What the Texan failed to mention was the direction the window will be opening, looks like it is in the wrong direction. Now I am thinking that this was all premeditated and he knew back in February that Rafa would be out at the end of the season. My feeling is that they will now appoint an interim manager who most probably will be Sammy Lee. It looks like they do not have anybody lined up and want to leave that decision to whoever buys the club. Not having a permanent manager will also save Hicks and Gillett some money and given that many of the backroom staff will also follow Rafa the club will be left in turmoil until a new manager is in place.
It really shows what a vicious person he can be, not only does he ruin our club but then he taunts us and kicks us while we are down.
OUT NOW!
-Antoine
Action plan for the new Liverpool FC
Summary
Liverpool FC is finished in its current state. Instead, the fans must back a new scheme – based on the AFC concept. The aim would be to recreate a Liverpool FC Mk 2 which would be owned by the fans on a mutual, co-operative basis similar to Barcelona. With the backing of the current huge fan base, over a period of a decade the objective would be for the new club to work its way from non-league to Premiership status.
To facilitate this process Liverpool FC fans worldwide would be informed and educated about this concept and asked to purchase mutual ‘shares’ in the club.
Simultaneously, negotiations would be opened with Liverpool City Council to get them to rescind all arrangements reached with the current owners of Liverpool FC for the use of Stanley Park as the home of a new ground. Instead, the negotiations would aim to the reach an agreement for the transfer of these rights to the new mutually owned Liverpool Mk 2 vehicle.
The basic principle here is that there is no point whatsoever attempting to raise vast sums of money from Liverpool FC fans to purchase the club from its current owners.
The simple fact is that the value of Liverpool FC, as it stands, is based almost entirely on goodwill – aside from a few world-class players, there are no real assets. The ground is old, too small, incapable of further sensible improvement, and reaching the end of its useful life. The value of the land the ground stands on is small if not quite zero. The value of the players is decreasing or close to zero. So far as the few quality players are concerned, the worse the financial plight of the club becomes, the less likely are they to renew their contracts. In practice, the players are less of an asset than a liability due to the high level of their wages and, with just a few exceptions, their limited value in the transfer market.
There is no point seeking new ‘big money’ owners to buy the club from the current owners. Ultimately, their objectives are diametrically opposed to the fans and any such sale – even if it could take place given the intransigence of the current owners and their totally unrealistic valuation – would only delay the inevitable and final demise of the club.
Put simply:
• A 10-year plan should be developed based on the transformation of AFC Liverpool from a non-league club into a Premiership side.
• The ownership of the new club should be along mutual, co-operative ownership lines as with Barcelona.
• Negotiations should start immediately with Liverpool City Council to transfer the rights to build a new stadium on Stanley Park to the AFC Liverpool co-operative.
• Liverpool FC fans worldwide should be informed and educated about this new concept and canvassed to contribute to a multi-million pound fund which would be used to develop the playing staff and build the new stadium.
• The rise of Blackpool from bottom of the football league to Premiership status in less than a decade illustrates that this plan is achievable.
Look to ring the alarm yet. Wait for another 48 hours and see what’s going to happen. I know King Kenny will do it for FREE if he is called upon. And I know the others will step up and help the club if called upon. Don’t be a fear monger now that everything is set in motion.
the previous comment “AFC Liverpool?”….are you nuts, have you lost the plot? we may be in turmoil but to talk about extincting the club is a ridiculous idea to say the least. lets have sensible comments that talk about turning our wonderful club around please!!!!!!
WE NEED TO CAUSE A RIOT AT THE GOUND AND START MAKING THE WORLD TAKE NOTICE OF THE HUGE PROBLEMS AT THE GREAT CLUB, LFC NEED NEW OWNERS AND FANS NEED TO BE UNITED IN GETTING THESE CON MEN OUT…. YANKS OUT,,,,
Actually from all reports Torres and certainly Gerrard, and maybe to a lesser extent Mascherano and Benayoun are more likely to stay now that Benitez seems to be on his way out.
