Tony Barrett of The Times on why it's time to make a stand against the owners

[Coro]

NO money, no new stadium, no sign of Tom Hicks and Gillett being bought out, no investment in Roy Hodgson’s squad, no top-class back up for Fernando Torres, no hope of challenging for the title they crave, no creativity in attack and no indication that improvement is imminent.

 

It would be easy to depict Liverpool in a negative light right now, to suggest that the feel-good factor that was spun up during the summer was always going to be dispelled as soon as the serious business of actually playing football matches began.

 

But to do so would be to pander to the blindingly obvious and to lend undue credibility to the opinion of those who attempted to talk Liverpool’s chances up.

 

This, after all, is a club on the crest of a crisis.

 

The only positive is that more and more people appear to be waking up to this fact, although you wouldn’t think so to listen to Jamie Redknapp who appears to think Liverpool’s biggest problem at present is the “diabolical” form of Torres, as the realisation dawns that the future facing Britain’s most successful club is as stark as it has ever been at any point in its entire history.

 

Perhaps this is down to the Benitez effect. Maybe the removal of a manager who divided opinion has helped focus minds like never before because now issues like net spend on transfers can be discussed without it being used as either a shield to defend the Spaniard or a stick with which to beat him.

 

Even some of those who wilfully avoided the ownership issue for much of the last few years are now wading in and quite rightly, if belatedly, pointing out that any manager would face an impossible job in this most dysfunctional of regimes.

 

All of a sudden it has become fashionable to target Hicks and Gillett, to question their motives and to seek their removal from the Anfield boardroom – and this can only be a good thing.

 

Public pressure will play a key role in how events pan out in the weeks and months to come and any repeat of the ambivalence with which some of the organised protests against Hicks and Gillett will only make it easier for the Royal Bank of Scotland to give the American duo a stay of execution that could serve only to further imperil the club that they should never have been given an opportunity to own.

 

Apathy has been a friend to Hicks and Gillett for far too long, going back to the FA Cup tie against Havant & Waterlooville in January 2008 when chants against the owners emanating from the Kop were met with indifference from some and were actually shouted down from others.

 

The general feeling was that such protests would be to the detriment of the team and the vocal minority were drowned out. The silence that followed must have been music to the ears of Hicks and Gillett as they realised that opposition to their regime would be limited by a lack of collective willingness to rock the boat.

 

Two-and-a-half years on and that vessel is on the verge of being submerged by a debt which is now described as toxic by those who hold it.

 

To this day there is much debate about whether philosopher Edmund Burke actually did come out with the line often attributed to him about “all that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men for do nothing” but regardless of who said it, the sentiments apply to Liverpool and the palsied state it finds itself in.

 

The fact is far too many good men have done nothing. The reasons are multiple and complex, ranging from a determination not to drag the club into the spotlight for the wrong reasons to refusing the situation really could be as bad as Hicks and Gillett’s biggest critics suggest.

 

The feeling that the latter remains a major hurdle that is still be cleared was underlined on August 31st when Liverpool’s official club website set a record for the highest number of page impressions on a single day as more than half a million people logged on hoping that the transfer window would not be slammed shut before back up for Torres was acquired.

 

There are times when walking on with hope in your heart are not what is required, sometimes it is better to allow logic to take over and this was one such occasion because Liverpool’s finances dictate that the chances of them bringing in a top-class forward were as unlikely as Hodgson fielding an attacking formation away from home.

 

Not that Hodgson should carry the can for any of these failings though. The former Fulham manager merely inherited the problems he now faces, he did not create them.

 

The most he can do is to make the best of a bad job and while there are those who feel Hodgson should not be immune from criticism because he knew the task at hand when he accepted the job, it should be remembered that he was not attracted to Anfield by money (there isn’t any) or glory (there won’t be any of that either), but by the name, reputation and history of a club which he believes is one of the finest institutions in world sport.

