[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[BPF]

I don't know why, but I trust your posts (regarding the takeover) more than anyone else. It's quite reassuring.

Although nicko seems very cynical about it all.

I wish I didn't check this thread about 20 times a day, I tried not to check, but I just can't help myself

Don't worry Sir.

When this is all over I'll buy you a pint. We've earned it.

[BuckyRover]

That sounds like a plan. Obviously it has to end well, because if it doesn't, I'll need something stronger than a pint!

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

My goodness is it only yesterday I posted that? Mike B is not alone in hearing 15th to 23rd as being the time when the sale could get wrapped up if there are no more dramatic turn-ups. But the way this process has gone this time, you simply cannot rule out another dramatic twist- it would be par for the course!

And please, for all your kind words, don't set-up a competition between me and nicko. We are very different beasts inhabiting different worlds and I don't have anything remotely like the sports contacts and insights he has all round football. There is nobody better than nicko for finding out the other end's perspective of a transfer link to Rovers.

Given the length of time to do due diligence - does this make Syed the favourite - or are we talking somebody so wealthy that it can be rushed through with relative ease ?

[philipl]

Timmyjimmy put it best in explaining you cannot rush these things.

We are talking about selling a club with 135 years' history- there is no easy line to draw on how far back you should go to make sure there is nothing lurking in the past which could cause problems in future.

The Trust has been de facto owner for nearly twenty years with the Trustees on their own for over ten years now- that is a significant piece of our club's great heritage, quite apart from the amazing successes and run in the top flight it has brought us.

There are momentous decisions to be taken, not just for the sellers in checking and vetting the prospective owners but for the competing bidders as well.

There is always the opportunity to make the deal that bit better for the Rovers and the longer it goes the more likely the anxious bidders are to make that additional binding commitment which helps the Trustees feel they have done the very best by Jack Walker's dream.

So at the moment, I can only see upside for Rovers supporters in more time being taken by the Trust's team checking, re-checking and dealing with the bidders in a measured, planned and sequential way.

I took the liberty of quoting myself above to indicate that without an exclusive in place now, there is no basis for calling it one way or the other now. With all the names being thrown around, we can safely say the score is:

Rovers 2 billionaires Liverpool nil billionaires

[modes98]

Can we try to avoid the "any news" type posts, if there was any news then it would be posted. It only serves to vastly increase the amount of posts users have to look through. Same with the random rambles off into other subjects.

[47er]

At this point, everything does point to it being only a matter of time, if you knew why, you'd see.

All I can say is what I've been saying for weeks, take Philip's word as gospel.

You mean where he says "there is no basis for calling it one way or another now"? I could have written that! We need more!!!!!!!!!

[tony gale's mic]

There doesn't seem to be as many nickoteens about these days.

Whereas there has been a definite increase in Philiplebs

That's because nicko is telling them what they don't want to hear..

[chaddyrovers]

I would put the mystery buyer ahead at the stage tbh. Mr Syed Ali had 6 weeks of exclusive and still didn't tie up the deal to buy rovers. Plus I think Rovers would like to do the deal private then announce to everyone that rovers have been sold. I would imagine that rovers wasn't happy about Mr Ali going public about his bid for the club. When you look at the Liverpool deal with the NESV only came public right at the end when a deal was struck with the club. Think thats the way Rovers would like to do it.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

That's because nicko is telling them what they don't want to hear..

You could be right. However, Nicko does seem to be very down on this proposed takeover. A cynic might suggest that this is because he isn't in the loop.

[MikeB]

IMO, there's far too much negativity around about this takeover which, in many cases, is a resultant of understandable impatience.

Yes, we all want it to happen as soonest in order to give Rovers the best opportunity to return to the halcyon days of the early 1990's when we were a real force.

I have a strong gut feel, based on instinct and the odd titbit, that this will now happen soon.

Common sense should tell us all that the Walker Trust will want to realise the best possible price which will not happen if we are sliding towards the oblivion of the Championship - there is not a better time to sell given where we finished last season. We might be indifferent to some aspects of their behaviour, however, these guys are not fools.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

IMO, there's far too much negativity around about this takeover which, in many cases, is a resultant of understandable impatience.

Yes, we all want it to happen as soonest in order to give Rovers the best opportunity to return to the halcyon days of the early 1990's when we were a real force.

I have a strong gut feel, based on instinct and the odd titbit, that this will now happen soon.

Common sense should tell us all that the Walker Trust will want to realise the best possible price which will not happen if we are sliding towards the oblivion of the Championship - there is not a better time to sell given where we finished last season. We might be indifferent to some aspects of their behaviour, however, these guys are not fools.

Mike, if you are on the level I genuinely thank you for your input but I cant help but suspect that you are Sam Dingle.

[Mr. E]

Timmyjimmy put it best in explaining you cannot rush these things.

We are talking about selling a club with 135 years' history- there is no easy line to draw on how far back you should go to make sure there is nothing lurking in the past which could cause problems in future.

