Rafael Benítez spoke today about the meeting he had with Tom Hicks and his son Tom Jnr at Melwood yesterday, and sounded very pleased with the outcome. Much will be read into what Rafa had to say, and how it clearly shows where his loyalties lie with regards the ownership situation. Except it doesn’t. He’s not being drawn in public one way or the other. He’s never said he’s felt in an awkward position when talking to Hicks, he’s never said he’s felt Hicks is the only option.
When Rick Parry received a letter from Hicks recently in which he was asked to resign, the reasons given included some that could easily have been written by Rafa. But these were long-term concerns of Rafa’s, going back to the days before the new owners arrived. In Rafa’s mind Rick Parry kept messing up his transfer moves, and although the Hicks letter was probably the first detailed public acknowledgement of the problem, it was well-known amongst supporters.
Despite the speculation over new ownership of the club, which is a two-way fight between DIC and Tom Hicks, time is ticking on and it is important to keep day-to-day business ticking over, which at this time of year concerns transfers. Rafa had mentioned after the Chelsea match that he wanted to talk with the owners and Rick Parry.
Today he said: “You know we have two owners and a chief executive. We need to progress – my responsibility is to prepare the squad for the future and to improve the squad. So, I had to talk to them. We have had a very good, positive, meeting.”
He was asked if he was given any hints about how the ownership situation might be resolved, but he said that wasn’t the point of the meeting: “Not really, we were talking about targets and things like this; this was the key to the meeting. It was good.”
He was asked if he’d spoken to them about the situation, but again wouldn’t be drawn: “We were talking about how the club must improve and progress because it’s important to sign the right players for the future. That was what I wanted to talk about.”
It was suggested to Rafa that fans felt progress couldn’t be made with the ownership situation as it is, but Rafa suggested this wasn’t a problem: “After the meeting we are trying to progress with some targets. It’s okay. Last week we were doing this and this week it’s the same. I think we will be stronger next season. You need to keep going if you want to improve. That is what is really important.”
To say relationships between various members of the Anfield management, from Rafa upwards, are strained is an understatement. Rafa himself is keeping quiet as far as his ownership allegiances are concerned, but there’s no point trying to pretend he’s best friends with Parry. The owners themselves stopped speaking to each other some time ago, but Rafa feels they’ve all got to pull together, and said Hicks agreed they should all speak: “We need to work together and he agreed we must talk together. If we want to go forward and sign players, we have to all work together.”
As a result Rafa is confident he can get the players he wants: “I do not doubt we will achieve those targets. I have a scouting department that is working and progressing. Now I have told the owners how we need to progress.”
Rafa isn’t talking about concerns over how transfers are going, he’s grabbed the bull by the horns and is determined the negotiations won’t be scuppered. Where the money’s coming from wasn’t mentioned, although the January refinancing deal did mention an amount of £45m being set aside for transfers and working capital, although there was no indication as to the split or how long it had to last.
If the money’s in place then there’s only one real obstacle, and Rafa is confident that’s been dealt with too: “Rick Parry will be working too, and if everyone works hard and we work together, it will be easier. Clearly, I expect agreement on recruiting players for the summer. We are ready now for going forward.
“Now we have had a meeting, we are in a better position. We need to think about our games at Birmingham and Chelsea, but we must also think about improving the squad.”
Rafa said co-owner George Gillett was kept in the picture: “George knows about what was said, everybody knows. Everyone has the same information.”
The two Toms had visited Rafa at Melwood on the day of the Chelsea game and – according to the Mirror the next morning – the “DIC PR Machine” had tried to claim to reporters that they had been turned away. Hicks was surprised to hear that tale, commenting on Tuesday: “I visited the manager at the training ground and we had a great meeting. We talked about a lot of things and it was a very positive, encouraging meeting. We have agreed to meet again to discuss the future and it is a very healthy situation. Rafa is happy and he wants to talk about where he is taking the club in the future. The talks were really positive, so I am surprised if anyone else is saying different. We plan to all get together and discuss the future and Rafa is happy with that.”
Embarrassingly for the “DIC PR Machine”, no doubt at this stage still enjoying the benefit of the doubt from many reporters, Rafa then confirmed in the post-match press conference that not only had he not turned Hicks and son away, he had enjoyed a short positive meeting: “We spoke about maybe having a meeting together, the owners and everyone. It was positive and just to say hello and arrange to meet. That will be a positive meeting. We will all be together. The idea is to meet with everyone. After the meeting if we have something important to say, we’ll say it.”
