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I'm very critical of Moores ability as a Chairman and about the strategic and financial management of the club. However, the above statement is complete and utter b******s. We have the finest manager in the world and he has improved the squad on last season. I can't wait for the season to start, I'm more optimistic than I have been for nearly twenty years. Apart from anything else,we have the finest scouse spine the club has ever had - Carra, Stevie and Robbie - you OOT's wouldnt feel that as much (wonder if I'll get a bite on that ). f***in' legends the three of them. Can you imagine a picture of Carra, Stevie and Robbie winning the league and parading around the pitch with the trophy. ****, pass the tissues

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It was a verbal agreement, apparently, that Arsenal are't standing by

Ah just seen on SSN; decision to be published 7PM today.

Sack give Parry a raise

Think you are spot on John. I also think it wont be playing to Maureen's strengths as a coach; he tried to play various ways in the second half of last second and wasn't up to it.

Wasn't that supposed to be finished on Saturday ?

Fair reply mate, but the fact we are a Champions League club doesnt excuse what had become a ridiculous wage bill, for what had been a crap set of players. We weren't just paying massively more for players wages (which would be fair enough as a simple statement) but massively more as a percentage of our turnover. I don't understand how you can call it nonsense - it is a statement of the operating profits of those clubs over that full season 2004-2005.

Going on from the Forbes article check the figures I suggested which they have posted. Look at the operating profits of Newcastle and Spurs, even after the big money they fork out on transfers. Which they are still forking out on transfers. I dont expect us to compete in our financial management with the Chavs, but it would be nice to compete with Spurs of Newcastle, let alone a*** or the Mancs.

Here's that Forbes article (not a trashy tabloid or disreputable story), by the way, as folk don't seem to read it or deal with it. : In December 2004, David Moores, chairman of and largest investor in the fabled Liverpool Football Club, appeared to be distraught as he addressed his team's board. Moores fretted that the financially strapped club would have to scuttle plans for a £170 million ($290 million) stadium. The new ground across Stanley Park from their Anfield home was needed to bring in receipts the Reds need to remain competitive on the pitch against much wealthier rivals like Manchester United and Chelsea. "These past 12 months have not been easy," said Moores during the meeting. "We are looking at all roads to get investment into this club, including offers already on the table." A full year and a surprise European championship title later, the club's inner circle must have been shocked to hear the same sentiments from Moores. The team posted 2005 operating losses (in the sense of earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation) of £1.6 million despite £30 million in bonus revenue from European competition. We estimate that the value of Liverpool fell 11% in the past year, to £226 million. How could the finances be so dismal? Liverpool's fan base soared to 18 million people worldwide, from just 8 million the year before, according to German sports-consultant Sport & Markt AG. Besides collecting the European revenue, a record number of visitors to the club's Web site generated £685,000 last year, 11 times 2004 Web-related revenue. Despite Liverpool's rebound on the pitch, it has taken Moores' total commitment and financial legwork just to keep the lights on. Profits on player transfers as Benitez reshaped the team helped the Reds post an accounting profit in 2005, but a £65 million payroll, at 73% of ex-Champions League revenue, is too rich. Had Liverpool missed qualifying for the 2005 Champions bracket, the club very well could have been running £30 million short of breath. An undercapitalised team like Liverpool cannot consistently compete with rich clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal (also of London) without a modern stadium. The Reds pull in only £33 million from stadium revenue; Manchester United gets more than double that. With a capacity of only 45,000, Liverpool's Anfield can't come close to accommodating the crowds Manchester United packs into its Old Trafford stadium (68,000, expanding to 76,000 this year). A move into the planned 60,000-seat Stanley Park could mean a 35% boost for Liverpool's match-day revenue (more than £11.5 million) in its first season. Liverpool's ticket prices are lower, too. Match-day revenue contributed only 27% of total income for Liverpool, a far cry from the 38% to 42% seen at rivals ManU, Newcastle United and Chelsea. Making matters worse, a new broadcasting agreement for the Premier League will diminish fees paid out to clubs. This particularly hurts Liverpool, whose fans travel the farthest of any Premiership club (50 miles on average) to home matches, according to research consultant SportsWise. One way to boost operating income would be to solicit some new equity capital and invest in a new stadium. But Moores, who owns 51% of the team, is not enthusiastic about diluting his stake. (He declines to be interviewed on the subject.)

