An Epic Swindle - 44 Months With a Pair of Cowboys

Brian then begins to tell the story of how through several internet searches, searches that David Moores and Rick Parry should have done, the realisation that the club had been brought by two leveraged buyout men.  Two men who brought the club with a 12th Loan from Wachovia and The Royal Bank of Scotland and placed the debt immediately onto the club.  This ensured that any profits made would go to paying of the debt rather than on the players the club needed to ensure its continued success.

From that moment, we the supporters knew that we had a battle on our hands.  Our club was dying a slow death and needed to be rescued.  This was done through the formation firstly of The Spirit of Shankly group - formed in the back room of the Sandon Public House and then the splinter internet groups Kop Faithful and Help Save Liverpool FC.  The story unfolds as you get further and further into the book until the moment Mr Justice Floyd declared that the sale was legal.

That moment is one that I will never forget.  I watched the events on the television whilst at the same time having a massive email conversation with a journalist who I had got to know very throughout the last six months of the Hicks and Gillett reign.   I could see what was unfolding in front of me but it was only when I got an email telling me I could celebrate.  The bottle of champagne that had been sitting patiently in the fridge for two years was opened and enjoyed as tears of relief and joy fell down on to my cheeks. 

Here are several extracts from the book.  They are copyrighted by © Brian Reade ©Quercus Publishing 2011 and © Mirror Group Newspapers who published the extracts on Brian's behalf

Tom Hicks' favourite camera crew was summoned to his Dallas mansion for the most repulsive PR stunt ever pulled by anyone connected with Liverpool FC.

As he sat in his cosy armchair, his wounded expression as fake as the gas-flamed fire burning behind him, back at his Formby home Steven Gerrard stared at his TV in disgust.

A year into the Americans' reign, civil war was raging at Anfield, with fans, manager and board members at each others' throats. And now the absentee Texan owner was calling for chief executive Rick Parry's head on worldwide TV.

That Sky interview was the final straw for the Liverpool captain. He never wanted to look at Hicks or Gillett again.

Gerrard says: "I was thinking, 'When is this going to end? One year? Two years?' You could see it was just going to get messier and the people really suffering were the team and the supporters."

In their first meeting, the Americans promised Gerrard they would restore the club to the pinnacle of European football while respecting its history.

"But that wasn't the case, especially when they were dragging the club through the courts," he says. "That was a disgrace. I can't find the words to describe them. Let's just say they had some balls. I didn't think they'd drag the club to those lengths for some money. It just showed how greedy they were."

At his home a few miles down the Merseyside coast, Jamie Carragher watched that same TV interview in April 2008 in despair. He recalls: "That's when I thought it had got past a joke. To fly a TV crew over to your house, dress your kids in Liverpool tops, and start dishing the dirt on worldwide telly I just thought, 'Oh my God, what's going on?' It was unforgivable."

Like Gerrard, Carragher became emotionally exhausted with the Anfield anarchy.

"It was like your mum and dad scrapping. You don't care what they're fighting about, you just want to scream at them to shut up," he says.

"The manager and owners might not have liked each other but they should have concentrated on letting us play football. I got sick of the rowing - it just wouldn't stop. Everyone was playing politics with no regard for the damage they were doing to the club. I wanted to shout, 'Can we forget about this and just play football?'"

The two local legends were also conscious that, in the final 18 months the Americans were there, the team suffered from an acute lack of investment. "We were so close," says Gerrard. "Two European finals, finishing second - we were two or three decent signings away from competing with anyone. That was the frustration."

Gerrard won't say it because it would seem like an excuse, but friends say there were times when he felt that the Americans cost him the one thing he's craved all his professional life - the Premier League. Carragher feels the same. "I want to win medals and if the owners had put their money in like they promised then I might have won more than I did. You look at other players who are winning titles and you want to be better than them. So when the transfer money dries up like it did with those two, it gets you angry."I'd never say they definitely cost me a League title medal as it was down to us players, but if we hadn't had crippling interest payments like we had we could have been spending an extra £15-£20million in the last few transfer windows, which could have made the difference.

"I'd loved to have played in a new Anfield, too, but I won't. If they'd put that spade in within 60 days as they promised, I'd be playing in it now."

Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina told the pair he was amazed they didn't go public and demand answers. Both admit the dilemma tortured them at the time and still plays on their consciences today. "I totally understand why some of the fans were frustrated we didn't speak out," says Gerrard. "When I'm down with England I hear stories about what big players have said at their clubs, but when me and Jamie speak we're worried people might say, 'Does he think he's bigger than Liverpool?' So it was a horrible situation as I wanted to come out and use my status to help but I was terrified of it backfiring.

"Should I say something? Would it make a difference? Who are we to criticise our bosses? They were the questions I kept asking myself and at times they were on the tip of my tongue. But if I'd wanted to speak to the owners I couldn't, they were never there. It was a mess."

Carragher agrees: "Maybe me and Stevie should have come out when we had the power and said something, but we're from here. We love the club and never like saying anything negative about it. It's what we believe in. So whatever is thrown at you, you feel you have to take it.

"It's like if someone in your family does something wrong you'll still stand behind them even if you want to slag them off."

The pair's major worry was how the fans were suffering. Gerrard says: "The lowest point was when the Kop were holding sit-ins to protest. I was thinking, 'Let's get them out, enough is enough, the sooner these are out the better.'"

It got to Carragher so much he stopped reading newspapers. "I switched off. I wasn't reading about football, it was backbiting and bitching and plots and people slagging each other off.

"The game wasn't played on the pitch but off it. Political games. It became a bad soap opera. I wasn't just thinking about my game. I was thinking, 'Whose side should I be on?' I wished I could do my training and think about nothing else, but it became impossible. I was taking it all home with me.

"In the end I was so pleased the Americans walked away with nothing as they had their chances to sell the club and make their profit but chose not to. They didn't care about Liverpool - they just cared about themselves."

If you want to read more before deciding whether to buy the book the link is below:-

Read more: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Brian-Reade-An-Epic-Swindle-44-Months-With-A-Pair-Of-Cowboys-Read-extract-of-how-Liverpool-was-dragged-to-its-knees-during-the-shambolic-reign-of-US-owners-Tom-Hicks-and-George-Gillett-article725227.html#ixzz1LVVHXi44

What I will say is, it is an absolutely fascinating read.  Yes it brings back memories of a horrific period in Liverpool Football Clubs history, but there are also several paragraphs in the book that will make you laugh especially if you used to the way Brian writes.  It will also make you want to get hold of Tom Hicks and George Gillett and give them their comeuppance, although I suspect at some point in the not too distant future that will done by the American courts as their businesses continue to collapse.  I also firmly believe a copy should be sent to every football club in this country and used as a reference tool to ensure, it never happens again, although it may be too late for a couple of clubs in this country, one of which is situated at the other end of the M62.