Is The Horror Show Called Hicks and Gillett Nearly Over

With both of these out of the way and with none one else in sight, the month of October has become etched in the minds of Liverpool Supporters. This is the month when the future of Liverpool Football Club will be decided.

On the 6th October 2010, Tom Hicks and George Gillett either have to make a large repayment to the Royal Bank of Scotland or have a new restructuring plan in place. It has been increasing clear though in the last few months that no payment will be made. The hierarchy at the Royal Bank of Scotland have finally decided to more the debt to their Global Restructuring Department which means that it has now become toxic due to the likelihood of it never being paid back. A Toxic debt according to google is an asset that has become worthless, which in one sentence tells us what Tom Hicks and George Gilllet have done to the club. It will of course recover because once the debt is removed the club becomes a viable proposition once more. For this to happen though The Royal Bank of Scotland has to do several things:-

Insist that at some point in the next three and half weeks the club is sold at a more realistic price than the £800 million, which is the value that Tom Hicks has placed on the club.

They sell the debt onto a third party - who can then if not paid back by Tom Hicks and George Gillett instigate bankruptcy proceedings - something which in all honesty, I would love to see happen.

Thirdly and most importantly on the 6th October, they could take over the club themselves and place us into administration. This I understand has already been discussed by all parties concerned and a form of administration has been worked out, where the nine points will not be deducted.

The major worry throughout all this though, is the threat of legal action. As the world knows as soon as an American can stiff a date in court the lawyers are engaged and told to do everything they can to win. Tom Hicks and George Gillett are two clever conniving people, who will not allow their gravy train to be taken away without a fight and I suspect will throw their lawyers into the ring immediately the Royal Bank of Scotland issues the default papers. That's fine as long as the Royal Bank of Scotland are prepared for this to happen and can try to get the case heard in this country. This though could prove to be difficult as Kop Holdings is registered in Delaware.

Going by what happened recently with Tom Hicks and Texas Rangers, he will certainly do everything he can to hold on and claim what he believes to be his by right. Of course due to the inept business plan that he and George Gillett put in place, they deserve and should not get anything. They have brought a one great club more or less down on its knees. Indeed if they did manage to somehow get refinance, that is what would happen in six months, when Liverpool Football Club would be declared bankrupt, unable to pay back the extortionate loan and interest repayments.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has according to reports placed a fire sale value of £150 million on the clubs assets and come the 6th October 2010 this will attract hopefully the right person to purchase the club. That person will have to ensure that the new stadium is started almost immediately, although because the ground has become unkempt and full of weeds yet again, it will literally be from the very beginning. The club still has planning permission to go ahead, so that part of the process will not need to be revisited, unless of course a new stadium design is put forward. There will also need to be renewed investment in the squad if needed. I say if needed because if Bill Shankly can be build a cup winning squad from players brought cheaply so can Roy Hodgson if they apply themselves properly.

All in all we have a very rocky three and half weeks ahead of us. As long as The Royal Bank of Scotland keeps its nerve and ensures that Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not allowed to refinance, then the horror of the last three years will finally be coming to end. It certainly won't happen quickly, there are many twist and turns to come yet, but I believe that come January, we will have a new owner in place and Liverpool Football Club will rise from the ashes to become the great place it once was. Supporters will become supporters again, rather than people who follow the business news and plan protests because they believe and quite rightly so that the business world is more interested in profit than the preservation of one of this country's greatest football clubs.