Meet the new boss, same as the old boss…
Or can we finally believe? Statements have been made, battle lines drawn and today Liverpool FC, to all intents and purposes, has got new owners.
In yet another rollercoaster 24 hours in the recent history of the Reds, occurrences in the board room contrived to overshadow those on the pitch, and for once we were probably grateful.
There were several revelations that come out of the evening’s events that provided a timely insight into what exactly has been going on at Anfield during the past 12 months. Who held the power? Who were the mystery bidders? Who on the board, if anyone, could the fans put their trust in? Why was Martin Broughton there?
Broughton’s first statement since he announced his own arrival as much as admitted what many had suspected from the outset; he was imposed on LFC’s board by RBS with the sole intention of bringing in what was owed.
If that was shrewd then the clause that partnered the introduction of the British Airways supremo would ultimately prove the master stroke for RBS. By insisting that only Broughton could hire or fire, it gave him the platform on which to conduct a sale.
His first task was clearly to get Purslow and Ayre on side to form a majority, which he did, however with the power at his disposal this was not vital. He could seemingly have dispensed with either had they not fallen in line, as he had the power to create a majority vote if he couldn’t negotiate one, maybe they fell in line because rather than in spite of this, we may never know.
Whether Hicks and Gillett really did sacrifice all rights to chop and change the make-up of the Board will prove the critical factor in the future of the club. If they did, Liverpool now have new owners: if they did not, then the club are in serious, serious trouble for they too will have the power to create a majority vote which would potentially send the club’s hierarchy into meltdown.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was that, with driving revenue the priority in the G&H mission statement, they began the battle of the board without first having tried to sell tickets. I’m sure had we known beforehand what was going to take place inside the Anfield Offices, the aggregate attendances of the Utrecht, Northampton and Steau matches would have easily been topped. Maybe they should consider this before the court case, whenever that may be.
If when the dust does settle, Liverpool FC do have new owners, then whilst we can afford ourselves a small amount of jubilation that Gillett and Hicks have finally left the building, we must remember that we have been here before and how that turned out.
The propaganda for the new owners has centred mainly on their restoration to greatness of the Boston Red Sox. Whilst this really is a great feather in the cap for the New England Sports Venture, one can’t help drawing parallels with the hyped up claims of Dumb and Dumber three and a half years ago. Gillett was taking plaudits for turning around the fortunes of the Montreal Canadiens whilst Hicks pointed to an equally impressive portfolio of sporting franchises. The public acclaim for their handling of such teams has gone noticeably quiet since their honeymoon period at Anfield ended so unceremoniously.
There was the infamous ‘spade in the ground’ pledge as well as promises to invest in a winning team and to hold the traditions of the club sacred. ‘Not even close’, ‘hardly’ and ‘are you having a laugh?!?’ would be the three most likely answers if any Reds fan was asked had G&H lived up to their word. It is with no little trepidation then that we are now sifting through almost identical statements from the camps of NESV and Broughton in the wake of the agreed sale. As glowing as Henry’s CV appears right now, one needs only to scratch beneath the surface to find examples that are not so inspiring.
Whilst his ownership of the Boston Red Sox is much heralded, he abandoned the Florida Marlins within two years of having seized full ownership to get them, leaving the Marlins without an owner or anyone to run the club.
In truth, the past 24-48 hours have posed more questions than they have answered. Will the sale go through? Who has the power at Anfield? Is Broughton’s job now done and if so will he now move on and potentially cause more unsettlement? Three vital questions and I haven’t even gotten to what the new owners may have in store for us.
Only time will tell. What is for certain is that the last three years will never be forgotten, black days in the glorious history of the world’s greatest club. The message from all Liverpool fans on the arrival of John Henry and his cohorts must be united and deafening- “This is Anfield and we won’t get fooled again!”
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i think the big difference this time is that broughton appears to have done his homework to keep his own reputation intact, as opposed to moores who admitted he didn’t even check out hicks, blinded by the pound signs no doubt! the premier league have also got their act together (well, better anyway)so if they deem them suitable, then we have to be cautiously optomistic, i say cautiously because, at the end of the day, we can really only take NESV at their word and hope their actions speak louder!
If they do succeed in buying the club then all the fans can do is wait and see. IF they make no progress and we later find out hicks is best mates with johnny boy then thats a different story. It will be back to the same old protests anyway. The only way you can force someone out is simply by having an empty stadium week in week out.
