Originally posted by AFII
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Theres a difference between risky loans and a loan which has NO chance of being repaid which is what the tool is saying.Originally posted by dawmdt View PostThe Crushing Machine MKIIComment
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No one.Originally posted by SpeedyG View Post
But I apologuise to you and sarb24 for making me point in such a blunt manner.
I'll just be glad when all this is over and then we can all get back to calling the mancs cunts instead of eachother
Forwards.......Comment
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Explaining how banks have been lending money to people forever who have a high chance of defaulting (and indeed continue to do so).Originally posted by Sarb24 View PostCan you tell us in one line the main point of that article?
Point of linking it was to educate the poster on banking norms.
But this loan doesn't have no chance of being paid. However I would say it was risky; any financing of a football club where some level of success is assumed is risky. A bad ref's decision can turn a season no matter how good the players or manager. At the end of the day banks make money. If a loan is high risk, as long as it has collateral behind it, they couldn't give a monkeys how they make their money from it.Originally posted by SpeedyG View Post
The fact remains is if you lend somebody an amount of money they can only just repay it doesn't really matter whether the person borrowing it is a "sub prime" borrrower borrowing a few thousand or somebody worth a million borrowing a billion, it's still a risky loan.Comment
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Having said that, banks will always usually want to avoid lots of bad publicity. Taking possession of Liverpool FC is not something I don't think RBS would like to doOriginally posted by dawmdt View PostComment
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Gerrard facing uncertain Anfield future, but Benitez will be the big winner if Hicks wins contro
By IAN RIDLEY - More by this author »
Last updated at 20:54pm on 1st March 2008
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They say when America sneezes, England catches a cold. It will be interesting, therefore, to see if Steven Gerrard shows any signs of a sniffle at the Reebok Stadium this afternoon when Liverpool's battle to finish in the Premier League's top four continues in earnest.
Highly significant developments in the Liverpool soap opera have taken place on the other side of the Atlantic that will impact heavily on manager Rafael Benitez, Gerrard and every other Anfield cast member.
Read more...
Gerrard can win title at Liverpool, says Benitez
Mascherano finally wraps up four-year Liverpool deal
Hicks: I'll stop my partner Gillett selling Liverpool to Dubai group
Stevie G is right, we should be further up the table, says Liverpool boss Benitez
Liverpool star Carragher arrested and cautioned for common assault
As Benitez prepares to face Bolton, Tom Hicks is stepping up plans to raise £150million to buy out fellow American and coowner George Gillett and assume sole control of Anfield. If he succeeds, there will be winners and losers among leading figures at the club.
In a dramatic turnaround from his highly-publicised fallout with the club's owners last autumn, Benitez sees himself as the biggest winner if Hicks succeeds in taking control.
The Spanish manager now believes it was Gillett rather than his new ally, Hicks, who was the driving force behind the move to lure Jurgen Klinsmann to the manager's chair.
Ironically, the long-term losers if Hicks takes control could be local heroes Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. Their influence is already on the wane as Benitez brings in his 'own men', people like Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano.
The stronger Benitez becomes, the more fragile is the influence of Gerrard and Carragher, Liverpool men through and through.
Benitez senses something is in the air. Despite Gerrard's damning comments last week bemoaning another failed title attempt and the fresh memory of an embarrassing FA Cup exit at home to Barnsley, there has been a spring in the manager's step that is not just the result of completing the £18m signing of his favourite midfield terrier, Mascherano.
Benitez spent the first three years of his reign trying to modernise Liverpool from top to bottom, and the past few months worrying about his job prospects as the club became engulfed in a civil war.
With one boss, Hicks, who believes in him, Benitez now seriously believes he can build a dynasty along the lines of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
In the build-up to today's game, Benitez allowed himself to look beyond his current contract, which ends in 2010, and had the confidence to assure pessimistic captain Gerrard that he will be the first Liverpool manager to bring the title to Anfield since 1990.
"I am confident I will be here for a long time; not just for two more years, for a long time," said Benitez. "This season our plan was to finish in the top four but I know we can improve and do much better in the future. We will win titles, and that includes the Premier League."
Benitez has spent the entire season fire-fighting but he clearly sees a streamlining of the hierarchy above him as hugely beneficial.
"I am sure the situation will change [off the field] and things will be easier next season," he said. "We all share Steven Gerrard's disappointment about the League but we know we will do much better in the future."
