Ivan Gazidis demands caps

The Arsenal chairman demands a salary cap for the EPL, saying that "clubs have a duty to provide more stability in our business models and some form of wage restraint is one element worth looking at."

Anything to stop United spending that 80 million pounds, really.

[Guardian]

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Liverpool Crisis Delayed Until A Later Date

LFC owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett appear set to extend the £350m loan the club has with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Wachovia. All the hand-wringing and inflammatory news headlines regarding Liverpool's supposed "financial crisis" will have to go back on the shelf to be pulled out again at a later date.

For a fee.

The banks are willing to extend the due date on the loan until some later date not yet revealed for a £3.5m "arrangement fee" and an interest rate four points higher than the banking rate, which is reportedly similar to the current deal. That is a one point fee for the extension, which is not so bad, but certainly the club would like to find a long term refinance of the loan, and so would its supporters.

The bank's willingness to extend the loan indicates the finance world may not see Liverpool's financial status as dire as the headline writers would like us to believe. The club has shown increased revenue over last year and looks set to at least maintain the revenue next season as it qualified for CL play again and took second in the league.

If the club could ever get financing for a stadium deal, there would be much to be optimistic about for the Mersey Red side. However, there are no indications that deal is anywhere near completion.

The extension shows the banks are still willing to take your money and keep extending you so long as you make minimal payments. This whole thing is like a really big credit card bill for LFC. So long as Hicks and Gillett keep making payments the club will be ok. But, you have to wonder when the bailout will come and where it will come from in the end. India? China? Middle East? America?

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