Jan 23 2008
by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post
MORE than 90% of Liverpool FC fans feel let down by American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks’s first year in charge, with most now wanting them to just sell up and go.
That is the stark fact revealed by an exclusive survey, commissioned by the Liverpool Daily Post, which also shows that recent events at Anfield have galvanised fans behind club manager Rafael Benitez, despite a recent run of poor results.
A week after Hicks admitted the club tried to line up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace Benitez, and as speculation over a possible sale of the club to a Dubai consortium reached fever pitch, more than 2,500 fans took part in our online survey.
And it comes as a club source last night told the Daily Post that Hicks and Gillett were expected to complete a £350m refinancing deal on Thursday or Friday.
Fans fear this will include putting the debt initially used to acquire LFC on to the club itself.
While 72.9% described themselves as happy when Gillett and Hicks took over last year, our survey found:
* 90.5% feel the last 12 months have been worse than they expected;
* 83.1% think the owners should have done more to sup- port Benitez in the transfer market;
* 90% blame the owners for the falling out with Benitez;
* 92% think it was wrong of the owners to approach Klinsmann, with 93% feeling it was wrong to make that approach public last week;
* 94% want Benitez to remain as manager, but 77% expect him to have left Anfield by the end of the summer;
* 93% would prefer the club to still be in the ownership of the Moores family, with 89% also saying they would prefer the DIC consortium, from Dubai, to now take over.
The impact of speculation that Gillett and Hicks are now preparing to saddle Liverpool FC with £350m of debt, is also proving to be a major concern for fans.
Asked what should be the owners’ priority if they remain in charge, 53.6% said keeping debt placed on the club’s books to a minimum should be the number one aim.
It compares with just 31% who think making funds available for transfers is the top priority, and 15% who believe confirming the new stadium should be the most important item on the agenda.
Only 47.4% of fans consider a new stadium – which is back on the drawing board after Gillett and Hicks decided their most recent plan was now too expensive – to be essential, although 35.5% consider a move to also be important.
THE damning findings from fans come less than a year after the American duo spoke of a “special relationship” with Liverpool fans as they took over the club on February 7, 2007, and promised to respect the traditions of the Anfield club.
Les Lawson, secretary of the official LFC supporters group, said: “This survey shows how let down Liverpool fans feel.
“When Gillett and Hicks arrived, they were embraced by the fans. There were American flags at Anfield and banners with Uncle Tom and Uncle George in the Kop. We really wanted it to work. But over the year it has become obvious they don’t care about the club, they just care about making a quick buck.
“They have made this club a laughing stock with the way they have treated Rafa, and I don’t think there is any way back for them now.
“We won’t be able to trust them again. They’ve made promises, like not putting the club in debt, and then gone back on their word. Even if they offered Rafa £100m to spend, we’d still be thinking that there was some-thing else going on. We need the club to be owned by people who actually care about it.” The emergence of a six-month- old video interview Hicks gave in America will also do little to placate fans’ concerns.
by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post
MORE than 90% of Liverpool FC fans feel let down by American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks’s first year in charge, with most now wanting them to just sell up and go.
That is the stark fact revealed by an exclusive survey, commissioned by the Liverpool Daily Post, which also shows that recent events at Anfield have galvanised fans behind club manager Rafael Benitez, despite a recent run of poor results.
A week after Hicks admitted the club tried to line up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace Benitez, and as speculation over a possible sale of the club to a Dubai consortium reached fever pitch, more than 2,500 fans took part in our online survey.
And it comes as a club source last night told the Daily Post that Hicks and Gillett were expected to complete a £350m refinancing deal on Thursday or Friday.
Fans fear this will include putting the debt initially used to acquire LFC on to the club itself.
