Bromage

The key point here surely is what happens next. How will SOS use the momentum created here in a positive way and build support for this cause?

Oh God, I'm so f***in depressed......................................!

Given the latest set of financials, if you removed gate receipts and resulting commercial sales, from the revenue total I am not entirely sure that we could survive.

Exactly right. When your trying to sell a business as a "going concern", you need to demonstrate stability in the management and thereby the highest value ofn the asset. It thefore surely follows that G&H regarded Rafa as a liability, who would discourage buyers and adversely affect any potential sale. Maybe complete control over club affairs was a "turn off" for interested parties? Maybe at this stage 4th or 7th was irrelevant?

No need to be fair to Purslow - this is the man put in by the bank to protect the investment. This is the man who has openly praised Rafa in the media whilst constantly undermining him and briefing against him in the press. Any stress, beyond that of a nomal Chief Executive, is self-induced and he should take full responsibility for the turmoil which exists at the club today.

Maybe some would like to understand why you would want him gone under these circumstances. It's not as if we're in any position to bring in a credible replacement.

I understand the sentiment but personally I think it is essential that Kenny stays, as apart from him and a couple of players who else is going to represent the interest and heritage of the Club?

But surely no surprise?

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This is a tough call as I think that Wayne & Vic both consider what they will do is right, even if they differ. There's a strange sickness creeping over the club now which isn't attractive and gives the impression that we are now not only being run by people who know nothing about the club, or football for that matter but also the media and the so-called experts with their erroneous "facts". Aren't we now one of the few clubs, if not the only club left who they have historically failed to infiltrate and influence based on what they print. Whereas in the past the sound stewardship of John Smith during the Shankly and Paisley era has kept these people at bay, even the more recent Moores/Parry era maintained the "Liverpool Way" until the final days; but now we are laid bare for all to see and it may well be that aside from financial considerations, Broughton & Purslow due to lack of experience may be heavily influenced by press "opinion" and be prepared to take football decisions accordingly. So it's dificult to know whether I can agree with Wayne's view that the team aren't to blame, particularly when you read from Dave Maddock today that Rafa had apparently "lost the dressing room". For me staying away should be considered a short term act to reach the objective of forcing the owners out of the club. I would even go as far as saying I suspect many would consider administration in order to remove these people, if this were the only option left, although we also know how painful that might prove and the risk that we may not recover for some time. But let me make clear I don't doubt either Wayne or Vic's commitment, I just think they have the right to do what they think is right, based on their own principals.

Full Story May 22 2010 Liverpool Echo LIVERPOOL Football Club has been systematically raped by its owners. The words of lifelong Liverpool supporter and football industry expert, Dr Rogan Taylor. Every Liverpool fan and this newspaper wholeheartedly agrees with him. So now, after 3½ years of heartbreak and disharmony, of broken promises and shattered dreams, there can only be one conclusion. Enough is enough. Therefore, the message today to American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett is blunt, passionate, and heartfelt. For Gods sake, get out of a wonderful, treasured football club which so many of our readers, plus millions more around the world, love and cherish so deeply. And get out now before you kill their beloved Liverpool FC. No more time can be wasted. No more words can be said or spun. Because right now one of the worlds greatest and most successful football clubs is facing a grave financial and operational crisis this summer. And, unless things change radically and fast, Liverpool faces falling from the pedestal which the late, great Bill Shankly first placed it upon in the 1960s. Its a revered place where men like Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish, Houllier and Benitez have sought for decades to continue to hoist the Reds. But with £40m a year spilling out of Anfield every year in interest payments to service the disgusting debts two brazen businessmen reversed into Liverpool FC, there is no prospect of that lofty position being maintained any longer. Hindsight shows that previous owner David Moores, ex-chief executive Rick Parry and the rest of the then Reds board for all the pressures they were under to keep the Reds competitive clearly made the biggest mistake in Anfield history when they agreed the sale to Hicks and Gillett. Because the Hicks and Gillett regime has been a shameful, unedifying catastrophe for Liverpool Football Club. They broke their promises not do do a Glazer and saddled Liverpool with massive bank loans the club cannot bear just to pay for their greed and their ruthless desire to sell at a hefty profit one day. They promised a stadium they have never delivered. And most cruelly ironic of all, they promised to be good custodians of a club they have now near-ruined. Today their own selfish, avaricious dreams lie in near tatters too their partnership of chance and convenience broken beyond repair and with it the harmony and professionalism for which Liverpool FC was once renowned. The only good news from them came a few weeks ago when they formally admitted that the Reds were up for sale. Every Kopite prays they mean it and they will now offload the Reds to fit and proper owners who can begin to repair the terrible financial damage they have wreaked upon Liverpool FC. The Echo calls upon the Americans now to realise their unsavoury hopes of making mega-millons in profit are dashed and urges them to sell the club at a realistic price before another day is wasted. As it stands, weary Reds fans are deeply worried about the future of the club they worship and support like no other supporters in the world. They desperately fear players like Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres brilliant talents who love Liverpool to their core and who fit the Anfield culture and character so clearly may feel the need to abandon ship. They fear a manager, who for all his critics and his mistakes many still admire, will have nothing but buttons to spend on new players this summer after a season of so much disappointment and despair. It has all got to stop. And stop now. Because if this drift of despair goes on any longer, it could stop the heart of a football club known worldwide for the size of that heart; for its brilliance and its unrivalled, precious history. Those magnificent Liverpool fans have protested so many times and tried so hard in the past three years to their enormous credit to broker change. But their patience is more than wearing thin. It is utterly exhausted and understandably, rightly so. There is still a chance for Liverpool to find a safe shore and recover. The clubs potential even now in Anfields darkest hour is too big for even men like Hicks and Gillett to totally destroy. But it is a slim chance and today a last chance. As soon as transitional chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and the rest of the Reds management team find a decent new investor whom they and the Kop can trust, then the Americans must allow them in. Hicks and Gillett have to get on with it and get out and go well before another ball is kicked again at Anfield. They know it. We know it. And every Liverpool fan has long since known it. Their time is up.

