The football discussion thread!

[hitman89762000]

and yet from all accounts masch wants to join rafa at inter yet its the boss whos forced him to the point of leaving?? hmm.....

and yes i am an ****

[mojo jojo]

Haha at what point did I say Rafa was forcing Mascherano to leave? Talk about making it up as you go along. I just said he wanted to leave last season too while Rafa was there so if he decides to leave now, it's not necessarily because of Rafa. And reports also say he's going to Barca, and that Moratti says it's unlikely he'll be going to Inter, is the Daily Mail the source of all your info??

Speculate all you want but until he actually comes out and says "I want to be wherever Rafa is", your posts are once again bollocks

[mojo jojo]

David Villa is awesome....nuff said!

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

David Villa is the best striker in the world. He has been for a few years now, but never got the recognition he fully deserved. Everyone used to wank over Torres, but Villa is better. Torres is obviously still awesome. He doesn't look fully fit, but i'm sure he'll be back to his best next season. I expect Villa to out-score Messi next season. Before the world cup started I put a bet on Villa being top scorer. I put a bet on Holland and Germany both to win as well, so i'm hopeful of winning a bit money.

[David Thomas]

Hitman's just texted me and asked me to post on here to tell you all that that Rally thing he's gone to at Anfield is packed out and the place is mental.

[Som]

My friend but a bet at 9-1 on Uruguay to make the Quarter Finals regret not doing it haha. Reckon you could be winning some cash hopefully to Steve

Roy Hodgson is a good Premier League manager but this is really his first big club, he did manage Inter in the 90's when they were **** and mid table and he got them back into the top 4, so here is hoping [/optimism]

[Som]

Re: David's post - Excellent! Sooner new owners are in the better, and hopefully this will only help.

[hitman89762000]

Re: David's post - Excellent! Sooner new owners are in the better, and hopefully this will only help.

I cant really put into wordswhat it was like today just looking back through the crowd seeing it stretch out wayyyyyy across the road and people standing on lamposts to get a better view and everyone singing and chanting and the speeches i felt really proud today...the fights ongoing though and the battles by no means over but it got a lot moreexposure with the bbc and sky filming it and the press being there (including press from the states apparently) i wish you lot had been there to see it (and i genuinely mean that with no digs or insults intended if you lot had been there today and been part of the fight id have loved it) im not sure of the attendance but its exceeded expectations apparently maybe 2-3,000 not sure though it may be less.

oh and we're on bbc1 at 7pm..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 501143.stm

http://lfcglobe.com/video-john-aldridge ... kly-rally/

(thats the video of aldo speaking)

one of the oics it dont show what it was like completely though:



yeah itsanother edit but this was on rawk:

stewards reckoned 6K. that's brilliant on a none match day.

more stuff:

YNWA at the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVScdxUBNtM

Aldo's speech today, well said http://lfcglobe.com/video-john-aldridge ... kly-rally/

michael shields was there too apparently plus brian reade from the daily mirror

[Joe]

I was going to put a bet on Ghana but I'm happy I didn't now. Suarez is a total wanker, I propper hate him and want to see Uruguay out. I was also gutted for Paraguay - I wanted de silva to bring the world cup to Sunderland!

[hitman89762000]

LIVERPOOL v ARSENAL - Moves to Sunday, August 15 - Kick-Off 4pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

MANCHESTER CITY v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Monday, August 23 - Kick-Off 8pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

BIRMINGHAM CITY v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Sunday, September 12 - Kick-Off 4pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

MANCHESTER UNITED v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Sunday, September 19 - Kick-Off 1.30 pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

EVERTON v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Sunday, October 17 - Kick-Off 1.30 pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

BOLTON WANDERERS v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Sunday, October 31 - Kick-Off 1.30 pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

LIVERPOOL v CHELSEA - Moves to Sunday, November 7 - Kick-Off 4pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

STOKE CITY v LIVERPOOL - Remains on Saturday, November 13 but kick-off is now 5.30 pm. This game will be transmitted live on ESPN.

LIVERPOOL v WEST HAM UNITED - Remains on Saturday, November 20 but kick-off is now 5.30 pm. This game will be transmitted live on ESPN.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR v LIVERPOOL - Moves to Sunday, November 28 - kick-off 4pm. This game will be transmitted live on Sky Sports.

well they all look winnable for us on our march to our 19th league title.......

[Joe]

Ow, am gonna put a quid on that we'll finish above you.

[hitman89762000]

Ow, am gonna put a quid on that we'll finish above you.

bring it on we've got the greatest manager and owners ever..

[Joe]

Lol you shouldnt mix sarcasm with humour! You're gonna owe me a quid matey.

[hitman89762000]

Lol you shouldnt mix sarcasm with humour! You're gonna owe me a quid matey.

who was being sarky and humoury?????? we got roy ''better than shanks'' hodgson and george ''the best a fan can get'' gillette and tom''nailing fat chicks'' hicks running the show its onwards and upwards for the mighty liverpool!!

[Joe]

Loved the Hicks one

[hitman89762000]

Loved the Hicks one

everyone does.

Well its spain vs holland in the final im conflicted on who to back, spain have nando, xabi, pepe and holland have got dirk ''shitter than george weahs ''cousin'' that souness almost signed for southampton speaking of which i cant be the only one that remembers that can i??'' kuyt. so very very conflicted.

[Joe]

He is shitter than George Weahs cousin.

Don't dis Souness, he was part of the reason Newcastle went down!

[hitman89762000]

I know I've done a few posts on the rally in here and with the mugshots thread but i wanted to post this its a partial transcript of a speech by a 22 year old lad named jay mckenna hes one of the founding members of the spirit of shankly fan group and it gave me goosebumps on the day...:

Two and a half years ago, a few hundred of us sat and stood in the back room of the Sandon Pub next to the ground, the place where the Club had been born almost 120 years previously.

We weren’t there to talk about who we were signing, or who we were playing, but to do what we probably never expected we would have to do - talk about protests and what we could do to save our Club

Such talk had in the past always been saved for Newcastle supporters, or other clubs. Not Liverpool. I'm not old enough to remember John Smith, and Peter Robinson, but we have all heard of "The Liverpool Way." On 6th February 2007, two businessmen (and I use that in the loosest sense possible) walked into Anfield. They came with it all. The billionaire status (they are the poorest billionaires ever), the promises, the words, the spiel.

It all soon began to unravel...........

the full video of its been posted (the rally and the speech but im just posting the speech)and i think EVERYONE should watch this speech especially if you support the club and then join in the fight and believe we can do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkH60JV7mF0 (cool i just found out im in this at 5mins!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVIkcaUGrjQ

oh and theres facts in that there speecharooooooooooni honest!!

oh and talk about erasing history but purslows ordered that the mural at melwood of rafa and the lads with the european cup be taken down at once.....be rewriting the history books next maybe it was that nice mr hodgson that won the european cup for us for the 5th time and rafa never existed...makes me **** sick.

in fact heres the article about it:

It's almost as if someone is trying to airbrush someone else out of the clubs history...

http://www.anfieldroad.com/news/2010070 ... #more-3751

Forget the good times, the picture has changed
Posted on July 7th, 2010 by Jim Boardman

When Liverpool supporters argued and debated about Rafael Benítez and whether he was the right man for the manager’s job, there was an unspoken assumption that the arguing was all for football reasons and the good of the club.

Sadly, as time went on, fellow Liverpool supporters were starting to hate each other even more than the owners.

But Rafa’s sacking saw unity start to return. Supporters looked at the sacking of Benítez and the appointment of Roy Hodgson, including the contempt shown to supporters and the legend known as King Kenny. They realised that football had very little to do with those decisions.

The club is being run like an ailing supermarket chain, and that tends to get fans’ backs up.

Save for the bleating cynics who were on Rafa’s back the day they realised he was Spanish this club has a fan base with masses of respect for Benítez. All the more so when looking back to how it was before Christian Purslow arrived and made up new rules on transfer budgets and magical “player accounts”.

Benitez won the Champions League in his first season at the club; he turned Liverpool from a side worried about their opposition in Europe to a side respected once more in Europe. He won the FA Cup in his second season and came second in the league in his fifth season with a points total that would have won the league a year later. He brought us players we’ll always look back on with fondness, including Torres, Reina, Alonso and Mascherano not to mention key players who might not attract crazy bids from clubs with bottomless pits of money – but players like Dirk Kuyt, now a World Cup finalist, are worth more than money to a club like Liverpool FC.

But it will be Istanbul we remember Benitez for with most fondness, Istanbul we will forever feel indebted to him for. Istanbul is the yardstick for everything good that happens to Liverpool supporters these days – new fathers being some of the few that actually feel able to utter the phrase “better than Istanbul”.

He left with the genuine best wishes of large swathes of the support, but we move on; we’ve got a new manager now and new targets in mind. But if we do move on, does that mean we have to forget Benitez? Do we have to pretend Istanbul never happened?

Nobody expects Benitez to have gates named after him in the way the absolute legends like Shanks and Paisley have. Nobody really expects the club to allow him a Kop mosaic for the first home game.

But surely the night described as a miracle, the night he made possible, is a night we should always remember? We sing about it – do we have to stop? They’ve made films about it, written books about it, put plays on about it. When we’re in the Champions League again, if we get in again, we’ll wear a special badge on our sleeves that lets the world know we won it five times. Are we going to ditch that?

Of course not. Are we?

From what Anfield Road has been told, some figures at the club want to erase the memories of what Rafa and the team did in 2005. At Melwood, Liverpool’s training ground, there’s a big mural of Rafa Benítez and the lads in recognition of Istanbul. Or at least there was.

Anfield Road has been informed that Paul Tyrrell, recently installed as head of press and described by some as Christian Purslow’s attack dog, has ordered that the mural be ripped down. According to what Anfield Road was told, he was acting on the orders of Purslow.