While 72.9% described themselves as happy when Gillett and Hicks took over last year, our survey found:
* 90.5% feel the last 12 months have been worse than they expected;
* 83.1% think the owners should have done more to sup- port Benitez in the transfer market;
* 90% blame the owners for the falling out with Benitez;
* 92% think it was wrong of the owners to approach Klinsmann, with 93% feeling it was wrong to make that approach public last week;
* 94% want Benitez to remain as manager, but 77% expect him to have left Anfield by the end of the summer;
* 93% would prefer the club to still be in the ownership of the Moores family, with 89% also saying they would prefer the DIC consortium, from Dubai, to now take over.
The impact of speculation that Gillett and Hicks are now preparing to saddle Liverpool FC with £350m of debt, is also proving to be a major concern for fans.
Asked what should be the owners’ priority if they remain in charge, 53.6% said keeping debt placed on the club’s books to a minimum should be the number one aim.
It compares with just 31% who think making funds available for transfers is the top priority, and 15% who believe confirming the new stadium should be the most important item on the agenda.
Only 47.4% of fans consider a new stadium – which is back on the drawing board after Gillett and Hicks decided their most recent plan was now too expensive – to be essential, although 35.5% consider a move to also be important.
THE damning findings from fans come less than a year after the American duo spoke of a “special relationship” with Liverpool fans as they took over the club on February 7, 2007, and promised to respect the traditions of the Anfield club.
Les Lawson, secretary of the official LFC supporters group, said: “This survey shows how let down Liverpool fans feel.
“When Gillett and Hicks arrived, they were embraced by the fans. There were American flags at Anfield and banners with Uncle Tom and Uncle George in the Kop. We really wanted it to work. But over the year it has become obvious they don’t care about the club, they just care about making a quick buck.
“They have made this club a laughing stock with the way they have treated Rafa, and I don’t think there is any way back for them now.
“We won’t be able to trust them again. They’ve made promises, like not putting the club in debt, and then gone back on their word. Even if they offered Rafa £100m to spend, we’d still be thinking that there was some-thing else going on. We need the club to be owned by people who actually care about it.” The emergence of a six-month- old video interview Hicks gave in America will also do little to placate fans’ concerns.
.
In August, Hicks told the Major League Baseball website: “People are worried that I might take money away from the [Texas] Rangers (Hicks’s baseball team) to go to Liverpool. But it is just the reverse. Liverpool is going to throw off lots of extra money which, if I choose to, I can use for the Rangers or the [Dallas] Stars (ice hockey team).”
In the same interview, Hicks explains how he treats his sports teams as business commodities. He said the Dallas Stars had been a “lousy franchise” in a “crumbling arena” which he felt he could change. “I figured I could change all that; put them in a new arena, make them worth a lot more money and sell it and make money, because I'm a businessman. What I didn't count on was that I fell in love with hockey and don’t want to sell.”
Many will wonder if he fell in love with Liverpool – the fans have made clear that their side of the affair is over.
John Makin, of Reclaim the Kop, said: “It [the interview] just proves him to be duplicitous, he’s just telling people what they want to hear, either that or he’s completely stupid.
“I would agree with the people who say ‘I would have DIC in’. At the minute, there’s no other option.
“It’s imperative to get rid of Gillett and Hicks.”
In the same interview, Hicks explains how he treats his sports teams as business commodities. He said the Dallas Stars had been a “lousy franchise” in a “crumbling arena” which he felt he could change. “I figured I could change all that; put them in a new arena, make them worth a lot more money and sell it and make money, because I'm a businessman. What I didn't count on was that I fell in love with hockey and don’t want to sell.”
Many will wonder if he fell in love with Liverpool – the fans have made clear that their side of the affair is over.
John Makin, of Reclaim the Kop, said: “It [the interview] just proves him to be duplicitous, he’s just telling people what they want to hear, either that or he’s completely stupid.
“I would agree with the people who say ‘I would have DIC in’. At the minute, there’s no other option.
“It’s imperative to get rid of Gillett and Hicks.”
No comments:
Post a Comment