RMHH Blogs

Liverpool ground to a halt By Mihir Bose (Filed: 27/07/2006)

In pics: Summer moves

Everton might get one over on their Merseyside rivals Liverpool by moving into a brand new stadium before them.

Liverpool�s plans for a new ground have become so bogged down that they are in danger of losing up to £20 million of European funding, which has been earmarked for stadium infrastructure work.

The clock on this European funding, which comes via the north-west regional development agencies, is ticking and the club has been told that as this money is coming from this year�s budget Liverpool must convice them that they are serious about this new stadium by the July 31, or the money will be allocated elsewhere.

However, progress on the new stadium has been so slow that costs have risen inexorably. Having started with an original estimate of £70 million the stadium could cost £190 million. One of the main problems has been finding an investor. On Tuesday rumours swept Merseyside of yet another consortium bid, which would be Liverpool�s seventh potential bidder in the last year.

The latest rumoured bidder consists of Dermot Desmond, Celtic�s largest shareholder, with John Magnier and JP McManus, once friends of Sir Alex Ferguson and investors in Manchester United.

Everton, in contrast, have no potential investors and a long-term stand-off in their boardroom between chairman Bill Kenwright and director Paul Gregg to deal with.

Despite this, the club is looking at three sites and confident they could build a 50,000-stadium, with an option to increase the capacity to 70,000, for around £100 million, at a cost of £1,500 a seat.

There are three potential sites, the first is near Aintree, which Peel Holdings, a major property developer of the region, may help to build. The other sites include one near Speke airport and another in Kirby, which will involve a Tesco development, the company�s chief executive Sir Terry Leahy being a keen Everton supporter.

Everton�s income of £60 million may be half that of Liverpool�s, but their debt of £27 million is also a third of Liverpool�s debt which is nearly £80 million.

But Goodison sources are confident that if all goes well they could be in their new home by 2009, unlike Liverpool who have said that even in a best-case scenario their new stadium will not be ready until 2010.

Liverpool ground to a halt

Which ties in nicely with the previous post.

The key points to look at with this…

a) the stadium move is a goer now. b) we�re likely to be in a new stadium before the shite c) despite our income being half of the shite�s our debt is only a third of theirs…

Now depending on how you look at things c could mean either we�re less likely to take chances in invest in players in order to get success or it could mean we�re not fuckwits and we are actually sorting out our finances so we do become an attractive propersition for investors so we can then afford to take the risks without sacrificing the future of the club.

You decide…

Technorati Tags: Everton, Football, Sport

An £80m takeover battle for Everton looks set to break out just ahead of the kick-off of the Premiership season, the London Evening Standard has learned.

It is understood a British-based Russian is prepared to bankroll an attempt by the Club’s biggest minority shareholder, Paul Gregg, to wrest control from chairman Bill Kenwright. He, like Gregg, controls just over 25% of Everton’s shares.

It is also understood American tycoon Randy Lerner, former boss of credit card giant MBNA, is also considering a takeover approach for the Merseyside club, having previously stalked Aston Villa.

He is believed to have the backing of American financier Fortress, which helped bankroll Malcolm Glazer’s £800m takeover of Manchester United.

Speculation that retail billionaire Philip Green may also enter the bidding, backing a counter offer with his friend Kenwright, the theatre impresario, has been rebutted. Green flatly denied any interest in any consortium attempting to take over Everton.

It is believed Gregg may be prepared to act in concert with an unnamed Surrey-based Russian who could pledge up to £50m to bring in new players for the club.

The Russian offer would value Everton’s equity at £40m. The club also has £40m of debt.

£80m takeover battle looming for Everton | This is Money

Interesting… Not sure if I’m overly keen of Gregg being involved though. Kenwright, admittedly hasn’t seen to be overly proactive in getting outside investment (in the form of a Sugar Daddy - word to Chelsea) but he’s not lacking in love for the club, backs his manager 100% and under his reign we’ve gone from being an almost bankrupt cripple to being pretty financially stable - something Wyness deserves a lot of thanks and credit for but at the same time who hired him?

That said £50m for new players (ie a decent central midfielder and some reliable wingers) would be a welcome boost indeed.

In an ideal world this would force Kenwright to go and get some backing or someone he deems worthy enough to takeover, given his track record of doing such things I doubt it’ll happen or it’ll be a half arsed attempt which would just see the club tide over rather than having funds to really play with.

To be honest though, it’ll be paper talk and fuck all will happen, we’ll have to make do with a fairly lightweight midfield and hopes of AJ being the goalscoring hero we all desperately cried out for last season will not happen due to Kilbane and McFadden just being shite. Dude ain’t gonna do nothing without service!

It’s also wise to remember that money isn’t everything, we’re not challenging for the title this season, nor would we be with £50m to spend. That’s the harsh reality.

