MAY 7
Dalglish calls for swift resolution

By Paul Walker - PA Sport

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish has called on the boardroom's warring factions to sort out their differences quickly for
the good of the club.

Dalglish, regarded as Liverpool's finest-ever player and who also managed the club between 1985 and 1991, has spoken out as the current crisis over control of the club threatens to rumble on into the summer.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have fallen out now for several months, and Hicks has been searching the financial markets - banks as well as hedge funds - to try to raise the money to buy-out Gillett and fund the new stadium.

Dubai International Capital - the investment arm of the Dubai government - also still retain a long-term interest in a takeover of the club.

Liverpool council gave planning permission on Tuesday for a third re-drawing of the stadium plans, but there is no clear date on when work will start.

And Dalglish claims the potential signings targeted by boss Rafael Benitez will have second thoughts about moving to Anfield while the current situation continues.

Talking in his weekly column for the club's LFC magazine, Dalglish said: "The current impasse cannot continue much longer.

"If you are looking for a positive to extract from the negatives [of the semi-final defeat at Chelsea] then maybe the absence of a final appearance in Moscow will allow all sides in the current boardroom battle to sit down and work out a solution that is best for this football club.

"Players around Europe are starting to look at where they want to play next season, and it is not fair for Rafa Benitez to try to enter negotiations with an arm behind his back.

"On the field we [Liverpool] are an attractive proposition. Off it you would have reservations about coming here while there is still issues to be resolved.

"How does Rafa get the sign-off to go after a player? Who signs it off and who negotiates the deal to a conclusion?"

Dalglish insists the Benitez will need the situation resolved quickly if he is to secure the players he needs before next season.

"I hope it is resolved sooner rather than later," Dalglish added.

"Both Tom Hicks and George Gillett declared that Liverpool FC meant more to them than an investment for financial gain.

"Now is the time for them to prove it - blame for the situation we find ourselves in helps no-one.

"All that matters is that we arrive at a workable solution that lets the manager get the bulk of his new players in before pre-season starts."

APRIL 30
Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum
could buy control of Liverpool FC

By David Bartlett - Liverpool Daily Post

The ruling Sheikh of Dubai is to take a more hands-on approach to secure ownership of Liverpool Football Club, the Daily Post understands.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum is believed to be taking a close personal interest in the attempt to persuade American co-owner Tom Hicks to sell up.

If Sheikh Mohammed did manage to buy the club it would be the first time a Premier League club were fully owned by a sovereign state.

As the Daily Post previously exclusively revealed, co-owner George Gillett has already agreed to sell his share.

The Sheikh’s involvement represents a shift from investing via Dubai Interna-tional Capital (DIC), which is owned by the mid-east emirate.

The shift away from using DIC as an investment vehicle is understood to surround the need for the private equity group to make large returns.

APRIL 27
DIC rubbish Mourinho reports

TEAMtalk

Liverpool fans' groups have been assured that Jose Mourinho has not been offered Rafael Benitez's job as boss at Anfield.

In a situation similar to the one admitted by co-owners Tom Hicks that they did meet Jurgen Klinsmann last year to discuss a possible appointment at Anfield, it has now been claimed that Dubai International Capital have held conversations with former Chelsea boss Mourinho.

But sources at DIC on Sunday have denied that they have ever "offered the job to Mourinho, or met him to discuss it."

And DIC's representatives, who have good relations with a number of Liverpool fans' groups including the recently formed Spirit of Shankly organisation, have gone to the point on Sunday of contacting them to deny speculation over Mourinho.

They are aware that Liverpool fans would react with horror if they believed Mourinho was a possible replacement for Benitez, who has been shown that he has fans' full support to continue in the job.

Anfield supporters have not forgiven Mourinho for much of the rhetoric and confrontational attitude towards the club taken over the years by the Portuguese coach, particularly involving the Champions League clashes between Liverpool and Chelsea.

So it is being greeted with suspicion that more speculation over Mourinho and Liverpool has surfaced just days before the clubs meet again at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday in the Champions League semi-final second leg.

DIC are acutely aware that if they do eventually take over at Anfield, Benitez has complete backing from the club's fans and any move to dislodge him would be a massive PR blunder.

It is believed DIC have actually been contacted twice by intermediaries for Mourinho suggesting a meeting, but the offer has not been taken up because they are happy with the job Benitez is doing and they are very aware of the reaction from the Kop fans.

