[lfc-news] Gerrard brings focus to backroom bluster - Guardian

The Guardian, 11 Dec 2004
Gerrard brings focus to backroom bluster
Today's Merseyside derby concentrates Liverpool minds off the field
By Dominic Fifield

Rafael Benítez spoke of keeping Steven Gerrard at Liverpool for the next
decade last night. "I'm confident he'll be with us for another 10 years,"
said the Spaniard. But, should the manager's employers fail to resolve
long-standing issues in the boardroom, the England midfielder may not be a
Liverpool player in 10 months' time.

Reality bit early in what should have been a glorious week at Anfield.
Whether Gerrard intended it or not, his thinly veiled warning over his own
future on Tuesday - coupled with the devastating half-volley with which he
propelled Liverpool into the knockout phase of the Champions League some 24
hours later - has switched the focus off the team and back on to the club's
hierarchy. Liverpool enter this afternoon's 200th Merseyside derby at
Goodison Park aware that either they move on off the pitch or Gerrard will
reluctantly do so on it.

That prospect alone should be enough to prompt action, though in
Liverpool's case there is no guarantee. This, after all, can be a club
prone to inertia. It is almost a year since a cantankerous annual general
meeting left the chairman David Moores mumbling into his microphone and
admitting the time had possibly come for him to consider his future and 10
days ago precisely the same hollow threat was issued from the same
red-faced speaker on the top table while the man who would be king, the
third largest shareholder Steve Morgan, struggled to contain his
frustration in the front row of a fractious audience.

In the interim precious little has changed, other than the club's £3.6m
profit nose-diving towards a £21.9m loss in the wake of last season's
absence from the Champions League and the managerial changes instigated in
the summer. The chief executive Rick Parry, with the financial advisers
Hawkpoint Partners Ltd, has worked tirelessly in the meantime trying to
uncover an alternative investment package to that offered four times, in
various guises, by Morgan. None has yet proved viable.

Directors have spent hours in ultimately fruitless talks with the Thai
prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They have been plagued by unwelcome
offers from the Hollywood-based film producer Mike Jefferies and his L4
group, who insist they can uncover potential capital. Most recently a
foreign-based third party has emerged with a potential package currently
being scrutinised. "It warrants further examination," said Parry. "There is
sufficient evidence to think it might be a better offer [than Morgan's] and
we want to give it due consideration. We all want the right solution for
the club and, all being well, the issue will be resolved very quickly."

Moores must hope there is more substance to this mystery group's interest
because it is hard to see how Liverpool can hope to compete in the
Premiership title race in the near future, and so retain the likes of
Gerrard, unless resolution is reached on an investment package in the next
few weeks. Benítez may insist he is happy with the progress his current
squad is making but he remains a realist.

The captain and possibly Xabi Alonso aside, Liverpool boast few players who
would interest Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United should they become
available. Funds are desperately needed to raid the market, clout which can
clearly be generated from outside the club only from new investors, to
prove that the ambition in the boardroom matches that of the captain.

All the while Morgan hammers relentlessly at the door. The former building
tycoon's latest proposal - a £70m investment package, with roughly half of
that earmarked for team rebuilding - continues to nag at the back of
Moores' mind. His personal antipathy towards his club's persistent suitor
is of less significance than his assertion that the bid, which would
ultimately see Morgan assume control, seriously undervalues the club. The
chairman will consider diluting his 51.6% shareholding only at the right
price and he is entitled to dismiss an offer he deems derisory.

All of which leaves Liverpool in limbo. They have been there, arguably,
since claiming the first league title of the 1990s. United's marketing
machine has since colonised the globe, much of the sheen on Liverpool's
reputation has been smudged and Arsenal and Chelsea have emerged above them
in the elite.

The latter's manager Jose Mourinho may have dead-batted the Gerrard issue
yesterday but it is football's worst kept secret that Roman Abramovich and
his adviser, the agent Pini Zahavi, are still confident of luring the
24-year-old to Stamford Bridge next summer. The only factor which might yet
deflect that grim scenario for Liverpudlians is if the Anfield board clicks
belatedly into action.

In the circumstances it is appropriate that a tumultuous week should
culminate in a Merseyside derby. These are hugely traditional occasions, a
throwback to the 1980s when this city was the hub around which English
football revolved. This year Everton have taken huge strides on the pitch
to open up a nine-point advantage over the local rivals, the like of which
has not been witnessed since 1987. "But it's a long race and we are nearer
the start than the finish," said Benítez. "I want to see what happens in
the end." In Liverpool's and Gerrard's case, so does everyone.

The choices facing Liverpool FC

Option one: retain the status quo

Use the Champions League income to bolster Rafael Benítez's transfer funds
next month and continue to pursue new investment from outside the club.

Option two: accept the latest deal

Believed to have been put together by a foreign-based third party, the
proposal is likely to offer David Moores a more favourable price for his
shares than Steve Morgan's long-standing bid, increasing the prospect of
him being willing to dilute his majority shareholding.

Option three: accept Steve Morgan's offer

Morgan's fourth and most recent proposal to invest in the club would
apparently offer Benítez £35m to spend. However, Moores would essentially
have to accept what he sees as a 'cut-price' proposal from his long-time
rival which, in the board's opinion, undervalues the club.

Option four: sell Steven Gerrard to Chelsea

Get £30m-plus next summer and use those funds to allow Benítez to plunder
the transfer market and rebuild his squad into something approaching
Premiership challengers.



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