Liverpool's elusive 'Man in the Sand'
Buying a football club does not normally involve the person doing the deal being the subject of an extraordinary vetting process, the potential owner being given a fanciful undercover name, and the whole thing ending up in the Royal Courts of Justice.
But Rafed Al Khorafi's attempt to buy Liverpool last summer, which came within hours of being concluded, involved all of that and more. I have discovered fascinating details which read like a thriller which Bollywood, let alone Hollywood, might find a shade too implausible.
The court case which City firm Seymour Pierce brought against Al Khorafi, a member of the powerful and clan-like Kuwati family, now looks like being settled. Investment bankers Seymour Pierce were responsible for advising the Kuwaiti on his proposed purchase of Liverpool and claimed various fees had not been paid. Khorafi's lawyers have now agreed to pay some of them but are, I understand, asking for more time to come up with the cash.
Yet the real colour to this story lies in the lengths Seymour Pierce's Keith Harris, who also doubles as the great wheeler-dealer of English football, had to go to in trying to negotiate the deal. After being vetted prior to his meeting with Al Khorafi, he had to travel to a hotel in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, where, for a time, he was the only guest.
That's because Khorafi, whose long love affair with Liverpool was nurtured in the club's heydays of the 1980s, was very keen the negotiations should remain a closely guarded secret. To help achieve that goal, he was given the moniker 'The Man in the Sand' by Harris, while Liverpool were identified as 'The Target'.
The initial Khorafi approach came in February 2008, a time when the world had not yet slipped into recession and numerous buyers were hovering around England's top football clubs. But there was a problem, namely the testy relationship between Liverpool's two American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They had become the ultimate dysfunctional family, barely on speaking terms. Such was the tension between the two, that in the spring of 2008, Hicks, who had tried to buy out Gillett, demanded the resignation of chief executive Rick Parry only for Gillett to defend him.
Sometime in March, a meeting between Gillett, Hicks and Harris was arranged in Montreal. Given their relationship, Hicks and Gillett felt they could only meet under the auspices of the commissioner of the National Hockey League, who acted as a sort of referee. Both men own hockey franchises.
At this stage, 'The Man in the Sand' had yet to meet either of the Americans. His cover remained intact, helped no doubt by the fact that the media's focus was on the more romantic story of how Dubai Investment Capital, which had nearly bought Liverpool in 2007, was mounting another bid for the club.
Khorafi eventually became a human face to Gillett and his son Foster when they met at Harris's Chelsea home. At various stages, Khorafi was accompanied by Ahmad Al Omani, whose card described him as vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Qatar Consulting Company.
By then, lawyers for both parties were busy. Gillett supplied the shareholder agreement he had with Hicks as well as the credit agreement in respect of refinancing Liverpool had negotiated in January 2008. Gillett also provided details of salaries and management accounts, while Hicks supplied Liverpool's detailed 10-year financial forecast. Much of this is fairly standard information any buyer would need before committing himself.
All this helped Khorafi work out his price. He would pay £300m for the equity with an additional £100m depending on Liverpool's financial performance and make the club debt free - it is worth noting that when Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool it had debts of £44.8m, but they had grown to £280m.
For Hicks and Gillett, the deal would mean a nice profit. They had paid £174.1m for their equity when they bought the Merseyside club in February 2007. It would also mean Gillett and Hicks would be released from their personal guarantees of around £190m.
It was critical for Liverpool to do the deal before the summer transfer window closed. By the first week of July, everything was ready. But then, two hours before the deal was due to be signed, Khorafi changed his mind, said he did not want to do a deal until September and walked away. No explanation was forthcoming and after that, it became impossible for Harris to contact Khorafi, eventually forcing him to seek the help of lawyers.
The postscript to this is that news of Khorafi's attempts to buy Liverpool finally emerged into the public arena last autumn. It prompted a statement of denial from the Al Khorafi group, although it came not from Rafed but from relative Jassem Al Khorafi, the speaker of the Kuwati parliament, and Jassem's elder brother Nasser, the group's top man. Rafed said nothing and it now looks like the classic non-denial denial.
