DIC: takeover thread

[Rashid]

From FT.com? Things are looking up....

[StevieH]

Interesting.

[WaltonRed]

Originally Posted by Scouse Lad Dubai ruler pulls the strings in Liverpool deal By Roger Blitz, Leisure Industries Correspondent Published: April 28 2008 19:22 | Last updated: April 28 2008 19:23 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, is playing an active role in negotiations over Liverpool Football Club, underlining the prospect of a Premier League club being wholly owned and guaranteed for the first time by a sovereign state. Dubai’s attempt to buy Liverpool has for months been channelled through Dubai International Capital, Sheikh Mohammed’s investment arm. Sameer al-Ansari, DIC’s chief executive and a longstanding Liverpool fan, was regarded as the prime mover of the attempt to prise the club from its warring US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. However, people close to the situation say the Liverpool takeover bid has become one in which Sheikh Mohammed has taken a close personal interest. He receives personal regular updates on developments by PCP Capital Partners, Dubai’s UK-based advisers, which co-invests with Dubai and its investment vehicles. In spite of Mr Hicks’s determination to block Dubai, Mr Gillett is equally adamant he will not sell his half share to his estranged business partner. But the club’s future may become clearer tomorrow night if the team fails to win the second leg of its Champions League semi-final at Chelsea. Though his sport of choice is horseracing, Sheikh Mohammed is a Liverpool supporter dating back to the early 1980s. Hamdan bin Mohammed, his 25-year-old son, who in February was named crown prince, is a fanatical supporter. Should the club be sold, Liverpool would end up being owned by a vehicle of the Dubai government – partly via PCP – rather than DIC. The upshot would be that Liverpool, in the hands of a sovereign state, would not be bound by the level of returns DIC, as a private equity business, would require. It would also suggest Dubai would hang on to the club for an indefinite period whereas DIC would have been expected to sell the club when it felt it had made a sufficient return from its investment. FT.com / Companies / Retailing & leisure - Dubai ruler pulls the strings in Liverpool deal

get the cheque book out then and tell the two nobs to do one.

[coop]

Which backs up what i said earlier on in the thread about it been two subsidies of Dubai Holdings who were hoping to buy Liverpool not just DIC.

[Crazyhorse7778]

Very interesting.

[zigackly]

If Maktoum has taken a personal interest then it's only a matter of time.

[Richie T]

Look at our team in 2005. It was shit. Look at our team now, althought not prefect its far betr. We've got the best striker and CM in the world imho in ste and nando. Rafa has done a sterling job. Its just that Utd and Chelsea have had huge funding to improve in that space of time compared to us. Im not sayin Rafa hasnt had funding, he has but not the extent of Utd or Chelsea. Our current team may well have won the title if up against Utd and Chelsea team of 04/05 or 05/06.

Yes hes made a mistake or 2 in the transfer market but so has every manager(name me one that hasnt made a good few). Go watch the DVD of that night in istanbul and you will realise that we have one of the best managers on the planet. To say he hasnt done this club mountains of good is a travesty.

Three semi finals in 4 years
Two finals in 4 years (with the possibility of a 3rd)
They guy is a genius and i firmly believe that we would have been challenging to this day for the prem if we didnt have two arrogant,selfish,dishonest,clueless pricks in charge and not forgetting losing a key member of our management team in Paco. These 2 factors have prevented us from challenging and just think, from a season that will remember as a bad,dark period in our history due to the boardroom fiasco we may have a Champions league final to look forward to.

Rafa Benitez is stunning football coach and Liverpool Football Club would be making one of the biggest mistakes ever by getting rid of him.

Y.N.W.A

Hail the GAFA!

[ratcatcher]

Originally Posted by WaltonRed get the cheque book out then and tell the two nobs to do one.

LOL! Heartily agree!

