The Times tomorrow - Indian tycoons target LFC

[Red Phoenix]

I hope with this bid they don't pass-anda I hope we hear more about this as soon as possible.

[JohnnyH]

Really really fucking annoying when you see a thread about ownership has a bunch of posts but then it turns out to be full of fucking puns.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Really really fucking annoying when you see a thread about ownership has a bunch of posts but then it turns out to be full of fucking puns.

 

It's enough to make you mad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ras.

[Carra_is_legend]

I bet Gillett is delighted thinking about Hicks' veto to stop the Dubai deal.

 

I wonder what they will give now to get that deal back on the table.

[Red Phoenix]

Really really fucking annoying when you see a thread about ownership has a bunch of posts but then it turns out to be full of fucking puns.

 

Used to be the same, then I just gave up and joined in.

[zigackly]

Really really fucking annoying when you see a thread about ownership has a bunch of posts but then it turns out to be full of fucking puns.

 

Raita minute and some news might get posted.

[redrosetints]

Here's hoping. If he has the money, the sooner the better.

 

But there may well be other rival bids from Amercian-based consortia. If he wants us, he's going to have to fight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fight for the right (Chapati).

 

 

The set up was so clumsy. I apologise. And I bet it's been done before. I'm actually brimming with self-loathing.

 

For the Yanks, the indians or anyone else it all comes down to bottom line. Remember kids, none of teh current owners (and probably the future one4s) really care about LFC in the way we do. Some may want us to be succesfull, as its their team, but ultimatley, in the purchase and owning, it comes down to 'which is the best deal' the bottom line.

 

So the two deals we've been told about are a 40% share and controlling interest to the Rhone group with Muse, for 100m, leaving 60% split between the current owners.

 

From India, its 49% split between the two current owners, but of a team with no debt.

 

Clearly, for me, I think itd be better finanical sense for the owners, to own just 24.5% of a team that has no debt and that will be invested in to maintain the current level of playing staff (i believe Roy would want to invest in players he likes that kudos), on field achievment and in the long term buld the stadium. But it all depends what Hicks and Gillet think or maybe if were lucky Purslow.

[Trumo]

Whoever decides to bid will be experienced enough to use brinkmanship to reach their aim. Such is the world of high fine naans. They want to karai favour with the fans, many of whom are looking on with jel-lassi at the progress made by the 2 clubs down the road, as well as the clubs in London. If the 2 Yanks can be ousted sooner rather than later it will be a massive bhuna. Let's just wait and see how it all paneers out.

[Sangria]

For the Yanks, the indians or anyone else it all comes down to bottom line. Remember kids, none of teh current owners (and probably the future one4s) really care about LFC in the way we do. Some may want us to be succesfull, as its their team, but ultimatley, in the purchase and owning, it comes down to 'which is the best deal' the bottom line.

 

So the two deals we've been told about are a 40% share and controlling interest to the Rhone group with Muse, for 100m, leaving 60% split between the current owners.

 

From India, its 49% split between the two current owners, but of a team with no debt.

 

Clearly, for me, I think itd be better finanical sense for the owners, to own just 24.5% of a team that has no debt and that will be invested in to maintain the current level of playing staff (i believe Roy would want to invest in players he likes that kudos), on field achievment and in the long term buld the stadium. But it all depends what Hicks and Gillet think or maybe if were lucky Purslow.

 

Do we not only have one solid offer the Rhone group.

 

This guy from India might or might not, or have I missed something.

[WaltonRed]

Roy is deciding in the next couple of weeks whether to come in or not.

 

I just wish it would all end, i'm sick to the back teeth of the whole thing.

[Sangria]

Roy is deciding in the next couple of weeks whether to come in or not.

 

I just wish it would all end, i'm sick to the back teeth of the whole thing.

 

I know, it is soul destroying.

 

As for this Roy fella I do not hold out much faith in that.

[Dougie Do'ins]

Sorry if this has been posted already but I couldn't be arsed looking.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Kop legend speaks out as Liverpool FC face fresh financial threat > Liverpool FC > Sport | Click Liverpool

 

Phil Thompson has made a passionate plea to Liverpool's owners to sell amidst reports that failure to qualify for the Champions League could cost the club up to £25 million.

 

In an exclusive interview with Click Liverpool, the Kop hero gave his damning verdict on the turmoil that has plagued Anfield since the takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks in February 2007.

 

The Reds currently find themselves £237 million in debt and could miss out on between £20-£25M in revenue should they fail to qualify for Europe's premier club competition next season, which follows news that they could also be forced to repay continental grants.

 

If the planned new stadium in Stanley Park is not built, the club face the prospect of having to cough up the £8.2 million they secured from the European Regional Development Fund in conjunction with Liverpool City Council to make improvements to the site that would allow work to begin.

