Tag: News

Purslow: LFC bidders being checked then sale as soon as possible

After a period away from the public eye Christian Purslow put himself right back into focus this morning by speaking to the BBC about the speculation surrounding the club. According to the Liverpool managing director the board are now carrying out checks on those behind written bids for the club after which they intend to see the club sold “as soon as possible”.

There has been a refreshing silence from the boardroom since the appointment of Roy Hodgson as manager. The club have left the football people to do the talking about the football; the senior management scaling back their contact with the media and a noticeable decline in the amount of “off record” briefings filtering their way onto the back pages, at least from the club. Actual interviews had all but dried up.

Quite why Purslow decided to speak out today is a bit of a mystery. The club issued a statement on Friday night saying that as far as the sales process was concerned, “we will not comment on rumour and speculation.” Purslow himself today said: “It wouldn’t be for me to comment on the football side.” So what was left for him to comment on? As it was he spoke at length about both “the football side” and the sales process.

His opinion on the football side should be of no importance right now,  what matters far more is the part of his job he actually has the experience and qualifications to work on. Along with chairman Martin Broughton and commercial director Ian Ayre the Liverpool MD is about to be an important part of what will be one of the most crucial decisions in Liverpool’s history.
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Trabzonspor v Liverpool travel information

Liverpool face Trabzonspor in the Europa League Qualifier 2nd leg on August 26th, and one question on the lips of most fans that go to the away games is “how do I get there?” The short answer is: with great difficulty.

Everyone knows Trabzonspor are based in Turkey, but the town of Trabzon is one of the most difficult places to get to without spending an arm and a leg.
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Jamie Carragher’s testimonial

Will Liverpool have new owners by the time Jamie Carragher’s testimonial kicks off? It’s possible; Jamie’s big day is on September 4th but whatever happens on that front there’s a good day guaranteed – and there’s already a comedian booked for the evening should Yahya Kirdi be otherwise engaged.

Details follow:
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Yahya Kirdi. Fantasy island, without the planes.

Gillett and Hicks smile with KirdiAlthough a number of names have been put forward as frontmen for potential bids for Liverpool Football Club only a couple of them have actually gone on the record to admit any involvement. The most assertive in declaring his interest isn’t Kenny Huang of what is now known as “the Chinese bid” but Yayha Kirdi of what is now known as “the Joke bid”.

Of course it’s not being played out as a joke by Mr Kirdi or his advisors, but it’s becoming more of one by the day.

What he hasn’t said is who specifically it is he’s working for, other than some unnamed and therefore mysterious Canadian and Middle Eastern investors.  This of course means there’s a fair bit of speculation about who they might be, at least from those who are giving him the benefit of the doubt that he actually has got some backers.
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Liverpool 2 FK Rabotnicki 0

Europa League Liverpool FC v FK RabotnickiEuropa League Qualifier – Result

Liverpool 2
FK Rabotnicki 0

Aggregate: 4-0

There was something of a pre-season or even testimonial feel to the game at Anfield last night, although there may well have been more people in the ground for a testimonial, but Liverpool’s players had to make sure they didn’t treat it like one and slip up.

As it was that wasn’t very likely; Rabotnicki were underdogs playing without the spirit that underdogs usually bring to Anfield. David Ngog took his tally for the season to three, the other two having been scored against the same opposition, before earning the penalty that Gerrard converted to make it 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate.
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Gillett desperate to block Chinese bid for Liverpool FC

As the fourth pre-season under American ownership draws to a close Liverpool fans are still wondering just when ‘Snoogy Doogy’ might turn up to play in the new stadium that was supposed to open this month.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks make up the ownership ‘team’ at Anfield, allowed in practically unhindered by supporters – and the previous shareholders – because they were going to bring the stadium that would bring in Snoogy after Doogy. They were going to do this without putting any debt on the club.

In August 2010 Liverpool fans would be talking excitedly about what kind of view their new seat in the new stadium would give them, some of those fans in possession of a season ticket for the first time thanks to the increased capacity, which in July 2007 was hoped to be as high as 76,000 by the time the stadium opened. Over 30,000 extra seats and vastly improved corporate facilities would, with lucrative naming rights in place, bring in the kind of income that would give the owners their return whilst giving fans the chance to see their side compete on a level footing with their competitors at the top end of the table. The stadium would look brilliant; the good days would be back.

Cue the sound of the needle slipping off a vinyl record.
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North West Footballer of the Year – Vote Pepe

Something to take our minds off the events off the field for a moment is this press release received today inviting votes for the North West Footballer of the Year.

A number of candidates have been nominated and of course the correct choice is “Pepe Reina” – but the other candidates are listed below along with details of how to register your vote.

Vote Pepe!
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The Times: Kenny Huang leading serious bid for Liverpool FC

The absolutely serious party looking to take control of Liverpool Football club was tonight named as Kenny Huang, backed by one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the Far East, and determined to get hold of the club before the transfer window close at the end of the month.

A report in The Times says Huang  is negotiating with RBS, to whom Liverpool FC and its owners owe £237m, and says that even “last week no viable bidder had come forward and [Liverpool Chairman Martin] Broughton has not moved the process on.”

Anfield Road revealed last night that a serious bidder was looking to move in immediately to take over at the club but their attempt was being hampered by apparent stalling tactics from George Gillett. Anfield Road also pointed out that pressure from supporters, SOS and ultimately Broughton might be required to force RBS into action to prevent Gillett from further delaying completion of the only serious bid for the club.

Huang will not be relying on his own wealth for the deal and for the backing of the club in what it needs to get back on track, but he is determined to prevent the current management from allowing the club to go any further off course as he tries to close the deal. The Times report that he has already approached key figures at Anfield to try and prevent an exodus of players. Fernando Torres is named as a player requested not to make a decision on his future ahead of this potential takeover.

The report also says that RBS have grown increasingly impatient at the lack of bidders in the wake of Tom Hicks’ reportedly putting an £800m price tag on the club. Analysts find this figure an astounding over-valuation, a figure of £325m considered a more appropriate valuation for a club that still doesn’t have one cubic centimetre of concrete in place for the new stadium that was such a key part of the Hick and Gillett business plan.

Huang’s bid would lead to a new stadium being built “as quickly as possible” and from RBS’s point of view would guarantee repayment of “the vast majority” of the money lent to the club and its owners.

Liverpool have spent the summer making do with free transfers in most cases with the £2m signing of Danny Wilson the highest fee paid out this transfer window. The club’s financial year ended yesterday with the club making a phenomenal profit on transfer fees. The proposed new ownes would bring significant transfer funds to Roy Hodgson, available to be spent this summer, further emphasising the need to avoid any further stalling from the current owners and the bank. Martin Broughton needs to take charge of the situation as a matter of urgency.