John Henry bids for Liverpool FC

[Alonso]

Well, to answer your question, then, sir, what NESV has done for the Red Sox is restore one of the oldest and most historic franchises in the history of a baseball to a glory she had not seen in 86 years with a World Series win in 2004, and then did it again 3 years later in 2007. Before that the Red Sox hadn't won it all since 1917, we'd had good clubs but had never managed to seal the deal. We were a bit of a joke for that reason.

 

Not only that, but they're filling Fenway Park every night for most of their tenure, and the Red Sox have become a national and even (thanks in part to the signing of famous Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka) an international brand under their watch. So in terms of both prestige and on-field success the turnaround of the Red Sox has been remarkable under Henry's ownership. And if there's a bit of a black miasma hanging over your franchise that makes you feel defensive, not to worry, we had that too, not just Babe Ruth's "curse" but also the stench of racism from a generation ago, back when the Red Sox were among the last teams in baseball, possibly the very last of all, to integrate players of color

 

A decade ago the Red Sox were a midmarket franchise with a few talented players but nowhere near enough to make a run at anything meaningful more than once in awhile. Henry brought in Theo Epstein who brought the player development system up to date and in some senses beyond, was very aggressive in the draft and promoted existing prospects such as Kevin Youkilis who is now a key franchise player along with the players he himself has drafted and developed, such as Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. These decisions were Epstein's, but the decision to hang the franchise on Epstein was Henry's, and it turned out to be a brilliant one. He hasn't exactly run the team with one hand on his wallet either, and team payroll has about trebled since he came on.

 

I would expect him to do the same or an appropriate equivalent for Liverpool FC, bring in the best British football mind he could find, and trust him to run the day-to-day operations, and do his work in the area of cleaning up the team's presentation and what it makes of itself to the world, if that makes any sense to you.

 

If he carries that emphasis into Liverpool, what you can expect to see him try to do is clean house, restore respectability, and try to build from the fundamentals of your sport, develop players while they're young and cheap, and base his decisions on the word of the best advisers and scouts he can find. It'll take him a little while to find his feet, but if he gets the team and finds a good head coach/GM/whatever you guys call the person who handles personnel decisions for a team, he'll do his part and you'll have yourself a good sports franchise.

 

Thanks for the response, mate. Appreciate you taking the time.

[JohnShaft]

Have Liverpool FCcome play the Revs (New England Revolution' date=' our MLS team) during exhibition season. God knows the Revs could use the interest. It'd be something to see, even if the Revs did get flattened. If you want to see soccer thrive in America, bringing in good European clubs and exhibitioning them against Major League Soccer teams is one of the ways to give it a quick boost. I bet we'd be willing to reciprocate for British baseball, if such a thing exists.[/quote']

 

They play rounders which is the same thing, well schoolkids do and girls, never men.

[Steinsvaag]

I am crushed,

 

For me, the love of baseball and football (soccer) is huge.

 

Have seen every game of the Red Sox on MLB.tv last seasons. Now, Henry plans to buy Liverpool? For me, as a Newcastle fan, this is like the end of the word.

 

Keeping with DonegalSox in this case.

 

 

Let`s Go Red Sox

[superjay]

Have the Liverpool come play the Revs (New England Revolution' date=' our MLS team) during exhibition season. God knows the Revs could use the interest. It'd be something to see, even if the Revs did get flattened. If you want to see soccer thrive in America, bringing in good European clubs and exhibitioning them against Major League Soccer teams is one of the ways to give it a quick boost.[/quote']

 

Might well happen this summer. One of our favourite al time legends stevie nicol (chico to those who remember him) is the coach of the revs.

[superjay]

I am crushed,

 

For me, the love of baseball and football (soccer) is huge.

 

Have seen every game the Red Sox on MLB.tv last seasons. Now, Henry plans to buy Liverpool? For me, as a Newcastle fan, this is like the end of the word.

 

Keeping with DonegalSox in this case.

 

 

Let`s Go Red Sox

 

I'm very sorry, my thoughts are with your family at this hard time! :harhar:

[JohnShaft]

I am crushed,

 

For me, the love of baseball and football (soccer) is huge.

 

Have seen every game of the Red Sox on MLB.tv last seasons. Now, Henry plans to buy Liverpool? For me, as a Newcastle fan, this is like the end of the word.