 

But a series of financial setbacks have left the project indefinitely on hold with Christian Purslow, the club's managing director, currently seeking an investment of at least £100 million to reduce the debt owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland following a refinancing agreement.

 

The Americans have come under heavy fire from Liverpool supporters and those flames have been fanned further after ex-player and lifelong fan Thompson, 56, called for the pair to leave following a series of broken promises made upon their arrival three years ago.

 

He said: "We wanted our new stadium well before Arsenal, but they've now got a 60,000-seater stadium that they’re filling every week and are taking in vast amounts of money every week compared to what we are.

 

"The club, the stadium and what's happening on the field just seems to be secondary in the Americans’ minds. They're all about money and getting the debt down which shouldn't have been there in the first place.

 

"When they came in I was one of those who thought that they were saying the right things but they didn't keep to their word of having a spade in the ground after 60 days and not heaping debt on the football club.

 

"They've been offered decent money [to sell]. If they can't see the future and if they're not going to invest in the team, whether it's Rafa Benitez or somebody else, they're not magicians and you can't work [like that] at the top of the Premiership."

 

A disappointing campaign has seen pressure mount on manager Benitez after Liverpool have failed to build on last season's finish as Premier League runners up.

 

Thompson, the club's assistant manager between 1999 and 2004, feels that the Kop boss has been forced to balance the books after failing to be backed fully in the transfer market by the Anfield chiefs.

 

"I can remember myself and Gérard Houllier being given a budget in the summer of £12 million," he revealed.

 

"That’s not a lot of money but we did it, we got by. We bought some decent players, and some bad ones as well, but I think Rafa's not had any money to spend last summer and no money to spend in January.

 

"We're a team who finished second last year and that was a chance to consolidate our position.

 

"People say that we’ve spent £40 million but we’ve also recouped that £40 million so [effectively] Rafa's spent nothing and that's wrong. There should have been money in the kitty for the manager to spend.

 

“The only thing we as fans can see that they're paying off the debt while we as a football club and a team suffer, and that is wrong. it should be all about the football team.

 

"They have to have a serious look at what they have been doing and if they haven't got the commitment to invest in the team as Rafa and the supporters see fit, they've got completely different views."

 

Kirkby-born Thompson, who captained Liverpool to European Cup glory in 1981, called on senior players to speak out against the current regime after Fernando Torres hinted that he would consider a future away from Anfield if the club did not sign reinforcements this summer.

 

He added: "Fernando Torres said he didn't want to be fighting for fourth place every year and he is absolutely bang on. He's a player, a foreign player, who has come to the club. They have to listen to him.

 

“He and Stevie Gerrard should be saying 'if you're not going to invest, why would we want to remain here?' They need to give them some ultimatums."

[Brownie]

Wonder what Thompson was told was in it for him by doing that?

[redrosetints]

Sorry if this has been posted already but I couldn't be arsed looking.

 

EXCLUSIVE: Kop legend speaks out as Liverpool FC face fresh financial threat > Liverpool FC > Sport | Click Liverpool

 

Phil Thompson has made a passionate plea to Liverpool's owners to sell amidst reports that failure to qualify for the Champions League could cost the club up to £25 million.

 

In an exclusive interview with Click Liverpool' date=' the Kop hero gave his damning verdict on the turmoil that has plagued Anfield since the takeover by George Gillett and Tom Hicks in February 2007.

 

The Reds currently find themselves £237 million in debt and could miss out on between £20-£25M in revenue should they fail to qualify for Europe's premier club competition next season, which follows news that they could also be forced to repay continental grants.

 

If the planned new stadium in Stanley Park is not built, the club face the prospect of having to cough up the £8.2 million they secured from the European Regional Development Fund in conjunction with Liverpool City Council to make improvements to the site that would allow work to begin.

 

But a series of financial setbacks have left the project indefinitely on hold with Christian Purslow, the club's managing director, currently seeking an investment of at least £100 million to reduce the debt owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland following a refinancing agreement.

 

The Americans have come under heavy fire from Liverpool supporters and those flames have been fanned further after ex-player and lifelong fan Thompson, 56, called for the pair to leave following a series of broken promises made upon their arrival three years ago.

 

He said: "We wanted our new stadium well before Arsenal, but they've now got a 60,000-seater stadium that they’re filling every week and are taking in vast amounts of money every week compared to what we are.

 

"The club, the stadium and what's happening on the field just seems to be secondary in the Americans’ minds. They're all about money and getting the debt down which shouldn't have been there in the first place.

 

"When they came in I was one of those who thought that they were saying the right things but they didn't keep to their word of having a spade in the ground after 60 days and not heaping debt on the football club.

 

"They've been offered decent money [to sell']. If they can't see the future and if they're not going to invest in the team, whether it's Rafa Benitez or somebody else, they're not magicians and you can't work [like that] at the top of the Premiership."

