kick316

If true, that would be a briliant move on DIC's part. If Hicks is being difficult, offer more money to Gillett. Under the terms of the first refusal deal, Hicks would have to match DIC's offer to buy out Gillett. Hicks would therefore need to come up with more funds. If I were DIC, I would threaten to stop discussions with Hicks and negotiate exclusively with Gillett and offer him the profit that they were about to offer Hicks. If the 25m profit each were true, under this arrangement, Gillett would get all 50m. Once they have 50% of the club they could then put the squeeze on Hicks and eventually force him out. Under this scenario they would be saying to Hicks "Accept the 25m offer or we negotiate exclueively with Gillett and offer him your part of the profit"

Is Real Madrid still the richest club in the world? Or have the Mancs overtaken them? Anyway both of these clubs have similar global appeals to Liverpool. They already have 70k+ seater stadiums. Their marketing and merchandising are light years ahead of us. Even then are they worth £1b?

From CBS sports. Note the comments about Gillett (in bold)... Unpopular Hicks denies rumors he will sell Liverpool club to Dubai LONDON -- Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks denied reports Tuesday that he is preparing to sell his stake in the club just a year after buying it. The Times of London reported Tuesday that Hicks and George Gillett Jr. agreed to let Dubai International Capital examine the accounts ahead of a possible takeover bid next month. DIC, the private-equity investment arm of the Dubai government that competed with the American businessmen to buy Liverpool last year, declined to comment, but Hicks rebuffed the story in an e-mailed statement. "Reports in the UK media that I am about to sell my stake in the Liverpool Football Club, or to invite DIC to examine the club's books in preparation for such a sale -- like other such reports planted in the UK press in recent weeks by parties with their own self-interested agenda -- are absolutely and categorically false," Hicks said. "The reality is that I am personally, professionally and financially committed to the club and its supporters and that I will continue to honor that commitment to the best of my ability now and in the future." Hicks, who also owns baseball's Texas Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars, did not elaborate on which "parties" were allegedly planting the stories. He also did not comment on speculation that he and Gillett had fallen out over their plans for the club. Gillett was not mentioned in the statement. The Times reported that Gillett, who owns the Montreal Canadiens, would be happy to sell his 50 percent stake. In a separate e-mail to the Associated Press, Hicks said he is committed to Liverpool "regardless" of the actions of Gillett. Gillett and Hicks bought Liverpool for $431 (U.S.) million in March 2007, which included an agreement to pay off about $89 million of debt and a pledge to build and finance a 60,000-seat stadium. The Times said that Liverpool was now valued at more than $788 million, including an increased debt. Gillett and Hicks refinanced their Liverpool deal with a $690 million package from two banks on Jan. 25. Fans have been turning against the American owners, who have been in a power struggle with popular manager Rafa Benitez over player transfers. Hicks has acknowledged he had sought out Juergen Klinsmann as a possible replacement in November. Gillett has taken a back seat in recent months, along with his son Foster Gillett, who is a director. Instead, Hicks has been the main spokesman for the two. His son, Tom Hicks Jr., who is also a director, was reportedly spat at and doused with beer when he went to a pub near Anfield stadium on Saturday after Liverpool's 3-2 win over Middlesbrough in the Premier League. There's also an outside chance of Liverpool fans taking over the club. A member-share scheme was launched on Jan. 31 with the aim of raising around $995 million to oust the Americans and fund a new stadium. Share Liverpool FC said on its website it had more than 18,000 pledges to get involved and was raising funds to set up a proper body to launch a takeover bid. In the meantime, Liverpool has been eliminated early in both of England's cup competitions and is 17 points behind Premier League leader Arsenal, in fifth place. The club is in good shape in the Champions League, however, holding a 2-0 lead over Inter Milan in the second round going into the return leg in Milan on March 11.

I can't seem to find any thread discussing this rumour on the RAWK forums. Do you have a link?

Yup ironic for Carra if he did complain playing as RB and "I must play in the centre" Gerrard.

It would be incredibly ironic if Rafa was sacked in the summer and the new manager drops Carra (plays Skrtel & Agger) and shifts Gerrard to the right.

Didn't we win though? Quite comfortably in fact.