Just for the record, membership of the SOS or agreement with its views is not a precondition of membership on YNWA and certainly won't ever be the case.

That's almost Cantona-esque, Kev

That's OK, I welcome your opinion; much better than a smart one-liner. ;-)

Say what you mean; why be a smart a***?

On football forums such as this, sticking your head "above the parapet" can be a dangerous pastime. Over the past 2 years and even when the team were unbeatable during an extended run which included the thrashing of Real Madrid and Man Utd lone voices on here continued to criticise the manager, whilst the majority blamed the owners for their broken promises and lack of support. Is there any moral victory for those who turned against Rafa? Most of us, me included, prefer to remain loyal to the manager in the belief that given the right circumstances Rafa's true class would shine through. There is absolutely no doubt that the vitriolic press have grown more and more frustrated at their inability to force opinion against Rafa. False statistics and double standards have been used in abundance to substantiate their claims and it's no real surprise that eventually even the most loyal followers began to doubt. But the question was that if you were "brave" enough to join these self-interested detractors will you feel good about yourself, will you promote or perhaps reprint your "told you so" postings from the past? Will you bravely run the gauntlet of the majority for "breaking ranks" on a pretext that you were only serving the best interests of the club? Well take heart in the knowledge that your views probably made little if any diffference to the outcome of this saga and the decisions which will be reached by Rafa and others in the next 7 days will have little to do with your opinions.

I would suggest that expecting 100% is impossible but 10% is also an exaggeration. By definition any manager will buy players for a specific purpose, so some will be first team and others will be backup. One in three would seem about right and I think this is where Rafa has been since he joined. Also regarding "no plan A", this is SOOOOO Sunday Supplement!! For examples, go right back to Istanbul and come right forward to Benfica 1st leg.

If everyone is of the same opinion then I will start the refund process. If anyone wants to do this individually then please let me know; peter@ynwa.tv. Lastly, if anyone wants to contribute their donation to the running of the site then that would also be appreciated.

The problem is that non of those achievements happened this season and in these days of Sky's, "forget yesterday, it's only now that matters" jounalism, too many fans are sucked in to the premise that it's bound to better if we get rid. The common thread in this this discussion is frustration, either with the manager or the situation or both, with a few "I told you so's" thrown in for good measure. Plainly nobody likes the situation but what would improve with a change in manager; how would we feel if the owners suddenly came up enough money to pay off Rafa and provide funds for transfers? And if there was no money, why would another quality manager want to come in under the current circumstances? However frustrated we are with the current position, isn't it surely better to get rid of the owners first and then let the next generation make the choices in the best interests and with the full financial backing of the club?

I won 't even watch the game until tomorrow morning but what I do know is that due to being out today, whether I watched the story on the BBC or Sky website the updates were consistently focussed on Rafa, his decisions and our chances of getting 4th spot and no balanced view about whether we were good or bad; how does MotD2 decide whether Torres & Gerrard looked perplexed? I don't give a flying feck what the journalists think about my team and my manager and I won't be taken in by their "who shall we target next" rhetoric because what you have to realise is that when they finally hound Rafa out of our club, they will cease to care about LFC any more and they'll go after somebody else. We're the ones who will be left to deal with the aftermath and until whoever comes along next with their new brand of media-approved, managerial excellence, please allow me to continue to believe that we are much better off with the deal we have now. It can only get worse........

Agree wholeheartedly; it's because of the stature of our fans that we have endured this season and not been chanting to have him sacked.

As it now seems that chances of a top 4 finish are rapidly diminishing, maybe the lack of CL funds next season make it almost certain that the owners will unload players to service the debt. Quite why anyone would consider investing £100m, given the current circumstances; so with reduced income, increased debt repayments and a weakened squad threatening CL qualification any time soon, maybe comparison with, oh I don't know, Leeds? Tell me what colour scarves you want and I'll get a thousand to start with.

Interesting comparison with last season; -------------------------------Reina -Carragher---------Skrtel---------Hyypia---------Aurelio -Kuyt-----Lucas------------Mascherano------Riera ----------------------------Gerrard --------------------------Torres

Do you really imagine it was he who raised the subject?

Oh, you mean in general........................