Benitez is also believed to be aware of DIC's stance as he bids to take Liverpool to their third European Cup final in four seasons.

APRIL 25
MPs launch inquiry into Anfield civil war

Times Online and Agencies

The ownership struggle that has engulfed Liverpool Football Club this season will be the focus for a new parliamentary inquiry.

Despite a third appearance in four seasons in the Champions League semi-finals, Liverpool's achievements on the field have been overshadowed by the ongoing battle between Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the club's controversial co-owners.

The takeover by the American tycoons has highlighted the issue of foreign ownership in the Premier League. Since agreeing to split the cost of buying the club, Gillett and Hicks have loaded the debt from the takeover on to the club, before falling out. The future of the club remains unclear, and the coming months show no signs of an obvious end to the power struggle

Now, The All Party Parliamentary Football Group is to launch a new inquiry into English football and its governance, and the Liverpool crisis is one of the areas it will target.

Alan Keen MP, chairman of the group, said: "English club football is enjoying great success in Europe at the moment. Yet many questions remain about the standard of corporate governance and whether it is best equipped to deal, at every level, with the long-term challenges of the game's future.

This is the focus of the group's new inquiry. The group will examine case studies on governance, including Liverpool FC where the role of the owners has raised significant public concerns and overshadowed achievements on the field."

APRIL 24
Benitez demands a farewell to arms

By Paul Walker - PA Sport

Rafael Benitez has urged Liverpool's warring factions to "work together" for the benefit of the club.

The Reds boss, aware he is in a position of great strength while the current ownership battle rages on, warned his paymasters of the dangers of missing out on their summer transfer targets.

In what was an important meeting with co-owner Tom Hicks and his director son Tom Jnr at the club's Melwood training complex on Wednesday, Benitez wasted no time in outlining what is needed if the club is to progress on the field.

Hicks' fellow owner, George Gillett, has also been made fully aware of the manager's position.

Benitez knows that in the current climate, neither Hicks nor Gillett will dare risk losing his support.

And with Dubai International Capital, who are still trying to buy their way into the club, having also made it clear that Benitez is untouchable, Liverpool's manager feels able to explain the facts of life as the summer transfer market approaches.

Benitez has drawn up a wish list, which reportedly includes Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry and Blackburn's David Bentley.

He said: "We have two owners and a chief executive. I need to progress, I have a responsibility as manager to prepare the squad for the future, to improve the squad.

"I had to talk to them (the owners). It was a good, positive meeting. We have talked about targets in the transfer market and how this club must progress.

"I have not spoken to them about the ongoing situation, only how to improve and how to progress.

"It is important to sign the right players for the future, that was what I wanted to talk about.

"Now we have started to progress with some of our targets. It is okay, last week and this week it is the same. We are progressing so I believe we will be stronger next season.

"You need to keep going if you want to improve, that is what is really important."

Benitez was made uncomfortable recently when Hicks attempted to use him as an ally against Gillett and chief executive Rick Parry.

But the Spaniard has tried hard to limit his contact with Hicks, predominantly, to discussions on transfer.

It is inconceivable Benitez could end the season still without clear knowledge of his budget and with targets not outlined.

Any deviation from a clear path forward would open the way for Benitez to consider his future, with no shortage of clubs monitoring developments.

Benitez added: "We have had a very positive meeting. We talked of how to progress in the future.

"We need to work together, and he (Hicks) agreed with me that we must talk together. If we want to go forward and sign players, we have to all work together.

"Everything is positive. We have talked about targets to sign, that is my aim.

"I do not doubt we will achieve those targets. I have a scouting department that is working and progressing. Now I have told the owners how we need to progress.

"Rick Parry will be working too, and if everyone works hard and we work together, it will be easier.

"Clearly I expect agreement on recruiting players for the summer. We are ready now for going forward.

"Now we have had a meeting, we are in a better position. We need to think about Birmingham and Chelsea, but we must also think about improving the squad.

"George knows about what was said, everybody knows. Everyone has the same information."

Gillett is expected to watch Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg at Chelsea, and the DIC contingent of Amanda Staveley and Samir Al Ansari will again be in attendance, having been Gillett's invited guests on Tuesday at Anfield.

There is also a strong suggestion DIC could buy Gillett's 50 per cent stake in the next "three or four weeks" in the belief Hicks' veto will soon expire.