Save for a new, improved, version going up in its place – and as far as we know there isn’t going to be – there is absolutely no reasonable excuse that comes to mind for doing this. Not without using words like “petty”. Money’s tight of course, so it’s not like we can afford to go round having murals done on a whim. And with money tight, if it’s not being taken down out of pettiness is it being taken down so players and staff aren’t reminded of what we can no longer aspire to?

Is that it? The end of the Champions League years? Is that what the club meant when it slapped “the start of a new era” on the official website?

When we went to Athens in 2007 we were gutted not to win it – but we never felt we’d never get to the final again. In 2008 and 2009 we pushed hard and put in some memorable performances, pulled off some heroic victories. It feels arrogant to say it, but we should be proud – we were bloody good. Last season saw us go off the rails in that respect, is this an admission we’ll never get back on them?

If it isn’t an admission of sights being lowered then it really does smack of a petty desire to rewrite history by someone who had to fight to keep his own job after the absolute failure he made of his first year in the role.

Christian Purslow told us he was here to find £100m of investment. Yet he turned people with money away without even the courtesy of saying “thanks but no thanks”. He left the manager with the wrong impression of what his transfer budget would be last summer then spent the months that followed watching him like a hawk at press conferences just in case he decided to mention it.

It doesn’t take much imagination to work out how Benítez would feel to read in a national newspaper that he’d been warned to change his managerial style, or that he’d been given £20m net to spend on players when he’d actually brought more in than went out. Or how he felt to hear his boss had been talking to reporters about transfer discussions with Real Madrid that Rafa knew nothing about. This in a season when Purslow saw fit from time to time to invite select members of the press round for tea and biscuits.

When Martin Broughton was brought in as Chairman, above Christian Purslow, it ruffled the feathers of someone who acted like the club was his own personal empire. There was no point Rafa meeting Broughton, the would-be emperor said, because Broughton wasn’t here to deal with issues like that; he was only here to sell the club.

So the emperor kept the momentum against the manager going in the press. We saw leaks about cancelled meetings and unhappy players; he saw no problem in leaking that they were trying to ditch Rafa on the cheap before the deal was even struck – but when those leaks were later confirmed by an official announcement it would be his new boss’s name on the statement. Kenny Dalglish’s name was also on the statement – although we understand he wasn’t asked or told in advance.

When the new manager was officially appointed – after weeks of leaks claiming it was a done deal already – Purslow lurked out of sight of the press conference cameras. He left his new boss to introduce the new boss.

He doesn’t have the power all on his own to hire or fire a manager, even if he can push for the decision to be made. But he has got the power to move photos and paintings from the walls of Melwood. For “Cecil”, as he’s known to many fans these days, that’s an important responsibility. So down the mural came. A show of strength from the little man.

And anyway, it must be quite unnerving to have the eyes of the man you betrayed following you around the room every time you arrive at work.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

I was disappointed that Spain won. I know they might play attractive football, but they didn't score many goals. I ended up not winning any of my bets afterall.

[hitman89762000]

gutted for kuyty.

anyways im posting this for any liverpool fans on here to read *please note the following isnt written by me it may reflect my views on how those **** have **** the club over but lets be honest im not smart enough to write anything this good, theres links facts information all sorts in this post and not one **** swearword in it hence it cant be from me its from someone on rawk who has done the investigating etc now im not posting this to be a asshoole although i am one im merley posting it to try give a bit of info out there open a few eyes so to speak plus im bored waiting for tna victory road..oh and theres a LOT to read.*

What’s the world’s most expensive drawing?*

No, it’s not a Rembrandt, or a Michelangelo, or a Raphael, or a Jackson Pollock. Ladies and Gentlemen, in this next few pages we’ll present the plans for Liverpool FC’s “New Anfield” stadium.



This particular doodle, by a reknowned collective of grand masters under the pen name "HKS", has cost Liverpool Football Club a mindblowing £55.8m over the course of four years. Stop and read that again.

That's £55.8m. For a set of blueprints for a stadium.*

Take a minute - it's natural to experience brain freeze when that number first meets your brain.

THE STADIUM – SNAKE OIL FOR THE NOUGHTIES
In his recent letter to The Times, David Moores confirmed that one of his key reasons for selecting George Gillett and Tom Hicks as the next owners of Liverpool Football Club was their perceived ability to deliver a new stadium – something they knew would be crucial to even keep pace with their domestic and European rivals, particularly with Arsenal’s move to The Emirates stadium (with unprecedented matchday revenues generated as a result), and the influx of the mega-wealthy to the Premier League.

Put simply, if Liverpool failed to move to new premises in the immediate future, the club risked falling so far behind its rivals in terms of its matchday income that its ability to fund a competitive team on the pitch would be compromised. And on top of that, if the club failed to commit to preparatory work before the deadlines imposed by the North West Development Agency, grant funding to the tune of 8 figures would be lost.

The reasons given for selecting Hicks and Gillett largely centred around their supposed commitment to funding this stadium development, and on their ability to make stadiums happen. Tom Hicks, we were led to believe, was instrumental in making a number of stadium developments happen in his native USA, while he (with the Dallas Stars) and George Gillett (with the Montreal Canadiens) had seen their teams win the Stanley Cup – we were reminded that this was the equivalent of Figure Skating’s Champions League.

So why worry? We rolled out the Red carpet the way only we know how. But, some shouted, "These guys are gonna put debt on the club!" "It’s sensible business practice", some of us replied. On the day Gillett and Hicks bought the club, we heard promises of spades in the ground and large swimming pools, clear-cut deadlines, and planning permission applications.

But hold on - next up, we heard the stadium plans were gonna be getting a revamp. "Ooh!", we cooed. "Aaah!", we gasped. It might look like a giant Bluetooth headset, but by God it’s unique, we told ourselves. A few weren’t quite so convinced. But we (including me by the way) ignored them. We saw the sunny side. I mean, what’s the point in doom-mongering?

And so, in year 1 of their tenure at the club, amidst much pomp and circumstance, and exclusive features shown on the club’s new TV station, we heard about how excited they were about the development. We heard how HKS, Hicks’s long-term business partners and Dallas-based Texan compadres, were the finest in the business. We’d be getting value for money, surely. I mean, if they’re Tom’s mates...

Kerr-ching - an initial bill of several million for our new and improved snazzy drawing. At this stage, a bit of an eye-opener, but nobody was calling Norris McWhirter.

Imagine our surprise, then, when in 2007 we were told the revamped plans would themselves be given a revamp. The owners were still committed to making the move, but, you know, given market conditions, and given, ehm, you know, other technical stuff most people don’t understand... well, it’s in everybody’s best interests and it’s in no way down to the fact the owners didn’t have the assets of their own to fund it, or to the fact the club was now anchored down by their debt. Debt the club ought never have had to repay. Debt that Gillett himself, on the day of takeover, promised it would never have to repay.

Kerr-ching - the numbers grow inexorably on the Architect-o-meter(TM).

In 2008, we were told, “enabling works” were to begin. So this is it, surely - the stadium’s gonna start! But no. It wasn’t. Later that year, we saw yet another delay announced – a delay some described as “embarrassing”, although a more appropriate word might have been “scandalous”. But sadly, not enough of Her Majesty’s media were at our service, and the warnings of the few, while spreading as people began to take heed, didn’t get the attention they deserved.

The timeline of our glorious new stadium’s development is, amazingly, still published on the club’s official web site - see for yourself here: http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/stadium/new-stadium/timeline. It lists the main landmark events in what constitutes yet another glorious aspect of our beloved owners’ time at the helm of the club. It claims the club, last year, recommitted to the new stadium, and that a groundshare was not on the agenda. If that timeline wasn’t real, you’d think it was a joke.

* THE RUNNING COST OF LIVERPOOL'S STADIUM UNDER HICKS AND GILLETT - FROM THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS
06/02/07-31/07/07 - £10.3m spent by Moores and Parry written off.
06/02/07-31/07/08 - £23.182m spent on revised stadium plans.
01/08/08-31/08/09 - £22.333m spent on revised stadium plans.

That's a total of £55.8m.

*********************************************************

THE 'WARTS AND ALL' TIMELINE - 2006

14th February 2006 - the stadium's back on after a £10m grant gets rubber stamped.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

13th July 2006 - Whoops! Moores and Parry are running out of time to get it started or they'll miss out on that self-same grant. The grant, by the way, is European Union grant funding awarded via the NWDA. That's the North West Development Agency, not the rap band. Although I could be wrong.

18th July 2006 - Parry says the stadium plans 'won't collapse'.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

27th July 2006 - Mihir Bose, everyone's favourite sports editor, says things don't look so rosy. Instead of £70m to build a stadium, now we're talking £190m.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -halt.html

On the same day, Bascombe reported that the cash was in place for New Anfield http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

4th September 2006 - The City of Liverpool lease a slice of Stanley Park to the club for 999 years, with £300,000 to be paid annually, and the area managed by a joint-venture company with the City Council. The club had to satisfy European Funding Monitors that the funds were in place to go through with it, and on convincing the monitors that everything was OK, that released a £15m grant. A total of £40m in public sector cash was expected. The people of the Anfield area were waiting for and depending on the regeneration project.

14th December 2006 - Oliver Kay reported that the club planned to have the stadium ready for the 2009-10 season.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 754004.ece

[/quote]THE 'WARTS AND ALL' TIMELINE - 2007

6th February 2007 - Hicks and Gillett buy the club. 60 days. Large swimming pools. Spades in the ground. No debt on the club - I mean, it's totally different from what the Glazers are doing.

