Liverpool Season 2010/11

[Bully]

not a very good start at all for the reds. the future does not look good at anfield. The supporters werent happy when the final whistle.

bet the manager is regreting his move from fulham now

[unknown source]

all that money and can't do f all about it

[mighty hounds]

all that money and can't do f all about it

what money? Liverpool are in massive amount of debt!

[unknown source]

all that money and can't do f all about it

what money? Liverpool are in massive amount of debt!

that goes to show how much i know about soccer

[Jim05]

Its all a plan. 800/1 at start of season to be relegated so maybe the owners slapped a lazy mil or two on them. Money prob solved do a year in the championship and look out 2012.

[smithy]

Kenny Dalglish: The case for the Liverpool legend to return
By Matt Lawton Chief Football Correspondent
The desire among those who stand on The Kop is to see it start where it ended so painfully more than 19 years earlier; to see Kenny Dalglish return to the scene of his last act as Liverpool manager.
The club's next match is the stuff of nightmares for Roy Hodgson and an alarmingly inexperienced board of directors trying to navigate the club through a major crisis.
It is a trip to Goodison Park, for an encounter with an Everton side that, despite their early season problems, look to be in much better order than their illustrious neighbours.


They have a better manager and a better team, and come Sunday week they might even have been facing a Liverpool side at the very bottom of the Barclays Premier League had the two teams below them not been playing each other the day before.
For Dalglish, however, it might not seem so daunting because going back to Goodison would be a chance to finally address some unfinished business.
To scratch an itch that has been troubling him for the best part of two decades.
It was after a 4-4 draw at Goodison on February 20, 1991, a cup-tie Dalglish said in his latest memoirs was 'like watching a car-crash and not knowing which emergency service to call first', that he decided he could not continue.

That he feared for his health, and for his family, because of the stress that had been building since Hillsborough.
'The nation's amateur psychologists claimed it was the stress and strain of that extraordinary game that tipped me over the precipice. It wasn't. My nerves were shredded long before then,' he said.
The next day he walked into Anfield, his body covered in a rash, and informed the hierarchy of his decision, complaining that he felt his head was 'exploding'.
His resignation was reluctantly accepted. But Peter Robinson, then the club's all-powerful secretary, urged him to take a sabbatical and return the following season. Dalglish's wife, Marina, spoke to Tom Saunders, also by then on the board, and urged them to leave it a couple of weeks. She said once her husband had taken a holiday with his family, he would be fit to return to work.
It was while Dalglish was still in Florida that Graeme Souness was appointed. And soon after Robinson had suggested to Dalglish, by then at Blackburn, that it was time he 'came home' as Souness's replacement three years later, he was left surprised and disappointed for a second time. Roy Evans was promoted to the role of manager.
Anfield insiders on Monday insisted there was little chance of Dalglish, 59, returning this time, even after the greatest player in the club's history had the courage to put himself forward as a candidate in the wake of Rafa Benitez's exit.
Even after he took one look at the candidates he was asked to consider as a member of the selection committee - with Hodgson among them - and said he was a better alternative.
That he was dismissed as an option as disrespectfully as he was by chairman Martin Broughton pretty much summed up the sad state of affairs at Anfield. A club being run into the ground by men with a head for business but not football.

Under pressure: Liverpool have made their worst start in 57 years under new boss Roy Hodgson and find themselves in the bottom three for the first time since 1984.


The chairman of British Airways, Broughton was appointed to wrestle the club from the grasp of American owners and into safer hands; not to determine who should be hired to resuscitate a stuttering team.
In Dalglish they had a man not only four years Hodgson's junior but with the club in his blood; someone who would have even accepted the role on a temporary basis and stepped aside when the club was in a position to recruit one of Europe's leading managers.
As Ray Clemence said, it matters not that Dalglish has not managed for 10 years.
Winning feeling: Dalglish helped Liverpool enjoy many successes in yesteryear
'Kenny's never been out of the game,' said the former keeper who won two European Cups with Dalglish.
'He's been working behind the scenes, he's a football man.
'I've read about Kenny being interested and if he did put himself up, it certainly wouldn't have been a bad decision.'
Clemence went on to say he 'didn't think Roy Hodgson was a bad decision either', adding that he thought it premature for the fans to turn against him.
But today Broughton and his colleagues still have to reflect on Liverpool's worst start to a season in 57 years, and the £20million they have seen Hodgson waste on players like Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky.
And the fact that the same fans who never rose against Benitez, who have proved so loyal to all their managers over the years, have decided after seven Premier League matches that Hodgson must go.
'Dalglish, Dalglish,' they chanted as their side crumbled against Blackpool.
The least someone should do is listen.

