Liverpool FC Forum

andy_g wrote:Rafael Benítez will stay, says prospective new Liverpool owner

• 'We are at a crucial stage, deal could be finalised in June'
• Huang consortium faces competitor from Middle East

Rafael Benitez will be encouraged to stay at Liverpool if Kenneth Huang's consortium makes a successful bid for the club, according to reports.


The man reportedly leading a consortium of investors attempting to buy Liverpool football club says he wants Rafael Benítez to retain his job as the club's manager if the bid is successful.

Kenneth Huang, a former Wall Street broker, is at the head of a group who want to buy the club for around £500m from current owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, according to a report today. He claims he has been given access to Liverpool's accounts and expects to finalise a deal within two months despite competition from a rival bid from an unnamed individual or consortium from the Middle East. He has also contacted Benítez to encourage the Spaniard to stay at Anfield and turn down advances from Juventus.

"Negotiations have taken place over the last few months and we are at a crucial stage," Huang said, according to The Mirror. "I really hope it turns out to be a successful bid. Right now my audit team is examining the books and my legal team is in close contact with theirs. We have a fierce competitor in the Middle East, but it could be finalised in June."

"I was first approached (to buy Liverpool) in 2008 when I was in Singapore attending a Formula One grand prix, but the asking price was $1bn (£650m). It was totally unreasonable so I turned it down. The asking price has dropped significantly and we are talking again. I want Liverpool to win the Champions League and Premier League and I think Benítez is a very good coach."

lakes10 wrote:

laza wrote:

Greavesie wrote:spot on? - Agger, Riera (IMO), Aurelio (injuries aside), Arbeloa for £1.5m (loads have been saying they'd prefer him over Jonno), Masch. Its not the players IMO its how quickly he wheels and deals. Crouch, Bellamy, Keane and the like may well have been good here but we'll never know now

So it is a bit b0llocks in all fairness

Agreed and I reckon Yossi and Garcia for what we paid for them  could be thrown into that list as well

You can not put players in that list that he has sold, and heres why.

its all about how he buys and sells players, he has sold too many good players for me.
yes he did buy them but he sold them whn he should not have so its sort of a +1 for buying them and a -1 for selling them so its put that buy back to 0.

yes i will agree that there 3 other players that could just make the list.

Stick to porkie pies 

lakes10 wrote:

zarababe wrote:

s@int wrote:John Toshack has hit out at Rafael Benitez for his wastefulness in the transfer market during his time at Liverpool.

Ahead of this afternoon's trip to relegation-threatened Burnley, the Wales manager has attacked the under-fire Spaniard for wasting more than €300million on his squad over the previous six years.

During his eight-year spell at Anfield between 1970 and 1978, Toshack won a host of honours including three League Championships and one European Cup in addition to forging a formidable strike partnership with Kevin Keegan.

The 61-year-old believes that Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win earned Benitez a stay of execution with supporters but feels that patience is wearing thin after a transfer policy that has from which he claims only Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso can be classed as successful buys.

He said: “Benitez has maintained his reputation with the fans after winning the Champions League, but they are running out of patience.

“His transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired.

“Alonso was a success. It is the same for Reina and Torres, but that’s it.

"He must have spent more than 300million Euros on players!”

what a load of 'Tosh'

hmm I think he is spot on with that.

Ciggy wrote:

lakes10 wrote:

zarababe wrote:

s@int wrote:John Toshack has hit out at Rafael Benitez for his wastefulness in the transfer market during his time at Liverpool.

Ahead of this afternoon's trip to relegation-threatened Burnley, the Wales manager has attacked the under-fire Spaniard for wasting more than €300million on his squad over the previous six years.

During his eight-year spell at Anfield between 1970 and 1978, Toshack won a host of honours including three League Championships and one European Cup in addition to forging a formidable strike partnership with Kevin Keegan.

The 61-year-old believes that Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win earned Benitez a stay of execution with supporters but feels that patience is wearing thin after a transfer policy that has from which he claims only Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso can be classed as successful buys.

He said: “Benitez has maintained his reputation with the fans after winning the Champions League, but they are running out of patience.

“His transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired.

“Alonso was a success. It is the same for Reina and Torres, but that’s it.