They were all likely to leave if Benitez had stayed since virtually all sources in the club confirm that he had basically lost the players.
I believe if anything positive, out of this, is the fact that it’s easier to rebuild the club around an already established spine that we have right now, than to restart from scratch and from the ground up which Benitez would have had to do if Torres, Gerrard et al had all left as they were likely to.
Gerrard still has a sentimental attachment to Liverpool, both club and city and is more likely to give a King Kenny or someone else like that another chance to help rejuvinate the club. And Torres still has probably another 2-3 years before he hits his peak and is also likely to be more amenable to a fresh start, if it means he doesn’t have to carry the weight of expectations of the club on his shoulders on his own. IF they all left, it would be much much harder to convince established stars to move here, without CL football or stars, which is what Benitez would have to do, and we don’t even have a decent enough Youth system (ala Arsenal or Barcelona) that would allow him to pick promising youths to step into the starting roster ready to produce (El Zar, Spearing, Degen and N’Gog just don’t scream top 4 quality)
Tom hicks and Gillets are bastards and they will never know peace in their whole lives and they will die soon by God’s grace
H&G the American Idiot.
GET LOST.
Well said Fremen, i agree our top players will stay now that Rafa is gone.
They wanted out as the club was going downhill rapidly (5 years of it)
Good to see we have attracted the nutters today.
You mentioned 4 players there freman, what about the rest, what about the constant work Benitez has been doing or where you happy with what previous managers had done youth wise in the past 10 years? And spearing looks great, so does Kelly, Pacheco etc etc
The comment about AFC Liverpool as well, are you crackers mate? I love Liverpool, the city the team everything about it, but I honestly couldn’t see us scousers running a club, there would be too much friction, to many split ends, and who would get the final say? The fella who has the most money? It simply wouldn’t work, and hasn’t worked for some clubs who have done it. Yes Barcelona are a real exeption to this but thats it.
At the end of the day, nothing has been officially said about Benitez leaving/being sacked etc, so until I see a press confrence annoucing it then I don’t believe. The club needs stability right now not this. Even if you believe it will mean Torres and Gerrard will stay, who’s to say that they won’t get rid of them? It’s quite clear they are all about the money, they said they intend to make 4 times they paid. Why not start by selling our assets off, once they give Sammy Lee control (and by control he’ll just sit in the seat next to him at the games) Hicks and Gillet will start putting everything up for sale, to rape the club of everything we have. You’ll see Pacheco, Kelly, Eccleson all going for measly prices, will Torres and Gerrard to the highest bidder.
would killing them make anything better? The club would probably be left to Hicks jr, who would want to get rid of it asap, while he would also have daddy’s life insurance payments to keep him happy. If he did try to bring it down I’d happily kill him too.
lol @ X’s comment
I’m a Liverpool fan from texas and am pretty astonished that you would burn an American flag in protest. What the shite does that have to do with anything? It has to do with them being greedy businessmen aka the majority of millionaires/billionaires. Yes the way they have run the club is poor but rafa coaching is poor. How many times did you see gerrard out of position? Lucas in the midfield? Benayoun out wide? Babel out left ? I mean what the heck people. Instead of being tards and burning flags get behind your club and support who comes in next. Yes it’s been shite all around. 1 down 2 to go but interim quit crying over rafa. He’s an over-analyzing, fat, 4-eyed yokel who called out fergie and got whooped. Time for him to go good riddance.
TxLpoolFan
Your comments re the US flag are in part correct but it was the work of a couple of ignorant morons not the true fanbase who have condemned it as not the Liverpool Way. For you to generalise that act as representing the views and actions of a substantial portion of the fanbase is equally wrong.
Your comments re Rafa are incorrect, disrespectful and also the comments of an ignorant moron.
By the way, Lucas was one of our most effective players last season (OPTA stats)
Whist Rafa may have made mistakes, if you check the facts you’ll find his record given the environment and resources he had is pretty good, he was a true fan of the club and stood up to the owners – you will not believe the disruption his leaving will cause.