When I rang Rafed Khorafi's lawyers, a spokesman said: "On behalf of our client we are going to decline to comment". When I asked if it would be possible to meet Rafed, I was told "we have tried that", the implication being it was a futile exercise.
'The Man in the Sand' had vanished and, but for the court case, would have left no footprints. Liverpool, riding high on the field, still await a buyer off it.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~16~RS~)
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So a deal was made a deal was cancelled. . .excuse my ignorance but where's the "thriller" in this story?
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Poor Liverpool are never going to get rid of the Yanks LOL
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Quite interesting.. Would've liked to hear a bit more about it though, what are your opinions on the reasoning behind the pulling out of the deal? This is obviously your specialty Mihir, let us know what your educated guess would be
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Anyone else bored to tears with Liverpool? Hasn't this all been said a hundred times before?
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So let me see if I have this right.
Over a year ago liverpool weren't bought.Is that the gist of this story.
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Is it known if Al Khorafi really did have the money or the intention of buying the club? What are Khorafi's UK links? I presume Seymour Pierce completed the usual Money Laundering forms in respect of Khorafi?
Has anyone any idea why Khorafi would just walk away from the deal?
All seems a bit mysterious.....
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bil_hornet,
Different people find thrills in different places. Because you have no interest in global economics, in Liverpool FC or in the increasingly bizarre relationship between Gillett and Hicks does not mean no-one else does.
For you and anyone else who is going to come onto the blog just to moan about it, why don't you find something constructive to do with your time?
This is a reasonably interesting piece which, while hardly earth-shattering, is bringing further bits of information into the public eye which many will be unaware of.
If you'd rather read some crassly 'thrilling' piece of literature which involves all sorts of shady undercover deals, back-stabbing, who-dunnit-isms, murder and so on, then go read yourself a Dan Brown novel. I'm sure they're more to your liking.
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Oh my god. I think I have just lost the will to live.
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What would happen, if the americans cannot secure a refinance???
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Can I just say that most fans (or certainly a high number) were aware of this story? The only thing you've added is the "codeword" names they were given. Do the BBC pay you regardless of the quality or investigation that goes in to your article? Pity Gilett didn't have any more documents for you to publish. That's where it went wrong, when Gillet, Hicks, Moores and Parry started lying to both the fans and to DIC. Do you remember those days, Mihir. Course you do. You and Gillett still friends?
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Just reading the past few comments. If you read to your top right -"I'm Mihir Bose, the BBC's sports editor. This blog is my regular take on the key sports stories and issues behind the headlines"
Issues behind the headlines. Recent liverpool Headlines have been how there is a power struggle at Anfield and the poor replationship between the owners. This Blog is clearly showing the details of how and why Liverpool have off the field politics despite success on the field.
Mihir Bose - If Liverpool were to be bought,Do you think serious money would be put into the club and do you think money would be spent to buy success like Chelsea have, and would the money be there for the new stadium??
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With the time it takes posts to be "moderated" I shall either be at work or possibly awaiting the results of the general election...but this is not really a story at all. Throwing in locations such as Kuwait and Lebanon are just an attempt to add some 'exotic' element. If the identical scenario had involved some industrialist from Barnsley and a 'clan' from Oldham (no offence to these fine places) nothing would have been written.
A waste.
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This is another fabulous effort from Mr Bose.
However, I'm quite intestested by the debt bit: "...when Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool it had debts of £44.8m, but they had grown to £280m".
Funny how that one's been kept pretty quiet by the scouse massive.
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re #13
Indeed, how has the debt risen so sharply in such a short period? Any idea's Mihir?
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Funny how that one's been kept pretty quiet by the scouse massive.
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Where have you been for the past 18 months? Scouse massive kept it quiet? There have been hundreds of threads on 606 concerning the debt put onto Liverpool FC by G&H. The 280 million is loans taken out to but and finance the club, something those 2 clowns said would not happen.
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Do we care? I mean honestly. This is of passing interest to Liverpool fans, but you could have told us all the information in a paragraph. Why write 16 when 1 will do? Padding.
