by Trewyn » Wed May 14, 2008 11:35 am
It's extremely depressing and distressing to see Hicks get closer and closer to his goal.
The keyword to this whole 'who should own LFC' debacle is SUSTAINABILITY.
Who can sustain our club, Hicks or DIC?
It seems rosy to non-liverpool fans now, with news that Hicks managed to cough out enough funding to buy the majority stake and prostitute out our new stadium to advertisers for a large sum of money. But how long can he keep it up? Can he provide us with £50m every season to gun for the title and other trophies?
Again I reiterate the fact that Hicks is only worth US$1.3b according to Forbes Magazine 2007 and DIC is worth... god knows how much is DIC worth but definetely not less than 10x what Hicks is worth. And did I mention that DIC are fans and know what the offside rule is...
Hypothetical Scenarios: What IF Hicks achieved his goal of total control? (which seems very likely... god forbid)
Let's use Manchester United as a case study because our situation will be exactly the same as theirs.
Man-U are in debt, where most will call $850m a very deep debt. They will remain in debt because they need to buy top players to stay up.
Now... every dynasty comes to an end. Liverpool's one did almost 20yrs ago and we're desperately trying to get back. What will happen when Man-U's dynasty comes to an end? after all, Ferguson can't live forever and other teams can't be content to stay in their shadow forever.
If man-u fails for even 1 season to get into the Champion's league, all hell will break loose. Their super debt will finally crack the club. They WILL end up like Leeds.
This is a risk Man-U are living with everyday. Glazer is worth only US$2b. Will he throw away HALF his fortune to bail Man-U out??
Hicks is only worth US$1.3b. We (not Hicks) are going to be saddled with debts of $600m without even thinking about buying any new players. Does Hicks even know that he has to spend at least £50m every season to keep up and challenge for the title?? It really is little wonder why the great Liverpool FC have to beg borrow and scrape for mediocre players and scraps. We deserve better than that!
I will be very pessimistic if Hicks gains total control simply because the math doesn't add up. I abhor the fact that we are risking bankruptcy, and for what? If we fail to make it to the CL, we should be able to fight for it again the next season or the season after next and not become bankrupt and let everything spiral downwards like Leeds and possibly Man-U if it happens to them.
Really, our best bet is for DIC to own us. The only negative thing about DIC is that they did mention that they will sell Liverpool after 5yrs. But hey, we know that they are fans and you really never know, Liverpool might then become a financial and marketing juggernaut, of which we are more than capable of and it will be more prudent for them to keep us as we're an asset.
