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diego

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Everything posted by diego

  1. diego
    Broughton's cryptic comment the other day about Kop Holdings, means, I believe, that it will be Kop Holdings that must sell the owner's shares, not the board of LFC. However, Broughton said, the two owners have given a commitment to him (and LFC and the banks) that they will abide by the decision of the LFC board with respect to any bid. Furthermore, in the event of an indecisive vote on the board of LFC, he, Broughton will exercise the deciding vote. None of us know the exact nature of the commitment given by the owners. We can only assume that Broughton and the banks would not have accepted it without ensuring that if the owners break their commitment (as they are very likely to try to do if they don't like the winning bid) then there will be some serious sanctions against the owners - such as the immediate calling of the loan. However, Hicks and Gillet have been through this kind of thing many times before. No doubt they will try to have a Plan B - to replace the loan, for example, or sell part of their equity. They will be prepared to take the club to the brink of bankruptcy and administration rather than give up their potential profit. They also know that banks tend to back off in these situations.
  2. diego
    Too much is being made by some about the fact that Huang went directly to RBS, cutting out Broughton and the owners. If he did that he was following the agreed procedures. RBS is in charge of selling the club and receiving bids. Broughton and the board make the final decision. Also too much is being made of the "hostile" nature of the bid. A bid is a bid. If his terms are that he will repay the debt and provide only a sweetner to the owners then those are the terms the board will review. The business about a two week deadline, if it is true, would be part of the terms of his bid. The idea is not feasible that the RBS can call the loans now and in the event of non-repayment force the club into administration and /or sell the club for the value of the debt. RBS appears to have given the club up to one year to make a sale as long as it acts in good faith. If, within that arrangement, there are provisions for RBS to withdraw its extension if it believes the board is not acting in good faith, and not accepting reasonable offers, it would take BS considerable time to seize its security and force the club into administration and sale. Due process would enable the board and the owners to make legal appeals etc I think the statements attributed to Huang that he wants it in two weeks to buy players and start the stadium are all part of his PR offensive to put pressure on RBS. If he got the club it he would probably be happy to wait the better part of a year before making major moves such as sacking Purslow and bringing Rafa back. I don't think he would hand Hodgson a huge transfer fund.
  3. diego
    Some people are being a bit hard on Hodgson. Any manager would suffer in comparison with Rafa.
  4. diego
    That's a bit rich coming from the chalk-covered, wiry-haired numerologist and his portable blackboard at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park.
  5. diego
    It takes one to know one.
  6. diego
    I don't disagree, but one of the hypocritical slogans of the anti-Rafa gang on here is that Rafa antagonized the press unnecessarily and Hodgson had a very good rapport with the press.
  7. diego
    If Hodgson does not know what team to pick, or what tactics to adopt or what players to buy and sell he can always pick up the phone and ask Rafa.
  8. diego
    At a slight tangent, here is an interesting comparison between the character of Mourinho and Benitez as provided by Moratti, the President of Inter Milan: "Benitez - says Moratti - was among the coaches that had a relevant international experience, people told me good things about him and we went straight. We also evaluated few altenatives, because was an hard choice. Benitez is very professional, a hard worker, and he has similar work patterns to Mourinho, in the study the game, of the opponents. He is a guarantee and we hope in good results. Humanly Benitez is polite, courteous, affable, he's never urgent, never when we talk about the market. Mourinho have been insistent only in having Quaresma, then the operation didn't go in the way we hoped. I've always tried to please everyone, but this led to overspend that we spoke". "I didn't want - repeats Inter's president - a coach that imitated or put himself in competition with Mourinho. Benitez is totally different in terms of character."
