Liverpool thread

[davidmphill]

Klinsmann handed reins at Bayern

Klinsmann is one of the most decorated of German footballers Former Germany boss and World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann will take over as coach of Bayern Munich next season. Klinsmann will replace Ottmar Hitzfeld, who is due to step down from the post at the end of the current campaign. The appointment marks Klinsmann's first foray into club coaching after he guided host nation Germany to third place at the 2006 World Cup. He had been linked with the vacant Newcastle job and, earlier in the season, with Chelsea and Tottenham. The 43-year-old was also viewed as a dark horse to succeed Steve McClaren as England national coach before the appointment of Fabio Capello. 606: DEBATE How good a coach is Klinsmann? There's not a lot on his CV BBC Sport's Oliver Brett He won 108 caps for his country. He scored 47 goals for Germany, 11 of which came in three World Cup campaigns. Klinsmann featured in the 1990 World Cup-winning team and was then captain for the successful Euro 96 campaign. He enjoyed a successful stint as a player with Bayern between 1995 and 1997, winning Uefa Cup and Bundesliga honours. His managerial career is still in its infancy. After a period involved in Major League Soccer in the USA he returned to coach Germany in 2004. The Bayern job is his first with a high-profile club.

[davidmphill]

Puts an end to that rumour then about him coming to Anfield.

[Darren]

Munich must be crazy, mind you they have a hell of a team anyway.

[Darren]

One in, any more to come I wonder?

SKRTEL SIGNS UNTIL 2012 Steve Hunter 11 January 2008
	Liverpool have today confirmed the signing of Slovakian international defender Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersberg on a four and a half year contract.
The established centre half has 15 international caps for his country and Reds boss Rafael Benitez is predicting a bright Anfield future for the 23-year-old. "I think he is a player maybe not many people know about but he played against Everton for Zenit St Petersberg, and he is a centre half that knows the English style," said Benitez. "He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he's a very good player for the future and also for the present. "He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good. Watching him in some games his mentality is similar to Carra so I think it's very positive for the team. "Our scouts first knew of him when he was playing for Slovakia and we have been monitoring him since the start of the season. "We saw him play against Everton in the UEFA Cup match at Goodison and during the last few months we have been checking him closely. "I don't think he will be ready for Middlesbrough because the Russian league season ended more than a month ago and the last competitive game Martin played was in the UEFA Cup in December. "He has been training but I don't think that will be enough. He needs to get to know his team-mates and the league but I will look at him in training because he has a very good physical condition." The Reds boss also believes Skrtel is a player who will settle quickly into life at Anfield and put pressure on the likes of Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and Daniel Agger for a starting role in the first team. "He has quality and he can be a problem for them and a good problem for me if I need to decide who to play in the future," added Benitez. "He has experience and enough quality for playing as soon as possible." Skrtel will wear squad number 37 at Anfield.

[Darren]

Another game, another let down, another nail in the coffin for Benitez.

[aliando]

hicks announces that he had spoken to klinsman about taking over from Rafa - the clock is certainly ticking on rafa and with continued pathetic performances against lower opposition seeing us drift out of the title race, I'm sorry to say that I'll be hopeful of a worthy successor recruited at the start of the summer/end of season

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/7187086.stm

[PAULM03]

Originally Posted by aliando

hicks announces that he had spoken to klinsman about taking over from Rafa - the clock is certainly ticking on rafa and with continued pathetic performances against lower opposition seeing us drift out of the title race, I'm sorry to say that I'll be hopeful of a worthy successor recruited at the start of the summer/end of season

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/7187086.stm

I think Benitez will give you a decent run in the Euros and get one more season, although I can't see them giving him any money without him selling first.

[davidmphill]

It's 2/5 that Rafa is not in charge for next season.

Not sure how I feel about the news in the Echo today, hopefully this will allow things to settle down for a bit but I somehow doubt it.

[Darren]

Originally Posted by aliando

hicks announces that he had spoken to klinsman about taking over from Rafa - the clock is certainly ticking on rafa and with continued pathetic performances against lower opposition seeing us drift out of the title race, I'm sorry to say that I'll be hopeful of a worthy successor recruited at the start of the summer/end of season

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ol/7187086.stm

TBH the only surprising things for me are that it was Klinsmann and that Hicks actually told the press that. Think I said at the time that if we lost the 3 games Rafa would be gone. We won the CL game and he stayed.

[Matt]

How can he rest Torres for a few premier games this season at certain points and then start him at home to Luton in the cup?

What a waste.

[AJ]

Guess he sees the FA Cup as the only realistic prospect of silverware this season ?

Drop out of that and the season is dead

[aliando]

Originally Posted by Matt

How can he rest Torres for a few premier games this season at certain points and then start him at home to Luton in the cup?

What a waste.

yep

[AJ]

What kind of result would satify Liverpool fans tonight ?

Is any win good enough, or do you need to hammer Luton by 4 goals to restore pride ?

[aliando]

Originally Posted by AJ

What kind of result would satify Liverpool fans tonight ?

not having had to be playing tonight to go through

[Football-Tipper]

Originally Posted by AJ

What kind of result would satify Liverpool fans tonight ?

Is any win good enough, or do you need to hammer Luton by 4 goals to restore pride ?

5 will do

[Tranquillizer]

Never mind Blackwell going, surely you want the Fat spanish waiter out? That was another poor effort despite the score. Give him another 100 million to spend on foreigners lol.

