Liverpool’s new owners are greedy bastards after all
In football, there’s stuff that you know is going to happen - you absolutely know it - but the ones most affected by it never believe you.
So when we said that Liverpool’s deal was all about the money and that Gillett and Hicks had leveraged Liverpool assets and put the club in debt the same way the Glazers had done with Manchester United, Liverpool fans descended in flames.
No, how could it be possible? How could it all be just a PR campaign? The love of the Kop (I’m a United fan and I still respect the atmosphere that Liverpool fans create, it’s not ‘that’ hard to like, you know), Liverpool’s history and unique tradition, etc etc yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah.
You bought it then. You might buy it next season as well. But the hard facts still remain - Gillett and Hicks are in it for the money - like the Glazers. The only things they’ve done different is:
a) Buy a smaller club (hence the smaller loans)
b) Get the PR right (although they were helped by desperate Liverpool fans pleading for investment).
G & H learned from the mistakes the Glazers made, but they also learned from their takeover method - the financial terms served as a blueprint for the Liverpool takeover.
G & H in the news (recently):
- Liverpool profit will service new owners’ loan
- Rafa has a good enough deal - No new contract / raise for Rafa thanks to the new owners; he was supposed to get a raise if he won the CL but that’s not happening.
- ITV interview with Hicks - A PR special, Hicks talks about how great the experience is (and I’m sure it’s fantastic, I’d give almost anything to be in that position - to own a football club, that is), but he also makes it clear that Liverpool is a business.
I’m going to try this one more time: Liverpool takeover = for the money.
Let’s stop the Glazer-bashing and realise that eventually, the clubs are the ones that will benefit (Manchester United have benefited already, and Liverpool will undoubtedly benefit next season). Chelsea have profited massively, and Arsenal, once they get their arses out of their heads and sell their souls, will benefit too.
Oh, and before we get the “you’re not a true fan” crap, read this.
- Should Liverpool Buy Mascherano Now or Wait Till Summer?
- Football blogging - taking a step back.
- Jose Mourinho: I will ‘KILL’ Chelsea
- Divining Liverpool’s future from Hicks’s interview
- Chelsea’s and Liverpool’s push towards Far East is madness
Discussion - 38 Responses
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I’m a spurs fan. You are an idiot. That’s how finance works. Nobody writes a cheque for 400 million quid. The difference is that the Glazers borrowed against United’s assets. Liverpool’s yanks borrowed against their own assets. It’s their money.
We always knew the loan would be serviced from club profits.
It’s the underwriting of the new stadium that isn’t going to be put on the club.
You are obsessed !!!!!!!!!
And I suspect a little nervous about next year, let’s hope the fixture computer can ensure you get another easy start to the season and the the Uefa draw get’s you all the way to the semi’s facing the European giants of Celtic, Copenhagen, Benfica, Lille & Roma. Throw in Portsmouth, Villa, Watford, Southend etc for the domestic trophies, you should not have too much to worry about.
Good luck with Owen Hargreaves, another masterstroke (you could of bought him 12 months ago for £4M !!!!).
If you understand the financial perspective of how the deal worked out, you’ll not be a moron, you moron.
If you measure the size of debts Man U has compared to LFC as gauge of the size of club, you are a moron. LFC had lower debts because there was a willing buyer and seller - so no pressures in demand and supply. In Man U’s case where there was a hostile takeover - pressures in demand increased the price of the shares forcing them to be in the market at premium price.
Way off, rather.
Jay - unless Liverpool / Man Utd suffer a financial hemorrhage, it doesn’t matter what the loans are taken out against.
United and Liverpool need to play in the CL every season as a minimum - they are going to do that for the forseeable future.
What matters is the interest payments, which will be paid by the clubs, as they are, in effect, assets of Hicks and Gillett.
Don’t let semantics confuse you.