  9. diego
    By "idiot" you mean the most respected manager we have had in twenty years? By "politics" you mean a manager who after several years of being jerked around by the incompetents you admire so much, insists that his transfer budget be commited to writing? Despite all the special pleading for Hodgson as an apolitical manager (just because he is not Rafa) I notice he has already said that the owners are unpopular and the club will not settle until they have gone, that he would like new owners to give him a large transfer fund, that Purslow is responsible for selling players including those, like Insua, whom Hodgson would not have wanted to sell. It all sounds quite political to me - using the same definition the likes of you applied to Rafa. But Hodgson makes far more statements to the press than Rafa ever did. Many of them have "political" asides in which he is clearly positioning himself. His statement about Torres reveal his weakness. Last week he said he spoke to him briefly about football matters, that Purslow spent much more time with him about other matters. He said he could do no more to persuade him to stay, that Torres had a problem with what happened before Hodgson came. Then suddenly, he is saying that Torres has not been talking to anyone and has let the club know he is looking forward to playing at LFC. I don't think Hodgson's statements can be trusted first because he is not fully ITK, second because he is not fully in control and thirdly because he is too busy positioning himself every time he opens his mouth.
  10. diego
    He is a bottomless pit of hate - or at least a shrill imitation of it. I don't now his first target, or all of them, but I remember his Koptalk campaign of derision against Crouch whom he called "Lurch" (until he became LFC's and England's fastest scorer) and then against Sissoko whom he liked to call "stupid". He must be wetting himself with the talk on here of their potential return. His obsessive ranting about Lucas is not the first time he has tried to ingratiate himself with some of the bully boys on here. One of the more stupid things he said is that he wanted Rafa sacked because of his support for Lucas. What a berk!
  11. diego
    Another "look at me" interview from big mouth. He's being doing them on a weekly basis for some time. He's practising being manager. Why doesn't he just come out from behind Bascombe's skirts and start posting under his own name on TLW. He thinks Hodgson's English player bias, 442 system and political timidity means that he, Carragher, won't get benched, as he would have this year under Rafa.
  12. diego
    All those who complained at the football that Rafa "served up" as though they were food critics in a 5 star restaurants are really going to love Roy. He won 4 away games in two years at Fulham. He considered a 0-0 draw a job well done. His victories at home were based on a deep-lying defence with kick-and-rush counter attacks that worked particularly well with the better teams who came to attack and whose over-confidence left them exposed. There'll be no more Rafa-like switching system depending on the opponents and certainly not during games. Hodgson only knows one formation - the one he was taught by the FA coaching school so many years ago. Carragher will love it. It will gel well with his growing level of incompetence. The defence will be so deep his lack of pace won't be a factor. But that still won't stop him conceding a few own goals.
  13. diego
    Same with Torres. He said he had nothing but respect for Rafa at the same time or just after the Reina statement. The media and anti-Rafa sites like TLW ignored that and went with his later statement that it was probably best for all concerned because Rafa had won everything and they had asked too much of him last year. I think he made that later statement after talking to Rafa - they talk once a week - and after considering that Rafa's leaving also gives him, Torres, an out if he wants it.
  14. diego
    How exactly would he know he could deliver? He would need to know who were already interested. For that information he would have to rely on H&G, Purslow and RBS. All of them had a vested interest in leading him on to think it was doable.
  15. diego
    If they had any bids they would shout it from the rooftops. They don't.
  16. diego
    Torres will make Purslow pay for his actions. Last year, in order to convince Torres to sign a long-term contract, Purslow assured him that LFC would follow the Man Utd and Arsenal model of sticking through thick and thin with a single manager. He said Rafa was central to LFC's long-term plan. He also said all of this publicly. The first team would be improved by acquisitions of leading players and the Academy would be put under Rafa's control to start producing a long-term supply of graduates a la Barcelona. This commitment was of the essence when Torres signed his contract. It was a coup for Purslow because he could tell potential investors that he had created stability with the manager and with the biggest "asset" the club had - El Nino. We all know how cynically he broke his word. Torres, better than any of us, can now make him pay. He can claim that Purslow has effectively made nonsense of his promises of just a year ago and that he misled him. He can remind him that he came to LFC because Rafa persuaded him and under Rafa he flourished like never before in his career. If Torres should want to stay for lack of a better offer, he can use the same argument to seek written assurances of the same kind Rafa sought about new players and funds, improve the terms he can exit next year without approval, and increase his salary and image rights. I hope he screws Purslow into the ground.