The Trust has been de facto owner for nearly twenty years with the Trustees on their own for over ten years now- that is a significant piece of our club's great heritage, quite apart from the amazing successes and run in the top flight it has brought us.

There are momentous decisions to be taken, not just for the sellers in checking and vetting the prospective owners but for the competing bidders as well.

There is always the opportunity to make the deal that bit better for the Rovers and the longer it goes the more likely the anxious bidders are to make that additional binding commitment which helps the Trustees feel they have done the very best by Jack Walker's dream.

So at the moment, I can only see upside for Rovers supporters in more time being taken by the Trust's team checking, re-checking and dealing with the bidders in a measured, planned and sequential way.

I took the liberty of quoting myself above to indicate that without an exclusive in place now, there is no basis for calling it one way or the other now. With all the names being thrown around, we can safely say the score is:

Rovers 2 billionaires Liverpool nil billionaires

Unfortunately this will only be true if these new owners do screw over Liverpool again and the club is in a relegation fight where it deserves to be this season. But if they actually do give them big transfer money this winter, they buy new star players and again finish near the top of the league....than it'll be beyond nauseating.

[tony gale's mic]

Unfortunately this will only be true if these new owners do screw over Liverpool again and the club is in a relegation fight where it deserves to be this season. But if they actually do give them big transfer money this winter, they buy new star players and again finish near the top of the league....than it'll be beyond nauseating.

To be fair Liverpool are a club with rich history and traditions, while a lot of their players/fans are extremely irritating, to see the likes of them and Manchester United near the top is infinitely more preferable to seeing City up there. In some ways theyre suffering from a similar problem to us - if it wasn't for the influx of foreign benefactors then they might well be competing a lot nearer the top but they've managed to end up with one which has held them back whereas others have had ones propelling them forward.

If you were a fan of theirs you'd see returning to the top as returning to your rightful place, and to be honest it'd be a view I'd sympathise with.

[Paul]

Struggled a bit to decide where to make this post but I think this is the most relevant thread. Liverpool's takeover should be a salutory lesson to all who are impatient with the Rovers situation. In Gillet and Hicks Liverpool sold to owners who made committments and promises which they reneged on as soon as the "binding" period was over. The club has been saddled with debt ever since resulting in one of our proudest and most succesful football clubs grubbing around for any new owner with some spare cash. The deal, basically paying off the bank debt, effectively values Liverpool FC at zero - how many would have thought this would be the case? Technically this once great club could go into administration in 8 days. Now I'm not going to rant about football and money but if LFC can be brought to its kness by unscrupulous investors just contemplate what could happen at Ewood should this happen to us.

Liverpool have been sold to a man said to be worth £800m, which is petty cash in PL terms. The Trust have to take every hour, every minute to ensure the correct decision is made. If during this time a potential buyer becomes impatient and walks away so be it. Any buyer who did chose to walk away through impatience would not be a suitable owner and would rightly rule themselves out. Our club's future is at stake and this cannot be rushed, whether one welcomes a takeover or not.

[patrickvalery]

Struggled a bit to decide where to make this post but I think this is the most relevant thread. Liverpool's takeover should be a salutory lesson to all who are impatient with the Rovers situation. In Gillet and Hicks Liverpool sold to owners who made committments and promises which they reneged on as soon as the "binding" period was over. The club has been saddled with debt ever since resulting in one of our proudest and most succesful football clubs grubbing around for any new owner with some spare cash. The deal, basically paying off the bank debt, effectively values Liverpool FC at zero - how many would have thought this would be the case? Technically this once great club could go into administration in 8 days. Now I'm not going to rant about football and money but if LFC can be brought to its kness by unscrupulous investors just contemplate what could happen at Ewood should this happen to us.

Liverpool have been sold to a man said to be worth £800m, which is petty cash in PL terms. The Trust have to take every hour, every minute to ensure the correct decision is made. If during this time a potential buyer becomes impatient and walks away so be it. Any buyer who did chose to walk away through impatience would not be a suitable owner and would rightly rule themselves out. Our club's future is at stake and this cannot be rushed, whether one welcomes a takeover or not.

Excellent post. However, i'm not sure how much the trust can actually do to safeguard our future in terms of agreements with any party purchasing us. Surely what Moore did at Liverpool is about the etxtent of it? I hate to use the 'if you sold your house' analogy again. But you couldn't sell your house and stipulate that the artexed walls you lovingly erected had to stay put. There must come a time when the new owners can do as they please. With this in mind the trust can only really go on instinct i guess.

But if we were saddled with debt to the tune of £300m then i wonder how many suitors would be knocking our door down the next time around?

[Iceman]

super post Paul, but as Patrick says, once the new owners are in, then they run the show. ii can only think, that the delay in seling the club, is down to the trust wanting assurances, that the new owner will have to secure the club say for a lengthy period of time. the trust might want the new guy, to sign a document, that they are not allowed to take out any loans, to finance any deal.