Total and utter nonsense. The deals are totally different. As the first reply stated the loans are secured against the individuals not the club. As a Liverpool fan I couldnt care less what happened to Man Utd but I think the Glazers have done well in helping secure the Premiership title. They obviously havent got a clue about football however as a midfield of Carrick and Hargreaves should never cost £35 million!
is it me or are you a bit bitter, would it be that we have more european cups, more league titles or simply that our fans are the best in the world and manure fans are sick of us just showing them up. I think your going to need a new hobby soon cos Liverpool are on the way back, with money, unlike what you think. The money they borrowed is for the stadium and it doesn’t have to be paid back until 2025, why? Because our americans are better than your lol
Of course it’s a business you twat. Of course you borrow money to take over a club. Of course you are jelous of Liverpool.
As a Liverpool fan, I think you are half right. The new owners will be looking to line their pockets but I feel that their PR has been substantially better than any other takeover of a Premiership club. (Bear in mind, this now includes West Ham, Portsmouth, Man U and Aston Villa)
Granted, PR is MEANT to get fans onside and it has worked in G&H’s case. Do some research on the 2 guys. They have a proven track record and LFC fans can look forward to a great next few years.
Glaziers PR ‘campaign’ has been shockingly poor. Hence the reason Man U fans don’t like him. I think Man U fans should carry on harrassing the Glaziers until they actually speak with the fans and start to put to rest some of the concerns they have.
Glazier seems to have completed his hostile takeover by mortgaging Old Trafford and increasing ticket prices to pay for it. Making it a real easy investment! Hell. I could even do that!
I might buy Everton and bulldoze Goodison Park. I could turn it into a zoo! It’d probably smell better that way
I think you need a little support here Ahmed…:-)
Obviously I’m with Man United.
I don’t know anything about the financial takeover of Liverpool, so I can’t comment on that.
What I do know something about is that Man United has won 9 of 15 premiership titles and that Liverpool haven’t won it for almost 20 years - where is the jealousy coming in? Man United have been way more succesful since footie really became business, because we’ve been able to make the transformation, which Liverpool haven’t. It’s a matter of fact that Man United today is a massive business compared to Liverpool, who have been stuck in performances way back in time in stead of moving forward and adapting to what the game has become. Adding to that the fact that our football is way more entertaining than yours these days only makes the difference bigger.
You may have a glorious past, but there’s nothing glorious about your last 20 years my friends (last time you won the premiership was in season 89-90, since then you have 3 FA’s, 3 league cups, 1 CL and 1 UEFA cup - we on the other hand have - as written - 9 premierships, 5 FA’s, 2 league cups, 1 CL and 1 UEFA cup). Of course you win the occational title, but a lot of clubs do that (even smaller clubs). And have in mind…noone remembers the loser of a CL final (and especially not from a match so boring as the one yesterday), so being proud of reaching the final is a small-club-phenomenon (do you really want to fit that bill?).
My point is that if you really want to be a great club, it’s about time you show it, and landing no titles, trailing by 20 points in the premiership and being outed real early in both domestic cups isn’t exactly in the right direction.
I may get some stick for this, but remember that I have merely looked at the facts, and that kind of facts are hard to escape.
Oh and I forgot to add…I think good things are happening in Liverpool these days, and I’m sure you’ll put up more of a fight next season.
Depending on your summer activity on the market, you’ll be able to challenge within a year or 2. Just keep in mind that both Chelsea, Arsenal and MU will keep improving as well.
thanks for the backup, but it’s ok
stirring shit up, as the saying goes.
The point of the article is to drive home the fact that a) the Liverpool deal is ‘about the money’ and b) the major reason Gillett and Hicks are looked on as messiahs is because of their PR campaign.
Like Chelsea, and like United, Liverpool will ultimately be a business.
For all of those who thought that Hicks and Gillett were buying into Liverpool’s history, they’re half-right. They’re buying into the marketing potential of that history.
Anyway, moving on
Well of course they’re in it for the money (thinking any different is naive), and I think the sooner the club and the fans realise this, the sooner they can start the process of catching up.
Ahmed
Finance is clearly not your strong point, so why base an article on it?
The main differences between the two takeovers were
The fact that G&H were very welcome as we had been looking for investment for some time whilst the Glazers were seen as the devil and people actually left the club to start fc united
And the funding. G&H used normal loans whilst the Glazers didn’t really have enough to buy the club with normal loans so the had to use hedge funds with are a lot more expensive and risky.
