It’s clear following Monday’s 3-0 loss that Liverpool is a mess under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
As we pointed out a few weeks ago, the (soon to be) outgoing owners have turned one of England’s most-storied clubs into a struggling squad with an uncertain future.
We know bad owners in Cleveland, from Ted Stepien to Art Modell to just about everyone who owned the Indians prior to the Jacobs brothers. So watching these two ruin Liverpool has been painful.
Paul Bestall at EPL Talk has come out with a spot-on look at the current state of the squad under Hicks and Gillett. Some of the “highlights” include:
- Hicks and Gillett want not just ridiculous, but utterly stupid amounts of money for a club they’ve effectively bankrupted.
- A fan base determined to run the owners out of town.
- A stadium that has never made it off the drawing board.
- Manchester City pulled Liverpool to bits tonight at times without really playing that well. Couple this with some performances on the tail end of last season and it reminded me of the last time a Liverpool squad looked this thin on quality. Under Graeme Souness, Liverpool had become a shadow of a side within 3 years, struggling to qualify for the UEFA Cup as it was then, never mind the Champions League.
- The arrival of Roy Hodgson cannot paper over the cracks in this Liverpool squad. Hopelessly weak in areas it used to excel in, players shuffled about to try and make do and an attack so lightweight it looked made of paper. This is the worst Liverpool squad in 15 years, no question about it.
And the blame rests solely in the owners’ box for this mess. It seemed like Kenny Huang was going to finally start cleaning-up this mess with his bid for the club, but Huang pulled out last week after reportedly growing impatient.
Now what? Hicks and Gillett are determined to hold onto the team until they can sell it for a payoff they clearly haven’t earned. When Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool FC, the club reportedly had a debt of approximately £44 million. That debt has now grown to £237 million.
And if the team continues slipping down the table? Apparently Hicks and Gillett have taken the position that will be the next owner’s problem.
Just lovely.
Red Right 88 