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Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Lyric Proof Vest posted:

yes but i have a feeling the fans groups are so desperate to get rid of hicks and gillete they are going to support this without really thinking what being owned by a private equity firm is going to entail.
Not very likely, as most of us fell for that shite when H&G took over.

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Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Hopefully you're wrong, but people do silly things in desperate times.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

MrL_JaKiri posted:

For simple efficacy amongst the supporters the protests are largely gearing hate towards H&G; it's a very simple thing to get behind (Liverpool = doing bad and lots of debt, yanks = bad) which is good in a popular movement.

I haven't seen anything which demonstrates a grass roots movement based on the economic and sporting factors involved that is much beyond that level of complexity.
Does this mean that you aren't aware of Spirit of Shankly and talks about supporter ownership - even though the latter seems pretty unlikely now? If that's not a grass root movement then I don't know what is. Of course people will have different goals and opinions based on their interest in the club or in football in general, knowledge, spare time, etc. Most Liverpool fans can see that H&G are doing a lovely job and that they've lied to the fans since day one and thus "everybody" can get behind that slogan and express their anger. Not everybody is willing or able to spend hours every week in an attempt to buy the club or organise different protests.

Spirit of Shankly are nevertheless doing a great job in terms of organising and informing the supporters. They're also doing different things for the community, such as the free football coaching day that they had in February.

http://www.spiritofshankly.com/

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Leveraged buyouts, shares, profits, cunts. Either way, the clubs should be owned by the fans.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Jollzwhin posted:

I just thought the article reeked of the attitude that Liverpool as a club and it's fans are somehow better than any other club. Barcelona syndrome.
You've developed a smug, cuntish behaviour yourself and that's just because of a bag of money. I'm not sure what's worst, but a neutral might chime in with his/her view.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
What's your suggestion then?

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty


China set to buy Liverpool
The Chinese Government is the mystery backer behind a bid for Liverpool Football Club, The Times can reveal.

China’s overseas investment arm China Investment Corporation (CIC), which already owns a stake in Canary Wharf, is funding the bid fronted by the sports tycoon Kenny Huang for one of Britain’s biggest sporting names.

The debt-laden club is expected to change hands this month and last night the Chinese appeared to be in pole position to win a three-way takeover battle. The other bidders are a wealthy Kuwaiti family and an American private equity group.

Liverpool’s lender, the Royal Bank of Scotland, forced the club’s unpopular American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to put it up for sale in April. A number of potential foreign buyers have been circling, but until now the role of the Communist Government was unknown.

The acquisition would be just a tiny piece of China’s vast global investment plan. CIC was created in 2007 to invest billions of dollars for the benefit of the State. The country has been able to stockpile nearly $2 trillion of foreign currency reserves because it exports many more billions of pounds of goods and services than it imports. CIC has $332 billion to spend abroad.

The fund already has stakes in natural resources and energy companies in Asia, the US and Africa as part of China’s long-term strategy of securing its energy supplies. Liverpool would be its first football club and a high-profile entry into British cultural life.
Neither CIC nor Mr Huang was available for comment last night, but insiders said that CIC would end up owning the majority of the club if the consortium’s planned bid — which values Liverpool at between £300 million and £350 million — is successful.

China is not the first foreign country to covet English Premier League teams. Arsenal, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Sunderland are all in foreign hands.

Manchester City, which is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a senior member of the Royal Family in Abu Dhabi, and Chelsea, owned by the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, were bought as trophy assets. The owners have poured in money without seeking a profit.

It is believed that the Chinese would expect to make money by building a bigger stadium in Merseyside and developing the club’s Asian fan base.

Liverpool already has a sponsorship deal with the bank Standard Chartered, which focuses on Asia. Presenting the bank’s half-year results yesterday, Peter Sands, its chief executive, said that its sponsorship of Liverpool was the most cost-effective way of getting Standard Chartered’s name on to television screens across Asia.

The sale is being run by Barcap, Barclays’ investment banking arm, and Martin Broughton, chairman of British Airways, who was brought in as temporary chairman of the club in April.

Insiders said that it was a three-way contest between the Chinese, Rhône Capital, a private equity group, and the billionare al-Kharafi family of Kuwait.

Any buyer must be cleared by the Premier League, which has held talks with the bidders. The main test is financial and it is unlikely that a bid would be blocked from the cash-rich Chinese.

Mr Huang reiterated his interest in Liverpool through his PR firm Hill & Knowlton yesterday but said that he had yet to make a formal binding bid.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Huang set to give Hodgson £150m vote of confidence

Roy Hodgson will keep his job as Liverpool manager and be handed £150 million to spend on new players if the Chinese Government’s bid to buy the club proves successful.

As revealed in The Times today, Kenny Huang, the Hong Kong-based businessman, is fronting the bid by China Investment Corporation (CIC), the overseas investment arm of the Chinese Government. A formal offer has still to be lodged, but although there is interest from other parties, Huang — backed by the wealth of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world — is believed to be the front-runner to complete a purchase.