[RovertheHill]

To be fair Liverpool are a club with rich history and traditions, while a lot of their players/fans are extremely irritating, to see the likes of them and Manchester United near the top is infinitely more preferable to seeing City up there. In some ways theyre suffering from a similar problem to us - if it wasn't for the influx of foreign benefactors then they might well be competing a lot nearer the top but they've managed to end up with one which has held them back whereas others have had ones propelling them forward.

If you were a fan of theirs you'd see returning to the top as returning to your rightful place, and to be honest it'd be a view I'd sympathise with.

Well the rich history and tradition only really started when Shankly hauled them to the top. And frankly I find their fans as irritating, if not more so, than many utd and city fans. The fact is, if it were true that every scouser who said he stood in the same place on the kop week in, week out when he was growing up, then the kop would be 3 miles long!

Anyway, Paul is correct - the shenanigans there are a clear marker of what not to do, as if that was needed after Portsmouth. All I can say is that I'm glad that all those on here who jumped on the Syed bandwagon whilst knowing nothing about him weren't running the sale for Rovers because we'd have been doing due diligence after the sale...

[Paul]

Well the rich history and tradition only really started when Shankly hauled them to the top.

Very true and what a magnificent job he did. Real football from a real football man.

[John]

Hope no one went out and bought their Rovers top with Beckham on the back in advance of him potentially joining in January…..

Who knows what will happen, Syed may yet take over – however there are so many questions hovering over him which naturally anyone would want answered. The fact his own spokesperson say his company accounts are “confusing” and “needs looked at” hardly reassures those who have never heard of him before.

[ada2020]

Very true and what a magnificent job he did. Real football from a real football man.

Very much like Sam Allardyce. :!:

[Iceman]

Very much like Sam Allardyce. :!:

you are not comparing Allardyce with Shankley are you?

[MikeB]

Mike, if you are on the level I genuinely thank you for your input but I cant help but suspect that you are Sam Dingle.

Deryck, please rinse your mouth out with the strongest solution of mouthwash you can find!

It's bad enough having a dingle player as a neighbour but please don't tarnish me with that brush.

[47er]

Struggled a bit to decide where to make this post but I think this is the most relevant thread. Liverpool's takeover should be a salutory lesson to all who are impatient with the Rovers situation. In Gillet and Hicks Liverpool sold to owners who made committments and promises which they reneged on as soon as the "binding" period was over. The club has been saddled with debt ever since resulting in one of our proudest and most succesful football clubs grubbing around for any new owner with some spare cash. The deal, basically paying off the bank debt, effectively values Liverpool FC at zero - how many would have thought this would be the case? Technically this once great club could go into administration in 8 days. Now I'm not going to rant about football and money but if LFC can be brought to its kness by unscrupulous investors just contemplate what could happen at Ewood should this happen to us.

Liverpool have been sold to a man said to be worth £800m, which is petty cash in PL terms. The Trust have to take every hour, every minute to ensure the correct decision is made. If during this time a potential buyer becomes impatient and walks away so be it. Any buyer who did chose to walk away through impatience would not be a suitable owner and would rightly rule themselves out. Our club's future is at stake and this cannot be rushed, whether one welcomes a takeover or not.

Don't disagree with any of this Paul. From time to time I express my impatience at the length of time this is taking but its only really because I want to see my beloved club on the up again. If the Trust can render us us one last sterling piece of duty it is surely

to ensure, as far as it possibly can, that the club is handed over to the best owner possible. No takeover can be without any element of risk at all. However that risk is surely better than the certainty of the alternative-------the club left in the hands of an

owner which doesn't want it and which will not/cannot fund the club to a level necessary to retain our Premiership status.

[47er]

Well the rich history and tradition only really started when Shankly hauled them to the top. And frankly I find their fans as irritating, if not more so, than many utd and city fans. The fact is, if it were true that every scouser who said he stood in the same place on the kop week in, week out when he was growing up, then the kop would be 3 miles long!

Anyway, Paul is correct - the shenanigans there are a clear marker of what not to do, as if that was needed after Portsmouth. All I can say is that I'm glad that all those on here who jumped on the Syed bandwagon whilst knowing nothing about him weren't running the sale for Rovers because we'd have been doing due diligence after the sale...

Speaking for myself I ALWAYS stressed that my enthusiasm for Syed's bid was based on his approval from the Trust. I knew next to nothing about Syed then and nor did you. Come to think of him I know very little now except that he forked out the 250000 quid for the DD process. I still don't know that his bid won't succeed but I'm content to leave these decisions to the Trust.

[dave birch]

Speaking for myself I ALWAYS stressed that my enthusiasm for Syed's bid was based on his approval from the Trust. I knew next to nothing about Syed then and nor did you. Come to think of him I know very little now except that he forked out the 250000 quid for the DD process. I still don't know that his bid won't succeed but I'm content to leave these decisions to the Trust.

Thinking about what you've said, the action of "forking out" 250K is some statement from someone wanting to make a purchase. It's not something that's done everyday, is it.

To put it into context, it's a statement of intent.

Having said that, I remain quietly confident that the Trustees will find the right "new owner" in the not too distant future. Until then, I'll stay as I am, not worrying about something that I cannot have an input to.