20th February 2007 - stadium plans were on display in the Vernon Sangster. It was still the Parrybowl at that stage.
12th March 2007 - parts of Stanley Park were fenced off, and bore holes made to test the ground. Progress, it seemed, was being made.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... _page.html

12th March 2007 - rumours started emerging on the Liverpool supporters' forums that the new owners had called a halt to the stadium project. This was rumoured to be due to limited capacity and limited scope for future expansion. Short-term that meant missing out on the European/NWDA funding, but it was argued that, despite a probably 3 or 4 year delay, this mightn't be a bad thing. A spokesman from the NWDA said "Don't quote me boy I ain't said ****".

Note: The original proposed development comprised:
- The stadium
- the restored park
- The AnfieldPLaza - a residential and commercial development
- Regenerated housing

14th March 2007 - hold on - rumours emerge that the new owners have borrowed nearly £300m in the name of LFC from Royal Bank of Scotland, with a mammoth arrangement fee, and an equally and unprecedentedly mammoth interest bill now the club's responsibility to pay.

Preparatory work on the stadium may have started, but major external changes would need a fresh planning application. But regardless, the new owners had decided to rethink the plans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 450893.stm

30th April 2007 - reports emerged that the owners were poised to ask for a bigger stadium.

23rd May 2007 - Tom Hicks, after attending the Champions League final, was quoted as replying to a fan as follows: "I spent four hours at our architect's offices this afternoon (and do so every other week) and reviewed our final plans which will be formally submitted to the City Council and the Planners on June 18. I believe you, and all of our fans, will be pleased with the new design, which not only will be absolutely the best football stadium in the world, but will also have lots of English and Anfield historical connections."

At this stage, Hicks was larging it up on the attention and grandstanding for the fans, replying to individual emails, and making bold claims aplenty.

Hicks appeared on the local BBC news. Make sure you've not eaten before you watch this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid ... =nb&mp=rm#

As the video shows, Texas Rangers fans whose baseball team boasted one of the lowest wage bills in the league were asking "why did he buy this bloody soccer team?".

24th May 2007 - Rafa Benitez, after a sleepless night followings his team's defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League final, demands investment in the team, hinting at frustration with the new owners.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... 18&cc=5739

25th May 2007 - George Gillett says that if Rafa wanted to buy "Snoogy Doogy", hed buy him. Wow - we smile and clap our hands like circus seals in excitement.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 690613.stm

6th June 2007 - Amidst reports of the stadium being ready for the start of the 2009/10 season, Mike Storey said "There will be a wow factor when people see the new scheme. The design has been radically changed and I am sure that people in the city will realise we have struck oil by having 2 people with the wherewithal to produce such a stunning scheme. They really have got the business experience and the eye for detail that will put the new Liverpool stadium on the world map.”

The new plans would be before the City Council within the month.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500 ... _page.html

8th June 2007 - Parry attends a Reclaim The Kop meeting and confirmed that the Revised design needed a fresh planning application, the capacity, and said the kop would be stunning and would have a capacity of around 19,000.

June 28th 2007 - "It looks like a giant bluetooth headset!". "wow!". "It looks like the Star Trek badge!". "It's a **** monstrosity!". The revised stadium plans are released.

July 13th 2007 - The Timetable for the stadium development is published.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

14th July 2007 - the club submitted revised stadium plans, with the proposed cost £280m, and the proposed capacity 60,000, but with plans to increase that to 80,000.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 517517.stm

16th July 2007 - a rail link will need to be reopened to support the stadium development.
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100 ... _page.html

July 23rd - Liverpool FC .TV (page now removed) reported it as follows: "Liverpool Football Club will be revealing their stunning new plans for a brand new Anfield this week. The groundbreaking plans, designed by American architects HKS, will be submitted to Liverpool City Council for planning consent on Wednesday before fans get their first glimpse of the proposed new arena."

25th July 2007 – Tom Hicks says the revised plans will be submitted to the Liverpool council a month later than planned. The Council therefore had limited time to re-examine the proposals and decide whether to grant planning permission (by October). In November, the government would review it. Rick Parry said: "It was always the aim of the Club, with the backing of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to be world class both on and off the pitch. When they took over, the first thing Tom and George wanted to do was review the stadium both in terms of the design and the capacity. This is the immensely impressive result of their deliberations.

"We're creating a stadium that not only the Club and supporters can be proud of, but something the whole city can be proud of. Liverpool as a city is on the move and deserves world class developments like this.

"Our architects HKS have a wealth of experience and have fused a very contemporary and unique vision together with the values that are crucial to Liverpool Football Club. A critical design consideration was to ensure the stadium sat naturally within its park environment, complementing its surroundings and a huge amount of work has been done to ensure this happens. The stadium is a massive investment in North Liverpool and a key driver in the regeneration of the whole area.

"The asymmetric design sets it apart from other new stadia, as it is a clear move away from what is becoming the traditional bowl model. It recognises and makes reference to the fact that English football grounds were historically asymmetric. We make no apologies for that, we've gone out of our way to embrace that culture and it works exceptionally well for both the new ground and its location within Stanley Park. This new design will be unmistakably Liverpool and instantly recognisable as our stadium.

"We've also recognised the central importance of the Kop. It will have a significantly increased capacity of 18,000 seats in a single tier structure that will be the heartbeat of the new stadium. The rake of the stand will be steeper and the seats tighter together, with the acoustics of the roof designed to accentuate the atmosphere during games."

"Having thoroughly addressed the environmental and transportation issues, we already have consent for a 60,000 seat stadium which is why we have submitted the new design with that capacity. This is the most straightforward way of delivering what are radical new designs as our aspiration has always been to have the stadium ready for 2010, which means beginning work on site as soon as possible.

"But we make no secret of the fact that we want a greater capacity and will consider putting in a second planning application when appropriate. However, we fully recognise for this to happen that all the associated transport requirements need to be in place. To increase the capacity above 60,000 we need a further step change in our approach which is why we, together with Liverpool City Council and Merseytravel, are investigating the possibility of reopening the Bootle Branch railway line for passenger use. That would be a fantastic solution, not just for the Club, but for all the people of North Liverpool."

26th July 2007 - Andy Hunter, then writing for The Independent,
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 58690.html

It is unique in the canon of recent British stadiums, carries a £300m price tag, houses a minimum 60,000 supporters, has presidential-style underground bunkers plus changing rooms for Sunday league footballers, and represents the vision Tom Hicks and George Gillett have invested in Liverpool. This is Anfield, circa 2010...

Hicks and Gillett abandoned the original concept the day they acquired majority control in February - in true Texan-style, Hicks decided the plans were neither big nor bold enough for Liverpool on his private plane journey home - and referred the scheme to Dallas-based architects HKS.

The Liverpool chief executive, Rick Parry, said: "When they took over, the first thing Tom and George wanted to do was review the stadium both in terms of the design and the capacity. This is the immensely impressive result of their deliberations."

Interestingly, Andy Hunter continued with some numbers.

Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)

Capacity: 60,432

Cost: £357m

Time taken: Two years four months.

Unique features: Construction completed ahead of schedule. Largest pitch in the Premiership.

Wembley Stadium (London)

Capacity: 90,000

Cost: £798m

Time taken: Four years.

Unique features: Most expensive stadium ever built. Boasts the largest roof-covered seating capacity in the world. Has a sliding roof and a 140-metre arch. The arch is the world's largest unsupported roof structure. Contains the most toilets (2,618) of any single venue in the world.

City Of Manchester Stadium (Manchester City)

Capacity: 47,726

Cost: £110m

Time taken: Two years three months.

Unique features: Originally built for 2002 Commonwealth Games. Will host the 2008 Uefa Cup final. Has the widest pitch in English football.

Millennium Stadium (Cardiff)

Capacity: 74,500

Cost: £126m

Time taken: Two years.

Unique features: Was the largest stadium in the UK at time of construction. Has a retractable roof. Hosted the FA and League Cup finals while Wembley was redeveloped. Has a resident hawk, Dad, on patrol.

Allianz Arena (Bayern and 1860 Munich)

Capacity: 66,000

Cost: £190m

Time taken: Two years six months.

Unique features: Known as the "inflatable boat" due to its distinctive shape. The outside of the stadium is lit up red when Bayern play at home, blue when 1860 Munich play and white when the German national team visit.

Stade de France (Paris)

Capacity: 80,000

Cost: £260m

Time taken: Three years

Unique features: Hosted the 1998 World Cup final and will host this autumn's Rugby World Cup final. Has a movable stand.


Then, for a while, we saw a sequence of re-hashed views of the new designs, which brought on the mother of all honeymoon periods as we guzzled our new-age snake oil like addicts.

Naturally, the lead designer for HKS, Brian Tubey, had a lot to say too. Maybe this gives some insight into where the value lies in this development? I mean, surely the stuff he mentions is worth a few bob eh?

Bryan Trubey, principal designer at Dallas-based architects HKS, was brought to Liverpool to watch the club’s Champion’s League match against Barcelona in March.

“It’s hard to say what you are thinking (when you sit in the Kop),” he said. “I was trying to absorb as much of the passion as I could.

“I noticed this really incredible thing that was the songs that are sung. This is a spiritual experience for the fans.

“That’s the one thing that we got an acute sense of from the beginning. We realised what we needed to do.”

Since that night, Mr Trubey has overseen a mammoth cross-Atlantic effort to come up with the spectacular plans for a £300m new stadium, lodged with Liverpool City Council on Wednesday.

The Daily Post today publishes exclusive images of how the new 60,000 seater facility, planned to be built over the next three years at Stanley Park, will look.

The design, which will cost £300m, is expected to attract a naming rights sponsorship deal worth £100m. It includes a massive steep sided single tier Kop end, which with 18,000 seats will be half as big again as the existing Kop.

And the stadium has the capacity to expand up to 76,000 seats, making it one of the country’s biggest Premiership stadiums, if planning permission is granted.

