So, it's been an uneventful international break...

Update (11:25am ET Friday):



Deal was finally confirmed around 11am ET, but I had to wait for the official Liverpool FC statement. It's the most beautiful artwork I've ever seen in my life. As was watching Broughton and Henry make a statement on BBC News.

Finally. There will be time to hold the new owners feet to the fire, to make sure nothing like these past two years happen again. Hicks and Gillett initially made the right noises as well. But NESV has a far better resumé. And today is cause for celebration.

Preview for the Merseyside Derby up later this afternoon, after soaking in this wonderful, wonderful news.

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Update (4:30pm ET Thursday): Don't feel like starting a new post, but do feel as if I should keep this somewhat current. This'll be an exceptionally short round-up of today's shenanigans.

After appearances in court on both sides of the ocean, we're in a holding pattern for one more day. The day began back in the UK High Court, where the "home team" were again victorious, winning an anti-suit injunction. We then traveled to Texas, where the District Court Judge basically gave Hicks until 7am tomorrow (Dallas time) to pull £300m or so from his cavernous ass. I'm struggling for other reasons why the judge recused today's hearing at 2:30pm (again, Dallas time) if not to give Hicks one more night to wreak nonsense. Maybe because he's never had to read two UK High Court rulings before.

As in the previous updates, the Guardian live blog and the Dallas Observer paint as full as a picture as we're going to get until tomorrow morning. I don't see how Hicks could miraculously find funding overnight, nor do I see the Texas judge ignoring two High Court rulings from the country where the club's located, but who knows what could happen after what we've seen over the last 48 hours.

Being a Liverpool fan is never boring. Unless we're watching this season's team play, that is.
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Update (6:30pm ET): It ain't over until they're tarred, feathered, tied to a donkey, and ridden out of town.

Hicks has gotten a temporary restraining order preventing the sale to NESV in Dallas District Court.

• Here's the LFC.tv statement
• Here's the Dallas Observer story, with the full text of the TRO
• Here's another link to the Guardian's live blog, as in the earlier part of this post.
• And here's a link to my real-time Twitter comments over the past two hours, because I don't have the stomach to summarize them.

Long story short, Hicks was granted jurisdiction because RBS and NESV do business in Texas, as does Broughton in his capacity as British Airways chairman. Hicks may reside in Dallas, but the various Kop Holdings are incorporated in Delaware and the Cayman Islands.

It's not going away yet – as if it's be as easy as a single High Court case (silly us) – but I'm not giving up hope that we'll get resolution before this Texas hearing on October 25th – which is a cheeky delaying tactic – or that LFC can avoid administration to end this sad, sorry saga.

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I'm hesitant to post anything until tonight's board meeting, which will take place at 8pm UK time, but it feels wrong to let today's historic – and I don't use that word lightly – events go unmentioned for even a short while.

It actually appears Liverpool's long off-field nightmare is drawing to a close.

Not only did the UK High Court rule in favor of RBS/Broughton, Purslow and Ayre, but Justice Floyd imposed injunctions reconstituting the board and allowing the sale, refused to grant an appeal in his court, and ruled that Hicks and Gillett are liable for court costs. Here's the Guardian's live blog of today's proceedings. Here's Broughton's most-recent tight-lipped interview. All in all, both read as a complete and total win.

New owners aren't confirmed; the board has to reconvene to discuss proposals, which will most likely include Peter Lim, who publicly (and somewhat distastefully) upped his bid during the hearing yesterday, but John W Henry tweeted a celebratory message congratulating Broughton, Purslow, Ayre, RBS, and the fans soon after the verdict. While Hicks and Gillett can't appeal to the High Court, they still have the right to take a case to the Court of Appeal, but that restarts a whole new process, and while I'm clearly no legal expert, it appears that they'd only be able to claim compensatory damages, not prevent the imminent sale of the club because of the aforementioned injunctions (although a couple of lawyers quoted in the Guardian's live blog think it could lead to further delays). There's no explaining Tweedledee and Tweedledum's thought processes, but after today's firm smackdown, including somewhere between a quarter of a million and half a million pounds in court costs according to the Guardian, it'd make little sense. But much of the havoc they've wreaked makes little sense, and they stand to lose a hell of a lot more than £500,000 if the sale goes through as previously announced.

Today's events truly are cause for celebration. As many have delightfully pointed out on Twitter, it's especially karmic that Scousers and miners (well done, Chile) are celebrating on Maggie Thatcher's 85th birthday. But it's obviously not the end of the hard work that so many, such as Spirit of Shankly and Save Liverpool FC (among countless others), have put in. I'd still encourage people to join SoS; just because the tumors seem to be excised doesn't mean that the new owners/board/etc won't need to be held accountable. And, truth be told, they've haven't fully been excised yet, no matter how heartening today's affairs have been.

