A Spoiler reader’s open letter to Gareth Barry
‘Marcus’ embraces the blogging spirit, and then some
Aside from a nice cold beer on a hot Christmas morning, nothing makes The Spoiler staff happier than a well thought-out constructive comment on a story. So imagine our delight when we saw this lengthy effort from Villa fan Marcus, expressing his utter dismay over the current Gareth Barry transfer saga. We may or may not agree with you, but you are a credit to the blogosphere, chap:
Dear Gareth & your agent,
Before you confuse your career needs with your emotional and irrational desire to play with your mate Stevie in the odd Champions League game, you might like to consider this.
Hicks and Gillett hate each other. The club has their debt incurred acquiring the club. They have already refinanced and the club pays interest of £30m a year. Accounts of Kop Holdings Ltd (set up to run the club) show a loss of £32.3m in the last year, despite reaching the Champions League final. The duo had to draw £1.5m to cover their ‘personal expenses’, hardly something rich men need to do. The duo have still not obtained finance for the new stadium. If they have not got it now, they will not get it. They have no capital worth talking about, the world is already suffering the ‘credit crunch’ and is about to go into recession.
Villa is totally stable and improving.
If the Reds have to sell to buy, they will have to do it again next season. Does any other Champions League club have to do that? Eventually they will run out of players. Are Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal interested in Milner? How long before someone comes in for Torres or Stevie? Will the duo resist the desperate need to sell? Have you ever heard of the two full backs Benny has just bought?
Who will pay £15m for Crouch, with only 1 year on his contract? Is Benny that daft? Harry Rednapp cannot believe what he is asking?
If they get the money to buy you, who else will they be able to afford? Benny has just had to confirm publicly his job is safe. He will be the last to know he’s going.The Reds are a season from emulating Leeds, maybe DIC will save them from administration and a 10 point loss. DIC will sack Benny and the new man might not want you, or Stevie, who is reaching an age when they will cash in. A good agent would never sell his client to a manager with such an uncertain future or such an unstable club. The Scousers have not got a hope of catching the 3 above them.
They must qualify for the Champions League.
You are idolised by the Villa fans, but you won’t be by the scousers, wrong accent.
At Villa you have established yourself as an England regular. How do you feel about being rotated and only playing every other game? Fabio, one of the more important people in your life has said, “It’s very important to see the players every week. Its better for us if they play regularly (Crouch, Bridge and Defoe to note). It’s not important to be playing in the Champions League. A lot of players have done very well for the national team (you) without playing in the Champions League”. Source – Independent 10.6.08.
Steve (gis us a job) McClaren has just tried to raise his profile by saying you will benefit from Champions League football. Well he made only one good decision as England manager, he picked you who never played in it. But what does his view matter any more?
Benny has said they can play you at full back, wide and central midfield. He doesn’t know where he is going to play you. You need to play central midfield regularly. You play for the best manager in the country. Do you really want your next child born a scouser?! What does the wife say, or more importantly keep to herself?
Have you any idea of the fans response if you ever return to Villa in a red shirt? Don’t bother. Look Stevie in the eye, does he care for anyone other than himself and the Reds? Just accept you are bloody well off and you could screw it up, for what? Stevie will tell you about the importance of loyalty, if you need to be told, he must be laughing his head off.
Think Gareth, life isn’t always greener living in the red.
From someone who has contributed to your wage packet for the last 10 years.
Do you agree with Marcus? Let him know with a comment below.
23 responses so far
jop // June 12, 2008 at 8:59 am
what a load of bollocks, LFC are safe no matter wether its DIC or H&G that own them. To say they have no assets and will end up like Leeds shows you have absolutly no idea about finance.
As to the lad wanting to play in europe you say “for a few game” more bollocks, in the last 4 years Liverpool have been in two semi and one final of the CL, the only chance the lad has of getting to play in Europe with villa is on pre season friendly’s FFS. I am not a LFC supporter but i have a good sense of shite when i see it and trust me what you are spouting is the clear kind.