So not really the same, even if that would make you people feel better about how your club fell into the wrong hands.
Ahmed, the main point I disagree with, is you encouraging Arsenal to go down the same path. I am no fan of Arsenal, or any English club (although I do have a semi-attachment to the great Hull City Tigers) but what I am a HUGE fan of, is clubs being in the hands of their supporters. Yes, Abramovich’s wealth brought Chelsea nearly instant success, and has them punching far above their weight; yes, Manchester had a relatively good year - though I think this has little or absolutely nothing to do with anyone connected to Malcolm Glazer.
However there are plenty of examples of clubs in the hands of extremely wealthy individuals that have met nothing but failure and/or underachievement, not to mention serious long term financial difficulties. The model of supporter ownership exists at the lower levels in England and they are almost universally the best run clubs of those their size. And this model can work at the highest level as well. In Germany many clubs are supporter owned or have supporters groups with important influence in club administration, and Europe’s two biggest clubs (in my humble opinion) are both supporter-owned and controlled.
A league where all the clubs are owned by billionaire sugar daddies will lead to nothing good in the future.
p.s. I’m surprised, that there have not been more attempts made by supporters groups to buy into top flight clubs in England.
The author is embarrasing himself. The reason why Chelsea, and their chairman get the coverage that they do is because he’s so rich that he can treat football as a hobby. Who else can do this at the highest level? No one. He is not an investor like the Glazers/Gillet etc and as such is not in it for a financial return. This is clear. If you do not know this, you should just give up on the game. Morgan is not suddenly a fan of Wolves, but he is ‘investing’ in a sport he loves. He will not be intending to spend ridiculous amounts of money in the knowledge that he’ll not get it back.
Wow, all you have to do is mention Liverpool and the standard of the comments drops about 20%.
Actually your facts are wrong. Benitez was due to get an increase whether he won the CL last night or not. That is going ahead. So you are wrong on that point. The comment was a direct response to a question regarding his contract and the owners were stressing that one win/loss would not dictate a new contract negotiation. They mentioned he would be getting his bonus as stipulated and that contract negotiations would follow their normal course. You have conveniently forgotten their multiple recent public comments supporting Benitez as a manager, business man and club organiser. Please comment on reality in future.
Ivor - I haven’t forgotten anything.
“He is under contract. His existing contract has a nice escalator if he wins the Champions League. I think that would take care of his immediate needs,” said Hicks, who along with George Gillett took over the club in April.
I don’t care about Liverpool, I don’t care about Arsenal and I don’t care about Chelsea. As long as we’ve got the focus on the ball and maintain our concentration I’m sure we’ll pull home what we want to pull home the next couple of years. We’ve worked our arses of the three latest years, since Beckham left and since then Ronaldo and Rooney came, later on came Park, Smith, Brown grew up, Ferdinand found a great partner in Vidic and Carrick was a bargain as far as I’m concerned. Listening to Liverpool fans complaining about we being lucky to meet easy times such as Celtic (who held AC Milan out for extra-time in Milan), Lille, Roma, Copenhagen and Benfica (who beat Man Utd and Liverpool out of the CL last year!). It seems the same idiots forgot how hard our way to the Wembley was, meeting only Premier League-teams, morrons, can’t see we’ve had atough season, but still we won back the Premier League! They complain about us only going to the Champions League-semi-finals. Well you know what Liverpool-fans, talking about easy ways (I don’t like referring to Mourinho, but here it goes), read this and weep: “In 2007 we have played 27 games. Liverpool has played three or four. That’s the way it is.”
DId you read that Liverpool-sheits, did you read and weep?? Was it fun losing to Fulham thinking you had the Champions League in your pockets, well you know what, hail Pippo Inzaghi! (if not htroughout the whole CL, at least for that match!)
What I was praying for when I saw the match between Bayern Munich and AC MIlan at Allianz Arena did not happen, knowing AC Milan have had the edge on us a couple of years now, I begged to God he would let Bayer Munich win, but unfortunately they didn’t, but all in all, Utd have had a surprisingly well season, and I’m happy I only missed two games throughout this season (one of them versus Copenhagen)!