Personal attacks against him are disgusting and not the Liverpool Way even if they are the Texas way.
no one is bigger than the club.new start,new owners,new stadium.ynwa
Only ONE way to drive H&G out of our club : STOP money entering their pockets! yes, do not buy any ticket.
sounds rascal?? try another way, and we will always in this state of laughing stuff!
our ultimate power is here in our wallet : our money.
as long long as we SUPLAY H&G with OUR money, that’s the time we unconsciously give them fresh air to breathe
TxLpoolFan – The way you generalise the act of the flag burning as being the ways of true lfc fans is like somebody say that, all americans are, Fat,gready,gun toting,friend killing,brokeback bumming cowboys,lacking history,who think that round balls should only be hit with a bat or sucked &, the only thing you kick are your mothers out of bed. This of course would be wrong & insulting.So do you what I mean ?
No John, I don’t know what you mean. Do speak English… I mean proper English.
I think the best protest would be to successfully unite fanpower in organising a big ‘Operation Boycott’.
1) Nobody buy the new kits.
2) Nobody buys a ticket to the first home game next season.
3) Boycott RBS.
Harsh but necessary.
Well, I knew I would get someone p’ed. Also thanks to comma boy who thinks texans are all gun toting, bum likin cowboys. Jeez guy I know maybe you want to picture it that way (you like bum sex) but really Hicks is just a rich punk regardless of where he’s from. Sorry I disagree about Lucas, no opta stat nonsense is going to make him a top central mid. As for Rafa yea yea he was a good servant to the club but not enough trophies. Also the team was playing so dispirited and sloppy. Players out of position. I could go on and on. It was a time for change. Now who is going to want to come coach this team is the question. I wouldn’t think that would be a problem. This is Liverpool after all. Hopefully the owners are planning to install a proper coach, get new players, and get the team in a positive position for sale.
“Dispelling the Myth”
Source : Taken from an Liverpudlian’s comment in article by Mark Lawrenson…
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2010/05/04/mark-lawrenson-rafael-benitez-s-liverpool-fc-departure-would-just-be-natural-progression-92534-26369598/
Roybeno said :
I. 2004/05
£2m – Josemi: peanuts and was moved on in a swap for Kromkamp 18 months later
£1.5m – Antonio Nunez: part of the Michael Owen deal and filled a gap for a while. Peanuts.
£10.7m – Xabi Alonso: Massive success and sold for £30m+ in the summer when he wanted to leave
£6m – Luis Garcia: Massive success and sold to Athletico Madrid for £4m
Free – Pelligrino: Stop gap that allowed us to rest Sami for league games, benefitting us massively in Istanbul. Now on the coaching staff.
£6.3m – Fernando Morientes: Pretty much everyone made up when we signed him, top class, but never settled. Sold for £3m to Valencia.
£1m – Scott Carson: One the most highly rated young keepers around. Lost out through injury and signing of Reina when Dudek left the club. Sold for £3.25m.
Total bought: £27.5m
Free – Marcus Babbel: Released to Stuttgart at the end of his career.
£2.5m – Danny Murphy: Xabi Alonso signed to fill the role Murphy had in the side
£8.5m – Michael Owen: Wouldn’t sign a new contract and sold before he left on a free. He’s done nothing since that is a masterstroke with hindsight.
Free – Stephane Henchoz: Released to Celtic at the end of his career
Total sold: £11m
A total of £16.5m net spend in his first year at the club, with the vast majority of that being spent on Xabi Alonso.
2004/05 net spend: £16.5m
II. 2005/06
£240,000 – Antonio Barragan: Kid for the future. Sold for £675,000 to Deportivo a year later.
Free – Boudewijn Zenden: Signed for nothing and released for nothing. Did a job for us.
£6m – Pepe Reina: In the top 3 or 4 keepers in the world now and still young. One of Rafa’s best signings.
£5.6m – Momo Sissoko: Brilliant for a few years, had that eye injury and sold to Juventus when his form dipped for £8.2m. Replaced by Mascherano.