And in recent days there has been a move to underline the day-to-day involvement of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the move to buy the club, rather than a continued reference to DIC - which is in effect the royal family's investment company.

Previously the Dubai ruler has not been directly involved, but now the situation is significantly changing, and an offer could also soon be made to Hicks as well.

But Benitez cannot allow himself to become too entangled in the ongoing politics.

He believes he has a squad to build and needs backing, a budget and authority to buy and sell players.

APRIL 24
Hicks and Benitez meet
for ‘positive’ talks

Liverpool Daily Post

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks met again with Rafael Benitez at the club’s Melwood training ground yesterday after the dramatic first leg of the European Cup semi- final against Chelsea.

He later claimed the situation is “very healthy” with the manager over his Liverpool future.

Hicks, together with other members of his family, watched from the directors’ box as Liverpool drew 1-1 at home to Chelsea on Tuesday.

Hicks said: “I visited the manager at the training ground and we have a great meeting. We talked about a lot of things, and it was a very positive, encouraging meeting.

“We have agreed to meet again to discuss the future, and it is a very healthy situation. Rafa is happy and he wants to talk about where he is taking the club in the future.

“The talks were positive, so I am surprised if anyone else is saying different. We plan to get together and discuss the future, and Rafa is happy with that.”

Hicks added: “I am over here enjoying the football, and I think everyone wants to get the message across that we must concentrate on that at this time.

“It was a great match against Chelsea, and we know we aren’t out of it by a long way. The manager and the players are still confident.”

Representatives of the Dubai International Capital consortium, which hopes to buy Liverpool, were guests of co-owner George Gillett in the Anfield directors’ box on Tuesday.

APRIL 21
DIC representatives to visit Anfield

By Paul Walker - PA Sport

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett has invited senior officials from Dubai International Capital to be his guests at Anfield on Tuesday for the Champions League semi-final showdown
with Chelsea.

Although Gillett himself will not be able to attend the match because of illness, his party - including son Foster, a fellow director - will be there in force to welcome DIC's representatives.

It is a remarkable move by Gillett - who has wanted to sell his 50% stake in the club to DIC for several months - and comes just five days after his estranged partner Tom Hicks staged an extravagant PR exercise with a TV interview defiantly outlining his own plans for the future of the club.

But significantly, after Hicks had made it clear he still intended to buy out Gillett, Colorado-based Gillett announced that he had no intention of ever selling his stake to Hicks.

It is believed that DIC's chief negotiator Amanda Staveley will be among Gillett's party, along with Liverpool fan and DIC chief executive Samir Al-Ansari.

Hicks could also be there, although significantly his spokesmen in the UK have been unable to confirm the Dallas billionaire's movements.

Hicks had made it clear at the weekend that he intended to be at Anfield for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final - but there are now doubts that he would want to be in the same directors box as DIC.

DIC have been trying to buy the club for 18 months, having been beaten at the post by Hicks and Gillett just over a year ago.

They seemed to have tied up a deal at the turn of the year, only for Hicks to send a representative to Dubai for talks before pulling the plug on the possible sale.

Now Gillett, at least, seems to be making a bold statement of intent. It is clear he wants to sell and that DIC want to buy.

The problem over Hicks' alleged veto of any Gillett sale is likely to be challenged in court before the summer.

Manager Rafael Benitez made it clear that he and his team - plus the fans - will be concentrating on reaching the Moscow final next month and will remain unaffected by whatever happens in the directors' box.

But Gillett is seemingly now playing his hand and making it clear that DIC are his guests and eventually purchasers of his stake.

If Hicks does not attend he will be left in no doubt that Gillett believes he has the whip-hand, and that a deal will have to be brokered sooner rather than later.

APRIL 18
Liverpool ownership battle
won't finish soon - sources

By Elena Moya - Reuters

The battle between the U.S. owners of Liverpool FC and potential buyer Dubai International Capital (DIC) will go on for a few weeks as DIC isn't prepared to raise its offer, said sources familiar with the matter.

The situation is deadlocked as Tom Hicks and George Gillett don't want to sell their 50 percent stakes to each other, while the agreement under which they bought the club last year doesn't say what to do in such situation, the sources said on Friday.

This leaves a legal void though the parties want to avoid litigation, the sources said.

While Gillett has said he would sell his stake to DIC, which has made a 500 million pound ($998 million) bid for the English soccer club, Hicks may be waiting for a better offer.

