News, views and opinion on Liverpool FC
Liverpool’s former chairman Sir Martin Broughton has remained remarkably quiet in all the noise surrounding the club’s travails under struggling manager Kenny Dalglish.
A news article on 2012-04-12 21:30:05 from: The Mail
This news item has been reproduced from today’s media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.
John W Henry, the principal owner of New England Sports Ventures (NESV) and the Boston Red Sox baseball team is now also the proud owner of Liverpool Football Club.
As expected the news early this morning was that the temporary restraining order obtained from the Texas court by Tom Hicks and George Gillett, preventing Liverpool FC from completing a sale of the club to NESV, would be lifted when the court re-opened in to ensure compliance with the High Court in the UK. This process when complete would allow New England Sports Ventures (NESV) to be able to complete the takeover process and satisfy the RBS debt on the club in what Tom Hicks has since referred to as an “epic swindle” by people that he trusted and believed to be loyal.
Despite reports of Mill Financial approaching the Premier League to complete the “Director & Owners” test, an effort that was rejected as the Premier League would only enter dialogue with, and take direction from Liverpool Football Club on such a matter, at just after 420pm, it was confirmed by Martin Broughton that John W Henry and his NESV team were the new owners of the club. The saga likened to a penalty shootout by the Liverpool chairman as he stated ”As long as you get the right result, it’s worth the wait. We’ve got the right result.”
As Martin Broughton introduced John Henry to the cameras, the Red Sox owner gave his commitment to listening to those around him as they settled in at the club as well as being happy to guarantee that the purchase of the club was not a  LBO “leveraged buy out”, three words that should make any football fan shudder with caution. As Liverpool fans welcome NESV into the fold, albeit with an element of caution and rightly so, hope deeper in the soul will be for sight of the same winning mentality and development that has seen Red Sox fans proud of the leadership that they are under.
Christian Purslow expanded on just how convinced he was that Liverpool FC was now under the right control;
“We’ve sorted out our financial issues once and for all and we can now get back to football,” he said.
“It was incredibly civilised and it’s just a pleasure to work with people like Martin Broughton
. We have the best lawyers in London…it was tranquillity.”
“The most important thing is that NESV have cleared us of all the debts which, frankly, shouldn’t have been on the club in the first place.”
“They’ve done so in a way which leads me to believe that they will learn the lessons of the past and approach the challenge of owning Liverpool Football Club in a way which I think our fans will judge over time and which I’m optimistic will prove to be a very positive improvement on what we’ve been through recently.”
Liverpool can now look forward to a period of development and re-energisation under their new ownership, free of the acquisition debt that the previous American owners had burdened the club with to almost the point of administration. Liverpool FC staff and fans alike, may now find themselves starting to sleep a little easier at night and hope that todays success is emulated on the pitch in the form of results and improved commitment. First up, the short trip across Stanley Park to the home of rivals Everton on Sunday, of which John Henry will not be making an appearance, citing his preference to make his entry at Anfield.
Liverpool fans can take great heart from their own unrelenting efforts to remove H&G from the club, which certainly has played its part over time. From the organisational efforts of the Spirit of Shankly Supporters Union, the Mike Jefferies You Tube Video through to awareness raising over social media as to the suffering of the club on all sides.
You’ll Never Walk Alone is the heartbeat of Liverpool Football Club, a unity that doesn’t know how to quit, despite the trials and tribulations that are placed in front of it, it always moves on. Hicks and Gillett failed to embrace that almost religion, they couldn’t comprehend its values or the belief in it. That ignorance and arrogance of failing to understand people as well as their financial failings has now cost them to a level they could never have comprehended when they walked in the door. The song that those take hope and heart from, will now haunt them forever and rightly so.
Image Source: Daylife
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Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton continues to remain hopeful and reiterate to Liverpool fans to “keep the faith” as he hopes that the proposed takeover by New England Sports Ventures (NESV) will be completed on Friday, ahead of the weekend’s Merseyside derby. A match which could see a new owner in the form of John W Henry attending the game.
