Chris Bascombe of the Echo looks like he is going to remain as impartial as ever. Good on him.
Weâve had the words â now itâs time for action
Jun 2 2007
by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo
IF helping Liverpool reassert their credentials as Premiership challengers wasnât enough motivation for George Gillett and Tom Hicks to flex their muscle at Anfield, they may have another reason to focus on their new purchase next season.
It seems the American owners arenât feeling the love back home in Dallas and Montreal.
Their respective ice hockey and baseball teams have enjoyed under- whelming records in recent years, prompting cynicism in the United States and Canada about why they were so keen to move into English football.
Two columns published this week, one in the Montreal Gazette and the other in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, could only be described as damning.
The Starâs columnist, Jennifer Floyd Engel, was offended by Hicksâ claim in Athens that the fans of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars lack the passion of the Kop.
âIf owner Hicks' Stateside teams were competing for championships in more than just theory, enthusiasm for them might follow,â she wrote.
âWhat is deliciously obtuse is how owner Hicks fails to recognise his role in the disintegration.
âPassion is not something that goes away overnight. Passion is something that is slowly sucked from a relationship by inattention.
âIf owner Hicks wants Rangers and Stars fans to someday have the level of intense passion that Liverpool has, he needs to do a little romancing of them. Hire the right people. Spend money when needed.â
Commentaries on Gillettâs recent track record are no less critical.
Writing in Montrealâs local newspaper under the headline: âGillett must invest in the Canadians,â Jack Todd penned the following:
âGillett has owned the Canadians since Jan. 31, 2001 and in terms of on-ice accomplishment has little to show for his tenure as owner.
âThree times since Gillett took over, the Canadians have not made it to the Stanley Cup play-offs at all. Twice, in 2002 and 2004, they made it as far as the second round but no farther. That's it. Coach Guy Carbonneau might like to deliver to Gillett an ultimatum similar to that issued by Rafa Benitez â but Benitez has the juice and Carbonneau does not. All he can do is take what he is given in the way of players and try to make the most of it.
âJust as he did in Liverpool, Gillett mouths all the right words about sacred traditions. Then he sticks it to the fans, raising ticket prices for a team that isn't even good enough to make it into the play-offs.â
Two opinionated columns from writers who may or may not reflect broader public opinion are no reason to push the panic button, but with the focus this summer shifting firmly on whether Gillett and Hicks keep the promises they made when they charmed the socks off the public last February, letâs hope these observations arenât a taste of whatâs to come over here.
We should remember Benitezâs outburst on May 24 was as much a pre-emptive strike, warning of the consequences of not taking the right action as reminding everyone of why Liverpoolâs recent track record in the Premiership demanded a change of ownership in the first place.
Such are the peculiarities of Liverpool fansâ psyche, negative vibes arenât always welcome. The search for the truth is attractive, but when blemishes are exposed there are accusations of âwashing dirty linen in publicâ.
The fact is if Liverpool go backwards over the next few years, the answer to the question: âWhere did it all go wrong?â will be here and now.
Those involved in takeover talks at Anfield were told one of the conditions was a minimum of ÂŁ30m equity into the team.
One presumes the same terms applied to the new owners, although the timetable for spending this money would be an issue (itâs not much of a guarantee if the ÂŁ30m is spent over five years).
The ÂŁ8m on Lucas Leiva and ÂŁ1.5m for the Hungarian teenagers is a start, but if Benitez isnât sure what market heâs competing for players, youâre left to ponder whether those initial claims Liverpool would be competing for the likes of Samuel Etoâo belonged in the Beano rather than newspapers.
While Benitez was demanding action, Manchester United were spending ÂŁ52m on three players. Spot the difference.
The presumption of a huge kitty suited everyoneâs agenda a few months ago. It still does, especially when season ticket renewal forms are in the post. Only when Benitez sits at a press conference flanked by players he didnât have to sell others to buy, or who werenât funded by the European winnings, will we know if anything has changed since David Moores sold his shares.
Gillett and Hicks have enjoyed nothing but goodwill since they arrived. Itâs been a prolonged honeymoon, and if they back Benitez with the finances to sign top players this will continue.
Theyâre blameless for Liverpoolâs current situation. Just as Hicks was right to say the co-owners would have deserved little credit had the Reds won the Champions League, they donât deserve criticism for the situation now.
Day by day, hour by hour, however, the landscape changes.
They must share the responsibility with Benitez for transforming Liverpool into a title challenging team.
If Benitez doesnât get the players he needs this summer, it wonât just be the columnists in Montreal and Dallas expressing their discontent. Sadly, by then, it will probably be too late.
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