A Sensible Article That Has Made Me Think

[chrispy]

I read this on the football 365 mailbox this morning and it made me thing :-

Enough Of The Stream Of Bullsh*t

Right, that's it - I've finally had enough of the constant stream of total bullsh*t flowing out of every media source about Liverpool. Why has our new owners securing the money for a new stadium suddenly become bad news? If it wasn't for the media storm whipped up over the last couple of months we would be happy they had done so!

The money they have secured against the club is much less than that secured against the Scum, so that 'story' is a total red herring too - why don't Scum fans get told it's the worst thing that ever happened to them? Well, because they are winning; but the Pool's problems in that regard are down to the players not the owners, despite what Gerrard says.

I certainly don't approve of the recent behaviour of Hicks and Gillett, but it is impossible to say that they are waging a campaign against 'Rarfar' (as they so moronically call him). If you look at what has happened, looking at the facts and not the hyperbole, the Yanks haven't actually said anything to put Rafa in the 'dead man walking' category, as your increasingly twaddle-filled website gleefully claim.

I honestly think that Hicks is just a bit of a f*ckwit - he's not malicious, he just doesn't understand either football or the press over here. These are his biggest problems, and are huge problems for an owner of a football club in this country, but he can learn - Sir P*sshead gave him a lesson in how to own a club yesterday - let's hope Hicks listened.

The Klinsmann issue is another non-story - Hicks is a businessman, and he was merely formulating a contingency plan in case Rafa went to Real Madrid (which he will do at some point in his career, because he is a Madrileno and a very good manager, it's just a question of when - it will be sooner rather than later if the media don't let up though). Exactly this sort of thing happens at every club - otherwise they can get left in the lurch.

Telling the media was so utterly stupid it makes me wonder if all of Hicks' shoes are Velcro, and yet his mum still needs to put them on for him, but I believe it was actually an attempt to pre-empt a media storm that backfired massively. He probably knew the press had found out, and wanted to be seen to be in control of the story, but the media portrayed it as him currently looking for a new manager - implying that Rafa will be leaving as soon as Hicks can boot him out.

That is not what happened! Rafa was being courted by Real, as he always will be (when they lose a game or two), so Hicks was protecting his investment by planning for Rafa's departure. He has since come out in full support of our bearded wonder, but of course the press only spent five minutes on that - unlike the five weeks they have spent (so far) trying to extrapolate a crisis out of nothing.

Liverpool fans are being manipulated by the media, pure and simple. Why on earth do they want DIC in?! Dubai Investment Capital has no experience of sport whatsoever! Hicks and Gillett have that at least. DIC are more likely to asset-strip Liverpool that Hicks and Gillett are. Hicks and Gillett may well only be in it for the money, but do you think DIC would be any different? The Pool absolutely needed a new stadium, and our Texan tools appear to be making that happen. How is that a bad thing?!

It's only a bad thing if you believe the media-created notion that they are Yank Grim Reapers. They've even finally put some dollar into the club - again, surely a good thing as they are showing some financial commitment! We fans of Liverpool need to stop lapping up all the doom and gloom and start supporting our club again. Hicks and Gillett are not going anywhere. Face it and accept it - we can't change it; did the Scummers manage to? We need to get back to a level of solidarity as soon as humanly possible; otherwise we really will be dealing with a genuine crisis.

Of course I wish the last couple of months hadn't gone the way they have; our current predicament is horrible. I dread looking for our results because I know that they will be mediocre, and accompanied by another attempt to destabilise a formerly rock solid club. Hicks and Gillett are categorically not trying to cause these problems though - they are just unwittingly giving the media the ammunition they need to maintain a despicable campaign.

Everything that has happened should have happened behind closed doors, and hopefully Hicks has learnt that he needs to keep a much lower profile. If he does so, and the players pull their collective finger out and start turning our good football (because it really is at times) and pressure into goals, the outlook at Liverpool will become a whole lot rosier. Keep the faith, don't be manipulated, and form your own opinion. Personally I cannot wait for our exciting squad to start achieving their potential. Rafa will make this happen, if the media let him.

