Gillett and Hicks (ownership saga)

[Antynwa]

On the taxi home yesterday I was thinking about everything, SOS, the club, Rafa, Parry and Hicks We all know Hicks and Benitez are friends now, and they both share the common goal of getting Parry out, for the same reason, control.

 

If Hicks gets Parry out, he gets control of the club, if Benitez gets Parry out he gets control of the transfers if he believes Hicks. It seems to me Benitez is once again, playing with the fans, and using us against Parry. We all know Parry is the biggest cunt in the world, but hear me out, if he is the one keeping the Yanks from getting a hold of this club, then I want him in there.

 

I've hit a brick wall with the whole ownership thing and Benitez, Benitez has sided with the Yanks, because he wants control, he is siding with the complusive liars, in the hope he gets full control of a market he is far from an expert at.

 

Plenty of fans are confused, concerned, and are starting to get ontop of Benitez, I for one would be happy if all of them left right now. I have always said I'll back Benitez against the owners, but as time goes by, I'm not sure if Benitez is the best thing for Liverpool anymore. Especially as it seems Benitez is with the owners.

[Lofts]

On the taxi home yesterday I was thinking about everything, SOS, the club, Rafa, Parry and Hicks We all know Hicks and Benitez are friends now, and they both share the common goal of getting Parry out, for the same reason, control.

 

If Hicks gets Parry out, he gets control of the club, if Benitez gets Parry out he gets control of the transfers if he believes Hicks. It seems to me Benitez is once again, playing with the fans, and using us against Parry. We all know Parry is the biggest cunt in the world, but hear me out, if he is the one keeping the Yanks from getting a hold of this club, then I want him in there.

 

I've hit a brick wall with the whole ownership thing and Benitez, Benitez has sided with the Yanks, because he wants control, he is siding with the complusive liars, in the hope he gets full control of a market he is far from an expert at.

 

Plenty of fans are confused, concerned, and are starting to get ontop of Benitez, I for one would be happy if all of them left right now. I have always said I'll back Benitez against the owners, but as time goes by, I'm not sure if Benitez is the best thing for Liverpool anymore. Especially as it seems Benitez is with the owners.

 

Theres a difference between being on their side or working with them. If rafa can keep them happy he'll get backed, piss them off, he losses his job. I personal think he loves this club and wants to win the league for us, its not about control, he beleives if he has control he'll be able to lift number 19 for us.

[aws]

Rafa has sided with hicks (not gillett) for one reason - to survive. If he hadn't cosied up to hicks he'd have been sacked long ago.

 

Rafa wants to wrest control away from Parry who he sees as responsible for regularly sabotaging his transfer strategy. Hicks hates Parry because Parry sides with gillett. Rafa and hicks are natural allies in the Parry war.

 

I'd bet he wants both of them out as much as anyone else.

[dave u]

I agree with you, but this Rafa/Hicks alliance isn't a new thing, it's been going on for fucking ages. I remember Bascombe got absolutely crucified for writing it, but it's true and has been for some time.

 

That big speech Hicks came out with demanding Parry's resignation? Where do you think most of that came from? Rafa, and whatsmore Parry is fully aware of it. As you say, Hicks wants Parry out to get control, he doesn't care about whatever cock ups Parry has made. I emailed Hicks jr after Athens and gave him the full works on all Parry's fuck ups, but they didn't want to know.

 

It was only when Parry's alliance with Gillett began to pose them problems, they decided he had to go. It's all about getting him out, and Ian Ayre in so they have an extra vote and an edge over Gillett. Hicks and Rafa share a common goal, they want Parry out. But if they achieve that, what then? Hicks and Rafa won't walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after, that's for sure.

 

Anyone who thinks everything will be hunky dory if we can just get rid of Parry is living in cloud cuckoo land. Yes, he has to go, but not before Gillett and Hicks as far as I'm concerned.

[dave u]

Theres a difference between being on their side or working with them. If rafa can keep them happy he'll get backed, piss them off, he losses his job. I personal think he loves this club and wants to win the league for us, its not about control, he beleives if he has control he'll be able to lift number 19 for us.

 

I agree that he wants to win the league, for himself as much as us though.

 

And I also don't think he'll give a fuck if the money he gets for transfers comes from Hicks putting more debt on the club. That's why what Rafa wants is irrelevant to me. We need Hicks and Gillett out, that's the over-riding priority for me, even more than winning the league.

[aws]

We need Hicks and Gillett out, that's the over-riding priority for me, even more than winning the league.

 

 

It depends who they're replaced by but otherwise I agree.

[dave u]

It depends who they're replaced by but otherwise I agree.

 

Of course, but we'd be seriously unlucky to find anyone worse.

[Carra_is_legend]

I agree that he wants to win the league, for himself as much as us though.

 

And I also don't think he'll give a fuck if the money he gets for transfers comes from Hicks putting more debt on the club. That's why what Rafa wants is irrelevant to me. We need Hicks and Gillett out, that's the over-riding priority for me, even more than winning the league.

 

Agree. I will go one step ahead of you and say that if Rafa carries on the way he has been recently (using the press to constantly stir up the shit about his contract, his open friendship with Hicks etc), he can fuck off too.

 

I was a fan of LFC before Rafa Benitez came in and I will be a fan after he goes.

[aws]

Of course, but we'd be seriously unlucky to find anyone worse.

 

True. The yanks will cream off whatever's left of their fast buck when they go so anyone coming in should be either someone with a real interest or someone with a long-term view of their investment. My biggest worry is the banks stepping in and carrying out a fire sale if the yanks' finances are really in the shit next summer.