Following two victories in court over present owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, both Broughton and his team, as well as John Henry of NESV, who remains in England, await a verdict from the Texas court hearing, which was adjourned yesterday evening until later today. Martin Broughton spoke very briefly with SSN following the latest verdict given by Justice Floyd in their favour at the High Court.
He commented; “Not yet, we’re still in court in Texas trying to get the temporary restraining order overturned. We still have to do that.” when asked if NESV were now indeed the new owners of the club as well as advising ”I think probably sometime tomorrow” in regards a likely completion date.
“We’re nearly there. We’ll have to see, we’ve still got to take away the restraining order.”
“Mr Henry (NESV) is still very committed. We’ve got lots of bidders who are very committed.”
“My guess is we’ll have it done and he’ll be there, but we’ve got to get rid of this order first.”
While this evening brings somewhat of a quiet night compared to recent events, the servers of the Guardian, Empire of the Kop, Anfield Road, This is Anfield and Twitter are probably grateful for the time to breathe. Meanwhile the excellent Dan Roan (BBC), Tariq Panja (Bloomberg), Owen Gibson/Steve Busfield/Sachin Nakrani (Guardian) and Bryan Swanson/Gary Cotterill (SSN), probably clocked a time Usain Bolt would have been proud of in heading to bed.
Will October 15th bring an end to the madness?….
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John W Henry, the principal owner of New England Sports Ventures (NESV) and the Boston Red Sox baseball team continues to wait to become the proud owner of Liverpool Football Club.
The highly regarded American businessman made a somewhat surprising appearance this evening as he arrived at 1 Bunhill Row, London, just before 8pm, the offices of Slaughter & May, who have been advising and handling the legal process for Liverpool’s board members Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre.
Earlier in the day, following their victory at the High Court over Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Martin Broughton advised that a board meeting would take place this evening at 8pm to progress the sale of the club. The arrival of John Henry immediately suggested that process was even closer to conclusion than first expected.
However as has been the case at many steps of both the Hicks & Gillett reign at the club as well as with the sale process itself, controversy lay just after 10pm, it was confirmed that the present American owners had filed a temporary restraining order (document here) with Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th District Court of Texas, to prevent the sale of the club at present. In addition to what they call an “epic swindle”, a term they should be familiar with from their own financial transactions, they also claim that they will sue Liverpool’s independent board of directors, RBS Plc who control the club’s debt and it’s prospective buyer in the form of John Henry’s New England Sports Ventures (NESV) for a total of $1.6bn (£1bn) in damages.
The pair continue to cite that NESV’s offer to buy Liverpool is “hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value” and other alternative and suitable offers were “swept aside” and ignored by Martin Broughton.
The statement issued by the pair is as follows:
The owners of Liverpool Football Club today reported that a Texas State District Court has granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the Board of Liverpool Football Club (LFC) from executing a sale of the Club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). The court set a hearing date of October 25, 2010.The TRO request, signed by Judge Jim Jordan of the 160th District Court in Dallas, was part of a lawsuit filed today by the owners of LFC against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow, Ian Ayre, NESV and Philip Nash. The lawsuit also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions, and damages totaling approximately $1.6 billion (over £1 billion).
The suit lays out the defendants’ “epic swindle” in which they conspired to devise and execute a scheme to sell LFC to NESV at a price they know to be hundreds of millions of dollars below true market value (and well below Forbes magazine’s recent independent $822 million valuation of the club) – and below multiple expressions of interest and offers to buy either the club in its entirety or make minority investments (including Meriton and Mill Financial). It describes how the defendants excluded the owners from meetings, discussions and communications regarding the potential sale to NESV and interfered with efforts by the owners to obtain financing for Liverpool FC.
The Club’s owners are represented by attorneys from the international law firm of Fish & Richardson.
The following are some of the key points in the complaint, which details the roles of RBS and the other defendants, and also describes previously undisclosed offers to purchase LFC:
“The Director Defendants were acting merely as pawns of RBS, wholly abdicating the fiduciary responsibilities that they owed in the sale.”
