The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[Carmen Stateside]

What is going on, we arent this bad are we?

[J70]

You can't just blame what's going on on the likes of Voronin. There are players giving the ball away all over the pitch and there isn't enough fight and support play.

[Carmen Stateside]

What the fcuk is the ref at?

[Carmen Stateside]

  what a goal

[J70]

Fantastic goal. Let's hope they get the finger out now and win the game.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

I want to have his babies

[Minder]

I shudder to think where we would be without "The Kid".......

[tintin25]

JUST.NOT.GOOD.ENOUGH.

[gawa316]

how rafa can say he is happy with this squad I'll never know.

Where was crouch today?

[Carmen Stateside]

JUST.NOT.GOOD.ENOUGH.

Cant argue with that!

[FermGael]

Lads we are now in real threat of not finishing 4th in the league.
Everton are level with us and Man City and Aston Villa are not far behind.
With our terrible form of the last couple of weeks we are in real danger here.
I have always been a huge Rafa fan but he is unable to crack the priemership.
I too thought we would be there or there abouts for the league, not scrapping it out for
4th place.
But you just have to look at the fact that Chelesa are after splashing out £15 million on Anelka to see the gulf that there is between us and Chelsea and United.  Although Rafa has spent a good bit of money of youngsters,none of them are having any where near the same impact that Wengers youngsters are.   
I do not know what the answer is?
Sack Rafa but then who wants to come to a club like Liverpool where expectation is huge but the money may not be there.
Or do we take the example our Manchurian friends did back in the 80's and stick with Rafa and hope we reap the same rewards that they did.

[deiseach]

Good grief. Does Torres spread some kind of virus whereby his teammates become middle-of-the-table mediocrities making him look even better than he already is? Athletico, now Liverpool . . .

[Minder]

Looks like it will be an all out assault on 4th place again this year, no doubt Madrid and Barca will come sniffing in the summerfor Torres if, as expected, Benitez gets the hook.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Arabs eye £500m Liverpool buy-out


Duncan Castles and Richard Wachman, City editor
Sunday January 13, 2008
The Observer

Liverpool FC could change hands for the second time in a year as their American owners encounter difficulties in refinancing £350million of debt incurred in taking over and running the club.

Beset by the steeply rising costs of a new stadium and manager Rafa Benitez's demands for new players, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have been attempting to transfer the debt, for which they are personally liable, on to the club itself. City sources believe this is an extremely difficult task to complete before the loan's due date at the end of February.

It is possible that the Americans will meet the deadline, but if not an Arab investment group, Dubai International Capital, is understood to be close to lodging an offer to buy out the American pair, probably for about £500m. Takeover discussions are thought to be due before the end of this month.

If successful, DIC, led by Liverpool supporter Sameer Al Ansari, would invest heavily in two areas: the new stadium that Liverpool need if they are to compete with Arsenal and Manchester United for matchday revenue, and an improved playing squad. Were they also to acquire a new management team Jose Mourinho, who is known to be interested in managing Liverpool, would be a prime candidate.

DIC were extremely close to buying Liverpool last February, only to lose out to Hicks and Gillett when the club's chief executive, Rick Parry, switched his support from the Arab camp to the American. The latter paid £174.1m for a 100 per cent shareholding, also agreeing to take on the club's then debt of £44.8m.

The purchase, however, was funded solely with borrowed money, Hicks and Gillett's loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland swelling to £350m as it was used to fund several high-profile summer transfers, development work and architect's plans for a 60,000-seat stadium in Stanley Park, and to roll up the interest on the debt.

The RBS loan is due for repayment next month. The Observer understands that attempts to restructure it have so far failed and the Americans have yet to inject new equity into the refinancing.

While RBS have asked Hicks and Gillett to each commit £20m of their own cash to the deal, City sources believe that at least one of the pair is not prepared to do so. Hicks and Gillett declined to comment last night.

Meanwhile, work on 'New Anfield' has been held up by the impasse over the acquisition loan, with no chance of funding being put in place for the £400m stadium project until the issue is resolved. A meeting in New York last week at which architects HKS and AFL presented competing stadium designs, was described by Parry merely as 'another big step forward to finding the best possible solution. Everyone is reflecting on what they have heard and a clear decision will be taken soon'.

The global credit crunch has made it harder for Hicks and Gillett to raise new revenues elsewhere and also affected the value of their other assets. Should they fail in their efforts to repay the £350m acquisition debt on Liverpool when it comes due in just over six weeks, there would be the possibility of the next owner of the club becoming RBS.

The bank, however, are extremely unlikely to allow the situation to develop that way. Nor are Parry and club honorary life-president David Moores, the former principal shareholder. Parry and Moores are horrified that the Hicks-Gillett deal has not thus far brought long-term financial stability to the club. As a consequence, there are increasing tensions between the Americans and other board members as the refinancing deadline approaches. Parry and Moores are understood to be open to a second takeover.

Sources in the Middle East have confirmed that DIC remain as keenly interested in buying Liverpool as they were one year ago. DIC last night refused to comment on the matter, but they appear best placed to resolve the financial problems affecting the club's competitiveness in the Premier League. A mooted valuation of £1billion has been ridiculed, but an enterprise value of around half that figure might prove acceptable, allowing the Americans to exit with a profit of £75m each

[bridgegael]

to many average players in the squad!  will never make any impression on the premiershp unless these players are got rid of.

the likes of
kuyt
voronin
arbeloa
kewell
sissoko,  just not good enough!!