Get a grip, the lad is going end of.
scousenotenglish // June 12, 2008 at 9:08 am
This is so funny. I really hope Gary Barry is online today and catches this! “DO you really want your child to be born a scouser?” Marcus as a representative of the villa faithful, I, a true redman thank you. If Gary Barry had any reservations about a move then reading your bitter, twisted rant will surely make his mind up to leave a club with supporters like yourself. The lad is coming to WIN trophys. 1996 was your last trophy, a league cup… and that was before Gary Barry played for you. Wake up and smell the coffee, mid table mediocrity is not enough for a decent player and you should be grateful one of your own has made the step up to the big time.
Dusty // June 12, 2008 at 9:28 am
one semi and 2 finals jop, you cant blame the bloke from being upset, when gerrard almost went to chelsea i dont remember being too happy, not nice losing your best player to a rival, as man utd will find out soon hopefully!!
lfcnigt // June 12, 2008 at 9:49 am
Well Said Jop What a load of F**king S**t Marcus has said, Just accept it Villa are nobodys and will always be do you think torres would play for villa not a chance but he plays for LFC
Gareth do the right thing and come and play for LFC Passion is Football LFC Is Passion!!!!!!!
Phil Lynch // June 12, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Aston villa = Silver where?
Big Zee // June 12, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Whats a load of cr#p? LFC are the N#1 ranked club in europe and one of the biggest clubs in world football. Villa are just a club we take 6pts off. No more , no less
who fancies nice a kipper tie
you village idiots!
Martin // June 12, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Marcus makes some very valid points. We are about to go into the biggest recession since the 1930′s – possibly the biggest recession in human history. This is because there is no credit. Liverpool owes money to banks that owe money to banks that owe money to banks. This means that any assets that Liverpool hold MAY HAVE TO BE SOLD at some point in the future if banks start calling in their loans. OR the two owners will have to sell the club in order to write off the debts. Liverpool was not bought for cash. Liverpool was bought by debt leverage or another way of putting this… “the never, never”. Aston Villa has no debt.
Dusty // June 13, 2008 at 7:59 am
my god you are boring martin
Martin // June 13, 2008 at 10:40 am
Yes, I can admit to that! But boring is no bad thing. Liverpool’s overdraft facility agreement runs out next January. Liverpool is in debt to the tune of £350m. That means that in January it has to convice the RBS (a bank that is also in trouble) to exend it’s loan deal. The fact is this: Liverpool are trying to spend money they don’t have and are using loans from banks that are themselves in trouble. Someone is going to have to come in before January and buy the club and all it’s debts. Otherwise, Liverpool could end up in adminstration like Leeds. Chances are, because Liverpool is such a successful brand, that someone will splash out the £350m. BUT… it’s still very risky. And you are right. It’s far from boring. Exciting even. However, I would advise you tell your board of directors to create a boring, profitable football club first. Because without it, you stand to lose everything.
Dan // June 13, 2008 at 11:22 am
I can’t believe how arrogant all you LFC supporters are. You are so blinded by your past success and how great you think you are that you are not seeing the problems that you right in your face.
I agree with Marcus.
LFC is a house of cards that will eventually fall. Granted you have had past successes and you will be able to lift yourselves out of whatever mess you get into, however you are an unstable club. Period. Deep down you know this however, you are all too pig headed to admit it. Why would a player want to go to a club with so much unrest…? You cannot GUARANTEE him CL football in the next five years.
Ad Bannistini // June 13, 2008 at 11:45 am
LFC are the number one ranked club in Europe? Now you’re delusional.
True enough, we haven’t broken into the top 5 for many years, let alone go for a championship. I’d also say that the top 4 seems like a closed shop, with the status quo reinforced by the scandalous disparities between prize money throughout the league positions, and even more so between the cash made from the Champions League by its permanent members, and that made by the non-members.