Morgan Goford

[Johnny]

I swear I am not Morgan Gosford,I`m going to sue him for plagiarising(SP) though.

[sinbad]

I Why on earth do they want DIC in?! Dubai Investment Capital has no experience of sport whatsoever! Hicks and Gillett have that at least.

Every team these two cunts have ever taken over, are either bankrupt or run into the ground, with no chance of winning their respective leagues. Better get used to midtable mediocrity.

[Johnny]

Every team these two cunts have ever taken over, are either bankrupt or run into the ground, with no chance of winning their respective leagues. Better get used to midtable mediocrity.

Your Avatar and signature tell me that your not the most optimistic of chaps.
Cheer up Dude,we`ll win the CL again.

[Red_Polo]

I thought it was riddled with innaccuracies tbh, especially the stuff about DIC.

[chrispy]

The parts I found sensible were the references to DIC being no different to H&G and the way the media never slated the Scum over doing the exact same thing. I feel worried about the club being owned by H&G definately but it's not going to change right now and we need to see where this is going to take us. They're (apparently) giving us the ground we seek so desperately, Hicks has come out publically and stated his support of Rafa (which we'll know by next season whether it was true or not) and offered financial support in the transfer market.

These are the three points we were all most at odds with. Most business people will load any debt incurred by purchasing a company back onto that company. My wife and I did it when we bought our business, it made financial sense. This way there is little risk to any wealth already accumulated by the owners. It pisses me off to no end that they haven't actually invested any of their own money in to the club and this alone shows they're in it for the short term profit not the long term stability of the great institution that is Liverpool Football Club. I can't honestly imagine DIC being any different.

We are being manipulated by the media also. They take a situation in their teeth and keep shaking like a rabid dog until the death and this is a disgraceful way for the british media to act. You expect it with the Yank media outlets but almost every single british tabloid (if not all of them) have jumped on the badwagon.

[Steve101]

I thought it was riddled with innaccuracies tbh, especially the stuff about DIC.

It probably is, but no more that a lot of the articles with the opposing view, its just that people will look foir them here because it challenges thier perspective.

[Johnny]

It probably is, but no more that a lot of the articles with the opposing view, its just that people will look foir them here because it challenges thier perspective.

Their will always be two trains of thought in a situation like this.We all reply to posts that agree with our point off view.It`s human nature.

[Red_Polo]

It probably is, but no more that a lot of the articles with the opposing view, its just that people will look foir them here because it challenges thier perspective.

Sure, but given the owners are quite clearly duplicitous and have failed to ease concerns it would be rather odd if people just gave them the benefit of the doubt.

[AFII]

The thing about Klinsmann is absolute rubbish.

So the bank should then have been allowed to talk to DIC before they agreed to loan us and G&H the money just to be sure if G&H suddenly decided to walk away if they get a good offer sometime in the future.

The above is the same scenario as the one they point out.

[Darth Marty]

At this stage there seems to be no new news, its all old stuff being rehashed to sell papers and to create a stir. The re-financing was always likely to happen and so that hasnt disappointed me quite as much as I thought but I would really appreciate a clear and concise statement from Gillette, Hicks, DIC, Rafa, Parry, Moores just to truly say what the hell has just happened and what will happen in the near future.

Seriously 1 press conference with the big names present and we could put this to bed and concentrate on football once again.

Surely these guys realise that?!

[Graybach]

[QUOTE]

I read this on the football 365 mailbox this morning and it made me thing :-

Liverpool fans are being manipulated by the media, pure and simple. Why on earth do they want DIC in?! Dubai Investment Capital has no experience of sport whatsoever! Hicks and Gillett have that at least. DIC are more likely to asset-strip Liverpool that Hicks and Gillett are. Hicks and Gillett may well only be in it for the money, but do you think DIC would be any different? The Pool absolutely needed a new stadium, and our Texan tools appear to be making that happen. How is that a bad thing?!

So horseracing is not a sport? Someone should tell SkySports to **** it off the telly then!

Think Sheikh Mohammed knows a thing or two about racing and winning.

In simplistic terms:

DIC/Sheikh Mohammed..........Winners!

H & G.................................Loosers (in terms of sport)

LFC....................................Still has my support regardless of who's in charge.

