Liverpool head back to High Court

 

Liverpool have returned to the High Court in London as the battle for control of the club continues.

 

The Reds were close to being sold to New England Sports Ventures after co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett failed to win back control of the club.

 

But the sale to NESV was dramatically halted by an injunction granted to Hicks and Gillett by a court in Texas.

 

As proceedings began again in London, Singapore tycoon Peter Lim withdrew his £320m bid to buy Liverpool.

 

In a statement he said: "The [Liverpool] board is intent on selling the club to NESV to the exclusion of all other parties, regardless of the merits of their bids."

 

However, he added that if circumstances were to change, he might be persuaded to re-enter the fray.

 

The Anfield board needs to sell the club so that the Royal Bank of Scotland can recoup £240m in loans.

 

The bank has already threatened to place the club into administration if new owners are not found before a 15 October deadline.

 

The threat of administration and the nine-point penalty that would accompany it appeared to have passed on Wednesday when Hicks and Gillett's opposition to the sale was dismissed by the High Court.

 

But the Americans' subsequent injunction muddied the waters once more.

 

At the heart of their tactics is a belief that the club is being undersold. They value it at £600m and would lose about £140m if NESV's deal, worth half that amount, went through.

 

Hicks and Gillett have claimed that rival bids were not given due consideration by Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton, chief executive Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.

 

It had appeared that one of those rival bidders - Mill Financial - could emerge as a serious contender, with reports on Thursday suggesting it had acquired the shares of Hicks.

 

However, a UK-based spokesman for Hicks insisted he had not sold his stake to the American hedge fund, which already controls Gillett's shares and has also been linked with a move for Wells Fargo's 25% debt stake in Liverpool.

 

Mill Financial is thought to value the club at about £350m, higher than the valuations of NESV. It has also expressed a commitment to build a new stadium.

 

As for NESV, BBC Sport understands that chief John Henry has not been off his planned purchase of Liverpool by the additional delay in determining the club's future.

 

"He is prepared to wait," said BBC sports editor David Bond. "Sources tell me he has binding agreements."

 

Henry might not have to wait long.

 

Tom Cruise, an expert in litigation at the Texas branch of US law firm Baker and Hostetler, suggested the injunction was only a temporary reprieve for Hicks and Gillett.

 

"The buyers will have their day in court to present their evidence and, even in Texas, courts will respect the ruling of a High Court in London," he told Radio 5 live.

 

Hicks and Gillett's petition to the Texan court, which described the sale of Liverpool as an "epic swindle", also laid out a claim for more than £1bn in damages.

 

And it was RBS which received the brunt of blame from the American duo, and the petition continued: "The director defendants were acting merely as pawns of RBS, wholly abdicating the fiduciary responsibilities that they owed in the sale.

 

"RBS has been complicit in this scheme with the director defendants."

 

The Liverpool board have vowed to move quickly to have the restraining order removed, claiming it is "unwarranted and damaging", and will attempt to achieve their objective in the High Court.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9091246.stm

9-point deduction would be hilarious.

9-point deduction would be hilarious.

 

Probably still finish ahead of you lot though!

:lol:

Probably still finish ahead of you lot though!

 

And so you should.

After all, you're almost a big club.

The High Court has ruled against the desperate injunction. They say it's got nothing to do with Texas! Get in there!

 

Start counting your losses Hicks and Gillett you useless pair of tits.

Can someone clear this up, if the club isn't sold by tonight, 9 point deduction?

 

LUL

Also, they are selling quick. Usually sorting out the finances for a takeover takes months. Unless they've been planning it for ages and I missed out on all that due to the boredom of this whole story.

This is good news ! Well done ! I just hope the others dont take you down same path

Probably still finish ahead of you lot though!

 

:lol:

:lol:

 

:lol:

 

:thinking:

:thinking:

:thinking:

I just thought the guy was being factual and not even making a joke, yes they will probably finish 9 points over Blackburn.

Also, they are selling quick. Usually sorting out the finances for a takeover takes months. Unless they've been planning it for ages and I missed out on all that due to the boredom of this whole story.

 

John Henry has cited interest in Liverpool for a while now. 4 weeks ago Christian Purslow the chief executive flew in private to Boston to go through the ins and outs of the clubs dire finances. He should be well clued up on the club. How long he wants to hold on though nobody knows.

I just thought the guy was being factual and not even making a joke, yes they will probably finish 9 points over Blackburn.

Don't mind me, I'm a Burnley fan and any negative comment against Rovers is a boon!

Don't mind me, I'm a Burnley fan and any negative comment against Rovers is a boon!

 

:rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

:thinking:

:thinking:

 

:thinking:

At least Big Sam provided us with the most hilarious football quote of the year by suggesting he was good enough to manage Real Madrid!:lol:

Well he went as far as to say it would be 'easy' to get a few trophies every year, deluded maniac of a man.

