We have a £250m loan due this summer

[Maldini]

Why is nobody talking about this? Are we all assuming it will just be renewed like it has been for the past two summers? there is no guarantee it will be! Even if it is it's doubtful it'll be without a payment similar to last summer's £60m debt reduction.

 

With us going out of Europe early there is the very real possibility that we'll have to sell big name players this summer without bringing anyone in. As bad as this season has been, if we don't get investment over the next 6 months it may seem like '05 in comparison to what's to come.

[David Hodgson]

Why is nobody talking about this? Are we all assuming it will just be renewed like it has been for the past two summers? there is no guarantee it will be! Even if it is it's doubtful it'll be without a payment similar to last summer's £60m debt reduction.

 

With us going out of Europe early there is the very real possibility that we'll have to sell big name players this summer without bringing anyone in. As bad as this season has been, if we don't get investment over the next 6 months it may seem like '05 in comparison to what's to come.

 

I think we'll get the investment. Worst case G or H will have to throw some of that wedge in that they've recently made elsewhere.

 

They could sell a big name but they'll only be putting their investment in further danger.

[Spion kop]

never mind, lets just pull our socks up and play some footy.

[Maldini]

People keep saying that about putting their investment in danger, but if they pay off the loan anything on top of that is pure profit, Newcastle had people interested at £100m while in the Championship, they could probably get £200m for us if we'd no debt on us.

[Bailo]

What's the situation with Gillet? Isn't he cash rich now having sold his NHL team? Could he buy Hicks out and assume total control now? He presumably wouldn't want to bail Hicks out of a hole.

[Stevie H]

why does anyone assume that they would invest any cash in the club? they haven't previously.

[redjersey]

Why is nobody talking about this? Are we all assuming it will just be renewed like it has been for the past two summers? there is no guarantee it will be! Even if it is it's doubtful it'll be without a payment similar to last summer's £60m debt reduction.

 

With us going out of Europe early there is the very real possibility that we'll have to sell big name players this summer without bringing anyone in. As bad as this season has been, if we don't get investment over the next 6 months it may seem like '05 in comparison to what's to come.

Beejay has posted some informed (and depressing) stuff on this in the owners thread.

[Bailo]

why does anyone assume that they would invest any cash in the club? they haven't previously.

Last case resort for them?

[Maldini]

Beejay has posted some informed (and depressing) stuff on this in the owners thread.

 

He makes an interesting point about guests of honour, the director's box tomorrow will be as interesing as the pitch. There must be a reason both of them are over.

[surf]

Why is nobody talking about this? Are we all assuming it will just be renewed like it has been for the past two summers? there is no guarantee it will be! Even if it is it's doubtful it'll be without a payment similar to last summer's £60m debt reduction.

 

With us going out of Europe early there is the very real possibility that we'll have to sell big name players this summer without bringing anyone in. As bad as this season has been, if we don't get investment over the next 6 months it may seem like '05 in comparison to what's to come.

 

people aren't interested in the owners, they're interested in what happens on the pitch. they want to discuss why aquilani never plays, kuyt is never dropped and whether lucas is any good. threads about the owners are generally ignored (the action vs fiorentina one) or turn into a thread about rafa (the "owners" one)

[David Hodgson]

why does anyone assume that they would invest any cash in the club? they haven't previously.

 

Don't think anyone's assuming it, but it will be one of their options. I think if we finish outside of the top 4 they would be less likely to want to rape the squad to realise some cash to keep the banks happy, and would be more inclined (if they didn't have outside investment) to part with some of their own cash to protect the investment.

[Eiler99]

people aren't interested in the owners, they're interested in what happens on the pitch. they want to discuss why aquilani never plays, kuyt is never dropped and whether lucas is any good. threads about the owners are generally ignored (the action vs fiorentina one) or turn into a thread about rafa (the "owners" one)

 

Aye. Met some fans in Budapest who said they would rather get rid of Rafa than the owners. They actually used the Aquilani cameo as an argument for why Rafa is more damaging for the club than G&H.