[AJ]

Liverpool debt dispute forces Americans to consider sale
By Nick Harris and Jason Burt

Published: 16 January 2008



A dispute between Liverpool's American owners and the club's board over whether to laden the club with massive debts has cast fresh doubt over Tom Hicks and George Gillett's future at Anfield as new rumours circulated yesterday that they have agreed a deal to sell up.
One source, a major football financier, claimed last night that Hicks and Gillett had agreed a deal in principle to sell the club, which they co-own, for £350m, and that a process of due diligence was under way.
The potential buyers most consistently linked with Liverpool in recent months are Dubai International Capital, an investment vehicle ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, one of the world's richest men. DIC came close to buying Liverpool a year ago and are certainly still circling, although the source suggested that a different investor – or partnership – might be behind the £350m bid. A DIC spokeswoman said: "We can only say 'no comment' at this stage."
Insiders at Liverpool denied a deal had been concluded with DIC, or that any due diligence was underway. Equally, both Hicks and the club maintain in private that Hicks, at least, is an unwilling seller, to anyone, at the moment.
However, a senior source at Liverpool told The Independent that "it is difficult to say categorically what is going on" and it is understood there is a growing schism between the board – which is trying to run the club on a day-to-day basis – and the owners.
The source of this rift is money, specifically a divergence of opinion about how Hicks and Gillett will restructure their finances. When they bought Liverpool last year, they paid for the club entirely with borrowed money, in the form of a £270m loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. Of that, £174.1m was spent on equity, £44.8m on pre-existing debt, and the balance on working capital. The RBS loan is due to be repaid next month.
The Americans' representatives insist they are close to securing a new £350m loan, most of which will clear their first loan, with the rest spent on initial outlay on the proposed new stadium. The businessmen want to put the new debt directly on to Liverpool's books, guaranteed, crucially, against club assets, not their own.
Contrary to reports, the so-called "global credit crunch" has not been a significant factor in delaying a new loan. Rather, according to a well-placed source, "the very significant block" to the Americans' borrowing plans has been the board's opposition to heaping that debt on the club.
When Hicks and Gillett took over, they made much of the fact, referring to events at Manchester United two years beforehand, that theirs would not be a "Glazer-style" takeover, with the club potentially imperilled by debt set against its assets. Now, it seems, that is exactly what they were planning. Neither has spent any of their own cash yet. Unless they guarantee the new loans with their own money – which they may be unwilling or unable to provide – the impasse will continue.
In that sense, a buyer offering them £350m for their 100 per cent stake could well be attractive. It would allow them to repay their £270m RBS loan and walk away with an £80m profit between them after just a year's involvement. Yet as recently as last autumn, they were valuing the club at an extraordinary £1bn, a figure unrelated to financial reality.
Hicks and Gillett's relationship with the board is rapidly becoming as fractious as that with their manager, Rafa Benitez, upon whom they heaped huge embarrassment on Monday when Hicks revealed he had interviewed Jürgen Klinsmann in November as a stand-by candidate for Benitez's job.
"You might be able to make a case that they let Rafa know this had happened," said one exasperated Liverpool source. "But what on earth Hicks thought he would achieve by telling the world is beyond anyone."
Until the Americans have either resolved their financing problems or sold the club, plans for the new stadium, like Benitez's future, will remain up in the air

[Darren]

Taken from the telegraph. But quite a few papers have run a similar story:

£500m takeover rumours rife in Liverpool


By Jim Bruce-Ball and Derick Allsop

Last Updated: 12:12am GMT 20/01/2008




Have your say Read comments
Liverpool's American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, were fending off renewed speculation last night that they are on the verge of selling the club.
Premier League Transfer Talk
Liverpool homepage Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of the Dubai government, are understood to be launching a £500m bid to buy the Anfield club.
It had been suggested during the week that DIC - headed by Liverpool fan Sameer Al Ansari - were prepared to make an offer for Hicks' 50 per cent share, but now it seems that they are willing to buy out both of them.
Hicks and Gillett beat DIC to buying the club this time last year but their reign has been a turbulent one, reaching its nadir last week when Hicks admitted that they had sounded out Jurgen Klinsmann to replace Rafa Benitez as manager.
The club refused to comment on the speculation last night but, with a fans' protest planned against the owners for Liverpool's Premier League match against Aston Villa at Anfield tomorrow night, it may be that the pair feel the time is right to sell up.
Gillett and Hicks have been attempting to finalise terms on a £350m loan that would enable them to repay, by next month's deadline, money which they borrowed for last year's £219m takeover, repay loans used to sign players and allow them to start work on a re-scaled plan for a new stadium in Stanley Park. But DIC, who rejected spending £150m for a 15 per cent stake in the club last October, may be offering the pair a get-out clause they cannot resist.
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Benitez, meanwhile, insisted last night that he would not be leaving the club and suggested that he may outlast the Americans at Anfield.
He said: "I know you must ask [about my position at the club], but I will not say anything. But I have a lot of confidence that I will be sitting in this chair in a year's time.
"I have two and a half years of my contract left and I will try to do my best.
"A lot of the players have asked me what's going on. Keep going is the answer. I tell them the most important thing here is the club. We must do our best for the club and the fans. The commitment of the players is 100 per cent. They know they must keep going and do their job. That's my message."
Benitez believes the Liverpool production line will ensure a supply of fresh talent in the years to come and enable the club to reclaim the prize the supporters crave above all others, the Premier League title.
"In the Champions League we are much better than anyone else in England," he said. "If you analyse the last three years, we are the best English team in Europe."

[Football-Tipper]

Oh dear