The “DIC PR machine” is nowadays spreading the word that Rafa would be safe under their ownership, but until George Gillett accepts their offer and Tom Hicks either allows that or loses a court battle, they remain outsiders as far as Rafa’s planning is concerned. Rafa has to focus on the current situation, with both Americans in joint control and Rick Parry in the CEO role. Rafa’s frustration with Parry played a part in the events that culminated in Jurgen Klinsmann being sounded out for the job of LFC manager. Talks in November with the German coincided with Rafa’s infamous “just concentrating” press conference, and it took some time before Rafa was really showing any genuine signs in public of having forgiven either owner.
That came late in February, at a time when George Gillett was still in exile. Rafa said of a meeting in December: “After the meeting we had, everything was clarified. The misunderstanding was clarified and after the meeting I have had the support of Tom Hicks.”
It was noted at the time that he’d only mentioned the name of Hicks, who keeping in constant contact: “Almost every week, not every day but before or after a game, he contacts me. He sends me e-mails saying ‘come on’, ‘well done’ and ‘you can do it’ – very positive. I e-mail him back saying ‘thank you’.
“He does it for different games. Before this game against Middlesbrough he e-mailed me saying ‘come on.’ Before and after the Inter game he e-mailed me. After Barnsley he said ‘come on, keep focused on the Champions League’ – he’s very supportive.”
He was also asked at the time if he’d had the same kind of contact from George Gillett: “No.” Or Foster: “I haven’t seen Foster Gillett.” And a quick mention of that November dispute: “I was not doing anything different; I was just trying to keep in contact with them through Rick. After the meeting, communication has been much better.”
He also wouldn’t answer questions on whether or not the supporters should continue the regular protests that were taking place: “I cannot say anything to our supporters in terms of what they must do or not.”
Rafa’s issue with Parry was far deeper than most people had thought, and in the wake of the Hicks letter to Parry and its revelations of these issues Rafa’s February words have a different light shed on them: “My relationship with Tom Hicks is good and I don’t have any problems because I’m professional. It was a misunderstanding and I think he understands now all the things I was telling him before.”
Rafa had been trying in November to bring an end to the lethargy that saw him miss out on Florent Malouda in the summer, but in November there were still conflicting versions of events being passed across the Atlantic. In effect it was Parry v Rafa, with Foster Gillett perhaps the only witness to the dispute. It seems Foster’s initial report to his father, and in turn Tom Hicks, favoured Parry’s side of the story, much to Rafa’s annoyance. The Klinsmann approach was intertwined with all this, and it seems George Gillett’s relationship with Rafa never actually recovered.
Rafa said in February: “I am a fighter. I have always been a fighter. So when we had the problems I was fighting. When everything was much better I was really focused. I like to do my job, I am a professional and I try to do my best – always.”
And when Rafa was asked at that time if he was worried Hicks might look to another replacement for him he couldn’t make it clearer: “I don’t have any concerns.”
Rafa wanted to stay out of any public discussions regarding the ownership situation even then: “I don’t know the situation, so I am trying to concentrate on football. The communication with Tom is through e-mail, it’s just talking about games or business for the future with players but nothing really serious because we go through Rick to do the other things – it’s just to support me and the team.”
As we come close to the end of the season that “business for the future with players” is obviously a priority, but Rafa’s work seems likely to ensure the ownership impasse doesn’t leave the club without the ability to move forward, even if only slightly, as the transfer window opens. If all concerned can act in a professional manner until George Gillett’s shares finally pass into someone else’s hands then it actually would, for once, see them all acting “for the good of the club” at the same time.
It gives Parry a chance to prove the criticism levelled against him was either unfair, or fair but a thing of the past.
It gives the club a chance to start a new season under expected new ownership with a happy manager.
It gives the fans something else to think about, the usual summer speculation over names being linked, and their merits or otherwise.
Jim
I hope you don’t mind that i’m posting this transfer rumour:
Reds agree Degen deal?
By James Carroll – 25/04/2008 12:11
Liverpool have reached a pre-contract agreement with Swiss international right-back Philipp Degen, according to reports.
The Borussia Dortmund defender has allegedly agreed terms on a contract at Anfield and will sign for the club on a free-transfer under the Bosman ruling on July 1.
Manager Rafael Benitez last week confirmed that the club had already come to an agreement for a ‘first team’ target and the transfer, if reports are correct, will raise doubts over the future of Steve Finnan.
Liverpool have been linked with several players in recent weeks including Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry and Blackburn Rovers’ midfielder David Bentley.
My God Jim – a little bit of balance – thank you for that -it was actually very refreshing to read.
Jim / St Chris – This mess should be sorted out as a priority before then end of the season for the sake of the club. I think that this mess is certainly going to have an affect on Rafa’s summer plans, and I reckon that the partys involved know it. I think that they now know what they are going to do and are preparing their exit strategy or getting ready to stay what ever the case may be. Personally I think that Hicks is going he has had plenty of time to cough up but it is no where to be seen that he has the ability to buy out Gillette, and DIC seem to be liberating Anfield of him while he sits there. Think in the next few weaks both Hicks and Gillete will walk away into the sunset with a big wad of DIC’s cash in their back pocket never to be seen again.
Finnan has not figured much lately has he. He has not been the same player this season as he was last season. He’s getting old now he must be getting on for 32 – 33 somthing like that. Also Riise has been linked with Newcastle, says he doesn’t like sitting on the bench.
Jim,
What exactly did DIC do wrong when Moores preferred to sell to H&G ?
DIC and Hicks 50/50 is just what we’re going to get in the short term until DIC squeezes Hicks out. He won’t jump until he’s pushed. We’re all going to have to grin and bear it for a while yet.
Jofrad – we don’t know the full story 100% about DIC’s first failed attempt.
We can point the blame at M&P, we can point it at ITV too if we like.
We can also point it at DIC – they missed the boat when they had an exclusive period to make their offer stand.
Sometimes blame goes to more than one person.
If it was even partially down to trust, and DIC trusted Moores, as some claim, then I hope they’ve learned their lesson before taking us over. You can’t trust something like that unless it’s got a lot of small print and a couple of signatures at the end.
If it was down to a bluff, thinking they could drop the price, then I again hope they’ve learned their lesson.
The fact they’ve put someone onto the deal full-time suggests they’ve learned from the first mistake maybe.
Whether they’re about to lose another bluff remains to be seen.
The reason I say that is simply that this saga has dragged on for a long time and throughout it all sides have been “confident” or “determined”. Someone’s bluffing, obviously!
Transfer season. Now there’s a time for bluffs and double bluffs.
Here’s something else that might be of interest
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2008/04/25/third-time-lucky-for-liverpool-fc-stadium-100252-20821061/
On transfers – I’m not too sure about Degen. I’ll reserve my judgement but from what i have read the Dortmund fans are far from upset that he is leaving and many can’t believe Liverpool would be interested in him.
Jim: re your quote above about DIC’s failed first attempt…
There’s been a lot of speculation about why DIC is now willing to pay double the price for the club than what they offered at the beginning of last year and most of us can agree that the original price was bargain basement. Moores couldn’t afford to carry the club forward, couldn’t afford to build a new stadium, couldn’t afford to buy the players that would lift the club to the next level. He knew he had to sell and prospective buyers knew what a deal there was to be had for £200-odd million when with time and investment, that valuation would skyrocket.
Why did Moores decide then to sell to G&H instead of DIC? Possibly because of bluff-calling on DIC’s part, possibly because of interference from ITV, likely because G&H offered better inducements in the form of slightly more money and a guarantee that Moores and cohort Parry would retain seats on the board (they could feel like they were a part of the club and Parry could still have a job). But, the elephant in the middle of the room, which we’ve all ignored thus far, is race – I firmly believe that Moores and Parry felt more comfortable going with two rich white Americans instead of one uber-rich Middle Eastern.
Something spurred Parry on to leak the rumour about DIC buying the club and reselling it in seven years and thus sabotage DIC’s bid in a very public way. At that point, no other Premier League club was owned by a person of colour (this was pre-Shinawatra), let alone the jewel in the English football crown. I’m not accusing Moores of being a racist – I’m saying that he baulked and with other small monetary encouragements (and without thorough investigation of background) he sold to the “nice fellas” from America.
So what has happened since then to change Moores’s mind? Well, lots. First, those nice fellas turned out to be a disaster. They’ve disrespected the traditions of the club, they’ve marginalized Moores, at least one of them has tried to publicly fire Parry, and at least one of them publicly undermined the manager. DIC have come back to the table as businessmen, seeing that at £400m they might still be getting a deal for the club and Moores sees an escape route from the nightmare of 2007/2008. The fans are showing no public apprehension of being owned by a Middle Eastern conglomerate (despite questions about Dubai’s human rights record). Parry will likely lose his job, but that was going to happen anyway. The pendulum swings the other way…or at the very least, it swings to anyone but the Americans.
