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.

EXCLUSIVE!!!!1! LFC MANAGER SEARCH PROCESS REVEALED

I hate this summer, these owners, and Purslow so much. This is why I keep doing World Cup match reviews, and why there have been few posts about Liverpool. Because there's been no news from Liverpool – just obfuscation, smokescreens, and unfulfilled promises.

It's Dalglish. No, it's Hodgson. No, it's Pelligrini. No, it's Hodgson. No, wait, we're after Rijkaard or Deschamps, we promise. Ugh.

Wake me up in August.

Hicks and Gillett re-enter the conversation

Sigh. This'll be short.

BBC News et al are reporting that Hicks and Gillett's holding company lost £42m last year. Which is a big bloody number, and bound to cause a riot.

I would like to throw up a word of caution, and link to this thread on RAWK by ttnbd.

I've linked to ttnbd on financial matters before, and with good reason. He's far more thorough that what you'll find in the news reports. Unsurprisingly, it's not good news, but it's not as bad as it appears on first glance.

Sing when you’re winning

I had yet another long 'support Rafa' rant mostly typed up, but screw it. This'll be much shorter.

Nearly six years ago, I was piss-drunk at a pub in London watching Celtic dump Liverpool out of the UEFA Cup, winning 0-2 at Anfield. The team finished fifth that year with 64 points.

In the last five seasons, I’ve seen Liverpool go to Juventus, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter, Arsenal, and Madrid and get a result in the Champions League. Liverpool currently has what I’m nearly positive is its highest Premiership points total after 26 games. And I’m seeing more and more rumors that Benitez will resign or be pushed out, and a steadily growing minority clamoring for it.

So forgive me if I’m a bit incredulous. It just feels like reiterating these particulars, links to the players’ faith in Benitez, and my belief that a change in management would set Liverpool back another five years from top to bottom – especially with these owners – is getting a bit irritating. I'm still waiting to see someone name one (just one!) viable, available alternative to Benitez.

Oh, things could certainly be better. All those draws and lost opportunities still stick in the craw. And they’ll be repeatedly replayed in the mind. But, not to fall too much into cliché, things sure could be an awful lot worse.

Make it Stop part XVIII

It’s a pity that all the news until Sunday, and probably longer, is going to focus on Hicks et al. I wasn’t planning on saying much about Hicks’ interview, as there are far more websites that know far more than I do, and you’ve probably already visited them. I’d really prefer to write about the football.

But there was a very good comment added by Jeff to my last ‘make it stop’ post that I want to highlight.

I would rather someone else was owning the club but if it has to come down to Hicks or Gillette, I'm going with Hicks.

Hicks is a public relations nightmare, a loose cannon who says the wrong things at the wrong times. But generally those people don't double-talk. I may not like what Hicks says, but I think its genuine.

So I think Hicks is sincere when he says he wants to keep Rafa and get rid of Parry and for me, that is a good thing.

If it were me, I’d add a few “ifs” in there, because I truly don’t know if Hicks is sincere. I’m leaning in the same direction as Jeff, but after all the promises over the last year, any cynicism is merited and should be understandable.

And even if he is sincere, I still don’t think he’s acting in anything other than his own interests. Those interests should coincide with Liverpool's though; he needs the club to be successful and on a solid footing to make any return on his investment, let alone pay off his debt.

Plus, it’s even more of a touchstone as an American writing about another American (albeit a Texan) when Liverpool FC and the local supporters need to be the primary focus. However, I still think this is a valid point; there’s some cliché about the ‘devil you know’ that’s probably relevant. I do wish he'd keep his bloody mouth shut though.

But bear in mind, this comes down to whether or not there’s a choice besides Hicks or Gillett.

At the end of the day, my allegiances lie first and foremost to Liverpool FC and to Rafa Benitez in a close second. I never thought I’d say that if Benitez went, I’d seriously contemplate the amount of time, passion, etc I devote to Liverpool, but that’s where I am right now.

Unfortunately, Hicks seems to know this is the case for more than a few Liverpool fans, and is unabashedly trying to hitch his wagon to Rafa’s. Which has a strange way of encouraging me and making me nauseous at the same time.

I truly believe keeping Rafa Benitez is the most important thing for Liverpool, and I write that knowing the importance of the debt, the new stadium, and other financial concerns.

I’ll feel a lot better when Benitez makes a public statement on the matter, and reserve the right to change my opinions when he does. However, knowing Benitez, he’ll wait until the season’s over. The man has a bit more class than the rest of the actors in this farce.

“Make it Stop” part XIV

I know, I know, I promised to stop talking about Statler & Waldorf, DIC, or any of the travails surrounding the ownership of the club. So I’ll make this short.

Get fucked, Tom Hicks.

You are the only person who could turn Rick Parry into a saint. Sell out. Now.

Also, folks, put down the razor blades. This doesn't mean DIC is gone for good.

Your best place to keep with any and all “news” on this front would be the Liverpool Echo. Tony Barrett is a godsend.

So... what’s going on?

