Parry on 5Live shortly

[Neil Young]

Rick Parry is on Radio 5Live at some point in the next hour if anyone is interested.

[Flake]

More like if anyone is out of bed??

[Neil Young]

Not mutually exclusive, especially now the wireless connection is working.

[Flake]

Working?

The wifi is working??

[Neil Young]

Yes, got a new modem when I moved, followed the instructions and, touch wood, it's fine.

Hard to believe I installed it myself, eh?

[Neil Young]

By the way, if anyone does want to listen to Parry don't listen R5live now because Bryan Robson's on and I'm dropping off.

[Neil Young]

It's OK, he's gone now.


*yawns*

[Red_Al_77]

Parry on. Nowt new to be honest at moment

[AFII]

It's about winning trophies and not money.

They will keep traditions.

Very straight forward.

Our supporters won't let things change.

Impressed to what Gillett have done with Montreal.

Very important to get a takeover to secure Rafa.

Money to spend to take us to the next level.

Make us succeed.

Get the stadium done the most important thing.

Fine tuning the stadium plans.

Have talked to DIC.

[Shaggy]

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry insists the club will always take priority over England.

The comments follow Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson's claim that the country's top clubs were hindering the international structure by importing too many foreign players.

Parry, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, claimed Liverpool's fans cared about the club first and England second and their focus would remain on bringing success to Anfield.

But Parry also maintained that the club's investment in its youth academy would continue.

Parry declared: "From our perspective, our target is winning trophies.

"Our supporters care about Liverpool first and England second and our job and focus is to bring glory to Liverpool.

"But at the same time we have invested as much, if not more, than just about any other club on our academy.

"We are still committed to the process. We will still continue to do our thing to develop young English players, we are very committed to that but the balance for us has to be winning things first."

Parry was speaking after Liverpool concluded the takeover deal with American tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

The pair will become co-chairmen with Parry left to run the club and Liverpool chairman David Moores becoming an honorary life-president.

The tycoons beat off competition from Dubai International Capital and are believed to have guaranteed to invest more than £200million in the club.

Parry admitted the conclusion of the deal was a huge relief and revealed that work on the new stadium at Stanley Park would be the first tangible signs of their financial muscle and expertise.

Parry said: "It is difficult to focus on the long-term plan when the whole issue of ownership and future direction is uncertain, so it is a huge relief.

"The debate was not on money at any stage it was about passion, it was about excitement and winning trophies, which for every Liverpool supporter, for everybody associated with the club, winning trophies is the only thing we think about.

"The reason they bought the club in the first place was the things that are special about Liverpool. The last thing they are going to do is spoil that.

"They are very honest and have been very straightforward. They don't pretend to be lifelong fans, there is nothing bogus about it.

"Of course they have been reading up on the history of the club and very quickly got an appreciation of the fans and the atmosphere.

"They don't pretend to understand it inside out which is why it is so important to them that David Moores is staying on board as life-president and a member of the board.

"One word that featured from them was continuity. They are not about to come in and change things for the sake of change.

"I have every confidence the strengths of the club will remain and don't let us forget that our supporters will not let things change.

"They will be very vocal and the new owners will get the message very quickly if they even attempt to overstep the mark.

"The most of obvious way of quantifying the impact is when the work starts on the new stadium which we anticipate being within the next few weeks.

"That in a sense was the biggest challenge for us from a financial perspective, it is a massively important project for the club, vital for our future and to boost our revenue streams.

"They know how to manage and develop stadiums, they can bring resource and expertise to bear. That will be the first tangible sign and in due course the signs we all hope to see are more silverware."

Parry would not be drawn on the prospect of how much cash manager Rafael Benitez would be handed to spend on new players but he insisted the coach was also excited by the plans.

Parry added: "We are not going to reveal figures, that would be nonsensical.

"But clearly the message from the new owners is that they share our vision of winning, they have come in here to make us succeed and if we didn't believe there was going to be money to take us to the next level, then we would not have done the deal.