The shape of that future, however, remains uncertain. City sources confirm that Texas multi-millionaire Hicks is investigating selling shares in his Hicks Sports Group to bring in the funds, either to buy out Gillett or simply to meet interest repayments on the club's £350m debt.
If he is unable to find private investors willing to take a stake in his business at the right price, Hicks will come under pressure, not least from lenders The Royal Bank of Scotland, to enter formal negotiations with Dubai International Capital.
The Hicks Sports Group own not only his share of Liverpool, through Kop Holdings, but also his Texas Rangers baseball team and the Dallas Stars ice hockey franchise.
Investment bank JP Morgan tested the water for a private placement of shares in America in January and have been back at Anfield in recent weeks. A public flotation of HSG has been ruled out because of the global financial crunch but it remains to be seen if there will be any private takers, given the poor financial performance of the Rangers and the Stars.
Liverpool are very much the trophy asset of Hicks' holding company, but the huge debt burden significantly decreases their attractiveness to new investors.
DIC remain determined to buy the club and are resigned to paying more than they were willing to splash out just over a year ago before the American tycoons stole in with their own takeover.
But if Hicks is unable to raise money quickly, his negotiating position will become weaker. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that DIC would agree to be sleeping partners rather than outright owners.
If Hicks could raise sufficient private equity he would send his son, Tommy Hicks Jnr, to live on Merseyside and co-ordinate between Benitez, chief executive Rick Parry and Hicks himself.
From there his strategy would be simple: give Benitez a long-term deal and allow him full authority on team affairs while he looks after his speciality — building a new £400m stadium next to Anfield.
Benitez has even promised to be a good boy and not criticise his bosses in public, as he did in the autumn when he said Hicks and Gillett did not understand the transfer system. Now, he says: "It is not all about money. It is also about doing the right things. You don't have to spend as much money each year because your squad is already better.
"You have to find young players who are ready to come in when the older ones leave."
If the Hicks-Benitez alliance wins — and they will attempt to win over sceptical fans by blaming everything since March 2007 on Gillett — the question over the summer will regard the futures of Gerrard and Carragher. For years, the notion of a Liverpool team without them has been unthinkable. But neither has stood up for Benitez this season, while other players have.
The pair are still great players but no longer untouchable. Torres is a Kop hero to rank alongside Gerrard and the Spaniard outsells the local man in the club shop.
Regular Anfield goers will notice that when Benitez wants to make tactical adjustments, it is Mascherano, not Carragher, he trusts most of the time.
Gerrard remains a world-class player and Benitez would love him to stay. The difference if Benitez signs a new contract is that things will have to be done his way.
"I don't want to sell Gerrard," he insisted. "I want to win trophies here for many years and it will be easier with Steve in the team because he is a great player."
Asked why Gerrard regularly grumbles about him, Benitez said: "Every player is different."
It is hard to see Gerrard being given such leeway in a new regime. He and Carragher are conscious of their body clocks and are now obsessed with winning the League title before it is too late.
Benitez likes them as players but not as judges. He knows if he had listened to Gerrard, Carragher and The Kop he would have signed Michael Owen for £17m and not had the money to spend on Torres.
Most fans would admit their manager's judgment was spot on.
The importance of today's game at the Reebok is about fighting for fourth place with Everton. It is a bit of a let-down for a club who believe they should be neck-and-neck with the leaders.
Benitez does not see the club situation being repeated if his coalition with Hicks stands firm. He welcomes the Texan's bold moves in America. But they may yet prove an ill-wind for his Liverpool lads.YNWA!!!!Comment
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Ah the Mail, a paragon of truth and virtue...and full of ****. The stevie g stuff is pure made up speculation, anyone here could have cobbled it together.Comment
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They probably did.Originally posted by Steve101 View Post
As for Mascher being given the responsibility over Carra?
And I know Carra and Stevie wanted Mikey back but we were never gonna pay £17m for him and this was before Torres came into the equation. We could still have got Torres, but maybe not Kuyt last summer.