I hope he bring the success for Liverpool soon.
this guy is friends with red sox supporter bob diamond who just happens to be the head of barclay’s bank. who get emails at 2am off hick’s and gillett – alan myers alias jamie kanwar.
Don’t want to get fooled again? It’s probably because they are yanks and according to the signs “Yank Liars” would seem to indicate that all “yanks” are liars.
good article!!! there’s lot of hooya about the potential new boss but then again they still are yanks and can’t trust them at all these people mean business and care less about the club itself, that’s what happened with the 2 clowns G&H. The guy may have done his job with Boston RS but he’s baseball fan does he even know what the football culture mean to liverpool???!!!! so ya We aint getting fooled again so if u want some come get some!!!
Please don’t expect much from these American traders, who consider clubs/franchises as urely a business tool, no emotional attacment. If looked carefully, NESV is with Boston Red Sox, because it’s profitable & it’s successful. Florida Marlin was not, & it was disposed off like a rotten potato.
Here the cunning Yanks got to exploit an opportunity to purchase an “asset” at much lower price than actual value due to circumstences known to all & if the “asset” fails to deliver enough proceeds, they ‘ll, mark my word, recover the investment by if required, selling even the soil of Anfield. Sports in USA is a share in stock, to make best out of the brand. That’s why Minneapolis Lakers became LA Lakers, Horners went to New Orleans from Charlot & many other such examples. Can you imagine “Liverpool Franchise” to be based at Birmingham as the 2nd largest UK city don’t have an iconic club? Or Athlatico leaving Madrid as it’s businesswise less profitable? I felt most US sports are too mechanical, players are to demonstrate the coaches instructions, too much use of technology & too money oriented. NESV is not even a Boston base company & we are appluded by their initiative to restore the Red Sox heritage, but believe me, it was the better business case.
My worst fear is that, like the previous yank imposters, these people know nothing of football & I bet none of their directors ever seen a full Football match, let alone a LFC one in their life.
Moreover, NESV is also introduced by the same company that brought H&G. These commision agents know what went wrong with their previous clients & it was easier for them to suggest on the latest offer details. My greatest fear is H&G bought LFC with borrowed money, which still has kept the club in 1 piece, otherwise they would have sold the players, the ground & the accademy. NESV ‘ll not have any such obligations, & be very clear, they have “ZERO” emotional attachment with a 119 years heritage. If required, the trophies & accolades could be taken to auctions, if profitable. Any other competitive offer or a threat to lower future revenue (relegation, fine etc.) these Yanks ‘ll simply ran away. However, they are better sports managentment group than the previous jerks & with a houseful Anfield, a regular CL & endorsement money, they can run the “Liverpool Franchise of their Soccer Brand” better, by employing cappable people at right place (I guess jerks like Foster Gillet or TH Jr. ‘ll be placed in board) they can make this “Franchise” a lucrative asset to encash, may be in 2014 or 15.
I am a business analyst for one of the largest Indian Conglomarates, a die hard Liverpool supporter, would love to eat my words, if my assessments turns out wrong.
Never depend on a Yank for matters they don’t understand or things that is not dependent of their control. See what they have done in Iraq or Afganistan.
Debt has been paid – not sure if in full as still 2/3mil in paymetns to the bank which is better than before…… but if and when we renovate Anfield or build a new stadium how and who is going to finance that?
I can see another scenario of our beloved club in debt – correct me if i’m wrong?
Just read trough the post, thanks again. For the people who had problems viewing the page using google chrome clear your cache it will work then.
Dear NESV! Due poor results and much more with Roy as our Manager i put on hold with my membership with Lliverpool FC. I´ll have been LFC Fan since i was 10 years and now i´m 30 i´ll never felt so bad and sad when i was looking on my love LFC like i do now, and no one is doing anything about it.. and then i mean NESV. Look at the results the tactics and most of all is when Roy is saying in media… ex. we had bad luck yesterday when we lost against Wolves.. no we where not good enough and wolves was better then us (LFC ON ANFIELD. AND IT´S NOT FIRST TIME THIS SEASON) it´s my opinion and many more fans feel the same thing i do. The time has come and i going to stop watching LFC playing and buying from the LFC shop till something happen with the manager position and i hope many more do like me untill we appoint some other manager. This must come to an end… it really heart to see this hell in our lovely club it becomes like souness era. Sack this manager before it going to be worse (Personally i don´t have anything against Mr Roy Hodgson but this club is too big for him)
// A true LFC fan from Sweden (M.D)