Liverpool Takeover Thread

[Alpherah]

If it hadn't been for MB, RBS could have called in their money a long, long time ago. Hicks, if he had any decency in him, would have spent the time actually trying to sell.

 

[andy@moFo]

I always have stuck up for MB and CP (to a certain degree) and always kept quiet when they've been slated. I think they've proved quite a few wrong and changed a few perceptions over the past couple of weeks. Very credible performance fellas.

 

[Burned_Alive]

Hicks also talking about there being plenty of finance (now) available to start building the stadium, then why havent they done anything about it? Compulsive liar.

 

[shine]

Hicks also talking about there being plenty of finance (now) available to start building the stadium, then why havent they done anything about it? Compulsive liar.

If there was plenty of finance available then why didn't he pay RBS and stop all of this? Does the guy think everyone is an idiot?

 

[Alpherah]

He tried to pay RBS, with borrowed money, at the very last second...

RBS refused. As far as they were concerned - the deal with NESV was legally binding, and only Hicks 'twisting' the texan court, which was ruled as an illegal act by the High court, stopped it going through before Hicks even tried to pay.

 

[griffy]

So glad this recent saga is over and things are looking up for LFC!

With regards to profits etc, LFC should be a very nice investment, long term for NESV. Without the debt repayments and nasty interest rates, the money is being made for taking part in the premiership, stay in the prem=easy profit!

You could compare it to house prices (until the recent market crash)
Do nothing to your house, and it keeps increasing in value anyway.
Spend some cash on a conservatory and loft conversion, maybe a new kitchen and you look to make a bigger profit.

Hicks and Gillett have been nightmare owners, yet if they were not so greedy, they could still have walked away with a very tidy profit, for doing little! Instead they gained the fans wrath, defaulted to the banks and things went downhill fast. Less than a year ago, im sure they could have cut and run and made a small profit, instead they gambled and lost the lot.

Liverpool are currently well behind Man Utd and Arsenal with match-day revenue, with something like 48million profit per season, but add in world wide revenue, sponsorship and all the other deals and you can make a tidy sum in the long term. H+G were told right away that once a new stadium was built, then the club would overnight would grow 3x in value. They got excited but the markets crashed. What seemed to be easy money became too much for the owners, with too many other business ventures needing careful management and finance, the rest is history!

So what now? Well to be honest, i'd rather be in the current business state of Liverpool than Man Utd. The Glazers aren't going to go away quietly, and the debt put on the club aint going away!
Chelsea solely rely on Abramovich not getting bored with his 'plaything' and without him paying the bills, they seem pretty ******! You could say the same about Man City!
The new UEFA rules coming in soon (2012???) will stop sugar daddy owners going nuts, even though Man City are rumoured to be looking at dodging those restrictions by buying a feeder club to make things much easier?

 

[Alpherah]

Yeah, city want to buy a club in either a lower league, or a foreign league if the FA wont let them get away with it, a club with no chance of going into Europe comp so they dont worry about over-spending.
Buy player for fortune -> spends 6 months with feeder -> transfer to city for peanuts.
UEFA will probably try to stop it though.

 

[rayb74]

New owners then........

Are we going to keep or employ another sad ****** manager who thinks Kuyt is a great attacking option for us?

I want to see attacking, positive football at Liverpool not the lame back passing, panicky, negative ****e that Pool "fans" have alarmingly been willing to accept for way too many years.

This team will never win the League with the kind of managers they always put in charge NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY YOU THROW AT THEM.

 

[Stretch]

Hopefully people can explain it to me, but why the hell would any decent businessmen buy a football club?

Sink in 300 million for no return. Now they have no debt they will make what 55 million a year? Even if they take half that a year the fans will be whinging about being fleeced by people decent enough to clear the debt. Not only that they need a new ground, look at what that has done to arsenals spending, again that would have fans making youtube videos with more celeb scousers.

If this was the 80's or 90's I could see the point but anyone looking at the premiership these days can see not a lot of money will be made on the value of the club and the figures you have to sink into the team each year now the billionaires are playing at laundering money just doesn't make any financial sense that I can see.

Unless of course your going to use them to borrow against again.

So whats the point of these people sinking 300 million into a club that they really have no connection to?

Because English football is the preeminent global sports entertainment product, second to none. People such as Abramovic, NESV etc aren't buying in for what it's worth today rather than what it will be worth in the future. There's a massive existing market and a huge untapped market that's hooked on football and English football in particular.

One day the leading football brands will be huge revenue generating machines. You only have to visit far eat Asia to realise this. At some point in the not to distant future the top echelons of European football (think European super league) will be established and the money will start flowing in. Liverpool FC is a rare chance to buy into to that table and it's an attractive prospect to an investor.

Add to that the fact NESV got a very good deal and you can see why people buy football clubs.

