Rick Parry On The Sale of Liverpool Football Club

"It wasn't a case of us rejecting Dubai.  They were the preferred bidder but they walked away."

He also said that he felt one of the major problems during their tenure at the club was that they did not actually like each other.  Now we all know this and perhaps, if Rick had opened his ears and eyes as they rushed the sale process through, the whole horrible episode could have been avoided.

When asked about whether he felt their lack of knowledge and experience in the English game had any bearing on the events as they unfolded, his answer was

"The intensity of English football is completely different, particularly when you are taking on a club like Liverpool.  You have got a particular passion and things have to be done in The Liverpool Way.  You change that and underestimate the power of the supporters at your peril.  It is very difficult to understand that from afar " 

Of course we know that they did not and had no intention of understanding why we, the supporters of Liverpool Football Club are so passionate about our club.  Of course to their own cost they found out particularly when towards the end of their reign most of us become internet warriors.

It was at this point where Parry and his self-importance shined through.  Rick honestly believes that Tom Hicks and George Gillett were not that bad and their business plan was a good one. He said that before he left in February 2009 we were second in the league and their business plan was  to spend £20 million on players.  To this day he believed they did that, which is why we made to the second spot. 

It was after that point he believes that things began to go wrong, as all of a sudden the net spend on players disappeared. We of course all knew where the funds that they did find were going, on the interest payments for the leveraged loan, that Rick Parry appeared to know nothing about at the time of the sale.

During the interview he was asked about why he felt Tom Hicks took the decision to remove him from the club.  This he declined to answer but I suspect along with the £4.3 million he received was a gagging order.  Give or take 5-10 years and I suspect he will spill the beans to a certain newspaper for another large sum.

The one thing that Rick Parry did admit too was the problems that Rafa Benitez appeared to have with Tom Hicks and George Gillett. His comment was

"He had difficulties with each of them.  I don't think that top coaches are easy to manage"

"You don't get into the business if you want people who are easy.  You want people who are winners. He's very demanding and he's a perfectionist.  But I am still friendly with Rafa".

At the end of the interview he acknowledged that Kenny had brought the club together again due to his understanding of both the club and the supporters.

All I can say is Rick, if you ever find yourself in such a powerful position again.  Do as we all manage to do and look around the internet for your information.  You might be surprised at what information you can find, after all, once the alarm bells had rung, we found the information on Hicks and Gillett that you somehow managed to miss.