No Fire Sale
Tom Hicks has it appears finally spoken to an English newspaper. This morning's edition of the Sunday Mirror carries what amounts to a small interview.
Tom Hicks has said that although Liverpool Football Club are in the middle of a financial crisis on no account will stars such as Stevie G and Torres be put up for sale. How has this come about you may be asking yourselves. As you all know Tom Hicks and George Gillett have placed the club on the precipice due to their own financial mismanagement.
Liverpool Football Club are in the midst of severe problems on and off the pitch at the moment. We are having major problems on the pitch and lie in seventh place in the Premier League. Rafa Benitez has put this down to the injuries that have befallen the club. We have both our major stars out and possibly needing operations to clear their problems up completely, although Rafa has said that he will possibly be playing Torres on Monday evening. Having heard and also read many reports over the last few days, I honestly wonder if this is the wisest thing to do. Surely it would be better for him to have the operation now, rather than wait and possibly making the condition worse by playing a bit part in matches. This is where the rest of the team have to realise that they are in part to blame for our league position. Stevie, Jamie and Torres along with Kuyt can only take the team so far on their own. The rest of the squad have got to wake up and realise what the Liverbird on their shirt means and play their hearts out for Liverpool Football Club. Only then will our league position improve, because I cannot honestly see any movement of personnel in the January transfer window.
There is also the prospect of us not receiving the expected revenue from Champions League appearances due again to our performances on the pitch. According to a meeting that Rafa had with the club's management a few days ago, the club said that they had not in fact budgeted for any further than the group stages. This I find amazing, as surely a club with the stature of Liverpool should expect to go as far as the semi finals if not to the final. The club revealed that they would lose £20 million in total if they do not continue in the Champions League this season and miss out of qualifying for next season due to our league position.
Tom Hicks said that he was not worried about this as the commercial department at the club was doing very well at the moment and attracting good investment. What I would like to know is, where is the money raised going - is it being put back into the club or finding its way to RBS to help clear up the mess that Tom and George have put us in. He, like George Gillett several weeks ago said that the club was in a good financial state. He also hinted that he wants to pick the highest quality players and was not that worried about what was happening on the pitch.
I am sorry Tom but I have to disagree with you on all counts. First and foremost the club is not in a good financial state. We owe the banks a sizeable sum of money, which whilst you and George are in control, we have no hope of paying back. Unfortunately as it has all gone quiet on the selling front, it appears that George has been unable to persuade another gullible person to come in and bail him out. I guess as expected the books tell a different story to what you and George tell the press.
Due to the financial restraints that you and George have put on the club, Rafa has had to buy in the bargain basement, hence the problems on the pitch. Last season we were so close to winning the Premiership that I thought even two men who have no interest in the game, would have realised that bringing in another quality striker was of paramount importance, or would have at least fought tooth and nail to keep Alonso. But no, you let Alonso go and only allowed Rafa a small amount to spend. Johnson may well yet turn out to be a good buy. Aquilani - we have yet to see if he can actually play ninety minutes. Kyriakos bought at the last minute to cover the loss of Sami has yet to prove he is up for the job. So we have a team on paper at least that should win us everything that the club and the supporters desire. Unfortunately, three quarters of the names on that sheet are not fit or want to wear the red shirt. You can see that in their faces on the pitch, they simply cannot be bothered to play their hearts out all they are worried about is the payslip at the end of the week.
You said at the end of your interview Tom that you were looking for the highest quality players. Am I hearing another story here, or are you possibly going to allow Rafa to spend in January? You see, several weeks ago I heard that there were no funds available for the January window. If perhaps I am dreaming, please Tom ensure that it is a striker and if you are feeling really generous, a new defender would help also.
To be honest Tom, I hate to say it but I think if we do not progress as we should, with the money that Torres and Stevie G would bring in, I think the first thing you would do is put them on the market. I just hope that if that situation arises, Stevie ensures that he is firmly rooted to Liverpool and refuses to go and that Torres realises that trophies are not everything and again insists on staying put. Of course hopefully by then the club will be under new ownership and the whole sorry saga can be avoided.
Tom, I have asked to meet you several times and would love to hear more about your plans for the club. I am in Liverpool on Wednesday and would love to meet you for a coffee and perhaps a chat.
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I honestly don't see the point of this article. I am sick of the Americans being bashed without anything new to say - where is the 'financial mismanagement' exactly? Is it the record breaking sponsorship deal, the new contracts handed out to key players, or the money spent on Johnson and Aqualani? Debt is a reality in the current business world, get used to it - the club will never be in a position to default on the loans - If I were Hicks, I would not be worried about the finances or the state of things on the pitch - injuries happen, players go out of form - I would leave the Americans alone and channel all of your bile against Stan Collymore and others who have worn the liverbird but have no sense of loyalty.
Hi Joe p. The point of the article was that I felt people need to be told about whatever Tom Hicks and George Gillett are up to. Unfortunately the Americans have caused their own problems. If they had not made such a mess of the club and told so many stories - I will refrain from calling them lies then we would not try and sift through anything that they had to say. The financial mismanagement speaks for itself. This is the first time in its history that the club has been in so much debt. Yes new contracts were handed out our players, Money was also spent but not in the way it should have been. The money for the contracts should have been separate from the funds that should have been made available for new players. The reason they are looking for new investors is because the banks have told them too - I honestly believe that when the loan comes up again for refinancing - we may be faced with a totally different situation.
I am also worried about the state of play on the pitch, yes I know injuries happen but when you have players who do not give a damn it compounds the issue and makes the situation more perilous than it should be.
As for Stan Collymore I dont read his column because it is a load of rubbish. What I will say is I will be very surprised if he actually writes it. A lot of these ex players use ghost writers and just put their names to the pages, so it may in fact be somebody else's view.