German fans rally to protect fan culture

 

12th October 2010

 

Thousands of German football fans came together on Saturday in a mass demonstration to make clear their opposition to rising ticket prices and the commercialisation of the game. The peaceful protest, titled Zum Erhalt der Fankultur (For the Protection of Fan Culture), was attended by fans of approximately 50 different clubs and an estimated 6,000 attendance was claimed by organisers.

 

The event was supported by Football Supporters Europe of which the FSF is an affiliated member.

 

Clubs from the first, second and third divisions of Germany’s Bundesliga were represented as supporters congregated on Berlin’s City Hall. Complaints weren’t just restricted to financial issues such as ticket pricing though. Unfair kick-off times, police brutality, stadium bans, and the authorities’ overreaction to fan behaviour all got a mention too.

 

Speakers criticised the commercial policies of both the German Football Federation (DFB) and the German league (DFL) in an effort to keep Bundesliga prices at affordable levels. The Bundesliga remains the cheapest major league in Europe with an average price of around €21.

 

It’s not the first time in recent weeks German fans have let their feelings known – last month around 1,500 Borussia Dortmund fans boycotted their club’s derby with Schalke in protest at their local rivals almost doubling prices.

While creeping prices are of obvious concern for German fans the introduction of a Saturday evening kick-off has also received a less than rapturous reception. Matches traditionally kick-off at 3.30pm on a Saturday in Germany.

 

“The situation is really bad,” said Alliance of Active Football Fans (BAFF) spokesman Wilko Zicht. “We have been defending our fan culture for years and the people in power must realise that if ticket prices frighten off fans, it will kill off the atmosphere in the stadiums. We want to show people how good the fan culture in Germany is and that it is a pity that it is she is currently under threat.”

 

Three years ago the DFB and DFL set up the Fan Dialogue initiative which was meant to give football fans in Germany a say in how their game was run. However, many fans felt the forum was little more than an appeasement and argued only action would work. BAFF spokesman Zicht described it as “nothing more than a good chat over coffee and cake”.

 

The protest has been very positively received by the media in Germany due to its peaceful nature and the exemplary behaviour of the fans involved. No trouble occurred at all and the fans in attendance, to their credit, called for all supporters to take responsibility in self-regulating good behaviour too.

'The protest has been very positively received by the media in Germany due to its peaceful nature and the exemplary behaviour of the fans involved. No trouble occurred at all and the fans in attendance, to their credit, called for all supporters to take responsibility in self-regulating good behaviour too.'

wow!:nice:

It is with great sadness that we report that former manager and coach Malcolm Allison has passed away aged 83.

Perhaps City’s greatest ever coach, he joined the Blues in 1965 when Joe Mercer brought him to City in the summer of 1965 from Plymouth Argyle where his innovative methods marked him out as a talent with huge potential.

 

Alongside Mercer, ‘Big Mal’ formed a formidable partnership which oversaw the greatest period of success in the club’s history, thanks in no small part to Malcolm’s willingness to try new and often untried training techniques.

 

The Mercer/Allison team helped the Blues secure the League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners' Cup during an unforgettable three-year spell.

 

Later, Malcolm had two separate spells in sole charge of the club and continued to be held in high esteem by players and fans alike, though without Mercer at his side, they proved frustrating periods for such a talented coach.

 

Club Ambassador Mike Summerbee said: “Malcolm changed football by making us train like athletes, in that respect he was ahead of his time and he was a great tactician as well. He was also one of the lads - in effect he was the twelfth player from the sidelines but he knew how to crack the whip and we respected him.

 

“He was a great psychologist; he knew how to handle me and how to get more out of me. He did the same for Colin Bell, Francis Lee, Neil Young and all of that great side.”

 

City Life President and former general secretary Bernard Halford, who knew Malcolm for over 40 years said, “We will never see the likes of him ever again, and he did so much for the club. The signing of Tony Book was a masterstroke, but he enhanced the careers of so many other players and they worshipped him.

 

“You knew he was in a room with you, not many people have that kind of presence but Malcolm did, and he transferred the confidence he had in himself to the team. He felt we could beat anybody and he wanted the players to think that way too.”

 

Flamboyant, brilliant and larger than life, Malcolm will be sorely missed by everyone at the Club and beyond.

 

The Club, whose flags are at half mast, will pay tribute to Malcolm at the forthcoming game against Arsenal. There will also be an appropriate commemoration to his life and work in the memorial garden at the City of Manchester Stadium.

 

You can pay your own tributes to Malcolm on Facebook or email the club at [email protected].

special 1tv is back with a decent episode

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3HIS2o4Sik]YouTube - BBC Comedy - Special 1 TV - The One About Liverpool[/ame]

:thinking:

:inquisitive: