Guess who is joining the Premiership Rat Race (PRR) of use-lots-off-wealth-on-team-to-become-rich-and-famous – our very own, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum the proud ruler of Dubai. Yes Govind, you can partially rejoice – his Highness is planning to pitch in 480 million pounds to buy the living hell out of Liverpool. So, that somewhat means ,that Arsenal is the only nor-foreign-bought club, which ironically has a non-foreign coach and only 1 English player in its top playing 16. Right. The English, I tell you.
Anyway, why Liverpool is all happy is because now they can get a new stadium, and be totally wannabe’s of Arsenal. It’s okay Govind, it’s only natural for any club to do so. What Sheikh Mohammed is going to be doing is clearing all Liverpool debts (which not surprisingly is about 80 million pounds), buying controlling stake worth 180 million pounds and investing in the new stadium that will be built in Stanley Park. He, the owner of Dubai International Capital (DIC), is one rich man. Respect sir, and please don’t kick me out of the country.
It’s also fun, yes plain fun, to note that Dubai now indirectly owns major chunks of 2 clubs - Arsenal, with all the ‘Emirates’ sponsoring and Liverpool, with the latest DIC take-over bid. What’s even more fun to note is that now the premiership might turn out to be a 3 way battle – The Americans (Glazers & Man Utd) v/s The Russians (Abrahamovich & Chelsea) v/s The Middle East (Sheikh Mohammed & Liverpool). Boy oh boy – World War III indeed.
On a more saving-my-ass note, actually quite seriously, I have deep respect for our ruler Sheikh Mohammed. He is one hell of a strategist, and his vision is boundless but practical. Dubai is where it is because of him. Hats off on a great job sir, and good luck with Liverpool.
P.S. This post is a mixture of football and Dubai, so you’ll find it on both of my blogs. =)
8 comments:
Heylo Anish,
Yes, I am pretty happy with the news because, finally, Liverpool can shift to a bigger stadium. 'Totally wannabe’s of Arsenal' ... hmm, I wouldn't agree with that. It isn't fair that Manchester United get nearly 31,000 seats worth income more than Liverpool does, every match. Just as Highbury was too small for Arsenal's tremendous fan base, Anfield is insufficient for Liverpool's needs.
I really don't think that Sheikh Maktoum will be the Roman Abramovich of Liverpool ... atleast I hope he doesn't. Something like that would really destroy the spirit of the game and the spirit of Liverpool. Takeover talks have been going on for quite some time with other investors, but Liverpool's current owner hasn't sold the club yet cause he has been waiting for the ideal investor to come along, one that would respect the traditions of the club.
Nice to note that you prophesize a three-way premiership battle which doesn't include Arsenal ... I just hope that there are no bidding wars or ego clashes or something. At the end, lets all hope that football wins!
He is one hell of a strategist, and his vision is boundless but practical.
At this point I must say: what vison??? He's taking over Liverpool!
A floundering club who I must confess play very uninteresting football. People [Govind] will say "They've got Gerrard, Crouch, Kuyt, Garcia, Bellamy..." yada yada yada. For Christ's sake they have Benitez as manager. They will get nowhere
They'll buy all the Cristiano's and Fabregas' they can get their grubby hands on but it takes one hell of a manager to make sure everything is shipshape in the club.
Mr. Mohammed has/will bought/buy the wrong club. I'm disappointed, I expected more of such a cool cat. Liverpool will take the cash, build a new ugly stadium, buy all the best players and end up like Chelsea before Mourinho (which by the way, sucked).
The first thing I like about Arsenal is Arsene Wenger. Even with that much cash at his disposal, he would never just buy the biggest names in football. He would buy young talent, nurture them and turn them into Thierry Henrys. Wenger is a man with guts - he doesn't need buying power to prove himself a great manager unlike Mourinho. His success stories are told in Eboue, Toure, Adebayor, Hleb, Fabregas and ofcourse Thierry himself.
Our Sheikh can go ahead and buy the lousy Scousers but for me, Arsenal Forever .
Anish, Govind u guys are definately going to get thrown out of the country!!
'our very own, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Maktoum Al Mohammed, the proud ruler of Dubai'... ahem..his name is His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, brother of the Late Sheikh Maktoum (Who according to you Govind is still the ruler). Okay now everyones going to say 'administrative doubt' so i'll drop it, but how long have you been staying in this country the both of you?!?! :P :P
Nothing to say about the football aspect of it.