£7m – Peter Crouch: One signing I did question but proved to be a great bit of business. Turned him from a laughing stock into an international. Sold for £11m.
Unkown – Miki Roque: Kid bought for peanuts. Sold again for an unknown amount.
£150,000 – Jack Hobbs: Highly rated 16yr old signed from Lincoln. Didn’t progress as hoped and sold to Leicester for a reported £1.5m, although figure not confirmed.
£190,000 Besian Idrizaj: No idea who he is
£1.5m – Mark Gonzales: Cheap player to provide back up for the left wing. Sold for £3.5m to Real Betis.
Exchange – Paul Anderson: Swapped for John Welsh. Sold for £250,000.
Exchange – Jan Kromkamp: Swapped for Josemi. Later sold for £1.75m
£5.8m – Daniel Agger: Blighted by injuries but potentially top class and great signing for the money.
£250,000 – David Martin: Young reserve keeper
Free – Robbie Fowler: Pay as you play deal and no risk involved. Scored a few goals. Released in the summer.
Total bought: £26.73
Free – Vladimir Smicer: Out of contract and released. Played a small part in Istanbul.
£3.5m – El Hadji Diouf: The best £3.5m Rafa has ever recieved.
Free – Pellegrino: Filled the gap in the last 5 months of the previous season, not good enough and released.
£2m – Alou Diarra: Sold for £2m. One of Houllier’s buys.
£2m – Antonio Nunez: Bought for £1.5m and now sold for £2m when didn’t work out.
£6.5m – Milan Baros: A Houllier signing sold at a profit. He’s done nothing since.
Exchange – John Welsh: Swapped for Paul Anderson
Exchange – Josemi: Swapped for Kronkamp.
Total sold: £14m
2005/06 net spend: £12.73m
III. 2006/07
£6m – Craig Bellamy: Good signing and later sold for £7.5m to fund Torres deal.
£2m – Gabriel Palletta: Played a few league cup games, not good enough and sold for £1.2m
Free – Fabio Aurelio: Very injury prone but a good player when fit. Great signing for nothing.
£6.7m – Jermaine Pennant: Second choice after missing out on Alves. Ran his contract down and released. Attitude stank.
£9m – Dirk Kuyt: Has his critics, but has been brilliant for the money. 15 goals last season from wide and vital to the way we play. Ultimate pro. Great signing.
£200,000 – Nabil El Zhar: Few cameos last season and improving. Injured now. Promising still. Peanuts.
£750,000 – Astrit Ajdarevic: No idea who he is, and released on a free to Leicester.
Loan – Daniele Padelli: Reserve keeper, made one appearance and never seen again.
Undisclosed – Jordy Brouwer: Young reserve.
£2.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa: Bargain signing, great service for a few years and sold for £3.5m when running his contract down.
Loan – Javier Mascherano: Rescued from West Ham, now one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and will probably be sold to Barca this summer for a massive profit. Paid £18.6m for him a year later at end of loan deal.
Total bought: £27.15m
£200,000 – Zak Whitbread: Youngster
Undisclosed – Bruno Cheyrou: Houllier flopped, sold for a reported £1.5m.
£3m – Fernando Morientes: Didn’t work out. Cut his losses.
Free – Didi Hamann: Great servant, released at the end of his career
£675,000 – Antonio Barragan: Paid £240,000 for him.
£2m – Djimi Traore: Houllier signing and daylight robbery getting £2m for him
£500,000 – Neil Mellor: Signed as a kid and did a job for a while. Not good enough and released.
£1.75m – Jan Kromkamp: Nunez bought for £2m, swapped for him, who then sold for £1.75m. Stop gaps at minimal expense.
£525,000 – Darren Potter: Acadamy lad, not good enough and robbery getting that much for him.
£1.5m – Steven Warnock: Probably sold to cheap and looks a mistake with hindsight. Good squad player.
Free – Salif Diao: The clearout of Houllier’s flops continues.
Total sold: £10.15m
2006/07 net spend: £17m
IV. 2007/08
£5m – Lucas Leiva: Brazilian player of the year when signed. Could still go either way but a lot to prove.
