Talking to fellow Liverpool supporters today, the general feeling about Rafa Benitez' departure from Anfield (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/03/rafael-benitez-leaves-liverpool ) was one of sad & weary acceptance.
For all his faults (& they were many), there was no doubt that he enjoyed a rapport with the fans.
Hicks & Gillett have been able to use Benitez' diminishing success as a smokescren to hide their guilt & complicity in the decline of the club. No longer. The two liars are now very much in the firing line.
Their way of conducting business was typified by Benitez' departure. I have it on good authority from a source I consider reliable that Hicks instructed chief executive Christian Purslow to leak to selected hacks the overnight story (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/02/rafael-benitez-liverpoo-quit ) about the board's offer of £3m for Benitez to quit immediately while he & his agent were still deliberating over said offer. In other words, Benitez was bounced into the deal.
The Stanley Park stadium is a distant mirage of Saharan proportions & the club is saddled with a debt which will deter any potential buyers for another year at least. The damage inflicted by the two con-men is potentially irreparable.
3 comments:
In my view, this is not just the sacking of a manager, it's the start of a meltdown.
Two assessments are possible: 1) Benitez goes, and Torres, Reina & Gerrard go too; 2) these players were walking this Summer anyway, so dump Benitez and let the new guy start afresh with cash from the sales to spend.
The first scenario is Meltdown 1. Quality players leaving is never a good indicator that quality replacements will be attracted. The second scenario makes sense only if you believe Liverpool FC is better off with cash than players. The only people who believe this are the current owners & their bankers, RBS. So scenario 2 is in effect Meltdown 2.
Does it matter? Actually, it does. I'm neither Red nor Blue, but I am a citizen of Liverpool for many years. And I know the terrible impact the meltdown of Liverpool FC will have, not just on the fans but far more crucially, on the local economy.
Hicks & Gillett have more to answer for than f*cking up a footie club; they might be f*cking up a city!
On reflection, I guess there could be a third scenario: that a club sale is more likely, or even imminent, if the prospective new owners don't have to fork out £16 mill compo for Benitez.
One thing is certain: if body language has been a guide this year, Benitez quit months ago along with other key members of the squad. The rest has just been going through the motions.
It's a confounded mess.
Maybe now with the financial problems they will build a stadium on land they own not on the GradeII listed Stanley Park that MikE Jackanory Storey decides he wants to give away.
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