Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A question of dollars & cents

Sigh . . . just as me beloved team is showing wee signs of resilience & belief on the pitch, up pops this article from the UK Times today. Fook me, the drama is never ending with us la, either on the field or fooking off it.

Am sorry to say, me was seriously suspicious of Gillette & Hicks from the get-go. Yanks don't understand our game, much less the traditions of our fine club. Xenophobic? Fook yeah. Me makes no bones about it. Me fooking thinks Yanks have NO PLACE IN WORLD FOOTBALL!
They should just stick to their fooking gridiron, baseball shite & the accompanying "World Series"!

And before anyone dismisses this as another "sensationalist" story (below) from the press, do note this involves a fooking HUGE sum of dosh & two banks which aren't in the best of financial health. Why should the banks care whether Kopites love Torres? They fooking need to balance the books & they will sell him.

FAAAAAAAARKK!!!!

(From the UK Times - 12 Nov 2008)
Fears over fire sale of Liverpool's top players (By James Ducker)

One of English football’s most influential powerbrokers has expressed grave concerns for the future of Liverpool under the ownership of George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks. Keith Harris, the chairman of Seymour Pierce, the investment bank, and the man responsible for brokering some of the biggest takeovers of Barclays Premier League clubs, including the sale of Chelsea to Roman Abramovich in 2003, believes that the Americans could be forced to sell leading players if they are unable to pay off the club’s £350 million debt.

Although Hicks and Gillett have an option to extend the January 25 deadline for repaying the loan by six months, it is far from guaranteed that an extension will be granted, with their main lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Wachovia, being two of the banks worst hit by the global economic crisis.

Hicks and Gillett are confident that an extension will be granted, but, with the Government set to own up to 60 per cent of RBS after the £20 billion bailout, MPs have lobbied Gordon Brown to prevent the bank from giving the Americans extra time to repay the loan when many believe that they are not in a position, financially, to do that, let alone fund a new 60,000-seat stadium.

“The one that worries me is Liverpool,” said Harris, the former chairman of the Football League, who has been asked to find buyers for Everton and Newcastle United. “Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia are two of those that have suffered. Whether they want to lend it [the money] again or not, they may not be able to.” A £500 million offer to buy the club, from Sheikh Mohammed , the ruler of Dubai, remains on the table, although Harris believes the club’s hand could be forced if a buyer cannot be found.

The Times revealed in April how Liverpool may have to sell Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel unless they repay by next summer the £31.5 million borrowed to sign the Spain and Holland forwards.

Harris, who was in Zurich yesterday to address football financiers at the International Football Arena conference, said: “If the banks won’t finance, you have to raise equity. If they can’t find it, it’s a brave banker that would repossess Liverpool Football Club.”

Harris added that he was struggling to find a credible buyer for Everton in the face of a sharp economic downturn. Everton are also hopeful of building a new stadium, but Harris hinted that it would make far better sense financially for the Merseyside clubs to groundshare, a move that has been steadfastly opposed by the clubs and their supporters.

“There is no progress at all [on Everton],” Harris said. “The demographics of Liverpool as an area are not hugely compelling. It is not a very wealthy city and Everton share the city with another club which has been in the vanguard for the last decade. They both have a stadium to build, so the economics need a lot of looking at, whereas Newcastle is a one-club city with a fabulous stadium.”

Torres is expected to be included in Liverpool’s squad for their Carling Cup fourth-round tie at White Hart Lane this evening. However, Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, expects to play several fringe players, including Fraizer Campbell, the forward, who came on as a substitute during the 4-0 victory against Dynamo Zagreb in the Uefa Cup group match last week.

Paul Stalteri, Adel Taarabt, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Hossam Ghaly may also play, but Benoît Assou-Ekotto, the left back, is suspended, and Ledley King is expected to be rested. “I’m going to make one or two changes to give the lads who haven’t played an opportunity,” Redknapp said. Giovani dos Santos does not need surgery on a ankle problem, but the forward will be out for up to four weeks.


As usual, all genuine footie fans are invited to post their thoughts here. (And fingers fooking crossed fer the match against Mighty Spurs tonite) . . .

24 comments:

ISA said...

fook the yanks...

ahlan wa-sahlan arabs..marhaban bikum...do come in...show them yanks the money...

