Ring of Fire

Masch Skrtel maybe Agger.

Up until that point I thought it was his fairest performance in a game involving us but a. that was a first and b. he made up for it by shitting out of the big decision. Twat.

No need to get madras Kopside. Jalfrezi tiger! It's now getting to the stage where I need to pull out my Mango House take-away menu, I am running out of dishes....

Latest from the Times - seems the one we don't want is more interested... Subrata Roy is ready to increase the pace of his bid for Liverpool. A spokesman for Sahara, the Indian tycoon’s company, declined to comment on the takeover attempt yesterday, but sources in India confirmed the interest while saying that discussions were at an early stage. Roy’s bid was revealed in these pages yesterday, along with a rival offer from Mukesh Ambani. Reliance Industries, Ambani’s company, issued a denial yesterday, but The Times understands that India’s wealthiest man remains in the background as a potential investor. Both bids offered to take on Liverpool’s £237 million debt in exchange for 51 per cent of the club. Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are unlikely to accept such terms, although pressure on the co-owners from Royal Bank of Scotland to pay off £100 million of the debt by July is growing. The bank has become increasingly frustrated by the failure of the Americans to bring new investment to Anfield. Merrill Lynch and Rothschild have been charged with finding an injection of fresh cash, but the Americans have approached other merchant banks over the past month as they cast their net ever wider in search of investment. Christian Purslow was enlisted at Anfield last summer with a brief to bring in new investment. Purslow’s background is in private equity, but so far the managing director has been unsuccessful in his efforts, despite repeated assurances that the arrival of funds is imminent. Sources inside the club have claimed that up to £125 million is about to be pumped into Anfield, but few potential investors have found the prospect of taking a minority share to prop up the dysfunctional reign of Gillett and Hicks palatable. Roy is the son of a sugar mill worker. He founded Sahara in 1978 with £5 and a scooter used to zip between clients in the poor northern state of Uttar Pradesh. It is now one of India’s largest savings groups and forms the bedrock of a sprawling conglomerate worth more than £5 billion. The entrepreneur styles himself “chairman and Managing Worker” and Sahara sponsors the India cricket team. It also backs the national hockey side and has made an “emotional commitment towards betterment of sports in India”, in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. The group was rumoured to be looking at replacing AIG as Manchester United’s shirt sponsor. A consummate networker, Roy’s ties to senior politicians, businessmen and celebrities are legendary. His business, which spans real estate, satellite television and film, remains based on an army of door-to-door agents who collect deposits from their customers and reinvest them on their behalf. He has not been immune to criticism, most strikingly that Sahara resembles a cult more than a business. Its 700,000 workers are told that they are members of a “family” and greet each other by putting their right arm across their chest and saying “Sahara pranam” (greetings Sahara). As head of the family, Roy likes to play his cards close to his chest. Sahara is privately owned and its accounts are not fully accessible, traits that critics say has made it overly opaque. He seldom grants interviews

This was supposed to be a serious thread - don't tikka the piss.

Apparently written by Matt Hughes and a couple of business correspondents. Not TB, Evans or Kay.

Not sure to add to Purslow thread, feel free to move Dave. Liverpool emerged as a takeover target for the seventh-richest man in the world last night as the pressure mounted on Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr to cut a deal to sell Anfield. Mukesh Ambani, the wealthiest man in India, is one of two tycoons from the sub-continent competing to buy a stake in the Merseyside club. The Sahara Group's chairman, Subrata Roy, and Ambani's Reliance Industries have each tendered similar bids to pay off Liverpool's £237 million debt in return for a 51 per cent stake in the club. Last night Christian Purslow, the Liverpool chief executive, denied any knowledge of either bid, but The Times understands that approaches began as early as November and that some preliminary talks have taken place. Each deal requires that the present owners make a commitment to take no dividends or expenses out of Anfield for three years to allow the club to resume a secure financial basis. One of the potential owners has also indicated a willingness to allow supporters to take a 10 per cent stake in Liverpool. A source close to Hicks and Gillett said that the duo would reject on principle any bid that left them with less than 50 per cent of the club's shares unless it involved either of them selling out entirely. A sale of more than half of the total stake would mean they would lose control of the club. It is understood that Liverpool's banker, the state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, is pressing Hicks and Gillett to cut their asking price. The bank declined to comment last night, but a source close to RBS said that there has been plenty of interest in Liverpool from investors. However, the source added, the owners are blocking all deals on the table because they refuse to budge on price. The source said the bank's stipulation that the pair must pay off £100 million of the debt and inject tens of millions of pounds into the club was intended to push them into an agreement with a new investor that would permanently stabilise Liverpool's finances. A number of other potential bidders include a Saudi Arabian consortium and a United States-based buyer, who is prepared to pay the £100million required by the lenders in exchange for 40 per cent of the club. Roy, whose interest appears more serious, has been linked with ownership of one of the next IPL franchises, possibly to be based in the north Indian city of Lucknow, where the Sahara Group, of which he is chairman, is based. Roy, 62, founded the company, which deals in property, media and tourism, in 1978. Its four-year sponsorship deal with the India cricket team, worth £55 million, expires this year and Roy could be looking for a new project. Sahara was linked with shirt sponsorship of Manchester United last February, a deal that fell through. mbani, 52, is said to be worth $19.5 billion (about £12.5 billion) - more than the combined worth of Sheikh Mansour and Roman Abramovich - from his investment in Reliance Industries, a petrochemicals giant, according to Forbes business magazine.