The culture of Everton Football Club seems to have changed though, we are now actually running as a business and running effectively as such, and despite not winning anything since this change I personally think it’s only a matter of time, while our Kopite neighbours seem intent on spending themselves into debt on troublesome players, we’ve made some decent signings (along with some bad ones in previous seasons) and we’re slowly building something.

Had anyone said to me before Moyes that we’d have finished 4th and looked like a team capable of finishing in the top half of the Premiership consistantly then I would have called them a fuckwit, for a decade we’d spent the majority of the time fighting relegation, being stable just wasn’t an option. Maybe Moyes isn’t the manager to take us further than that (and I’m not suggesting he is or isn’t) but it’s a good solid foundation, along with the work done on the business side of things to stable the once sinking ship.

Again, think about the new stadium, am I the only person who actually thinks it looks like a real possibility this time? The kings Dock ambition never seemed realistic and never once did I expect us to move there, too many if’s, but’s and maybe’s (plus waaaaaaaaay too much cash needed from a club that was in no position to offer such funds.)

Is that potentially worth a quick fix of £50m?

Maybe they wouldn’t change anything other than Kenwright, provide that extra money and push for the success a little quicker - which obviously wouldn’t be a bad thing - but then again we don’t know do we…

Everton should be challenging for honours each and every season, we are one of the most successful clubs in English football, do we want to sell our souls to do it though?

What happens to Chelsea when Roman gets bored or dies?

Do we want that fate hanging over our heads in return for a few good seasons or do we want to build a stable business that could withstand the departure of a major financial backer (which in turn would attract further backers)?

Despite the tone of this post I am quite happy with this news (should it turn out to be true.)

**Edit**

Everton FC have denied this story. Well when I say deny… They’ve just said a bid hasn’t been made which isn’t something the original story says is it?

We’ll have to await future developments…

Technorati Tags: Everton, Football, News, premiership, Sport, Takeover

for his 30th birthday
welcome to the club pancakes!
viva Polska!

I read this article around 4pm last evening:

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion.


Israel warned residents to flee a nearly 20-mile swath of south Lebanon along the border. Its warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas' heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.


The planes also bombed large parts of the south, from which Hezbollah guerrillas fired more rockets into Israel. On Wednesday, Israeli bombings killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began July 12.


A large fight between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas broke out Thursday evening on the Lebanese side of the border, the Israeli army said, adding that its troops suffered casualties but did not elaborate. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said three Israeli soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in fighting.


The forces crossed the border as part of ongoing operations to push back Hezbollah guerrillas who have continued firing rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment.


U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council that "hostilities must stop" between Israel and Hezbollah. He also condemned Israel's "excessive use of force" in Lebanon.


"There are serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire or even to diminishing the violence quickly," Annan said.


The fighting had triggered a humanitarian crisis, he added. The U.N. estimated that about a half-million have been displaced in Lebanon, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and about 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.


Russia sharply criticized Israel's onslaught, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. Moscow said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation."


At least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel's campaign began, according to Lebanese officials. At least 29 Israelis have been killed, including 14 soldiers.


Marines Evacuate Americans


About 40 U.S. Marines landed in Beirut to help Americans onto the USS Nashville, which will carry 1,200 evacuees bound for Cyprus in the second mass U.S. exodus from Lebanon. It was the first U.S. military deployment in Lebanon in 22 years.


Thousands of Europeans also fled on ships - continuing one of the largest evacuation operations since World War II. An estimated 13,000 foreign nationals have been evacuated.


More than 600 relatives of U.N. peacekeepers and other foreigners were evacuated by ship from the southern port of Tyre, a region that has been pounded for days by Israeli warplanes and gunboats.


Hezbollah guerrillas fired 25 rockets into Israel on Thursday. Although they caused no casualties, the continued rocket barrage raised the question of whether Israeli air power alone can suppress them.


The guerrillas have been fighting back hard on the ground, wounding three Israeli soldiers. An Israeli unit sent in to ambush Hezbollah guerrillas also had a fierce gunbattle with a cell of militants.


In another clash, just across the border from the Israeli town of Avivim, guerrillas fired a missile at an Israeli tank, seriously wounding a soldier. Hezbollah said its guerrillas destroyed two tanks trying to enter the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, across from Avivim.


In the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been fighting for three weeks after one of its soldiers was captured, Israeli forces killed three people and wounded six Thursday. Nine people -- eight of them militants -- were killed a day earlier.


Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks in Lebanon from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.


Invasion Hinted


An Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion. Israel broadcast warnings Wednesday into south Lebanon, telling civilians to leave - a possible prelude to a larger ground operation.


"There is a possibility - all our options are open. At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.


Leaflets dropped Wednesday night warned that any trucks traveling in Lebanese towns south of the Litani River would be suspected of carrying weapons and rockets and could be targeted by Israeli forces.


A Hezbollah official said it was "fully ready" for an Israeli ground offensive, dismissing Israeli claims to have destroyed half the guerrillas' arsenal of missiles. Mahmoud Koumati, deputy leader of Hezbollah's political bureau, told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. the group has enough missiles to fight Israel for "long months."


