin the club for sh!ts and giggles imho.

the dic have come to the table now with a take it or leave it sum of money and i don't think we will see them a third time when hick puts all his texan brains into not selling!!! the yank will never let an arab tell him what to do it is just not in their make up to be hard balled

this for me could be the worst day of the year for all of us loyal fans as this could be the day some one who truly does not give a feck gets to see off our last big chance of stability

and rafa will not see next season with hick at the helm so all you maureen fans out there who don't support rafa now can look forward to maureen turning us down and hicks getting someone of the class of allardice, kilnsman or the same class 

[tubby]

Where then did SSN get the 24 hours part from? They cant have surley made it up?

[andy_g]

no, the media wouldn't make stuff up for a good story, would they?

[tubby]

Theres a difference between making stuff up and misreading words. Some sort of deadline had to have been mentioned.

[Roger Red Hat]

yanks been yanks will see the deadline as hostile and threatening and will declare war  - they do it every time.

[Redman in wales]

Where then did SSN get the 24 hours part from? They cant have surley made it up?

could be from Tony Barrett in the  Liverpool Echo... that mentions the deadline

[Ciggy]

Update.

Tom Hicks holds key to Liverpool future

Mar 4 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

DUBAI International Capital's interest in Liverpool Football Club has been the biggest open secret in English football for the past three months.

Today, that interest has hardened and a solid bid to buy the club for £400m has been lodged with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett which would allow them to walk away with a whopping £25m profit each.

While the fight for fourth place in the Premier League has been dominating the thoughts of Liverpool fans in recent days, the battle which matters most is the one going on between financial big hitters in London, Dubai, Dallas and Colorado.

DIC is desperate to get its hands on the club, that is clear. Gillett has signalled his willingness to sell his 50% stake. These two should be treated as facts and not speculation.

The only grey area that remains revolves around the intentions of Hicks.

In recent weeks, the Dallas-based millionaire has insisted he has no intention of selling up. And he has done so again and again and again.

At face value, this could be taken to mean that Hicks is unwilling to listen to any offers for his stake and he would be well within his rights to maintain this stance.

But with every public utterance that he is not about to sell comes a nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, he is protesting too much and is simply holding out for the highest possible price.

The problem is, DIC appear unwilling to dance to that particular tune, even if it is the one that Hicks is trying to play.

They have come up with an offer which they feel is more than fair for an asset which changed hands for £171m just 13 months ago and are unwilling to pay over the odds.

As this game of hardball is played out before our eyes - now with the added extra of a midnight deadline imposed by DIC - Liverpool fans would be entitled to ask how the hell their club has ended up in such a sorry state.

Much of their ire has been focused on Hicks and Gillett who are about as popular on the Kop as Gary Neville.

A series of fans protests has delivered the message that the two Americans are no longer wanted. But in recent weeks, there has also been a slight shift in emphasis among certain fans who want to know how the club came to be owned by Hicks and Gillett in the first place.

They want to know exactly why former chairman David Moores sanctioned the sale to the American duo ahead of DIC when the club was up for sale over a year ago.

And they feel he has a moral duty to explain himself to them.

So much so that fans protest group the Spirit of Shankly has invited Moores to address them at their next meeting at the Liverpool Olympia.

The problem is, Moores still has a position on the board at Anfield and has told close friends that although he realises he made a monumental blunder in selling to Hicks and Gillett he remains steadfastly against the washing of dirty linen in public.

In his eyes, such an act is not in the Liverpool way of doing things.

The problem is, Hicks would like nothing better than to remove Moores and chief executive Rick Parry from the board and unless DIC wins the day that is exactly what is likely to happen in the near future.

The only thing that has stopped this from happening already is the presence of Gillett and given the fact that, one way or another, he is not likely to be around for much longer, the positions of Moores and Parry are under major threat.

There is so much politics going on behind the scenes at Anfield that it is sometimes hard to believe that it is also home to a football club.

Marriages of convenience are being forged and the old mantra that "your enemy's enemy is your friend" may as well be the club motto.