  17. diego
    Purslow repeatedly emphasized that LFC would follow the model of Arsenal and Man Utd by sticking with one manager through thick and thin. He said that Rafa was central to LFC's development plan. The plan was to build a strong squad in the short-term by acquisition, and a conveyor belt of young talented players in the long-term through a stronger Academy. LFC would not be deterred by short-term set-backs. It would back Rafa. Within months Purslow was briefing against Rafa to Bascombe and other hacks, encouraging senior players to gossip about him, and usurping Rafa's role in the transfer market. I think SOS deserve praise for rumbling Purslow so early. I was one of those who congratulated SOS (Graham Smith) for earning a meeting with Purslow and asking him good questions, but I criticized them for reporting his critical remarks about the owners verbatim because it seemed like a breach of his trust. I said that I did not think Purslow was a liar but that he had made a mistake in speaking so frankly on the record to SOS (even though he would probably say it was not on the record). However, Purslow abused his employer's trust by speaking about them in the way he did. (Rafa for example never stooped that low even while he vigorously fought his corner for the team). Purslow also breached SOS trust by publishing his own version of the minutes without SOS agreement. (I realize he could say the same about them). At the time, it was as though SOS had other reasons not to trust him. If so, I did not know what those reasons where. It doesn't matter now because SOS were right. He is untrustworthy.
  18. diego
    The alleged conflict between the medical staff and Hodgson could be solved very easily if Purslow did all the medical examinations. After all he went to Harvard.
  19. diego
    Olympìakos convinced him that their plans matched his ambitions.
  20. diego
    I don't see Woy as an old codger figure. But on his Swiss outing with his eagle scouts he does remind me a little of of Monsieur Hulot on holiday.
  21. diego
    A well-reasoned post. I don't agree with all your asides but your main point is solid. Cole has always been "promising" but has never fully delivered. Ferguson was his biggest admirer but never tried to buy him. His injury record is a worry. His 90,000 a week will start looking bad if he suffers another long injury. But beggars can't be choosers. He is potentially better than Yoshi but only marginally so. Cole's "LFC is the biggest club in the world" PR offensive is silly. He must think LFC supporters are so emotionally needy that they've lost their minds.
  22. diego
    I bet you did. But if Hicks asked you around for a cup of tea you would go, wouldn't you?
  23. diego
    Are you saying Maxi on a free, Kyriagos for sixpence (because there was no transfer funds), Johnson, Aquilani and the others were "disasters"? What about Wilson, Shelvey and Jovanovic - all of whom were selected by Rafa and approved by Hodgson? And what about all the other players Rafa bought whose values have increased significantly? And don't forget all the long and improved contracts he secured for Gerrard, Carragher, Torres, Mascherano, Agger, Skyrtel, Yossi and all the others putting the club in a good negotiating position if any of them were to be sold? And Rafa's sales - wasn't 30-35 million pounds pretty good for Alonso considering the player had already had a deal to go to Real Madrid and had undertaken to help RM get him for less than 19 million? Rafa was more restricted than any other top 7 manager with the funds he was given and the cock-eyed, late and unreliable manner in which the funds were made available. He did very well in building the squad from what it was under Houllier to what it is today and along the way he got to two CL finals, won the FA CUp, scored the highest number of goals and the highest number of PL points in LFC's history. Your use of the word "disaster" is a little hysterical.
  24. diego
    Did you read about his first meeting with a group from SOS when he described all players (including Carragher) as money grubbers - or some such phrase?
  25. diego
    No he didn't.
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