[Zelezny Chucks]

Any truth in the rumour that the Board had received a couple of offers to buy, that would have cleared the debt, but the owners sought to have the Chairman and another Board member removed before the meeting could take place???

[smithy]

Indeed it has Zelezny.
Basically the club has received 2 bids which would wipe all the debt the club has.
The yanks aren't happy with these bids as they want more $$$$$, and have tried to sack 2 board members so they can't discuss the new bids, hoping to replace them with family members.

Here is the story.

Anfield civil war as Hicks and Gillett try to oust Liverpool FC board
Oct 6 2010 by Richard Irvine, Liverpool Daily Post

A BOARDROOM war broke out at Anfield last night as the long-running battle for control of Liverpool Football Club appeared to enter an extraordinary endgame.

The club issued a dramatic statement late last night, saying it had received two “excellent” bids to buy LFC.

But hours before an AnfieldŠ board meeting was called to discuss them yesterday, American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett sensationally tried to sack managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.

Last night, Mr Hicks issued a statement saying the bids – thought to be for £300m – “dramatically undervalued” the club.

The Americans tried to replace the club’s two top boardroom executives – both lifelong Liverpool fans – with their own new people – Mack Hicks and Lori Kay McCutcheon. Mack Hicks is the son of Texan Tom Hicks senior, while McCutcheon is vice-president and financial controller of Hicks Holdings.

The Daily Post can confirm one of the bids for Liverpool FC involves the owner of the Boston Reds Sox baseball team, John W Henry, a multi-millionaire Wall Street trader.

The second bidder is from Asia, almost certainly China, but is not linked to Kenny Huang, who led a Chinese consortium interested in investing in Liverpool this summer.

It is also believed a sale could be very close, unless Hicks and Gillett succeed with their legal challenge to the make-up of the board. The fact that it is two members of the Hicks camp the owners are trying to shoehorn on to the board also suggests George Gillett’s influence at Anfield is now waning.

No-one at Anfield would last night comment, confirm the claims or discuss any details at all regarding the official statement issued.

All three key parties – Hicks, Gillett and the three remaining board members – have consulted lawyers to try to break the stalemate.

The Daily Post understands meetings continued all night at Anfield, with the non-owners on the board clearly maintaining control of the club’s official website which issued last night’s extraordinary statement.

It read: “The Board of Directors have received two excellent financial offers to buy the Club that would repay all its long-term debt. A Board meeting was called today to review these bids and approve a sale.

“Shortly prior to the meeting, the owners – Tom Hicks and George Gillett – sought to remove managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre from the Board, seeking to replace them with Mack Hicks and Lori Kay McCutcheon.

“This matter is now subject to legal review and a further announcement will be made in due course.

“Meanwhile, Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre continue to explore every possible route to achieving a sale of the Club at the earliest opportunity.” The hugely dramatic development clearly pitches at least two of Anfield’s non-owner directors – Purslow andŠAyre – publicly against the American co-owners.

Hicks and Gillett are due to repay their loans – belatedly taken out to buy the club three years ago – later this month.

Last week, Purslow made it clear in an interview that the club’s’ non-owner directors would firmly resist any bid by the Americans to refinance those loans.

Hicks and Gillett are, it seems, furious that a coup attempt is now being made to drive them out of Anfield, without them getting the huge profits they had hoped for from a sale of the crisis-hit club.

The pair, who have been the target of a long-running fans campaign to oust them led by the Spirit of Shankly and others, agreed publicly to sanction a sale of the club in spring after an offer of investment from the New York-based Rhone group (£110m for 40%) was rejected by them.

In his statement last night, Hicks said the owners remained committed to the process started in April to sell the club but were not prepared to accept the current bids.

He said: “The owners have invested more than $270m in cash into the club and during their tenure revenues have nearly doubled, investment in players has increased and the club is one of the most profitable in the English Premier League. As such, the Board has been presented with offers that we believe dramatically undervalue the club. To be clear, there is no change in our commitment to finding a buyer for Liverpool FC at a fair price that reflected the significant investment we have made.”