But it's nice, and somewhat unfamiliar, to have good news for a change. I'll echo John Henry in saying 'well done Broughton, Purslow, and Ayre,' and I'm even tempted to not include a sarcastic 'for once' or 'about time' (no such luck). Broughton especially appears to deserve a lot of credit for his maneuverings, and RBS played a blinder by appointing him. If this is seen to fruition, he'll go down in club history. Seriously. And deservedly.

Let's hope the good news keeps coming, and let's hope it starts translating to good news on the pitch. There is the small matter of the Merseyside Derby this Sunday.

On New England Sports Ventures

Even though it's bumping this morning's post off the top, as promised, a good friend of the blog, Mike Anton, chimes in with his thoughts on the Red Sox ownership group. There are a lot of well-placed baseball fans giving their opinions on Henry et al today (see LFCNY and the Liverpool Echo for two), but I thought Mike was a good source for a few reasons. One, I trust his opinion. Two, the masochist that he is, he actually enjoys baseball. And three, most importantly, I expected him to be somewhat blunt, as a Yankees fan who lived in Boston during their two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. Which had to have been fun for him. Always trust a Yankees fan to say as many bad things about Boston as possible. But being a Liverpool fan, I also expect him to be as rational as a Yankees fan who lived in Boston can be.

Without further ado...

Well, lucky Liverpudlians, that terrible turn with American owners seems to be solved with...more Americans!! Thankfully, New England Sports Ventures have a much better track record than our departing duo ever had, collectively or individually.  

There are quite a few parallels between the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, so we can hopefully extrapolate what happened in Boston to what will probably occur with our Reds.

Pros:

They're winners: The Red Sox were lovable losers, always finding a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, especially against their main rivals, The Yankees, who dominated the sport over various decades. They had an 86-year World Championship drought (makes the wait for the League look a bit easier...or more foreboding...) and this ownership group was one of the main reasons why it stopped at 86 years. Just to be braggarts, they also won the World Series in 2007, making it two titles in five years.

They Spend Money Wisely: John Henry, the man at the head of the ownership group, made his money as a commodities trader, first in the 70s with soy beans, and then later with full-blown futures funds. He created a prediction formula on his own (well, with a couple history books and a calculator, too) and made millions because he knew how to manage his money.  

The same goes for the Red Sox. In 2004, they had the perfect mix of young, cheap talent, the right specialty players (a fast player who was a steals specialist, someone who could hit left-handers off the bench, etc.) a few big name (and big-ticket) stars, and a number of character guys who just wanted to work hard and win at all costs.  

They Understand The Fans: Red Sox fans are a fairly masochistic bunch. Their constituency, roughly five states in the US, are utter lunatics. They live and die with every regular season game. They know every player on the roster both at the main club and in their farm team (read:  reserve system). They see the rest of the league and know exactly what it is they do or do not need and are fairly "woe is me" about the whole situation, all the while having the strangest optimism every April that "this is the year" they're going to win. Sound familiar?

These same fans also treat the ownership group like heroes. The new group came in after a few decades of worthless spending, doling out big money on players that didn't amount to anything and refused to build up their young talent. NESV demanded the team be treated like a world-class winning organization, and soon they became that very thing.

But it's not all sunshine and lollipops....

They Don't ALWAYS Spend So Wisely: A couple years ago, there was a Japanese pitcher named "Daisuke Matsuzaka." He was in his mid-20s and dominated Japanese baseball like no other pitcher. A bidding war struck up between a few teams, but whenever it's Red Sox against Yankees, dollar signs go through the roof. The way the bid worked was much like football: you paid a transfer fee to the club, then had 72 hours to negotiate a deal. The Sox paid $51,111,111.11 to the club for the right to give him a six-year, $52 million dollar contract. He currently sucks ass.

And They Don't Always Spend Enough: The American baseball free agent market is the closest we have in sport to the capitalistic-as-all-get-out football market. You can pay any player anything your heart desires, so long as you'll be able to afford the contract. On a few occasions, however, the Red Sox were steadfast in not going the extra mile to sign players. One of the heroes from the 2004 team, center fielder Johnny Damon, was allowed to walk to the hated Yankees because the Sox refused to give him a four-year deal. Clearly, sentimentality comes second to business. Furthermore, they let a franchise free agent in Mark Texiera sign with the Yankees because they couldn't cough up another $3 or so million dollars.

The Sox believe in playing baseball on a budget, even if they are one of the top three in revenue year in and year out. This past season, they decided to sell the team on "defense!" and "pitching!" when in reality they decided to spend on one big free agent pitcher (and overpaid for his services) while plugging in cheap, decent players, hoping that the overall talent could make the team a winner. They missed the playoffs this season.  When they spend and spend well, they win. When they don't, they're still a good, solid team, just... underwhelming.