[coop]

The banks will not issue a fire sale as they will find a buyer.

[aws]

The banks will not issue a fire sale as they will find a buyer.

 

Hopefully but the pool of potential buyers is not loking very deep at the moment. Whoever buys is going to have to put a shedload of their own cash in as the banks won't be too keen to lend much of the purchase price. Or do you reckon Dubai will still be around if the price drops to something sensible?

[Cardie]

Agree. I will go one step ahead of you and say that if Rafa carries on the way he has been recently (using the press to constantly stir up the shit about his contract, his open friendship with Hicks etc), he can fuck off too.

 

I was a fan of LFC before Rafa Benitez came in and I will be a fan after he goes.

 

Open friendship?

[rebel23]

Of course, but we'd be seriously unlucky to find anyone worse.

 

if Parry is in charge of the search dont bet on it

[Carra_is_legend]

Open friendship?

 

I'm sure you understood what I meant Cardie.

[Cardie]

Clearly not hence the question mark.

 

Open Friendship leaves little room for reading between the lines which is why I wondered what you meant.

[coop]

Hopefully but the pool of potential buyers is not loking very deep at the moment. Whoever buys is going to have to put a shedload of their own cash in as the banks won't be too keen to lend much of the purchase price. Or do you reckon Dubai will still be around if the price drops to something sensible?

 

Possibly but also investors would be interested if the price were to drop.

 

Hicks and Gillett are willing to sell their share in the club but they still want a premium for it.

 

Last i heard the figure was still around the £500 million mark.

 

Now don't forget anyone interested in the club can wait until closer to refinance time and let it be known to the bank they are interested to try and force a sale.

 

Obviously only my own personal view but at the moment we have a loan for £350 million but out of that £350 million £60 million of it is for the stadium and so therefore has not been spent meaning that in theory the loan is £290 million.

 

I don't know the exact figures but around £110 million of that loan is on the club so again Gillett and Hicks personally owe the banks £180 million.

 

So now lets just imagine Dubai or any other investor offer £200 million to Gillett and Hicks close to July purely for Kop Holdings but leave Liverpool FC still servicing their debt of £110 million.

 

In the current climate the cost of building the new stadium is lower then it has been for a long time so therefore £300 million should cover the costs of the new build.

 

This means potentially a new investor could own the club and built a new stadium for the outlay of £500 million whilst the club easily services the £110 million debt.

 

Once the stadium is built then the extra income from that and a complete overhaul of our marketing and merchandise sector plus the potential naming rights to the new stadium and increase in both shirt sponsorship and new tv money would mean any investor as long as they are prepared to take a long term interest in the club can make us profitable.

[Barrington Womble]

Possibly but also investors would be interested if the price were to drop.

 

Hicks and Gillett are willing to sell their share in the club but they still want a premium for it.

 

But to foreign investors, the price has already dropped due to the collapse of the pound. As an example, I assume Dubai deal in dollars due to their wealth originating from oil (although I guess that could be wrong). But if we assume that's true, I seem to remember it was around Feb last year they came back to the table in a serious way. On Feb 1 2008, 1GBP=USD1.99. Today they exchange at USD1.40. So when Hicks and Gillet demanded £500m last year, that would have cost Dubai something in the region of $995m, today they could buy the club for $700m. That assumes G&H would still settle for £500m - but it's clear effectively the price has dropped to foreign investors, yet we don't appear to be anymore in demand than we were 11 months ago.

[aws]

The loan is about £300m but all of it will be secured against the club even if some of it has been borrowed at holding company level. If the yanks don't meet the guarantees the club will have to be sold to repay the £300m.

 

My guess is that the club is not worth much more than £300m in today's climate so on an enforcement it's pretty tight.

[Barrington Womble]

The loan is about £300m but all of it will be secured against the club even if some of it has been borrowed at holding company level. If the yanks don't meet the guarantees the club will have to be sold to repay the £300m.

 

My guess is that the club is not worth much more than £300m in today's climate so on an enforcement it's pretty tight.

 

It's not - it's secured against G&H's other assets. ONly the £105m is secured against LFC.

[coop]

It's not - it's secured against G&H's other assets. ONly the £105m is secured against LFC.

 

Assets which i would imagine are not worth as much as they were when Gillett and Hicks initially refinanced.

[Barrington Womble]

Assets which i would imagine are not worth as much as they were when Gillett and Hicks initially refinanced.

 

yes, but they are probably US assets which will have got an uplift due to the better exchange rate.

[sh#t waffle]

Open friendship?

I think it's a polite way of saying they're allowed to bum other people.

[dalglish2rush]

id like to see all of them out to be honest,im a fan of Rafa,but i dont think hes good enough to win the title,hes far too negative,his transfer record is far worse than houlliers

and him coming out in the press every week with some shite is not the liverpool way.

his rant will be remembered in years to come and used against him if we dont win the league,and at this moment in time i cant see us winning it as much as i hate to say it,

all season ive believed we would win it,but after last night i just cant see it happening,going on current form in 2 games time i can see us being in 4th!

[philyhamann]

I haven't trusted Rafa for a while, and he has been using the fans for a good long while to further his agenda of strengthening his position, I always found it strange that he invited members of SOS to Melwood and cozyed up to them.

[Faustus]

I'd love to get the four of them together in a room and just bang their fucking heads together and tell them to stop acting like fucking kids.