Undisclosed – Krisztian Nemeth: Promising youngster currently out on loan in Athens.
£270,000 – Mikel San Jose Dominguez: Youngester plays in the reserves.
£1.8m – Sebastian Leto: Left winger signing but refused a work permit. Sold for £3m.
£20.2m – Fernando Torres: Bargain of the century
Free – Andriy Voronin: Free transfer to strengthen the squad. Plays well in Germany, garbage over here.
£5m – Yossi Benayoun: Took a while to settle but now a key player. Superb signing and an absolute bargain.
£11.5m – Ryan Babel: Highly rated dutch international. Absolute waste of space. Bad signing on reflection, but nobody knows how he’ll turn out. Still got potential but he can’t be arsed.
Undisclosed – Charles Itandje: Back up keeper signed for peanuts. Now released.
£1.3m – Emiliano Insua: Youngster who is now a full Argentinian international and massive potential. Bargain.
£6.5m – Martin Skrtel: Been off form this season so far, but brilliant last year and a good signing for the money.
£18.6m – Javier Mascherano: Completion of loan deal
Total bought: £70.7m
£2.7m – Florent Simana-Pongolle: Houllier youngster sold wanting first team football.
£100,000 – Daniel O’Donnell: Kid sold
Free – Jerzy Dudek: Released at end of contract
Free – Zenden: Released at end of contract
Free – Robbie Fowler: Released at end of contract
£4m – Luis Garcia: Wanted to return to Spain. Great service.
£6m – Djibril Cisse: Houllier signing sold to part fund Torres deal.
£7.5m – Craig Bellamy: Sold at profit to part fund Torres deal
£3.5m – Mark Gonzales: Signed for £1.5m and sold when didn’t work out.
£1.2m – Gabriel Palletta: Bought for £2m but never worked out. Young defender.
£3.5m – Chris Kirkland: Houllier signing. Injury prone and wanted first team football.
£8.2m – Momo Sissoko: Great signing, good service, sold when lost his form at a profit.
Total sold: £36.7m
2007/08 net spend: £34m
V. 2008/09
Free – Philip Degen: Garbage, but free.
£7m – Andrea Dossena: Italian international left back. Hasn’t settled. Bad signing.
£3.5m – Diego Cavalieri: Reserve keeper. Only played league cup games so far.
£1.5m – David N’gog: Young French striker. Promising.
£19m – Robbie Keane: Everyone made up when we signed him. Didn’t work out and sold back to Spurs for £16m.
£8m – Albert Riera: Spanish international. Started well but jury still out.
Total bought: £39m
£4m – John Arne Riise: Good servant but form tailed off. Snapped their hands off at £4m.
Free – Harry Kewell: Harry who?
Undisclosed – Anthony Le Tallec: Houllier youngster finally released. Fee not known.
£11m – Peter Crouch: Laughing stock bought for £7m. Great signing. Wanted first team football.
£2.25m – Danny Guthrie: Youngster from Acadamy thought not good enough.
£3.25m – Scott Carson: Injury prone and Reina now first choice. Sold at profit.
Undisclosed – Steve Finnan: Sold for a fee believed to be £1m
£16m – Robbie Keane: Didn’t work out.
Undisclosed – Jack Hobbs: Young defender that didn’t progress. Sold for believed to £1.5m.
Total sold: £36.5m
2008/09 net spend: £2.5m
VI. 2009/10
£17.5m – Glen Johnson: high fee but been brilliant so far.
£17.1m – Alberto Aquilani: Injured so far but meant to be a class act. Highly rated in Italy.
£2m – Sotirios Kyrgiakos: Last minute signing to fill Hyypia’s shoes. Only money we had to spend.
£160,000 – Daniel Ayala: Young defender, played a few times this season and looked promising.
Total bought: £36.76m
£250,000 – Paul Anderson: Youngster that didn’t progess.
Free – Jermaine Pennant: Out of contract. Poor signing.
Free – Miki Roque: No idea who he is. Bought for peanuts.