"Rafa had to consider the approach from Real Madrid last summer, in his position it would be an appeal to both the heart and the head. It would be very tempting.

"We sat down for a day and we reaffirmed our commitment to making progress and to continuing to invest in the team and that was enough for him.

"From the day he arrived we told him we were on the lookout for investment and told him the ownership of the club was likely to change.

"He is excited about it. We believe it will be a major factor in reinforcing his view that he made the right decision last summer."

[lfc4ever]

11 February 2007

THE RAF RIDER

Pledge that kept boss at Anfield

Exclusive by Steve Bates

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=the-raf-rider--%26method=full%26objectid=18607414%26siteid=93463-name_page.html

RICK PARRY last night revealed the secret talks
that kept Rafa Benitez from walking out of Anfield ... and joining Real Madrid.

In his first major interview since the
£470million takeover by Americans George Gillett
and Tom Hicks, Liverpool chief executive Parry admitted:

How the club FEARED they would lose Benitez to Real Madrid last summer;

Why Liverpool would have SLIPPED into mediocrity without new investment;

Why they won't become another Chelsea after the cash WINDFALL.

Just how close Liverpool came to losing Benitez
emerged when Parry confessed the lure of the
Bernabeu almost became too much for the Kop boss,
as chairman David Moores struggled to find the
right investors to enable the club to compete
with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

And Parry believes Rafa's patience will be
rewarded this summer when he can bid for the
likes of Valencia's £22million-rated striker
David Villa, Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta,
and Seville's £15million Brazilian wing-back Daniel Alves.

Parry revealed: "Last year, Rafa talked to us
about the possibility of him going to Real
Madrid. There was a real fear we would lose him
because when Madrid came in it was a big temptation for him to go.

"It was bound to be a compelling offer both for
the heart and the head, but we sat down over the
course of a day and talked it through with him.

"He made his decision and it never surfaced again.

"What he wanted more than anything was the
reassurance that we were still moving forward and
on the lookout to find new backers, and he appreciated it wasn't easy.

"We were obviously delighted last summer when he
re-committed his future to the club and I think
his patience has been rewarded. Without the
investment then, unquestionably, this club would
have fallen behind United, Chelsea and Arsenal
because without the new stadium and additional
resources we wouldn't be able to compete."

Parry said Liverpool would now be able to compete for players - within reason.

"I've seen lots of figures about how much Rafa
will have but it's all guesswork. We have to be
careful with expectation levels. "But the message
is very positive. The Americans are here to
develop the stadium and that alone will help
develop revenues to further develop the team.
"But we aren't here to imitate Chelsea. We will
be different to them, but it will still be very
exciting because George Gillett and Tom Hicks are ambitious -they are winners.

"The Premiership title has always been the number
one goal ... now we'll see how realistic that is."

[Shaggy]

Chief executive Rick Parry spoke to BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek about takeovers, transfer budgets and why Liverpool comes before England. Here's the interview in full.

How much of a relief is it to have the takeover finally sorted out?

It's a huge relief. It's been going on for a long time – it's pretty much three years to the day, which is distracting and a bit debilitating. It's difficult to focus on the long-term plan when the whole issue of ownership and future direction is uncertain.

What impressed you most about George Gillett and Tom Hicks?

They talk about winning trophies. The debate wasn't really centred around cash at any stage – it was about passion and excitement; it was about winning trophies, which for every supporter and everyone associated with the club, that's the one thing they think about.

How sure are you the Americans will respect the traditions of the club?

