Friday 10 September 2010

Liverpool fans won't be happy until American owners have gone for good

Tom Hicks and George Gillett 
Liverpool's co-owners Tom Hicks, left, and George Gillett have succeeded in alienating the Anfield fans. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
Until Tom Hicks and George Gillett are officially consigned to Liverpool history, there will be no dancing around the streets of Anfield at reports of their imminent demise. Imminent will not suffice for supporters more accustomed to refinancing deals than record signings since the Americans arrived in February 2007 with promises to put spades in the ground, to manage debt and to sit on the Kop once fans accepted them as true custodians of a rich tradition. There may not be the energy for the send-off they deserve when it is all over.
News that the Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to cancel £237.4m worth of debt next month, thereby ending Hicks's and Gillett's involvement in Liverpool and costing the credit-crunched businessmen a fortune, raises hope among the club's support that the end is indeed nigh. Another uncertain period awaits while a buyer is found, but the Americans' track record of resisting pressure from the banks, the Middle East, fellow directors, a former manager and the financial opinions of prized footballers to remain in control ensures judgment on a state-owned Liverpool must be reserved.
Doubt over the future of Liverpool will not lessen the significance of the co-owners' exit, however, whenever that comes. Hicks and Gillett have been accused of a litany of failure by the numerous protest groups they have unwittingly created. Some of the charges – such as never putting their own money into the club – are imagined; most – the stadium, the debt, transfers, undermining Rafael Benítez and their own dysfunctionality – are real. Alienating a mass fanbase from their club would also be high on that list.
That Liverpudlians cannot identify with a fundraiser for George W Bush (Hicks) is no surprise, nor a fundamental reason for the anger today, but an interminable saga of financial misery and broken promises has dismantled the traditions they vowed to protect. It is not simply that they have handicapped Liverpool as the club that "existed to win trophies" by making a profit on player-trading for the past two years. It is that for many – and yes, this does sound trite – the fun has gone.
As the MP for Walton, Steve Rotheram, whose constituency covers Anfield, said this week when calling for greater supporter ownership at all levels of the game: "Look at what's happened at Anfield. The fans there do not feel engaged. The owners have seen the supporters as part of the problem instead of the solution." They still do, and the removal of Benítez this summer illustrates that also applies to management level.
Gérard Houllier's return to English football with Aston Villa provides a reminder of how little and everything has changed about Liverpool since the need for new investment prompted former chairman David Moores to accept the Americans' £5,000 per share offer. Houllier spent years bemoaning Liverpool's inability to compete financially with Manchester United and Chelsea (though Arsenal's achievements at that time always undermined his argument) and was sacked after an alarming dip in form, bad buys and with Liverpool fearing they could be cut adrift while losing the services of two disillusioned stars – Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard.
Replace Owen with Fernando Torres this summer and the parallels are clear yet, even though the calls for Houllier's removal far exceeded those for Benítez, Liverpool's support is now politicised like never before. Instead of bridging the gap, Hicks and Gillett have cut Liverpool adrift – from title contention, the Champions League and from the faithful. Hicks hoped to win the latter back by ceding to Benítez's demands on his last, powerful contract at Anfield, but he had no chance.
Offering Jürgen Klinsmann a European Cup-winning manager's job turned the tide of public opinion against the co-owners, but a bigger mistake was to redraw plans for a new 60,000-capacity stadium on Stanley Park within weeks of their takeover. It was pre-credit crunch, and planning permission and European funding was in place for a stadium that was estimated to cost £215m.
The American dream of bigger and better then got in the way. Hicks wanted his own architects to create a grander vision (or cash cow) for 72,000 spectators. Gillett objected but not forcefully enough, and their business relationship began to deteriorate just as the financial storm approached. Only a succession of short-term refinancing packages, under increasingly stringent conditions, have maintained their grip on Liverpool to this point, but at a cost beyond what they stand to lose should the RBS assume control.
"We didn't come here to milk the franchise or the club, we are here to try and build a winning tradition on what is already a winning tradition," said Gillett on the day he first set foot inside Anfield. "I don't think it is appropriate for me or Tom to try to convince the fans we understand the sport, the history or the traditions as well as they do. But respect is what we genuinely feel about the history and legacy of this franchise. I hope we can earn the respect of the fans. Give us a few years and then measure us."
The verdict was returned long ago. And they never did buy Snoogy-Doogy.
Andy Hunter @'The Guardian'

No comments:

Post a Comment