But this may not arrive as the two Americans would already make a considerable profit at the present offer price as they bought the British soccer club for 219 million pounds last year.

DIC's offer includes 350 million pounds of debt, one of the sources said.

DIC is awaiting the outcome of Hicks' negotiations with U.S. investment bank JPMorgan over a loan to his sports group, as failure to repay may force him to sell some of his assets if there is a buyer, one of the sources said.

Hicks, owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, told Sky Sports earlier this week he was preparing an offer to buyout Gillett, but the sources said he hasn't been able to raise the money given the global credit squeeze.

The two U.S. investors fell out when Hicks made public the pair's negotiations with German coach Juergen Klinsmann to Rafa Benitez as manager.

Benitez reiterated on Friday his plans to stay at Liverpool until his contract expires in two years.

Both Hicks and Gillett are expected to keep Benitez as manager if they, individually or alongside DIC, keep control of the club, the sources said.

The Spanish manager has taken Liverpool to the final of the lucrative European Champions League twice in the past four years, winning the trophy in 2005.

But Liverpool fans are dismayed the takeover saga and Hicks and Gillett's public rift -- including Hicks' demand to sack Chief Executive Rick Parry -- come days ahead the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea on Tuesday.

Hicks and Gillett didn't return phone calls seeking comment. DIC declined comment.

APRIL 18
Klinsmann claims denied by Hicks

By Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Tom Hicks has flatly denied speculation that he has been using Jurgen Klinsmann to scrutinise Rafa Benitez's transfer targets.

The Texan was incensed by reports in the national media that he asked Klinsmann to run the rule over players Benitez wanted to bring to Anfield and today insisted anyone making such claims is "wrong".

It has now been established that Hicks met with the former German national team manager on two separate occasions with a view to him replacing Benitez as Liverpool boss.

But Hicks now says he is fully behind Benitez and has neither spoken to Klinsmann about potential transfer targets nor seen him since their last meeting in November 2007.

A statement released on Hicks behalf by London-based PR firm Financial Dynamics attempted to draw a line under the ongoing speculation.

It said: "Tom has not had any contact with Klinsmann on this matter. He has not seen him since the meeting in November. So the story is just plain wrong."

APRIL 17
Gillett hits back in Reds row

By Joseph Caron Dawe - Setanta Sports

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett has issued a statement in which he has refused point blank to sell his share in
the Premier League club to Tom Hicks.

Gillett has responded to Hicks’ description of Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry’s reign as ‘disastrous’ by telling him to stop causing ‘turmoil’ so close to the club’s Champions League semi-final clash with Chelsea.

The duo each own half of the club and with neither prepared to sell their stake to the other a bitter war of words has erupted on Merseyside, and Gillett has now reacted by backing Parry.

"I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks," said Gillett in a statement.

"If Tom wanted a serious discussion on the issues to help the club move forward, he should bring his views to the board and not to Sky Sports.

"Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his public comments.

"Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position.

"His failure to discuss this with the board or the management committee is significant."

Hicks placed the blame squarely at the door of Gillett and Parry when asked about the infamous Jurgen Klinsmann incident, in which the former Germany international was reportedly lined up as Rafa Benitez’s successor.

However, Gillett has expressed his surprise at such an accusation, adding: "I was also taken aback by his version of the events as reported.

"Tom needs to understand that I will not sell my shares to him and that we need to find a way forward that is properly funded and truly in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club.

"The real business of winning matches and running and developing the club is what we should all be focused on at this moment.

"If George doesn't sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in.

"I am planning to make him a very attractive offer. If I had a majority on it (ownership of Liverpool) I could put more capital in.

"My goal is to take all the debt off the club except the working capital needed and get the permanent financing totally in place for the stadium."

APRIL 17
Will airing Liverpool FC's
dirty linen in public wash at Anfield?

By Sean McGuire - Liverpool Daily Post

It isn’t clear whether one of Liverpool’s owners has made a right Hicks of the situation or is executing
a carefully-devised plan.

Mr Hicks’ surprisingly-public call for the club’s chief executive Rick Parry to stand down could yet fall into either category.

The usual procedure on these matters is for some kind of boardroom conflab, a decision emerges and the CEO either stays or goes.

It is a very odd thing, for a businessman of Tom Hicks’ experience, to bypass the first part of the procedure and then to do the second bit in public!