£3m – Sebastian Leto: Signed for £1.8m but didn’t get a work permit. Had to sell.
£3.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa: Wanted to leave and out of contract in the summer.
£30m – Xabi Alonso: Wanted to leave. Bought for £10.7m. Great signing.
Total sold: £36.75m
2009/10 net spend: £10,000
Total Players Bought: £228,976,000
Total Players Sold: £145,100,000
Total Net Spend: £83,876,000
So, that’s a total spend of just over £83m in 5 years at the club, an average of £16.6m a year.
The vast majority of his signings have been sold at profit, or if still at the club, are worth a lot more than we paid for them. Exceptions being Babel and Dossena, but we’ll still get decent fees for them when sold as they’re full internationals.
A lot of the signings above have been stepping stones in rebuilding the squad, gradually improving it by replacing players with better ones. Our league positions over the past 5 years and the improvement in our league positions and points totals show the progression.
2004/05: Finished 5th – 58 pts
2005/06: Finished 3rd – 82 pts
2006/07: Finished 3rd – 68 pts
2007/08: Finished 4th – 76 pts
2008/09: Finished 2nd – 86 pts
Is it any coincidence that the progression seems to have stopped this summer? Look at the transfer activity above for this year and it might explain why.
Look at our net spend over the past 2 years!
We have a wage bill that is the 5th highest in the league. We can’t afford to pay players £70,000 to be sat on the bench like United and Chelsea can.
Rafa Benitez’ record with signings at the top end of the market is nothing short of brilliant. Robbie Keane being the only flop, but he was sold 6 months later and only a small financial hit taken on that mistake. Rick Parry agreed the fee for buying him in the first place, and common knowledge Rafa wasn’t happy with it; feeling it was far too high.
Where has this myth come from that he’s wasted money on bad players? Have a look through the lists above and try to point them out. There isn’t many.
The ones that haven’t worked out he’s moved on, and not very often has he made a financial loss on them.
The squad is now worth a hell of a lot more than the one he inherited, and that £83m net spend over 5 years is easily offset by the increased value of the squad. He’d recoup nearly all of that through the sale of Torres alone!
He’s worked absolute wonders with the money he’s had to spend. Then take into account the massive amounts of money he’s self generated by reaching the latter stages of the CL every season. Two final appearances, one win. That £83m he’s spent he’s earned the right to spend.
And when comparing it to what United have spent in the same period is flawed, as they already had a title winning squad and all the foundations in place. They weren’t rebuilding from scratch like we were. It also doesn’t take into account their massive wage bill.
When comparing to Chelsea, they spent all their money before Rafa came to the club and just topping up an already established squad.
Man City have spent more than double in the past 12 months than Rafa Benitez has in his 5 year reign.
Do some people still want to get rid of him? If so, you’ve been listening to Andy Gray and Richard Keys for too much and unable to look at the facts yourself to form an opinion, then by all means…YES.
Every manager makes tactical mistakes. Every manager makes mistakes in the transfer market. Despite what the press seems to think; Rafael Benitez appears to make less mistakes than most.
We’re expected to win the league and European Cup on a budget and wage bill that is entitled to finish 4th or 5th in the league. We’ve been overachieving under Rafael Benitez, not underachieving.
I’m not even going to mention the environment he’s working in under them two clowns.
You’ll only miss him when he’s gone….
I see a few of you have come up with what I posted last year in October. Drastic measures are the only way and I muted to NOT buy tickets at all to see the games. I also said and stand by this…The outline plan of the 2 Americans will be as follows:-
Stage 1 Get rid of Benitez (does stand up to them so must go)…
Stage 2 Sell Torres+Gerard (£120M +/-) Masch+others(£80M +/-)…
Stage 3 Use £200M to lower debts…
Stage 4 Sell club at substantial profit to them…
Stage 5 Sit in Texas sipping Tequila Sunrise’s laughing…
All this to show you can make monkeys out of the public if you don’t mind a little abuse now and then AND come away with a business profit. This is a business folks! Thats’ all.