Jofrad your clearly pro-DIC, and that’s fine because personally i would like to see them take over. However, I do believe they don’t deserve our respect or praise.
They haven’t given anything to the club so why should they get anything out of it? As for being shit on by Parry and Moores…they’re not babies, they’re supposed to be a ruthless, successful investment company they’re big enough to of made it work. Fact is they delayed and fussed over the price. At the time i was glad GG and TH came in, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. I won’t make the same mistake twice by being gullible to any new possibilities until i see it happen.
Talk is cheap. Buying LFC and producing the goods isn’t. As the Americans have quickly found it.
Thanks for the link Hop, i hope our stadium casts a shadow on Goodison haha.
Also, Jim, thanks for the reply to my post I agreed with everything you said in the reply. I know there’s been a lot of uproar on this site but I think the next logical step has to be sole ownership one way or another. I agree that a DIC/Hicks ownership wouldn’t really aid the club. If anything it would vilify Hicks even more, ergo, causing more unrest once again!
I had a nightmare last night that Neil Warnock took over at Liverpool.
“I had a nightmare last night that Neil Warnock took over at Liverpool.”
Blimey, St. Chris, that’s not just a nightmare, that’s full blown apocalypse!
Just heard on radio city news that an all party commity is going to investigate whether foriegn ownership is dammaging football. LFC is going to be used in this investigation, not sure what they are trying to achieve but they will realise the findings in the autumn
“…..But, the elephant in the middle of the room, which we’ve all ignored thus far, is race – I firmly believe that Moores and Parry felt more comfortable going with two rich white Americans instead of one uber-rich Middle Eastern.”
Julie – if this is even remotely true then it is a damning indictment on M & P decision making skills.
St. Chris, do you reckon hicks has been asking Warnock to run the rule on Rafa’s transfer targets?
“Transfer season. Now there’s a time for bluffs and double bluffs.”
Jim I think thats exactly what Rafa is playing at with all this talk of bringing in squad players. Its clear we need more top top quality to compete in the league and the fact that Torres has been such a success Rafa will again risk spending big if necessary.
He might be talking about buying squad players but I think anyone would be foolish to believe Rafa wont be in the hunt for the likes of Villa if he decides to leave Valencia.
Rafa knows we are a couple of top players from been a title challenging side and with the revenue from another champions league final looming along with all of the boardroom politics working in his favour I would be very surprised to see the board offer him the leg of the table if Rafa wants the whole dining room suite.
Here is a link:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3816631.ece
Here is a link for teh story:-
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1776_3474304,00.html
Jim – Why wont the site allow you to post links from the times web page?
The New Anfield is going to be given the green light next week. This mean that very soon we will hear somthing on the ownership front. The stadium can’t be biult until the ownership situation is sorted out because of finance reasons:
Heres a link
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/04/25/third-time-lucky-for-liverpool-fc-stadium-100252-20818965/
Julie,
I agree with just about everything you say about the dealings 18 months ago but what it boils down to is that M&P were conned by H&G.
I think that if the club had been sold to DIC they would have done what they said they intended to do just as I think they will do now, which is why in my opinion they derserve some respect vis a vis H&G.
As has been said before Moores must be kicking himself for the worst mistake of his life and Liverpool’s history.
Jaju – There are rumours doing the rounds that what happened 18 months ago was that moores accepted the bid from DIC but ITV as shareholders had a right to look at the other bid on the table. Then subsequently the only people left where H&G and the rest is history.
Raju – Sorry spelt your name wrong again, was not intentional.
Neil Warnock! A nightmare in a nightmare there for you ST Chris.
Actually maybe that’s linked to this rumour of him being appointed PR Director at Anfield next season…
Juan – I hope Rafa can get his dining suite, but I think we’ve got to accept that under this current regime there’s not a lot of money to spare for those kinds of deal.
Anthony I don’t know why you can’t post Times links. There shouldn’t be a problem. Sometimes if you leave a comment and it has a link in it goes into the moderation queue, although it’s supposed to be something like 3 links in a comment to hold it back like that. It’s an anti-spam measure.