This is either the sports row to end sports rows or part of a much more carefully planned strategy by Hicks to either get total control of the club or compel his estranged partner to make him an offer he can’t refuse.

When Liverpool dominated English football there were many armchair pundits who believed they knew the real secret of their success, the theories were as varied as the people who suggested them.

However, one thing always seemed to stand out and it was, put simply, that Liverpool had a method, it was the Liverpool method and it worked.

It was about a concentration on the absolutely essential things which created a great club with good players, talented coaches (who, more often than not, came through the ranks and understood the method), a strong sense of tradition, a massive sense of purpose and self belief and an irreducible core of stability.

From the perspective of 20 years ago, today’s shenanigans would have been utterly unthinkable.

The change of course that has helped to create the circumstances where boardroom battles seem more newsworthy than triumphs on the field, is the profound commercialisation of the Premier League itself.

The sums involved in the game at all levels are vast.

It is inevitable that a new breed of sports entrepreneur – many of them from the place which led the way in professional sport in the full sense, America – would find the rich potential revenues worthy of serious attention.

And frankly, why not?

Football cannot isolate itself from some of the less desirable consequences of its own success, any more than any other line of business could.

Once there is value there will be investors and they will seek first to control those assets and then to exploit them to their true value.

Perhaps it is in the very nature of the owners themselves which is the real difference between a successful takeover and a less successful takeover – contrast what has happened at Anfield with what has happened at Old Trafford.

That is one lesson Liverpool could learn from their old foes.

APRIL 17
Fans back Parry

By Adam Bryant - LFC Online

As the public war of words between Tom Hicks and Rick Parry continues, Liverpool fans are showing support for the club's chief executive.

"We have a European Cup semi-final coming up in a few days time and this is a terrible time to do what he has done," said Spirit of Shankly chairman Neil Atkinson in response to Hicks' televised interview in which he called Parry's reign 'disastrous'.

"He thinks he can rattle out this sort of stuff and leave everyone to get on with it rather than be silent and stay in the background over the next four or five weeks.

"He had one big go in the week between the Arsenal semi-final and the Hillsborough memorial service. There were huge numbers of supporters grieving for loved ones. It was a time to be respectful and understand what this football club is all about.

"But Mr Hicks seems to have no respect for anyone. He didn't say anything on the day of the service, but straight afterwards he is up and running again. The man cannot be trusted at all. He said there would be no debt on the club, but that is not what has happened.

"The situation with Rick Parry is really an irrelevance. He is good for one thing only, and that is his vote at board meetings to keep Hicks at bay. Apart from that, it looks as if whoever ends up owning the club, be it Hicks or DIC, Rick Parry probably won't be in a job any more."

APRIL 17
Parry slams Hicks 'sideshow'

By Rob Parrish - Sky Sports

Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has hit back at the 'sideshow' created by Tom Hicks' latest attack in the Anfield power struggle.

Co-owner Hicks has branded Parry's tenure at the Merseyside giants as a 'disaster' and insisted his relationship with fellow American George Gillett had broken down completely.

The Texan, speaking in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, also claimed that Gillett and Parry set up a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann with a view to bringing in the German to replace Rafa Benitez.

Parry is keen to shift the focus back onto matters on the field with the Reds due to face Chelsea in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and still battling to secure fourth place in the Premier League.

He told Sky Sports News: "I don't think there's a discussion between chief executive and co-owner. Apparently there's some entertaining television which I haven't seen.

"We're trying to get on with the football, which is why I'm still here. There's a job to be done, there are big matches to be played, that's where the focus should be.

"This is a sideshow and the focus is on getting things right at the club."

Parry insists he has no intention of stepping down, and believes the only way the club can move forward is if Hicks and Gillett resolve their differences.

When asked if would be quitting, Parry responded: "It's a matter for the board. I report to the board. If the board want to talk about me resigning I'll talk to the board.

"There is a job to be done and I have a duty to the club.

"There needs to be a resolution between the owners, and in the meantime we're focusing on trying to run the club."

APRIL 17
Tom Hicks in new Rick Parry swipe

By Tony Barrett - Liverpool Echo

Tom Hicks today claimed he will become sole owner of Liverpool Football Club by buying out George Gillett.

The Texan businessman also publicly blasted Anfield’s Chief Executive Rick Parry’s leadership of the club as “a disaster” and said he wants to give Rafael Benitez a contract extension.

