The Liverpool Take Over Saga Continues

Whether it is a good thing or whether it isn't, is yet to be proved but with the network of fans forums, social networking sites and mobile phones, stories soon began to leak out. I will admit to being constant contact with a journalist on the Daily Mirror, I was giving him information and he in return was doing all he could to report the truth after checking up on everything that I had said. It very quickly transpired at the beginning of last week there were quite possibly at least six different organisations showing an interest in buying Liverpool.

As people played a guessing game as who the bidders were, two names in particular came to the fore. They were Mr Kenneth Huang, who on the first impressions given appeared to be a very astute businessman from China. The Second was middle- eastern gentleman called Mr Kirdi who had now settled in Canada.

This of course sent Liverpool Supporters into a frenzy and the hours spent googling and looking for information must have been immense. You see we had been let down three years previously because the investigations that were made into the background of Tom Hicks and George had simply not been enough - If they had I suspect we would not be in the situation we are in now.

It very quickly immerged that Mr Kirdi and Mr Huang appeared to be the two main contenders in the opening rounds

Mr Huang was the first name that came out. He was it appeared a Chinese gentleman who had been educated in the States and it appeared that he had a major interest in several sports associations. This though was quickly discounted by the chairman of these and it soon became evident that he was not the man he seemed to be. It was evident very quickly that he did not have the funds to enable him to buy the club outright. He was in fact what people in the business world called a fixer. He would make the deals and then walk away leaving others in place to ensure the smooth running of their new business. As soon as the press caught up with him, stories began to immerge that he was in fact backed by the Chinese government although it seemed unlikely at the time and still does to be honest. He is though now apparently part of a consortium and is determined to win battle. For someone though who last week said in an interview given to a Chinese Newspaper that he could not understand how the British Media seemed to be hone step ahead of him, he certainly did let information out in a strange and childish manner. He had an account on twitter and it was only after I had told him to stop being so childish the daily tweets stopped.

Mr Kirdi though was the first to set the alarm bells ringing and in all honesty is not the man that he supporters want. He is a very good friend of Foster Gillett and it is assumed that he is in with a bid to ensure that the price is kept high and that George Gillett retains a small interest in the club. His background is equally as strange as Mr Huangs. He grew up in the Middle East and immigrated to Canada as a young man. He has had a good variation of careers including that of a pizza salesman, so consequently has no funds significant funds of his own. It immerged towards the end of last week that he was being backed by a major Canadian consortium.

His bid though was what they called a stalking horse and he only appeared to make a move as soon as it was revealed in the press what Mr Huang's next move was going to be. He did in fact come out and said that he would be the new owner of Liverpool Football Club after doing a deal with Tom Hicks and George Gillett and bypassing Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital. Any well-established banker and businessman will take you that simply cannot happen. From the moment Tom Hicks and George Gillett handed over the running of the sale process to Barclays Capital and Martin Broughton, which was the only route that any prospective buyer would be able to take.
Watching the shenanigans of the pair over the course of the first week was amazing; it was literally like watching two young children each vying for their mother's attention. Suddenly though another bidder came into the running in the form of Keith Harris, who would not and still has not intimated who his clients are. We do know though that they wish to remain in the background until and if they are successful,.

I think by the end of last week Martin Broughton had lost patience and informed the press that he was going to try and pull everything back in-house again. Along with this came a 'show us your money' request along with the 13th August being the date that he needed to have at least two offers on the table. This consequently led to things going quiet for a few days, until of course things began to immerge about the finances of our delightful owners

Now Tom and George are two American businessmen, who do not seem to realise the predicaments they are both in. Not only have the run that great English institution called Liverpool Football Club into the ground, but they have both bankrupted sports teams in Canada and America, because they seem to have this misguided idea that clubs can buy themselves. This has resulted in them taking out massive loans. One of which was with The Royal Bank of Scotland , who for some reason continued to extend their loan facility, although they knew that there was no way, they would get their money back. Thankfully though after several campaigns by supporters and the fact that the club is now worth less than Tom and George we, they have said that if the club is still unsold in October they will take it over.

Yesterday this came to a head and the Royal Bank of Scotland announced that they would now place a penalty on the loan account and make Tom and George liable for its repayment, not the club. This was greeted with many choruses of it's about and it serves them right. It also transpired that all of Tom Hicks companies had, had their websites suspend, due according to rumours, bills that had not been paid. The biggest shock of the day though was yet to come.

Mid-afternoon, the fans forums were awash with a rumour that the board meeting that had been planned for Thursday and subsequently cancelled was now going to held that afternoon. I checked with one of the sports journalist in London and it appears that Roy let this slip during the press conference yesterday. This meeting was coupled with a rumour that senior staff from the Royal Bank of Scotland had held a meeting on Thursday evening.

Supporters were now beginning to put two and two together in the hope, that the nightmare of the last three years was about to be over. The rumour appeared to suggest that no bids had in fact been received and the bank were going to place the club in administration earlier than expected.

Supporters appeared to go into a frenzy and began to make plans to sit beside their televisions all evening, some even called in asking to take today off, rather than go in with a very sore head through celebrating. I was having messages sent to me via my page on the Mirror Football website, as well as my email and facebook accounts, asking me if this was it, were we finally going to be rid of the two most hated men in this country.
That of course was, the one question, I could not answer and along with everyone else sat and waited for things to happen. After what seemed a very long evening, the message came through that a statement from the club was imminent. It came and the elation that people had felt for several hours had disappeared, Tom and George were not going anywhere just yet, but the club had had several bids, which Martin, Christian, Ian, Barclays Capital and the Royal Bank of Scotland had spent many hours going through. They said that the sale process was on going and no time scale could be put on when the club will finally be sold. This is not entirely true of course, because on the 6th October 2010, the Royal Bank of Scotland will call the loan in and either decide to own us or place us into administration. The next stage though has now begun and the bidders will now have their finances pulled apart to ensure the club does not find itself in the same position again. It will I suspect take about six weeks before this is complete and we are then presented with a preferred bidder.

Will it be the right one, the one the supporters feel will rescue them from the hell of the last three years, is something that we shall have to wait and see.