The Lebanese government is under international pressure to deploy troops in the south to rein in Hezbollah - but even before the fighting, many considered it too weak to do so without deeply fracturing the country.


On Wednesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora appealed for a cease-fire, saying Lebanon "has been torn to shreds."


Dallal said Israel had hit "1,000 targets in the last eight days - 20 percent were missile-launching sites and the rest were control and command centers, missiles and so forth."


Brig. Gen. Ido Nehushtan insisted the Israeli army never targets civilians but has no way of knowing if they are in an area it is striking. "Civilians might be in the area because Hezbollah is operating from civilian territory," he said.


He said that Hezbollah has fired more than 1,100 rockets at civilian areas in Israel since the fighting began and that 12 percent -- or about 750,000 people -- of Israel's population lives in areas that can be targeted by the guerrillas.

******

I, with my imagination being as active as it is and the history or watching Transformers and GI Joe as a child, envisioned this worst case scenario. Israel invades Lebanon. Lebanon's PM goes into exile. Syria sets up a puppet gov't run mostly by Hezbollah. Thousands of civilians are dead because of Israel's bombardment of a nation that had just began to get over it's past. Syria allies itself with Iran. The bombardment of Israel continues with rockets fired from both Syria and Lebanon. Iran attacks Israel and/or US interests in the region. The war between Syria/Lebanon and Israel escalate terrorist bombings in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, and various other Middle Eastern states. A humanitarian crisis occurs as both Israel and Hezbollah totally forget about the Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians die as a result malnutrition, disease, and unsanitary living conditions. The region is racked with war.

In the meantime, Korea perfect's it's long range missle and launches two-- one at Tokyo, the other at Hawaii. The missle headed for Hawaii falls into the Pacific, hundreds of milles away from it's target. The Tokyo missle hits with devastating accuracy. Japan is thrown into a war it doesn't want. The US comes to the aide of it's former enemy. Meanwhile, US bases in the middle east come under attack from terrorist supported by Iran and Syria.

European cities come under attack by bombings similar to those India, Spain, and Britain.

The UN is vitually powerless. The world once again is on the brink of war.

That's my worst case scenario. I know how God works so I'm not as concerned as some but I do know the end times could begin any day, really. And everytime Israel is involved in one of these major incursions or somebody like Yassir Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, or Shimon Peres dies, get's critically ill, or is assassinated, my ears perk up, my eyes are on guard, my attention turns toward armageddon. I'm convinced something will happen in that region (Israel, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, or Jordan) and that event will start the end times. I don't know when it will occur, whether it's 5 years, 10 years, or 100 years, but I do believe it will be in that region. The world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. And, unfortunately, we as Americans are settling right back into our pre-9/11 comfort zone. We're cool with wars going on across the world, we're okay with tightened security at airports, we're fine as long as we keep hearing how different government agencies prevented this catastrophe or that. But the truth is God is trying to speak to us. Things are happening now where we have to ask is this God trying to get our attention? And I belive the answer is a resounding yes. He is calling on His people to acknowledge Him, repent of their sins, pray, and spread the Gospel because a change is gonna come. I truly believe God is giving us warnings and trying to get us to preach to as many people as possible so they may be saved. Alot of preachers don't want to address it but the Rapture is real, the Great Tribulation is real, and if that's the case it means Hell is real also. So, it's time we do what we gotta do. I, for one, am going to do all I can to get myself re-committed to the work of the Lord. I've slacked off some but I need to get back to being very gung ho about it because souls are depending on it.

Okay, someone give the benediction. I'm done.

I knew the situation had been bad in previous years but 53 different partnerships since 95!? They should stick with Taufeeq Umar and Salman Butt or bring in Imran Nazir to play with Umar.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/254035.html

Then enter pointless competitions...

Cricinfo caption comp

just about…. oh… 10 years late on this one. probably longer.

http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/news/9538460/detail.html

Potent Form Of Marijuana Shows Up In Milwaukee

POSTED: 6:17 pm CDT July 18, 2006 MILWAUKEE—An extremely potent form of marijuana is showing up around Milwaukee County.

Sheriff David Clarke Tuesday announced the department confiscated more than 25 pounds of hydroponic marijuana.

A tip led deputies to a residential area on Milwaukee’s northwest side on Sunday.

The sheriff said they found an even larger supply earlier this year on the city’s south side.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said that users who can afford it prefer this type of marijuana.

The potency level can reach up to 40 percent. That is compared to 8 percent for common types of the drug.

“The thing that’s a big concern for us is the potency of it. When kids experiment with marijuana, it’s not the stuff we want them to be experimenting with,” Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said.

The sheriff’s Department said hydroponic marijuana can cost up to $6,000 a pound.

No one is in custody at this time, but the sheriff said they know who they are looking for.

Dutch court allows paedophile party to contest election

It's like the Simpson's episode where Homer takes the cannonball in the belly -- I could just watch this happen again and again. It's always funny.