Life's Like That said...

Them fooking yanks shd be shot and skinned alive! But then so shd Rick Parry and David Moore(I think) who sold Liverpool to the yanks in the 1st place! I guess our big hope now is for the DIC to come in again to bail us out and take us to another level!

anfield devotee said...

Isa: They might just buy everton instead to spite them yanks . . . and who can blame them?

LLT: Fact of the matter is, the
500m offer from DIC has been sitting on the table fer several months. The bloody yanks are fooking greedy & holding out fer more! Me dunno lar, me fear is that the banks insist on the sale of the players & it may just be too late fer any rescue package to come in. The news in itself could unsettle the players. Fooking sickening la.

Ridzzy said...

Somehow i saw this coming months ago. But Feck! no no no! not torres!

the old and over priced ronnie keane has to go... heck 20.3 mil pounds for a 28 yr old ..who ever brokered that deal?!

Gillete & Hicks need to go. Dont mind DIC coming in as long as they leave Sir Rafa to do his thing.

anfield devotee said...

Ridzzy: Yeah, me saw this quite a few months ago but the silence surrounding the initial report suggested everything was under control.

Obviously not.

And how much do you expect to get fer Keane if we were to sell him? 10, 15m?

ps: You've been linked. Hey, you also Chindian ah? Seem to share similar taste in films as well. Look forward to seeing you here often.

pps: MyRawk guys organising trip to Masters of Football - Dec 7 @ Melawati stadium - featuring Arsenal, Scum & LFC. Join? Brudder Kerpie, turun kut?

senorita.. said...

wahhhhh this is sooooo scary. even scarier than my childhood nitemare

Life's Like That said...

Blame the yanks all u wan but i still think Rick Parry and David Moores are the ones to blame for selling out Liverpool.

anfield devotee said...

LLT: Yes, agreed. Them two are just as cupable.

senorita: No laughing matter this . . .

Ridzzy said...

Hi fook!

thanks for the link. pleasure is mine.

yah , we could tell from the time they kept avoiding the new stadium plans that something was not right.

as for old keano.. we'd be lucky to recover 1/2 the $ spent. Unless he starts scoring regularly..spent force la. he peaked at 26 :\

that game @ dec 7th sounds good. Any chance the club can get us up close to the player? Hope so cos I heard ian rush may be making this trip. Would be awesome to finally meet my childhood hero up close :D
lemme know the details bro

PS - yeap fellow chindian here , and yes with the same (dis)taste for movies ;)

mozisgod said...

hiii fook :)))

keepin' ma fingers crossed as well; bitin the nails to the bone as we speak. pure agony mon.

a self admittance of sorts: with regards to the previous meeting at the lane, lady luck obliged us with a open wide tonguefarkin dude. freakin beladhi lucky. plus no torres then.
*sigh*

yours appreciativel,
supafook moz.

anfield devotee said...

ridzzy: Eh? Since when me became known as 'fook' la?

Anyways, will keep you posted on details fer Dec7. Also do keep checking the MyRAWK site (see me blog roll fer link).

As fer Rushie, so far confirmed are the SUPERSTARS - Phil Babb & McAteer . . . hee hee.

As fer our current predicament, imagine if we ended up like fooking Leeds!!!

The regular visitors (incl Kerp) here are getting together next sat (Nov22) in Kelana Jaya. Would cordially like to extend invitation to you. (Will post more details soon)

Moz: Fooker la spurs, damn power now. How to stop da Mighty Spurs la wei. Even Ac Milan quaking with fear in the uefa cup.
ps: You coming fer Nov22 rite?

mozisgod said...

chief,

aiyoo, dun do this to me la weyy..reverse pyschology ka? yu burnin' me.. mwahhahaha...
"now i know how joan of arc feltt...as the flayymess rosee..to her roman nose...and her walkmaannn started to melttt.."

later mon. i bid you a good game. hope it ends up a "thrilla in manilla" dude, kalah takper janji adaaa fighttt bro.mwahhahaha

cheers,
moz.
p.s. agree with you with that salient point you made. the venerable dubai milkmen could possibly ponder snappin' up the caviar laced toffeeheads. i'm thinkin' deep vats of potential, almost brimminnn', a whole redknapp-eyebag's worth dude; like a share priced way below their net asset value. adorned with solid, stoic management (been a silent admirer of moyes), who by far have done immensely well with below-the-halfway line budget. grotesquely suspicious team of raw talent. shite. caviar still sells man. double shite. will shut up now, seeing it is after all the toffeheads i'm talkin about on a red blog :)))

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

hey fook...muahahahaa...

