Liverpool Owners Ready To Sell - Has The Self-Destruct Button Already Been Pressed?

On Friday morning, Liverpool fans got the news that they really wanted, when it was confirmed in a joint statement by the unpopular American owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks have put the debt-ridden club for sale.  The Anfield side is currently £237million in debt, an alarming figure by anyone’s standards in this economic climate.  However, has the self-destruct button on the red side of Merseyside already been pressed?

The boss of British Airways, Martin Broughton who is a lifelong Chelsea fan and a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge has been brought in by the owners as the new chairman, to oversee the new deal.  Already, Hicks and Gillett have claimed that there has been strong interest for the club regarding new ownership and investment.  It is believed that under-fire boss Rafa Benitez will keep his job in the new deal, despite the increase in rumours about a possible move to limping Italian giants Juventus.  It is also likely that Real Madrid will try and tempt Benitez, born in Madrid with a lucrative offer this summer. 

However, a quick sale is very unlikely, with Hicks & Gillett looking for nearly £600million pounds according to some reports.  The American giants took over the club in February 2007, from the previous chairman David Moores.  Then, they paid less than half than the offer they are looking for now and with Liverpool’s on the field struggle; I find it pretty difficult to comprehend the figure they are looking for.  For a while now, the owners have been under intense pressure to sell from the investment companies they deal with it, due to the debt increasing, almost with every passing day.  The crippling debts have also hampered any potential work on the new stadium that Liverpool had been planning to build at Stanley Park.  Plus, Benitez had given the board an ultimatum, wanting at least £80million for the summer shopping window, as he bids to get the Merseyside failures back on par with Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The owners relationship with one another has been strained for certain parts of their ownership at Anfield, even coming out once saying the partnership was ‘unworkable.’  At the Reds home games, it is quite surprising to see them sit next to one another, often a full row apart in the directors’ box, which obviously highlighted tensions.  Former chief executive Rick Parry left last summer in attempts to sort the battles in the boardroom once and for all, but the difficulty has remained in their partnership, as the relationship with at times, a passive Benitez.  In October 2009, fans demonstrated outside the ground before a home Premiership win against Manchester United, they’ve never seen eye-to-eye with the owners.

On the pitch, things haven’t been much better either.  Liverpool ended up as shock casualties in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in the autumn and then Reading humiliated them at Anfield in an FA Cup third round replay in the middle of January.  Premiership prospects have been even worse, and the club faces a mountain to climb in efforts to overhaul Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the scrap for 4^th place and England’s final Champions place next season.  Inconsistency from some key players and an injury-hit season for leading marksman Fernando Torres has added to these issues.  Only a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League have kept any momentum in their season whatsoever.  The decision to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid for £30million was a key matter and it really has highlighted Liverpool’s slump this campaign.  Alonso’s direct replacement, Alberto Aquilani has struggled all season with poor fitness levels, whilst the other key-signing, Glen Johnson has also been plagued with injury. 

For LFC fans, there has been a lot of frustration this season to endure and this is unlikely to be a quick sale either.  Hopefully, stability can now be achieved with the impending departure of the Americans, but it could well be a long and painful process.  The self-destruct button has already been pressed and limitations must be put in place for the fans to get the craving success they deserve in the short-term.