Once again, there’s a week in between games, and all the talk is back to Gillett, Hicks, and DIC. It looks like DIC is possibly buying out Gillett’s 50%, as word is the partnership’s gone far south. Even the BBC’s gotten involved, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so many “it is believed…” or “BBC Sport understands…” in an article. I thought the BBC dealt solely in news.

As when the last round of speculation occurred, I’m of a mind to ignore much of what’s been written until something concrete comes out. Once bitten, twice shy and all.

In the meantime, absolutely everyone should check out That’s on Point. Sometime commentator Ace Cowboy was lucky enough to be at Anfield for the Inter Milan match, and wrote up the results of his trip. As usual with Ace, it’s an outstanding read; I can't recommend it enough.

Normal service will most likely resume tomorrow.

The deal is “done”

Naturally, a little more than 12 hours after I post something about my confusion over refinancing et al, they announce it’s completed. Unsurprisingly, Hicks has also released the new stadium designs at the same time. Yes, we’re all just blinded by shiny objects and forget what was bothering us before we saw them.

So what do Hicks and Gillett have to do besides actually build the stadium before I’ll have any faith at all in them (Gillett has been very noticeable in his absence from today’s events by the way)?

1) Sign Mascherano.
I’ve seen the talk about how he’ll be a “gift” to the Liverpool fans (how delightfully patronizing!). Just get it done. Now.

1a) Sign Benitez to a new deal.
Yeah, it probably wouldn’t be worth the paper it was written on and I know he’s still got a couple of years left on his current deal, but in signing it there would be a sign that Benitez feels he could continue in his position.

2) Either fire Rick Parry or tie Foster Gillett to his desk.
Preferably both if Gillett’s still insistent on having his son Tommy Boy stick it out, but here’s hoping Foster’s not happy on the Mersey. There cannot be a breakdown in communication between owners and manager again, and I blame Parry for much of it.

3) Use money from the refinancing to spend on players in the summer.
Again, I’m awful at finance, but according to Barrett (who also included the Masch “news”) £350m breaks down as follows: “£105m will be saddled on Liverpool, with £185m secured on Hicks and Gillett's holding company Kop Investment.” I don’t know where the remaining £60m is supposed to go (absorb the previous debt?), but I assume the £185m on Kop Investment is for the purchase of the club last year, so in a way they can say they bought the club without putting the debt on the club (which is exactly what Glazer did). Which would mean the £105m is for starting the stadium, operating costs, and more players. Please buy more players; this season’s proved the need for it.

4) Be fiscally smart enough to keep Liverpool from doing a Leeds.
Liverpool could be on very thin ice if they fail to make the Champions League or similarly struggle in the league. Revenue to keep up interest payments will be crucial. This is the price of doing business like this: failure could mean serious trouble. Hicks and Gillett have to be smart businessmen, or at least have some around, while providing and allowing for success on the field. Which means they’ll have to stay the hell out of on-field matters and give full reins to the manager.

5) Remember Shankly.
The great man would be spinning in his grave. “At a football club, there's a holy trinity - the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques.” Remember it. Put it on those office motivational posters and hang them around Melwood. Tattoo it on the faces of both Hicks and Gillett. Do not break this rule ever, EVER, again.

I am still utterly furious at the owners, for the fiasco in the media and the lies. I will never forgive Hicks for the Klinsmann news hitting the papers.

But I also remember Arsenal taking out multiple loans and refinancing them at least twice more during the building of the Emirates. And while United under Glazer as a comparison doesn’t warm my heart in the slightest, their success has proven that if the business is run right and coupled with success on the field, a borrowed takeover and debt repayments won’t sink the club. There are a lot of ifs, but at least there’s some precedence for this type of refinancing/building plan working.

It’s still a sad time for the club, and by no means are Liverpool and the fans out of the woods, but at least there’s the beginning of a possible light at the end of the tunnel.

What is going on here?

Alex Ferguson is defending Rafa Benitez. John Terry has called Carragher the best defender in the world.

There are still loads of contradictory rumors about Hicks, Gillett, DIC, the refinancing, etc (the RAWK thread is currently at 125 pages in a week, which has to be some sort of record), and I still have no idea what’s the truth and what’s being spun or created in the media.

They were supposed to announce a new refinancing deal today. But it’ll be by Monday for sure. DIC hasn’t made Hicks an offer, and he wouldn't sell anyway. DIC won’t make an offer if refinancing goes through. But there's speculation that DIC could be waiting for them to refinance so they can take over as the ‘good guys.’ Oh, and David Dein (?!?) is helping get the deal done. And Rick Parry could still be the one to save the club. At this point, I have trouble telling which way is up.

But it’s still embarrassingly going on. That there’s been little new “news” today might mean future developments might not be as public (please, please, please), but knowing this media and having seen past precedent during this fiasco makes me less than hopeful.

To be fair, Anfield Road has seemingly done an excellent job of trying to make sense of some of it, specifically the transfer expenditures, but that’s a task I’m not up for.

Needless to say, I have no idea what world I’ve been transported to or how to get back to the one I’m familiar with.