The TV interview, conducted at Hicks’ home in Dallas, showed the 62-year-old watching Sunday’s match against Blackburn, dressed in a Liverpool jersey and drinking from a Liverpool mug.

After the game, Hicks celebrates Liverpool’s 3-1 victory by telling cameras: “Well, Everton won’t like that.”

Hicks’ public campaign to remove Parry from his role began last week.

He said today: “If you look at what has happened under Rick’s leadership it’s been a disaster to fall so far behind other top clubs.

“The new stadium should have been built three or four years ago.

“We have two sponsors, maybe three, when we should have 12-15.

“We are not doing anything in Asia the way Man U is and Barcelona is.

“We’ve got the top brand in the world of football, we just don’t know how to commercialise it.

“In the very first meeting George and I had with Rafa a year ago he told us about a number of players we have missed out on and his inability to communicate with Parry when he needs to.

“The manager isn’t in charge of contracts he just hands them over to the CEO and too many times nothing happens.

“Rick needs to resign from Liverpool. He has put his heart into it but it’s time for a change.

“A football club has to grow and that’s how you have success.

“You certainly have to have the ability to work with your general manager (Benitez) and I think Rick has proven he can’t do that.

“We need change and we’ve got a great group of guys ready to go.”

Hicks also told his version of events surrounding the controversial approach to Jurgen Klinsmann about the possibility of him replacing Benitez last November.

“I didn’t even know who Jurgen Klinsmann was,” he said. “George knew Jurgen from Vale – Jurgen had his knee operated on at the Steadman Clinic in Vale and became friends with him a year ago.

“I got this call from George saying we had real issues and have your people do research on Jurgen Klinsmann.

“I had to look it up on the internet to find out who he was but, meanwhile, George had already talked to him, he had talked with Rick Parry and they had set up a meeting in New York.

“So, I did go to the meeting but Rick Parry had already met with Jurgen with three or four hours before we got there.

“George and I spent another three or four hours with him and when I told the truth to a reporter asking the question somehow everybody thought Tom Hicks tried to sign Jurgen Klinsmann which just isn’t the case.”

Hicks admitted buying the club outright from Gillett wont be easy, particularly with Gillett adamant he won’t sell to him. Hicks says he would lengthen Benitez’s current contract.

“I can’t force George to accept but I can make him an attractive offer soon,” he said.

“George and I started this as friends. Fifty-fifty is a difficult business proposition but we had a good honeymoon.

“Over time we had serious issues with the stadium design being the biggest one, I wanted to make the change with Rick Parry and the chief financial officer (Les Wheatley) for some time now but George doesn’t because he likes his relationship with Parry.

“I’m working on the money to make Liverpool’s finances more sound.

“If I’m the majority owner I can put more capital in. I know of investors who want to be a minority investor with me.

“My goal is to take the debt off the club, except the normal working capital needs, and get the permanent financing in place for the stadium.

“If I were to buy George out the first thing I would do is offer Rafa a one year extension to make sure he is still going to be here up until we get the new stadium, hopefully have some success and then extend again.

“I communicate regularly with Rafa by phone and by e-mail and I think Rafa has unique skills.”

Hicks also hit out at DIC, who are still looking to buy the club, accusing them of using the media to make life difficult for him.

“They are masters of British tabloid spin,” he said.

“They have got a girl called Amanda Staveley on point for them and she’s got a consultant called David Bick and going back to December they’ve continually put out disinformation.

“They’ve stirred the pot of Liverpool to create dissension and it kind of worked because it made the fans think ‘Gee, Dubai have a lot of money, if they were to buy us we could buy all these players’. But I know for a fact from talking to Dubai that’s not why they approached, they are smart businessmen.

“My family loves Liverpool, that’s the only sad thing right now that we don’t feel we can go there as a family until we get this sorted out.

“All six of my kids really love the city, my wife does and I do and I’m really looking forward to this all settling down.

“The fans gave George and me such a heroes welcome when we arrived.

“I think they were so concerned at what’s happened to Liverpool for 10-20 years and they thought we were going to fix it.

“We didn’t fix it and I think that’s what’s made them angry.

“As long as Hicks and Gillett don’t change – and I’m telling you Hicks is going to change – the fans feel like we let them down and I think to that degree we have.

“The fans don’t like the fact that we’ve borrowed too much money on the club but I’m going to fix that.”

APRIL 17
This is Angst-field

By Robbo Robson - BBC Sport Online

It’s time to praise Liverpool. Not the club, but the manager
and the players.

