Once bitten twice shy, as they say. That being the case, the caution & scepticism with which Liverpool supporters greeted this morning's news of the club's sale (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/06/liverpool-sold-new-england-sports-ventures ) are entirely justified. Hicks & Gillett's objections to the sale only serve to cement their truly toxic legacy at the club; Tom Hicks has pulled off a significant achievement, he's managed to make himself more reviled than Kelvin MacKenzie in the eyes of most supporters.
While it's appropriate to bid good riddance to the two liars, it's also necessary to remember the role played by the club's former chairman David Moores in facilitating their arrival. It certainly hasn't escaped the attention of the Guardian's Richard Williams (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/oct/06/liverpool-david-moores-sale ):
"The real malaise inside Anfield, however, is off the pitch, and goes back at least to the moment at which David Moores, the former chairman, decided to cash in his shares and walk away with £89m, having sold the club to a couple of American gamblers whose promises turned out to be highly misleading, although it was certainly bad luck for Hicks and Gillett that their acquisition was followed so closely by a worldwide recession."
The liars' "bad luck" may well be viewed by supporters as a dose of schadenfreude to savour.
Throughout their ruinous reign Moores has attempted (often with the tacit endorsement of Oldham Hall Street) to portray himself as just another innocent fan duped by a couple of snake-oil salesmen. Bullshit. Moores pocketed his millions, refusing to even engage with the Spirit of Shankly group when it became clear that the club was in the wrong hands.
Moores is an accomplice to the liars' mismanagement.
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