HKS is the world’s ninth largest firm of architects, and had a team of between 50 and 60 designers working on the plans spread between London and the USA.

Even though the firm are seasoned in handling large projects worth in excess of a billion dollars, they jumped at the chance to tackle the Liverpool scheme.

“This one is a very big project for us. We focus on sports and entertainment facilities, it’s really not the size that makes it, it’s that Liverpool is one of the most valuable sport franchises in the world.

“The Kop is one of the primary drivers for the design of the building.

“It is one of the single most unique things in sport. It has a lot of meaning and tradition that we wanted to make a big part of the stadium.”

He said the new stadium was designed to be a uniquely recognisable building, a tourist destination in its own right.

“We created the south part of the building to really be a destination environment.

He said a number of things were being worked on to “make it a place for fans even on non-game days having a place that is interior to the stadium”.

This would include a hall of fame and memorabilia store.

Mr Trubey said more details about the plans would be revealed in time, but that the glass corners that allowed views into the ground would not be filled in to make way for the potential additional 16,000 seats.

When asked about the large expanse of glass used in the design, he said: “What we are doing there is trying to create a more transparent building so that you can see all the way into the building.”

“It’s not often that you get an opportunity to put a facility like this in a listed park.

“It’s hard to look at a site like this and not just see advantages.

“Our challenge was to do a project that can do an excellent job being part of the park.

“It’s easy to put a stadium in the park, it’s harder to make it part of the park.

“For us the site was phenomenal, even the grade of the park is a phenomenal gift to the stadium project.”

The fact that the Kop had been so central to the designs had meant that the acoustics were also an integral part of the planning.

“We have spent quite a lot of time working on the acoustics. That’s a huge part of a sporting event.

“That was one of the reasons for the Kop form.

He said the physical form of the building would project acoustically to the rest of the venue. “That was very interesting from an architectural point of view.

“The Kop drives the event. I have been to sporting venues all over the world. It’s one of the things I get to do because of what I do for a living, and the Kop is totally unique.”

So with all that in mind, did Mr Trubey feel a burden on his shoulders?

“I don’t see it as a burden, responsibility is maybe a good word,” he said.

“That’s the cool thing about our job, it makes you passionately attached when you receive something this important.”

"He said the new stadium was designed to be a uniquely recognisable building, a tourist destination in its own right.

“We created the south part of the building to really be a destination environment.

He said a number of things were being worked on to “make it a place for fans even on

non-game days having a place that is interior to the stadium”.


Oh, how we lapped all that up. We speculated about the open corners and the low end, and the idea that "it means we can increase the capacity". God they're so clever. More oohs and aahs. Wooo, the actual pitch will be below ground level... aaaah...

9th August 2007 - Wow! It'll have a 'skywalk' with views to wales, it'll be carbon neutral with 'living walls'. It'll be a UEFA 5 star facility. Wow wow wow wow wow.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -19597959/

Then we saw leaks of the actual blueprints. We just couldn't get enough of it.

Then into October, people started worrying about the planning application being approved.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 061820.stm

6th November 2007 - Hazel Blears, Government Minister, is going to have the final say.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -20066606/

And the plans were approved. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 081610.stm

23rd November 2007 - Rafa Benitez makes it clear that, as always he's going to be coaching and training his team. Just in case we missed that, he repeats it roughly 3,472 times for the assembled press corps.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -20151034/

28th November 2007 - after reports that Hicks and Gillett had met with Jurgen Klinsmann, and despite the owners clearing things up saying they'd met to practice a new magic trick Jurgen had learned from Jerry Sadowitz, thousands of fans march on Anfield and demand they leave the club. A multi-banner flag adorns the length of the Kop: "AS ALWAYS WE ARE FOCUSSING ON SUPPORTING OUR MANAGER". Her Majesty's assembled media manage to muster two or three column inches amongst them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 110714.stm

29th November 2007 - Hicks and Gillett got their loans "for the new stadium"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... adium.html
The money was lent by Wachovia and RBS. A lot of money obviously refinancing the puchcase price. The disgrace begins to emerge into the public domain.

Press speculation began to mount that the stadium wasn't gonna happen.

15th December 2007 - Parry said on Liverpoolfc.tv - "We remain absolutely committed to the building of a new stadium which will improve on the original design... Ever since the original designs were unveiled, we have been continuously revising and refining with the intention of delivering the best possible solution to our future needs.

"The situation in the credit markets has not affected our design, programme, or implementation of building our new stadium. The priority has always been to build a winning team on the pitch and everything else we do is geared towards that."

17th December 2007 - again on LFC.tv, Parry admitted that a rethink had been needed on the plans: "We are now considering two schemes but the stadium will be a 70,000 seater... The new stadium will be a significant improvement on the original plans and a slightly different version of the new ones... And it will be a massive improvement on where we were 12 months ago, if not quite as dramatic as the plans unveiled in the summer.

"The single tier Kop remains fundamental to the design and we are not expecting any delays – it should be on schedule for 2011." Alarm bells started ringing. Spiralling costs were mooted, but at the root of it, it was never mentioned that these two owners just never intended to put a penny of their own money into the club or its plans.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -20262273/
[/quote]

THE 'WARTS AND ALL' TIMELINE - 2008

8th January 2008 - Hazel Blears, Government Minister announces there's no need for an inquiry into the plans. She said: “Local planning authorities are normally best placed to make decisions relating to their areas. It is right that in general, they should be free to carry out their duties responsibly, with the minimum of interference.”

10th January 2008 - apparently Liverpool in no rush over stadium plan.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.j ... liv110.xml

25th January 2008 - Hicks and Gillett refinance their debt. Again. The understanding in all reports was that this would mean the stadium work could start. But at the time, the pair had started to publicly fight with each other, and with their staff, and as a result, Dubai International Capital had reappeared at the table with a proposal to buy Gillett's share, with rumours of a full takeover. Mihir Bose said £60m of that money was earmarked for the stadium.

26th January 2008 - it emerges that the club face a fresh battle for the planning permission. Meanwhile, a large group of concerned fans meet in the Sandon to discuss the issues that face the club. The group would later become Spirit of Shankly.

1st February 2008 - well well well. HKS are reworking the plans.
http://www.building.co.uk/news/hks-rewo ... 89.article

1st February 2008 - ShareLiverpoolFC launches
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7217238.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 281517.ece

6th February 2008 - the newly created supporters' union, then called "Sons of Shankly", issues a call to arms, details the uncomfortable truth about the owners and their plans for the club, and asks a few difficult questions in the process.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Liv ... -Arms.html

11th February 2008 - a stadium in Texas designed by HKS collapses
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -20463135/

25th February 2008 - we're still talking about how to organise the rail travel, and whether DIC are going to take over, and whether these two will ever stop dragging the Liverpool tradition through the gutter with their public outbursts. Meanwhile, Tom Hicks Junior decides to treat his bodyguards to a pint in the Sandon, and it all kicks off after someone calls one of their pints a puff.

4th March 2008 - stories do the rounds of Hicks claiming the club is worth a straight swap for the sovereign state of Dubai.

10th March 2008 - Hicks: superfly guys from Dubai - nice try.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 93895.html
Hicks, betraying his struggle with the definition of the word "success", said "Based on my 13 years of successful experience as an owner of professional sports teams, and based in particular on the situation at Liverpool Football Club over the past year, it is clear to me that such a committee approach would not be in the best interest of Kop [Holdings], of the club or of the club's loyal and passionate supporters," Hicks said. "Accordingly, I have decided to exercise my right under the Kop Football (Holdings) Limited partnership agreement to veto any sale of any portion of Kop and the club to DIC." Translation: they wouldn't do swapsies for the sovereign state of Dubai - oh, and by the way, Kop Holdings is first in the pecking order of importance. That's Kop Holdings, then the club, then the supporters. Yeah, I say 'loyal and passionate', but, well, I mean livestock.

12th April 2008 - David Moores says he's heartbroken by the new owners. He consoles himself by lying down in a massive bed made from thousands of £100 notes.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... wners.html

17th April 2008 - Hicks says Parry's a disaster, then dusts off his six shooters and does his best impression of Yosemite Sam.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... aster.html
Sat in front of the roaring homely fire at Southfork, supping hot joe from a Liverpool mug, Tom portrayed a vision of loveliness that no right-thinking Liverpool fan could resist. We completely changed our opinion of him overnight. He proceeded to put our woes to rights.
On Rick Parry
"Look at what's happened under Rick. It has been a disaster. We have fallen so far behind the other leading clubs. We should have the stadium built by now. We have a few major sponsors when we should have 15. We have still got the top brand in the world of football but that's no good if you don't know how to commercialise it. Rick needs to resign from Liverpool FC. He has put his heart into it but it is time for a change. You have to be able to work with the manager and Rick has proved he can't do that."
On Jurgen Klinsmann
"I get this call from George out of the blue in which he says 'have your people do their research on Klinsmann'. He and Rick set up the meeting in New York. I did go to the meeting along with my son Tom. Rick Parry had already met with Jurgen alone for a couple of hours when we arrived. We all then spoke to him for another four hours. Afterwards I told the truth to a reporter who asked the question and suddenly it is 'Tom Hicks tried to get Jurgen Klinsmann'. George initiated it but we all participated."
On George Gillett
"At this point it is unworkable, we started this as friends but 50-50 is a difficult business proposition because you cannot do anything without your partner's approval. We had a good honeymoon but, over a period of time, there have been issues, the stadium being the main one. If George doesn't sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in. It's complicated but it's going to happen (Hicks buying Gillett out) although I can't force George to accept."
On DIC
"DIC has no seat at the table. They are masters of the British tabloid spin. They want to stir the pot of Liverpool to create dissension I did talk to Dubai about being a 49% partner but it just didn't work out. They didn't share the same vision I have and I didn't think they could become minority partners. I am not going to have any more 50-50 partners."
On Rafael Benitez
"If I were to buy George out the first thing I would do is offer Rafa a one-year extension to make sure he is going to be here up to when we get the stadium. Hopefully we could have some success and then extend him again. Rafa and the players have their heads down. They are playing great. We communicate regularly. I know he feels comfortable with the way things are going. I think we will continue to have success. I think Rafa has unique skills, he motivates the team and we have some great players who are learning how to play with each other.


