Barclays Premier League Season 2009/2010

[Kostaz]

I've got a feeling that the real crisis for Liverpool will start now.

Wonder who will follow him out

[rajputwarrior]

Liverpool begin search for new manager

Dalglish won three league titles as manager of Liverpool

Liverpool are to begin their search for a new manager after Rafael Benitez left the club by mutual consent on Thursday.

Managing director Christian Purslow and former boss Kenny Dalglish, who is also the club's academy ambassador, are charged with finding a replacement.

Fulham's Roy Hodgson has been suggested as a candidate for the vacant post.

But former Reds goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar and former midfielder Jamie Redknapp think Dalglish would be the right man to take over.

Dalglish managed the club between 1985-1991, winning three league titles and is still revered at Anfield having also won six league titles as a player. He is also thought to be close to several senior players.

"It's a sad thing that Rafa Benitez has gone but for me there is only one man for the job and that is Kenny Dalglish," Grobbelaar told BBC Radio 5 live.

Redknapp - Dalgish would be a success

"Kenny Dalglish loves this football club and I believe if he didn't have the appetite for the game, he wouldn't be at Anfield every week, week-in, week-out.

"I think maybe now is the time he can turn the tide and stabilise the club with the fans and make sure everything gets back on track. He can take the club back up to where it should be."

Grobbelaar was part of the same Liverpool team as Dalglish and rejected the suggestion that a new face was needed at Anfield.

"We need fresh blood yes, but on the pitch not off it. As a manager he will be respected and will be able to lead the club," said Grobbelaar.

Hodgson is another name in the frame following his successful season at Craven Cottage which saw Fulham reach the final of the Europa League. His achievements also saw him voted the manager of the year by the League Manager's Association.

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill, who recently committed himself to the club after showdown talks with owner Randy Lerner last month, has also been mentioned as a replacement for Benitez.

Anfield bosses may also turn to former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes, who is a free agent, which could appeal to the debt-ridden club.

Benitez is reported to have received a multi-million pound severance deal to leave Anfield and with Liverpool ?351m in debt the club will be hoping to avoid paying out more money in compensation.

Ex-Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink, who recently took over as Turkey boss and current Croatia coach Slaven Bilic have been touted as potential successors too.

Who should replace Benitez?

Former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp agrees with Grobbelaar and feels that Dalglish would be an ideal replacement. But he also believes Hodgson has the right credentials.

"Kenny watches football every day and he doesn't miss a thing, I have no doubt he would be a huge success," Redknapp told BBC Sport.

"The players will also respect him as a man and a manager because of his success previously.

"To stick with Kenny Dalgish I think is a really good idea. If not then obviously Roy Hodgson is going to get mentioned as he has worked in Europe and had huge success so there are a lot of options."

just hire dalgish...

[Kralik]

Last I heard was they were saying that they are in no hurry to sign a new manager before the WC..

[rajputwarrior]

Last I heard was they were saying that they are in no hurry to sign a new manager before the WC..

they should find someone asap, then that way that manger can get to world cup and liverpool can pawn of all their talent to all the other managers who are there :(

[Martyn]

just hire dalgish...

I would rather Dalglish did not get into bed with Hicks and Gillett.

With the resources on offer Dalglish could not take us forward a 'great' amount in my opinion. Whilst there would certainly would be a buzz around his appointment, in a few months time I couldn't stomach some of our idiot fans slagging him off.

Alongside Shankly, Dalglish has done MORE for our club than anyone.

they should find someone asap, then that way that manger can get to world cup and liverpool can pawn of all their talent to all the other managers who are there :(

Pawn all the talent? With what money exactly :laugh:?

[Asharae]

It really does suck to see the crap that Liverpool is going to go through now, and thats coming from a Chelsea fan!

What english football doesn't need is people ruining it at club level!

[rajputwarrior]

I would rather Dalglish did not get into bed with Hicks and Gillett.

With the resources on offer Dalglish could not take us forward a 'great' amount in my opinion. Whilst there would certainly would be a buzz around his appointment, in a few months time I couldn't stomach some of our idiot fans slagging him off.

hicks and gilette will hopefully be gone by the summer. I still blame hicks more then anyone, all hicks sports team in the states are all for sale/claiming bankruptcy. Gilette is a great sports owner, he turned around my montreal canadiens and made them into one of the most profitable team in the league and sucked. Now they just went to the conference finals and were the top team two years, all thanks to him. That team was in serious financial trouble before he showed up. gilette just go into business with the wrong idiot...

Alongside Shankly, Dalglish has done MORE for our club than anyone.