 

Had he been so inclined, Hodgson could have carried on picking up his salary from Mohammed Al-Fayed until being pensioned off or being offered the England job, the two are pretty much one and the same anyway, and enjoyed living a relatively easy life in Surrey in the knowledge that expectations at Fulham are never likely to extend much further than remaining in the Premier League and the odd cup run.

 

Instead, he took the Anfield challenge and all it entails – the politics, the financial restrictions and the endemic uncertainty – at a time when most other managers would have shied away from it as the impossible job it will continue to be until Hicks and Gillett are finally removed.

 

Has he bitten off more than he can chew? Quite possibly and the sheer scale of the task ahead has already dawned on Hodgson if his ongoing attempts to lower expectations is anything to go by.

 

Only time will tell if Hodgson can steady the ship and the fact that he will attempt to do so without recourse to the kind of finance needed for a large scale reconstruction job will certainly inhibit his chances of doing so but the least he deserves is to be cut the kind of slack that his predecessor was afforded by some but denied by others.

 

Those who believed the removal of Benitez would be the panacea for all Liverpool’s ills are probably the kind of people who would send for a plumber to fix a leaking tap while the foundations of the house are crumbling and their folly is being highlighted by abject performances like yesterday’s at Birmingham and previous poor showings against West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City.

 

This is not a defence of Benitez, nor is it an argument against his dismissal.

 

To adopt either position would be pointless in the extreme right now, not to mention divisive, given Liverpool’s most pressing problems have long since been in the boardroom rather than the manager’s office.

 

But any fanciful thoughts that a change of manager would produce an instant upturn in form and fortune is being shown up for the wishful thinking that it always was. As Hodgson himself has already pointed out, he is no “magic wand man”.

 

Without transfer funds he cannot buy top class back up for Torres, nor can he make the numerous other improvements needed to a squad which has long been weak (due to a combination of the unavailability of money and a flawed recruitment policy in recent seasons) outside of the first eleven. To put it bluntly, Hodgson can’t compete.

 

Only if Hicks and Gillett are ousted and replaced by owners who care enough about Liverpool to actually invest in it will he stand any kind of chance.

 

Things are bad at Anfield right now, very bad, and that is why it is incumbent on everyone who holds the club dear to do whatever they can to put pressure on RBS to belatedly do right by it by ensuring that Liverpool Football Club does not continue to remain in the wrong hands.

 

The alternative really does not bear thinking about.

[23CARRAGOLD]

Rather than protesting in the ground I think that we as a group (SOS) need to take it to RBS's front door this close to the deadline for refinancing. I just don't see what another ground protest is going to achieve.

 

It needs to go to RBS and show them what the score is, and maybe to BarCap as well but I don't know the level of their involvement as I'm not so clued up as others.

[PaulMcC]

Good read.

 

Pity the Times is subsciption.

[Xherdan]

Perhaps this is down to the Benitez effect. Maybe the removal of a manager who divided opinion has helped focus minds like never before because now issues like net spend on transfers can be discussed without it being used as either a shield to defend the Spaniard or a stick with which to beat him.

 

Thats an excellent point. The end of a civil war brings about a union of purpose.

[redsfan]

Excellent article Tony. I dont think I have seen a more unified set of fans in years the way we are working towards a common purpose.

[PaulMcC]

Excellent article Tony. I dont think I have seen a more unified set of fans in years the way we are working towards a common purpose.

 

I don't think we're united at all, unfortunately.

[Guest davelfc]

I don't think we're united at all, unfortunately.

 

If anything we're more fractured, splintered than ever before. Anti Rafa, Pro Rafa, Anti Hodgson, not so Anti Hodgson and all the levels in-between.

 

The problem is we're football fans, we're used to loving our club and getting behind the manager. We're not used to protesting or slagging off our managers.

 

The worse things get on the pitch the more unified the fan base will become, which is really really sad.

