LFCKEV71

PURSLOW interview, Sunday 10 October 2010 Garry Richardson: “Christian, good morning to you.” Christian Purslow: “Morning Garry.” . GR: “Take us through how you set up this deal with NESV. Did they approach you? How did it happen?” CP: “Yes, they approached us, there’s nothing particularly unusual about that. As is widely known, the company has been for sale since Easter and NESV, with their advisors, approached us, as many have done. But unlike many others, their approach was serious from the first minute and they have done their work and ended up making a binding offer for the club.” . GR: “You say serious from the first minute. So when you’re starting negotiations, you get that feeling straight away that the deal has potential?” CP: “Yes, I think you do. They met our chairman [Martin Broughton]. He was immediately struck with the seriousness. I’m a great believer that actions speak louder than words and the entire senior management team of NESV came to Liverpool, spent a large amount of time in the club doing their work, and those are important signs of people’s seriousness in the transaction business.” . GR: “You said to me before on this programme that the buyer had to right for Liverpool. You were adamant that you wouldn’t sell to someone who might be offering lots of money if you didn’t feel they were the right person to run the club. Why do you think [NESV’s] John Henry and Tom Werner are the right me to deal with?” CP: “Well, it’s not for me to do a commercial for them. They will speak for themselves if and when this transaction completes. But yes, there are important ingredients. I think I’ve also said to you in the past, speaking personally, my total priority in the last year or so has been to try and find a way to reduce or remove the debt which has been put on this club, and which has been a cloud since February 07. “I think it’s wrong that a football club, it’s not like another business, I think it’s wrong that we should have so much of the money that comes through the turnstile or through our commercial activity go to pay interest on loans, particularly loans that were used to buy a business. “So for me, a bidder who has been willing to, with cash, rid us of all this long-term debt is by far the largest and most important priority in evaluating bids. And I know our fans have been very concerned in the past that perhaps that was not known when the last sale was done. “I can assure you: we’ve done our homework and NESV are buying this business with cash and clearing us of this debt, which transforms our financial position overnight.” . GR: “It’s good to hear that and I’m sure the Liverpool fans listening will be encouraged by that line you’ve given us. John Henry and Tom Werner, though – why do they want to buy Liverpool?” CP: “Well I think it’s a combination of business and maybe emotion. They are a very successful company and they have a number of sporting interests but it’s been well documented that they purchased the Boston Red Sox nearly 10 years ago, and I think they see a number of parallels with the Red Sox when they purchased them, and Liverpool today. “The word that jumps off the page every time we sit with them is ‘winning’. And I think they see, obviously, that winning on the field is very linked to how you perform commercially off the field. They go hand in hand. It’s extremely enjoyable to make sports clubs more successful. Whether you are poor or a rich sports fan, winning is great fun and I sense both of those things when we meet with these people.” . GR: “There is a suggestion this morning, as I’m sure you know, that if Liverpool were to go into administration and have nine points deducted, then NESV would pull out of the deal. A source close to the American investment group says the club going into administration would be a ‘deal breaker’. What’s your reaction to that line this morning?” CP: “I’m not even contemplating administration and nobody should be. Last Monday, we had two very good offers to buy our business that would clear all our debts and I’m completely focused on making sure that the sale completes.” . GR: “So come what may, NESV will carry on with their purchase even if Liverpool were deducted [nine points]? You don’t think that will happen, but NESV, from your understanding, will carry on, Christian?” CP: “I have not discussed that possibility with them. I am completely focused on the sale.” . GR: “And tell us why you think administration won’t happen. Just spell out that for the Liverpool fans listening.” CP: “As I say, we are focused this week on making sure the sale of the club, for a very attractive price, completes, and that is our complete focus.” . GR: “Are NESV a company who will provide large amounts of money for signing new players? Give us what background you can on that, please.” CP: “Well I think it’s simple. They want to win. They are not going to be making hostages to fortune, certainly not going to be giving numbers into the public domain, but a couple of things have come out in our discussions. “Obviously the first and most important is, again, they see a parallel to their experience in baseball and whilst I think many of those comparisons might not work, I think it’s difficult to argue that investment in players is a key component of success in most professional sport. That was the approach they took with Boston and that is the approach I’m sure they will take with Liverpool. And you don’t spend ?300m pounds on buying a sports team for it to be a mediocre team.” . GR: “No, and having spent that much money, will they be owners that will want to attend quite a lot of matches, so you think?” CP: “Well I think so. Again, for the same reason, I think if you have made such a serious investment and taken so much time, if they buy Liverpool I would expect them to be very visible around the business. They’re serious people, they’re deadly serious about wanting to succeed. I can’t imagine they’ll be hands off for one minute.” . GR: “How do you go about repairing the damage that’s been done by Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks, Christian?” CP: “Well I think one area is that our fans have felt totally disenfranchised by the experience of the last three years. One thing I really liked about NESV the minute we met them is they’re really serious about the importance of engaging with their fans and I think when you look at their approach to their business in America that’s something that they take seriously. “So I’ve asked them to consider a scheme at our club that will give our fans a real sense of ownership, a real sense of inclusion, the kind of voice, if you like, that frankly they