Take your cameras with you to the pub tonight if you’re one of those lucky enough to be enjoying a pre- or post-match pint either side of the game.
George Gillett is rumoured to be planning a visit to the Albert.
It seems to be all part of an orchestrated campaign to recover his reputation with fans.
We all heard his claims recently that after months of being a willing seller of his half of the club to Tom Hicks he’d now changed his mind after receiving death threats. He took the death threats seriously enough that in fear of the lives of his wife and family he was going to go back on multi-million-pound business deal.
So now he’s off to the pub to mix with the very people that might have been making those death threats he spoke of.
The only two reasons he gave for now refusing to sell to Hicks were the death threats, and that Hicks had run out of time.
Yet it’s hardly a secret that when he finally found the means with which to convince the banks to allow him to sign for his half of the £350m club debt he did so at the absolute limit of his financial means. He was already said to be pushing himself close when he took out his half of the original £298m borrowed for the original takeover, but pre-credit-crunch he still had some room to manoeuvre. By the time the duo were speaking to the banks about the renewal of that deal, he was getting short shrift. His assets weren’t even close to the value they had been listed at when that first loan was agreed.
So why, now, is he suddenly able to talk about buying the club himself? It would cost more to buy it now than it did to refinance it in January, so where’s he suddenly found the money from? And considering Hicks has resisted all the advances DIC have tried to make, we’re not talking about a small amount of money. Hicks has no intention of selling, he isn’t holding out for a pre-conceived figure, he wants to stay around for the long term.
Some say that Hicks will struggle to find the money to buy Gillett out anyway. If this is true, what chance has Gillett – the poorer partner of the two – got of raising the money? In reality it looks like Gillett has no chance whatsoever. And he’s not had a chance whatsoever – really – since that first hint from the bank last autumn that they didn’t think his assets were up to scratch.
So if Hicks raises the money, would death threats still stop Gillett from selling to him? Like-for-like, two equal offers from Hicks and DIC, one of which could be done pretty instantly and the other which would depend on Hicks selling his half at the same time, would Gillett turn Hicks down?
We’ll see, of course, if that scenario does eventually arise. DIC made it clear last month that a joint-ownership situation wasn’t a real possibility to them, and their lack for so long of an actual offer for the club that could trigger the supposed legal action against a Hicks veto suggests that they are waiting until both owners are willing to sell.
None of their tactics have worked so far. So are they now joining forces with Gillett?
Why has Gillett now come out and decided to announce he won’t sell to Hicks. If those death threats, no matter how serious, were going to stop him, a visit to the Albert with Foster wouldn’t even be joked about. Would he have even visited Anfield?
Has he had help in securing this visit to the Albert? He’s played as big a part in the mess as Tom Hicks, arguably more, and his answer to resolving the mess was to sit quietly and wait for someone to buy him out.
And what’s changed? Really, what’s made him find his voice again?
Gillett still seems to hold a grudge against Rafa, and although Hicks was there when the talks with Klinsmann were taking place, Hicks is now backing Rafa, and that seems to be more than just spin, for once. Gillett can list numerous reasons why he doesn’t think Rafa is the person the fans think he is. Rafa has been criticised for reportedly backing Hicks, but he knows Gillett isn’t keen on him, so what else is he supposed to do? He can’t exactly speak officially with DIC, to see what their plans are if they do succeed in taking over, although if they share Gillett’s ideas on a coach’s place he wouldn’t have a future.
Another question is just who is helping Gillett with his new-found interest in a club he deserted three months ago? Why has Foster returned to England after clearing his desk three months ago? If someone inside the club is helping Gillett, what’s in it for them? Are they thinking of the club, or thinking of themselves?
Gillett’s reported aim of turning up in the Albert seems designed as part of some plan, based on the invitation he claimed to have received when he was talking about death threats from Liverpool fans. By appearing at the Albert, photographer at the ready, having a pint of good old English beer (can you get a good pint in the Albert these days?) and smiling alongside fans, it seems he’s trying to prove a point. The point being that he really is that well-loved guy from Canada (as many still think he is), here to do nothing but good for the club. He’s nothing of the sort. He lives in Colorado and he’s here to make himself rich.
He’s here to make money, as much as possible, and every penny over the odds he asks for is a penny that could have gone towards helping the club. That’s his right, and if that’s what he wants to do there’s little to stop him. But let’s not hear any more about how he’s doing it for the club or the fans. Or from anyone else for that matter.
Julie, I agree that Parry MUST stay; not least because he helped put in this mess and must now sort it. Anyone hated/despised by Hicks is a friend of mine……or at least should remain until Hicks goes. And this is not just an emotional thing it’s based on the facts as we know them. If the men – Moores and Parry – want rid of the guy they brought in something must be wrong with him, right?!