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There is seldom any definable point to your columns, but this is perhaps as futile as any yet. You lack the ability to write. It troubles me that your attempts to express yourself as an educated football jornalist for those who supposedly think a little more than they feel continually fall rather short of the mark. It also disturbs me that you are the editor of your own section, which would account for the alarming number of entries continually 'moderated' out of their own voice. I recall your column on Poland with a shudder. Congratulations on making the most of a limited talent, but there are those of us, well-educated and capable of reading your subtext, who understand all too well that you are merely all that is so woefully wrong with modern England. One day perhaps, our subtext may speak again.
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So Liverpool's debt has basically risen by 240 million in two years. That's 10million a month, about 2.5 million a week! How has that happened? Do you know Mihir?
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Good blog Mihir.
What you do well is bring to the attention of the "lay person" the complex process that an acquisition of any company, must go through before the parties sign.
One would imagine that the confidentiality agreement between the two parties must have been an exceptionally weighty document. After all for no one, outside of a couple of key personnel, to have any idea of the takeover must have taken some doing especially with a football club. All it would have taken would have been one person in a data room to let slip and the whole thing would have been over long before 2 hours prior to the deal being done.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
With the debt and Gillet/Hicks finding it hard to refinance, the end result will be just what all prospective buyers are waitng for. The club will be sold at a more "reasonable amount" and Gillet/Hicks will walk away without having made anything.
The debt is fairly rediculous, if the economy stays bad for a few years and Liverpool fail to win honours then an easy option now would be to cash in on the clubs big assets = Gerrard +/or Torress.
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As a long time Liverpool supporter, it has been incredibly disappointing and embarrassing to see the club being dragged through the mud with the public battle between Hicks and Gillette. However, I am rather pleased that the Al Kharafi's have failed in their bid to buy the club. The family recently published a full page advertisement in several of the national broadsheets, including The Times, with an open letter to Barack Obama requesting a change in US foreign policy towards Israel. This followed shortly after the offensive in Gaza, with graphic photographs of injured Arab women and children. I was deeply disappointed seeing this advertisement - football and politics MUST NEVER MIX and should this family gain control of a British club, I'm afraid that the line will have been crossed.
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Honestly, is this a joke?
You can't knock us on the field this week, so you drag this up?
For heaven's sake, talk about desperation.
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Oh dear! I just ate my face in despair
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disapointing. why was my comment removed? which rule did i break? the true answer, is none.
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@25,
i would have said, i would rather call it a humanitarian effort to stop a war, rather than a political one. but then we all have our opinions.
if any one stands up to save the life of someone in any way, i cannot find any wrong in that.
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If people hate this blog so much, and feel that the blogger never talks about anything they find interesting, then perhaps they should not read it? I know you can't preempt the quality of the blog before reading it, but if, having read his previous blogs, you find it a terrible read, then maybe you should not bother reading it anymore.
Criticising blogs is good, because it instigates debate and discussion. However, so many posters on here (not just this blog post, but on previous ones as well) don't make specific comments regarding the problems of the blog, or about its inaccuracies, or on what you can do to make it better. They just seem to make blanket remarks on all of Bose's blogs, that don't seem to take into account the actual content. When people do that, you wonder what's the point, because it adds nothing to the discussion.
If you find the blog so obnoxious, then maybe no one should post comments on the blog. Then, perhaps the BBC will get the message and pull the blog off.
Chick Young's blog is another example where he gets a lot of criticism, that not always relates to the content of his blog. Yet, whenever anyone has a negative word to say on Robbo Robson's blog (A blog that I like) you will get about 9 or 10 posters jumping on the back of those who dare make criticisms, saying they should not read the blog. They should be some consistency. All blogs are open to criticism, as long as the criticisms are not just ad hominem attacks on the blogger, and actually relate to the content of the blog itself.
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So, in summary, G&H have a bad relationship and 'The Man In The Sand' wanted to buy them, he put a bid in and then decided to pull out. So he didn't buy the club.
I don't get it, what is so radical about this blog? What am I missing here? It's not exactly a big secret that G&H are prepared to sell for the right price. Which again leads me to ask what is the point of this blog? What are you trying to achieve?
