mm2259

Sky/Murdoch don't give a fiddlers f*ck about the smaller clubs and neither do the big clubs. Murdoch will be at the head of the queue to buy the rights to Us, the glams and Arsenal when they are put up for sale.

It already happens in other European Leagues, for instance Juventus sold their TV rights to MediaSet for the 07/08 and 08/09 seasons for €218m in the first deal of its kind. What will make it happen here is that the big clubs will cry and moan and whinge like the bitches they are until they get their own way. And they always do (see Premier League & Champions League for details).

The new stadium is needed but is not where the real money will come from. When, in the not too distant future, we get to sell our own TV rights worldwide the club will be awash with money and that is the end game for all current and potential investors.

Independent again... Liverpool debt dispute forces Americans to consider sale By Nick Harris and Jason Burt Published: 16 January 2008 A dispute between Liverpool's American owners and the club's board over whether to laden the club with massive debts has cast fresh doubt over Tom Hicks and George Gillett's future at Anfield as new rumours circulated yesterday that they have agreed a deal to sell up. One source, a major football financier, claimed last night that Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club, which they co-own, for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way. The potential buyers most consistently linked with Liverpool in recent months are Dubai International Capital, an investment vehicle ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men. DIC came close to buying Liverpool a year ago and are certainly still circling, although the source suggested that a different investor – or partnership – might be behind the £350m bid. A DIC spokeswoman said: "We can only say 'no comment' at this stage." Insiders at Liverpool denied a deal had been concluded with DIC, or that any due diligence was underway. Equally, both Hicks and the club maintain in private that Hicks, at least, is an unwilling seller, to anyone, at the moment. However, a senior source at Liverpool told The Independent that "it is difficult to say categorically what is going on" and it is understood there is a growing schism between the board – which is trying to run the club on a day-to-day basis – and the owners. The source of this rift is money, specifically a divergence of opinion about how Hicks and Gillett will restructure their finances. When they bought Liverpool last year, they paid for the club entirely with borrowed money, in the form of a £270m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Of that, £174.1m was spent on equity, £44.8m on pre-existing debt, and the balance on working capital. The RBS loan is due to be repaid next month. The Americans' representatives insist they are close to securing a new £350m loan, most of which will clear their first loan, with the rest spent on initial outlay on the proposed new stadium. The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own. Contrary to reports, the so-called "global credit crunch" has not been a significant factor in delaying a new loan. Rather, according to a well-placed source, "the very significant block" to the Americans' borrowing plans has been the board's opposition to heaping that debt on the club. When Hicks and Gillett took over, they made much of the fact, referring to events at Manchester United two years beforehand, that theirs would not be a "Glazer-style" takeover, with the club potentially imperilled by debt set against its assets. Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money – which they may be unwilling or unable to provide – the impasse will continue. In that sense, a buyer offering them £350m for their 100 per cent stake could well be attractive. It would allow them to repay their £270m RBS loan and walk away with an £80m profit between them after just a year's involvement. Yet as recently as last autumn, they were valuing the club at an extraordinary £1bn, a figure unrelated to financial reality. Hicks and Gillett's relationship with the board is rapidly becoming as fractious as that with their manager, Rafa Benitez, upon whom they heaped huge embarrassment on Monday when Hicks revealed he had interviewed Jürgen Klinsmann in November as a stand-by candidate for Benitez's job. "You might be able to make a case that they let Rafa know this had happened," said one exasperated Liverpool source. "But what on earth Hicks thought he would achieve by telling the world is beyond anyone." Until the Americans have either resolved their financing problems or sold the club, plans for the new stadium, like Benitez's future, will remain up in the air

I was in the Anny Road and the Kop was getting drowned out by the 15 Bolton fans who could be assed singing the same three songs over and over again. The Anny Road was quieter than usual as well, not even a burst of "You're Not Singing Any More" or "Who Are Ya" when we scored. Most of those around me didn't appear to know the words to anything.

It was sh*te from start to finish.

It was sh*te...

Make that 11....

Fri Nov 16 - Sun Nov 18 - Season Ticket Holders Must have Reading (25/9/07) on Fancard Mon Nov - 19 Tue Nov 20 - Fancard Holders Must have Reading (25/9/07) on Fancard Wed Nov - 21 Wed Dec 19 - Season Ticket Holders Tue Nov 27 - Wed Dec 19 - Fancard Holders Here

Mascherano Alonso Reina

They were trying to get us to join in with that after the match but all they got back was a quick burst of Besiktas. It's weird but at the time I couldn't quite get the tune but I've going round singing it for the last couple of days. I thought it was going to turn a bit hairy when they had the minutes silence with the last post playing in the background just before the teams came out. Some of our crowd had just started singing and it took a few seconds for us to get on to it but we managed to stop before the Besiktas fans got too annoyed and I noticed that the topless lad at the front of the section next us who appeared to be their cheerleader turned and applauded us when the silence finished. Got my photograph taken about ten times outside the ground before the match and never felt in any danger at any time while we were there. Good trip, great fans, pity about the result.....

Lippi Today - I'm unlikely to coach in England because I can't speak English

If you want to see some good old fashioned racism you should go to away games with Barnes. We are in no position to talk about racist fans, we've got lots of our own......

This game has changed from "Sold Out" to "On Sale" on the Latest Ticket News on the the offal. Looks like they have some returns, might be worth a punt if anyone is looking....

Does anyone know the seat numbers in Block 105 that are directly behind the goal? Thank you for your time....

I'm in the process of reading the full planning submission and from what I have gathered so far the deal was a 50/50 JV on Anfield Plaza in return for a 999 year lease on the eastern end of Stanley Park at a nominal rent of £300k per annum. Also the Highbury deal appears to mainly consist of the sale of properties built on the site giving a one-off return where as Anfield Plaza will be more along the lines of an annual income stream from rentals.

There is a third revenue generator, Anfield Plaza which is a JV between the club and LCC.

Yes, you are correct there is a different version of this picture earlier in thread. Now do you have some point you wish to make?

Found this on Skyscraper City

I used to park there and it was more like 50 cars...

I'm going with my bin lids....

Different view from skyscrapersnews.com

A1 and M62 with scant regard to speed limits, got home by 8pm.

Le Tallec played... didn't you hear the guy on the tannoy before the match building him up as big star in team, played 32 first team games, french star, blah blah... it was f*cking hilarious.

lol at this thread Quite clearly if we sell Cisse, Bellamy & Gonzalez then we've got Torres for nothing. Except we've already paid out about £22m plus for those but then again we got that £22m by selling x, y & z in the previous two seasons and hey f*cking presto before you know we're factoring in the 13 Guineas we paid for Arthur Atkinson in 1902..... it's all boll*cks, if Torres had been available at £20m last season we would have been nowhere near him because we didn't have the f*cking money....