By the way Julie, you were roaring in my head on Tuesday night. So much so, I woke up with a headache the next day.
Who’d have thought that 48 hours later – as I was about to watch the game again – Hicks would spoil it all again. Talk about bad timing!
Jofrad: re the DIC story, it sounds like they’re saving themselves the grief of playing referee between the “owners” (quotation marks used intentionally, as, hell, they’ve done nothing to deserve the title exception fund the purchase of the club with debt) and waiting until the banks step in and implode any financing arrangements
John – I know that anti-Parry-ite’s will talk about his lack of support for Rafa’s transfer signings – which is true to a degree – and I feel sure he was involved in bringing in Klinnsman – as he and Rafa were not getting on – but while he remains the camp of getting rid of Hicks; he should remain. Then we can deal with Parry.
midlands-red: ohboy, I really am gonna owe you big time for the headache medication – just put it on my tab, mate, because if you get a ticket to the home match against Chelsea, you’re going to need an entire crateful of the stuff after all the yelling I’ll be doing
“Check this out, they seem to be saying “over for the time being”.
I told you the rumor was false. 🙂
Hearing/reading all these stories about my beloved club makes me want to cry at the moment. Just to top it off, Mascherano’s appeal against the 3 match ban has been dismissed.
I honestly do not know what to make of all these developments.
Help!
“For all the moaning that we’ve all done about how ineffectual Parry has been in effecting a resolution to the ownership mess, he may still be in an influential position behind the scenes.”
He’s been very “influential” in continuing the mess by encouraging the Gilletts to stick around instead of just encouraging them to sell and be gone with a club they clearly want out of.
Parry must have seen the writing on the wall some time ago. He could have resigned in protest but there is the problem of his contract and presumably pension rights etc. and I don’t blame him for that, he is an employee after all. If he is also sticking to his guns to frustrate Hicks then he will have widespread support. Now is the time for David Mpores to make a statement to the fans on both their behalves. Come clean, admit they fouled up in deciding to sell to these two ensure the fans that they share our concerns. The answer to this mess is not for Hicks or Gillett to gain majority control although the Hicks camp will push this as a solution at least until the renewal of the finance arrangements. How deep are we in this mire when fans are heard musing on whether the long term interests of our club would have been better served by a defeat the other night? Unbelievable!
This is no way to run a football club!
Hicks out!
Incidentally Dawg, that comment of yours about Rick parry being influential in encouraging the Gillett’s to stick around is the only instance of such an assertion I have seen anywhere in the press or on the blogosphere. An inspired guess or insider knowledge?
Hello all, I have been following this particular site with keen interest.
I can’t believe what is happening at my beloved club, I honestly want to cry.
Just heard that Mascherano’s appeal against 3 match ban has been dismissed.
What next? Voronin says he does not like Liverpool? oh that as well!.
Still excellent game afainst Arsenal. TBH I could not bear to watch.
Its Trench Warfare!! the lines have been drawn… Gillett should resist selling to the texan knob, that would be a big disaster, as He (Hicks) would not let go the club (Ever) all Gillett needs to do is stay as he is, and when it comes to re-financing maybe the banks will do something about it!!!
Look. It’s clear that Hicks is trying to use Rafa to get Parry out and to get the fans on his side. He is showing a ruthless side that we don’t want in our club. Ok – Rafa did not like that Gillett wanted him out (supported by Parry, I think) but there’s no way that Rafa would liek to be involved in the boardroom struggle. Hicks is out of order putting Rafa in this difficult position – where he wil be asked about this at the next press conference. Rafa just wants to get on with his job. Hicks wants the club – or rather the money and will do anything to get it. His not won me over with his letter to Parry and – releasing figures through Financial Dynamics – to the media about how poorly Parry’s performed.
This is not the Liverpool Way. Hicks and his spin machine need to go. He (and Gillett) have turned us into a laughing stock.
This is a quote from the article in the Times on Hicks’s letter to Parry:
The American also claims there is a lack of communication between Parry and Rafael Benitez, the manager, when it comes to signing new players, and is unhappy at Parry’s sometimes fractious relationship with fans and sponsors.
One of the reasons Rafa fell out with the owners to begin with was their insistence that control over transfers and acquisition of new players was given over to Parry. How can Hicks now claim that Parry has not been in communication enough with Rafa if it was under Hicks’s directive that Parry assume more responsibility?
I’m really puzzled as to Hicks’s motivation to (a) do this now, and (b) to be so public about it. Seriously, what can he hope to achieve other than further enraging the fans – whether or not we support Parry, we’re goddamn well sick and tired of being made a laughing stock by Hicks’s ineptitude!