[Red22]

Rather than protesting in the ground I think that we as a group (SOS) need to take it to RBS's front door this close to the deadline for refinancing. I just don't see what another ground protest is going to achieve.

 

It needs to go to RBS and show them what the score is, and maybe to BarCap as well but I don't know the level of their involvement as I'm not so clued up as others.

 

Agree. All the signs are that they'll give an extension and give us some "more time to find new owners" bullshit.

 

Meanwhile, they'll impose some more huge penalty fees and continue to rape our profits.

[redsfan]

I don't think we're united at all, unfortunately.

 

I definitely agree with that when it comes to manager, whether we think he is the man to stabilise us or some say he will do f all. Blimey, whether we hate or like Lucas, whether Purslow is genuine or croaked as them all and the list goes on. But it terms of wanting to get rid of these yanks I do think we are working on the same sheet and bar the exception of few all know they are poisoning the club and we need to do our bit no matter what. But this has come at the cost that this dark tunnel is getting worse by the days and its starting to become desperate.

[Jarvinja Ilnow]

Is there still an RBS branch in Dale street?

[23CARRAGOLD]

Is there still an RBS branch in Dale street?

 

That was more along the lines of my thinking regarding an alternative to 'in ground protesting'.

 

Imagine a meeting at Zeligs with coaches waiting to take people to a main branch of RBS and make it clear to them what refinancing another time would do. Fuck the match off and the protesting, there are a good few people who have jibbed the game whilst them 2 are still there so feel helpless in what they can do tomorrow.

[redsfan]

That was more along the lines of my thinking regarding an alternative to 'in ground protesting'.

 

Imagine a meeting at Zeligs with coaches waiting to take people to a main branch of RBS and make it clear to them what refinancing another time would do. Fuck the match off and the protesting, there are a good few people who have jibbed the game whilst them 2 are still there so feel helpless in what they can do tomorrow.

 

I could be barking up the wrong tree but I think the past couple of games 25,000 against Northampton and same in one of the European games, maybe that was in effect, of people who have reached that stage apart from the performances recently but simply dont want to line the yanks pockets anymore and are doing there own protests and just jib matches off.

[23CARRAGOLD]

I could be barking up the wrong tree but I think the past couple of games 25,000 against Northampton and same in one of the European games, maybe that was in effect, of people who have reached that stage apart from the performances recently but simply dont want to line the yanks pockets anymore and are doing there own protests and just jib matches off.

 

That was partly an effect of the competitions aswell though mate. There are a lot of people staying away but the numbers in attendance will rise dramatically tomorrow so that will make the losses incurred in the other competition, although impressive, redundant.

 

I just feel theres more that could be done than the old route of waving flags and singing songs. Lets take it to the people that matter, where we can make a massive difference to anyone who may be willing to give them 1 last chance as they have done many times before. We have been at this point numerous times, we should be making sure RBS know the score if they dare let these 2 cunts have another 6 months.

[njackets]

That was partly an effect of the competitions aswell though mate. There are a lot of people staying away but the numbers in attendance will rise dramatically tomorrow so that will make the losses incurred in the other competition, although impressive, redundant.

 

I just feel theres more that could be done than the old route of waving flags and singing songs. Lets take it to the people that matter, where we can make a massive difference to anyone who may be willing to give them 1 last chance as they have done many times before. We have been at this point numerous times, we should be making sure RBS know the score if they dare let these 2 cunts have another 6 months.

 

I made a point in the SOS thread about people without tickets for Sunderland and asked if there's anything I or anyone else without tickets/boycotting could get involved with and got blanked! We could of hit RBS in town after the match and got a bit more coverage with a simultaneous protest? Opportunity wasted there! Thats a brilliant article that by the way.

[dalglish2rush]

well said mr barrett...always spot on.

