"Hey George, how long am I supposed to hold this scarf?" "Until it's worth nothing, you Texan dipsh*t." "Oh. Right."
For Liverpool FC followers, July and August have been two of the craziest months in recent memory, kinda like the time you followed Phish through the Pacific Northwest and ended up doing whippets on a mountaintop.
Sadly, I don’t have any psychotropic substances with which to sidestep this story: Kenny Huang’s walked away from his bid to buy the club outright from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, two of the most despised men since Jim Joyce cloned himself hours after Galarraga’s perfect game.
What does this mean for the club?
Simply put, it’s the disappearance of the only viable, somewhat legitimate offer to buy the club, which is worrying. Hicks & Gillett had their latest request for a loan extension accepted in May, with the proviso that the pair make a clear effort to sell the club (they even had to prove to the RBS board that they genuinely intent to find a buyer for the club).
And yet, despite pressure from the Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank holding most of LFC’s debt, the Royal Bank of Scotland, they’re no closer to doing so. If anything, we’ve just enjoyed more of the dog and pony show all summer with little actual progress.
The current owners did their best to ignore and fluster Huang, thanks to their courtship of Yahya Kirdi—whose rumored connection to the United Arab Emirates, denied by Kirdi, was more arguably more contentious than Huang’s ties to the Chinese government—that has been so intense, with such adamance in press communications that several offers were on the table that Huang, rightly, wasn’t prepared to be dicked around much longer.
Huang noted his anxiety to purchase the club quickly so he could give new manager Roy Hodgson some transfer funds, but haste isn’t in H&G’s vocabulary, simply because it means they can’t leverage their position in exchange for as much money as possible.
Furthermore, Huang presented the most attractive option simply because his money trail was reasonably unobscured, and though his promises were music to many Reds’ supporters’ ears, we’ve been burned by such lavish plans in the past, notably by the American pair who promised a new stadium, funding, and all the trappings of our giant European counterparts.
Fo those fearing an administration and asset-strip similar to that at Fratton Park, RBS has stated publicly that a takeover of the club is low on their priority list, though we must take those things with a mountain of salt. After all, nothing is more unpredictable than a bank backed into a corner, and those fears have not completely been laid to rest. Not to worry though, as the current ownership/management structure blames all these bidders, noting their “posturing”, and plan to ask for yet another loan extension when the current one expires in October.
If we’re honest, this is nothing new for Liverpool. Hicks and Gillett have turned down decent bids before, holding out for some unreachable price point that no-one would pay. If anything, they wouldn’t sell, or really even give the time of day to Huang, because his group determined early on that they wouldn’t give the duo a massive payout in exchange for ending their disastrous tenure at Liverpool FC.
In the meantime, Alberto Aquilani heads for the exit on loan, and rumors swirl that Dirk Kuyt could also be heading out the door to reunite with old boss Rafa Benitez at Internazionale. Oh, and Hicks and Gillett face a £20m penalty for not selling quickly enough for RBS’ liking, something that they hired Martin Broughton to do.
He’s failed, Hicks & Gillett have failed—though let’s face it, we’re used to that—and so has everyone else involved in this muck.
It’s getting really hard to focus on each game when you’re never sure what’s happening to your team in the long term. I can only imagine how bad that’s getting for the players and staff who have to live with this at work every single day.
The Grauniad pod made a good point in asking why would you buy the club now? Why not wait until it’s bank owned?
I would think if the bank owned it, there might be additional hurdles to jump through similar to buying a home that’s been foreclosed on rather than buying direct from the previous owner. JT is right, this is nothing new in how Stadler & Waldorf function, but it looks like they’re running out of chances to cry “Wolf”.
We might as well have Royal Bank of Scotland on the jersey instead of Standard Chartered. How about Natural Ice (since the club is as valuable as a 12 pack of Naddy). This is comming from a LFC supporter!
1) Liverpool sucks. Why would you ever want to invest in such a s**tty club? Their fans are just going to steal your wheels while you’re in the ground anyway. Scouse c*nts get what they deserve.
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And 2) because I always have to create conversations about Scotland: to all you (and by “all of you” I mean ü75 and I think JT, but mostly umlaut) who said, “Oh, Rangers are f**king broke jokes and couldn’t win a pissing contest with their dead grandmothers,” eff ya. Glasgow East End are going to be hiking up their skirts and looking up the table to us again this year. How’s this for a lede:
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“Vladimir Weiss says it was Rangers’ persistence and ambition that led him to join them instead of C*ltic.
“The Manchester City winger spoke to Rangers manager Walter Smith two days after a chat with Celtic’s Neil Lennon before concluding his loan deal.”
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Beattie, Weiss, and Jelavic in a week after nothing but a couple months of Rothen for nearly two years. Fans of See You Next Tuesday FC should be well familiar with the exploits of the Croatian.
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/53 and counting
A truly exemplary Glaswegian.
There’s nothing beneficial being owned by a bank without an impetus to sell. And RBS most certainly would not have an impetus to sell. As Tommy said – you’re proper f**ked.
@berg: Couldn’t have said it better. I’ll enjoy watching this slow decline, because RBS isn’t going to give two s**ts about the stability of whoever takes the club off their hands. All they’re going to want is their 80p on the pound and to get the hell out.
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Ehh, we’re goin get proper owners in, like. And we’re gonna av a proper team ere, like.
/You’re gonna finish sixth, you’re gonna finish sixth
//If you’re still in business
You’re gonna finish first, you’re gonna finish first, then finish dead f**king last in your Champions League group again. That’s if you’re lucky enough to get through three qualifying rounds as your league is so pathetic the champion no longer gets an automatic birth.
Hicks has over-bought and failed at everything he ever touched. The Texas Rangers just started getting good last year – when Hicks was all but out (and now – Thank God! – out) of any ownership control. As an Everton fan, I think you had it coming Reds, but as a human being – i am just too sad for you. Even you deserve better than Hicks, and that is saying something.
Wait a second … You’re crowing about James f**king Beattie? Really? Good on ya, you signed a reject from effing Stoke City.
@Keith
Stoke City reject = “good in Scotland”
Shane, I’d prefer Rangers over Celtic, but I’m not sure getting Vlad Weiss on loan really proves anything about your financial situation.
It proves we’re not having to ship salaries still, and can actually afford to bring in players. So yes, it is a good indication of our financial situation.
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And for the rest of ya, it’d be pretty easy if we got 40m just for showing up the first day of the season. How crazy of me to be enthused about a guy with 90 career PL tallies who left town because Tony Pulis expects everyone to hustle like Tevez. Not to mention the Croat who scored 9 in 12 in Europe last year.
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But whatever, go support your top-four teams. Must be a tough life.
@Shane: Honest question here, not trying to wind you up, but how much of Weiss’ salary are you paying?
Believe we’ve got the full tab. Don’t think he’s on a steep tab, and we moved on some pretty big salaries this summer.
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Honest reaction: Is getting a young player with 13 full international appearances really that bad for a club of our stature? Weiss played three matches in SA, and played 90 min in all three of them. I think it’s a good signing and addresses our need for width on the right side, and who knows? City are going to sign another 14 players by next summer; we might just end up being able to sign him on a perm. basis.
If it was any other club but Liverpool, Id feel bad for them.
But since its not, F**K them and their fans.
WFD,… FTW!!!