“RBS has been complicit in this scheme with the Director Defendants. For example, in letters from RBS to potential investors obtained just within the past few days, RBS has informed investors that it will approve of a deal only if there is “no economic return to equity” for Messrs. Hicks and Gillett. In furtherance of this grand conspiracy, on information and belief, RBS has improperly used its influence as the club’s creditor and as a worldwide banking leader to prevent any transaction that would permit Messrs. Hicks and Gillett to recover any of their initial investment in the club, much less share in the substantial appreciation in the value of Liverpool FC that their investments have created.”
“On or about October 4, 2010, Mr. Hicks received a letter of interest from a third potential purchaser represented by FBR Capital Markets (“FBR”), offering to purchase Liverpool FC for £375 to £400 million ($595 to $635 million). The letter informed Mr. Hicks that the potential purchaser would not need financing, possessed the funds to close the transaction, and intended to build a new stadium for Liverpool FC.”
“Additionally, the Plaintiffs learned just days ago about another potential investor that made a similar offer in the £350 to £400 million range that was communicated to Defendant Broughton and another unnamed co-conspirator in late August. According to this investor, Mr. Broughton never responded to the offer. Moreover, when the purported sale to NESV was announced, this investor again contacted Mr. Broughton and informed him that the offer, which significantly exceeded the NESV offer, was still on the table. Again, Mr. Broughton brushed this offer aside without further discussion.”
As the news broke that the TRO had been granted to the dismay of Liverpool fan’s who had started, with caution, to look to brighter days, questions reigned in as to the jurisdiction that a Texas Court could have in such a matter that had already been ruled on by the High Court in the UK. Whilst both NESV and RBS are believed to be respecting the TRO in order to protect their investments in the US and taking legal council on the situation, contact was made by Liverpool fans with the issuing Texan court which resulted in Judge Jim Jordan’s Facebook Page being removed and the courts telephone service becoming “unavailable”.
Liverpool FC responded with a statement of their own in regards to the developments:
“Following the successful conclusion of High Court proceedings today, the Boards of Directors of Kop Football and Kop Holdings met tonight and resolved to complete the sale of Liverpool FC to New England Sports Ventures.
Regretably, Thomas Hicks and George Gillett have tonight obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from a Texas District Court against the independent directors, Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and NESV to prevent the transaction being completed.
The independent directors consider the restraining order to be unwarranted and damaging and will move as swiftly as possible to seek to have it removed.
A further statement will be made in due course.”
The latest developments place RBS in a tight spot with both US interests to protect as well as the Hicks & Gillett debt to call in on Friday of this week, closure tonight would have provided them with 48hrs to conclude arrangements and avoid further conversations around entering the club into administration. The Liverpool FC board remain hopeful that via legal process they can have the TRO removed shortly, ahead of the October 25th Texas court date but in the meantime Hicks and Gillett potentially wriggle free for a couple of days more yet.
Liverpool head to the High Court to try and validate the sale of the club via a declaratory judegement, the proof that the boards actions were valid. Led by a confident Chairman in Martin Broughton, they hope to complete the sale of the club swiftly and obtain Premier League approval for the purchase. In doing so however, they face both the stubbornness of “Dear Mr Tom Hicks” and his somewhat quieter partner in crime George Gillett… along with the risk of a Premier League 9 point Premier League reduction, should plan B be chosen to be adopted.
Plan B comes in to play if for one reason or another the High Court decide that the board that voted 3-2 in favour of the sale of the club, was indeed not the board of the club at the time that vote was cast. The legal confirmation is sought as the board that cast the votes (For: Martin Broughton, Ian Ayre, Christian Purlow – Against: Tom Hicks & George Gillett), is cited by Tom Hicks and George Gillett as being invalid as they just prior to the votes being cast they replaced Ian Ayre & Christian Purslow with Mack Hicks & Lori McCutcheon, to control the voting process. An action that is deemed by Martin Broughton after consultation with solicitors Slaughter & May, who have provided guidance through the process, to be invalid, with himself being the only person to be able to sanction any changes to the board, of which he blocked.
