KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum The mysterious world of FSG

I find it ironic that a few months ago when they first took over, the fans were praising the way they worked silently without giving any hint of information. How times change..

They took over 18 months ago thats not a few months. When they did take over they expoused fan communication whats happened to that. And the fans (myself included) where happy we did not get anymore "spade in the ground" promises we did not expect 18 months on nothing happened and this wall of silence.

Ok Rafa fair post. My position is I believe Liverpool will not progress long term without substancial investment in infrastruture. This should have been started 20 years ago. The owneers are tasked with this and I am frustrated with lack of progress its 18 months now. Potentially I believe Liverpool (and football) has far more scope than baseball and needs different skills and approaches. I don't know much about Redsox but gather the position is mature and they have progressed to the potemntial there is over there which has a limit football does not. So commercially they should be working very hard and incepting plans to put Liverpool in a position where we are valued at £2b or so. What I see now is nothing and Manchester United, City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea moving ahead both on the field and with new stadia or advanced plans. I have been called pessimistic on this site for me wanted this is striving for success. I want success for Liverpool desperately I always have you never achieve anything by standing still. Its fine all this planning but at some point you need to act. Plus the deep suspision with FSG all the while this goes on is that they are a speculator who got the club on the cheap and aim to sell on at a profit in the medium term which is why they don't want to invest or take a business risk which they will have to if they want to get to £2b or so valuation.

Rafa Henry is a financier and I understand has a lot of connections in the venture capitalist world. Putting a club like Liverpool FC at the next level with a view to selling it off as a success in 10 years or so is like any other business venture. They could have a rights issue or placing or if they don't want to dilute ownership long term bonds or dedentures. Waiting for the champions league I don't get even if we got to it there is no guarantee we would be in it every year. It makes sense to me to set a business plan to be at the top champions league will come along the way. That's what our rivals have done. But that woulf involve taking a business risk something all businessmen have to do. Henry though appears reluctant why ??

Also Rafa I feel the lack of progress on naming rights is not unconnected with the inertia from FSG. Why would you commit over £100m to a project when the owners are not moving forward?

i think it's more to do with the current market situation as much as anything else. Football like any other industry at the moment is suffering. From reduced co-operate spend to fans suffering belts have been tightened everywhere and one always affects the other.
wait for those Wembley 10yr tickets to come available again in a year or so, you think we have problems! 90k each last time.

what would you Stan for the future? say the team comes good over next 2/3 seasons and we are again where Rafa had us. the club should be worth 850/950million if it is 620bn now? with an outlay of 100-150mil net to achieve this, to make that big leap they would need to spend 450mil on a new stadium, partly financed through sponsorship so more like 350mil. Club could then be worth 1.5 - 2bn so a healthy return of 1bn on investment of <900mil.

I just cannot see them bailing out halfway through, unless the football bubble truly bursts - this is a high possibility, but they would not get their money anyway and would probably ride it out. So far 250mil + net spends of approx 50mil means they are already in good shape.

I would take those Forbes figures with a huge dose of salt. Who in their right mind would pay £600m for Liverpool given the playing squad, the manager, 8h place and a rusting ground. When Gillet and Hicks wanted to sell bear in mind we were a top 4 side then (well one season past) they struggled to get £500m and that was in a better economy. I think FSG are in reality sitting on a loss now and unless they take a risk and enact a business plan they will be lucky to get £100M in 5 years. The new ground is not financial suicide its financial suicide to do nothing in an industry like football. The only thing that would stop me as owners is the likelyhood of a crash in football something I think is going to happen. Its as clear as day wages going up and up and up and a fanbase that can't pay for it and threats to TV revenues via the internet. Not difficult is it? By the way I predicted the financial crash years before it happened house prices going up and up and up and mortgages handed out to all and sundry without a hope in hell of every paying it back. I predicted the crash about 2004 and I am predicting a football crash around 2015. So there !!

Not with your feller in charge of the team, no. And don't mention your beloved domestic cups this is a thread for the big boys e.g champions league, success, top stadia. A world away from your specialism e.g acceptance of third best. Liverpool FC got to be the top side in the 70's by aiming high. Thank god you wern't around then.