[David Hodgson]

Why is nobody talking about this? Are we all assuming it will just be renewed like it has been for the past two summers? there is no guarantee it will be! Even if it is it's doubtful it'll be without a payment similar to last summer's £60m debt reduction.

 

With us going out of Europe early there is the very real possibility that we'll have to sell big name players this summer without bringing anyone in. As bad as this season has been, if we don't get investment over the next 6 months it may seem like '05 in comparison to what's to come.

 

 

This also makes me wonder whether an elephant has ever been inside a man made room (excluding elephant pens at zoos) and a man actually been able to ignore it. it must have happened at some point in history. But when, and why ?

[Frosty Jack]

This also makes me wonder whether an elephant has ever been inside a man made room (excluding elephant pens at zoos) and a man actually been able to ignore it. it must have happened at some point in history. But when, and why ?

 

i always imagined it had its origins in the British Raj

[David Hodgson]

i always imagined it had its origins in the British Raj

 

Yes, this is correct, and here is the actual origin of the phrase : Senior British officers would be routinely playing poker (or Bridge or Mah Jong) in a large room (back in the day on the sub continent) whilst a docile Indian elelphant looked on from it's spec in the corner of the large room of some Palace or other. Legend has it that Colonel Chutney-Ferrer of the Kings 7th Fusiliers had actually trained the animal to give it signals as to other players cards. The other contestants clearly oblivious to the cheating 'elephant in the room'.

[Loblaw]

Anyone else scared s***less that they'll actually get the stadium built? As that would mean they are around for the long haul. For the reason no one would be interested in buying the club with the cost of the stadium added in.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Its scary just how good a negotiating position RBS and Wachovia will be in if we fail to qualify for the CL

 

The could screw us for more interest, at least an upfront fee, and require some form of repayment - £20-£30mln perhaps.

 

Its not unreasonable from a banks point of view but unforunately for us, you struggle to see where it comes from.

[Stevie H]

This also makes me wonder whether an elephant has ever been inside a man made room (excluding elephant pens at zoos) and a man actually been able to ignore it. it must have happened at some point in history. But when, and why ?

there's a bar near me here where an elephant comes in with his handler every saturday and sunday and drinks a glass of beer through his trunk. nobody says a word. first time i saw it i asked a lad 'erm, is that normal?' and he said 'yeah. though sometimes he drinks a banana daiquiri.'

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

60m interest a year is easy money for the banks. If we're able to meet our interest obligations & present a watertight business plan going forward, why shouldn't they renew? The global financial situation looks like it's improving

[David Hodgson]

there's a bar near me here where an elephant comes in with his handler every saturday and sunday and drinks a glass of beer through his trunk. nobody says a word. first time i saw it i asked a lad 'erm, is that normal?' and he said 'yeah. though sometimes he drinks a banana daiquiri.'

 

 

I trust you wait patiently at this bar, primed to make the 'elephant in the room' gag to any passerby whom may get it ? It's comedy gold.

[Stevie H]

 

I trust you wait patiently at this bar, primed to make the 'elephant in the room' gag to any passerby whom may get it ? It's comedy gold.

that joke has been done. they all have i think. one that makes me laugh is that it's the elephant who buys the drinks for his mahout since the elephant's the one making the money. i might be watching the match there tonight so i'll see if i can get a photo.

[Stevie H]

don't know if this is the right thread or not but brian reade summarised things well in yesterday's mirror. city are the other massive elephant in the room:

 

Why Liverpool's owners should heed Souey's warning, and does Harry believe Sol is over the hill

 

By Brian Reade

 

Published 05:00 12/12/09

 

Graeme Souness has been rightly derided for some of his TV couch criticism of Liverpool.

 

When you brought Torben Piechnick, Istvan Kozma, Julian Dicks, Nicky Tanner, Paul Stewart, Mark Walters and Stig Inge Bjornebye to Anfield, attacking Rafa Benitez for making bad signings, is a bit like Jordan calling the Queen an old slapper.