deserve. And NESV have told us they’ll look at this very seriously if they complete. “It’s not been easy with the current owners. Tensions have been high and so that side of things has been difficult. But now that we have potential new ownership, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to make sure our fans never again feel so disenfranchised. It’s the way forward for professional football in England.” . GR: “That’s a very interesting line. You say you want to give the fans a voice and a sense of ownership. Can you elaborate a bit more. What do you mean?” CP: “Well, no more than that. There are various ways to do this, and I’m sure they’ll all be considered seriously after a transaction. But one or two clubs have gone down that line already. I was very impressed with what Arsenal recently announced. [More here on that story] “As I say, the most important principle is that fans need to feel that they have a means to express their views and to be listened to. And the sense of ownership obviously is the most extreme example of that, but there are many forms and many shapes to these ideas. The important point is one of principle, engaging with our fans, particularly Liverpool fans, and, remember, that’s all I am. That’s a very important ingredient I think.” . GR: “How do you feel about what Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett have done to Liverpool?” CP: “Well I’m sorry, I don’t personalise it at all. But I do feel right now that they do have an opportunity. One simple, short correspondence today can allow a sale to complete and that would clear the club of all the acquisition debt and would give us a massive lift before the Everton game [next weekend]. “[That would give] a really fresh start, frankly, and real hope for our fans and our players that we can get back to the top. That’s in their gift and that might enable them to leave with some dignity and some peace rather than precipitating a messy dispute. So I hope they’ll think about that.” . GR: “Unlikely, though.” CP: “I don’t know.” . GR: “Really?” CP: “I don’t know.” . GR: “How do you reflect on recent results for Liverpool, Christian?” CP: “Well, it’s been a disappointing start to the season, there’s no doubt about that. We just haven’t been able to get any rhythm yet. But I must say there has been some important mitigating factors. It’s been a very unusual start to the season. “We had a large number of our players back very late. We’ve had three international breaks already and it’s barely October. And of course we changed our manager and have some new players. “So those three together mean that Roy just really hasn’t had much time with the players to do the week-in, week-out stuff that is his trademark. And so he’ll start to have that now. “I think we also need to keep some perspective. We are five points behind Arsenal, who are in the Champions League spots. I would ask people to be patient and supportive. These are trademark qualities of Liverpool, both our fans and our management, and I urge people to provide those.” . GR: “No doubt that Roy Hodgson is an outstanding manager and you make a sensible point about being five points behind Arsenal. Also in many of the papers this morning there is a suggestion that Roy Hodgson has a clause in his contract that would release him if the new owners want to employ their own manager. Your comment on that, please?” CP: “Well the first thing I would say is it’s absolutely wrong to discuss anybody’s contract in public on radio on a Sunday morning. But in case you think I’m trying to avoid the question, I must say there’s nothing in Roy’s contract that is not totally standard under the LMA guidelines.” . GR: “And you believe Hodgson will be part of the new set-up when NESV take over?” CP: “Absolutely.” . GR: “Just a couple of final points. The situation with the new ground when the new people come in? What would happen there? Can you tell us that?” CP: “Well a key part of their interest in Liverpool has been to try and improve the experience of our fans on match day. We all know that for far, far too long, too many of our fans have been unable to get in to watch the team on match day. “Now we’ve shown NESV all the plans around the stadium that we have full planning permission for in Stanley Park. They know how strongly we as a management team believe this is the way forward. They’ve been very impressed by that. I think it’s been a key ingredient in attracting them to Liverpool. “I think a bit too much has been made this week into the fact that when they bought the Red Sox in Boston they refurbished the existing stadium. In fact the very same ownership group in two previous teams built new stadia, in Baltimore and San Diego. “So I think it’s simple. Given that a new owner will be paying for a new stadium, it’s entirely reasonable and their prerogative that when they get here, they want to pull up the carpets, look in fine-tune detail at what we’re proposing, and make their final decision. But one thing is crystal clear: they want to increase the capacity of Liverpool football club.” . Henry Winter [interjecting]: “Christian, it’s Henry, Good morning. I’m just interested to know your view on the current owners. In your long history in working in business, have you met such an unappealing character as Tom Hicks before?” CP: “Henry, it’s nice to talk to you, and I fully understand the question but I’m not going to discuss or entertain personal questions.” . Henry Winter: “But you love Liverpool football club, and he clearly doesn’t.” CP: “I do love Liverpool football club and I think there’s probably been times when our current owners loved the football club. But I’d rather speak for myself. “I do and I have a wonderful set of colleagues at Liverpool who do as well, all of whom would like the cloud to be lifted over our club. And that cloud is one of uncertainty, our business being more talked about than our football and the biggest cloud of all which is debt, which is draining our club of resources that should be on the pitch. “So yes, I came here to try and help lift that cloud. My colleagues – both my executive colleague and my chairman Martin [broughton] – have really stepped up to try and lift that cloud this week and I really hope we’re successful in doing so.” . GR: “So to sum up, Christian, in a crucial week to sum up, you definitely believe that the club will not go into administration? CP: “I’m not in the prediction business but what I’ve told you is my focus this week is making sure a tremendous sale completes, as we sought to do last Monday.” . GR: “And you’re pretty confident that the deal with NESV, that will go through?” CP: “Yes, I am

