Liverpool Takeover Agreed
October 6th 2010 10:43
Link: twitter.com/mattsaltmer
Today finally brings news for fans of Liverpool FC, of a takeover being agreed at the club. George Gillett and Tom Hicks placed the club for sale in April, and the football team has been in limbo ever since. With crippling debts, a new manager in Roy Hodgson just taking over, and lying 18th in the Premier League, many, including Liverpool midfielder Cristian Poulson, have described them as being in crisis. The fans will hope this takeover will go some way to restoring normality, and bringing success back to the club. The man in line to takeover ownership, is owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, John W. Henry.
Gillett and Hicks's three year tenure as owners of the 5 time European Champions, has been unsavoury and unfruitful. While it is not directly their fault, there have been trophies won during this time. But the main reason the fans hated their American owners, is because of broken promises. The promises of major investment into the squad which never came. The promise of a new stadium, with no such plans as yet in place. All that the pair delivered was debt. It also didn't help, that Gillett and Hicks often fell out with each other. It often seemed like two irresponsible little boys were in charge, and whenever the going got tough, they would argue with one another, then sulk.
Despite wanting to sell up, the Americans apparently tried to block the takeover bid at the last minute. They announced when putting the club up for sale, they would only consider a bid in the best interest of the club. Apparently, this bid wasn't. With a five man board at Liverpool making the decisions over any takeover bid, Hicks tried to create a coup last night. He attempted to sack two members of that board, managing director Christian Purslow, and commercial director Ian Ayre. He was going to replace them with his own son, and a member of staff from his own business. This would lead to a majority decision that the club wouldn't be sold, and John Henry's takeover bid would be knocked back.
But after this failed, it now seems a takeover is imminent, and John Henry will assume control of the club. A lot of Liverpool fans will be asking however, is another American owner really what we want? As I don't know too much about baseball, I'm not the best person to comment. But from what I have read, Henry is exactly what the fans want, someone who invests money, supports his teams, but doesn't get involved at a management level, which Hicks and Gillett often tried to do.
Henry bought the Boston Red Sox in 2004, after decades of under achievement, much like Liverpool. The side have since won two World Series. If he could do something similar in football, there wouldn't be many Reds fans complaining. One major criticism however, is that he has not put investment into the Red Sox's stadium, which was built in 1912. We know for a fact, the Liverpool fans see investment in a new stadium as a priority, and whether or not this happens, could go along way to determining the popularity of any potential new owner.
But for now, the questions of what will happen in John Henry's era as Liverpool owner will have to wait for answers. One thing is for sure, the fans will be delighted to see the back of Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Surely, no new owner can be as bad as them? And sitting 18th in the league, expectations need remain realistic, but with the right investment, this could be the start of Liverpool FC, becoming a force once again.
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