Plan B is a logical next step on the route to sale, should the Americans retain control of the club and this would need to come from the hand of RBS. At present H&G have £237m & above outstanding in debt to RBS in loans that they have so far been unable to refinance, this lies with Liverpool FC’s parent company “Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd”. The repayment deadline for these funds to RBS at present has 7 days remaining on it (October 15th) and RBS are likely to be exceptionally buoyed, that in the form of New England Sports Ventures (NESV), owners of the Boston Red Sox, they have a guaranteed method of payment of that debt which has spiraled out of control for H&G.
For a sale to be forced through under these circumstances and to avoid further stalling on the recovery of their funds, the parent company Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd would need to be placed in to administration, should RBS opt to travel this route. Liverpool FC on its own, is both a profitable and solvent part of the portfolio thus would not go into administration in its own right and avoid a 9 point Premier League penalty. However, as the vehicle which owns the club (Kop Football Holdings Ltd) could be deemed by the Premier League rules as being solely concerned with the ownership of Liverpool and football-related matters, it could technically trigger the nine-point penalty rule. Should the parent company have had other financial interests, such as non football activities then such a rule would not technically be invoked as was seen in the the instance of West Ham when Icelandic bank Straumur collapsed. The club were a solvent part of the overall portfolio and Straumur had interests in others areas.
Therefore the risk of a 9 points reduction, technically exists, should the rule be taken to the letter and no other circumstances be considerable, then Liverpool FC would see themselves fall from 6pts in 18th place to the bottom of the table on -3pts.
It is not a matter that is by any means being deemed as crystal clear, it is an obvious interpretation of the Premier League rules for its member clubs to follow and abide. With the matter heading for the court house next week, it is something that any Liverpool fan would hope never needs to have any clarity provided to it, with a positive result seeing the infamous owners banished from the club.
As court information is awaited, Hicks & Gillett will not only hope that their fall from grace isn’t made complete with a big thud as rock bottom verdict arrives but that several thousand Liverpool fans are  not outside to wave them off. There is certainly every chance that it could turn out to be a day that will haunt them forever, without doubt there are enough wishing it.
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Martin Broughton arrived at the club in April at the request of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, with the consultation of RBS, his primary role to oversee the sale of the club into new suitable and proper ownership.
With the sale process seeming to stall despite early indications of quick intent and the involvement of BarCap, questions were raised in many quarters as to how much control of the process Martin Broughton actually would have when a tabled offer arrived. Was Broughton’s appointment yet another stalling tactic from the American owners to buy them time with RBS to come up with a new plan of their own, a PR exercise. Or was he indeed provided with the power that could lead to the owners in fact being overthrown from the club with his casting vote?
October 6th 2010 saw news Liverpool fans had been waiting for in principal for a very long time, with Broughton’s announcement that the club had been sold to New England Sports Ventures, the owners of the Boston Red Sox. With the further news that Martin Broughton had blocked a last minute move by the owners to scupper their dismantlement of the existing board for control of the voting process, Hicks and Gillett found themselves on the receiving end of a 3-2 boardroom defeat following the chairmans casting vote.
Martin Broughton now stands firm and confident, a man proud of the decision that he has made. The High Court will now be left to make the decision as to whether the club is justly sold or not and time will tell if it is to the right owners. In the meantime however have the recent actions of Martin Broughton seen a rise in fans opinions of him?, cast your vote below.
Given matters surrounding the sale of LFC, has your opinion changed of Martin Broughton?
Total Voters: 436
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The following is a statement issued from New England Sports Ventures on the purchase of Liverpool Football Club.
October 6th 2010
New England Sports Ventures (“NESV”) can confirm that their bid for Liverpool FC has been selected by the Club’s Board of Directors and agreement has been reached with the Board to purchase the Club. NESV wishes to extend its appreciation to the Board for their diligence and their efforts on behalf of Liverpool FC and its supporters.