It all means the battle for the future of Britain’s most successful ever football club may well now be fought out in the courts, who must decide who holds sway going forward – Hicks and Gillett or Purslow, Ayre and Broughton.

Liverpool are currently paying between £30m and £40m a year in crippling interest payments to service the Hicks and Gillett loans.

Hicks has been trying to hold on to power by attempting to raise capital to pay off or reduce the debt but has so far been unsuccessful.

He still believes there is a profit to be made from the sale of Liverpool but, with the prospect of RBS having to call in their debt and possibly take control at Anfield, the price has actually been falling by the week.

The Americans know if the bank steps in then they will receive nothing, hence the move to restructure the board to buy them more time.

But with the non-owners determined to push through the sale and the overtly-positive terminology used to describe the two bids – the first time the club have officially confirmed formal interest – it appears this is the beginning of the end for Hicks and Gillett.

[JK]

Isn't tomorrow (our time) D-Day for Hicks and Gillette with the Royal Bank Of Scotland? If so, I would have thought the lawyers wouldn't resolve this situation in time and the club will fall under the administration of the RBS who would call in their loan?

[mighty hounds]

Isn't tomorrow (our time) D-Day for Hicks and Gillette with the Royal Bank Of Scotland? If so, I would have thought the lawyers wouldn't resolve this situation in time and the club will fall under the administration of the RBS who would call in their loan?

So does that mean Liverpool will enter adminstration? and be given a 10 point penalty?

[JK]

Isn't tomorrow (our time) D-Day for Hicks and Gillette with the Royal Bank Of Scotland? If so, I would have thought the lawyers wouldn't resolve this situation in time and the club will fall under the administration of the RBS who would call in their loan?

So does that mean Liverpool will enter adminstration? and be given a 10 point penalty?

If the do enter administration it's still unknown whether the penalty would apply due to some clause Im not familiar with .. Although most "experts" seem to believe that if we escaped the penalty whilst in administration it would be challenged in court by relegation challengers.

[Zelezny Chucks]

Surely Hicks and Gillette will be murdered on there way out of the country if that is allowed to happen!

The way we are playing a 10 point penalty will see us playing Championship next year...

[JK]

Surely Hicks and Gillette will be murdered on there way out of the country if that is allowed to happen!

The way we are playing a 10 point penalty will see us playing Championship next year...

If that's what it took to be rid of these clowns then I reckon I'd take that.

[Zelezny Chucks]

Hope??

LIVERPOOL SALE AGREED IN PRINCIPLE
Posted 06/10/10 07:33



Liverpool's board of directors have agreed the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures, subject to Premier League approval and the resolution of a board dispute.

NESV currently owns a portfolio of companies including the Boston Red Sox baseball team, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Rousch Fenway Racing.

The Merseyside club revealed last night they had received "two excellent financial offers for the club that would repay all its long-term debt".


Reds chairman Martin Broughton told club website www.liverpoolfc.tv: "I am delighted that we have been able to successfully conclude the sale process which has been thorough and extensive.

"The board decided to accept NESV's proposal on the basis that it best met the criteria we set out originally for a suitable new owner. NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at the Red Sox.

"We've met them in Boston, London and Liverpool over several weeks and I am immensely impressed with what they have achieved and with their vision for Liverpool Football Club."

Broughton added: "By removing the burden of acquisition debt, this offer allows us to focus on investment in the team. I am only disappointed that the owners (Tom Hicks and George Gillett) have tried everything to prevent the deal from happening and that we need to go through legal proceedings in order to complete the sale."

The boardroom battle between American owners Hicks and Gillett and their England-based colleagues escalated to a new level last night.

With news of two new "excellent" bids having been received, the pair, led primarily by Hicks, tried to effect a coup by removing managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre from their positions on the board minutes before a meeting to discuss the new offers.

It was intended to allow the Americans to regain control of the sale process, allowing them the final say on any offer.

Hicks and Gillett wanted to instal Mack Hicks, one of Tom's sons, and Lori Kay McCutcheon, financial controller at Hicks Holdings.

This was rebuffed as the two club officials, backed by chairman Broughton, out-voted the Americans three to two.

The club issued an unprecedented statement detailing yesterday's machinations in which they also revealed this boardroom issue was now the subject of a legal review.