[Royal Family]

Top quality article that. I think Tony is right that the removal of Rafa has focused minds solely on the owners : not only is there the realisation that, actually, removing Rafa didn't in any way remove the core problem at the club, which no manager can possibly alleviate in full; but also many of those who staunchly backed Rafa were unwilling to rock the boat or thought that with him at the helm, somehow everything would work out and we'd remain competitive. I think all sides realise that isn't the case now, so we are united as a fan-base.

 

It makes one realise on reading that (or indeed the exposees in the NOTW in recent weeks by Chris Bascombe) is that the Echo hasn't been able to benefit from their journalism in the campiagn against the Yanks. I think it's fair to say that the last two Liverpool correspondents would have been far more active, and produced far more cutting pieces in the Echo than the current one, for any number of reasons.

[Kobayashi Maru]

If anything we're more fractured, splintered than ever before. Anti Rafa, Pro Rafa, Anti Hodgson, not so Anti Hodgson and all the levels in-between.

 

The problem is we're football fans, we're used to loving our club and getting behind the manager. We're not used to protesting or slagging off our managers.

 

The worse things get on the pitch the more unified the fan base will become, which is really really sad.

 

All the others are side issues. The main issue of ousting C & A continues to grow as a unifying force.

 

The Anfield Road website poll is indicative of this, with nearly 2500 votes, of which 97.6% are in favour of 'RBS to take control of club and sale process, possible risk of administration'. That 2.4% in favor of them retaining control or being refinanced would have been much larger a year ago. The tide is turning quite spectacularly.

 

Edit: Website - Vizu Poll Results:: With the Broughton/BarCap sale process failing and c. 300 million pounds RBS debt almost due, LFC and its fans are faced with two distinct possibilities. What's your preference? 1) Hicks and Gillett retain control via refinance or

[burnslfc]

What about and i know this is radical which could lead to the club getting in trouble with the FA but something has to be done other than a few chants at kick off.When the players leave the pitch after their warm ups a mass invasion of the pitch by 1000s park themselfs in front of the diecters boxes and have a mass protest with real anger and meaning for about 20 mins therefore delaying the kick off.Then back to the seats and get on with the match.The police and stewards could do nothing about it as if people did this on mass they would have no chance.This would bring mass world wide publitity much more than at the moment.I know i said it was radical but much more has to be done to get these YANK bastards out.What are Purslow and Broughton doing ?? Apart from drawing wages they are meant to be helping with the sale and yet nothing happens month on month.Target them also to get them off their assholes as the Yanks are never going to show their faces at the ground are they ?

[dennis tooth]

What about and i know this is radical which could lead to the club getting in trouble with the FA but something has to be done other than a few chants at kick off.When the players leave the pitch after their warm ups a mass invasion of the pitch by 1000s park themselfs in front of the diecters boxes and have a mass protest with real anger and meaning for about 20 mins therefore delaying the kick off.Then back to the seats and get on with the match.The police and stewards could do nothing about it as if people did this on mass they would have no chance.This would bring mass world wide publitity much more than at the moment.I know i said it was radical but much more has to be done to get these YANK bastards out.What are Purslow and Broughton doing ?? Apart from drawing wages they are meant to be helping with the sale and yet nothing happens month on month.Target them also to get them off their assholes as the Yanks are never going to show their faces at the ground are they ?

 

Given the simply chanting was shouted down by a lot I think it's not going to be so easy. Nice idea though one step at a time maybe, lets see how todays goes first on the protest front.

[coop]

Pitch invasions are frowned upon and would make us look twats in the eyes of the media and the public who would be reading the publications.

 

The protest is planned at the right time and that is after the match so as not to disrupt the lads playing and also gives plenty of opportunity for fans who want to stay behind and protest.

[lifetime fan]

Pitch invasions are frowned upon and would make us look twats in the eyes of the media and the public who would be reading the publications.

 

The protest is planned at the right time and that is after the match so as not to disrupt the lads playing and also gives plenty of opportunity for fans who want to stay behind and protest.