If it keeps happening let me know and I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime I’m going to test it out.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3816631.ece
That’s a link to the MP story in The Times, which I’ve spoken about on another post now. If you see the link it worked for me!
From MPs to M&P and back to the rumours over what happened back then – ITV certainly crop as pushing Moores to accept the offer, what’s muddy though is exactly when M&P learned of the Gillett-Hicks bid. Strictly speaking I don’t think they’re supposed to listen to other offers when exclusivity is under way, but it doesn’t stop people writing figures down on the back of a beer mat to hint at an offer.
We’ve always thought it was DIC stalling over finalising their offer, but is it possible M&P stalled them, got in their way, slowed them down, implied there was no hurry, until the deadline passed and they could take the H&G offer? That’s just an idea btw.
I wouldn’t be so sure either that Parry’s out if DIC take over. He’d not be CEO, but he might just be around for a little while longer.
Which given this stuff about his relationship with Rafa takes us nicely back to the start of this comment. Nightmares.
Rafa will support Hicks and Gillett…he wants money, Hicks will not go in anyway shape or form for a DIC Partnership, as he knows DIC WILL force him out, the one person who holds the “Cards” is Gillett, we will see if he goes through with his announcement that he will sell to DIC, as i think that it will then spell the end of Hicks!!! The Courts will decide, as to the one who´s favour it is in, i don´t have a clue!!! I don´t know about DIC´s plans as they have kept it rather quiet. DIC drop things into the media as well as Hicks, i guess that DIC are doing what Hicks does, playing PR games with the Media…The only thing that i think Hicks and Gillett have done which is good is the Design of the New Stadium…other than that, they´ve done nothing except cause Absolute Chaos
This one showed up in my Toronto Liverpool Supporters Club newsletter today:
Gerrard, Carragher & Torres go before God. He questions their belief & asks them to justify it.
Stevie says “Football is the food of life” He is sat on the left hand of God.
Jamie says “Courage and Honour on the pitch.” He is sat on the
right hand of God.
Then God turns to Torres & says, “What do you believe?”
Fernando replies, “I believe you are sitting in my seat!!!”
I’m little worried..
Is Degen really the ”speaks good english but not english” player already signed?
Oh my..
Are we / Rafa making the same mistake again year after year.. He’s another Bosman Voronin. Good but not good enough for Liverpool. Would he get a game in Man Utd, Chelski or Arsenal, Milan? Of course not, so why we sign him?
Josemi, Kromkamp, Arbeloa(okay, he’s a good sguad player) and now Degen..
Fullback positions are clearly where we can strengthen our first eleven, yet our rivals will be singing the likes of alves, lahm, bosingwa..and we sign another sguad player.
Are we really in a situation where we have to go for the
cheaper options..
I guess if he’s available on a free and his wages aren’t too high then its a small risk for LFC. Sign for free now, if he doesn’t work out, flog him for a million or two next year. Good business really. As long as no-one seriously expects him to be the next big thing.
What would Voronin be worth this summer?
voronin’s taking alot of flak but as i keep trying to remind people he came for free – compared to the £30mn chelsea paid for his ukranian compatriot. don’t recall many negatives said about him when the team was doing well. shouldn’t forget that he’s in his first year, on a free, and would have been as affected as anyone else by stories that the man who brought him in was about to be sacked.
i accept that chelsea, man utd and arsenal would not have signed him but that assumes we have their financial muscle and the lure of the big smoke.
so good luck to degen if he does sign. but we need to appreciate the constraints Rafa’s operating under……which, yes, brought us Josemi etc but also bought us Arbeloa and Aurelio (good, injuries permitting)….
Hop, i see your point, yes it’s a small risk, financially. And i really hope he will make it if he comes. But would it be better to buy quality player to make the difference and not someone not quite good enough. Clearly we don’t sign another right back after him so basicly this average/good sguad player is taking one possibly quality player out of strengthening our first eleven. Same as Voronin and still we have try and hope that he would make it..
Yes, it’s good business to buy bosman players and then sell them one year later for couple of millions, like Voronin, but for me personally thats really annoying and if thats the purpose for even one bit, it’s like using the players careers to make money for the club. Sort of like in some football manager games.
What was the use of Voronin, now we see he’s not good enough for us so we can get maybe 2-4 million of him this summer, the what did he offer? How many clear changes he missed? What would have some quality striker done this season in place of him? Someone(we were heavily linked with Amauri, Milito..) who would have increased our budget £10 plus, last summer but scored 15 -20goals, adapted already so we wouldn’t have to buy another striker this season..
