Cunny

£20m + Zebina = £15m

was Hawkpoint's remit to find investment or appraise investment proposals?

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/li...ticle354432.ece Time running out for Reds in race to satisfy Benitez's lofty ambitions By Andy Hunter Published: 30 March 2006 The city of Liverpool's attempts to mark its elevation to European Capital of Culture in 2008 have been cursed with ill fortune - even the inventive publicity stunt that saw Steven Gerrard wear a special "08" shirt during Saturday's tempestuous Merseyside derby lasted only 18 minutes before he was dismissed. And the prospect of that other momentous event scheduled for 2008, the opening of the new Anfield stadium, also appears to be receding with indecent haste. Yesterday's announcement to the Stock Exchange that Liverpool football club were still examining possible investors and even potential takeovers gave the immediate impression that progress was being made towards raising funds for that new stadium. However, the statement was more a clarification of the club's position - enforced by the Takeover Panel - and yet another sign that a process that has already been running for three years is still very far from being completed. Liverpool's dire need for greater investment is no secret. When Rafael Benitez hinted recently that he would need significant funds to strengthen his squad to mount a genuine challenge to Chelsea's domestic dominance, it scared the Liverpool hierarchy into offering their manager a new £10m contract - as yet unsigned. But in terms of seizing upon the momentum of last season's European Cup success, Benitez's statement did not tell the club's chairman, David Moores, his fellow directors, chief executive Rick Parry or Liverpool's supporters anything they did not already know. It was in March 2004 that Liverpool appointed the financial consultants Hawkpoint to find investors after their own searches over the previous 12 months proved fruitless. Many of those who were considered were unpromising. Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's Prime Minister, proposed using a lottery in his country to raise the money. The American billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns American football's New England Patriots, held talks with Parry that came to nothing while Steve Morgan, an existing shareholder and millionaire property developer, found his personal enmity with Moores an obstacle. Despite an insistence that he would never allow personal sentiment to stand in the way of progress, and would sell his majority shareholding in the club to the right buyer, Moores has so far resisted all inquiries, believing the club to be worth double the £100m it is currently valued at. Understandably, he will sell only at a premium price and, as a chairman with a genuine affection for the club his family has controlled for more than 40 years, only when he is given assurances about the way that Liverpool would be run. Time, however, is against him. Juan Villalonga, the Spanish businessman who has become the latest investor to be linked with an takeover, captured the mood of Moores' detractors when he declared that his consortium wanted Liverpool to change from a "domestic to a global brand". The obvious place to start would be Liverpool's matchday revenue and it is there that the development of a new stadium proves crucial to future growth. With Manchester United in the process of extending Old Trafford's capacity to 75,000 and Arsenal about to move to the Emirates Stadium, holding 60,000, the pressure is building on Liverpool to leave Anfield - where the capacity is 45,362 - especially as they approach a new deadline for European funding that is essential to their proposed new 55,000 stadium. At Liverpool's AGM last year, Parry revealed that building work on the stadium had to commence by March 2006 in order for the club to move to the new Stanley Park ground, just 300 yards from the original Anfield, in time for the city's 2008 celebrations. Today, there is not even the beginnings of a construction site. The club's proposals only received government support last year on the basis that the local community would also benefit, with Stanley Park due to be restored to its Victorian splendour, improvements made to local housing and the existing Anfield site turned into a memorial garden and walkway to the new arena. On Friday the deadline for an £11m grant from the European Union that is vital to the stadium's development expires, although sources at the club say that they have no plans to shelve the move just yet. The cost of the new ground could be as much as £200m, and keeping up with Benitez's ambitious plans for improvement will not be cheap either. If Villalonga is to be Liverpool's saviour, he needs to play his hand quickly.

full time 0-0

Lyon have dominated the second half but have not created a chance of note. I reckon Milan will get a sneaky winner.

Inter 2 Villareal 1 O Martins 53

it seems to me there is an interview a week with Nando saying he wants to stay let's face it he's going

Grauniad seem to think Sven will get it by default Madrid fans don't want him though

This content is not viewable to guests.

sounds like the premiership

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

looks like the club will find out on Thursday the full allocation etc... this was on the Chelsea website which Newsnow have linked in the Liverpool section http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?hlid=...sub=latest+news The FA will inform Chelsea on Thursday of the allocation, prices and ticketing arrangements for the FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool. In advance of receiving that information, the plan to sell the tickets is as follows: - season ticket holders will have a three-day period to purchase a ticket, one per person - following that, members will then have a three-day period to purchase a ticket, one per person - following that, season ticket holders and members will then be able to purchase a further two tickets - subject to availability The exact date this procedure will commence will be known following Thursday's meeting with the FA. 75 per cent of the tickets will be sold via online booking and 25 per cent to personal callers at the box office. No telephone, fax or postal applications will be accepted. The game is to be held at Old Trafford on Saturday April 22nd, kick-off 5.15pm.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

excellent, strop over! they must have just put it up as it wasn;'t on there 10 minutes ago! nice one Chris ha ha! even better

fair enough but that's the official Echo match report, not an Everton based analysis of the game. Bascombe does not seem to have a piece in the Echo today.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0400eve...-name_page.html were we even there? one of the most one eyed accounts I've ever read not sure why Bascombe has not written this report or a Liverpool version of the game Prentice also has an analysis piece with the usual sly digs included

G is for the gnarled face of someone who is on 90 grand a week and reckons he should have had a throw in

I agree that a Liverpool win was always the most likely outcome. I just thought that Everton @ 5/1 were a touch too long and represented value. that does not mean I discounted our form. We'd had two away games in the space of 48 hours since Everton had last played. I thought that could be a contributary factor for the derby, that's why I thought Everton were value at 5/1 in their cup final.

from a straight forward betting point of view, the 5/1 on Everton was the logical bet. They were in good form, Liverpool had played the extra mid-week game and in a Derby anything can happen. That was the value bet in the home/draw/away market. I had a small bet on Everton at 5/1 for insurance purposes - absolutely delighted I won feck all! Just like Everton!

my eyes must have deceived me then, when I saw the Everton players surrounding the ref wanting Gerrard sent off. I'm fairly sure Weir, Stubbs and Hibbert were at the forefront as well.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

That will be at Old Trafofrd on the Sunday. Old Trafford's capacity increases to 70000+ the previous week