Gillet Interview

[AFII]

Hmmm....Gillett have first option on Hicks shares, maybe he will buy them and then sell them to DIC and keep a minority stake himself?

Maybe that's why he said that we may be buying instead?

[bobbyfallon]

the reference to a chess game was interesting at the start of the interview. maybe i read too much into it but my guess is there are talks going on behind the scenes.

also he said something about things going on he couldnt even try to understand - financial experts negotiating??

a **** it i dont know what im on about

[spider-neil]

here hoping when he said he is looking to 'buy' he is talking about MLS using the money he earns from selling his shares to the DIC.

[red g]

the reference to a chess game was interesting at the start of the interview. maybe i read too much into it but my guess is there are talks going on behind the scenes.

also he said something about things going on he couldnt even try to understand - financial experts negotiating??

a **** it i dont know what im on about

i can safely say neither does any ****er lol!!!

[carlton]

rom Times Online
March 28, 2008
George Gillett: the facts
Kaveh Solhekol and Oliver Kay
Why has Gillett chosen to speak out now?

It comes as a surprise because he has turned down numerous requests for interviews in the past four months. His silence has been unnerving but it is no secret that he has fallen out with Hicks. It is very significant that he has chosen to go public now.

Are you surprised by what he has said?

I’m not surprised by what he has said, but surprised that he has said it now. Gillett and Hicks have been at odds over virtually everything recently. It is not just a personality clash. Gillett appears not to have the money to take the club forward. There were talks last month between Gillett and DIC, Hicks attempted to veto the sale but he has done himself more harm than good. The likelihood is that DIC will buy Gillett’s 50 per cent soon. Hicks believes that he he has the ultimate power of veto over this, but DIC’s attitude is: “We’ll see about that”.

RELATED LINKS
I can no longer work with Hicks, says Gillett
Torres fit to face Everton after injury scare
Can Hicks and DIC work together?

Hicks could not work with Gillett and it will be impossible for him to hold on after DIC have bought Gillett’s shares. He will be forced to sell because of the financial climate. He will be gone within 6-12 months but it could be much sooner.

How does this affect Rafael Benitez?

I would guess that by the end of the season the ownership structure of the club will have changed. If Liverpool’s season falls apart in the next few weeks then Benitez will be on very thin ice. He has realised that he should just get on with his job and forget about pursuing personal vendettas against people on the board. Funnily enough, he now has no contact with Gillett but gets on quite well with Hicks.

Has there been any contact between Benitez and DIC?

I understand that there has been some contact between intermediaries.

Will there be any more protests at the derby on Sunday?

There are no formal plans but there will be the usual chants aimed at Hicks. There is so much at stake that for 90 minutes the focus has to be on the pitch.

[Vermilion]

Does this bit not worry anyone just a little. When GG was talking about DIC, but in a past tense.

“I think they would have been very responsible owners.

[carlton]

The full transcript of George Gillett's interview
George Gillett Jr reveals in a radio interview that his relationship with Tom Hicks, his partner and co-owner of Liverpool, has completely broken down
Nick Szczepanik
Interviewer: Where are you now in terms of Liverpool?

George Gillett: (sigh). Oh boy. I think we're at that point where there are things going on, there are pieces on the chessboard being moved, or being contemplated being moved, that I think it would not be helpful for us or the club to comment on. Suffice it to say, however, that our goal from the beginning was to try to be supportive and add to the lustre of this magnificent, storied franchise, and what has happened this year has not done that. We certainly haven't done it on the pitch yet, although we're playing well in the Champions League, but we've had a marginally good year in the Premiership [sic]. Our loss to Man U [sic] last weekend at 3-0 was a heartbreaker because we played them at 11 on 10 because we had Mascherano thrown off for - it's unclear as to what happened, but clearly they sent a referee in with a no-tolerance programme and we apparently made the wrong comment to the new tough referee at the wrong time, and you just can't - It's tough enough to play Man U 11 on 11.

So I think we're at a point now where we want to finish the season out, we want to finish it strongly, play well in the Champions League, Foster and I are going to be going over to the Arsenal game next week, and we've just decided that this is an extraordinary time and we're going to enjoy it, and we're going to be there, and, by God, we're going to try and be a positive influence on this process.

I: How tough has some of the hostility directed at the owners been?

RELATED LINKS
I can no longer work with Hicks, says Gillett
George Gillett: the facts
MULTIMEDIA
Hear it now: listen to the interview in full
GG: You know, we get, or we have gotten, as many as 2,000 emails a week here, and I would say that 95 per cent of them have been directed at some of the comments made by my partner, and five per cent, have been frankly aimed at both of us - saying, you know, 'Go home, Americans' - but for the most part, as recently as today, we've gotten 25 emails, and I've had conversations with fans who represent important blog sites and so forth, and thay are inviting me to come to the famous pubs, be their guest, see how they sing the songs, or get ready to sing the songs, and there is none of the hostility or animosity that, it is felt, seems to have been directed at others within the ownership group.