Meanwhile Parry claimed the board didn't want to sack him.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... e-out.html
"I have been told Tom Hick has done an interview, but I have not seen it and I am not going to watch it,” Parry said.

"My reaction is simple and straightforward: The board has not asked me to resign and that is the only forum it will be discussed in.

"I am doing my job and have a duty to keep the club on an even keel. The board has not asked me to resign and anything else is academic.

Hicks branded Parry's leadership as a "disaster" for Liverpool's failure to compete commercially with their Premier League rivals but the 53-year-old has dismissed the criticism and has said he will get back to his day job.

"I have a duty at the moment to try and keep things on an even keel when there's turmoil off the pitch. I just want to do my best for the club," he said.

"I'm focusing on the day to day. We have a Champions League semi-final coming up. There are a lot of important things to be done at the club and that's the focus."

And to cap off the holy trinity on a great day for the Liverpool way, George hit back at Tom in the open media.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 351883.stm
Gillett said: "I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks.

"Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his comments.

"Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position.

"His failure to discuss this with the Board or the management committee is significant."
Our hearts soared as our club at last got the media attention it so deserved. Our 'brand' had surely never been stronger. Great days.

19th April 2008 - the Council says "sort it out".
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -20787403/

21st April 2008 - Spirit of Shankly starts work on the new stadium. 440 days after their purchase of the club, SOS said "Hicks and Gillett told us it’ll be 60 days. We’re telling you it’ll be at 6 o’clock. Who do you believe?"
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spi ... adium.html

26th April 2008 - The Liverpool Daily Post reports that work could start on the stadium within the month.
The article summed up the crucial changes:
- underground car park beneath the stadium halved
- 3 storey underground car park to replace it under games area in Stanley Park
- footprint of stadium reduced by several metres
- roof opening smaller
- skywalk with views to Wales scrapped

28th April 2008 - The Dubai rumours keep on trucking.
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft ... 212&page=1
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -20841620/

6th May 2008 - Liverpool City Council approve the revised plans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 385026.stm

11th May 2008 - Tom Hicks claims work on the stadium will start in September with completion in August 2011. He was also sure he could buy Gillett's share himself. Meanwhile, Hicks was having trouble at home, failing to secure funding for a project in Arlington, Texas known as "Glorypark". He told the Dallas Morning News: "We are in the most difficult credit crunch I have seen the last 20 years."

15th May 2008 - The Echo reports that the Tom Hicks is enjoying a delicious bowl of Credit Crunch (TM).
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -20914232/

24th June 2008 - The LCC rubber stamps the planning permission. Amazingly, on the Liverpool FC site, Gillett calls this "a significant milestone for the club and I am delighted that the design received full planning consent and that we are now on site.We have been working very hard over the last six months to move the details of the design along but this is the first tangible evidence for fans that a New LFC Stadium will be built. The stadium design is unique and will be recognised across the world as the Liverpool FC Stadium. It incorporates a Kop stand that will hold 18,000 fans and we hope that the stadium will be as noisy and atmospheric on a matchday as Anfield." According to the club, "The stadium is on programme to open for the beginning of the 2011-12 season."
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...80624-1211.htm (link now removed).

29th August 2008 - The Telegraph reports that Liverpool fans are angry at the stadium delay.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... tball.html

29th August 2008 - The Liverpool FC website says "REDS CONFIRM NEW LFC STADIUM DELAY". A spokesman was quoted as saying "Our commitment to building a new world class LFC stadium is undiminished. Like many other major development projects in the UK and overseas we are affected by global market conditions and as such work on the project will be delayed in the short term. We will use this period productively and revisit the plans for the stadium to increase its capacity to 73,000 seats."
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drill...80829-0923.htm (link now removed).

August 30th 2008 - The Liverpool Daily Post says the 999 year lease is now in jeapoardy unless the club sorts itself out. Warren Bradley is quoted as saying
"I would not want the council to sign the lease until such a time as we know that Liverpool FC can deliver it 150%,” said Cllr Bradley last night. I have always had my reservations about their ability to raise the funds. I just wish they would sort themselves out, the Anfield and Breckfield areas have waited too long for this.”. NWDA were demanding meetings with Kop Holdings to see what had happened to the £9m in grant money it had given the club. Althought quite what Dr Drew has to do with all this is beyond me.

11th September 2008 - Jamie Carragher lays into the "ruthless" owners in his new autobiography.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... tball.html

“For richer or poorer, we’d sold Liverpool to two ruthless businessmen who saw us as a money-making opportunity... They didn’t buy Liverpool as an act of charity; they weren’t intent on throwing away all the millions they’d earned over 50 years... They wanted to buy us because the planned stadium offered a chance to generate tons of cash and increase the value of the club.

Carragher said the owners’ worst mistake was claiming no debt would be put on the club’s balance sheet when in fact the loans used created annual interest payments of about £30 million.

“Breaking this vow set the first alarm bells ringing, the embarrassing continual changing of the stadium plans was irritating too,” he wrote.

Carragher said the internal strife swelled in the aftermath of the May 2007 Champions League final defeat by AC Milan when Benitez demanded that Hicks and Gillett quickly invest more money in the squad.

“These words sparked a chain reaction that brought problems into the open, almost cost [Benitez] his job, riled Liverpool’s owners into an ill-fated meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann, and ended Hicks’ and Gillett’s honeymoon relationship with The Kop,” Carragher wrote.

13th September 2008 - SOS march on Anfield before the Manchester United game.

5th October 2008 - The Times reports that the unstable financial climate is delaying Liverpool's stadium. That and the fact the owners don't have a pot of their own to piss in.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ ... 885452.ece

13th October 2008 - Nothing to see here, say the suits at the club.
http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/liverpo ... 69853.html

24th December 2008 - Then The Telegraph reports that Liverpool's sponsors are frustrated by the stadium delay.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... delay.html
Carlsberg's international marketing director, Keld Strudahl, said: "While we have a good relationship with [co-owner] Tom Hicks, we are naturally unhappy that the planned new stadium has been postponed. That can not be good for Liverpool as a long-term business."

23rd October 2008 - 6 Liverpool MPS urge Gordon Brown to oust Hicks and Gillett.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -22099810/

********************************************************************

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[hitman89762000]

WARTS AND ALL TIMELINE - 2009

24th January 2009 - Hicks trails around the middle east like a rag and bone man (private jet instead of horse and cart of course) looking for investors for the club.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2 ... 3202_x.htm
The Telegraph went as far as running down the key negotiators.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... ators.html

22nd February 2009 - Spirit of Shankly's inaugural AGM takes place.

27th February 2009 - Rick Parry leaves Liverpool FC. Fans openly weep in the street.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 914358.stm

14th May 2009 - USA Today reports that Carlsberg are keen on the stadium naming rights.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2 ... 2296_x.htm

17th May 2009 - Rafa Benitez says the club need the new stadium to compete.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2 ... 2125_x.htm

11th June 2009 - The Telegraph, in case anyone had forgotten, reminds us that Liverpool are still waiting on the new Stanley Park stadium.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... adium.html

14th August 2009 - Spirit of Shankly reminds us that the owners had to this date claimed £1.85m in expenses between them since taking the helm.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spi ... story.html

3rd September 2009 - Christian Purslow, the newly installed Managing Director, proclaims that the stadium is on hold until recession is over. No **** Sherlock.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -over.html
"Construction on the stadium will begin when the current contraction in the banking industry ends and the global financial markets re-establish their equilibrium," Liverpool's new managing director Christian Purslow said.

So contrition over contraction in construction? Well, no, not really. More spades of spurious spin.

"The centerpiece is to deliver a world-class football ground that everyone can be proud of, a new home for the club with a stadium of at least 60,000 seats, giving the best possible match experience," Purslow said.

7th September 2009 - Oh yes we will have our new stadium, says Hicks.
http://www.espnstar.com/football/premie ... ew-stadium

15th September 2009 - On announcing the new sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered, Purslow takes it upon himself to do a full-on Hello magazine style introduction to the new man at the helm, complete with **** eating grins from the Anfield stand. The Echo goes along with it like a cheap dimestore whore and serialises it over three days. The suspense between each instalment causes heart palpitations amongst the Liverpool support.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -24688934/
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -24681033/
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -24700442/

16th September 2009 - Purslow also finds time in his busy celebrity schedule to speak to Spirit of Shankly. The following day the union reported a cordial meeting and underlined that the minutes would be reviewed by both parties before release.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spi ... rslow.html

17th September 2009 - Hicks still says the stadium's gonna be built. The industrial-scale instalment of compeed on the end of his nose hints at the veracity of his claims. In one truthful segment, he admits "we've spent lots of money".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 261975.stm
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is adamant that the club's proposed new £350m stadium will be built once the global financial crisis stabilises.

Construction on the new site in Stanley Park, next to the Reds' current Anfield Stadium, was frozen in August 2008 due to the financial conditions.

"We've spent lots of money and we have a fully designed stadium," said Hicks.

"We have every permit in place, the council's approval, everything is done. Certainly it will happen."

He added: "When we get to the point where the global market settles down, we can bring pieces together to finance the stadium.

"I don't know about the dates because of the global financial markets, but I know the markets will settle down and get better."

