Hicks Lawyers Pushed For Nov 1 Deadline

A judgement in the court battle
to decide the future of
Liverpool is due at 10.30am on
Wednesday morning, with
Singapore bidder Peter Lim
waiting in the wings.
After hearing representations
from all sides, Mr Justice Floyd
announced he would not give a
verdict this afternoon.
Here are the key developments at
the end of a complex, and
fascinating day.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett
have claimed they were
excluded from the process of
selling the club, and have
accused the "English
members" of the Board of
refusing to consider stronger
alternative bids.
The Liverpool Board have
disputed those claims, and
insisted the bid from New
England Sports Ventures was
accepted after a thorough and
transparent process.
Royal Bank of Scotland have
said the owners have
breached rules by sacking two
members of the Board. The
Bank are therefore arguing
that a mandatory injunction
should be imposed by the
court forcing the sacked Board
members to be reinstated.
Earlier, RBS accused Hicks of
“ breathtaking arrogance” in his
attempts to block the sale of the
club to New England Sports
Ventures (NESV).
But Paul Girolami, representing
the American owners, said his
clients "were not trying to throw
a spanner in the works" of the
proposed sale deal. He said there
had been other offers for the
club which potentially were
better than the one from NESV.
Opposing an immediate
injunction, he said all the issues
involved needed more time to
determine and "should not be
rushed into".
"What has happened is that the
English directors have gone
forward with the NESV bid
without properly considering
alternatives when those
alternatives at least appear to
give better prospects."
The situation was further
complicated when Singapore
billionaire Peter Lim this
morning increased his bid for
the clubs to £320 million.
Lim, who made a fortune
through stockbroking and is
Singapore's eighth richest man,
said in a statement that he would
make a further £40m available
for new players.
Fans have held boisterous
protests calling for the owners'
departure, blaming the club's
worst start to a season for more
than half a century on a lack of
new players and uncertainty over
the future.