Hicks and team manager Rafa Benitez have only one thing in common - a shared enmity of Gillett - and as such they have become the most unlikely of bed fellows recently, although even this relationship is being conducted at the safest of distances by e-mail.

Having told his manager to "shut up and get on with coaching" just a matter of months ago and having been in talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of replacing Benitez, it takes some leap of faith and imagination to believe that Hicks has all of a sudden become the Spaniard's number one fan.

This is the backdrop against which today's news of a formal offer from DIC has been made.

Liverpool Football Club is in chaos and the only way it will be resolved is if the ownership issue is tackled once and for all.

The open secret has now been confirmed. Which way the situation now plays out will determine the future of Liverpool Football Club for years to come.

[Judge]

It's only a few hours before we could potential become another Leeds United

no way mate

we'd never spend 50 quid a week on feeding a goldfish

[Reg]

ESPN: Liverpool's American owners have been accused of living in "dreamland" by the Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) group interested in buying the club.

DIC has confirmed it had been in talks with US owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett about buying into the Premier League club.

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.

According to the Liverpool Echo DIC has made a £400m offer to buy Liverpool and has given current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett until midnight tonight to accept or they will walk away from the negotiating table. The bid would allow Hicks and Gillett to walk away with a profit of £25m each.

Only last week, Texan billionaire Hicks was adamant he had no intention of selling his stake in the club, denying reports he had invited DIC to inspect the club's accounts ahead of a takeover.

Frustrated by Hicks' position, DIC turned their attention to Gillett, who is thought to be much keener on a sale than his partner.

However, neither of the co-owners is able to sell without the other's consent, a point Hicks reiterated last week when he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Not only am I not going to sell, my partner cannot sell without my approval."

Also, DIC are thought to want a controlling stake at Anfield, meaning they would need to convince Hicks to sell some of his share in the club as well as buying out Gillett.

DIC 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 appeared 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."
+++

Otherwise all the newswires are reporting the same sh!te.

Come on yankee con-artists, take the money and off.

[Homebooby]

Update.

Tom Hicks holds key to Liverpool future

Mar 4 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

DUBAI International Capital's interest in Liverpool Football Club has been the biggest open secret in English football for the past three months.

Today, that interest has hardened and a solid bid to buy the club for £400m has been lodged with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett which would allow them to walk away with a whopping £25m profit each.

While the fight for fourth place in the Premier League has been dominating the thoughts of Liverpool fans in recent days, the battle which matters most is the one going on between financial big hitters in London, Dubai, Dallas and Colorado.

DIC is desperate to get its hands on the club, that is clear. Gillett has signalled his willingness to sell his 50% stake. These two should be treated as facts and not speculation.

The only grey area that remains revolves around the intentions of Hicks.

In recent weeks, the Dallas-based millionaire has insisted he has no intention of selling up. And he has done so again and again and again.

At face value, this could be taken to mean that Hicks is unwilling to listen to any offers for his stake and he would be well within his rights to maintain this stance.

But with every public utterance that he is not about to sell comes a nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, he is protesting too much and is simply holding out for the highest possible price.

The problem is, DIC appear unwilling to dance to that particular tune, even if it is the one that Hicks is trying to play.

They have come up with an offer which they feel is more than fair for an asset which changed hands for £171m just 13 months ago and are unwilling to pay over the odds.

As this game of hardball is played out before our eyes - now with the added extra of a midnight deadline imposed by DIC - Liverpool fans would be entitled to ask how the hell their club has ended up in such a sorry state.

Much of their ire has been focused on Hicks and Gillett who are about as popular on the Kop as Gary Neville.

A series of fans protests has delivered the message that the two Americans are no longer wanted. But in recent weeks, there has also been a slight shift in emphasis among certain fans who want to know how the club came to be owned by Hicks and Gillett in the first place.

They want to know exactly why former chairman David Moores sanctioned the sale to the American duo ahead of DIC when the club was up for sale over a year ago.

And they feel he has a moral duty to explain himself to them.

So much so that fans protest group the Spirit of Shankly has invited Moores to address them at their next meeting at the Liverpool Olympia.