NESV wants to create a long-term financially solid foundation for Liverpool FC and is dedicated to ensuring that the Club has the resources to build for the future, including the removal of all acquisition debt. Our objective is to stabilize the Club and ultimately return Liverpool FC to its rightful place in English and European football, successfully competing for and winning trophies.
Since 2001, New England Sports Ventures has made successful investments in sports and entertainment properties. Our portfolio of companies, including the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park, New England Sports Network, Fenway Sports Group and Roush Fenway Racing are all committed to one common goal: winning. NESV wants to help bring back the culture of winning to Liverpool FC.
We have a proven track record, shown clearly with the Boston Red Sox. The team has won two World Series Championships over the past six years. We will bring the same kind of openness, passion, dedication and professionalism to Liverpool FC.
We are hopeful with regard to the pending legal and English Premier League procedures now underway, however, in light of these issues, we will respectfully refrain from comment or further actions at this time.
Background on NESV
Created in 2001, New England Sports Ventures is one of the largest sports, media and entertainment companies in the world with a proven track record of success for each of its subsidiaries. NESV’s portfolio of companies includes: 100 percent of the Boston Red Sox, a Major League Baseball club; 80 percent of New England Sports Network, a regional sports television network; 100 percent of Fenway Sports Group, a sales and marketing company; and 50% of Roush Fenway Racing, a NASCAR racing team.
NESV is led by Principal Owner John Henry and Chairman Tom Werner, who collectively have more than 30 years of experience as owners in Major League Baseball. This ownership group has been voted as the best in MLB by the readers of the Sports Business Journal in each of the past two years, and in 2009 Sports Illustrated selected this group as the number one ownership group in MLB.
NESV Achievements
From 2002 through 2009, the Boston Red Sox have had the second highest regular season winning percentage in MLB, have qualified for the postseason in a club record six of the past seven seasons, and have won more postseason games and World Series Championships than any other club. In addition to a commitment to winning, NESV has made a significant investment into extensive improvements to Fenway Park, resulting in additional seating, more concourse space, expanded concessions options, and an overall enhancement to the Fenway Park fan experience. The Red Sox have also been deeply committed to supporting the community. Since 2002, the Red Sox Foundation has donated more than $38 million to worthy charitable programs throughout New England, and the team through its Community Relations efforts has given away more than 27,000 autographed items and Fenway experiences to be used in fundraising efforts, and has helped facilitate more than 4,000 player and alumni appearances in the community.
New England Sports Network has had the highest rated MLB games for the past six seasons from 2004 through 2009, and in 2009 delivered the highest television household ratings among all regional sports networks in the United States. NESN has also created a large amount of unique and original television content and is at the forefront of the industry in terms of digital media.
In addition to assisting with sponsorship sales for both the Red Sox and NESN, Fenway Sports Group serves as the exclusive sales agency for other tier one properties and brands such as Major League Baseball Advanced Media, Boston College, and the Deutsche Bank Championship PGA Tour event; helping many of its clients grow sponsorship revenues by more than 20% annually. FSG also manages all non-baseball events hosted at Fenway Park, including the hockey events centered around the 2010 NHL Winter Classic, the Fenway Football Challenge, and major concerts. FSG provides specialized sports business consulting services for other professional sports teams, assisting the Miami Dolphins in selling the naming rights deal for Sun Life Stadium.
Roush Fenway Racing is one of NASCAR’s premier racing teams and has won 32 championships and more than 360 races in drag racing, sports car and stock car racing; as well as five championships across NASCAR’s three premier series.
John Henry, Principal Owner
Henry’s background includes finance and agriculture, and he is a former limited partner of the New York Yankees and sole owner of the Florida Marlins. He is in the Futures Hall of Fame. He sits on the Executive Council of MLB and manages the Roush Fenway Racing relationship. He is an active board member of Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) and specializes in digital media issues. Henry is passionate about soccer and lives in Boston, Massachusetts and Boca Raton, Florida.
Tom Werner, Chairman
Werner’s background includes Harvard, ABC, and Carsey-Werner, and he is the former owner of the San Diego Padres. He produced some of the biggest hit series in television history such as The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun and That 70′s Show. His primary responsibility within NESV is the New England Sports Network (NESN). Werner maintains a residence in Los Angeles and Boston and is passionate about the business of sports.