You scousers might say that’s sour grapes from a supporter of a club that has been mired in mediocrity in recent years. but then again your club has suffered from the influx of foreign money coming into the game – both with the sale of LFC to Yanks who have saddled you with debt, and Abramovich’s investment making Chelsea uncatcheable.
The fact is, Barry is making a very risky move. Might he end up spending long stretches on the bench? Might his club have another couple of trophyless seasons anyway? with the top 3 clubs spending sillier money than ever this summer, that seems like a likely outcome.
Fact is though, if one of the top fourTM come in for a player, he’s always gonna go, so in that respect I always expected Barry to leave anyway. Top clubs have always bought the best player but now they siphon off so many of the best players that their second string would still qualify for the UEFA cup.
This stockpiling of players prevents clubs like ourselves ever making that step up. O Neill is trying to build a team capable of Champ League footy gradually – that’s how teams are built, unless you suddenly buy a whole new team for £300m as certain genocidal or corrupt oligarchs have. But as soon as clubs such as ourselves get a nucleus of decent players we can never build on it as the Top fourTM buy them from us, and it’s back to square one.
This boring predictability is a Europe-wide phenomenon. In 1979, Forest, the English champs, played Malmo, the SWEDISH champs, in the Euro final. Such a thing could never happen again i fear…
OK, so I went slightly off the point…
John // June 13, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Ad Bannistini. check the uefa co-efficients for the 08-09 season.
1 Liverpool 104.284
2 AC Milan 103.006
3 Chelsea 102.284
4 FC Barcelona 101.114
5 Sevilla 98.114
nothing delusional about it
source: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/trank2009.html
Big Zee // June 13, 2008 at 5:40 pm
check your facts idiot! LFC ARE the number 1 ranked club in europe. You lot are such a football non- entity, i would suggest you email randy (lol) gurner and ask him to change your name to
wait for it…
Aston Vanilla
Big Zee // June 13, 2008 at 5:41 pm
you tell him jonny lad
Martin // June 13, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Yes, Liverpool maybe the number one ranked club in Europe. However, it’s a very sad state of affairs for all football fans when the number one ranked football club has to offer three unheard of players for James Milner and when they have to hope Juventus pay £16m for Alonso, in order to buy – wait for it… Gareth Barry! Come on. Put it in perspective. This is Gareth Barry. As for Randy Learner – he’s liquid. In other words, he has cash – in an increasingly cashless world. Liverpool are… wait for it…
In the RED!
Pacino // June 13, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Also – if the Alonso deal falls through, where does that leave Liverpool? Gerrard has insisted that Barry gets signed or he’s off. The problem is, Liverpool don’t have any cash. God knows what Liverpool pay each month to service that debt – millions and millions each month being paid to a bank. And that’s just the interest. But if Liverpool CAN’T sign Barry because they don’t have any cash, then you may see other Liverpool players like Torres and even Gerrard himself leave.
Cel // June 14, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Marcus is absolutely right. Benitez job is not safe with those clowns in charge. Anyone who is on the inside of football knows that the debt Liverpool are piling up will come crashing down on them. Secondly, it’s not in Barry’s interest to be rotated and played out of position and thirdly, Martin O’Neill is the best man manager in the Premier League and the man to get the best form out of Barry.
Martin // June 15, 2008 at 9:53 am
So now Chelsea want to bid £40m for Torres. And the fact is this: If Liverpool were not in £350 of debt they could reject that bid. But because they are in debt, they will have to consider that bid. And that is the difference between a club with debts and a club with none. However, naive football fans – such as the Liverpool fans here – have very little understanding of business and finance and like their club, they are sleepwalking to a disaster. No one could have predicted the credit crunch when Hicks and Gillette sold the Liverpool’s soul to the banks.