The problem is, Moores still has a position on the board at Anfield and has told close friends that although he realises he made a monumental blunder in selling to Hicks and Gillett he remains steadfastly against the washing of dirty linen in public.

In his eyes, such an act is not in the Liverpool way of doing things.

The problem is, Hicks would like nothing better than to remove Moores and chief executive Rick Parry from the board and unless DIC wins the day that is exactly what is likely to happen in the near future.

The only thing that has stopped this from happening already is the presence of Gillett and given the fact that, one way or another, he is not likely to be around for much longer, the positions of Moores and Parry are under major threat.

There is so much politics going on behind the scenes at Anfield that it is sometimes hard to believe that it is also home to a football club.

Marriages of convenience are being forged and the old mantra that "your enemy's enemy is your friend" may as well be the club motto.

Hicks and team manager Rafa Benitez have only one thing in common - a shared enmity of Gillett - and as such they have become the most unlikely of bed fellows recently, although even this relationship is being conducted at the safest of distances by e-mail.

Having told his manager to "shut up and get on with coaching" just a matter of months ago and having been in talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of replacing Benitez, it takes some leap of faith and imagination to believe that Hicks has all of a sudden become the Spaniard's number one fan.

This is the backdrop against which today's news of a formal offer from DIC has been made.

Liverpool Football Club is in chaos and the only way it will be resolved is if the ownership issue is tackled once and for all.

The open secret has now been confirmed. Which way the situation now plays out will determine the future of Liverpool Football Club for years to come.

Forgive me for not trawling through the last 100 odd pages since I last dipped into this one.

Are we certain that removing the yanks and putting DIC in their place will be any better for us?

Does the debt against the club disappear? Will they finance the rest of it differently?

Was just curious if they're a better option or whether we're all so disgusted with the way that the club has fallen into this state, we're blindly trying to get the yanks out.

Thanks.

[laza]

:censored: me why is it so quiet in here? ?

We could potentially change owners today, not a peep out of anyone.

To be honest I have read so many stories regarding this and people saying how DIC were close to doing a deal before and nothing happened.  Lets just wait and see what happens.

Exactly , the first casualty of war is truth

This saga that has been played out in the media for last few months with so much garbage and counter garbage.
Im trying to avoid (obviously without much success) all of this and enjoy whats happening on the pitch
Just hope when dust is settled the club is secure and no longer in the hands of the infidels

[Boocity]

Update.

Tom Hicks holds key to Liverpool future

Mar 4 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

DUBAI International Capital's interest in Liverpool Football Club has been the biggest open secret in English football for the past three months.

Today, that interest has hardened and a solid bid to buy the club for £400m has been lodged with American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett which would allow them to walk away with a whopping £25m profit each.

While the fight for fourth place in the Premier League has been dominating the thoughts of Liverpool fans in recent days, the battle which matters most is the one going on between financial big hitters in London, Dubai, Dallas and Colorado.

DIC is desperate to get its hands on the club, that is clear. Gillett has signalled his willingness to sell his 50% stake. These two should be treated as facts and not speculation.

The only grey area that remains revolves around the intentions of Hicks.

In recent weeks, the Dallas-based millionaire has insisted he has no intention of selling up. And he has done so again and again and again.

At face value, this could be taken to mean that Hicks is unwilling to listen to any offers for his stake and he would be well within his rights to maintain this stance.

But with every public utterance that he is not about to sell comes a nagging doubt that maybe, just maybe, he is protesting too much and is simply holding out for the highest possible price.

The problem is, DIC appear unwilling to dance to that particular tune, even if it is the one that Hicks is trying to play.

They have come up with an offer which they feel is more than fair for an asset which changed hands for £171m just 13 months ago and are unwilling to pay over the odds.

As this game of hardball is played out before our eyes - now with the added extra of a midnight deadline imposed by DIC - Liverpool fans would be entitled to ask how the hell their club has ended up in such a sorry state.

Much of their ire has been focused on Hicks and Gillett who are about as popular on the Kop as Gary Neville.

A series of fans protests has delivered the message that the two Americans are no longer wanted. But in recent weeks, there has also been a slight shift in emphasis among certain fans who want to know how the club came to be owned by Hicks and Gillett in the first place.