[willa1975]

Every team these two cunts have ever taken over, are either bankrupt or run into the ground, with no chance of winning their respective leagues. Better get used to midtable mediocrity.

I think Gillett has done reasonably well with the Montreal Canadiens. Before the NHL salary cap, he was at a financial disadvantage, as the Canadian dollar, which at that time was considerably weaker than the American dollar, made it difficult for him to compete with the clubs south of the border. But, since the advent of the salary cap, the Canadiens have improved considerably and have had a respectable record over the past few seasons. They are also doing quite well so far this season, with the second best points total in the Eastern Conference. Hicks' Dallas Stars are also doing quite well this season, with the second best points total in the Western Conference. In fact, they have consistently posted winning records since Hicks has owned them. They haven't won a championship in several years but, considering the degree of parity between teams in the league, and the fact that the championship is determined by a playoff tournament, I don't think he should shoulder the blame for that. Anyway, I certainly don't think either of their hockey clubs has been run into the ground.

Now, Hicks' baseball team is another story. The Rangers are in pretty sad shape, and Hicks has been rather tight-fisted since acquiring Alex Rodriguez several years ago. However, the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox are really the only three clubs in Major League Baseball who can afford to spend big year after year. I think the Rangers' struggles are partially due to Hicks not spending enough on his playing squad, but some fault has to lie with the people making the personnel decisions. I base this argument on the fact that the Cleveland Indians, who came within a game of reaching the World Series, and the Colorado Rockies, who were losing finalists this past year, both had lower payrolls than Hicks' Texas Rangers. Again, I don't think Hicks is deciding who plays for the Rangers, he's just the one signing the checks.

Now, a lot of people are criticizing G&H for being interested in LFC only for the money the club can make for them. But, the way things are in European football, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. Look at how the Scum are doing with an owner who, it seems, hasn't set foot in Old Trafford since he acquired the club. In American sports, where there is no threat of relegation, where there are no lucrative continental tournaments, and where there is a considerable degree of revenue sharing between the clubs, it is entirely possible for an owner to field a losing team year after year and still turn a profit. This is obviously not the case in European football. I cannot imagine that G&H are so stupid that they don't realize that any financial success they may enjoy as owners of Liverpool Football Club is very much dependent on success on the pitch. A 71,000-seat stadium is a great way to increase revenue, but 71,000 people aren't going to show up every other week to watch a **** team. And, considering that they've now invested a considerable chunk of their own change in the refinancing deal, they both personally have something to lose if they aren't successful.

What pissed me off more than anything was G&H's incompetence. There's simply no excuse for ****ing about with a stadium design that was not financially feasible before a shovel was even placed into the ground. I also agree with Rafa's assessment that they don't understand the transfer market, although I'm hoping that they will have learned from this experience. I was also taken aback by Hicks' complete lack of class in his comments to the media regarding the state of the club and his relationship with Rafa.

But these guys didn't get to where they are by being a couple of bumbling idiots. I hope they have learned a few lessons from this experience. Now that they've got the refinancing done, we're stuck with them, so let's hope that they make more sound decisions in the near future.

I'm content to give them a chance for now. They won't get a passing grade from me unless construction starts on the new stadium, Mascherano signs a permanent deal, and they give the manager a proper transfer kitty over the summer. These would be steps in the right direction, and should be priorities for these two businessmen, because a stronger LFC can only benefit their bottom line.

[dww]

[QUOTE=Graybach;920152]

So horseracing is not a sport? Someone should tell SkySports to **** it off the telly then!

Think Sheikh Mohammed knows a thing or two about racing and winning.

In simplistic terms:

DIC/Sheikh Mohammed..........Winners!

H & G.................................Loosers (in terms of sport)

LFC....................................Still has my support regardless of who's in charge.

DIC does not own the horse racing business and I suspect that Sheikh Mohammed will have litlle directly to do with LFC. Horse racing is his passion and so he backs it in a way he wouldn't back us.

That's not to say I think that G&H's experience of failure is the way to go particularly just that I think there are more similarities than differences between the two groups MO and reasons for buying us.

[Tom]

So poorly written it has to be a yank.