I must say, however, that the most difficult part for us has been that, because of the things that have been said that have upset and angered the fans as much towards one or both of us, the fact is that the thing that angers them the most is the prospect that I might sell even one share of stock to my partner. They do not want him to have controlling interest in this club. They don't even want him to have any ownership in the club based on what they're saying and sending to me. So as a result of that, and it has been very difficult for my wife, with the amount that I travel, we have received many phone calls in the middle of the night, threatening us, our lives - death threats. A number of them have come into the office, and Foster and Lauren, my son and daughter-in-law, have received a number of them themselves.

We're very private people, but my phone number is in the phone book. I'm not shy, and if I make a mistake, I'm prepared to take the hit for it. But the private phone numbers, the cellphone number and so forth are apparently on some blog sites and we have received a number of calls. And again, it's interesting - the calls are not against my wife or myself or my son or my daughter-in-law as much as they are against us selling to my partner. So we're rethinking that. Frankly I don't think it's fair for me to put my family in that kind of danger, so instead of thinking about selling, I don't know - maybe we'll think about buying.

I: Bluntly, has this partnership with Mr Hicks become unworkable?

GG: Oh, it has been for some time. But not because of us. We have tried to be co-operative, we have tried to be supportive, but when your public persona is more important than the facts, that makes it very difficult to have a rational relationship.

I: So what is the exit strategy, or the entry strategy, if you will? Is it feasible to buy Hicks out, or more of a wish?

GG: It's hard to say until you put something in writing or you put the money in the bank. That's a speculative answer, any answer I give you. But what I would say is this. We were very fair. We gave our partner a long period of time to try and make the arrangements to buy us out. We didn't put pressure on him, we could not have been a better partner, and he ultimately didn't get to the finish line. In the meantime, because of things he said, the fans' reaction has been so negative towards him, and towards us if we sold to him, that that has now made that an untenable alternative for us.

I: To be clear - the Dubai interest was with you, and he effectively blocked that possibility for you. Is that accurate?

GG: Well, that's another one of the points. (Laughs)

I: Is it accurate, though?

GG: He threatened to.

I: And do you think that deal could have and would have gone ahead?

GG: I think that's certainly one of the things that made the fans upset. Lord knows, they have the money and with oil prices going up every day that's not an issue, and they certainly have the history and their fans. And I think they would have been very responsible owners, so I guess not making that possible, or making that difficult, again didn't endear people to the fans. So as you are saying, there's an awful lot going on here, and much too complicated for me to try and handicap, but what I know is that the fans and the great fabled history of this club deserve better, and we're going to do everything we can to try to provide that, in whatever role we play.

[Roboklopp]

GG: I think that's certainly one of the things that made the fans upset. Lord knows, they have the money and with oil prices going up every day that's not an issue, and they certainly have the history and their fans. And I think they would have been very responsible owners, so I guess not making that possible, or making that difficult, again didn't endear people to the fans. So as you are saying, there's an awful lot going on here, and much too complicated for me to try and handicap, but what I know is that the fans and the great fabled history of this club deserve better, and we're going to do everything we can to try to provide that, in whatever role we play.

I think that bit shows the DIC stuff isnt dead.

[Sarb]

Does this bit not worry anyone just a little. When GG was talking about DIC, but in a past tense.

“I think they would have been very responsible owners.

Yeah it does. But I'm happy that Hicks will not be full owner. I don't think he'll be around for much longer. That's clear

I don't have that much of a problem with GG to be honest. See what happens

[Red Chilli]

Does this bit not worry anyone just a little. When GG was talking about DIC, but in a past tense.

“I think they would have been very responsible owners.

Not really

[Vermilion]

Yeah it does. But I'm happy that Hicks will not be full owner. I don't think he'll be around for much longer. That's clear

I don't have that much of a problem with GG to be honest. See what happens

I could well handle GG as a part of the club in some way along with Dic, as a matter of fact i think he'd be a Good Representative all round, he seems to have an amiable way about him.

[Vermilion]

Not really

Nor me really, only words, in an interview where he clearly want's to get certain points out in the open, but also has to be sort of careful what he say's.

[saveferris]

As AF is saying could George be exercising his right to buy off Hicks?? No idea where he would get the money from but thats the impression I get. Maybe get a nice little bonus for his assistance in any deal

He may have made some mistakes (its specuation) but GG didnt get into a mudslinging compeittion with Hicks and so he is by far the lesser of two evils.

[Lecter]

Not really

Me neither

DIC will own the club or a vast proportion of it shortly

[wishiwasascouser]

As AF is saying could George be exercising his right to buy off Hicks?? No idea where he would get the money from but thats the impression I get. Maybe get a nice little bonus for his assistance in any deal

He may have made some mistakes (its specuation) but GG didnt get into a mudslinging compeittion with Hicks and so he is by far the lesser of two evils.

I: So what is the exit strategy, or the entry strategy, if you will? Is it feasible to buy Hicks out, or more of a wish?

GG: It's hard to say until you put something in writing or you put the money in the bank.

Could DIC be lending him the money ?