CIC is prepared to back Hodgson by bankrolling a number of high-profile signings and has made a commitment to build a new stadium.

Liverpool are also attracting interest from the Rhône Group, the New York-based fund management firm, and the al-Kharafi family from Kuwait. Yahya Kirdi, a Canadian-based businessman from Syria, claimed yesterday that he is close to finalising a deal, but it is understood that he is negotiating only with George Gillett Jr, the club’s co-owner, and has not been involved with RBS, which holds Liverpool’s £237 million debt, or Barclays Capital, the investment bank overseeing the sale.

After his appointment as the successor to Rafael Benítez in July, Hodgson said that the possibility of a takeover had been a factor in discussions before he signed a three-year contract and revealed that clauses had been inserted in the deal affording him financial protection in the event of new owners deciding to replace him as manager.

The Chinese, though, have no desire to dispose of the 62-year-old, who insists that the situation has not prevented him from going about his job in the right manner.

“I knew when I came to the club that a takeover may or may not come about, that it may come about quickly or it may take a lot of time,” Hodgson said. “But I was given assurances that I would be allowed to do the job in the right way and that’s certainly been the case since I’ve been here.”

Asked would it be easier for the club to plan ahead under new owners, he said: “That’s for sure. But I don’t want to go down the ownership route because I don’t know enough about it, apart from knowing that, at the moment, unfortunately the owners we have are very unpopular with the fans. They know it and that is why they are prepared to sell the club.”

Hodgson takes charge of Liverpool at Anfield for the first time tonight when his team take a 2-0 lead into the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round tie with Rabotnicki, of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The manager is not willing to allow either himself or his players to hide behind the uncertainty surrounding the club, and insists that they must be masters of their own fortune.

Fernando Torres, who pledged his commitment to Liverpool yesterday, had recently called on the club to match his ambition by signing “four or five” top-class players, but Hodgson says that it is the responsibility of those already at the club to shape the future.

“As a player you have the chance to change things,” Hodgson said. “If you don’t think the team is doing as well as it should, as a player you can do something about it. If you are a big player, maybe you will. My attitude is that we want our big players because they are big players and they will help the team to win.

“Now if they are not playing well and not helping the team to win, I will be advising them to look into the mirror rather than look for excuses elsewhere and blame the owners for not having spent £500 million.

“I am just sceptical about comments where players are questioning the club’s ambition.”

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Silly season indeed!

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Jollzwhin posted:

It's a different conversation but the BBC is so incredibly poorly run
You base this on what?

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Jose posted:

I'm surprised any spanish club other than the top 2 are in the top 20
Reported for racism.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Chuggo posted:

liverpool ceo ian ayres says they're looking at naming rights partners for the stadium (which seems to confirm they're going to build a new one?)
Probably just having a look at the market.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Warrior wtf

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Shameful.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
Pissflaps is once again The Wise Man. I support 'flaps.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
I've done an analysis by using Excel and assorted variables. These include cunty players, cunty fans, how shady the financial framework is, labour rights in the third world and arabic countries, etc.

My conclusion is that we're all cunts, some marginally worse than others. I'll upload the spreadsheet later.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
We might laugh, but you can bet your arse that there are a lot of oval office willing to splash money on that shite.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
I only watch live football from executive boxes, it's the only way to go.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

willkill4food posted:

I am hoping for a ground share as it will piss off Liverpool supporters and also Everton might be able to afford a striker.
I'm actually warming to the idea.

Also, I'd love to see Everton play at a 60k stadium. We'd have trouble filling it ourselves but Everton would be proper hosed.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Scott Bakula posted:

Just because nobody is charging interest on the debt doesn't mean its not debt. Newcastle are substantially in debt to Ashley, the difference is we're now being run in a state where its being paid of. Chelsea will never manage this
I will have you know that Chelsea will break even this season or the next. Or something like that.


Source: Several SA forums posters.

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Loving Africa Chaps posted:

you could nearly build two riversides for that
But why would you want to?

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty
How can GM afford a £350m deal?

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

Ninpo posted:

Has no one noticed that looks pretty much exactly like the Liverpool one that leaked ages ago?
So?

Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

TheGoatFeeder posted:

Whilst they could have left the date as 08/09, I doubt they would, but the other thing is that payslips to general every day staff don't have the date like that, and they don't even look like that. Obviously there is a big disconnect between playing staff and general staff, but I imagine the same template or style of pay slip would still be used.
Well, players and staff might not have the same pay slip. Also, the fact that it looks exactly like Riise's at Liverpool, could just mean that they outsourced that stuff to some other company - which doesn't seem unlikely.

But who knows and who really cares.

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Xabi
Jan 21, 2006

Inventor of the Marmite pasty

euroboy posted:

Gazidis says it's one of the biggest deals ever in football.
Hardly a surprise seeing that it's also one of the longest-running deals ever in football.

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