The saga surrounding Liverpool’s ownership situation is still ongoing, with the US press now up and about and reporting the story too. Liverpool’s current owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, were offered £400m last Wednesday by Dubai International Capital for the club according to reports, and further reports claimed a midnight deadline to accept the offer. Reports claimed no response either way from either owner had been received for the club.
US press agency that Associated Press have now claimed to have information that the bid was rejected. They report: “Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. have rejected Dubai International Capital’s bid for the Premier League club, The Associated Press has learned. The £400million offer was immediately turned down, a person involved with the negotiations told the AP. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.”
That of course suggest an anomaly in the earlier stories. They claimed the offer was made six days ago and by this morning had still not had a response, yet this report says it was “immediately” rejected.
The other interesting thing in that AP report is that it suggests Hicks and Gillett are back in concert.
They seem hell bent on destroying us. Has anyone seen any Manc tatoos on the pair of muppets? I now officially hate them. We need to hit back.
I wish those stubborn old bastards would just sell up and go
Pride is one thing, but making the lives of fans miserable is another
No point in taking anything at face value until it’s officially stated, one way or the other. I’d be suspicious about someone ‘anonymously’ releasing a statement on behalf of both Hicks and Gillett. This suggests an unofficial source to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hicks does reject the offer, but I’ll believe it when I hear it officially.
Jim, Did DIC forego the usual “due diligence” procedure prior to making this offer. They have used subcontractor, Amanda Staveley, to put the bid forward have they had a similar 3rd party do the due diligence?
Tom Hicks will finish Liverpool as a force in english football. The only way to get rid of him is to boycott the club in every way. This means matches, merchandise,sponsors etc. Faced with falling revenues he will sell out.
John Steele, I think it’s a great point you make. While everything now appears to be moving so quickly in terms of news you would imagine DIC will hold onto usual procedures/processes.
Am I wrong in remembering that the reason why the DIC deal collapsed – notwithstanding that Moores made more money out of the Americans – was because they wanted more time to complete ‘due diligence’ while Gillett – in particular – and Hicks just got on with it?
I do think that DIC went public because of the Americans intransigence – in the hope that Gillett can be flushed out and the fans will ratchet up the pressure against Hicks.
Hicks is clearly hoping to hang on in-there hence his sons appearance at a recent game. But we can’t let that happen. Hicks must ‘get out of our club’ and taken that Gillett with him.
Still not sold on the total boycott. It is the “total” part that is problematic. The prospect of fans picketing the ground to get the message across is not a pretty one and would be divisive. It may well come to that if Hicks hangs on to the end of the season and there is no significant investment in the squad or movement on the stadium. Rafa has already said it might be time to concentrate on existing player resources!
Surely with the money SOS are amassing we could try taking out a series of full page “Get lost” ads in the mass media, signed off by fans. Mass emailing etc. If SOS and others decide to go to war with this guy it needs to be focused not scattergun. To reinforce the “total” problem watch out for the laisse faire resonse from the “Hicks is here to stay, live with it, get a life” brigade. As much as I hate what Hicks has brought to our club, the notion that we are just “punters” meant to turn up cheer and then shut up angers me more. We are stakeholders.
There seems to be more conflicting stories coming out
I just saw an article saying that Hicks hasnt actually rejected any offer (if indeed one was made)
Basically…. we cant jump to conclusions.. there is still hope
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/08/03/04/SOCCER_Liverpool_DIC_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=soccer
Another angle is that if Liverpool do not qualify for next season’s Champion’s League it will leave a gap in the club’s finances of about £20m which Hick’s will not be able to fill. He will then be forced to sell the club.
Perhaps for the remainder of this season we should all support Everton ??
i hate hicks. i hate the dallas stars. i hate the texas rangers.i hate the montreal candiens. maybe we should try to burn all those clubs down somehow?
it doesnt matter what we want to or how much we want to boycott, Hicks is a bastard who doesnt give two fucks what we all think. thats how he has made his money. he dont give a shit what he is doing,or who he upsets, he is in the business of making money,he wont let a potential goldmine die if it makes him a huge amount of money in the longterm.has anyone thought about maybe its DIC who are damaging the club putting these stories out to get a cheap deal in? we should all stop worrying ourselves in to the ground on stuff that from the first moment the original stories broke is pure speculation. anyone noticed how the media have changed their stance since we are officially out of the title race?im sick of all the negativity,yes times are worrying, yes it seems we are heading for uncertain times, but jesus, man utd are worse off debt wise and no one cares.the glazers have utd on the brink of oblivion after one potential bad season,do any of us all really know the extent of the financial terms other than a couple of journalists putting their blind orr in and messing with our heads? i hate the media, they destroy every club they fancy. Lets just sit and wait and see what happens, everyone here is playing right in the hands of the media, myself included, im fed up with us all expecting the worst when really, none us dont have a clue about the real intricates of todays finacnial business.
Just to respond to some of the points above, I’ve not been able to find anything out about due diligence, whether it’s actually been done already or if it still needs to be done. Hicks’ denial relating to due diligence a week or two ago was worded in a wooly (not woolyback) enough way that it could be disregarded. Add to that an offer could be made subject to due diligence not finding any unexpected issues.