 

Keeping with DonegalSox in this case.

 

 

Let`s Go Red Sox

 

barcodes, such a big club <_>

[Dojji]

I do think the MLS experiment is taking root. Soccer isn't as foreign in the States as it used to be. Getting shafted in our efforts to host a World Cup didn't help matters though, one would think the world soccer community would be interested in getting a market as large and active as the US on board. I guess it's just a reverse of the metric system thing with everyone used to the status quo and no one really all that interested in letting it change. I wish they'd just shrug and get it over with, America go metric and Europe get used to the idea that some Americans actually watch soccer. (even if we do call it a strange name for the sake of clarity with another better established sport with a similar name)

[dafurf]

lmao!! thats never going to happen fella! the Americans couldnt give a shite about anything outside of doodle-dandy land as Im sure you will soon discover!

 

A nation raised by what they see on tv. to these people you on this forum are simply another stereo type with a "core-blimey" accent! you must live in London (surely Liverpool must be a suburb of London) they wouldnt know the real world if it blew up around them!!

 

When I travelled around the USA a few years back everyone was nice and friendly until I opened my mouth and they s*** a brick! they couldnt figure the accent for the life of them and when I told them I was British they were having none of it!! I was either Australian, or from some unknown utopia they happened to invent at the time! and dont give me the old "but theyre not all the same" palava cos the ones I met, ALL OF THEM, were the most cluless people Ive ever seen!!

 

Yes I can be a bigott to but at least Im English!

Your an idiot.

[JohnShaft]

6 October 2010

 

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 as NESV have confirmed they will sell their interest's in Baseball to start a soccer revolution in America tied up with The Premier Leagues 39th game idea mooted around previously. It is thought that the Premier League will sanction the sale on condition the Boston Red Sox are sold prior to NESV taking control at Liverpool Football Club.

 

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

[Dojji]

Gonna say this without referring to Wiki or Mapquest, see how I do.

 

Liverpool is as I recall it in the northwest of England, a former shipbuilding industrial city which still does a lot of business of the making-things-out-of-steel type. It has a very old reputation as a factory and blue collar town and was much involved in not just the building of ships, but also had a fair-sized harbor of its own and did a lot of shipping and still handles a lot of seagoing traffic. It's actually not really all that close to London, and is in fact on the diagonal opposite corner of England from London if I remember my facts right, not all that far from the old Scottish border though not quite a real border coommunitty

 

How close did I get?

[superjay]

Close enough. Its about midway between london and scotland though.

 

Massive Irish contingent also.

[Dojji]

Ahh. I like to pride myself in thinking I know a little about the world although I've never travelled, good to know I was close. I used to think Liverpool was somewhere near Portsmouth, got disabused of that one rather emphatically at some point.

[Redder Lurtz]

Afternoon all. Liverpool supporter here.

 

There seems to be a bit of bad feeling between some of the Liverpool supporters who've registered here and some of the Red Sox faithful. That's not why the majority of us are here, believe me. We're very interested in your owners and your feelings towards their commitment to your club as we've been in dire straits in recent years thanks to the leveraged buy-out of our club by Hicks & Gillett. It's been a grim, grim few years and hopefully we're seeing that back of that now.

 

There's some wild presumptions being made in this thread; not leat that we'll need a billion pounds to sort the club out or that it's not a profitable business. My understanding is that your owner, with a cobnsortium of 17 independent backers, are pouring something in the region of ?300m into Liverpool FC which will pay off the crippling debt those two have racked up. That immediately frees ?40m a year in interest payments which will, we hope, be made available for player transfers. There are also plans for a new / redeveloped stadium which will be financed over many years and will likely include a naming rights deal, generating significant income in addition to the additional ticket sales. Then there's the merchandising side of the business which will now be able to flourish as there have been a LOT of supporters refusing to buy merchandise while H&G were in charge at the club.

 

As for Alan Sugar claiming there's no money in Football. The thing you have to bear in mind about Alan Sugar is that he loves nothing better than the sound of his own voice and his ego. Liverpool FC are the most successful football club in the UK and are a highly profitable concern as things stand, even without the added investment headed our way. You guys don't need to worry about the stability of your club in connection with this buy-out. It sounds to me like you have very good owners and I'd like to think we can strike a firm alliance. We have millions of supporters all over the world and this can only serve to help promote your good name as well as our own.