However, the statement pointedly went on to stress that Broughton, Purslow and Ayre would "continue to explore every possible route to achieving a sale of the club at the earliest opportunity".

[johntheclaret]

Actually epl clubs going into admin only receive a 9 point deduction. It's based on them playing less games. In liverpool's case this wont happen anyway as the banks won't invoke thier loan demand now there are firm offers.

G&H want more money than offered but with the banks holding all the aces, they have no choice but to sell.
This denarii was always going to happen. G&H holding out for as much as they can get, right up to RBS's deadline day.

Maybe Liverpool can finally move on?

[smithy]

They'd try and get rid of Broughton as well if they could, but he was appointed by the RBS to sell the club in turn for extra time to pay loans.
This will probably be drawn out into the courts as the yanks want more money.
From what I can tell, RBS want Broughton to sell the club, he's found a buyer so the yanks can't do much.
15th of October is D-DAY Constance, so I reckon they just gotta take what they can, and farewell to them.
One things for sure, this will be Roy Hodgsons 1st and last season as manager (if he lasts the season).

[smithy]

Liverpool’s potential new owners, New England Sports Ventures, have proposed buying Liverpool in a £300m deal that will involve a cash injection of £240m to clear most of the club’s debt, sportingintelligence can reveal. This should alleviate some concerns among fans that the club is heading for another leveraged buyout. (SoS fans’ group initial response here)

As the sales process remains fluid – but complicated by legal action by Tom Hicks and George Gillett (more from earlier / plus some legal opinion) – we can also reveal:

•New England Sports Ventures (NESV), owners of the Boston Red Sox, were the preferred bidders of RBS bank, which was owed a large chunk of £237m by Hicks / Gillett / Liverpool. The other “credible” bidder’s identity remains unconfirmed.
•The former Arsenal managing director, Keith Edelman, has been working on the deal as an advisor to RBS, but solely for his knowledge of football finance, and will have no role at Liverpool.
•NESV has promised £240m in cash to wipe out the majority of the monies owed to RBS and Wachovia. This is cash, not borrowed money, and therefore not to be leveraged against any Liverpool assets, sources say.
•Some £60m of debt will remain in the club (guaranteed by NESV), with approximately £40m of that earmarked for stadium redevelopment, and £20m for cashflow.
•The £240m debt clearance plus assuming responsibility for the other £60m gives the £300m valuation for the deal.
•NESV has “an open mind” on whether it will build a new stadium. The Red Sox’s Fenway Park was redeveloped rather than the Sox being relocated, for example.
•Executives from NESV have already had at least one “clearance” meeting with the Premier League to discuss meeting “fit and proper” owners requirements, say sources Stateside. The Premier League is expected to release a statement later today to make the general point it is undertaking its own checks.
•Sportingintelligence understands NESV has already provided the Premier League with proof of funds and a sustainable business plan and the League should be able to “green light” the sale from its own point of view by Friday. 2pm update, UK time, statement from Premier League just dropped: “The Board of the Premier League has been kept fully informed of developments regarding the potential sale of Liverpool FC by the Chairman and senior Executives of the Club and has, accordingly, been made aware of a number of potential prospective owners in recent weeks. We can confirm that Liverpool FC has formally notified the Premier League of an intended change of control and that the Board has undertaken to complete all the necessary processes by Friday 8 October so that the sale of the Club can proceed.” Update ends
.

Liverpool’s chairman Martin Broughton has said today: “This was frankly [Hicks and Gillett’s] last chance to leave Liverpool with their heads high and they have chosen to go this route.

“It is a difficult issue. Part of me taking on the role – and I was appointed by Tom and George – was that they gave a written undertaking that only I could change the board, they wrote that into the articles of the two companies Kop Football and Kop Holdings.

“They also gave a written undertaking to RBS that they would not frustrate any reasonable sale and this is frankly a flagrant abuse of those two written undertakings.”

“At Fenway they chose not to build a new stadium. They will want to make sure that they do the right thing, but [Liverpool] willl have a stadium which holds 60,000-odd.

“Whether that is the new stadium as designed or not, that is not a commitment, but will we have stadium development? Yes.”

The legal wrangle over whether the board should have been allowed to agree a sale goes on but Broughton is confident it is a battle that can be won.

.