As for total boycotts and so on I agree that it’s going to difficult to carry out. I can see pros and cons to it and although I wouldn’t write it off fully it needs a lot of organisation to work.
Onto the information coming out. Let’s just say that two or three PR agencies are leaking and briefing. Those directly involved are leaking and briefing. Others involved less closely will be commenting. The Telegraph say talks are going on now in London.
We’ve got little choice now but to sit and see what happens, but if no progress has been made overnight we need to think of ideas – if needed – for any protests before and after tomorrow night’s game.
i agree with Jim to sit,see and wait on what happens. if they are certain they dont want to sell, why are they in London talking about getting the best deal which suits Hicks, which is to make sure he stays on the board in some capacity to make his killing which is why he is at Liverpool in the first place.Thanks David Moores, you have doen Liverpool proud
We need to redouble our protests. Hicks must be left in no doubt whatsoever that we don’t want him at Anfield.
Yes, the prick may not give two monkeys about our protests, (indeed he may take a perverse sense of pleasure in walking all over our feelings), but third parties (like banks and potential private investors in America) are gonna be put off big time when they see such protests at Anfield. And THEY should be our focus. They are our audience.
Hicks may not be able to see reason….but other folks sure can see the vivid reality.
Tomorrow night’s game is a timely opportunity for us to reinforce that we don’t want the prick, or his business associates, anywhere near our club.
but if we mass demonstrate,does it then risk the players being affected yet again and drawing our 12 game of the season handing the 4th spot to the blue scum across the city? this whole season is comepltelty destroyed no matter what we all want t do. fc united has done fuck all to convince the world that that band of true suporters is worth lsitening to above the sick world of greed that infests our game
I agree with Jofrad’s suggestion above. The only people who can actually make a difference to Hicks at this decisive moment are us the fans. All of Hicks’s financial plans depend on us. If we make it unmistakeably clear to Hicks that we will cease all financial activity in support of the Club until he goes then he will have to go soon rather than watch the value of his property decline over time. However this has to be a concerted, ongoing demonstration for as long as it takes rather than a half-arsed or half-hearted oneoff affair. For example we can’t just boycott one home game (as some have suggested) because this is simply another way of telling Hicks that things will be back to normal after that game is over.
You have to remember that Hicks is American and does not understand subtlety. Any messages have to be delivered in a way that even this fat assed phoney can’t dimiss either to himself or others (including his financiers) as just meaningless. As a lifelong Red I would rather see us finish outside the top four for one season if it means the Club gets the right owners for long term success rather than the Champions league next season and an inevitable Leeds Utd style meltdown over the following two years with Hicks in charge.
Yes, big business has finally got it’s greedy smelly paws on our club. 🙁
Unfortunately Moores and Parry fell on their arse and picked the wrong option. It’s now very difficult to get this cancerous pair out of Anfield.
Aye, this mad race for 4th spot is the backdrop (as well as our ongoing CL run) to this whole awful stage-play. I’d recommend the mass protests were held, as previously, after the game was over. During the game, the team needs all the vocal support they can get.
Sameer.alansari@abchallenge.org
just email the man and beg!
LOL! After my first glass of wine (in the next hour), I may well drop him a line, Robb! :3)
Good call Toshackrises !!………Quite apart from my earlier comments might I also add that I suspect most of the Liverpool players detest Hicks as much as the fans. Seeing the fans come out fighting for the Club they love might just inspire them. Lets face it theres no guarantee that we’ll get 4th place even if we don’t protest and just plod along like mindless sheep in accordance with Hicks’s wishes. Its more likely that the bad atmosphere will continue to hover over the Club and affect everyone until Hicks is gone.
Whilst I agree that Hicks and Parry showed appalling judgment in selling to Hicks it would be a big mistake to turn against them now rather than Hicks. This would only give the opportunist Hicks the excuse he’s looking for to remove them and insert a couple more of his own lap dogs like Ian Ayre onto the Board. This is the last thing we need.
big protests will affect the players undoubtably.
“but third parties (like banks and potential private investors in America) are gonna be put off big time”…and this helps us how? It affects our ability to raise finances in the future with or without Hicks as its our name, Liverpool FC, that will be remembered.
Anfielder, that is a good point. We mustn’t let Hicks off the hook (by turning our tempers on Moores and Parry at this point).
I’ve always had the impression that Hicks was an American version of Newcastle’s Freddie Shepherd. A big oaf, subtle as a brick, no love of football, no expertise in anything related to football, only in it because there is big money in it.
Like someone said earlier, I would accept (if that is what it takes) not finishing 4th – if it means we get rid of Hicks. He offers this club nothing but grief. And given what we have seen and heard to date, I wouldn’t trust him as much as to tell me the correct time of day. I never believe a word he says.
Anyone else noticed how anti-Liverpool the reporting in the Independent is?
In terms of pro-LFC papers…… The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Mirror
Anti-LFC… The Times, The SCUM, The Star