You can follow Justin Heron & Kop That on TwitterAs news was confirmed that Liverpool Football Club had accepted an offer on the club from New England Sports Ventures (NESV), the owners of the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton provided a number of interviews to confirm details on the sale and the legal process that awaits the club to conclude it.
Martin Broughton: Sky News Interview
Martin Broughton: BBC News Interview
Martin Broughton: LFCTV Interview with Claire Rourke
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Five days have now passed since Liverpool FC issued a holding statement on August 13th to the effect that “The Board will continue to act in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club and its supporters, doing all that it can to ensure that the Club is ultimately sold to a buyer who has the resources and real commitment to give it a long-term, stable and secure funding position for its plans.” – However it seems that for Chinese born businessman Kenny Huang and his consortium, it is just taking too long.
The Guardian and The Times have both reported that Huang is growing increasingly frustrated that his attempts to take Liverpool FC over from existing custodians Tom Hicks and George Gillett, is just not happening as quick as he would like. With one eye on the soon to be closing transfer window at the end of August, Huang is reported to be concerned that he will not have the opportunity to present manager Roy Hodgson with a last minute war chest to significantly bolster the Anfield squad, at the present rate of development.
Roy Hodgson has previously indicated that regardless of any funds available to him, any inbound players will be purely based upon the results of the research undertaken by his team. Â A process to ensure as much as possible, that compatibility with the existing squad and the way that it is deployed to play is the priority at the top of their agenda as opposed to any other valuation any said player may have in the market place.
Liverpool FC had previously suggested that Huang or any other bidder interested in the purchase of the club, had not offered proof of their funding but The Times reports that it believes the Chinese bid has in fact supplied all the necessary documentation required by the memorandum of sale, a legal framework for potential buyers. A RBS source has also indicated a similar status report concerning the legal documentation required.
The race for Liverpool FC ownership has long been seen as a two horse race between Huang and Yahya Kirdi, a close friend of the Gillett family via his son Foster, a fact that was immediately met with some hostility and reservation from the Liverpool fan base through the connection alone. The last real comments associated to the Kirdi bid, which has seen a number of PR gaffs along the way, were credited as being that although they wished to confirm their interest was very much genuine, they believed that a further 2 months would be required to complete a deal. This would leave a takeover very much closer to the present RBS October deadline and also be well outside the current transfer window.
Whether Huang’s take it or leave it approach to Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton is sincere or just a little shot across the bows to move things on, remain to be seen, as does whether Roy Hodgson and Christian Purslow are quietly planning for a last minute spending spree that may or may not happen.
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So the not so well kept secrect that Roy Hodgson is the man to replace Rafa Benitez as Liverpool’s manager is finally and officially out in the open, as the former Fulham man was unveiled to the press and public today, sat alongside temporary Chairman Martin Broughton.
Whether you were someone that wanted Hodgson from the moment Rafa started to clear his office, or whether you were someone more like myself, that certainly didn’t have Roy in the number one spot of my somewhat reasonable list of possible candidates, the waiting is over and the man is here. Like Liverpool fans are known throughout the game for doing, Im sure that regardless of your opinion as to whether he was the right candidate or not, your support will be there behind both him and the team as this new era at Anfield starts to evolve. In time I hope that level of support given develops into extensive respect for achievement seen and effort committed, made more special under a new ownership.
Hodgson for me carried himself very well under the first glare of the press in the Red of Liverpool, a man certainly media savvy and one with good intelligence used in everyday life as well as round the beautiful game. His answers given were nothing more than they were possibly expected to be but they were delivered in a way that presented a sign of hope and light moving forward, even if not the immediate change that we would all crave in an ideal world. It was complete desperation sat in front of us but a man sure in his own abilities.
Martin Broughton sang his praises in appropriate style and was quick to emphasise the length of the decision making process and the reasons behind it, as well as make it very clear that Kenny Dalglish wasn’t and was never going to be a consideration as a candidate for the job at hand but that he had thrown his name in the hat as commitment to the cause. That will sit well with some Reds but not with others.