"He must have spent more than 300million Euros on players!”

what a load of 'Tosh'

hmm I think he is spot on with that.

For a start we havent spent 300 million euros, and Mascherano, Benayoun, Crouch, Agger, Johnso have all not been failures, sure he's signed some dross so does every manager, not a single word said about bertabov 32 million erm..............

Not to mention a certain Mr Sebastion Veron or Deigo Forlan?

roberto green wrote:

Ciggy wrote:

lakes10 wrote:

zarababe wrote:

s@int wrote:John Toshack has hit out at Rafael Benitez for his wastefulness in the transfer market during his time at Liverpool.

Ahead of this afternoon's trip to relegation-threatened Burnley, the Wales manager has attacked the under-fire Spaniard for wasting more than €300million on his squad over the previous six years.

During his eight-year spell at Anfield between 1970 and 1978, Toshack won a host of honours including three League Championships and one European Cup in addition to forging a formidable strike partnership with Kevin Keegan.

The 61-year-old believes that Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win earned Benitez a stay of execution with supporters but feels that patience is wearing thin after a transfer policy that has from which he claims only Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso can be classed as successful buys.

He said: “Benitez has maintained his reputation with the fans after winning the Champions League, but they are running out of patience.

“His transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired.

“Alonso was a success. It is the same for Reina and Torres, but that’s it.

"He must have spent more than 300million Euros on players!”

what a load of 'Tosh'

hmm I think he is spot on with that.

For a start we havent spent 300 million euros, and Mascherano, Benayoun, Crouch, Agger, Johnso have all not been failures, sure he's signed some dross so does every manager, not a single word said about bertabov 32 million erm..............

Not to mention a certain Mr Sebastion Veron or Deigo Forlan?

Ciggy wrote:

lakes10 wrote:

zarababe wrote:

s@int wrote:John Toshack has hit out at Rafael Benitez for his wastefulness in the transfer market during his time at Liverpool.

Ahead of this afternoon's trip to relegation-threatened Burnley, the Wales manager has attacked the under-fire Spaniard for wasting more than €300million on his squad over the previous six years.

During his eight-year spell at Anfield between 1970 and 1978, Toshack won a host of honours including three League Championships and one European Cup in addition to forging a formidable strike partnership with Kevin Keegan.

The 61-year-old believes that Liverpool's 2005 Champions League win earned Benitez a stay of execution with supporters but feels that patience is wearing thin after a transfer policy that has from which he claims only Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso can be classed as successful buys.

He said: “Benitez has maintained his reputation with the fans after winning the Champions League, but they are running out of patience.

“His transfer policy leaves a lot to be desired.

“Alonso was a success. It is the same for Reina and Torres, but that’s it.

"He must have spent more than 300million Euros on players!”

what a load of 'Tosh'

hmm I think he is spot on with that.

For a start we havent spent 300 million euros, and Mascherano, Benayoun, Crouch, Agger, Johnso have all not been failures, sure he's signed some dross so does every manager, not a single word said about bertabov 32 million erm..............

hell Ciggy, he has signed 59 players, law of averages say he will signed a few good players out of that lot.

lets not think about some of the that he has signed and stuck with week in and week out.(Fernando Morientes)

lakes10 wrote:hell Ciggy, he has signed 59 players, law of averages say he will signed a few good players out of that lot.

lets not think about some of the that he has signed and stuck with week in and week out.(Fernando Morientes)

bigmick wrote:Ciggs it's not "abuse" to look at the squad and come to the conclusion it's lot thinner than it ought to be. In parts, it's wafer thin and we have a number of players who were either signed for huge fees and/or signed on big contracts who contribute nothing to the cause. We have at best made minor strides forward since Houllier, and have spent millions of pounds per point in doing so. We currently sit a win or so above Everton, so to my mind any of the stuff people spout about lack of investment is nonsense.

It's not abuse to look at the situation and cast a questioning eye over it. For sure there have been poor signings and yes every manager makes them (even Ferguson), but the difference is that they win trophies while they're doing it.

bigmick wrote:. For sure there have been poor signings and yes every manager makes them (even Ferguson), but the difference is that they win trophies while they're doing it.