Just watching the beginning of Gillette Soccer Saturday. Obviously too busy being interviewed by Sky this week to write anything about Purslowgate. Shithouses!

Just read Doyle's piece in the Post. Shithouse, not one quote from the SOS minutes but instead used quotes from Purslow's interview with AS. Also managed to mention the £130million C&A have "put" in. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, eh Thompson? Pathetic.

Liverchan is mine.

Is this linked to Bascombe's latest about C&A slashing the price to £100 mil for50%?

Something is afoot. Hicks is over, Rafa quite vocal about finances on Friday, Purslow holding onto SOS minutes, DM's comments about investment with the lads, etc. What it adds up to is anyone's guess.

If Rectinol does what it says on its instructions then in 7 days it will be again!

So it's not my bleeding arse then. Is it good news?

Rafa's off, investment will be confirmed, the SOS minutes will be released by Purslow or my piles will have cleared up.

I'm up for the cup if it's Xbox.

The wife bought me GH5 with the guitar from Toys r Us for £50 which was not a bad deal. Bought Beatles Rockband as well and the GH guitar can be used on this. Bought it for the Wii and well impressed. Great fun on a Saturday night after a few beverages.

Absolute bollocks Purslow. When we re-negotiated Stevie, Alonso, Carra, etc, contract 2 summers ago we bought Torres, Babel & Yossi as well. A net spend of £20 million. This summer has not been a net spend. The guy has been well-schooled in the bullshit PR companies the 2 cunts use.

On a slightly different angle, my story was when I was 16 and used to go over my mate's house for SNES battles on Mario Kart, etc. One evening I was storing up a cruise missile in my arse before making the dash to the toilet to deploy the weapon. After wiping, flushing and washing I made my way back to my joypad and thought no more of it. Ten minutes later, my mate's mother made her way into the bathroom and quickly made her way out into my mate's bedroom and dragged him out. My curious nature got the better of me and followed them into the bathroom where my mate with a towel over his face pointed to the pan. Reluctantly peering in knowing I was the last visitor, I was greeted by my nuclear weapon with several shit stained sheets of toilet paper surrounding it ever so neatly. After several attempts to flush the stubborn bastard, defeat was accepted and my mate's dad arrived with a big bucket of water to send the torpedo and its friends on its merry way. Ironically, thanks to my mate and his old man it's a story that never seems to go away.... Suffice it to say, in the subsequent 18 years since, I never leave the pan before making sure the coast is clear....

"You only sell the family silver once", will go down as one of the most infamous soundbites in our great club's history. No wonder Rafa is not competing in the transfer market at the moment.

Just mentioned it on Sky now and it is all over Spanish radio. £65 million euro's. Here we go...

It's not glory hunting, just facts over certain players who consistently don't perform. You are right though, Chelsea's best performance of the season. I love this club as well. So much that I have had a massive row with the wife after waking my little one up and am now in the spare bedroom. My marriage can't take the strain this season, never mind my 'kin nerves!

There will the Lucas lovers who will slate you for that but I agree. Apart from his pass against Newcastle, what the fuck does has he offered in 14 months? Totally and utterly out of his depth again. Yes, there were others who had a poor game but he consistently does. So missed the Chief's energy in the middle of the park tonight.