There is no doubt in my mind that Rafa is very intelligent and tactically he is one of the best around. However he does not appear to be personable and can be “distant”. In my line of work (one of the biggest Oil & Gas companies in the world), I’ve met many individuals of this type. People who are extremely talented, focused and excel in their respective fields. They’re also single-minded and stubborn. This is advantageous in certain circumstances but can also lead to problems. They believe in what they do and tend to focus on getting the job done irrespective of how it may affect other people on a personal level. The problem is they might have trouble building relationships because their focus and single-mindedness leads them to be seen as "abrasive" and easily rub people the wrong way. By the way, these people are often "Chief Scientists" or specialists in their field. Being a football manager is more than just being a tactician. Man-management is a big part of the job as well. In my opinion this is where Rafa is failing at the moment.

No excuses but who knows what sort of impact the current boardroom turmoil is having on the players. Of course they're professionals and are extremely well paid but they are human after all. Anyway if we don't do well in the next few games I wouldn't be surprised to see Rafa gone before the end of the season....followed by a few players walking out in the summer.

What about Rijkaard? He'll probably be out of a job this summer with Mourinho replacing him.

It’s embarrassing when we become an example of mistakes and what to avoid. :-[ We won't repeat Liverpool mistakes, say Derby's owners We won't be like Liverpool, say Derby We’ve become a laughing stock.

As mentioned before, the discrimination is based on nationality not race. This is not about race or religion but political. Anyway your objection to DIC is based on a flawed assumption.

Wont the funds for Mascherano come from the recent loan? Expect Hicks to milk the PR from the signing for all its worth. Anyway this is a no risk deal for Hicks and proves nothing regarding his intentions to sell the club. Think about it, the funds for transfers are funded from loans secured against the club. If he were to sell LFC the club secured loans would be taken over by the new owners anyway. So zero risk for him to lose money over the deal while reaping the PR benefits. Smart move. Additionally I don't this proves his commitment to the manager. Mascherano is highly coveted by most of the top teams in Europe. Highly likely that the new manager (if Rafa goes) would want him. If not he can be sold for a tidy profit. Like I said a zero risk deal from Hick's point of view.

If we believe the reports, about 60m from the new loan will go towards starting the stadium project. Embarking on a project costing hundreds of millions without securing a large portion of the funds sounds extremely risky. What will we do in 18 months time? Get another loan? Find new investors? Hope the economy improves? Hope that new revenue streams bring in substantial amounts of cash?

It was a pre-recorded interview where the questions were vetted. Did you expect him to say the wrong things?

First half was really bad. Second was was better. Overall it was a poor game from us keeping in mind the quality of opposition. At the end of the day we won 5-2. In isolation, our poor performance in this game is not a major cause for concern. When taken into the context of the recent run of bad form and all the other things going on at the club than it indicates that there could be problems. Is it a problem with Rafa? Players? Ownership? I don't know but something isn't right.

Something isn't right. Where is Gillette? It doesn't make sense that after the most turbulent 2 weeks in recent LFC history something of the magnitude of the stadium and refinancing package would not include any statements from Gillette in the press release. I'm surprised that more has not been made of this.

Why is it all coming from the Hicks camp? "Hicks is confident...", "Sources close to Hicks told the ECHO...", "Hicks has informed confidantes he will also reveal finalised plans for the new Anfield..." . Where is Gillett?

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Exactly. This refinancing package is just to cover the existing loans, summer purchases and to start work on the stadium. Extra cash will be needed to complete the stadium and this will only by raised via additional loans. Until the stadium is completed we will not receive any significant increase in our revenue. So if we are having trouble with the current loans, how would we handle the additional loan to complete the stadium? I think we will have new owners soon. Hicks is just playing hardball and trying to get as much $$$ as he can.

There are some issues with workers rights (mainly labourers in the construction industry) in Dubai. However, what issues with women’s rights and religious police are you referring to?

In my job, I'm involved in lot of contracting and procurement work. Until everything is formally agreed between all parties, we are careful on what we communicate to those not involved in the negotiations. Things can change and until the contract is signed things can and often do change. It can be very damaging and you lose a lot of credibility if you don’t manage your communication and messages that you give out to the various stakeholders. The way the DIC bid was handled (in terms of managing the communication) was amateurish. Although the club never formally announced that the deal was done (because it wasn’t), the messages coming out from the club was that the deal was virtually done and was just a formality.

If the owners are not even willing to put in 20million of their own money to secure the long-term future of the club than what hope do we have if we remain under their ownership?

Edited - oops....double post

Maybe Rafa wants to improve our attacking play by building from the back. The other top teams are excellent at this. Evra contributes a lot to the attacking play of the Mancs. Similarly, Cliche does this for Arsenal. To a lesser extent Chelsea have Cole who is good at going forwards as well. Even Spurs base a lot of their attacking through their fullbacks. Shame that they can't defend to save their lives though.