Blessing in disguise

[Ginu]

want to hang Riise for his own goal last week, this is all a blessing in disguise. While he gave us a significant result to overturn, it takes attention now away from the on-field activity and onto much bigger and long-term issues with the club: 1) strengthening our squad to challenge next season after another failure to win any trophies, and 2) getting G+H out and DIC in. This season has been one to forget and, for me personally, we were in so much turmoil at the end of 2007 that I had already considered this season a write-off.

 

Here's to making some quality signings this summer and doing our part to give Hicks no other option but to sell to DIC. Let's also hope that JP Morgan squeezes him into selling as well after the article that came out in the last couple of days.

 

YNWA

[Guest Rafa's Receding Hairline]

Ginu mate...

 

You sound like Houllier in his later days (after the Pompey FA Cup defeat at Anfield) where he totally lost the plot and said getting knocked out of the FA Cup was a "blessing in disguise."

 

I couldn't disagree more with what you've just said. How can not adding another CL trophy be considered a "blessing in disguise?" Not only that, but handing it to either Man utd or Chelsea?!

 

No matter what the cowboys do, finishing a season empty handed is never a blessing in disguise.

[Ginu]

Under Rafa, we will always have a chance to win the CL. This season needed to be about getting rid of the owners from November onwards (and it has been). Not making the CL Final hits them hard and with a reduced hysteria about a potential victory, dooms this season a failure. It is this wake up call that I am referring to as a blessing in disguise. It requires big changes, those that a CL victory would not have allowed for. Had we won, there would have been less urgency to overhaul the squad and bring in top drawer players. Had we won, there would have been less desire for G+H to take a hike. Had we won (last night), the last two games of this season would have far greater meaning and allows us to really show Hicks what we feel as fans without affecting the team.

 

IMO it is a blessing in disguise because unless we change these two points I've talked about, be ready to feel this again next season.

[MFletcher]

One of the very few positives is that we won't get to see Hicks soaking up the publicity prior to the final and trying to give the impression that he had something to do with it.

[CaptainXabi]

How is not having a chance for a 6th European Cup a blessing in disguise again?

[Ginu]

I'm shocked at the number of people who don't see the bigger picture in us missing a chance to win our 6th European Cup. Have they not experienced the G+H saga this season? Isn't it obvious that missing the Final this season hits them where it hurts? It's a small price to pay to stabilize the future of Liverpool Football Club.

[Will]

So the way to get rid of G&H is to be unsuccessful? Great plan.

[billybunter]

It's crazy but it might just work, dammit

[fyds]

Certainly getting rid of G&H is more important to the short, medium and long term future of the club, this much is true. That has long since been my biggest target above and beyond number 6.

[Ginu]

So the way to get rid of G&H is to be unsuccessful? Great plan.

 

In the short term yes. Maybe it's too complicated to understand?

[Ginu]

Liverpool's European exit may force DIC move

 

by Oliver Kay

 

The most turbulent season in Liverpool’s recent history is approaching a distinctly low-key conclusion, on the pitch at least, but the battle in the boardroom will continue to rage over the summer, with George Gillett Jr determined to defy Tom Hicks, his estranged co-chairman, and force through the sale of his 50 per cent stake in the club to Dubai International Capital (DIC), the Arab investment group.

 

DIC remains supremely confident that it will take possession of Gillett’s shares in the club in the coming weeks, but Hicks maintains that he will continue to exercise the power of veto he has — a claim that is disputed by Gillett and DIC — to prevent any such sale.

 

Hicks’s proposed veto is on the basis that he is still trying to find the funds or the backing that he would need to buy Liverpool outright. Hicks is under pressure to prove that he has the funds to take the club forward on his own, but sources in Texas have indicated that he is drawing up a business plan that would raise the £300 million needed for the construction of the club’s proposed new 71,000-capacity stadium in Stanley Park, which is due to open in 2011.

 

The end of Liverpool’s Champions League campaign, after their defeat by Chelsea in the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday, was expected to accelerate the process, with DIC having kept its distance over the past four weeks, but now it must weigh up its next move, whether to wait or whether to exert more pressure on the owners to reach a solution. For now Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, appears to be working on the assumption that Hicks will be calling the shots at Anfield for the foreseeable future.

 

 

Benítez suggested after his team’s defeat at Stamford Bridge that “just one signing could make a massive difference” to Liverpool, but once again a significant turnover of players is expected. He already has agreed a deal to sign Philipp Degen, the Switzerland right back, on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund and has made moves to sign Fernando Amorebieta, the 23-year-old central defender, from Athletic Bilbao. Those would be relatively minor deals, but Benítez will pursue more ambitious targets, including Gareth Barry, the Aston Villa and England midfield player, and at least one winger and striker as well as the usual smattering of talented teenagers.

 

On the way out of the club are Harry Kewell, whose contract expires on June 30, and, if the right offer comes in, Scott Carson, John Arne Riise, Jermaine Pennant and Peter Crouch. Even Xabi Alonso, a player who has been one of the cornerstones of the Benítez regime, is likely to be sold if any of his previous suitors, such as Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid or Barcelona, meet his £15 million valuation, particularly if Barry arrives as his replacement in midfield.

 

Steven Gerrard, the captain, believes that reinforcements are needed if Liverpool are to challenge for the Barclays Premier League title next term, but, having been unhappy with the team’s progress earlier in the season, he been reassured by their performances in recent months.

 

“There is no point looking back or thinking what might have been,” the England player said. “We have to look forward because we have to go into next season looking to improve again. Hopefully, we will go into next season with a stronger squad because that could make a big difference. If we can bottle this disappointment, it could be a big motivation for us.”

 

No blessing in disguise here

[CaptainXabi]

No blessing in disguise here

I don't remember you saying this after the round of 16 or quarterfinals.