[smithy]

The Liverpool co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, stand to lose their £144m loans in Liverpool if the proposed sale of the club to John W Henry's New England Sports Ventures group goes through next week.


The deal with Henry is valued at £300m which incorporates £200m to repay debt owed to the Royal Bank of Scotland, £40m to cover non-banking liabilities and £60m in debts relating to the planned development of the proposed new Anfield stadium in Stanley Park.


This leaves no room for the repayment of the loans which Hicks and Gillett made to Liverpool, which stood at £144m on 31 July 2009, the date of the club's last published accounts. With Hicks and Gillett having been keen also to turn a profit from any sale of their shares in Liverpool, the reality that they are now set to make a huge loss, makes it clear why the Americans are so resistant to the deal with Henry.


The Premier League released a statement this afternoon confirming Liverpool's intention to change owners. "We can confirm that Liverpool FC has formally notified the Premier League of an intended change of control and that the board has undertaken to complete all the necessary processes by Friday 8 October so that the sale of the club can proceed," said a spokesperson.


Legal action is expected to proceed next week to decide on whether the Liverpool board acted validly in completing the sale of the club.

I'd consider a debt that large rather than returning to England a fair swap.
They wouldn't get out of Liverpool alive

[smithy]

This by far is the best interview for mine.
For those that don't know, Broughton is chairman of British Airways and a life long Chelsea fan, but deep down, you can hear a big FAR Q to the greedy yanks.
Clearly Broughton has a job to do, but he also appreciates the history of the club.

The past few hours have seen Liverpool FC announce the intention to sell the club to the New England Sports Ventures (NESV), and Royal Bank of Scotland have agreed with the deal, and the Premier League are currently discussing the change which could be in place by Friday.

The only men not happy are Tom Hicks and George Gillett, outvoted by the board, and outmaneouvred by their reliance on debt, which has now cost them control of Liverpool FC board.

It appears now that they will take a significant financial hit from their involvement with Liverpool Football Club, and by taking legal action it looks more likely that they will take even more financial damage.

Martin Broughton has given several interviews to various media outlets including the official website but he quite clearly was incensed by Hicks and Gillett’s attempts to bend the rules of the football club by removing board members (for which they do not have the power) and blocking the sale of the club.

Broughton said:

“This was frankly [Hicks and Gillett’s] last chance to leave Liverpool with their heads high and they have chosen to go this route.

“It is a difficult issue. Part of me taking on the role – and I was appointed by Tom and George – was that they gave a written undertaking that only I could change the board, they wrote that into the articles of the two companies Kop Football and Kop Holdings.

“They also gave a written undertaking to RBS that they would not frustrate any reasonable sale and this is frankly a flagrant abuse of those two written undertakings.”

The offer from NESV is believed to wipe out significantly the club’s debt, and reduce the club’s crippling £40M a year interest payments. The club will have a similar overdraft facility of around £40M that they had back in 2007.

All eyes are now on Hicks and Gillett to see if they pursue a legal challenge to block the bid – a strategy that is highly likely to end in utter failure for the owners.

The full transcript of the interview with the official LFC website and Martin Broughton is reproduced here:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin, it’s been quite a dramatic 24 hours in terms of the sales process. Can you explain exactly what the situation is right now?

It certainly has been dramatic. The latest position is that we have a sale agreement in place, we’ve agreed the sale to New England Sports Ventures, that sale is subject to a number of conditions like Premier League approval and other normal conditions. The specific additional condition is that it’s subject to confirmation that the Board acted validly in drawing up the sale documents.

Last night fans read a statement on the official website claiming that the owners had sought to remove Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre from the Board. What was the reasoning behind this and were the owners successful?

The court will ultimately decide whether the owners were successful. The reasoning behind it was that the owners felt we were reviewing two bids which they considered undervalued the club and therefore they wished to remove Christian and Ian and replace them with Mack Hicks, who is Tom’s son, and Lori McCutcheon, who also works with him.

We don’t think it was valid to do it. Essentially when I took the role they gave a couple of written undertakings to Royal Bank of Scotland. Those written undertakings included that I was the only person entitled to change the board and that was written into the articles of the covenants, and also that they would take no action to frustrate any reasonable sale. And I think they flagrantly abused both of those written undertakings.

