The Owners - FSG

Do they? I don’t agree with everything they do but that seems like a wild exaggeration to me. As I said, if people don’t agree with them then it’s up to them to join and try to effect change from within or set up their own fans group.

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@Rambler I think there are two powerful dynamics at play here and they may appear to be conflicting but that’s only because there wasn’t any effort to reconcile them.

I have been supporting Liverpool for over 30 years. It’s just not the players or the way we play that has kept me rooted with Liverpool, I also acknowledge and revere our history, culture, and character; and those invariably leads me to you, grassroot supporters of Liverpool.

But we matter too. For decades now, the global fanbase of Liverpool provided a significant revenue stream that not only allowed it to survive and preserve its rich heritage but actually allowed it grow.

Without you, I might not have been attracted to Liverpool. Without me Liverpool might have become another Nottingham Forrest.

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That is what SOS would need to resolve, if you want a seat at the big boys table, stop acting like a petulant child throwing your toys out of the pram at every opportunity.

Considering SOS allows membership from anywhere, and if they are willing to be part of the process rather than just against everything then they should have 1 spot.

I’d love one of the TAW or SpionKop lads to have a voice, they always seem to gage the mood perfectly.

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This is an interesting line! Nice way to capture the symbiotic relationship of local fan and global fan.

With regard to fan representation on the board, I’m not altogether clear what that means? Come to an occasional board meeting when there is an item of business to do with ticketing or something like that, and give your opinion? And we promise to listen, and factor the fan viewpoint into the decision we will make? If it is that sort of thing, it could easily be accommodated. The role is fairly ceremonial though.

If fan representation means a full seat on the board, (two full seats) where you are involved in all club business, and you have voting power, and perhaps even veto power, that’s another thing entirely, and I don’t see why FSG would allow it.

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And we love you @Iftikhar :kissing_heart:

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Good one Iftikhar. :fist_left:

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Keep in mind the majority of SOS have voted in favour of FSG selling, I think it’s a dangerous assumption to make that they speak in line with what the majority of fans want.

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History suggests otherwise.

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The recent investment FSG accepted, into the whole group, tells me they don’t want to sell Liverpool. They appear to be gearing up to have feeder clubs and so on, and thus strengthening the whole set up, for the long term.

Conversely, if the return on investment to keep Liverpool at or near to the very top is not longer worth it, they may cash in on this portion of their portfolio and go again with another sleeping giant.

Sell Liverpool and walk away with something like 2 billion in profit?
Reinvest 300M into buying Newcastle, and set about turning them into a 1Billion+ asset?

I don’t doubt for one second they could do that. And who would buy us? Saudi? Other middle east oil group? Other American businessmen who might be rather more like H&G than FSG?

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They got the ticketing completely wrong. Saved a tiny percentage of spectators having to pay a higher cost by nearly everybody else having to pay a bit more.

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Red bird have started to buy shares in Malaga.

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Don’t they have stakes in Toulouse?

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Yes I think so.

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On 21 July 2020, RedBird Capital Partners acquired an 85% stake in Toulouse FC.

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Since they took over, they have frequently said that they wanted to bring additional investment into the club rather than sell. The difficulty I think has been in finding people who were comfortable with agreeing to the structure, rather than having outright control themselves.

This has often been portrayed by some as FSG looking to sell (for example I think that was the gist being given when the Chinese company was in talks several years ago).

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Toulouse and Malaga? Interesting. Nice places to grow/protect some emerging talent from France and Spain? Build up a mutually beneficial network of clubs.

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100%. Spot on. The owners and players should be local as well. The manager? Too foreign that bloke. Supporters should be wearing flat caps and waving wooden rattles.

I guarantee I spend as much time, energy and money on the club as you do Rambler. It is a global club with a global fan base and that will not change, and at the risk of upsetting you that has to be reflected in how the club is managed.

Anyway…
At best SOS on the board is tokenism, sit there and be quiet whilst the adults are talking…
Imagine John Henry investing a large wedge of money into a project and then asking the lad on the Kop who thinks we should play 442 for a change to oversee how the project progresses??
Honestly, this is a front for fan relations. Nothing more.
And regarding SOS?
Their egos will be inflated and that will satisfy their dreams.

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If someone from Epsom, Dundalk, Berlin or Taiwan feels they can understand and represent the concerns of the local community then I would be more than happy for them to be considered.

I agree it is probably tokenism but at least it would be a start. It can’t be a bad thing for the club to engage a bit more with the community and the local fanbase and if this can be put on a formal basis then so much the better.

I am no doubt living in the past to some extent. It comes with age sadly. :wink:

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And to be fair I am living in the past as well, where a tackle was allowed!

If the supporter representation is just to look at local concerns then its not even a football issue?
Couple of local reps to talk about community impact of developments etc, then that localism makes sense.
However, if the grandiose aspirations of SOS are to be considered then its about who is best placed to talk on OUR behalf, rather than someone with an inflated sense of entitlement to do so.

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Thing is I was born in Southport, lived in Bournemouth, Cornwall, Swansea and London supported Liverpool since 10.

If your day is crap because the club has lost that to me is enough. As someone who worked in comms and studied it I’m baffled by some of the PR and comms by some of the biggest companies and organisations.

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