As far as the vision of Shk. Mohd. is concerned, Anish I couldn't agree more with you. As you rightly said, Duabi is what it is because of him. I think this is one of the few countries in hte world where monarchy works. I'm not saying there aren't flaws, but what this city has achieved in the last few years is phenomenal. Again, there are two sides to this, so well...
Do I smell something burning, if that is at all possible online!
Manish, I wonder why every football fan on this planet is not an Arsenal supporter if Wenger and Arsenal are so damn perfect. And I also wonder why they are trailing by 16 points ... the adapting to a new stadium crap aside. I'm not criticizing Arsenal ... it is a wonderful club. What is interesting however is that a group of professionals and a visionary who definitely won't take such a major step without prior knowledge/research, are not as well informed/knowledgeable as you are.
It think by vision, Anish means the vision that the Sheikh has displayed in his other dealings ... what can I say, its a pity you couldn't approach a well-written post with an unbiased mind! Pity that you had to turn a potentially interesting conversation into a slugging match! I like Liverpool for what it is ... you like Arsenal for what it is. Can't you just accept such a simple fact?
I'm quite happy that a few 'lousy scousers', guided by a man who led Valencia to an unexpected Liga triumph and England's most successful club to victory in the most prestigious tournament in the world in his very first season, will take the club forward into a new era and an 'ugly' new stadium. At the core of his team would be the Carraghers, Gerrards, Sissokos, Alonsos and Risses, most definitely bought by the tremendous wealth of Sheikh Maktoum, and who are most definitely are inferior to Henry and co. The least you could have done was read about DIC - they definitely aren't Abramovich like investors.
.... and Unmukt, just as his predecessor, the new ruler is also a 'Sheikh Maktoum'.
It most definately is a pity that you don't understand why people comment on such matters. Let me teach you young one (Govind):
The purpose of the "comment" feature in blogs is to allow people to project their views on a blog post.
It is my view, my opinion. I am open to constructive criticism and I somewhat enhance my knowledge by others comments. Why you choose to attack me viewpoint I fail to understand. I think it is a foolish move by Sheikh Mohammed to purchase Liverpool FC" . That statement is not final or unbending - there may be something I do not know.
Unbiased mind!? I fail to see how anything we do is unbiased to a certain degree.
People like different clubs - some like playing styles, some like players, others (who I deem idiots) like history and yet others who go with the herd. I am merely presenting the reasons why I feel Arsenal is a great club.
Rafael Benitez is a European manager and I don't think that he manages English teams well. It's not like I'm rubbing it in your face that Arsenal thrashed Liverpool 3-0.
Cheers.
Ah, but surely the jibes at others and their views, brilliantly utilized adjectives such as 'ugly''grubby' and 'lousy' are absolutely in place on a comments page
I didn't want to go this far ... but since you wish that I do:
In the words of John Burridge, playing 'circus football' doesn't make a club great ... it is the moments, the passion - something abound in Liverpool FC. (and what is so unique about the game is that you will most certainly differ!) Yes, they are going through a difficult phase, but they will recover / seem to have recovered. The Liverpool of this season isn't the best team in the league right now .. but form is temporary and class is permanent. Kudos to Wenger that he has brought in a few brilliant talents ... but of late none of them have been able to help Arsenal to anything substantial, beating an unwell Tottenham Hotspur side on the final day to fourth spot aside.
All these unnecessary words aside, I admit, Arsenal play wonderful football and so do Chelsea, Manchester and the like. Unlike some others (who I deem idiots), I love the game and not just a particular club.
And to cool things of .... JOHNS ... hahahahahahahaha.
Best of luck and hope Arsenal don't draw Barca in the UEFA Cup! :P:P
[We really are dumasses, aren't we?]
[And remember, its just a game!]
[No hard feelings]
To think you were so wise to start with. You consider the words of John Burridge as football expert opinion. That man is an absolute nutter.
By the way, those moments of "passion" around Liverpool FC are of a bygone era - the days Kevin Keegan, Steve Heighway along with legendary managers Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. The nearest I've come to sensing that passion was when the "scousers" won the Champions League and the ruddy English fans lost it completely.
Cheers.
An error I noticed:
Unbiased mind!? I fail to see how anything we do is biased (earlier was unbiased) to a certain degree.
Post a Comment