Hicks bought Liverpool in 2007 with George Gillett Jr. and they wrote off £10m by ditching existing plans to replace Anfield so architects from his native Texas could design a new stadium in the adjacent Stanley Park.

It is expected to hold 60,000 fans, 15,000 more than Anfield, with more scope to generate commercial revenues.

Liverpool received a financial boost this week with the announcement of a new sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered.

23rd September 2009 - SOS publishes the Purslow minutes, covering the stadium as well as the broader issues. Everyone's happy with the minutes, and like the takeover talks between Ribena and Angostura Bitters, discussions were cordial.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Chr ... nutes.html
4. Where has the money gone for the initial ground work on a stadium? If the owners had stuck to their initial promise of debt not being put onto the club then surely the initial £350 million borrowed from the bank to purchase the Club could have paid for a stadium?

CP was positive about the stadium project. He said that whether we all liked it or not the credit crunch had had an impact and that in some ways it was better that we hadn’t started the project before the bank problems as that could have seen a half completed project by now. Currently, deferment of the project was the only option although he estimated that 2010 should see the economy easing and banks’ attitude to projects like the stadium becoming more positive.

GS made the point that if the owners had done at the outset what they said they were going to do, which was to not use borrowed funds to purchase and fund the Club then at the time they wanted to start the stadium the Club would have been debt free. No one would have considered a loan unreasonable to fund the stadium and even if the credit crunch had then hit they would have been able to use the £60m they have just injected to assist in getting over any difficulties. The problem was not completely credit crunch related more the fact that they were fully borrowed.

3rd October 2009 - George Gillett has an impromptu chat with an SOS member at the Academy before the Hull City game.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Geo ... -you!.html
Debt on the club
George Gillett: “The club had £40-80m debt when we bought it, but no earnings." “The debt on the club today is very sound".

The auditors of LFC's accounts have a different opinion: “These conditions, along with other matters explained in note 1 to the financial statements, indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the Group's and parent company's ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include the adjustments that would result if the Group and parent company were unable to continue as a going concern." http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/SOS ... ounts.html

Christian Purslow recently told us that the debt stands at £245 million. £40 million to £245 million in the space of less than 3 years. Doesn't sound very sound to me George. http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Chr ... nutes.html

Stadium
George Gillett: “Whether you see the value is a different issue. Where have we lied? Where’s the lie, for Christ’s sake? In those 60 days, what happened to the world? I didn’t say that. Hicks was the one who said. 60 days? Bulls**t. That was not me. It’s wrong. I have never talked about that. I think that what happened was that Hicks was convinced we were going to start to move dirt on the foundations within a 60-day period. In the period of time, the world credit market collapsed and he had big egg on his face, not living up to what we said. I don’t talk about absolute dates when we’re talking about credit markets.”

No George. Tom didn't say it. You did. Look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMyKZjxm ... r_embedded

George Gillett claims the credit crunch happened in the 60 days from buying the club. He then goes onto claim “When we bought the club it was with our own money. Cash. A year and a half later, when the credit crisis hit we each put our portion of the club up as collateral for a loan to go into the club and refinance the business.”

So when did the credit crunch start George, within 60 days or a year and a half later?

When talking about paying for a stadium, Gillett said the following “You want a bigger stadium and if we could figure how to do it I would have done it yesterday. Not going to use our own capital because that is not the way a smart investment occurs for this club.” He said the following back in January 2009 "He claimed they had spent £100m on the stadium so far and were still working with designers, architects and planners.

"I asked why they were spending the club's money on this and he claimed it was coming from himself and Tom Hicks and not the club.”
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/SOS ... -2009.html

Expenses
When quizzed about his expenses, George Gillett claimed "The money taken out is for the benefit of the club, not the detriment.” Obviously the £1.327 million claimed by Gillett has benefitted us greatly. Or more likely, paid for his travel, his security, his expenses, his bills for buying the club. http://www.spiritofshankly.com/document ... eaflet.pdf

Transfers
George Gillett :“We have put £128 million in to buy players on top of what’s come in in the last 18 months.”

Using figures from LFChistory.net, LFC have spent approximately £100 million on transfers in the past 18 months. From player sales, they have recouped approximately £80 million. A net spend of around £20 million. Where's the other £100 million George?

24th October 2009 - the recording of Gillett's little chat is published. It's an expensive business shafti... sorry, running a football club.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHBcVVfQ ... r_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0l7vX5 ... r_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcJxGVoe ... r_embedded

27th November 2009 - the club say they're "still confident" they'll get funding for the new stadium.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -25267781/

10th December 2009 - Broughton is appointed. Liverpool fans rejoice - nothing like a fourth horseman to complete your perfect apocalypse.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... irman-sale

16th December 2009 - the world cup bid includes the new stadium, incredibly.
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/news/ ... 70368.html

WARTS AND ALL TIMELINE - 2010

12th January 2010 - Tom Hicks Jr tells Liverpool fan and SOS member Steve Horner to do something I'm not sure the majority of grown men would like to be able to do. Mr Horner declined, despite Mr Hicks assuring him that he'd been laying off the garlic for a while.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... o-fan.html

Tom Hicks Jnr under pressure to resign from Liverpool board over obscene email to fan
Liverpool director Tom Hicks Jr faces mounting pressure to resign from the board despite offering a personal apology for sending an obscene email to a fan concerned about the Anfield club’s financial future.

By Rory Smith
Published: 6:59AM GMT 11 Jan 2010

Hate mail: Tom Hicks Jr (centre) is under mounting pressure to resign from Liverpool board despite his apology

Hicks Jr, son of one of the club’s two American owners, sent the abusive message after being emailed a link to a local newspaper story on the challenge facing Liverpool’s manager, Rafael Benítez, to manage Anfield’s £240 million debt as well as delivering success on the pitch.

After labelling his correspondent an “idiot”, Hicks then wrote: “---- me, ---- face. Go to hell. I’m sick of you”. Hicks emailed the supporter on Saturday night to “apologise for losing his temper and using bad language with you”, labelling his response a “knee-jerk reaction”.

It is believed he sent the message in error and was described by sources close to his family as “deeply regretting” the mistake, the latest in a long line of clashes between boardroom and stands at Anfield.

Spirit of Shankly, the club’s supporters’ union, on Sunday released a statement calling on Hicks Jnr to “recognise his shortcomings, not only as an individual but as a 'custodian’ of the club and do what any honourable person would do and resign”.

A spokesman for Spirit of Shankly added: "It is a great surprise and an even greater disappointment that Liverpool Football Club have thus far failed to make any comment on what we feel is a very serious matter.

"Is this what the club has come to, that a board member can speak in such derogatory terms to a supporter but can go without censure or any public criticism? The conspiracy of silence which has followed this unsavoury incident is totally unbecoming of a club which has always prided itself on its relationship with the fans."

Senior representatives of the union, which has conducted a number of protests concerning the ownership of Hicks’s father and his business partner, George Gillett, will raise the matter with Liverpool’s managing director Christian Purslow, as well as discussing fears Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, among others, may have to be sold to help the club pay down their debt.

The prospect of Hicks Jnr, a key player on Anfield’s finely-balanced board — comprised of Hicks and his father, Gillett and his son, Foster, Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre — resigning remains remote.

Benítez has been condemned to spending only what he can raise in the transfer market for two years, while he has admitted he is working with far tighter resources this month than Liverpool’s rivals for a Champions League place.

Although the sales of Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voronin, to Napoli and Dynamo Moscow respectively, have brought in a combined £6.2 million, Benítez will be allowed only to seek budget defensive cover, in addition to the signing of Maxi Rodriguez, as a result of the club’s parlous financial state.

Purslow is confident of selling a 25 per cent stake in the club for £100 million by the end of the first quarter of the year, investment crucial in enabling work on Liverpool’s long-awaited stadium to resume.

A spokesman for Spirit of Shankly added: "It is a great surprise and an even greater disappointment that Liverpool Football Club have thus far failed to make any comment on what we feel is a very serious matter.

"Is this what the club has come to, that a board member can speak in such derogatory terms to a supporter but can go without censure or any public criticism?

"The conspiracy of silence which has followed this unsavoury incident is totally unbecoming of a club which has always prided itself on its relationship with the fans."


It brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "charm offensive".

12th January 2010 - Tom Hicks Jr resigns from the board of the club. His Dad responds in the only way he knows how. He talks a load of preposterous shite to anyone who will listen.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... d-big.html

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks takes swipe at Manchester United and vows to spend 'big'
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has responded bullishly to the resignation of his son, Tom Jnr, from the Anfield board by telling fans that the club's debt compared favourably to that of Manchester United and vowing to spend "big" in the summer to improve the team's fortunes.

By Rory Smith
Published: 7:00AM GMT 12 Jan 2010

Family business: Liverpool's co-owner Tom Hicks (right) and his son Tom Hicks Jnr, who was forced to resign from the club's board over an obscene email

Photo: AP On the day Hicks Jnr stepped down following an obscene email to a concerned supporter, his father responded rather more politely to another inquiry from a fan concerning the club's financial health, the failure to invest in the playing staff and the prospect of selling off Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to meet interest repayments on the club's £245 million debt.

"Our debt is very manageable (see Man U)," wrote Hicks on Monday. "We never use player sales for debt service. Our interest on £200 million is about £16 million.

"The new stadium will be the game changer. Christian [Purslow] is working very hard on it. January is a poor quality market. The summer window will be big."

Liverpool's fans, though, are not likely to share Hicks's confidence, given the financial constraints which have afflicted the club under his tenure.

They can, though, take some solace in the fact that the dynamism with which the club have reacted to the departure of Hicks Jnr suggests that the deadlock which has engulfed Anfield's boardroom for so long has finally been broken.