It’s unthinkable that any other team under the circumstances could’ve got their way to a Champions League semi with the sort of shenanigans that’s going on off the pitch.

True, it’s down to two players mostly, but that doesn’t make it any less of an achievement.

At a time when fans and players were marking the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy, Tom Hicks was busy sharpening his sword and preparing to dig it in to the ribs of anyone within stabbing distance.

This bloke says Rick Parry’s time as chief executive has been a disaster. Well, maybe, it hasn’t been too clever, but the biggest mistake he made was selling the club to America’s version of Cain and Abel.

Hicks is keen to put the skids under Parry – the Klinsmann meeting was set up by Rick apparently, and although he thought it was out of order, Hicks was there too, with his son Tom.

That tells you all you need to know doesn’t it? Tom Hicks has called his son Tom. Why do Yanks do that? All them American golfers called summat-summat the third. Like you’re not so much a person, just a sequel.

Hicks says if he bought Gillett out he’d put Rafa on a one-year extension straight away so he was around when the stadium was finally finished. One whole year, Tom? Taking your employment tips from the RFU, are you?

"Well done, Mr Ashton, would you like to keep your job for a whole year after getting a bunch of concrete-filled pillowcases to the World Cup Final?

"Good! That’ll give us plenty of time to undermine you by talking to other people behind your back. And then when we’ve done that we’ll sack you and offer you a rank alternative." That’s top management, isn’t it?

Hicks says Parry’s relationship with Rafa is fragile. Right. I suppose, though, if they went out for dinner, they might be able to string together a conversation, unlike, say, you and George.

You can see it now. "Could you ask Mr Hicks to pass me the salt?" "Could you tell Mr Gillett that the salt is in easy reach" etc, etc.

Do the two of them really think the public, and especially the Liverpool fans, are really going to believe anything they say when it’s all so obviously about two overgrown and unfortunately wealthy schoolboys having a playground spat?

It couldn’t be worse if Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie were the majority shareholders. I can’t imagine Parry’s job at the moment is anything other than that of an exhausted parent.

DIC has been looming in the background dangling the keys to Fort Knox in the faces of Parry, but the hapless pair aren’t going to put up with that. Hicks will never sell.

Gillett will sell to DIC maybe, but there’s a gentlemen’s agreement about one of them selling up independently of the other. Mind that’s a gentlemen’s agreement so it doesn’t apply to Gillett and Hicks.

In the meantime who decides what cash Rafa’s going to get to strengthen the squad (that is if he really wants a better than fourth place finish in any given year)?

Rafa really needs to offload a few n'all – Voronin, Pennant, Arbeloa, and Hyppia are looking a bit like a Grand National chaser coming into the home straight for the last time.

I mean it’s a joke. There’s a lorra lorra people out there who think the Beeb goes on a bit too much about Liverpool. But the board are a disgrace right now – and this is the club that set the benchmark for keeping everything in-house and out of the papers.

Hicks seems so bent on washing his dirty linen in public he should move out of football and into launderettes.

The idea that Liverpool might win the Champs League and the six board members will be jumping up and down in delight is a bit bloody sickening.

Not quite sure how any of them have helped – save for the cash for Torres, which any other bidder would have provided anyway.

At this rate they’ll be moving into a soulless shell of a stadium, with no Kop-like aura, and there’ll be two executive boxes at either end of the main stand to stop the stropsters from throwing peanuts at each other.

The ground’ll be called the Hicks-Gillett stadium on one side and the Gillett-Hicks Stadium on the other. And they’ll never get away from the ground very quick cos they’ll be letting each others’ tyres down and keying each others paintwork.

It’s a total joke. I was surprised that the Glazers weren’t carried out of Old Trafford on tumbrils and tipped into the Manchester Ship Canal – but what they’ve done well is they’ve kept their heads down.

Cos they know nowt about footy. And the club’s done fine, of course. But even Liverpool’s success can’t stop these prissy pillocks arguing the toss about just about everything.

I have spent half my life watching and whining at Liverpool FC cos for years you just couldn’t stop them winning anything unless you were a genius like Cloughie.

I suppose now I should be laughing, but it just makes me bleeding angry - and by the way, it’s not cos they’re American.
It’s cos they’re pathetic. Pick up your balls and go home and let someone else have a go.

Thor Zakariassen ©