Texas_Dawg... Gillett out, Hicks out….Who´s been Influentail in continuing this mess…these two idiots, all parry wants is an end to things, and when both sides pack up and take home there sons, well who else will run the club…The tea Lady??? hicks and gillett are as screwed up as Laurel and Hardy
It’s no coincidence that Texas-Dawg only started to appear on here in the build-up to todays announcement. Let’s hear from the stooge again, as it’s probably the closest we’re going to get to hearing from Hicks….at least for now or at until his media handlers think is appropriate.
I wonder which one of the 2 owners will be at the Chelsea game in 2 weeks, as it’s unlikely they’ll both be there………surely!?!
You said it midlands red!
Behind closed doors these things get
sorted out.
Reading the threads, the majority of people seem to understand what Hicks is trying to do: divide (the fans) and rule (the club). Getting rid of Parry now will not help the club. Getting rid of Hicks will.
PS Have any of you been watching/reading the threads of other sites? I’m trying to see whether recent joinees to blogs are pro-Hicks and anti-Gillett and now anti-Parry, like our ‘friend’ Texas_Dawg? Any thoughts welcome.
PPS Parry, Moores and even Morgan, now at Wolves, must wonder how they got duped by these fellas?!
Is it possible…? Could it be…? Was Hicks so blunderingly blinkered that he decided to comandeer the Parry-outta-town train because he thought the fans would still be riding the high from Tuesday night and not care about what happens to Parry? Is his brain so filled with swaggering arrogance that he thinks our memory span is as short as that of the American public on election day? Does he really think that the profound disruptions he and Gillett have already caused to the institution of Liverpool Football Club are forgotten so fast? He knows he can’t fire Parry; he knows Parry won’t quit. Is he so drunk with power that realities having no bearing with him?
Jim, I know you have your reasons for being as suspicious of Gillett, but it’s for behaviour like this that Hicks galvanizes fans’ hatred on a whole other level.
Julie, Jim’s typing away (and reading our words) as we speak. Let’s hope he’s got some new thoughts, or rather facts, for us to digest.
PS You owe me big time for those headache tablets. Pity neither of us have the funds to buy out these jokers, instead of just a few pills.
” I wonder which one of the 2 owners will be at the Chelsea game in 2 weeks, as it’s unlikely they’ll both be there………surely!?!”
I’d bet they’ll both be there. And Texas_Dawg will be there too. 🙂 It’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait.
midlands-red: £500million is roughly the equivalent of $1billion CDN – even if I had a printing press in the basement churning out the notes by the hour, I’m afraid it would take years.
I’m just gonna have to do my Marcel Marceau routine from now on anytime I want to cheer during a match that you’re at – mimed chanting may not have the same impact, but it’s going to save me a whole lot of money when it comes to compensating you for pharmaceutical expenses.
“Texas_Dawg... Gillett out, Hicks out….Who´s been Influentail in continuing this mess…these two idiots, all parry wants is an end to things“
How do you know that? He probably sensed long before today that if Gillett sold to Hicks, his job would be in jeopardy. So it’s the Gilletts or nothing for Parry, and he’s likely done all he can to keep them around and causing problems.
Thank you, Texas_Dawg, you’re finally admitting that your a close ally of Hicks!
Were you at the ground on Tuesday? I was and I can tell you all the fans who were there don’t want your man around the place. If you’re the one advising him on his media strategy tell him he need to get some new advisors.
Sky sports have clearly been fed lines that ‘Rafa was supportive of the letter’. Clearly Rafa can’t say, publicly, one way or the other. But, yes Rafa has been against the way Parry’s handled transfers. However, he would not start to side with one owner over another in such a way. Hicks will have emails to reflect his employees concerns, because Rafa is an employee, but that doesn’t mean he wants Parry, and therefore Gillett out, and Hicks in, or rather to stay. They both must go.
Midlands-red, Gedo on RAWK, Gavo on ThisisAnfield coterminous with Dawg. TIA have banned Gavo today. Ayescotred on the echo site, also banned but will be back with a new ID. These posters came out of nowhere, same stuff as Dawg. One only on each site, one or two line responses and also coincidentally responding on a minor point but always ignoring the main issue. I’ll stick my neck out and posit that the DIC statement is clear and straightforward. If I am trying to buy a house and I learn that the seller’s are close to divorce I would back off until they do split and have to sell. Just business as Jim would say re Hicks.
“Thank you, Texas_Dawg, you’re finally admitting that your a close ally of Hicks!”
Where did I do that?
Were you at the ground on Tuesday?
No.
If you’re the one advising him on his media strategy tell him he need to get some new advisors.
What are a couple things you would advise him to do to improve his popularity with Liverpool fans?