Is it true Gary Neville has said “I will have five star’s above my badge one day” ?
Good luck with the interview at McDonalds Gary, but I think you have to have double figure IQ before they give you one star !!!!!!!
I take my hat off to you Sab, only missing 2 games, especially when you have to travel so far to home games !!!
Thanks Mickey Mouser, but I was actually talking about watching games on the telly.
But you know what, your comments shook me up so much, I think I’ll have a heart-attack, and I’m only 21 years old! (Maybe your son has the same problem with heart-attack and all, am I right?)
Well, did you work that out all by yourself Ahmed Bilal? What a clever boy…. NOT!
Talk about stating the blindingly obvious! Do you seriously think a couple of businessman from a country where football is not even their second national sport are going to come over her, splash out over 3/4 billion dollars and NOT be in it for the money? They would be pretty lousy businessmen if they weren’t!
Nice little dream to think some sugar daddy is going to come in and splash the cash about just for the love of the club and the game but this is planet Earth, not planet Doo Dah!
The simple fact is, they are astute businessmen who put in a huge sum of money without putting the club at risk and without saddling the club with millions of extra quids worth interest alone on the loans. They have cleared the clubs debts, they have financed the building of what promises to be a superb new stadium and put a big wallet into the transfer kitty to ensure we can bring in the best players and compete at the hisghest level.
Bit of a joke to be calling us ‘a smaller club’ considering if you ask any fan on continental Europe they will still tell you Liverpool are the biggest name in English football. But who cares how you happen to measure size? What matters is what we do on the pitch. Winning the CL in 2005, the FA Cup in 2006 and CL Finalists in 2007 is what Rafa has achieved without the extra funds. Now let’s see what he can do with the chance to buy the kind of players Man U and Chelsea take for granted.
Yes it’s business, yes it’s about money but the only way you make money is by winning and for the fans, that is all we care about. If that lines Messrs Hicks and Gillette’s pockets then I say all power to them.
Rob Barron…. is it just me or haven’t you been paying attention to the Premier League since four or five years back?
I’m going to keep it plain and simple, don’t want to mock you too much. But have you heard about the Russian billionaire who has thrown money wherever it’s neccessary to win throphys through a club and for the club (BINGO! Yes you finally found out about Abramovich). That person has been doing the exact opposite of what you explained about Hicks and Gillette, he’s been throwing money around, if not for the club, then to achieve success through the club, but anyway, the thing is, he’s wasting money, and it doesn’t seem like he’s going to stop just yet, and the probability that he’ll earn a lot more money then he uses isn’t very big!
im an arsenal fan and i truely believe we will hold off another attempted take over not like the mancs the scouse and the chelski!!!
Sab or is that Sad? Watching tele makes you a true fan? I suppose watching porn makes you a stud. People like you who watch tele are just that, nothing more. I hate the way true supporters who go to games, inspire the players and are part of the club are seen as the equals of those clowns who press a remote button and regard themselves as valid and knowlegeable ’supporters’.
Tomas, you state that Man Utd have won the UEFA Cup. Exactly when did you do this? Other than the 2 European Cups, you’ve actually won the Cup Winners Cup Under Alex Ferguson, I believe it was 1991 if I’m not mistaken. It seems that through all the petty snide comments from both sides that people just don’t get their facts right, even Mr Ferguson made a Freudelent (deliberate) slip at the PFA awards stating that Liverpool had won 4 European Cups. What a ridiculous thing to say. Everyone, no matter which side they support, just get over it. Look forward to watching an even more competitive Premiership next season. As a Liverpool fan I just hope that we can get closer to Man Utd and Chelsea and put up a decent challenge for a change. It’ll make for a fantastic race next season if all the top four clubs are in it with only a few games to go. Witness La Liga at the moment.
Eddie David - yup you’re right, my bad.
To the ones who complain about how much money Man United are able to spend (and have spent) on players, I’d like to draw attention to the facts once again - and I might get it more accurate this time.