They want to know exactly why former chairman David Moores sanctioned the sale to the American duo ahead of DIC when the club was up for sale over a year ago.

And they feel he has a moral duty to explain himself to them.

So much so that fans protest group the Spirit of Shankly has invited Moores to address them at their next meeting at the Liverpool Olympia.

The problem is, Moores still has a position on the board at Anfield and has told close friends that although he realises he made a monumental blunder in selling to Hicks and Gillett he remains steadfastly against the washing of dirty linen in public.

In his eyes, such an act is not in the Liverpool way of doing things.

The problem is, Hicks would like nothing better than to remove Moores and chief executive Rick Parry from the board and unless DIC wins the day that is exactly what is likely to happen in the near future.

The only thing that has stopped this from happening already is the presence of Gillett and given the fact that, one way or another, he is not likely to be around for much longer, the positions of Moores and Parry are under major threat.

There is so much politics going on behind the scenes at Anfield that it is sometimes hard to believe that it is also home to a football club.

Marriages of convenience are being forged and the old mantra that "your enemy's enemy is your friend" may as well be the club motto.

Hicks and team manager Rafa Benitez have only one thing in common - a shared enmity of Gillett - and as such they have become the most unlikely of bed fellows recently, although even this relationship is being conducted at the safest of distances by e-mail.

Having told his manager to "shut up and get on with coaching" just a matter of months ago and having been in talks with Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of replacing Benitez, it takes some leap of faith and imagination to believe that Hicks has all of a sudden become the Spaniard's number one fan.

This is the backdrop against which today's news of a formal offer from DIC has been made.

Liverpool Football Club is in chaos and the only way it will be resolved is if the ownership issue is tackled once and for all.

The open secret has now been confirmed. Which way the situation now plays out will determine the future of Liverpool Football Club for years to come.

Forgive me for not trawling through the last 100 odd pages since I last dipped into this one.

Are we certain that removing the yanks and putting DIC in their place will be any better for us?

Does the debt against the club disappear? Will they finance the rest of it differently?

Was just curious if they're a better option or whether we're all so disgusted with the way that the club has fallen into this state, we're blindly trying to get the yanks out.

Thanks.

I believe we would be better off under DIC, all major corporations borrow money to finance this type of deal but the difference here is that DIC can afford it. Their financial backing is by far superior to Hicks and would not be reliant on money coming in in the short term.
Look at Chelsea, if they did not have the financial backing of Abramovich they would be in a worse position than Leeds now.

[Reg]

Are we certain that removing the yanks and putting DIC in their place will be any better for us?

Does the debt against the club disappear? Will they finance the rest of it differently?

Well thats the whole point mate, we have No Idea Whatsoever what the DIC plan proposes, what resources they´d pump into the club, whether we´d have to pay for the finance or whether they´d give us free money (ha!) have or whether they even agree to a new stadium or which stadium etc..

Apart from a blind loathing of the yanks and an `anyone would be better than them´ attitude, its all speculation.


A bit like going on a blind date and crossing yer fingers she doesnt turn out to be a fat knacker.

[Trewyn]

Are we certain that removing the yanks and putting DIC in their place will be any better for us?

Does the debt against the club disappear? Will they finance the rest of it differently?

Well thats the whole point mate, we have No Idea Whatsoever what the DIC plan proposes, what resources they´d pump into the club, whether we´d have to pay for the finance or whether they´d give us free money (ha!) have or whether they even agree to a new stadium or which stadium etc..

Apart from a blind loathing of the yanks and an `anyone would be better than them´ attitude, its all speculation.


A bit like going on a blind date and crossing yer fingers she doesnt turn out to be a fat knacker.

yes, we don't know what DIC might do to us but maybe a comparison of how he (the shiekh) treats his race horses might suffice?

He loves horses
He loves Liverpool

He pampers his horses because he loves them.
Maybe he will pamper Liverpool cuz he loves Liverpool?

I am 110% sure that DIC will be wayy better than the Yanks. Who would you prefer, an owner who knows what an offside is or one that thinks an offside is a part of your body?