You announced on Tuesday night that the club received two excellent offers. Why, in your opinion, is New England Sports Ventures the right new owner for Liverpool Football Club?

I think both of them would have been excellent new owners. New England have a lot of experience in developing, investing in and taking Boston Red Sox – as the closest parallel – from being a club with a wonderful history, a wonderful tradition that had lost the winning way, and bringing it back to being a winner. Their commitment to winning is what it’s all about there and they’ve extended it from Boston Red Sox to Nascar and other things, but Red Sox is the main one.

I have been meeting them now for several weeks in Boston, in Liverpool, in London, and I feel they are totally committed to supporting and getting the winning mentality back into the team.

Is their winning mentality the thing which has impressed you most about them during this period?

Yes. Their commitment is to winning on the pitch and that helps you win off the pitch too. The two are mutually reinforcing.

Fans have already got lots of questions, with three of the main ones being:

a) Will the debt burden be removed completely?

To all intents and purposes, yes. All of the acquisition debt that was involved in the current owners acquisition will be removed completely. We’ll still have what we call normal working capital debt and there’s a facility there for the new stadium which will remain in place, but to all intents and purposes all the major debt that has been causing our problem has been paid off.

b) Have the proposed new owners committed to investing in the playing squad?

Yes. They don’t want any hostages to fortune, very sensibly, so they’re not going to make any comments about how much or anything like that. But this goes back to the winning mentality. I think the demonstration is: let’s look at what they have done at Boston, what they said in Boston, what they have done in terms of investing in players – and I think you get a high degree of confidence of their willingness to do that.

c) Is there a commitment from them to progress the new stadium project?

Yes, there’s definitely a commitment to invest in a stadium and we will finish up with a 60,000+ seater stadium. Where they haven’t finalised their view is whether that should be the new stadium or whether there are still opportunities to build at Anfield itself. They have done both. The people involved have built the new stadium at Baltimore Orioles, for example, and at Fenway Park they looked at the two options and decided that actually redevelopment with all of the tradition was better than a new stadium. So they have done both, they are committed to looking at both very professionally and seeing which is the best option, but there will be stadium development.

Just to clarify, what needs to happen now for the sale to be finalised?

The key thing is the court case. We need to go to the court to get a declaratory judgement, which is for the court to declare that we did act validly in completing the sale agreement, and then the buyers can complete the sale. We have to get Premier League approval and I’m certain that’s not going to be an issue. There are one or two minor things like that but the key issue is the court, which should meet I would think next week sometime. That is the most likely time, in short order.

Can the owners block the sale of LFC to New England Sports Ventures?

Well, we have to win the court case. So effectively yes, if they win the court case they can block the sale. But then we may have one or two other thoughts in mind as well.

Could the sale process be dragged through the courts for months before a resolution is reached?

No, I don’t think so. We should get a declaratory judgement I would have thought probably by the end of next week, in short order. There is an appeal process but that is also very fast.

How confident are you that Liverpool Football Club will soon be officially under new ownership?

I am confident. I wouldn’t have taken the Board through that process yesterday if I hadn’t been confident. I wouldn’t have exposed everybody to that risk if I hadn’t been confident, but you can never be certain. These things are legal judgements. We have been properly advised and I am confident.

Looking back, how thorough has the process been to identify the best new owners for the Club and how pleased are you with the final outcome?

Ideally one would have had buyers who were not only the best buyers but also satisfied the owners. That’s what we were looking for and we haven’t managed to do that second piece of it. Has it been exhaustive? Absolutely. We have, first of all through BarCap, contacted every plausible buyer. The media coverage has meant that you would have to be living on Planet Zog not to know that Liverpool was for sale and so if you had any interest in it you had the opportunity. We’ve talked to lots of potential people. At the end of the day, with the deadline for debt repayment looming we had two bidders, both very viable bidders. I think they were competing, there was competitive tension there and I think that demonstrates that we have the market price.

Finally Martin, what is your message to the Liverpool fans?

Keep the faith. We said we would deliver the best buyers for the club and I think we have delivered exactly that. I know they’ve been frustrated by not getting a running commentary and I know a fan wants to know what’s going on. I thank them for their patience because I do believe the only way you really get these things done is out of the media glare and it’s difficult to do it out of the media glare, but we’ve found the right owners. I thank them for their patience, their support, keep the faith, this is going to work. They’re with us.

[JK]