 

As for the burning of the American flag, in my opinion that was a mistake but it will not have been done to piss off Americans in general or to disrespect anyone. It'll have been a publicity stunt to draw media attention to the plight of the club suffering under the two Americans who have all but destroyed us. Nevertheless it's not anything I'd have involved myself in and whilst I'm unable to apologise on behalf of those who carried out the act, you have my sympathy.

 

One more thing - we have differing cultures and differing tastes in entertainment and sports. I think we should respect that especially whilst visiting these boards and I apologise for the utter mongs who are slating your sport.

[Dojji]

Don't worry buddy we know what a troll is and it's nothing we haven't seen before. Welcome, and good luck to Liverpool FC.

[JohnShaft]

See there you go letting yourself down with that last line. Mong is not a word that should be used, ever. Care to explain what it means?

[Emmz]

Well, to answer your question, then, sir, what NESV has done for the Red Sox is restore one of the oldest and most historic franchises in the history of a baseball to a glory she had not seen in 86 years with a World Series win in 2004, and then did it again 3 years later in 2007. Before that the Red Sox hadn't won it all since 1917, we'd had good clubs but had never managed to seal the deal. We were a bit of a joke for that reason.

 

Not only that, but they're filling Fenway Park every night for most of their tenure, and the Red Sox have become a national and even (thanks in part to the signing of famous Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka) an international brand under their watch. So in terms of both prestige and on-field success the turnaround of the Red Sox has been remarkable under Henry's ownership. And if there's a bit of a black miasma hanging over your franchise that makes you feel defensive, not to worry, we had that too, not just Babe Ruth's "curse" but also the stench of racism from a generation ago, back when the Red Sox were among the last teams in baseball, possibly the very last of all, to integrate players of color

 

A decade ago the Red Sox were a midmarket franchise with a few talented players but nowhere near enough to make a run at anything meaningful more than once in awhile. Henry brought in Theo Epstein who brought the player development system up to date and in some senses beyond, was very aggressive in the draft and promoted existing prospects such as Kevin Youkilis who is now a key franchise player along with the players he himself has drafted and developed, such as Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. These decisions were Epstein's, but the decision to hang the franchise on Epstein was Henry's, and it turned out to be a brilliant one. He hasn't exactly run the team with one hand on his wallet either, and team payroll has about trebled since he came on.

 

I would expect him to do the same or an appropriate equivalent for Liverpool FC, bring in the best British football mind he could find, and trust him to run the day-to-day operations, and do his work in the area of cleaning up the team's presentation and what it makes of itself to the world, if that makes any sense to you.

 

If he carries that emphasis into Liverpool, what you can expect to see him try to do is clean house, restore respectability, and try to build from the fundamentals of your sport, develop players while they're young and cheap, and base his decisions on the word of the best advisers and scouts he can find. It'll take him a little while to find his feet, but if he gets the team and finds a good head coach/GM/whatever you guys call the person who handles personnel decisions for a team, he'll do his part and you'll have yourself a good sports franchise.

 

This.

 

Btw, welcome to all of the soccer fans. lol

[jacksonianmarch]

lmao!! thats never going to happen fella! the Americans couldnt give a shite about anything outside of doodle-dandy land as Im sure you will soon discover!

 

A nation raised by what they see on tv. to these people you on this forum are simply another stereo type with a "core-blimey" accent! you must live in London (surely Liverpool must be a suburb of London) they wouldnt know the real world if it blew up around them!!

 

When I travelled around the USA a few years back everyone was nice and friendly until I opened my mouth and they s*** a brick! they couldnt figure the accent for the life of them and when I told them I was British they were having none of it!! I was either Australian, or from some unknown utopia they happened to invent at the time! and dont give me the old "but theyre not all the same" palava cos the ones I met, ALL OF THEM, were the most cluless people Ive ever seen!!

 

Yes I can be a bigott to but at least Im English!

 

Ah yes, because you obviously saw all of America. The 50 states and all. And every single one is absolutely the same and every person is a stereotypical idiot. Of course.

 

Listen man, our country is massive, and incredibly regional in terms of their values, intelligence, acceptance, etc. Labelling a massive country with such different regions as a single entity is just wrong. Enjoy living in England. One day I hope to visit.