Preview of the Havant match, which I don’t think will be aired anywhere in the States (nor do I know if I’ll even be in town for it), sometime tomorrow.

Nota Bene on the 'era of bad feeling'

I know there’s still a lot of controversy and gossip over the owners: the situation with Benitez, refinancing the loan, the possible re-entrance of DIC into the picture, and revising the design/financing the stadium (and player upgrades). To be frank, not much Liverpool news has been of the positive sort of late, and it’s mainly been their fault (the media may not help matters, but it’s not as if that’s anything new).

But I’m going to try and write previews and reviews while ignoring (for lack of a better term) these things. Without doubt there are problems, but I’m still not sure the extent of them, and for example, I refuse to acknowledge Benitez is a dead man walking until I hear it from the man himself, whatever the pundits say (although I do think the linked article is also one of the best at summarizing why Benitez’ exit would be atrocious, even if it does reckon he will leave if G&H stay). Maybe I’m deluding myself, but for clarification, that’s where I’m at.

If something concrete comes along or certain things can’t be ignored (like the Hicks/Klinsmann debacle), I’ll assuredly have something to say. But for now, I am trying not to let these bad feelings permeate everything I write on this blog, especially if it’s about on-field matters.

Preview for Monday’s match up later tomorrow than usual, as it’ll probably (hopefully?) stay on top of the page until the post-match.

Tom Hicks makes my Monday fun

Hicks: We spoke with Klinsmann

Unacceptable.

I’ve been hesitant to pile onto the owners, partly because I hadn’t been convinced that all the fears were valid and partly because I want to see the Americans do well by Liverpool. Now there’s no way not to. This is utterly embarrassing to the club, and Benitez deserves far, far better.

It’s one thing to privately question the manager when results are as sub-par as they’ve been over the past month. I’m firmly not in the ‘Benitez out,’ camp, but after the last 4 underwhelming draws and ostensible lack of progress, I understand the concerns.

But I can’t fucking believe Hicks has come out with this statement now.

Yes, there have been rumors that Klinsmann was approached when he took the Bayern job, and people have been saying all along that if the owners/management would make statements supporting Benitez or clearing up the concerns, we’d all be better for it.

This wasn’t a statement that should have been made, and the fact that Gillett and Hicks were lining up Klinsmann is ludicrous in and of itself.

"In November, when it appeared we were in danger of not advancing in the Champions League, weren't playing well in our Premier League matches, and Rafa and we were having communication issues over the January transfer window, George and I met with Jurgen Klinsmann to learn as much as we could about English and European football," he explained.

What has Jurgen Klinsmann done to be linked with Liverpool? He has no experience managing at club level. He’s never managed in England. His sole managerial experience was taking the host nation to the semifinals of the previous World Cup; South Korea made the semis the year they hosted the tournament. And he lives in California, removed from the game on a day-to-day basis.

Also, Hicks does realize that in November, Liverpool was unbeaten in the league, which lasted until the Reading match on December 8th? November saw results like 8-0 Besiktas (November 6th), 3-0 Newcastle (November 24th) and 4-1 Porto (November 28th).

And I’ll say now as I said then: after Benitez’ success in the Champions League in his first three seasons, a failure to qualify from the group stage for the first time in 4 years would have been reason enough for his sacking? That’s sheer lunacy.

"He is a very impressive man. We attempted to negotiate an option, as an insurance policy, to have him become our manager in the event Rafa decided to leave our club for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the UK press, or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason.”

More complete and utter trite. Benitez to Real Madrid is a non-starter, and has been for ages now. And even if, I still fail to see how Klinsi is a satisfactory insurance policy. Nor does the fact that Hicks frequently referred to Klinsmann as solely an “insurance policy” reassure me.

Plus, I was of the belief that Klinsmann, whatever his lack of experience, was a manager cut from the same cloth as Benitez. A devout believer in fitness and modern training methods, a desire to have 100% control from top to bottom, and a willingness to rotate to compensate for fitness and fatigue. If you’re firing Benitez, which I still can’t believe, I just can’t fathom hiring Klinsmann. That’s the main reason I’d been silent on those rumors until now. I was sure they were just rumors.

At least the statement pretends that Benitez has the full support of the owners now, finally, but after this, I don’t know what that’s worth.

But Benitez is still making signings, evidenced by £6.5m for Skrtel, and as of now, I reckon his position is safe. At the end of the season, we may bear witness to even more drama, but for now, the team has to focus on the field. And the players have to get behind Benitez, as they may well be playing for his job. No half-assing and heads dropping like we’ve seen during this recent sticky spell.

I sincerely hope Hicks is just trying to quash concerns instead of create more, and unfortunately, we’re still in a ‘wait and see’ mode, but the more Hicks speaks, the more detestable he looks.

This is a sad day for Liverpool FC.

More links:
Tom Hicks: We lined up Jurgen Klinsmann [Liverpool Echo]
Jurgen Klinsmann talks rock Benitez [Liverpool Echo]
Liverpool reveal Klinsmann talks [BBC]
RAWK thread