 

But I hope the men pretending to run Liverpool take note of his view that if their team don't finish in the top four this season they could face meltdown.

 

Mainly because if Manchester City do, Champions League status allied to limitless wealth means they will attract the best players in the world and become very hard to budge.

 

The owners clearly don't care what a slide to mediocrity would mean to Liverpool fans, but maybe they should think about what it means to them. No middle-Eastern sugar daddy prepared to give them the massive profit they believe their highway robbery merits, just bankers sending the bailiffs in.

 

It's why everyone at the top of the shambles that currently passes for Liverpool FC needs to face a very harsh reality. If Benitez is given no money to spend next month it will be the third transfer window in a row that he's operated on a budget of nothing, and has yet to replace Robbie Keane who he sold 12 months ago.

 

Meaning they have one out-and-out quality striker in Fernando Torres. Failure to let Benitez spend the £12 million he brought in for Keane on a replacement, could mean the difference, come May, between big-club status and meltdown.

 

And if the latter happens, not since Mike Ashley will owners have so richly deserved it.

[David Hodgson]

don't know if this is the right thread or not but brian reade summarised things well in yesterday's mirror. city are the other massive elephant in the room:

 

Why Liverpool's owners should heed Souey's warning, and does Harry believe Sol is over the hill

 

By Brian Reade

 

Published 05:00 12/12/09

 

Graeme Souness has been rightly derided for some of his TV couch criticism of Liverpool.

 

When you brought Torben Piechnick, Istvan Kozma, Julian Dicks, Nicky Tanner, Paul Stewart, Mark Walters and Stig Inge Bjornebye to Anfield, attacking Rafa Benitez for making bad signings, is a bit like Jordan calling the Queen an old slapper.

 

But I hope the men pretending to run Liverpool take note of his view that if their team don't finish in the top four this season they could face meltdown.

 

Mainly because if Manchester City do, Champions League status allied to limitless wealth means they will attract the best players in the world and become very hard to budge.

 

The owners clearly don't care what a slide to mediocrity would mean to Liverpool fans, but maybe they should think about what it means to them. No middle-Eastern sugar daddy prepared to give them the massive profit they believe their highway robbery merits, just bankers sending the bailiffs in.

 

It's why everyone at the top of the shambles that currently passes for Liverpool FC needs to face a very harsh reality. If Benitez is given no money to spend next month it will be the third transfer window in a row that he's operated on a budget of nothing, and has yet to replace Robbie Keane who he sold 12 months ago.

 

Meaning they have one out-and-out quality striker in Fernando Torres. Failure to let Benitez spend the £12 million he brought in for Keane on a replacement, could mean the difference, come May, between big-club status and meltdown.

 

And if the latter happens, not since Mike Ashley will owners have so richly deserved it.

 

Wherever the 'blame' may lie for our current league position, one fact is unavoidable, as Reade rightly observes. We have to finish in the top 4, and the owners have to accept that this position is in real danger right now. It's speculate to accumulate time. Or speculate not to face 'meltdown', more aptly.

[Stevie H]

Wherever the 'blame' may lie for our current league position, one fact is unavoidable, as Reade rightly observes. We have to finish in the top 4, and the owners have to accept that this position is in real danger right now. It's speculate to accumulate time. Or speculate not to face 'meltdown', more aptly.

we do have to finish top 4, and city are a massive threat to that. while we are praying on no more injuries, they can go out in january and buy four new top players. as for speculating to accumulate, i can't imagine where the cash is coming from to take that punt.

[Ed the Wool]

Hicks will do what he did at the Corinthians if he gets the chance. He's like a gambling addict that keeps thinking the next bet will be the one that makes everything alright. Gillet won't go unless Hicks does.

 

Our only hope is a vanity buyer. The banks won't give a f***, RBS pretty much proved this when they extended in the summer.

 

We're on a knife edge, it's been like that for at least about 12 months, possible more. And when you think Rafa called them out after Athens, we've been on the slippery slope for over 3 years in terms of investing in the team and the club.