Pawn all the talent? With what money exactly :laugh:?

by pawn off i mean our guys go over there to sell all our players :(

[Kralik]

Liverpool hope to make rapid progress in their efforts to install a successor to Rafael Ben?tez with Roy Hodgson the leading candidate following further talks among the Anfield hierarchy.

[Rappy Veteran]

Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is poised to hold talks with Champions League winners Inter Milan next week.

Inter are looking for a new manager after Jose Mourinho, who also won Serie A and the Italian Cup last season, left to take over at Real Madrid.

Benitez left Liverpool by mutual consent on Thursday after six years at the helm at Anfield.

"That is the direction and in the next few days we will see and decide," said Inter president Massimo Moratti.

"I can only speak well of him because he is very good.

"It's also important that he has always done well in Europe: to continue to get joy from the Champions League is our aim," Moratti added in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport.

The 50-year-old has a strong track record in European football, having won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and the Uefa Cup with Valencia in 2004.

But he would have big shoes to fill at Inter, with Mourinho winning the league in both seasons he was at the club, not to mention securing the Champions League and Italian Cup last season.

And before Mourinho's spell at the club, Inter won three consecutive titles under Roberto Mancini.

Benitez was strongly linked with a move to Juventus, but since his departure from Anfield he has become the subject of speculation suggesting a move to the San Siro is imminent.

Even Javier Mascherano, one of his former players at Liverpool, has suggested that the Spaniard would be the ideal fit for Inter.

"Only Benitez could take the place of a coach like Mourinho," said Mascherano.

"He is a great coach. He has charisma, personality, a winning mentality.

"Moreover, he will find himself brilliantly in Italy because of the tactical game. Rafa studies everything on the table and directs the team from the bench like a orchestra conductor.

"After Mourinho, he is the only man capable of continuing Inter's winning run."

Source: BBC

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Manchester United owner's debts hit ?1.1bn

Manchester United's owners are ?1.1bn in debt - ?400m more than previously known - after borrowing extensively against their shopping mall business.

BBC Panorama has found evidence that the Glazer family's debt levels may threaten their hold on the club.

A spokesman for the American family has said it holds more than ?2bn in assets.

But the extent of the debt owed by the Glazers is likely to fuel a continuing revolt by some supporters, who oppose their ownership of the club.

Green and gold

Details of the financial arrangements of the owners also come at a time when the sport's governing bodies are facing questions about Premier League debts that have reached a combined total of ?3.4bn and the growing popularity of leveraged buyouts in English clubs.

Mortgage documents seen by the BBC show that the Glazers have borrowed ?388m ($570m) against shopping malls and ?66m ($95m) against their American National Football League team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In addition to their mortgages in the US, a portion of the Glazer family's ?700m Manchester United debt will soon see them charged interest at a rate of 16.25%.

Fans fear that, despite the club's record of success on the pitch, the Glazers' leveraged buy-out of United has saddled the club with debt and that may mean that there is no spare money in the future to buy a new generation of star players.

Disappointed fans have launched the "green and gold" campaign that resurrects the original team colours in protest over the Glazers' ownership.

Their numbers have reached 158,000 and former United star David Beckham has signalled his support.

They point to the ?80m sale of star striker Cristiano Ronaldo last year and note that he has not been replaced by a player of similar quality. Yet ticket prices have gone up by more than a third.

The club's management denies any lack of commitment to buying new talent and says that cash is available for Sir Alex Ferguson to buy players.

Negative equity

City analyst Andy Green, 37, is the disgruntled Manchester United supporter who first uncovered the extent of the Glazers' debts.

Mr Green said: "They borrowed more money at inflated valuations right at the top of the cycle.

"These are people who tell us not to worry about Manchester United debt because they are great businessmen. In their core business in the US they got it absolutely wrong."

The debt levels at the club are also drawing the attention of other prominent football figures.

Dave Whelan, Chairman of Wigan Athletic, told Panorama: "I don't think anybody can be satisfied with how Manchester United are being run... they have got somewhere in the order of three-quarters of a billion pounds worth of debt. That has got to be eliminated and eliminated quickly."

The Glazer family's main assets are the shopping centre business in America, First Allied Corporation, along with Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

First Allied is a private business and its accounts are not publicly available. But Mr Green discovered that the Glazers' shopping mall mortgages had been bundled with other loans as Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities.

Those bundles are publicly traded and therefore require the Glazers to provide detailed information on all the mortgages, which are then publicly available in the US.

Mr Green found mortgages - confirmed by the BBC - on 63 of 64 First Allied shopping centres, totalling ?388m ($570m).