There have been too many of these stories recently that serve only to try and de-stabalise the club and its fanbase. I can already hear the journalists taking this article to Rafa and asking him pointless questions about 'what ifs'.
Mr Bose I ask you, seriously, what was the point of this blog? What are your intentions? It is a non-story as far as I'm concerned.
It reminds me of a couple I saw once on GMTV. They were moaning and moaning about how difficult their wedding day had been, car problems, food worries etc etc. They still got married, on the right day, at the right place, at the right time and with the right meals afterwards. It was a non-story, simply used to fill time on the show.
That is all this blog is. It is a well known fact that G&H will sell if someone comes in with a decent offer. I'm sure that LFC are not the only club this has happened to over the past 12 or 24 months.
I look forward to seeing if you will reply, not only to my comment, but also to the numerous others on here making a similar point.
Epstein.
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So now that Liverpool have had a good couple of weeks with no controversy, someone wants to dredge up a non story just to cause a stink.
Well done Mihir.
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#17 Coweslepe
What is Bose's subtext? What is so terribly bad about this blog? I have read his pieces on Stanford, the attacks on India, the takeovers at Liverpool, and other clubs, and I still can't see why there is so much vitriol aimed at his direction. I am not saying he is fantastic as a writer, and I don't agree with everything he says; moreover, there are some contradictions in his pieces especially about the Stanford affair. However, overall, I thought his pieces were well written. Sometimes, I get the feeling that some people will still complain even if he writes a fantastic piece of prose, that is grammatically pleasing and full of reasoned points full of justification.
Reading comment no 17, there is no specific comment about what makes this particular blog so poor. Again, I am not generalizing all the people who bemoan Bose's blogs, because a lot of posters make specific points about any fallacies in his arguments, or factual inaccuracies. However, your comment is just making the point you don't rate him as a writer. So, in this case, is it really necessary to make that comment?
I've read some of your other comments, and I remember you getting annoyed at Robbo Robson mentioning Obama in one of his blogs, also commenting that Bose's political manipulations should not be seen on other blogs. Perhaps you disagree with Bose's politics, and believe he makes political insinuations that you find distasteful? If that is the case, then that's fair enough, but that shouldn't influence any-one's opinion on the quality of the writing of Bose's blog comments. For the record, the posts I have read do not seem to betray any strong left wing/liberal bias, but I admit to not reading all of this posts, and some may well be.
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IF THEY CANT HANDLE IT ANYMORE THEN THEY SOULD SELL IT
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After reading this article I feel a bit disappointed. All it does is describe what happened, and in my opinion dresses it up as being more exciting than it actually was. I feel I could have presented the facts to a similar standard given the resources available to Mihir, so I don't feel this is really of the standard expected of the BBC's Sports Editor. It's just gagging for some informed opinion from a man with a wealth of sporting knowledge. It doesn't even spark any debate. Why did Khorafi pull out so suddenly? I obviously have no idea! Some informed thoughts from Mihir could have allowed people like myself to comment more constructively on this article.
This article tries to make the boring bit exciting, and just ignores the part which could actually be interesting in my opinion. This isn't the first article from this author which has left me disappointed in recent weeks.
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So, this is the 'story behind the headlines'.
I'm not a Liverpool supporter, so I guess that I just read headlines. As far as I knew; an Arab investor had tried to buy the club, had been looked at in terms of due diligence, the two American owners had met in Canada, and the Arab investor had pulled out at the last minute.
Just look at all the stuff I missed by not having the insight of going 'behind the headlines'. Erm, a couple of codewords and, er, that's it.
Mr Bose has tried what, five or six times, to cover this story? I haven't noticed anything that isn't already in the public domain. If you're a Liverpool fan, you probably know all this stuff. If you aren't, it won't be that relevant. Just compiling what is on other websites and press releases is not, in my view, journalism. It is summarising what is already known.
