I'm almost embarrassed to post this, since it seems complete nonsense to me. But has anyone heard anything else about this rumor? Liverpool's Thai takeover? Darren Schuettler Reuters "Is Thaksin Shinawatra serious? That is the question on the minds of football fans in Bangkok and Liverpool after Thailand's billionaire Prime Minister signalled he was back in the hunt to buy an English Premier League club. The telecommunications tycoon, whose failed bid for Fulham grabbed headlines last year, emerged on Monday as a potential suitor for Liverpool, setting off a fresh wave of speculation around the world." http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=292422&cc=5739 ----
I read a bit about this, as well, but assumed it was rubbish due to the low amount of press it's rcvd.
Story has popped up again: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=294027&cc=5739 Still just soccernet, though; I haven't seen it anywhere else. ----
But wait, there's more. Fox news tonight claims that Thaksin Shinawatra has put up 50 million for the honour. Jeez, I don't know.
http://www.thaigov.go.th/general/cabin/thaksin-e.htm "Knight Commander (Second Class, lower grade) of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao" and "Distinguished Alumni Award" from Sam Houston State University Don't see that every day. ----
soccernet.com Tuesday, March 16, 2004 No Liverpool takeover for Thai PM Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has no intention of taking control at Liverpool, according to the man who is helping his attempts to invest in the Anfield club. [more...]
Why not? It's just another brand of beer. What I could not tolerate is a flood of undeserving Thai players arriving at Anfield for marketing reasons. Anyway, here is more from the Guardian: http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1170520,00.html
"We just want access to a Premiership Club"...??? Surely, this statement alone should alert someone to the fact that is not a good thing.
In fact, I think that's their advertising slogan. That "access to a premiership club" quote is a little worrisome, as others have noted. ----
Gabbage -- its simply because Chang will be a f of a lot harder to explain than Carlsberg. I think it was Fulham that was sponsored by Virgin one year and I'm sure that was tough to explain. Here in the States, the average person thinks a Boca supporter is a fan of Pepsi and that I really like Danish beer. They wonder why we bought bowling shirts to advertise our predilictions in potables rather than the normal t shirt but .... As to this guy buying into our team ---- he is an autocratic bully with a lot of money. If the terms are right and it would put more funds at the club's disposal then good. If it just lines the Moore's pockets then I'm not happy. On that UsScouse and I seem to agree.
The consortium would have a strong influence in the Anfield boardroom should the deal go through, with the Moores family believed to selling part of its 51% interest. This part of the report made it sound to me, that the Moores were fishing. If they sell off their controlling shares then 'we' might be in for an even bumpier ride.
Was going to post on Steve Morgan. He, you may remember, is the chap that caused the big stink at the AGM earlier this year. http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,7-1128510,00.html Apparently he has had a proposal to inject between £40m and £50m into the club rejected. Two possible reasons have been advanced: 1) His proposal was effecively to underwrite a rights issue in which new shares in the club would have been created, rather than the purchase of existing shares. For reasons not yet made public, the board didn't fancy this. 2) Morgan is an enthusiastic proponent of the idea of groundsharing with Everton, something the present board has adamantly ruled out of consideration from Day One. It is to be presumed that this issue alone was sufficient to cause scepticism about the wisdom of giving Morgan a major say in the running of the club. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this pans out. The link to the Thai PM always struck me as a bit fanciful, but this Morgan chap is the real deal. Local bloke, now a tax exile in the Channel Islands and worth a reputed £350m. It remains to be seen just what the precise reasoning of the board is for - apparently - knocking back £50m of new investment.