Tom Hicks has admitted that he did hold talks, as has been widely speculated, with DIC months ago about a minority stake but that there have been no further discussions since that point.
He also re-iterated his faith in Rafa Benitez and stated that he hopes the manager stays on beyond the summer of 2010.
On DIC:
“I did talk to them about a ten to 15 per cent participation but that was months ago.
“We gave them a valuation as a minority investor but they thought the price was too high. We have had no conversations since then. We would have used that capital towards the new stadium but we will find other ways.
“We have the capital. I have put in a lot of money and we will put in more in if need be. I am very excited about the future of the club. This will be the finest football stadium in the world. People should be very proud of it and I want to win the support of Liverpool fans with my actions.”
On Rafa:
“Rafa has a contract for two more years. He will be here for at least the length of it and hopefully longer than that. He has our full support. Rafa has shown his strong intent to do the right thing with us about the club. He has been a gentleman and we have had much better communication. He has my total backing. I have made that very clear. “
On funding a bid for Mascherano:
“Absolutely. We have never turned down Rafa’s request for money for any player he has asked for. We have funded his transfer request in January and we’re are already having conversations about things in the summer.”
On a fallout with George Gillett:
“George and I get along fine. Sometimes we do not agree but that is what business partners are all about.”
Why are people so quick to jump on the “yanks out” bandwagon without waiting to see the outcome in a season or three?
Rafa is gonna be handed many millions between now and the start of next season, along with some sales, he can begin a “mini-rebuilding” programme to get us to that next level.
Once the new stadia is complete, we can sell the naming rights for god knows how many hundreds of millions over X amount of years – which will get us where we wanted to be – on a level with the likes of scum, chavs and gooners when it comes to transfer funding.
Obviously a lot is riding on the teams capabilities of qualifying for the Champions League (at a minimum) season-after-season, and YES we are riddled with debt, but which club isn’t?
How much did the Glazers borrow for the Man Ure purchase?
After what I heared from the fans of Texas Rangers It’ll take more than what he’s now stated publicly to win a lot of us over just yet.No mention of the undermining of Raffa in the Benitasgate and no mention of what he offered DIC and that was 15% for 150 mill.when in the end his total inlay of his own money into the Anfield project(that’s how I believe he looks upon it) is around 50 mill. work it out and you know why it was turned down by DIC.The man has got no scruples so why should we believe anything he says…
SORRY I JUST DONT TRUST THE YANKS
I think George and Foster are cold sholdering Hicks,trying to reel him back into realm of common sense.I believe the Gilletts are here because there big fans.
I heard the interview and believe him less now than I did before.
Refused to talk about the debt he’s piled on the club and the huge interest payments the club will have to make.
His support to Rafa is limited to finding a new manager who will set the club back five years – as will his new refinancing deal.
Hicks simply went on the radio to repeat the press release issued previously.
The BBC lapped-it-up to get their ‘exclusive’ interview. This was despite not being allowed to ask the probing questions.
The whole thing was a farce.
Hicks and Gillett – the now silent partner – need to go and go fast. They are a joke. We’ve got to stop them making our club a joke also.
Get them out!