Hicks Jnr will be directly replaced by Casey Coffman, a trusted lieutenant of his father and the executive vice-president of Hicks Holdings.

A club statement released on Monday confirmed that Ian Ayre and Philip Nash, Liverpool's commercial and finance directors, have also been appointed to the board, a move first ratified before Christmas.

The three new appointments join Hicks senior, his business partner George Gillett and his son Foster and Purslow, the managing director, on an expanded board of seven.

The move is a deliberate attempt to avoid the sort of stalemate which has hamstrung Liverpool for so long as the Anfield hierarchy prepare for a year of significant decisions.

Purslow has been tasked with finding an investor, or several, to take a 25 per cent stake in the club for £100 million. While Anfield sources have confirmed no investment is imminent, he is thought to be confident of securing much-needed equity before the end of March.

The club hope the cash injection will enable work on Liverpool's new stadium, dormant for nearly 18 months, to resume.

Both of those aims will be far easier to accomplish with a board not mired in the inertia created by the breakdown of relations between the Hicks and Gillett camps in 2008.

In such a climate, the controversy created by Hicks Jnr's obscene emails, labelling a fan concerned by Liverpool's financial future an "idiot" and instructing him to "go to hell" could not be countenanced.

Hicks Jnr offered to resign as soon as news of the correspondence, sent in error, broke, but it is believed that his father and club officials decided to wait to see if the storm abated. By Sunday morning, as the furore grew, it became clear he had to go.

The rest of the board unanimously accepted his resignation, which had been called for by the club's supporters' union, Spirit of Shankly, a group dedicated to ousting Hicks and Gillett.

Paul Rice, the organisation's chairman, described Hicks's position as "untenable," while a statement insisted he had no choice but to do the "honourable" thing and resign despite an apology to the fan concerned.

Hicks Jnr said: "I have great respect for Liverpool Football Club, especially the supporters. I apologise for my mistake and I am very sorry for my harmful words.

"I do not want my actions to take away from the club's future, and therefore I am resigning from the board. To the fans and to the club, please accept my sincerest apologies."


13th January 2010 - Reports emerge that Liverpool are set to sell the naming rights to their imaginary new stadium.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=724592

22nd January 2010 - SOS announces that Purslow is going to meet them for a cup of tea and a slice of cake. No cordial this time. It's frosty at this time of year, after all. Again, they're going to agree the minutes... but it's taking a while. Hmmm...

2nd February 2010 - it only takes a minute, girl. SOS publish their version of the minutes from the Purslow meeting
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Min ... eting.html

Naturally Purslow disputes SOS's version of the minutes, prompting the kind of questions maybe we ought to all have been asking about what's going on behind the scenes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010 ... ns-dispute
Liverpool fans publish rival minutes of meeting with managing director
• SOS group claims Christian Purslow was critical of owners
• Purslow admits banks demand debt reduction by £100m
Andy Hunter guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 February 2010 22.30 GMT
---
The Liverpool managing director, Christian Purslow, has become embroiled in a dispute with a supporters' group over allegations that he accused Tom Hicks and George Gillett of making "unforgiveable" promises and having no money to invest in the club, despite being ordered by the Royal Bank of Scotland to reduce Anfield's debt by £100m before July.

Purslow denies the comments are representative of a meeting on 21 January with members of the Spirit of Shankly Supporters Union (SOS), which has led the protests against Liverpool's co-owners. Purslow met 12 members of the group and although written notes, but no recordings, were permitted at the exchange the two parties have been unable to reach agreement on the minutes. The stand-off prompted SOS to publish its own and Purslow's contrasting versions of the meeting today, with ­supporters invited to make their judgment on another embarrassing affair for the Anfield hierarchy.

Both sides record a frank admission from Purslow that the RBS want him to reduce Liverpool's debt from £237m to £137m before the co-­owners' refinancing deal comes up for renewal in July. But the Anfield official admits he "cannot guarantee" a time-frame for investment that would prevent Hicks and Gillett being forced to put the entire club up for sale.

Purslow confirmed in his version: "One of our key priorities is to reduce the debt by £100m. This is a requirement from our bankers and will allow us to look at a more flexible and longer-term refinancing with our bankers when this investment is brought in. Ideally we would like a three- or four-year refinancing deal rather than the shorter ones we have had recently. The targeted reduction in borrowings was agreed by the bank, CP [Purslow himself] and the owners when I was appointed. The £100m investment will be made by the issuance of new shares, and will not go towards anything else other than paying down the debt, reducing it to £137m. This new investment will also mean a dilution of the current ownership."

Interpretations of the Americans' and the RBS's long-term positions differ wildly, however. Minutes recorded by SOS but not Purslow include an alleged admission that Hicks' and Gillett's £100m asking price for a 25% stake of Liverpool is deterring potential investors. "No one would invest at the level they want," Purslow is alleged to have said. There was also a statement that, in terms of Rafael Benítez's transfer budget: "We will only have what we make and generate. The budget will only change if we get a sugar daddy."

Further claims in the SOS minutes include a bleak assessment of the capital available to Hicks and Gillett, despite their sale of sporting franchises in the US and Canada, allegedly given by Purslow while he attempts to convince the meeting that Liverpool will find investors.

"LFC is for sale. It will be sold," record SOS. "The owners have to sell, they are out of money. The bank want it sold, the fans want it sold and people want to buy it. The problems on the pitch at the minute aren't the fault of the owners. It is not simple enough to say that new owners will guarantee results on the pitch."

Purslow also allegedly blamed the former majority owner David Moores and the ex-chief executive Rick Parry for Liverpool's present predicament. The minutes record: "Those who sold the club are responsible too. The promises of Hicks and Gillett are unforgivable. Hicks and Gillett cannot hang on to the club."

SOS defended its decision to release both transcripts of the meeting. A spokesperson said: "We recognise that this step may put our relationship with the senior management of the club at risk, but the risk is worth it xwhen balanced with putting out a version of a meeting that in good conscience we could not accept as a fair representation of what was said."


5th February 2010 - Purslow says the club are "eager to push on with the new stadium", then turns to ask the photographer to take another shot to get his best side.
http://sport.scotsman.com/viewarticle.a ... id=6037036
Managing director Christian Purslow said: "When I arrived we agreed with the owners that we had to look for new investors. There are interested parties and I would like to get it sorted out before the end of this season. Without investment there won't be a new stadium."

But if they do not find new investment Liverpool will look to try to compete with their rivals by remaining at Anfield. He added: "That's Plan B: run the club in the most responsible way possible. We are generating a healthy profit and meeting our obligations, while remaining competitive in the transfer market and with the wages we are paying."

Purslow has reassured star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard not to worry about the club qualifying for the Champions League next season.

Liverpool, currently fifth in the Premier League and in the latter stages of the Europa League, are confident of keeping their prized playing assets. Purslow said: "We will be in the Champions League, for sure. We are not a selling club."

"We will be in the Champions League, for sure. We are not a selling club," he said, before dismissing continued speculation linking Rafael Benítez with a move to Juventus.

"We have not considered, nor are we going to consider, a future without Benítez," Purslow said of the Liverpool manager. "The plan calls for five years of stability in the coaching staff and the [playing] staff.

"It is normal that big clubs are interested in Rafa. The coach himself has denied the rumours."

1st March 2010 - Everton and Livepool meet to discuss stadium with NWDA, although what Ice Cube has to add to the discussion I'm not sure.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liv ... -25934736/

5th March 2010 - the Echo asked - where's the money gonna come from to buy the new stadium?
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... 5966633/2/

In the meantime, Liverpool’s managing director Christian Purslow, hired last year, is attempting to bring in fresh investment to assist the Americans.

A Wirral-born Reds fan, Mr Purslow enjoyed a successful career in high finance.

He was a founding partner in MidOcean Partners, a New York- based investment fund which invested a minimum stake of $25m per company.

He recently sold out of MidOcean, meaning he should be personally flush with funds.

He may even be prepared to take a stake in the club himself as part of a consortium of new investors.


25th March 2010 - Thommo has his say on the ownership situation.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -26106039/

He said: “We wanted our new stadium well before Arsenal, but they’ve now got a 60,000-seater stadium that they’re filling every week and are taking in vast amounts of money every week compared to what we are.

“The club, the stadium and what’s happening on the field just seems to be secondary in the Americans’ minds. They’re all about money and getting the debt down which shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

“When they came in I was one of those who thought that they were saying the right things but they didn’t keep to their word of having a spade in the ground after 60 days and not heaping debt on the football club.

“They’ve been offered decent money to sell.

“If they can’t see the future and if they’re not going to invest in the team, whether it’s Rafa Benitez or somebody else, they’re not magicians and you can’t work like that at the top of the Premiership.”

Thompson is sympathetic to Benitez’s financial plight and added: “I can remember myself and Gérard Houllier being given a budget in the summer of £12 million.

“That’s not a lot of money but we did it, we got by. We bought some decent players, and some bad ones as well, but I think Rafa’s not had any money to spend last summer and no money to spend in January.

“We’re a team who finished second last year and that was a chance to consolidate our position.

“People say that we’ve spent £40m but we’ve also recouped that £40m so Rafa’s spent nothing and that’s wrong. There should have been money in the kitty for the manager to spend.

“The only thing we as fans can see that they’re paying off the debt while we as a football club and a team suffer, and that is wrong. it should be all about the football team.”


30th March 2010 - Steve Horner calls for the government to investigate the club.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpoo ... -26135232/

15th April 2010 - the club confirms the owners are looking to sell the club.
http://www.nationalpost.com/Liverpool+c ... story.html

We also read that Goldman Sachs dropped a bid to buy the club.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 04586.html

And there were also reports that Steve Morgan had been rejected with a third bid to buy the club.