Lord Grabiner Off The Bench In Liverpool Fight http://blogs.news.sky.com/kleinman/Post:1865d5d5-ad2e-4352-aa8b-de00c61e750b Lord Grabiner QC, one of Britain's most eminent legal brains, is being lined up to represent Liverpool Football Club in the court battle that could determine the club’s future. I have learned that Martin Broughton, Liverpool's chairman, is set to call on Lord Grabiner to help secure a so-called declaratory judgement from the High Court that last week's deal to sell the club was legitimate. The case, which is likely to be heard on Tuesday or Wednesday, has acquired additional significance since New England Sports Ventures (NESV) indicated this weekend that it may pull out of the deal if Liverpool are docked nine Premier League points as a consequence of going into administration. To recap the drama since I revealed last week that Liverpool was to be sold to the owner of the Boston Red Sox: Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the club’s current owners, are seeking to block the ?300m sale to NESV on the grounds that the agreement to do so was not valid; and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Liverpool’s main creditor, is working frantically on a way to avoid placing the club’s parent company into administration even as it prepares to call in the loans it is owed by the two Americans. It’s far from clear whether NESV, owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, would walk away from a deal about which it says it is passionate to complete. Let me explain why. Liverpool’s torrid start to the season has left it with just six points and in the relegation zone. While it’s still early days, a nine-point penalty would leave it on minus three points. That would clearly make qualifying for next season’s Champions League a tall order. But I would still wager that few football experts would expect Liverpool not to escape relegation over the course of another thirty games. In that case, the immediate quantifiable cost of administration may be the ?20m of revenue or so that clubs derive from Champions League participation. And it may be that NESV is able to negotiate with RBS and Broughton some form of price cut which still makes the deal economically attractive to it. Still, it would be foolish to dismiss the idea that NESV will walk away, a move that would plunge Liverpool into even further chaos. So it’s certainly possible to argue that Liverpool’s most important player during the next week will be a 65 year-old lawyer, rather than its talismanic 26 year-old Spanish striker Fernando Torres. Liverpool fans will be hoping that Lord Grabiner is more successful in the High Court than Torres has been on the pitch so far this season. Liverpool declined to comment today.