What could Mr Bose had written if he'd been bothered to do the legwork? How about an article on Liverpool's youth academy? Why is it not producing a stream of talented first-teamers? How about a detailed assessment of Hicks and Gillette's ice hockey teams? Are they in good financial shape? Can they provide profits to subsidise Liverpool? How much do Liverpool make from match days, and how does that compare with Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal? What are the implications of this? What about the rules that prevent Italian or German clubs having overseas owners? How do these work, and how do they fit in with EU law, for example? How did Barcelona set up their fan/shareholder system, and could that happen to a big club here?
Heck, I'm just an average punter praying for an interesting and incisive article, and I've just come up with five ideas for a story here and now. Presumably, Mr Bose has more time than I do to think up what he'll write about next. Some lame rehash of pre-existing knowledge, padded with pseudo-thriller stuff about codewords and empty Lebanese hotel rooms shouldn't be the extent of his ambition.
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I have discovered fascinating details about football recently.
I understand that some Spanish and Italian players might be joining English clubs in the summer.
I understand that Manchester United might win lots of trophies this season.
I understand that a football is spherical.
Oh, and I understad that some people, possibly foreign, might buy Liverpool, or they might not, or they might. I don't care really.
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buyers are not stupid, they know the longer they wait the lower the price will go, and its only because the yanks are being greedy that the price needs to come down, they have priced it up as if the new stadium has been built already.
no buyer is going to pay 500 million for the club and another 400m for new stadium.
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A lot of the comments on this blog get hidden. Now, a lot of the posters may say this is indicative on an Orwellian moderating system, influenced by the liberal bias of the BBC, but the posters have to take some responsibility and actually debate the article posted, rather than take cheap shots at the blogger, or make pointless remarks just to express disdain at the blog.
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I've now read your piece 4 times and I still can't quite work out whether this is something you write in your spare time or something that you actually get paid for. Is this your real job? I remember my English teacher at school urging the class to have a point to the story we were attemptng to tell ....you know.... a beginning, a middle and an end.....why didn't yours have any of these?
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No wonder the BBC sports website has gone downhill since you become 'editor'. LOL
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It would have been a nice article, if it wasn't yet another piece of watery drivel written by Mr Bose.
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what a nonsense post.
a few commonly known facts spun into a piece that tells us absolutely nothing.
you should get a job on a tabloid!
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Khorafi is nothing more than a mirage in the sand - a Walter Mitty type character who desired to buy the football club he had supported since the 1980s; but became mesmerised by two savvy Americans into agreeing a financial package worth close to £700m. An insane amount of money given the present World recession. No doubt one of Khorafi's financial advisors put a gun to Walter's head two hours before the agreed signing and why he pulled out.
The people who come out of this with shame all over their face are the two Americans. Having almost pulled off the football deal of the decade, they now face the full horror of their madcap borrowings, while barely speaking to each other. Meanwhile, a proud club called Liverpool are staring at a nightmare scenario where denial even stops journalists from depicting a possible end result. A club that "could" go into bankruptcy unless a white knight like DIC comes along.
Being a lifelong Reds supporter, who could have predicted, a few years back, such an horrific mess as Moores passed over the reins. And given all this embarrassing tumult steaming in the background, it is astonishing that Liverpool have been able to carry on with 'business as usual'. Great credit to the players and manager. As to how this Merseyside tragedy will end? In tears, I fear, in tears!
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Awaiting moderation from 5.51pm today? Woeful efforts to spread our comments.
Freedom of speech. Doesn't that mean anything to the BBC?
Will I be allowed to say exactly what I think or will I have to "tone it down a bit" so that I am in keeping with the house rules?
Utterly dumbfounded.
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I fear the LFC market will end up in a "Who'll blink first" face-off.
The Hicks & Gillett millions are shrinking every week, along with that of a large proportion of recession-hit American millionaires, while at the same time, Liverpool's need for further investment is growing. The two are not complimentary, and any prospective buyer will be aware of the increased financial risk at this point in time.
But how long will H & G hold out before accepting a short profit? It is anathema to people like them to even consider "cutting their losses", but if there are potential buyers - DIC, Khorafi or anyone else - they will also know that in the current economic climate, H & G's time is limited, so the buyer's best option may just be to wait... while the club is forced to sit and watch the duel of nerve.