 

A disappointing campaign has seen pressure mount on manager Benitez after Liverpool have failed to build on last season's finish as Premier League runners up.

 

Thompson, the club's assistant manager between 1999 and 2004, feels that the Kop boss has been forced to balance the books after failing to be backed fully in the transfer market by the Anfield chiefs.

 

"I can remember myself and Gérard Houllier being given a budget in the summer of £12 million," he revealed.

 

"That’s not a lot of money but we did it, we got by. We bought some decent players, and some bad ones as well, but I think Rafa's not had any money to spend last summer and no money to spend in January.

 

"We're a team who finished second last year and that was a chance to consolidate our position.

 

"People say that we’ve spent £40 million but we’ve also recouped that £40 million so [effectively] Rafa's spent nothing and that's wrong. There should have been money in the kitty for the manager to spend.

 

“The only thing we as fans can see that they're paying off the debt while we as a football club and a team suffer, and that is wrong. it should be all about the football team.

 

"They have to have a serious look at what they have been doing and if they haven't got the commitment to invest in the team as Rafa and the supporters see fit, they've got completely different views."

 

Kirkby-born Thompson, who captained Liverpool to European Cup glory in 1981, called on senior players to speak out against the current regime after Fernando Torres hinted that he would consider a future away from Anfield if the club did not sign reinforcements this summer.

 

He added: "Fernando Torres said he didn't want to be fighting for fourth place every year and he is absolutely bang on. He's a player, a foreign player, who has come to the club. They have to listen to him.

 

“He and Stevie Gerrard should be saying 'if you're not going to invest, why would we want to remain here?' They need to give them some ultimatums."

 

uh oh, you'll have ANTynwa coming on bout net spend. Naughty Thommo

[redinoz]

If only there was a way to rep Thommo.

[llego]

If only there was a way to rep Thommo.

 

There is, just neg those ART fools!

[razor]

About time, but at least one great has spoken out.

 

Well done, Phil Thompson. ALWAYS loved that man.

 

I used to love it when he waved to his brother on the Kop before each game. I've seen those cockerney idiots laughing at him on that SSN, but really, he was captain of the Champions of Europe, captain of his country etc. Wide boy Rodney Tart who once tackled Georgie Best when he was half-cut, done nowt.

[Antynwa]

uh oh, you'll have ANTynwa coming on bout net spend. Naughty Thommo

 

I'm sorry, I didn't know net spend excused Benitez of playing defensive, awful, ambition-less football with absolutely no diversity whatsoever.

[Guest Ulysses Everett McGill]

Wonder what Thompson was told was in it for him by doing that?

 

Because a former European cup winning, captain and caretaker manager would only ever have self interest at heart, wouldn't he?

 

Just waiting for the usual suspects to jump all over it because he sticks up for the current manager.

[Guest Ulysses Everett McGill]

I'm sorry, I didn't know net spend excused Benitez of playing defensive, awful, ambition-less football with absolutely no diversity whatsoever.

 

So says the man who thinks Emile fucking Heskey is the answer to our problems

[coop]

Because a former European cup winning, captain and caretaker manager would only ever have self interest at heart, wouldn't he?

 

Just waiting for the usual suspects to jump all over it because he sticks up for the current manager.

 

In all fairness Andy people have been wanting an ex-player to speak out against the owners and here you have a player who was a former European Cup winning captain who speaks out against the owners on a regular basis on SSN and yet this article has been brushed under carpet.

 

The only time this article appears to be getting noticed is for a sarcastic comment.

[jackofdk]

Very refreshing there from Phil Thompson. I can't believe people on here are bickering about a club great saying something so obviously true.

 

Oh, actually I can, but it's still fucking retarded.

 

Just to try and get the priorities straight anyway: the yanks are a much bigger threat to this club than Rafa could ever be.

[zigackly]

There is, just neg those ART fools!

 

That's right, because wanting a change of manager equates to loving the owners. Some of those "ART fools" have done as much as anyone else has to get the two liars out of our club, so stop the divisive bullshit. They have a right to their opinion. Perhaps more than you.

[dirty_sanchez]

uh oh, you'll have ANTynwa coming on bout net spend. Naughty Thommo

 

His user name always irks me. I read it as "Anti NWA". What's wrong with NWA? Fuck Tha Police, Straight Outta Compton, Express Yourself, those are tunes.

[zigackly]

Just to try and get the priorities straight anyway: the yanks are a much bigger threat to this club than Rafa could ever be.

 

Spot on, it's a shame to see his message getting lost in bickering about Rafa.

 

Pretty much everyone on here should agree with every word Thommo said there. Regardless of your opinion of the manager it's blatantly obvious he's been working with his hands tied in the transfer market for the last twelve months.

 

It's sad to see bickering when the substantive message of Thommo's article is something we've been crying out for ex players to start saying.