CONFLICTING REPORTS Deal under threat http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6437201,00.html Deal will go through even if 9 pts are deducted http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=831246&sec=england&cc=5739

new owners should not expect red carpet – the fans are still too angry http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8053085/Liverpool-takeover-new-owners-should-not-expect-red-carpet-the-fans-are-still-too-angry.html By Jay McKenna, spokesman for Spirit of Shankly They will arrive at the club after three years under probably the worst owners in our history and one of the most unpopular regimes in football. Fans are hurt, damaged, angry and upset at what Tom Hicks and George Gillett have done to our club, and it is only natural they will be cautious that whoever replaces them may yet do the same. Related ArticlesBroughton: points loss fear 'catastrophic' Liverpool debt at heart of court battle Why would anyone want to buy Liverpool? We have had promises for the last three years. Now what matters is that we have owners whose actions back up their words. So they should not be surprised if doors are not opened for them, if we do not roll out the red carpet straightaway. We listened to Hicks and Gillett. We are not going to make the same mistakes again. We have learned from Tom and George, and from the errors we have made.Liverpool's fan base has become well-informed, not just on football but on debt, leveraged buyouts and the rest. We will be watching carefully to see how our club is run. We know we do not want, and do not need, owners who are going to mortgage the club to the hilt, as their predecessors did. We know we are not asking for a Roman Abramovich or a Sheikh Mansour figure, who will lavish millions on transfer spending. We also know that if you take the debt and the interest repayments away from Liverpool, they are a self-sustaining club. All we ask of the new owners is that they make sure all of the funds it generates can be reinvested into player recruitment and player development. We know the new stadium is a key issue. We know the argument for a new home for the club on Stanley Park is that we need to keep up with the match-day revenues of Arsenal and Manchester United. What we also know is that the name Anfield resonates around the world as much as the likes of San Siro, the Nou Camp and the Bernab?u. We do not see any reason to throw away that history. It is a matter fans would like to be engaged on. We know the new owners, whoever they may be, must respect Liverpool, must understand the fans, must allow the club to move forward, must show us that not all foreign owners are the same and must right the wrongs of Hicks and Gillett. It was because of the previous regime that Spirit of Shankly was formed, but we have always said we will hold new owners to account, and we will. We will always have queries and concerns. Even if Tom and George finally leave, we know we are not going anywhere

Hicks goes all 'Comical Ali' as he tries to hang on to power http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-co-owner-Tom-Hicks-is-determined-to-fight-to-hang-on-to-control-of-the-club-and-is-refusing-to-recognise-chairman-Martin-Broughton-s-authority-article595749.html Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is determined to fight to hang on to control of the club after refusing to recognise chairman Martin Broughton's authority. Broughton, appointed in April to oversee the sale, revealed yesterday that Hicks attempted to sack managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre and install his own people in order to block a ?300million deal with New England Sports Ventures (NESV). That was blocked by Broughton, who insists Hicks signed agreements not to oppose the sale when they received an extension to their refinancing deal with Royal Bank of Scotland earlier this year. Hicks and co-owner George Gillett stand to lose a total of ?144million if the NESV deal goes through. Hicks' New York-based spokesman Mark Semer said that Broughton's claim was disputed by the Americans. "There were no such undertakings given to Broughton, the board has been legally reconstituted, and the new board does not approve of this proposed transaction," Semer told Bloomberg News. After rejecting the attemped coup, which would have seen Hicks' son Mack and Lori McCuthcheon, of Hicks Holdings replace Purslow and Ayre, Broughton continued with the conference call board meeting even though Hicks had put the phone down. The chairman is confident he and the other two England-based members of the board have acted appropriately but they will not be able to have that confirmed until the issue is thrashed out in court next week.

FINAL INSULT FROM HICKS TOM HICKS has delivered the final insult to The Kop by arrogantly dismissing them as 'noise we are dealing with'. The amazing jibe was made by Liverpool owner Hicks on his last visit to England. Hicks put the condescending 'noise' claim in writing as part of an outlined refinancing package. However, he still claimed to be 'sensitive' to the fans' desire to see him go. Hicks met with fellow Anfield directors in a board meeting on September 15, although there is no suggestion he presented the explosive document to them. In an astonishing insight into the Texan's erratic behaviour, he brazenly shrugged off the supporters' hatred under a section entitled 'noise we are dealing with'. Hicks also backtracked from earlier claims he valued Liverpool as highly as ?800million. He said the only reason he had pitched the club between ?600m and ?800m was because too many people were talking about selling just for the ?282m owed to RBS. In fact, Hicks predicted the Reds would fetch somewhere between the RBS debt level and ?600m. Liverpool have now agreed a ?300m sale to New England Sports Ventures. The rest of the board - two of which Hicks tried to sack this week - are stunned by the American's bizarre antics. The revulsion with which he is held by supporters has already reached fever pitch. Alan Kayll, from the Kop Faithful group, said: "Hicks Jr was forced to resign for insulting one fan. Hicks Snr has now gone further by insulting all Liverpool fans. "This underlines the utter contempt and disregard he has for how supporters feel." Hicks goes to the High Court this week in an attempt to block the takeover by Boston Red Sox owner John W Henry.