There's two things to say on this. The first is that this is the reason they bought the club in the first place. It was the things that are special about Liverpool that drew them towards us, so the last thing they are going to do is spoil that. The other thing is, they've been very honest and straight-forward. They don't pretend to be lifelong fans, there's nothing bogus about it. Of course they've been reading up on the history, and they've very quickly got an appreciation of the passion of the fans and the atmosphere. They don't pretend to understand Liverpool inside-out, which is why it is so important to them that David Moores is staying on board, first of all as life president and then also as a member of the board. They see David as an absolutely vital link. One word which featured a lot last week from them was continuity; they're not about to come in and change things for the sake of change. We can learn a lot from them, we'll be going into this with an open mind, excited and willing to learn, but they are keen for the good things about the club to stay in tact. In leaving David there as the guardian of the values, I have every confidence the strengths of the club will remain. And, at the end of the day, let's not forget that our supporters will not let things change. They will be very vocal and the new owners will get the message very quickly if they even attempt to overstep the mark.

Will the move have any impact on ticket prices at Anfield?

If you look at what they've done with the Canadians in Montreal – it was one of the things that impressed us from the start that they have a very clear policy of affordable prices. He has some very expensive prices too for the corporate market, but at the other end affordable prices are very much part of his track record.

Were you concerned that without this deal, the club might not be able to hold on to Rafa Benitez?

Clearly Rafa had to consider the approach from Real Madrid. From his position that would be an appeal both to the heart and the head. It would be tempting, but we sat down for a day, we reaffirmed our commitment to making progress and continuing to invest in the team, and that was enough for him. Clearly, from the day he arrived we told him we were on the lookout for investment, we told him the ownership of the club was likely to change. He's excited about it and, of course, we believe it will be a major factor in reinforcing his view that he made the right decision last summer.

How much money will there be for him to spend?

We're not going to reveal figures, that would be nonsensical, but clearly the message from the new owners is that they share our vision of winning and they've come here to make us succeed. If we didn't believe there would be money to take us to the next level, we wouldn't have done the deal.

How soon will their impact be felt?

The most obvious way to quantify their impact will be when work starts on the new stadium, which we anticipate being in the next few weeks. That in a sense was the biggest challenge for us from a financial perspective. It's a massively important project for the club, to boost our revenue streams. Their assistance will be felt not only in terms of finance but also expertise – I'm going over to look at what Tom Hicks has done in the States this week. They know how to manage stadiums, they know how to develop stadiums. This will be the first tangible sign, and in due course the tangible sign we all hope to see is more silverware.

Have they reviewed the stadium plans at all?

It's fine-tuning – they understand the timescales and the constraints they have under the current plans. But at the same time, if you look at their track-record and the way stadiums are managed in the States, we'd be very foolish to think we couldn't learn something from them. At the end of the day, these are two guys with massive track-records and very impressive pedigrees. I'm really excited about going into the relationship with an open mind and with a thirst for knowledge and learning.

Have you had any contact with DIC in terms of closing things off?

Yes, we have. We have enormous respect for DIC. We were in the fortunate position of having two very credible bids. They put a huge amount of effort in, so the answer is yes, we have maintained relations.

Moving on, what are your thoughts on the comments made by Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson, suggesting Liverpool and other top clubs don't contribute enough to the national team?

I didn't hear the comment and I don't really understand it. Our target is winning trophies. Our supporters care about Liverpool first and England second. Our job is to bring glory to Liverpool. But at the same time we have invested as much if not more than any other club in our academy and we're still committed to that process, so we're committed to developing young English players.

[DeeGame]

And Parry believes Rafa's patience will be
rewarded this summer when he can bid for the
likes of Valencia's £22million-rated striker
David Villa, Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta,
and Seville's £15million Brazilian wing-back Daniel Alves.

[bazza76]

And Parry believes Rafa's patience will be
rewarded this summer when he can bid for the
likes of Valencia's £22million-rated striker
David Villa, Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta,
and Seville's £15million Brazilian wing-back Daniel Alves.

Never heard of Iniesta being linked before, but one thing about being linked to these players does concern me, they are all Spannish based, not that I mind Spannish based players, but spending such vast ammounts on THREE spannish based players is a big risk IMO, as they are guarinteed to settle in the Premiership. Would like to see us targeting top class English players aswell.

[Shaggy]

Iniesta is ****ing class, yet is STILL not a regular for Barca. I'd have no idea where he'd fit into the side, but I'd love to have him.