Most of those were taken out with Lehman Brothers before the US investment banking giant went bankrupt, triggering the global banking crisis in 2008.

'Watch list'

While Lehmans collapsed, the Glazers' mortgage debt lived on and many of those shopping centres are not generating enough income to keep up with interest payments.

With falling commercial property values, many are also now in negative equity.

Banks have put 28 of the shopping centres on a watch list, meaning they are worried about the loans.

Four shopping centres - one each in Ohio, New Mexico, Texas and Georgia - have already gone bankrupt.

When they bought Manchester United in 2005, the Glazer family borrowed ?500m and paid the remaining ?272 million in cash.

Mr Green found that the Glazers had remortgaged 25 of their shopping centres in the six months before the takeover.

He believes the family borrowed against their US properties to pay for United: "At the time when they had to present a huge amount of cash over here in the UK they borrowed a huge amount of extra money in the US and publicly they didn't buy anything else that year."

A spokesman for the family did not respond to questions about the mortgages taken out by First Allied.

But with properties now worth about ?380m ($550m) but mortgages valued at ?395m ($570m), the shopping mall company now appears to be worth next to nothing.

'Commercial expertise'

That financial picture has analyst Mr Green questioning how the Glazers will service their ?1.1bn debt.

United chief executive, David Gill, has said: "We're very confident the business model we have in place will ensure the club can continue to compete at the top of football for many years to come.

"The owners have been true to their word since they took over the club in 2005. They've brought commercial expertise and commercial benefit to us in a numbers of areas, and we've seen our revenues grow significantly."

The Glazers' most troublesome debts are held by Red Football, the parent company that owns Manchester United.

They are payment in kind loans, or PIKs, worth ?200m and the interest owing on them will soon rise to 16.25%.

Mr Gill told the BBC in January: "We don't worry about the PIK repayment. That's nothing to with the club."

A spokesman for Manchester United told the BBC last week that the club stands behind Mr Gill's assertion that the debts will be repaid without involving the club.

But sources close to the Glazers have confirmed that Red Football may use cash from Manchester United to pay off the PIKs in the future. The Glazers are said to be "comfortable" with the PIKs.

The situation at Manchester United reflects the wider issue within the Premier League, where clubs like Liverpool and West Ham are struggling with huge debts and FA Cup finalists Portsmouth barely staved off bankruptcy.

Both the Premier League and the FA declined requests for interviews on the subject of debt in football.

Source: BBC

[Martyn]

Benitez to Inter?

According to our 'fans' he is a terrible manager - so why would the European and Italian Champions want to employ him :laugh:?

[rajputwarrior]

Benitez to Inter?

According to our 'fans' he is a terrible manager - so why would the European and Italian Champions want to employ him :laugh:?

cause italian teams are stupid :shiftyninja:

[rajputwarrior]

what do you think?

i like them :) I really want that away kit.

[Valerus]

It's so weird not seeing Carlsberg on there :(

[Rappy Veteran]

what do you think?

i like them :) I really want that away kit.

I've seen a few of those around town already, it is weird not seeing Carlsberg as Valerus said

[Kralik]

It's so weird not seeing Carlsberg on there :(

+1.. I didnt realise they were Liverpool shirts till I saw the badge..

[Neowinian]

Cannot wait to see Aston Villas new football kit. :shifty:

[Kralik]

Our new away kit:

[Valerus]

Looking snazzy. Will we keep the blue pinstripe kit? it's the best kit I've seen. I had to buy one before the season ended because I didn't know if this season would feature them.

[Kralik]

Looking snazzy. Will we keep the blue pinstripe kit? it's the best kit I've seen. I had to buy one before the season ended because I didn't know if this season would feature them.

Yeah this replaces the white one.. so there will be the "red and white", blue and this one.. I liked the white pinstripe shirt.. why do clubs do this every season? Besides making us spend our money.. I see no other reason..

This shirt looked elegant..

[Neowinian]

These look like the new Aston Villa strips.

Home

Away

Third

[Shibby]

Yeah this replaces the white one.. so there will be the "red and white", blue and this one.. I liked the white pinstripe shirt.. why do clubs do this every season? Besides making us spend our money.. I see no other reason..

They aren't allowed to change shirts every season. ?The league has rules on shirt changes to protect the fans. ?If the clubs do change the shirt, then they are fined and have to do something to make it up to the fans. ? Perhaps one of us should look up the rules.

[Valerus]

Okay I'm glad they're keeping the blue one.

[Rappy Veteran]

anyone good at photoshop to edit Fab out of that after the world cup :shifty:

[rajputwarrior]

arsenal alwasy has nice kits