only site that had the story

NESV will end interest in LFC if club is handed 9 point deduction. http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/1073239/HENRY-OFF-IF-LEAGUE-DOCK-POINTS.html THE LIVERPOOL takeover is OFF if the Premier League carries out a threat to deduct the club nine points. New England Sports Ventures will walk away from their ?300m deal if this week's court case ends with Liverpool being forced into administration. The group led by John W. Henry are furious that both the league and bank appear to have shifted positions on this issue in the last 24 hours. During their two months of negotiations in the purchase of the club, they believed they had guarantees that a nine-point deduction was not an option. Only last month, Premier League sources told Sport of the World they would distinguish between Kop Holdings and the accounts of Liverpool FC. And the RBS has often intimated it was not an option they were pursuing. Now NESV are disturbed by the contradictory messages, making this week's court hearing on the club's future even more pivotal than it already was. Liverpool supporters will be devastated that having believed their ownership ordeal is over, it may yet take another dire turn. Sources closes to NESV insist they are as committed as ever to completing the deal and hope the court case will resolve any existing issues. But they are not prepared to pay ?300m for a club which will be facing a fight against relegation, especially as they were informed this wouldn't be the case.

Liverpool takeover: Red Sox owners consult former chief executive Rick Parry(s*** this can't be good) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8053121/Liverpool-takeover-Red-Sox-owners-consult-former-chief-executive-Rick-Parry.html Prospective Liverpool owners New England Sports Ventures have consulted Rick Parry, the club’s former chief executive who supported the takeover of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, over their own ?300 million bid to buy the Anfield side John W Henry and Tom Werner, the principal figures behind NESV, the group which owns the Boston Red Sox, met with Parry in his capacity both as an expert on Liverpool and the Premier League. The 55-year-old spent six years as the league’s inaugural chief executive before taking up his post at Anfield and helped negotiate a then-record ?700 million deal for television rights with Sky. Parry, along with then chairman David Moores, elected to back Hicks’s and Gillett’s bid for Liverpool, rather than that of Dubai International Capital, in February 2007. He retained his post at the club and is believed to have received a bonus of around ?500,000 for helping complete the sale. Despite publicly clashing with Hicks in 2008, suggesting either he or his partner should leave Liverpool if they were unable to work together, Parry only left the club in May last year after losing a power struggle with then manager Rafael Ben?tez. The club’s most recent accounts showed Parry, after 11 years at Anfield, had received a ?4.29 million pay-off. Though he is just one of a number of experts consulted by NESV – who hope to complete their deal after a High Court hearing next week – it remains unclear whether he will be offered a role at the club should the takeover be completed. Sources at Liverpool insisted this week that NESV have complete faith in the management structure already in place at the club and do not intend to make any immediate changes, though chairman Martin Broughton, brought in specifically to find a buyer, is likely to leave.

Strange to see the NESN website of potential owners starting to write articles about possible LFC targets http://www.nesn.com/2010/10/stefan-kiessling-a-good-remedy-for-liverpools-offensive-woes.html Liverpool's ownership questions will be resolved soon enough, and once that unfolds, the club will again have to face the reality: 18th place in the league table and having scored just seven goals in seven league matches. Even if Manchester City has joined Chelsea in buying the world, and Tottenham has opened their wallets for Rafael Van Der Vaart since making the Champions League, there's no denying that Liverpool still has top-four talent. The problem is making the pieces fit properly, and much of that comes down to formation. Basically, the team is struggling to get the ball to Fernando Torres, and the reason is simple -- he's usually physically overmatched when alone up top, and he's coming off injuries to boot. He needs a target man to get him the ball, and right now, the team doesn't have one. Milan Jovanovic has yet to settle at Anfield, and David Ngog hasn't yet learned to use his size to his advantage. The pairing of Dirk Kuyt and Torres up top has been used in the past, but though Kuyt was a striker during his days in Holland, he is really more of a workhorse wing at this point, perfect for the flank in a 4-4-2. The team has even occasionally gone to Steven Gerrard as a forward in the past, but neither that, not the deep-lying role that he has often been relegated to this season, is where he is at his best. He should be playing in a free attacking role in central midfield while Christian Poulsen plays as a deeper midfielder. All of this, of course, relies on the presence of a target man, and Liverpool has recently been linked to Bayern Leverkusen and German international forward Stefan Kiessling. Kiessling, at over 6-foot-3, is a physically imposing presence who can do what Torres often fails to do -- receive long balls, plays the hold up, challenges defenders, and works back towards midfield for touches. When Liverpool is clicking, Torres doesn't disappear in games, but that seems to definitively occur when the team seems out of sorts. Adding a target man like Kiessling may be exactly what the club needs to prevent that from occurring. Fulham, Schalke and Milan all also may be interested in acquiring Kiessling when the transfer window opens in January, and while it is often unwise for new ownership or management to go out of their way to make their presences felt with acquisitions, this could be one worth considering. It also shouldn't go unsaid that Kiessling is no Emile Heskey. He's a big forward who actually scores. He had 21 goals in 33 matches last year for Leverkusen. Liverpool surely isn't in danger of relegation, but the team needs to find a way to make the most of its talent. When all else fails -- and it has -- a return to the trusty 4-4-2 is always a good fix. With Kiessling paired with Kuyt, that could get the Reds' offense the boost it needs to get them back in the Champions League hunt