27th May 2010 - Hicks insists funds are available
http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/soccer ... 43298.html
"We have no intention of selling any of our top players and we have a substantial transfer budget in place," said Hicks.

"There's so much misinformation about transfer spending. It's more than doubled under the ownership of George and myself from the previous three years and we will make a significant investment this summer. It's really about getting the right players."

The Americans have made lofty promises before, most notably when they took over in March 2007 promising to improve the club and build a new stadium in Stanley Park, but failed to deliver.

If Hicks follows through with his offer of transfer riches to Benitez it may make the club a more attractive proposition to outside investors.

But it is unlikely to improve his and Gillett's tarnished reputation among supporters, who have campaigned for a long time for the pair to leave.

"There's been so much misinformation put out by people who have their own agendas and it's unfortunate," said Hicks in response to the sustained criticism he has faced.

"But the truth is the club is much better off than it was three years ago.

"We've done our best. I'm disappointed on a personal level that our efforts have not been received as well as I wish they had been."

And Hicks, who remains committed to his high valuation of Liverpool, said they would not sell to the club to anyone they did not think was worthy.

"I think I have said £600-£800million is not an unrealistic value range, but the market's the market. We'll see," he told Sky Sports News . "We will sell the club. We're not going to sell it to the wrong group, we're not going to sell it for the wrong price, we're going to do it in a very thoughtful way.

"I don't anticipate it will be done necessarily before the beginning of the next season. We hope it gets done by the end of the calendar year.

"We're more concerned about finding the right next owner, somebody that can make the investment in the club to get the stadium built, and to let Liverpool be the best possible football club in the world."


17th May 2010 - SOS meet with the Premier League's Richard Scudamore, who demonstrated his and his organisation's amazing slopey shoulders with aplomb.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spi ... eting.html

27th May 2010 - Hicks, keen to reassert his ability to talk preposterous nonsense, defends his £800m asking price. During the interview he pauses to wipe the venomous mucous from the fork of his tongue.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... -club.html

"Financing for the Liverpool stadium is now available, but we decided that we [Hicks and Gillett] wanted to sell and allow the new owner to build the stadium.

"We believe the fact that the design and the permitting process is complete should be reflected in the value we receive in the sale."

27th May 2010 - SOS responds saying "Tom Hicks - You Couldn't Make It Up (Well Actually, Tom Can)".
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Tom ... y,-Tom-Can).html

4th June 2010 - Tom Hicks and George Gillett - the best a fan can forget.
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slu ... ndgeorgegi

4th June 2010 - Rafael Benitez leaves Liverpool FC 'by mutual consent'. This would later be proven untrue in his radio interview with Radio City. Fans march on Anfield in anger at the manner of the dismissal, with the manager out of the country on holiday, and football-related decisions having been taken by men with no legit remit in that area. But Purslow's too legit, too legit to quit.

4th July 2010 - SOS hold an Independence Day rally in central Liverpool.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Ind ... ideos.html

7th July 2010 - Christian Purslow proves the benefits of a sponsorship from Adidas in donning his running shoes and craftily avoiding a previously scheduled public meeting when word gets out that SOS representatives will be there to ask him questions. It's anticipated that in 3 years' time, Christian will take on the appearance of the bearded Forrest Gump, having kept on running for such a prolonged period of time.

***********************************

Havent posted it to be a asshoole or to look for a row with anyone just thought it might show im not talking complete bollocks about stuff thats all

[mojo jojo]

I was disappointed that Spain won. I know they might play attractive football, but they didn't score many goals. I ended up not winning any of my bets afterall.

I was pleased Spain won, gutted Villa didn't score though, I've sucked on the fantasy team

[Joe]

¡¡¡Yo soy Español, Español, Español!!!

[hitman89762000]

I *think* torres is staying..these pics were taken last night:

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

I'd imagine he will have to stay anyway after he got injured again.

[hitman89762000]

not neccasarily if he says he wants to go then he'll be sold but im taking those pictures to be his way of setting things to rest so people know where his commitment is.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

Yeah it could well mean that he is staying. If his injury is bad though, then I doubt he would be sold anyway.

I think he's a little bit of a gamble for anyone wanting to buy him for huge money. Obviously you're guaranteed a lot of goals when he plays, but he has had so many injury problems. If he was going to be sold for £50 million or whatever has been suggested, then it might not be a completely bad deal for Liverpool.
If they aren't going to have much money to spend on transfers, then they could certainly get 2 or 3 good/great players for that.
I'm guessing not many Liverpool fans would agree with that though, considering how many goals he's scored for them.

Joe Cole is favourite to join Liverpool on Sky Bet. If that does happen, then I would say Liverpool definitely have the best deal in selling Benayoun and getting Joe Cole.

[hitman89762000]

cole would be great for us although it'll change our formation back to 442 maybe if he joins it could be we go with :

-----------------------Reina-------------------------------------------
-johnson--------skrtl/carragher----------------insua/agger
-kuyt/maxi------gerrard/lucas-------------------cole/jovonovich
-----------------torres/cole/jovonivich/kuyt-----------------------------

lots of options 442 wise although it could be 4-1-3-2 as well.

of our 3 big names i think masch is deffo going to inter milan for £40m torres i was unsure about but hopefully these pictures are his way of saying im sticking around.stevie.**** knowsi mean pre tourney he said he was staying but that could change.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

I think Liverpool could do with a good left sided midfielder if they are going to play 4 in midfield (although Capello thinks they've already got one). Cole could play there, but he has said that he would like to play through the middle at his new club. Not sure how that would work with Gerrard there though.
They could play a similar formation to Holland with Torres up front, Gerrard supporting him through the middle, Kuyt on the right and Cole on the left. I still don't rate Lucas and if they sell Mascherano, they look fairly weak for defensive midfielders.

They need more strikers as well, because they've got no one to rely on if/when Torres is injured. I don't know much about Jovanovic, but 29 seems quite old to be starting out in the Premier League after spending most of his career playing in a much poorer league in Belgium.

[hitman89762000]

I think Liverpool could do with a good left sided midfielder if they are going to play 4 in midfield (although Capello thinks they've already got one).

eh?

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

I think Liverpool could do with a good left sided midfielder if they are going to play 4 in midfield (although Capello thinks they've already got one).

eh?

Gerrard.

[hitman89762000]

I think Liverpool could do with a good left sided midfielder if they are going to play 4 in midfield (although Capello thinks they've already got one).

eh?

Gerrard.

agg i was assuming youd gone a bit mental and assumed capello was managing us but we've got SUPER ROY!

[David Thomas]

Have to say, I'm very optimistic about Wednesday's season and think we have a great chance of getting promotion straight back to the Championship after the signings we've made.

Chris Sedgwick, Jon Otsemobor, Paul Heffernan, Daniel Jones, Giles Coke, Gary Teale and Neil Mellor had all signed before today. Sedgwick, Heffernan, Teale and Mellor I was particularly pleased with - all better than the dross we had last season. I thought Mellor would have been our best signing of the summer, but today we've just topped that - Clinton Morrison! For us to get Clinton Morrison while being a League 1 club is AWESOME! And we haven't spent a penny in transfer fees (all free, except Mellor who is on a season-long loan). Alan Irvine has worked a miracle and built a squad that should walk this league.

I'm not getting too confident though, as I'm used to Wednesday letting us down!

[hitman89762000]

otsemobor is decent too he came through the liverpool youth system hes sound

[hitman89762000]

according to espn.:

Real Madrid are claiming Liverpool want £58 million for Steven Gerrard. The price tag and Gerrard's age have put them off.

so real madrid have pulled out of a move for him so the owners checklist:

1: get a better manager than rafa...CHECK!
2: sell yossi to the club our chairman supports...........CHECK!!
3: encourage torres to talk to chelsea ..........CHICKY CHECK!!
4: put the club in £350m debt
5: ask for a unrealistic sum of money to sell cos theyre a pair of cu.oh im not allowed to say that word!

but whodathunkit the dickheads in charge managed to do something right and make it too expensive for gerrard to go which is weird cos theyre retards.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

I was actually surprised they put a price on Gerrard. I thought they might have just said he wasn't available at any price. I can't see Gerrard leaving, unless he specifically asks to leave. Real Madrid is the only team I could see him going to. Barcelona would be a possibility too if they fail to get Fabregas.

If it makes you feel any better about your Chairman supporting Chelsea, our owner supports Spurs.

[hitman89762000]

I was actually surprised they put a price on Gerrard. I thought they might have just said he wasn't available at any price. I can't see Gerrard leaving, unless he specifically asks to leave. Real Madrid is the only team I could see him going to. Barcelona would be a possibility too if they fail to get Fabregas.

If it makes you feel any better about your Chairman supporting Chelsea, our owner supports Spurs.

your chairman isnt encouraging the owner of the team he supports to fly out and talk to your star striker nor is he getting drunk at spur's end of season party and telling secrataries how cheap some of your players are.....

if i didnt know for a fact hicks gillette etc werent a bunch of clueless **** thieves intent on destroying my club id compliment them on the high price.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

your chairman isnt encouraging the owner of the team he supports to fly out and talk to your star striker nor is he getting drunk at spur's end of season party and telling secrataries how cheap some of your players are.....

Where did you hear about all of that? I've never heard that before.

[hitman89762000]

your chairman isnt encouraging the owner of the team he supports to fly out and talk to your star striker nor is he getting drunk at spur's end of season party and telling secrataries how cheap some of your players are.....

Where did you hear about all of that? I've never heard that before.

brian reade mentioned it in the daily mirror a while back....plus its been on rawk.

[Steven Y2T Taylor]

Well this is what the chairman said earlier this month.

"Players are not for sale. We don't need the money and we don't have to sell them because of the debt."

I think you're listening to a lot of gossip, rather than facts hitman.