Please find below a statement, in response to George Gillett's recent comments in the media about the situation at Liverpool Football Club.
No Change in supporters view on American Owners.
Spirit Of Shankly, the Liverpool Supporters' Union, is surprised to hear George Gillett's claims about the relationship between fans and himself and Tom Hicks having improved, based on the "media they are seeing and an awful lot of the fan communication". George Gillett and Tom Hicks are sadly mistaken if they believe the anger towards them has in any way subsided following the recent success on the pitch for Liverpool.
Anger towards the owners has remained has high as ever. Gillett & Hicks should not mistake satisfaction with the performance of the team and manager (the renewal of whose contract remains one more undelivered promise) for fans softening their stance on wanting to rid the club of them. George Gillett has admitted he and Hicks got off on the "wrong basis" and are "embarrassed" by it. Where is their admission that they have got off on the wrong basis with Liverpool Football Club, the fans and manager? Where is their apology for the embarrassment they have caused the football club and those associated with it, through their inept running of the club, and their petty squabbles played out in the public domain?
George Gillett seems to think he can win fans over by hailing the manager, Rafael Benitez, as "one of the great coaches". Fans have had this opinion for a long time, and it has come full circle from when Hicks and Gillett met with Jürgen Klinsmann, undermining not only Benitez, but the position of Manager, the most important at Liverpool Football Club. However they want to dress the meeting up, their actions have caused great embarrassment and anger, yet we see no apologies from them for this.
Claims by Gillett that the stadium is put off on a "temporary basis" is not to be believed, after Spirit Of Shankly learnt of over 130 redundancies at Davis Langdon, the company responsible for the construction of the new stadium. An insider told us that "the redundancies would not have happened if there was any chance that work was going to start on the stadium in the near future". Gillett not commenting on the refinancing of the debt on the club does nothing but further the frenzy about what is really going on behind closed doors at Anfield, or on ranches in North America.
George Gillett and Tom Hicks should think again if they believe fans are going to be taken in by their PR spin, on letting the team take centre stage and do the talking. Fans have been calling for this since the very beginning, so why have they only just started to listen now? Gillett and Hicks have offered no explanation as to why they have behaved the way they have, no apologies, no insistence on putting right their wrongs, no information given to fans on what is happening with the stadium, no reassurances to fans that the debt re-financing will not affect the club adversely, in paying running costs or the transfer budget. This lack of transparency is making one thing clear to the fans - those running the football club are inept and need to go now to allow this club to move forward on and off the pitch.
We reiterate our message to George and Tom - You have no money, no credibility, no honesty, no integrity, no dignity and you are not fit custodians - Get out of our club!
Take the next offer, finally do the right thing - GO NOW!
Spirit Of Shankly
Absolutely well said IMO.
I was wondering where Gillett got the idea that things had improved with the fans.
The PR doesn't work. Get out of our club!
« Last Edit: Nov 03, 2008 08:09:43 pm by JD »
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