Hicks making personal and abusive comments to liverpool fans in the last paragraph wonder what he said Liverpool's ace card against Tom Hicks and George Gillett in the looming court case is that the ?300 million takeover by New England Sports Ventures is actually in the best interests of the outgoing owners - because it wipes out a massive ?110 million worth of personal guarantees to the Royal Bank of Scotland. Hicks and Gillett stand to lose a total of ?254 million if the move by the owners of the Boston Red Sox collapses and they cannot find a replacement new owner by Friday. ESPNsoccernet can exclusively reveal the cornerstone of Liverpool's case at the High Court next week is that the takeover is in everyone's best interests. The hearing is not likely until Tuesday at the earliest. An inside source said: "It's in Hicks and Gillett's best interests, the board will argue, because it caps their losses at ?144 million. Part of the deal with NESV is that the Royal Bank of Scotland wipe out the ?110 million of personal guarantees." An out of court settlement with Hicks and Gillett cannot be ruled out as the board is so confident that they will win the case. Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton cannot comment on the specifics of the case, but he has told ESPNsoccernet that he believes he can win the case and the takeover can go through. Behind the scenes 'negotiations' are clearly going on between the warring factions aimed at avoiding a messy public court hearing that would tear the club apart. Equally, the court hearing, which comes just days before Friday's deadline with the Royal Bank of Scotland, is unlikely to be the end of the legal wranglings, as whoever losses the initial hearing is sure to seek an appeal. On the issue of an appeal, Liverpool's lawyers will argue that if Hicks and Gillett lose and the takeover can go through, and they call for an appeal, it would seriously jeopardise the takeover, and potentially throw the club into administration, thereby putting the club's survival at risk. If the legal actions drag to a second hearing, it is inevitable that RBS will have to take some decision on Friday, most likely to suspend the outcome of whether to put the club into administration pending the final court room verdict. The logical solution is for both sets of lawyers to find some sort of middle ground, even if it is a settlement on the steps of the High Court. There is no direct contact anymore between the factions, with Hicks and Gillett one one side and the three English members of the board led by Broughton on the other. Broughton told ESPNsoccernet exclusively: "All of these issues I cannot possibly comment on, as this is going to court, one would assume. We have no date for the hearing yet, but we are told it is a 'short order' and so it would be any day hopefully early next week. The lawyers have told me I am not unable to talk about the case directly." However, without going into any legal detail, Broughton said: "Yes, I am confident we shall win. However we all know when you have two sets of lawyers they are both telling you that they are 100% confident that they will win." There is one central key issue of the entire legal procedure, and Broughton made that abundantly clear: "We are going to the courts seeking clarification that we are able to proceed with the sale of Liverpool FC." Although Hicks publicly declared that he had given no undertaking directly to Broughton about the constitution of the board and the sale process being determined by the board (rather than the shareholders when he did his deal with RBS to extend the facility for six months), Broughton confirmed that such an undertaking was given to RBS. Broughton said: "The obligation was given to RBS as part of the loan extension agreement. If an undertaking was given to the major creditor, than an undertaking was given." In another twist, leaked minutes from a Liverpool board meeting allegedly contain Hicks making personal and abusive comments about Liverpool fans, which will increase the hatred already felt by the supporters against the current owners.

to the red sox fans what do think about the movie Eight Men Out is it true or Fiction it one of my favorite movie

England is for lower team clubs because the big clubs have to wait till England have finish playing so we can get back to play in the PL. England is just a pain in the ass

The Premier League have given NESV their blessing to go ahead with the purchase of the club. BUT NESV yet to submit proof of funds & future finance info.