Midlands-red, Gedo on RAWK, Gavo on ThisisAnfield coterminous with Dawg. TIA have banned Gavo today. Ayescotred on the echo site, also banned but will be back with a new ID. These posters came out of nowhere, same stuff as Dawg.
John, I promise you I don’t know any of these people. I don’t even know about those websites. I just found this site through an internet search, looking for a preview of the Arsenal/Liverpool games. I saw the anti-Hicks commentary and decided to respond.
Jim, mate, over the last month and a half or so you have completely lost the plot. The only thing that’s obvious from your posts is that you want Hicks to assume complete control of the Club………. but the arguments you’ve been advancing (and lets face it most of them are just pure speculation framed in the most favourable way possible to Hicks) do not stack up to any kind of examination or analysis. Hicks will take this Club over the financial cliff if he gets control. This is why virtually 100% of fans want him out. Gillett is merely a by product of Hicks. If we can get rid of Hicks then we also get rid of Gillett too but the converse does not apply. What part of this equation is too difficult for you to understand ???
As the arab proverb goes – “yaum asal wa yaum basal” one day onions the next tomatoes! It’s all happening, I just received an email from ShareLiverpoolFC updating me on their activities and asking for support in keeping the initiative on the websites. Jim no doubt you have access to the email so I hope you will carry on with your posting of developments. The full text can be found here:
http://ddayred.blogspot.com/
“lets face it most of them are just pure speculation framed in the most favourable way possible to Hicks”
As opposed to the rest of the comments here which are pure speculation framed in the most negative way possible toward Hicks. Why are you so threatened by dissenting speculation?
I know a PR campaign when I see it and it was obvious what you guys were/are upto, Texas_Dawg.
To be fair, it’s a reasonable strategy. But you and your friends, Texas_Dawg, have done it in such a cack-handed way that unless you’re his son – who you could be – I’d have sacked you.
I know a PR campaign when I see it and it was obvious what you guys were/are upto, Texas_Dawg.
To be fair, it’s a reasonable strategy. But you and your friends, Texas_Dawg, have done it in such a cack-handed way that unless you’re his son – who you could be – I’d have sacked you.
Come on, midlands. Why would anyone pay money even if it did guarantee a few changed opinions on an internet message board? Maybe the fact that I’ve so poorly done whatever it is you think I’m attempting to do might be a good indicator to you that I’m not being paid to do anything here.
I told you what happened: I was looking for Liverpool/Arsenal previews, found this website, read a few comments, and, seeing that they were unanimously anti-Hicks (and so filled with wild speculation and errors), decided to take up the contrarian point of view. I’m surely not the Liverpool expert that you and others here are, but, as a Texas-based sports fan, I do know quite a bit more about Hicks than you do. He’s made mistakes just as we all have, but he’s not nearly the monster you pretend he is. He’s actually just a big sports fan and a fairly successful owner.
Texas-Dawg it’s not about being an expert is about being a Liverpool football fan. And you’re not that. Yet you’re able to come all the way from Texas and secure a ticket for the game against Chelsea. How is that? Because you’re working closely with Tom Hicks and Financial Dynamics PR company.
Internet message boards/web pages are a new frontier in the PR game – everyone in your business knows that. Get the diehards via the internet – as well as the subtle techniques you and Financial Dynamics are using on behalf of Hicks – and you guys earn more money out of Hicks and you don’t have to twist the arms of national/local journalists to get your lines or ‘key messages’ out.
I know your game. You know your game (to support your paymaster Hicks) so just come out and say it. Come on Dawg ‘Just say it’???
I know your game. You know your game (to support your paymaster Hicks) so just come out and say it. Come on Dawg ‘Just say it’???
Honestly, Midlands, I don’t work for Hicks. At this point, I would tell you if I did as I’m not sure what it would change. I don’t even work in PR. I work in finance (with no business ties to Hicks).
Dawg…………I don’t feel remotely threatened by you or by any of your feeble arguments because they are so transparently biased and false. However I am in no doubt whatever that your Mr Hicks does pose a major threat to the financial viability of our Club and this does bother me very much.
You claim that we are all against Hicks but our disgust with him (and you) is based on objectively assessing the compelling evidence against him. Refer for example to Anfielder’s lengthy post of 4 April. I haven’t seen anything approximating a rebuttal to any of those points and this is because there is no rebuttal that would stack up to close analysis. Clearly you know this just as well as we do.
Unlike you (who are working as a mouthpiece to Hicks’s order) we have no inherent reason to be either for or against your client/boss/father other than his own past conduct.
Your denials of being a Hicks stooge are about as believable as OJ Simpson’s denials of being a murderer………………. but the problem for you is that we are not the OJ Simpson jury. Liverpool fans come naturally equipped with excellent bullshit detectors !!