If no point of critical financial mass can be found soon where the minimum needs of the club, buyer and sellers can be satisfied, the one who blinks last may also be the biggest loser.
All the club can do in the meanwhile is ensure that results are good for all concerned.
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So this is what a journalist writes in his blog…..you have to be kidding me!!!
New it is in the word News, give us something New not history.
We as Liverpool fans have know all this. The yanks are loosing us money hand over fist, they couldn’t manage a drunken binge in a brewery.
These men are not football fans and could not give a flying hoot for Liverpool as a city, so why bother…..MONEY my friend, money.
It is a crying shame that the Liverpool fan buy out did not come to anything, I had my name down £5000 would have been well worth it to take over our team once more.
Football fans should run football, not money grabbing merchants or wannabe politicians…give football back to the fans.
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hmmm.... so thats the story?
so those yanks actually wanted to sell the pools?
but the sandman pullback last minute? thats wrong mate.. blunt promises..
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The jist of this blog is that Liverpool was nearly sold, but in the end it wasnt!!....This is great journalism!!
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#37,
Good post. For all that I have a serious distaste for people whining about the blogs on this site, your thoughts are actually very interesting and you add constructive criticism to your dismissal of the blog.
Thank you for actually thinking a little about what you're going to write!
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Stoopendous # 42: I wish I had the kind of time you obviously have to waste!
As for Liverpool's market value - considering Rafa is now part of the deal again, I'd say this is about the best time this year for anyone to step in with an offer - and for G & H to clear their overdrafts... and their desks.
Could this week get any better?
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it appears i have had my head in the sand about the man in the sand, because i didnt know much about any of this until i read mihir's blog, so i guess i found it informative.
but mr bose, i would love for you to give us your own opinion/a little bit of extra information when you write your blogs. it seems every time i read one of your pieces, i get a few facts without much in the way of analysis/evaluation/interpretation from your good self.
what are your thoughts regarding why the "man in the sand" pulled out of the deal? surely a man with your contacts and experience should be able to come up with a pretty accurate estimate of what really happened, or even speculate a few likely scenarios?
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This blog summed up in one sentence: Liverpool Football Club nearly got sold but didn't.
Very ordinary blog; offers very little in the way of opinion or thought-provoking debate.
The one thing that I do admire about you Mr. Bose is that you don't remove the constant and numerous destructive comments that litter your blog week in, week out. For that reason I will offer some constructive criticism instead of doing like others have and just simply criticise. Why not develop a more supportive or objective view? You will have your critics (such as poster number 27 who seems to think this is a cheap dig at Liverpool somehow), but you will stimulate a healthy conversation and / or debate and, hey let's face it, you can't please everyone.
Better than pleasing no-one, it seems.
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I note Benitez has finally signed a new 5 year deal with Liverpool. ""My heart is with Liverpool, so I'm delighted to sign this new deal," Rafa commented. "I love the club, the fans and the city and with a club and supporters like this, I could never say no to staying."
The Americans suddenly sell their shares to DIC; Sir Fergie retires at the end of this season after gaining a record quadruplet of trophies - only Liverpool beating them in the European final; and Torres gains bionic ankles and hamstrings, so stopping any chance of injuries again... While Gerrard discovers a new life-enhancing drug which will allow him to remain Liverpool Captain and player for the next 20 years.
Damn, it's all a dream!
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As a Liverpool fan we know that the 2 Americans have had a lovers tiff and like any couple a divorce is what is a needed. Mr Parry brought shame to my beloved club rejecting DIC advances... what in the blue hell were Mr Parry and Moore thinking selling this club to these bumbling idiots.
Granted they spent money thanks at a debt to the club, Torres the exception to the rule the boy is a genius have we missed him or what!
As an accountant the due diligence process is a standard act in any takeover however at least these people did that unlike RBS's Sir Fred Goodwin... the guy who brought down RBS after buying that dutch bank with an over inflated figure... i'm sure he know's Mr Bose.