Billy Beane: Bound for Anfield The Liverpool Red Sox Calamity. It is the last week of the transfer window and Glen Johnson breaks a leg. A replacement is required. Roy Hodgson, using the club scouting network, his own Continent-wide contacts, and the knowledge gleaned from decades in the game, draws up a shortlist of replacements and presents them to the board. A new American director looks over the paper, then tosses it away. "We've got our own list," he says, handing over a neatly-printed spreadsheet. "These are the players the Recruitment Operative recommends. Their stats are a fit for Johnson. Which one do you want?" The list has been drawn up by the young college grad with the computer who sits down the corridor from Hodgson crunching numbers. "So this," thinks the veteran manager, "is what he has been doing, this is what it has come to." Inconceivable? Not at all. Liverpool's prospective new owners believe in metrics, the application of statistical analysis in sport made famous by the book Moneyball, Michael Lewis's bestseller about the Oakland Athletics' baseball club and their innovative general manager, Billy Beane. The As are one of the poorest clubs in baseball, but have consistently performed way above their financial level. As Lewis revealed, Beane has achieved this by ignoring traditional recruitment processes, instead using detailed statistical analysis to pick up players on the cheap and to formulate a playing philosophy which debunked accepted notions of how to win baseball matches. In doing so he blew a hole in the old canard that only people who had played the game to Major League status were capable of identifying talent and managing it. Moneyball's publication in 2003 drew much criticism from traditional baseball men, but also prompted several owners to rethink their strategy. Maybe they did not have to keep hiring grizzled old tobacco-chewing trainers who wasted their millions in a fruitless pursuit of success. John William Henry, the man behind Liverpool's putative new owners, the New England Sports Venture (NESV), was already ahead of the curve. When he bought the Boston Red Sox in 2002 he offered Beane a five-year, $12.5 m contract to move to Boston. Beane, reluctant to uproot his family, said no. The Red Sox did the next best thing. They hired Bill James, the iconoclastic analyst whose ideas initially inspired Beane, and 28-year-old Yale graduate Theo Epstein, who would have been Beane's No 2 if he had joined, was given the lead role. "Billy Beane is a sharp mind," said Larry Lucchino, CEO of the Red Sox and NESV. "We tried to hire him, but what we've done since Theo took over is to take some of the quantitative analysis approaches and overlay them with the resource advantages of our market." In English that means use the stats and add the financial muscle the Red Sox has to buy the best rather than just the best-value players. It worked, Boston twice winning the World Series. Coincidentally Beane was in London yesterday, appearing with Ars?ne Wenger on stage at the "Leaders in Performance" conference at Stamford Bridge. Their presence together, at an event attended by a impressive cast including Martin Johnson, the England rugby coach, underlined how seriously British sport now takes metrics. So, too, the five stands in the exhibition hall taken by companies like Pro-Zone and Opta who are now selling recruitment analysis as well as match statistics. Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Beane said: "You would have a hard time finding any major sport in the world which is not using metrics in some way. Performances in baseball are much more easily measured than in soccer but each sport has a metric which is relevant, it is identifying it. Basketball is much more similar to soccer and many NBA teams are using metrics." Beane became a fan of English football some years ago when he watched a match while in London and now rises at 5.30am each weekend to follow the Premier League on TV. He has worked with Spurs, is friends with Chelsea's performance director Mike Forde, and has had discussions with young managers like Aidy Bothroyd and veterans such as Sir Alex Ferguson. Confidentiality meant he could not go into details, but he said the use of metrics is growing in the English game. It could increase dramatically with the Red Sox involvement at Anfield but before Liverpool fans despair Beane had only praise for NESV. He said: "I know John Henry and the ownership group, they are one of the brightest, most innovative and successful sports franchises in the US. Boston is not a dissimilar franchise to Liverpool. It has a passionate fanbase and a history. They combined efficiency on the field with a great team and incredibly increased the awareness of the brand. The Red Sox are as popular in the States as the [New York] Yankees, which once seemed impossible. They have been good for the game."