Boy, Do They Like Making Money: Their home field, Fenway Park, was first built in 1912, which they still use. It's an ugly matchbox of a stadium that people now consider "quaint" because they're too nice to use "horribly outdated." Most ownership groups who wanted to purchase the Sox in '03 were going to tear it down and build a new stadium. But not these guys! They believed that the park was the franchise, so they decided to keep the old barn because they couldn't envision a franchise without it. (Editor's Note: Please ignore the use of the word "franchise." A can of worms better left closed.)

Then they whored that thing out as hard as they possibly could.

The place only holds roughly 35,000, while most comparable stadiums fit 55,0000, so seats were placed everywhere. On top of the Green Monster, the space-saving giant wall that is meant to simulate a wall 380 feet away, there are now rows and rows of seats (at $200 a pop). There are new expensive club seats, banners and ads all over the Green Monster and anywhere else you look, corporate sponsorships all over the place. After games, on their own TV network, the Red Sox cut their post game show in half so they could sell "exclusive" naming rights to two different companies, one to their "Red Sox Post Game" show, and one to their "Post Post Game" show. They have a fan club named Red Sox Nation that costs about $20 a year, and a couple years ago they had a novelty "name the President of Red Sox Nation" vote....that cost 99 cents per vote.

In closing... It seems like a really good fit. There are some very clear similarities between both clubs, as noted, and the people themselves are fairly similar. The Boston area has a good number of Liverpool supporters (headed by www.lfcboston.com) already, so they'll put the heat on the Yanks if they screw up like Hicks/Gillett did. There are some concerns, but their management style is very similar to that of Rafa: spend well, hopefully spend wisely, but sometimes it doesn't work out the way everyone hoped. Sure, they aren't Saudi sugar-daddies, but it seems to be a phenomenal match with Liverpool FC... even if they are the owners of my most hated rivals (think of Bitters buying out your second-favorite sports team – this is my nightmare). So over in the states, I'll be moping about, but all of you closer to Anfield should rest easy. Your nightmare is nearly completed.

Xenophobia... think less but see it grow

So, it's been an eventful 24 hours. For those living in a cave, a quick summary.

• The junta of Broughton, Purslow, and Ayre seized control of the website yesterday, putting out a hilarious statement after Hicks and Gillett attempted to sack Purslow and Ayre. Unsurprisingly, the offers that the three wanted to accept weren't big enough for George and Tommy. Maybe Broughton and Purslow weren't as evil as we thought, at least when it comes to off-the-pitch matters.
• Those three outvoted Hicks and Gillett, accepting the takeover proposal from New England Sports Ventures.
• There will be a legal challenge, but given the terms of Hicks and Gillett's most recent refinance, the UK board members are apparently on solid ground, and Broughton's already giving self-satisfied interviews. (LFC.tv Q&A, BBC News video)

Two American owners ran the club into the ground, and now we're getting an American consortium instead. Some understandably see it as out of the frying pan and into the fire, while others are simply happy that the long nightmare seems to be coming to a close. And as an American, it puts me in a strange place. It's not often I feel the need to (or want to, for that matter) defend my countrymen.

Surprisingly, Broughton summed it up well in his Sky Sports interview.

"First of all, there’s nothing wrong with being American. Ask Sunderland, Ellis Short is a great owner there. There’s nothing wrong with being American. Leverage is a problem in a football club."

Spirit of Shankly thankfully said similar:

"The identity and nationality of any owners of Liverpool Football Club is irrelevant. How they act as custodians is the most important thing and we have seen previously that initial announcements and promises made by new owners and the checks and due diligence made by those entrusted with that role on our behalf have all been left wanting."

'Once bitten, twice shy' is a good maxim. NESV will be held to their statements, and the fans are far more clued up than they were three years ago. But holding the prospective new owners' accountable cannot descend into out-and-out anti-Americanism, as is already happening in various corners of the internet. Thankfully, it's been a minority so far.

Didn't we blame xenophobia for some of Rafa's treatment by the British press? How is this different? Why is nationality important? In this case, past does not necessarily equal precedent, and Americans aren't all alike. Again, thankfully.

Deep-pocketed "philanthropists" weren't lining up to put in offers, whether from China, Hong Kong, or the Middle East. A similar situation to what Manchester City fell into was never on the cards or it would have manifested by now. And because of UEFA's impending financial fair play regulations, the days of free spending City and Chelsea are soon coming to a close.