Knowing monsieur Arsene, no way he’d break the bank for that price even for a player like Torres. If indeed the story is true, sell him to any serie A or la liga clubs. Torres to either Manu or CSKA london will only make life tougher.

* 7th dec? sounds interesting. Lets meet up first on the 22nd. Hey, our new friend Ridzzy might be interested to join us for the dinner. and perhaps get his reptilian buddies to tag along...hehheee..

Ridzzy said...

LMAO! dunno but fook just sounds catchy..right fook?
:D

22nd ..lemme confirm by next week.

But 7th Dec is almost done deal, certainly not thanks to the 2 legends who are comin tho ..haha

kerp; If that joint is animal friendly then sure , i would love to bring my (other) snake along :P

Unknown said...

so AD, 22nd confirmed ya? what time and still at the KJ place yes?

'auntie' here has to drop younger girl back from music, try to look have decent and drive up ... so timing is essential ... don't want to be late ... since would like to randomly capture the 'gang' arriving :)) heeheheh one of my vices no doubt.

on the point of this post, I kinda think that all this foreign monies in all teams are diluting the whole games ... and bloody fooking yanks all they know is sponsorship and making a haul ass killing to the banks .. typical of their type of sports mania.

Leave footie outta them greedy grubby hands man ... they be polluting it!! ... I feel fer yer AD!

Starting11 said...

Smart enterprises take advantage of economic downturns, find their strengths and build for the inevitable rebound. The problem here is that Gillett and Hicks don't seem to be in this for the long haul, which hurts the club strategically. They're going to do whatever it takes to save their financial skins, rather than hunker down, absorb losses and rebuild for tomorrow. It's sad really that it got to this point.
http://startingelev en.blogspot.com/2008 /11/debt-doubt-surro und-liverpools-futur e.html

anfield devotee said...

akuani: yes, 22nd Nov 7pm. Will post the details over the weekend, ok?

ridzzy: We are meeting at a banana leaf restaurant in kelana Jaya. So should be ok fer yer snakes. Chinaman shop lain cerita la tu, terus masuk kuali!

kerp: Don't be surprised wenger breaks the bank in Jan. . .

Jon-C said...

Well, must say i'm impressed with Wenger's "youth" team compared to the shite i just witness this morning.

Disgraceful and we suck! - the exact 4 word to describe the defeat to spurs - 2nd in 2 fooking weeks.

anfield devotee said...

JonC: Thank fook me was unable to wake up fer that . . .

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

the name of the restaurant is Restoran Sri Bala, next to UNITAR college.

Ridzzy,

i think it shouldnt be a problem unless you let them slithers around the premise freely. i'd be the first to 'run' la...muahahhaaa...


Jonny,

if its any consolation, CSKA London with their first stringers lost to a championship side. and at home some more.

Ridzzy said...

Fancy watching the Spurs fans singing as though they had just won the champions league..sheesh

Unknown said...

Kerpie you going to be running with the snakes eh? ... way cool ...should I bring my video cam too??? you think? to record hysteria at Sri Bala courtesy of riddzy's slithery friends :))) ...

**me thinks I have a 2sec moment of fame opp here** heehehehhe

AD: Cool ... 7pm eh? ok ok auntie try to get late pass (from mom) till midnight when my wheels turn into pumpkin at my house gate :))

anfield devotee said...

akuani: Won't expect it to go on so late as kerp needs to be home by 11pm fer arsenal game while us Kopites will be haeding off to pub fer game v fulham.

anfield devotee said...

tinesh: Yes, correcto. Unfortunately fer us, the logistics of the area, mean expansion of existsing ground is pretty much out of the question.

ps: Oi! Nov22 you on or not - banana leaf restaurant in kelana Jaya next to Unitar. Pls extend invite to Madam Leah.