 

Has anyone approached that fat headed tit off MOTD 2? The one who goes around different grounds interviewing grannies who've had a season ticket for 70 years.

 

For the next protest would be an idea to get him to follow it for the day and the coverage would hit all the OOT's and be available in the i player.

 

I know he's a tit but we need to use anyone (bar the obvious) to get rid of the cunts.

 

They probably won't be able to interview anyone during the game but the beeb would already have their cameras at the ground so can film any protest whether the club like it or not. They can then use this footage with filming before and after the game.

 

Would kop faithfull be interested in pursuing this?

[Hermes]

But any fanciful thoughts that a change of manager would produce an instant upturn in form and fortune is being shown up for the wishful thinking that it always was. As Hodgson himself has already pointed out, he is no “magic wand man”.

 

Without transfer funds he cannot buy top class back up for Torres, nor can he make the numerous other improvements needed to a squad which has long been weak (due to a combination of the unavailability of money and a flawed recruitment policy in recent seasons) outside of the first eleven. To put it bluntly, Hodgson can’t compete.

 

Only if Hicks and Gillett are ousted and replaced by owners who care enough about Liverpool to actually invest in it will he stand any kind of chance.

 

 

Regardless of who owns the club or how much money is spent on players and wages, progress on the field will only come about by signing the right players and selecting the right tactics.

 

Sunderland, Manchester City and Villa have spent loads with hardly any improvement to show for it.

[birkenhead]

Has anyone approached that fat headed tit off MOTD 2? The one who goes around different grounds interviewing grannies who've had a season ticket for 70 years.

 

For the next protest would be an idea to get him to follow it for the day and the coverage would hit all the OOT's and be available in the i player.

 

I know he's a tit but we need to use anyone (bar the obvious) to get rid of the cunts.

 

They probably won't be able to interview anyone during the game but the beeb would already have their cameras at the ground so can film any protest whether the club like it or not. They can then use this footage with filming before and after the game.

 

Would kop faithfull be interested in pursuing this?

 

Any publicity can only be seen as good publicity during are hour of need

[lifetime fan]

Any publicity can only be seen as good publicity during are hour of need

 

Emailed kop faithful and sos, will see if I get a response.

[diego]

Tony Barrett uses an ambiguous word when he says Rafa was "divisive" with respect to supporters. He was the opposite of divisive. From the beginning he aligned himself with the clubs traditions and its supporters - and he still does. The great mass of the club supporters in the UK and internationally admired and respected him and were grateful for him making the club a force again, ranked by FIFA as No. 1.

 

The only so-called "divisive" words and actions for which he was responsible were his criticism of Parry's failure to secure transfer targets quickly enough - a failure for which Rafa was being held responsible. Rafa was also the first to expose that the owners were cash-less leverage buy out merchants - something that Parry and Moore and most of the supporters had failed to spot. And Rafa put his job at risk to take this stance.

 

Leaving aside the agenda-driven national media for the moment - and concentrating on the supporters - the divisive ones were those such as the pathetic TLW-Bascombe-Carragher-Gerrard alliance which disliked him essentially because he was not from Liverpool and because he did not show them and their pals the deference they thought they deserved.

 

Tony Barrett is wrong to suggest that the supporters are united because Rafa has gone. The damage done to the club by the Rafa-haters (and now I will also include the national media from whom many of the loonies took their marching orders) is profound. I suspect that the club has lost some support.

The lies, slander, personal insults and ethnic and nationalistic slurs on Rafa emanating from TLW and similar sources has left a burning sense of injustice.

 

Tony Barrett was right to note that there is a new concentration on the owners. It is partly fuelled by Rafa's departure because those websites leading the charge against the owners are also Rafa supporters. But the main force behind the process is the growing realization that with Rafa gone there is nobody at the club willing enough or strong enough to oppose the owners and their stooges on the board.