EDIT: couple of summers ago!Forwards.......Comment
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YOU ARE A HICKS APOLOGISTS. You don't need caveats mate just admit it..................if that was the case I'd come right out and say it. If you can't be objective about things thats your problem, I'm comfortable with my viewpoints, but dont get all uptight if others take a different one. And I wont be bullied into a particular thought process by anyone, deal with it.Comment
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but if IF carra and stevie are still smarting over rafa's refusal to sign owen then they need to man up and get behind there manager.Originally posted by Steve101 View Post
torres wouldnt of been possible if we bought owen and rafa was spot on there.ps3 fanclub member#1
sony will win the console war.Comment
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Agreed. The bottom line is the manager is boss, end of. Interesting that in todays Daily Post they carried the same story, and there was one sentence where Rafa said that he talked with Stevie every day, and a lot about future plans, including players etc. I'm of the opinion that a lot of this rubbish is wishful thinking by the press.Originally posted by pezzzer View PostComment
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[COLOR="Orange"][gggg/COLOR]YNWA!!!!Comment
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Bascombe's latest piece:
HICKS IS KILLING KOP
By CHRIS BASCOMBE
TOM HICKS today stands accused of sucking the life out of Liverpool Football Club.
The Anfield co-chairman's refusal to step down threatens the heart and soul of a proud institution which has been decimated by his divisive, gruesome reign.
Hicks seems hell-bent on creating the ultimate terrifying scenario on Merseyside.
Click here to win Champions League tickets
He's ruling the club with outspoken arrogance, taking chilling financial risks to preserve his own position and making consistently ill-thought, off-the-cuff decisions on the future of boss Rafa Benitez.
The Texan seems to have no concept of the damage he's causing, and an utter disregard for the long-term repercussions of his callous resolve to stay at the helm. The fans want him out. Around 90 per cent of his employees want him out. The players want him out and his co-chairman wants out.
Liverpool is in the grip of mayhem at every level, fractured from the boardroom down, with some respected Anfield figures admitting they're in a state of depression as the nightmare continues.
"At the moment, the situation can only be described as catastrophic," a well-placed Anfield source admitted.
Hicks retained control of the club by plunging Liverpool into £350m debt. He still needs to raise £300m within the next three months to start work on a new stadium on Stanley Park on time.
Handsome
And if he wants to buy out his partner, George Gillett, he'd need to find a further £200m.
It's this final sum, and not the stadium money, which has become Hicks' main priority in recent weeks as he has tried to fight off Dubai International Capital's advances.
That's despite the fact he knows DIC have deep enough pockets to construct the stadium and rebuild the team without carrying a begging bowl to the world's banks every 18 months.
Instead of leaving with a handsome profit, Hicks has been seeking an alternative investor to join him at Liverpool.
The consequences of him buying out Gillett would be grave.
The Texan plans to remove members of the old-hierarchy with a ruthless cull to ensure all opposition to his chairmanship is eradicated.
Rick Parry and David Moores would be the first to go, cutting off DIC's path into the club.
Answer
If Gillett was to agree to sell to Hicks, Liverpool would face a prolonged era of debt-ridden uncertainty.
The club must pay £30m a year in interest alone, which means even winning the Champions League each season wouldn't cover the costs of their annual bank repayments.
Hicks has continuously refused to answer where summer transfer funds will come from, leading to the conclusion that high-profile signings will also be purchased through his bank loans.
That's the route Leeds fatefully took under the chairmanship of Peter Ridsdale.
Only a fans' protest and Champions League progress have saved Benitez but now Hicks has vowed to keep the manager for the remaining two years of his contract – providing he makes no further public criticism of his chairmanship.
In the meantime, the performances on the pitch have left more moderate Anfield fans believing a reasonable debate about the manager's future should take place.
Catalyst
But despite Hicks' short-term backing of the Spanish boss, there's been no suggestion he's willing to extend Benitez's contract, which in normal circumstances would be in the process of renewal in the summer.
Anf if Benitez does get the chop few of Europe's most sought after coaches would be tempted to move to Anfield given the current conditions.
As DIC become increasingly exasperated by Hicks' bullishness, the focus will now shift to Gillett.
He's remained silent since the rift between the co-chairmen was exposed and, unlike his partner, has done nothing to dampen speculation he wants out.
DIC hope Gillett will be the catalyst for Hicks' downfall.
While Hicks insists Gillett can't sell without his agreement, the same is also true in the other direction. If Gillett refuses to sell to Hicks, the stalemate will continue and the Texan's frustrations will grow.
The question now is how sincere is Gillett when he tells his allies at Anfield he cares about safeguarding Liverpool's future.
DIC have not gone away and have presumed from the outset Gillett will never sell to Hicks.
Distressed Liverpool supporters would feel more encouraged if they heard Gillett make such a vow public. Otherwise, The Kop's best hope is to arm itself with a crucifix and start praying.Comment
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