I have made the calculations based on disclosed figures - where undisclosed, I have guestimated (so much for the facts). For instance Kuyt’s transfer fee is undisclosed, but I remember from media that the price was thought to be around £10 mil. There have been a few minor transfers for both clubs, I haven’t brought into the calculation.
Since Benitez’ arrival in June 2004 he has spent app. £87,15 mil on players coming in (plus £10 mil so far in the coming window) and made app. £24,18 mil on players going out - that’s a total spending of app. £62,97 mil on transfers (£72,97 mil incl. 2 signings so far this summer).
In the same time period Alex Ferguson has spent app. £78,0 mil (plus aledgedly around £17 mil for Hargreaves soon to go through) and made app. £30,2 mil - a total spending of app. £47,8 mil (£64,8 when the Hargo deal goes through).
That’s a difference of app. £15,17 mil more spent by Benitez on transfers (£8,17 mil counting transfers so far this summer) since the summer 2004 - I guess it’s more a matter of bringing in quality than spending big.
As a sidenote I expect Benitez to further widen the gap of transfer spendings in favour of Liverpool this summer, since that’s what has been announced by the club - but we’ll see what happens.
No matter what, I believe it’s time to banish the rumours of United spending bigger than Liverpool. We may spend bigger on single players, but we also sell bigger - overall it’s very similar.
You are a stirrer. Go and do some reading in Business studies
MickeyMouser
You are wrong.
Check the interviews with Gillette. He said “We haven’t totally worked out the details of the finance of the stadium yet” and also conceded that it was quite possible that this would be in furthers loans . So ya interest would now be £20m plus the stadium. Not looking so good now hey…
Check skysports if you dispute this
Forgot about Agger which increases the difference with £5,8 mil - total of £20,97 mil.
The Brush, it’s not that simple, as I have to pay at least £600 for watching almost all the games, while trying to get an education. If you did not get it I’m an international fan, from abroad. If you think I’m a poor fan, what about those who stop cheering for Utd the second they stop winnning the titles. Anyyway my point is this, maybe I’m not the biggest fan, but there’s a big chance I’ll be watching a lot of Utd-games throughout the years at Old Trafford. BTW everybody who buy Utd-merchandise is a part of Utd, whether you’re a fan or not and wheter you like it or not!
The general consensus seems to be that Abramovich is just a bottom-less pit of money for Chelsea. Although he has the money to do this it is far from true. He and the Chelsea board have said from day one that they hope by 2010 they want to break even. The difference with Abramovich is that if they don’t he has the money to bail Chelsea out unlike the Glazers and G&H, another difference about Abramovich and the Glazer’s is that he’s passionate about Chelsea.
The thing everyone seems to forget that Abramovich has spent less on Chelsea than the Glazers have on Man U – I apologise if these figures aren’t exact but they are there to serve a point
Chelsea Spending: £140m to buy the club + £80m debt + ~£200m in player deficit = £440m spent
Glazer’s spending £790m
Even G&H are reported to have spent/spending (£220m club/debt + £120m stadium = £340m) – but this doesn’t include the expected player investment this summer.
Mourinho has re-iterated that Chelsea will not be spending big this summer, which can be seen by Chelsea being linked with Sidwell (free transfer), Alex (kind of already owned by Chelsea), Ben-Haim free transfer, I’d expect them to pay for a new striker and maybe a right back but to also off-load a few so that the deficit wouldn’t be more that £20m (less than coming 2nd in the Premiership).
That’s a great picture, Ahmed.
who cares about ur big clubs, we have randy learner the second richest in the prem…. we are going places guys maybe even push for champ league next year
The Brush
You are an idiot, im from Australia, and the only opportunity I have to watch United is on the tele, you talk about inspire like you are in the dressing room at half time, believe me anyone can take your place in the stands(if you actually go that is).
True fan, ha, you wouldnt know the meaning. I’m sure that if you where in my situation you wouldnt be getting up at 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6, am to watch the games, so going along to the games doesnt make you more of a fan, just means your lucky…..
You can present all the stats and all the facts of whatever club and in the end we can conclude that they’re all in it for the money. History my a*s.
The Glazers, G&H, Abramo-whats his name, they’re all in it for the money. Hell, even the players are.
What’s the point to all these?