[superjay]

Well we do have one thing in common is that we are mental about our teams. Similarity probably stops there.

 

I'm gonna take an interest in the sox from now on. I have been to a game before but that was in 2001 and it was in oakland to see the A's take on the Mariners.

[Emmz]

Woah, what's up with all of the walls of text.

[Dojji]

Ah yes, because you obviously saw all of America. The 50 states and all. And every single one is absolutely the same and every person is a stereotypical idiot. Of course.

 

Listen man, our country is massive, and incredibly regional in terms of their values, intelligence, acceptance, etc. Labelling a massive country with such different regions as a single entity is just wrong. Enjoy living in England. One day I hope to visit.

 

You'd think the folk in Liverpool would get that, considering how often people react to all Brits based on what a Londoner does.

[Alonso]

Yeah you'll have an influx of ill-informed internet warriors in the coming days. People who wouldnt know a Yaz from a Youk.

[FrankM]

 

Re: John Henry bids for Liverpool FC

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Quote:

6 October 2010

 

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 as NESV have confirmed they will sell their interest's in Baseball to start a soccer revolution in America tied up with The Premier Leagues 39th game idea mooted around previously. It is thought that the Premier League will sanction the sale on condition the Boston Red Sox are sold prior to NESV taking control at Liverpool Football Club.

 

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

 

 

What is the source of this pal. Interesting if true

[Dojji]

Or a Tito from a Tek, for that matter. We're aware by now and fully braced for it.

[Dojji]

It's done, pending league approval.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/oct/06/liverpool-sale-american-owners

[Alonso]

It's done, pending league approval.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/oct/06/liverpool-sale-american-owners

 

The top quote that The Guardian has there from a Red Sox forum is hopefully the minority and not the majority.

[JohnShaft]

Re: John Henry bids for Liverpool FC

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Quote:

6 October 2010

 

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 as NESV have confirmed they will sell their interest's in Baseball to start a soccer revolution in America tied up with The Premier Leagues 39th game idea mooted around previously. It is thought that the Premier League will sanction the sale on condition the Boston Red Sox are sold prior to NESV taking control at Liverpool Football Club.

 

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

 

 

What is the source of this pal. Interesting if true

 

Sporting intelligence, google them, they do background checks on the latest stories. They exposed Ken Huangs lack of money first.

[SlasherB]

Have Liverpool FCcome play the Revs (New England Revolution' date=' our MLS team) during exhibition season. God knows the Revs could use the interest. It'd be something to see, even if the Revs did get flattened. If you want to see soccer thrive in America, bringing in good European clubs and exhibitioning them against Major League Soccer teams is one of the ways to give it a quick boost. I bet we'd be willing to reciprocate for British baseball, if such a thing exists.[/quote']

 

Stevie Nicol is the manager of the Revs. A LFC Legend!

[Red_Success]

Gonna say this without referring to Wiki or Mapquest, see how I do.

 

Liverpool is as I recall it in the northwest of England, a former shipbuilding industrial city which still does a lot of business of the making-things-out-of-steel type. It has a very old reputation as a factory and blue collar town and was much involved in not just the building of ships, but also had a fair-sized harbor of its own and did a lot of shipping and still handles a lot of seagoing traffic. It's actually not really all that close to London, and is in fact on the diagonal opposite corner of England from London if I remember my facts right, not all that far from the old Scottish border though not quite a real border coommunitty

 

How close did I get?

 

Fairly accurate there Dojji, mainly famed for the Beatles, the football club, and their passionate fans (Scousers) who are proud of the boast they are "Scouse not English". Scouse as a dialect is predominently influenced by the Irish descendants from the Great Potato Famine. I have difficulty identifying a scouse accent from a northern Irish accent, very similar. Some of the most friendly and rooted folks you could meet, incredibly humorous too. There will no doubt, however, be some comments in here from opponent clubs fans attempting to de-rail a Red Sox / Liverpool friendship.

Fortunately most people are better than that, and understand sport and passion.:thumbsup:

[JohnShaft]

Why isn't anybody talking about slavery, thats where we made the big money from

[SlasherB]

Why isn't anybody talking about slavery' date=' thats where we made the big money from[/quote']

 

Not worth your comments on this mate.

(Unless this is some scouse far left humor?)