Well so much for Luka Modric. Sky are confirming he’s just signed for Spurs.
Jim,
In this whole debacle the only figure we truly need is Rafael Benitez, part of LFC’s holy trinity.
whomever are our owners in the summer, Rafa must be supported and backed fully in the Transfer window.
None of these parties must contrive to bugger up Rafa’s plans.
Though I dislike HIcks, Gillett and Parry and want them out of our club in that order and am being cautious as to DIC’s ultimate intentions; it’s good to hear that Hicks will not try to mess up Rafa’s transfer plans, the cynical part of me thinks Hicks is mearly ‘adding value’ to his asset so he can ask a higher selling price for the club. It also remains to be seen if Parry can carry them out efficiently and to Rafa’s satisfaction.
It will be interesting to see how much Rafa’s basic transfer budget, excludeing Player sales, will be in the summer window. TBH Jim mate if it is only 30 million, as it was under Moores, then Hicks & Gillett will have done nothing to contribute to our financial well being.
Was the club not sold, so that the new owners could significantly INCREASE our basic transfer budget ?
As to This £45 million part of the loan set aside for transfers, that has been bandied about in the press. Is all that for the summer window ? was it used to fund the Skrtel & mascherano Transfers ? Iv’e seen it mentioned elswhere that it was the loan to pay for Torres & Babel., though I don’t believe that.
At the end of the day, the only way they will have contributed to the improvement of the transfer budget is with debt put on the club, not what they promised to do. As you yourelf have eruditely pointed out in the past, Jim
Jim
I dont know how you write this stuff and have to read the feedback from people like Stephen…. Im all for free speech but some people just dont read the detail.
Name 1 thing Hicks has done. How can he dismiss Torres as “borrowed money”, Mascherano, Babbel, Bene etc…..
He hired a whole new bunch of people at LFC to go after the commercial revenues that we have failed to achieve under Parry but I suppose that doesnt count
He is the only one who has gone absolutely public on what his plans are for the club and that he thinks Parry is a waste of space…… which nobody can possibly defend.
Meantime Gillette and DIC have just used spin to state their case and Gillette wants out at the best price.
Hicks has been the only one who has consistently said he is not selling.
I sometimes wonder where half the people who post on here are from (parallel universe ?). Any self respecting Liverpool fan that I have spoken to of late, says they are less bothered about who owns the club and more bothered about getting it sorted and moving on.
1. Support Rafa
2. Build the new stadium
3. Sort out the clubs finances
Well pardon me Stephen but the sunday papers that you obviously read to slaughter Hicks, are full of storys that DIC are lining up Mourinho…… nice one seeing that they blatantly lied to the SOS lads they met last week saying they support Rafa. Mourinho himself being quoted as having been approached by them…god help us if we get that knobhead !
As I have consistently said, I dont favour anyone in the ownership wrangle but I do think Hicks is showing some of the stuff that we as fans expect to see for our club:
Commitment to Rafa
Open dialogue on what his plans are
Forward thinking instead of the dinosaurs we have had running the club for years
Wake up Stephen you are just reading too much of the spin and crap that the papers and DIC are spinning and bitching and moning….
Get yourself out in some of the pubs in Liverpool and you will hear that most fans dont hate Hicks, they dont love him either, but if he can come up with the money, support Rafa and put this whole thing to bed then I for one would back him. He could have walked away ages ago if DIC are truly offering and yet he says no every time. Thats called commitment. DIC by the way have twice said they were no longer interested, 6 times said they were days away from a deal ….. I think thats called spin and bullshit we all know there just spinning to drive the price down.
DIC have lied and lied and spun and lied……why the hell would they make the better choice….
We have 2 owners, who have fallen out.. I say let them sort their own argument out and then the one who takes control get on with what they promised us
Great post, Mike. Good to see some other thoughtful posters around here.
@Mike Roland: Thanks Mike. I think you’re right in saying there are people just desperate to see an end to this limbo.
It’s still being put about that Hicks can’t afford to keep hold of LFC, but the length of time he’s got until it’s all over keeps moving away as soon as we get closer.
DIC deciding they can make promises without putting it next to the name of a senior executive is frustrating to say the least.
They’ve raised expectations too with the constant impression it’s days away from happening. They’ve been saying that for months.