There's probably some old proverb about the more you hit a dog with a stick, the more it comes back for more. Or something. Anyway, loving the boundless optimism of the scousers re the proposed takeover. No doubt it's fuelled by the following talk...
"Agreement has been reached on all major terms including the purchase price, repayment of the existing bank debt and financing of a new stadium in Liverpool’s Stanley Park."
Takeover contender Yahya Kirdi, 5 August 2010
Great news. Except that sounds a bit like this: "We have purchased the club with no debt on the club. We will provide capital for a new stadium, with work due to start on that within the next 60 days. We understand the importance of investing on and off the field."
George Gillett and Tom Hicks, 6 February 2007
The scousers are missing what the bidders do for a living. Yahya Kirdi looks after "oversees investments in Europe and North America on behalf of his investor group". Another bidder is the China Investment Company (CIC). Another is Dubai International Capital. And another is Rhone Capital.
'Investment' and 'capital'. Their business is to invest money in things from which they will gain more capital. In football, you do not achieve profit by paying off £300m debts, building a stadium and buying loads of players. You do it by stripping out the assets, lumping the debt on to what remains and moving on.
That's why Hicks and Gillett's parting shot when putting the club up for sale was to say: "Owning Liverpool Football Club over these past three years has been a rewarding experience for us and our families." I'll say.
The really sad thing is that this will probably be us in a year or two. God forbid.
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