 

[griffy]

New owners then........

Are we going to keep or employ another sad B***ard manager who thinks Kuyt is a great attacking option for us?

I want to see attacking, positive football at Liverpool not the lame back passing, panicky, negative ****e that Pool "fans" have alarmingly been willing to accept for way too many years.

This team will never win the League with the kind of managers they always put in charge NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY YOU THROW AT THEM.

Can you not remember the glory days when Liverpool used to win the league? We were not always the most entertaining, but results are what matters when it comes to statistics and filling the trophy room. The same could be said about Arsenal under George Graham, 1-0 to the Arsenal, win a lot, boring as ****! Do you want LFC to win trophies, or play fancy football? You can't always have both! Mourinho and his Chelsea team (Porto too) did not play fancy flowing football, and the fans didn't care one bit!

I would have preferred to of kept Rafa at the club, but he rocked the boat too much and upset the owners, and he got pushed out, no coincidence!
Instead we got the 'safe' option with Roy Hodgson. Won't rock the boat, wont complain every press conference, wont win us much either id guess, but i don't think we had many other options, with practically nothing to spend in the transfer market, and player unrest, LFC was a poison chalice. When Rafa left, the press found it much easier naming managers who were not putting themselves forward to be the next LFC manager rather than those that wanted the job. If this takeover happened right after Rafa left, and with a promised transfer kitty of say 40 million, then there would have been far more quality candidates coming forward for the managers job. Roy got the job, not fully on merit, just lack of options I think!

If Rafa's dabble with Inter Milan doesn't work out, ie the fans want more trophies and quickly, then I can see him manoeuvring himself back into the frame, when Liverpool look to change the management next summer!

 

[griffy]

NESV could easy make a quick profit with LFC, without doing much at all really. In less than 12 months, without a big outlay....

Keep Torres etc in the team, invest in some quality players to improve the squad.
Start stadium construction/Anfield refurb.
Enhance the worldwide profile of the club, gaining revenues with marketing (until recently,not exploited fully)
Show progress on the pitch with improving results
Get the fans onside with all of the above!

You could then sell the club for much much more than the 300million paid by NESV.
Hell if that Singapore guy was a serious bidder, and DIC, Huang, Mill Financial etc are still interested, you could sell in just a few weeks and get 50 to 100m profit by doing nothing more than being someone that is not Tom Hicks/George Gillett

 

[Raymond Lin]

NESV could easy make a quick profit with LFC, without doing much at all really. In less than 12 months, without a big outlay....

Keep Torres etc in the team, invest in some quality players to improve the squad.
Start stadium construction/Anfield refurb.
Enhance the worldwide profile of the club, gaining revenues with marketing (until recently,not exploited fully)
Show progress on the pitch with improving results
Get the fans onside with all of the above!

You could then sell the club for much much more than the 300million paid by NESV.
Hell if that Singapore guy was a serious bidder, and DIC, Huang, Mill Financial etc are still interested, you could sell in just a few weeks and get 50 to 100m profit by doing nothing more than being someone that is not Tom Hicks/George Gillett

That is a LOT of If's

And to get what you are suggesting, they need to invest about 50m in players, and start a multi million stadium too. TBH, if they do that, they won't sell it and will stick around for the long term, like they did with the Red Sox.

Roy Hodgson needs to get his act together though...I think 3 games MAX, if he doesn't improve, he is gone.

 

[griffy]

That is a LOT of If's

And to get what you are suggesting, they need to invest about 50m in players, and start a multi million stadium too. TBH, if they do that, they won't sell it and will stick around for the long term, like they did with the Red Sox.

Roy Hodgson needs to get his act together though...I think 3 games MAX, if he doesn't improve, he is gone.

Yes its a lot of IF's but not rocket science. There is much more profit to be made, AND keep the fans relatively happy with the team doing well, once the stadium is built its one hell of a cash cow! (Arsenal got their stadium built, now making lots of cash)
Long term would make much more profit, your right. I was pointing out that spending money, without going nuts would make profit even in the short term.
NESV did the right thing with the Red Sox, and could have sold for a hefty profit right after winning the world series. Instead they stuck around, won it again, kept investing and now they are making even more profits, happy fans with a winning team. I hope things work out and they can do the same with LFC!

 

[BaZ87]

Hicks' lawyer on Sky News still trying to play the 'we were excluded from the process' card.

How can you claim you were excluded when you refused to attend board meetings?

 

[Tummy]

Not been following this today, kinda not heard much since the other day.

Have Liverpool been sold?

 

[Robbo]

Yes.

 

[Tummy]

So the American Red sox guy now owns Liverpool?

Sorry not paid any attention to the news today

 

[Robbo]

Yes, he does.

 

[Tummy]

Awesome sauce.

The old American's still really bitter?

 

[Robbo]

Extremely butthurt.