[Kopite]

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[zigackly]

[ratcatcher]

Originally Posted by FTORRES09 Look at our team in 2005. It was shit. Look at our team now, althought not prefect its far betr. We've got the best striker and CM in the world imho in ste and nando. Rafa has done a sterling job. Its just that Utd and Chelsea have had huge funding to improve in that space of time compared to us. Im not sayin Rafa hasnt had funding, he has but not the extent of Utd or Chelsea. Our current team may well have won the title if up against Utd and Chelsea team of 04/05 or 05/06. Yes hes made a mistake or 2 in the transfer market but so has every manager(name me one that hasnt made a good few). Go watch the DVD of that night in istanbul and you will realise that we have one of the best managers on the planet. To say he hasnt done this club mountains of good is a travesty. Three semi finals in 4 years Two finals in 4 years (with the possibility of a 3rd) They guy is a genius and i firmly believe that we would have been challenging to this day for the prem if we didnt have two arrogant,selfish,dishonest,clueless pricks in charge and not forgetting losing a key member of our management team in Paco. These 2 factors have prevented us from challenging and just think, from a season that will remember as a bad,dark period in our history due to the boardroom fiasco we may have a Champions league final to look forward to. Rafa Benitez is stunning football coach and Liverpool Football Club would be making one of the biggest mistakes ever by getting rid of him. Y.N.W.A Hail the GAFA!

There is no denying Benitez's skill in Europe. But he has to translate the success in Europe to the PL. I honestly think his almost obsessive belief in one or two central themes has held him and our progress back.

Hopefully, benitez has come to realise if something isnt working fully, it needs to be changed else the same end result will occur.

[Richie T]

Originally Posted by ratcatcher There is no denying Benitez's skill in Europe. But he has to translate the success in Europe to the PL. I honestly think his almost obsessive belief in one or two central themes has held him and our progress back. Hopefully, benitez has come to realise if something isnt working fully, it needs to be changed else the same end result will occur.

I accept what your sayin mate but hes getting there. If what Ballague says is true about signing Barry and Silva, i think they are the final pieces of the jigsaw.

[AmerScouse]

Originally Posted by rebel23 "the minute we let supporters or supporters groups decide whether or not to keep or hire a manager or to buy or sell certain players is the day this club goes in the shitter." ---- and what is wrong with that? fans want success and progress in the league and that should be communicated to the manager, we will not tolerate wasters and pathetic transfers like Houllier conducted, or do you want to go back to those days ? a manager should not be a dictator given a £40m budget to spend how he wishes or with no oversight and a £60m salary bill to hand out lucrative contracts to whomever he wants, his friends, associates etc. the fans have a right to speak up, it's THEIR money either via tickets or sky subscriptions

we all want success sure. but you also must admit that in the grand scheme of things we know fuck all. watching someone play a game on television a few times is nowhere near as extensive as the work that scouts do in evaluating a player.

we don't see our team train, we've no idea of what their performances are like on a daily basis, we've no idea of what the injury or mental status of our players is at any time really. we get info from the press and what we hear. do you assume that we know everything that is going on?

supporters are fully within their rights to say anything they want, you can say whatever you want, but we/you are not experts in football. i like to think i know quite a bit about football but in comparison i know fuck all in comparison to rafa. he forgets more than i'll ever know. but in the grand scheme of things the experts know more of the intimate details of every situation than we ever will and that is the reason we shouldn't make those kind of decisions.

[Kenny]

Originally Posted by Baps They need to dig deep then and put an end to this limbo. Not sure I'd like to be owned by a soverign state though.

Its better then being own by a obese cunt.

[Kurt]

Originally Posted by ratcatcher There is no denying Benitez's skill in Europe. But he has to translate the success in Europe to the PL. I honestly think his almost obsessive belief in one or two central themes has held him and our progress back. Hopefully, benitez has come to realise if something isnt working fully, it needs to be changed else the same end result will occur.

Before this season, I believed it was still too early to think we could win it, but I was hoping that we would be closer. Even rafa`s strongest critics said that we should offer a better challenge and end up not more than 10 points behind the winners.

We are now 11 points off...and not because Utd and Chelsea has been easing off, and despite us easing off to focus on CL. This after all the madness that has been surrounding the club and Rafa which clearly affected the team when Rafa`s future was in balance. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, and for the second part of the season we have seen sign of Rafa`s future Liverpool. Letting him go now would be madness. We have lost only 4 times this season, and turning a few of thoseway to many draws into wins is what`s seperating us from the top 2.

If the ownership side of the club is resolved, i feel pretty convinced we`ll be even closer next season. I agree that Rafa sometimes seems like his own worst enemy, but the way he has been picking the team since january does seem like he has learned and changed his style a bit. Hopefully he will continue this into next season.

If we end this season 11 points off the winners, i would rate that as an achievment with all the madness that has surrounded the club for most of this season.

After beeing almost indifferent to it all for a while, im again starting to feel positive vibes and feeling good about football. Please take those clowns out of our club, and let`s Sheik, rattle and roll into the league next season.