Louise Taylor
Tuesday April 15, 2008
The Guardian
An uneasy truce appeared to have been called at Anfield last night. While suggestions that Rafael Benítez was about to tender his resignation were quashed by sources close to the Liverpool manager who said he will remain in charge at least until this season's Champions League campaign is concluded, the chief executive, Rick Parry, offered to hold "clear the air talks" with the Spaniard.
Increasingly strained relationships with Parry and George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the club's estranged American owners, have forced Benítez seriously to consider walking out of his job in recent days but he is said to have resolved to try to win Europe's premier cup competition for a second time before re-assessing his position.
Following Sunday's 3-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers Benítez expressed dismay at Sunday newspaper reports detailing Parry's presence alongside Hicks and Gillett in a meeting with Jürgen Klinsmann in the United States last year.
Benítez claimed to have been previously unaware of the chief executive's attendance and gave the impression of a man rattled by Parry's involvement in the courting of the former Germany coach who was then being lined up to succeed him at Anfield. While Parry is understood to be sceptical about Benítez's arguable insistence that he was ignorant of his chief executive's part in the wooing of Klinsmann - scheduled to take charge of Bayern Munich on July 1 - he has offered to discuss the issue with him.
"I am more than happy to sit down and talk to Rafa about this," said Parry. It could happen as early as today when Liverpool's manager and chief executive are expected temporarily to forget their strained relationship and stand shoulder to shoulder during a memorial service to mark the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
"It's crass that the anniversary is being overshadowed by the boardroom machinations," said a senior club source yesterday.
Benítez, who demanded a meeting with Parry, Hicks, Gillett and himself on Sunday, had to content himself with an exchange of emails with the Americans after accepting that coaxing warring owners no longer on speaking terms into the same room was unrealistic. It appears this electronic contact helped inform his decision to stay at Anfield, for now at least.
Parry's long-term future remains uncertain. Indeed it may be not coincidence that the news of his transatlantic trip to meet Klinsmann was leaked at a time when Hicks is demanding the chief executive's departure from Anfield.
After receiving instructions to attend one of two meetings that Hicks and Gillett held with Klinsmann in America before Christmas, Liverpool's chief executive always feared that word of his hitherto little known involvement could prove incendiary.
Parry continues to retain the staunch support of Gillett, who is keen to sell his stake in Liverpool to Dubai International Capital. Despite stressing that its interest in buying the club has now been withdrawn DIC is believed to be hovering in the wings waiting to move into Anfield sooner rather than later. However, matters are complicated by Hicks's refusal to sell to the Emiratis and apparent determination to raise the capital necessary to buy Gillett out himself.
While Gillett and Parry have rightly been regarded as allies in recent weeks, the opposite side of the boardroom's green line has seen Hicks and Benítez negotiate a cautious rapprochement.
Yet if Hicks may have latterly succeeded in half-persuading the Spaniard that Klinsmann was approached only because he and Gillett doubted Benítez's commitment last autumn, this stance has been weakened by suggestions that
Hicks remains in touch with the former Germany and Tottenham Hotspur striker's advisors.
Although Benítez appears justified in claiming to have been "undermined", he is an astute politician operating from a position of strength and, quite apart from enjoying powerful support from Liverpool's fans, is much admired by several European clubs including Real Madrid.
Increasingly strained relationships with Parry and George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the club's estranged American owners, have forced Benítez seriously to consider walking out of his job in recent days but he is said to have resolved to try to win Europe's premier cup competition for a second time before re-assessing his position.
Following Sunday's 3-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers Benítez expressed dismay at Sunday newspaper reports detailing Parry's presence alongside Hicks and Gillett in a meeting with Jürgen Klinsmann in the United States last year.
Benítez claimed to have been previously unaware of the chief executive's attendance and gave the impression of a man rattled by Parry's involvement in the courting of the former Germany coach who was then being lined up to succeed him at Anfield. While Parry is understood to be sceptical about Benítez's arguable insistence that he was ignorant of his chief executive's part in the wooing of Klinsmann - scheduled to take charge of Bayern Munich on July 1 - he has offered to discuss the issue with him.
"I am more than happy to sit down and talk to Rafa about this," said Parry. It could happen as early as today when Liverpool's manager and chief executive are expected temporarily to forget their strained relationship and stand shoulder to shoulder during a memorial service to mark the 19th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.
"It's crass that the anniversary is being overshadowed by the boardroom machinations," said a senior club source yesterday.
Benítez, who demanded a meeting with Parry, Hicks, Gillett and himself on Sunday, had to content himself with an exchange of emails with the Americans after accepting that coaxing warring owners no longer on speaking terms into the same room was unrealistic. It appears this electronic contact helped inform his decision to stay at Anfield, for now at least.
Parry's long-term future remains uncertain. Indeed it may be not coincidence that the news of his transatlantic trip to meet Klinsmann was leaked at a time when Hicks is demanding the chief executive's departure from Anfield.
After receiving instructions to attend one of two meetings that Hicks and Gillett held with Klinsmann in America before Christmas, Liverpool's chief executive always feared that word of his hitherto little known involvement could prove incendiary.
Parry continues to retain the staunch support of Gillett, who is keen to sell his stake in Liverpool to Dubai International Capital. Despite stressing that its interest in buying the club has now been withdrawn DIC is believed to be hovering in the wings waiting to move into Anfield sooner rather than later. However, matters are complicated by Hicks's refusal to sell to the Emiratis and apparent determination to raise the capital necessary to buy Gillett out himself.
While Gillett and Parry have rightly been regarded as allies in recent weeks, the opposite side of the boardroom's green line has seen Hicks and Benítez negotiate a cautious rapprochement.
Yet if Hicks may have latterly succeeded in half-persuading the Spaniard that Klinsmann was approached only because he and Gillett doubted Benítez's commitment last autumn, this stance has been weakened by suggestions that
Hicks remains in touch with the former Germany and Tottenham Hotspur striker's advisors.
Although Benítez appears justified in claiming to have been "undermined", he is an astute politician operating from a position of strength and, quite apart from enjoying powerful support from Liverpool's fans, is much admired by several European clubs including Real Madrid.
Torres sees quality gap
Fernando Torres insists Spain's top flight is stronger than the Premier League despite the presence of three English teams in the Champions League semi-finals. "In England the top four are better than the ones in Spain, above all when it comes to consistency," the Liverpool striker, told Radio Marca. "Apart from that, the rest of the teams in Spain are stronger as they have more quality." The former Atlético Madrid player, who has scored 30 goals this season, said he was enjoying the patience afforded by English fans - "They give you time, they get behind you but don't suffocate you" - and added that he would like to meet Barcelona in the Champions League final, if Liverpool get past Chelsea in the last four: "The people here would prefer to face Manchester United but I think it would be great to take on Barcelona." Reuters
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