Can anyone tell me if Mr Bose appeared in Slum Dog millionaire. Who is this man?
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It should be noted that H&G said they would not put debt on the club in order to buy it. That is not wrong since they put debt on the club when refinancing. But H&G specifically said the only debt put on the club would be in financing the stadium construction.
To that point i don't think it's reasonable in this world to expect owners to not take out loans to build a stadium. That's done in every country. Then you pay the debt back over time in profits from the stadium. Arsenal is doing that. And when it's paid off you've got pure profit and you'll be earning up there with United.
Deep down Liverpool needs to turn profits and make money. I can't just run on hope of a sugardaddy to give it money without being a sound profitable business. It needs to be a long term sound business. Because the Sugardaddy cold leave. What will Chelsea be if Roman leaves A hull with no sound business plan.
The Stadium is the key to making Liverpool boost it's revenue. But in this economy materials and labor are enourmously expensive and to over pay for construction now may increase the total cost and heap tons more debt on the club. So it may be a good thing that LFC is taking caution with it's finances now.
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Why is the charset for this page =utf-8? Currency signs & other special characters show up as ???. Change it to ISO-8859-1, non?
(Sorry, correct challenge for deviation...)
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To all the people who say to others "why visit this blog if all you do is criticise Mihir Bose"..the point of the comments section is to express opinion either good or bad.
Whilst not wanting to criticise Mihir personallly as i dont know him, i do wonder sometimes who he is and why he is trying, unsuccesfully, to build an image of 'the investigative sports reporter'. Similar attempts with his articles about Stanford that opened with words such as 'i can now reveal' equally went on to totally unimpress with facts we all knew.
Here's my suggestion Mihir...if you are going to 'reveal' something, why not show a scanned copy of the document with the 'man in the sand' name on or a receipt from the hotel in Lebanon. Something interesting. Some evidence. Get hold of an email or two. Record a conversation and link to it on here.
Thanks.
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Mihir:
As some of the other posters have mentioned, regarding the sale of The team....It was cancelled...
~Dennis Junior~
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Why are the comments, usually more informative & interesting than Mihirs blogs?
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BBC's elusive 'Coverage of Clubs other than the Big 4'
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We criticise this blog because it claims to have inside knowledge that us poor plebs wouldn't ever see, and then reveals... what most people could find by using Google themselves. And its usually non-news in the first place. Like this one: something you all know about was going to happen but I can EXCLUSIVELY reveal, it didn't just 2 hours before hand.
Thanks. For. That.
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"I have discovered fascinating details which read like a thriller which Bollywood, let alone Hollywood, might find a shade too implausible"
A thriller?
Not a shade too implausible, but a shade too boring
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Why are the majority of posters critical of Mihir Bose? Is it simply that Liverpool supporters don't like him? Has he rubbished the Club in the past?
Bose is a typical journalist doing a job by filling in empty website space. He is not a good journalist, agreed, nor a very good sports frontman for the BBC. But, at least the guy is trying.
It is never easy writing a story when there isn't a story to write. He required more facts and background about Al Khorafi. In particular, why 'the man in the sand' pulled out 2 hours before signing. That's the story. But as no journalist is likely to find out, perhaps an article on Rafa's culinary delights would have been better? Fergie likes Aberdeen steak. Presumably, Rafa enjoys paella?
Go on Mihir... there's your next story!
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Mihir are you just cashing on Liverpool being in the headlines for "on the field" reasons by bringing a non-starter story.... not a thriller by any standards
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Surely a good journalist like Mihir knew about Benitez signing a five year deal but chose to say nothing and instead decide this "man in the sand" blog was more important. If he didnt know a deal on Benitez contract was about to break why didnt he know?
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Great investigative blog Mihir, right up there with your best, and Inspector Clouseau is a great investigative detective.
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My comment is comment Number 83. I've already had one comment removed for supposedly breaking the house rules. Am I just being ignored now, or does it take an eternity to approve/remove a comment.
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then who is the owner of Liverpool at present? Very interesting to know
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It is is acceptable or within the house rules I think?
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I think it means whether it can be accepted or within the House Rules
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