The sale of the club was touched on in parts and the response from Broughton showed that there was some movement expected on the horizon but little to talk about at present, a sale prior to the end of the current transfer window being more of optimism and hope than calculated or expected conclusion. His comments did kindly dispel, whether to his knowledge or not, the recent exclusives on Kop Talk citing rejected offers and and tabled bids from Dubai and the Middle East, which is appreciated.
The questions will eventually fade in to the background regarding Hodgson’s appointment and whether it was the right one or not, for now anyway until results and performances start coming back from the pitch, which is primarily what any manager sinks or swims by. In the meantime, it will be all matters “transfer†that grab the headlines and whether Hodgson’s intelligence can be shown against a limited budget unless sales occurs, which would mean big name exits if the press are to be believed.
Before Roy had even been officially appointed, the speculation was surging in as to where his purchases were likely to come from, a mixture of new names and recently linked ones provided the headlines, along with a raid on his former club which he later dispelled as an option. It is fair to say that, that list of potentials is going to grow and change over the coming days as anyone of a level, thats not playing week in or week out is probably going to hear they could be off to the new regime at Anfield.
In reality the list of potentials is somewhat smaller and more precise, a much smaller few will fit the playing style of Liverpool unless it is to be drastically changed by Hodgson. Some sources associate Hodgson with a £15m kitty plus player sales, where as others are closer to player sales alone. Either way that reality will ensure that it is players with a point to prove in their careers for one reason or another that find their way to L4 as opposed to the likes of David Silva that the Manchester City’s of this world continue to court week in and week out and in abundance.
Liverpools problem positions are well documented and even more well exposed last season but I see the likes of Stephen Ireland, Scott Parker, Shaun Wright Phillips, Joe Cole and Wayne Bridge being more initial realistic targets on Hodgson’s radar than some of the up and coming stars of World Football, even if the likes of Milner, Ozil, Sanchez and Coentrao are more exciting prospects to the global audience that is our fan base. In reality some of these names are far more logical that they appear at first glance, players fallen from the top of the tree in some ways, or passed over, keen to be the household names again or for the first time, strengthen the existing squad they would and retain a british element to it which FIFA are just a little keen on.
Liverpool have not become a collection of bad players overnight, confidence has shattered them and left them disorganised and scared to make another mistake, we still boast a squad two thirds of the Premier League would like to boast in the majority, that was well presented at the World Cup and has the ability to go on to greater things again. Even a transfer kitty of £10m, plus a fee of around the £40m mark for alleged want away Mascherano and the fallen from grace Riera would give a platform to rebuild quickly and effectively from with seasoned professionals that are available on the market, increase that with a further £6m-£8m if Benayoun cannot be convinced to see how green the grass can be at Anfield. Hodgson is going to have options in that kind of scenario, its who he brings in that will be define some of his future. If the stars stay, then the tactics change.
Early conversations with the likes of Steven Gerrard and where he intends to lay his hat will continue to influence others already on the playing stuff and those considering joining it, reports grow that he and Torres are more and more likely to be going nowhere, at least for another season. A negative outcome in this area could see a whole different set of circumstances present themself with little time to remedy them before the gates are thrust open to welcome Arsenal on Day 1 . Hodgson may well even prove to have the personal skill sets to get the most out of the potential held within Aquilani and Babel to name but two, that was seen in no more than fleeting bursts at best under Rafa. Either way with the new man at the helm, Id be amazed if this pre-season friendly schedule delievered the same lifeless performances that set us up so badly last year, hopefully a side that was so evidently mourning the loss of Alonso this time last year does not have cause to do it all over again for someone else.
Hodgson has a far better situation, playing side of the club, than many outside of it care to credit but despite the positives that can be taken in many places before a ball is even kicked and the support that will be delivered by the clubs loyal fanbase, we have a long way to go before IRWT starts taking on an entire new meaning. A work in progress we continue to be.
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