Ad Bannistini // June 16, 2008 at 8:15 am
Aston Vanilla. That is the lamest pun I’ve ever heard. If we’d been bought buy an ice cream magnate, then fair enough. But no. That is awful.
Jerry // June 16, 2008 at 6:07 pm
“The Scousers have not got a hope of catching the 3 above them”
How do you figure that? Last season we finished behind Arsenal for the first time in 3 years. We were closer to Man Utd than we were to Villa.
Also Martin… If Liverpool are in such a pickle because of their debt, does the same apply to Manchester United (approx debt 650M) or Arsenal (approx debt 300M)?
If not, why not?
Is your argument that because Villa are in better shape financially, they are going to replace these three clubs at the top of the Premiership after they all collapse?
LOL!!
Martin // June 16, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Jerry, I don’t know why you think Liverpool’s debt is so funny. It’s not.
Arsenal have replaced their bank debt with asset backed bonds. The first football club to do so. The interest rate on these bonds is around 5.5% and will be paid over 25 years.
The payments come to around £20m per year.
Remember, Arsenal got into debt to develop the Emriates stadium. Liverpool just got into debt so Hicks and Gillette could buy the club.
Arsenal still have income to come from the development of the old Highbury site (Lough Rd and Ashburton Grove). So there is a huge difference between Arsenal’s well structured plan and future income from the old site and Liverpool’s situation – which is frankly, pretty grim.
Also, Arsenal managed to secure £100m from the new stadium for naming rights. And let’s not forget the new stadium itself, which has increased revenue from around £130m a year to £200m per year. Therefore, even if you take the £20m they have to pay back for the bonds issue, they are still making more profit than before.
Therefore, it was a good business decision. It’s just not comparable to Liverpool’s debt.
Are you starting to do the maths now Jerry? Are you starting realise just how bad the decision was to sell the club to people with NO cash? You may as well have bought the club Jerry. It would have made no difference to the disaster facing your club. Are you still laughing Jerry?
As for Manchester United, they have a debt of £660m which results in payments of £60m per year. Like Livecrpool, someone with no money managed to borrow the money to buy the club and offset the loan against the assets of the club. Like Liverpool, it’s actually a tricky situation to be in. However, unlike Liverpool, Man United turns over about £250m per year. Liverpool turns over about £130m per year.
The problem would not be a problem if it wasn’t for the credit crunch, massive inflation, the prospect of recession and the fear of global collapse.
A year ago, I would have said “Liverpool will simply refinance come 2009″.
But because the banks themselves are in trouble and struggling to shore up their balance sheets there is simply no guarantee that Liverpool will be able to successfully refinance.
Your club is in turmoil. But the players don’t know it – they only count their wages and play football. It’s beyond them. They have agents saying… “Don’t worry about it. Just play your football and leave the money to me”.
Livepool used to be a club with ethics and standards.
Today it has none.
It has lost its soul.
The way it does business is not the old Liverpool way.
You can only have so much class on the pitch if you have none off it.
Phil Lynch // June 17, 2008 at 11:24 am
I thought zee’s Aston Vanilla pun was spot on, villa as a club = blah
villa as a team = blah
villa fans = blah
such a none entity its untrue , hope bazza can kiss the badge when rifles in the 4th at villa park for the reds.
taking away his testimonial after 10 years great service, how bitter can you get?
poxy club, poxy fans
Aston ‘League’ Filla
Pacino // June 17, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I’m not sure Barry is what Liverpool need – to be fair. I think he will be a certain loss to Villa but I am not convinced he is the ‘gain’ that Liverpool need. I also agree with Martin – it all seems a bit desperate at LFC. Almost as desperate as the pathetic taunts from people like Phil. Lots of bravado and hot air but nothing really convincing. Like Phil above, Liverpool don’t really pose a threat. It’s as if the future seems murky and in doubt and it’s like the death of the Roman Empire… one last charge before the end. Every Empire has to end. Let’s see what the future holds!
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