As I said, read the Forbes article and its list of clubs earnings and wealth above. Take note of Spurs and Newcastle, for example. Well said. I'd agree that nothing else matters, as long as he is given the finances he needs/deserves and as long as he is happy enough with that to stay with the club. As long as we are secure not just for now but for the medium and long term. I agree totally with Kev. Rafa has bought Moores and Parry a little more time. It is down to them to assure our medium and long term. It is Moores ability to do that that I am questioning. A couple of folk ( well one old git ) has said, ' we would never have questioned the chairman in my day'. Fair play. I can remember the 60' and 70's as well and I wish it was still like that. Its a head up a*** attitude though, I'm afraid. Without the business acumen to plan for the clubs medium and long term we will be where Aston Villa are in 10 or 15 years time. if it wasn;t for rafa we would be well on the raod to it NOW.

No-one is saying that. Its not sacriledge to discuss our Chairman, in a dignified manner, so I dont understand your 'Koptalk' staement. Read the Forbes article above and their financial details of us and other clubs. Ask yourself where we would be if we didn't have Rafa, hadn't won the Champions League and the finances it brought it. I'd suggest we would be well on the way to being established amongst the second tier of clubs. As for us having some of the best years we have seen as a club, I can't agree with that, except for the Champions League and the positive feeling around Rafa and the team he is building. Everthing positive about the club now (and there is a lot) it is all about, based on and coming from Rafa. If Moores gives him the finances he deserves, whether it is from himself or outside investment, then fair play to him. I think there is a tendency to look through rose coloured glasses, forget the abysmal squad we had on outrageous wages and the absolutely dire football we were playing. We've seen some of the worst years in the last three decades, fairly recently. I dont want to get negative; I feel hugely good about us, about the team and about the manager. But all of that is based on Rafa.

I'm not going to slate our Chairman. He has been one of the most dignified people in Football for the last ten years; he is also very obviously a big fan. As a person and as a fellow red I think he is a terrific human being. My next door neighbour was best mates with his step son - we've discussed it a lot with him being a fellow red. A terrific set of people. His life has been beset by tragedy as well as many highs. Those things, though, fall far short of what is needed to be the Chairman of a major organisation Like LFC, in football or elsewhere. This is where my only problems with him are. He has been given massive amounts of money in his life; he received huge financial recompense for the tragedies that have bestruck him. He has inherited great wealth and he was given his shares in LFC. Those shares have sky rocketed in value and to be fair, he has never invested any of his wealth in the club. He has tried to start business ventures in his life. Every business he has started has gone bankrupt. I reckon he was ready to sell up for whatever he could get before we won the Champions League. I also reckon that the Champions League win changed his thinking on that. Now he is ready to sell but seems to be holding out for higher than potential investors seem to think his shares are worth. This seems a balanced article, together with Forbes valuing of what clubs are worth. According to LFC History - 1 , 2, 3, 4, our net spend on players has been £12mill a year under Ged and Rafa. Is that a sufficient outlay ? Now is the most optimistic I have been as a red since the early 90's. It seems to have been 15 years of looking for the final piece of the puzzle. I'd suggest that is down to Rafa not any of the board, mind you. On that basis I would fear for our future again if Rafa should leave in the near future, without finishing what he has started. I'm open to what any of you has to say about Moores and I am hoping it is positive. As a human being I hold him in high regard, but as a Chairman I have strong doubts. Maybe someone can change my mind because I really do rate him as a person ?

The wages Harry is on I suspect Rafa would sell him for any half decent offer, whether we buy Duff or not.

I get the feeling some folk aren't expecting too much from Robbie this season. I reckon we are going to see some vintage performances from him and that he will get an England call up. Wonder what odds you can get on that?

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Well said mate; this is fantastic news

hahahahahhaa Suitably copied and distributed

Pretty much every other Chav player has been close to exceptional in the WC. Underlines how much support Fat Frank gets, allowing him to shoot on sight, trot back and play average, not incisive, passes. Only scored 6 in the Prem since October, though from the press he gets you would think it was a hat trick every other week.

Classic !

Just found this on CFCNet from April. It wouldn't surprise me if Bellamy has always been one of his first choices and has planted the idea that he is a cheap option, to further potray us as short on cash. Quote : Apr 24 Craig Bellamy Actually a Welsh player of course. He was in Cardiff on the weekend watching what was I presume his child playing in a kids' tournament. He was telling anyone who would listen that he was hoping to be moving to Liverpool soon. You heard it here first! Well, 3rd or 4th at least. Thought it might be of interest to our burgeoning scouse membership.

Spot on. Sums everything up exactly.