Still wonder how much they paid him to go… like he is managing one of the best in Europe now
1 Like
Obviously I’m not from Liverpool, but I’d like to see them sort out their issues and be a stable and at times competitive club. You don’t have many of these “special” fixtures. If they’re shit or deserve punishment, then they have to take it on the chin. Every fanbase has it’s % of radical idiots full of hatred. Without cheering for them, I wish them well and that we play each other at least twice a season. Liverpool as a city is “too small” for massive divides. Especially when you have Reds and Blues in families and close relations. Have to learn how to live together. Humour, bit of banter, that’s all fine. But for me, nothing more than that.
3 Likes
Moshiri has extended his agreement with 777 to buy Everton to the end of the month, avoiding an expiry last Friday. All that really tells us is that Moshiri wants out and doesn’t have any other options right now.
2 Likes
How at risk is the stadium completion? Related to the conversation in the Utd thread, I wonder what contingency plans there for the Euros in 2028? Should it not be able to take games, I would imagine Anfield would be a likely replacement given they’d surely want to keep the matches in the North of England and probably wouldnt want to give Manchester 2 stadiums (even if OT could get up to standard).
1 Like
A project like that probably has multiple milestone payments, and probably secured by letters of credit. Much of the debt is probably cash that is tied up against that work in progress. That would likely mean the current work is going to continue on, but we know they need financing to continue. That would in turn mean that if they are coming up on a milestone now, work will stop and the entire schedule will go into free fall. On the other hand, if the milestone is six months out, the whole deal could collapse and the stadium work would just continue on until that letter of credit has been tapped out.
1 Like
Anfield is 4 meters too short to fit UEFA standards for these competitions.
Uk construction is often invoiced monthly against progress. If contractors aren’t getting paid I doubt they would work for long. Pretty sure there’ll be some contractual avenue to cover late payment too. Any sniff of trouble they’ll stop. Which makes me wonder where, how they can continue. End of season payment?
Just looked up who the contractor is. It’s Laing O’Rourke. Hyper aggressive firm. For info Laing were a major UK civils contractor but screwed up royally with the Cardiff Millennium Stadium and another project in the middle east i think it was. O’Rourke were a large shuttering formwork subcontractor. Old man O’Rourke bought Laing for £2 i think it was.
2 Likes
With a project this large, I’d be surprised if it was done on open credit, even monthly. Hence the guess that a lot of the debt is actually tied up in a letter of credit - with monthly invoicing definitely being likely. We just don’t know what percentage has been used up. Characteristically, a large construction project with a significant debt financing component will have different tranches of finance tied to different stages (with the footings traditionally being the piece that had to come from equity to trigger access to the lines of credit or loans). I would guess the finance is in place to finish one stage, and then everyone will down tools. Laing O’Rourke gets paid, but does no further work until finance is in place.
2 Likes
I thought it was going to be booing.
1 Like
I wonder like Spurs it will have some of the best craft beer in football.
Some strong bitters I expect
1 Like
They will have loads of BOO…ze all around the ground :0)
Thought it would be YNWA.
2 Likes
I think the 777 Partners deal has de facto just collapsed. A Belgian court has just ruled to allow the seizure of all 777 assets in Belgium, related to their purchase of Standard Liege (and stadium in a separate company), for failure to pay. The creditors may now seize all property, accounts, and shares in the respective companies.
3 Likes
Would Standard Liege be of interest to FSG or do existing club ownership rules make that an uncomfortable purchase?
When you think about it, it would not be a terrible fit. Liege are more often in the Europa League than the CL group round, so that complication would not be that significant. It has proven to be waved aside more often than not by clubs demonstrating they are run as a separate entity in sporting terms, which FSG has ample experience doing.
At the same time, as a distressed asset it would have to have some appeal. Well-known and successful club temporarily in difficulty due to the feckless finances of ownership does sound a bit familiar, doesn’t it? What I don’t know is basically anything about the finances of Belgian football - is it possible to make a decent return running a Belgian club?
2 Likes
I dont recall where I read it but I definitely aware of the idea that Belgium is thought to be an attractive option for the multi club model because they have friendly work permit rules for young non-EU players. It was definitely something I read regarding Chelsea and Antwerp, but only realized it is not formally recognized that Roman owned the latter. So who TF knows, I could be making it all up.
4 Likes
Further indication that the deal is off.
Especially when the people who were driving the purchase of Everton have left.
1 Like
That smells more like complete collapse. Everton is a footnote.
1 Like