Any new owners need to clear the debt and either build a new stadium or renovate Anfield. Broughton's already claiming that's been agreed. Because of commercial revenue, if the club's put on a solid financial footing, it can be run in the vein of Arsenal: making a small profit while reinvesting in the team as need be. That's the goal. Not being beholden to a Sheikh Mansour or Abramovich.

As I wrote in the comments yesterday, I'm not familiar with the intricacies of the Red Sox. Baseball is fucking boring. I've read opinions from a fair few Boston LFC fans that Henry/NESV are excellent owners (keeping an eye on LFC Boston's twitter account may not be a bad idea), and for balance, later today I hope to have a summary of Henry's tenure from a friend who's a Yankees fan that lived in Boston during the Red Sox's World Series seasons. But what I do know is that the ownership group provided a platform to "reverse the curse" (God, I hate that phrase) and walked a tightrope in renovating Fenway Park (a new stadium was even less feasible than on Merseyside because of sentimental attachments to that ballpark's history) while maximizing revenue.

No owner's coming in as a charity case. They will expect to make money off of Liverpool. That's football these days; sport is business. If the on-field product is good, something's done about the stadium, and Liverpool's debt is manageable, they'll make their profit and the club will be sustainable into the future. Whether that will actually be the case still remains to be seen.

By all means, be skeptical. But judge any new owners on their business plan, not their nationality. Anything else is irrational, reactionary, unfair, and unhelpful.

Getting Involved in America

Last week I wrote about feeling removed from the fight against the owners being based in America. And I've had little in the way of concrete suggestions besides boycotting official merchandise and joining Spirit of Shankly. McrRed also beat me to the punch of this post, adding a few excellent links and ideas in the comments of the "Who's Next" post below.

I'm not one for Facebook – I rarely use my personal account anymore, let alone ever set one up for this site – but if you are, there are some good ideas being bandied about over at North American Reds LFC Supporters Group. In addition, here's the concurrent RAWK thread. One idea I particularly like is a billboard in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and if it comes to be, I'll get a link up to the donations page (and chip in).

There are LFC supporter clubs based in most big US cities, but I know a fair few of us live in smaller places. That's where Facebook, RAWK, and the like come in. Even if you're sick of Facebook, like I am, there are tools to ensure we work together in constructive ways. And even though I'm a small voice and like to focus on analysis here, I still feel the need to put this blog into service sometimes.

Long story short, getting American reds together worked for ousting Steven Cohen, and it can help again here. If you're of the Facebook persuasion, join the group. Even if you aren't, check in every now and then, or at RAWK or the other various internet forums, and again, consider signing up for Spirit of Shankly. Soon enough, there should be enough members to form a US SoS branch.

No matter who the next manager ends up being, the focus will still need to be on ousting Hicks and Gillett.

On Americans and Liverpool FC

We don't choose where we're born. We do choose which clubs we support.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett, just by being born in America, have made it that much harder for Americans to follow a club they love. I've written before that I'm embarrassed to be from the same country as them. I continue to fear that Scousers (or Brits or Europeans) won't take me seriously because of my nationality, despite the fact I know there a fair few readers from across the pond.

This was brought into further focus thanks to today's protests. Sadly, I wasn't surprised to see American flags burned (it is a protest, after all), and I'm not surprised to see a vast number of American fans feeling angry and alienated by the action.

I truly hope that Liverpudlians don't put an entire country in the same basket as the cancers. They don't speak for us, and we're as angry at them as we can be. I understand it's much more personal for you; it's your city and your culture. That leads into the aforementioned feelings of 'it's not mine, it's yours' that linger in my paranoid mind when writing. But Americans can love this club too.

I also hope that American fans will realize that today's actions, as distasteful as they are to some, were taken because of the coincidence of where the owners were born. Were Hicks and Gillett from Country X (I feel bad assigning them to another nation) instead, Country X's flag probably would have been ablaze in front of the Shankly Gates. I only say 'probably' because I also worry about America's image as the world's bully, even if it's unfair at times. But symbolism is important, and flag burning is one hell of a symbol. It's why our own Supreme Court continues to classify the act as speech.

I recognize that one's politics – something I'm dreadfully loath to discuss with anyone, let alone on a soccer blog – also play into how each American perceives this. Personally – and I know it's stupid to alienate 50% of you but here goes anyway – I'm not that bothered. I'm almost inured to it, whether it's happening on our shores or that of some country we've infuriated.

But I also know many are massively offended by the act, and I don't begrudge them. I just want to add a word of caution before throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Sanity on all sides please, and I'm well aware that sounds strange coming from someone who's been insane since yesterday afternoon.

Please. The last thing we need right now is division amongst honest-to-goodness supporters. Everyone needs to be focused on removing Hicks and Gillett, and it's not because of their nationality.