Does anyone understand what is happening at Liverpool?

I suppose I have to write about the ongoing situation at Liverpool. The problem is that I really don’t understand what is happening!

Simple

As I see it, Tom Hicks and George Gillett are the current owners. My simple brain tells me that it is up to them who they sell the club to. It seems that isn’t the case. That is where I start to struggle.

Thousands of Liverpool fans marched in a mass protest against Hicks and Gillett last Sunday, pleading with them to sell up and leave. Along come new potential owners, a sale is apparently agreed and the fans are not universally happy. Struggling again.

Agreed

The announcement that the owners of the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports Ventures (NESV), have agreed a deal to buy the famous old Anfield club is being viewed with some suspicion by the fans. When you look at the previous announcements regarding possible new owners from China and Dubai, amongst others, it is perhaps no surprise that the fans are adopting a ‘believe it when we see it’ attitude.

Since the deal was announced, the events at Anfield have been very difficult to follow and, as I have said, almost impossible to understand. The main thing I don’t understand is how the club can be sold when it’s two owners are vehemently against the deal being done. It is quite clear that Hicks and Gillett will lose a lot of money if the deal goes through as it is and they are quite prepared to fight it in a court of law.

Deal

My understanding is that there are three independent directors on the board at Anfield, Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre, and it is these three who have agreed the deal with NESV. Meanwhile, Tom Hicks is trying to replace Purslow and Ayre on the board with one man who works for him and another man who just happens to be his son. That should give him a majority then!

Against this, Broughton says that the ‘written undertakings’ he insisted on when he became chairman means the owners will be unable to frustrate any ‘reasonable deal’ and that only he can make changes to the make-up of the board.

Argued

This matter will be argued out in High Court next week and it is surely possible that a deal being made without the support of Hicks and Gillett, that would see them lose £144 million of their own money, could be seen as unreasonable?

There are an awful lot of ‘what ifs’ but if the court finds in favour of Hicks then he would make the necessary changes to the board of directors and the Liverpool fans could wave goodbye to NESV.

Nothing

Despite the announcements, it most be worrying for Liverpool fans to hear Martin Broughton admit himself that ‘nothing is certain’.

Although Broughton feels certain that NESV are the right people to take the club forward and the Premier League seem certain to approve the sale, can Liverpool fans really be pleased that an American baseball owning company are trying to take over from the hated…well…American baseball owner?

Winning

The NESV consortium, a profitable business, says it will wipe out £200 million of Liverpool’s existing bank debt. They released a statement that said all the right things, pledging to “return Liverpool FC to its rightful place in English and European football, successfully competing for and winning trophies”. That sounds good until you remember that Hicks and Gillett used almost the same words three years ago.

I think the signs are promising for Liverpool and there does genuinely seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel, but I can totally understand why the fans might not be even beginning to start celebrating just yet.

Troubles

There is a lot still to happen and the fate of the club will be decided in the High Court. I truly hope that things work out well because, although I have joined in with some of the sniggering about the troubles Liverpool have been having, they are one of England’s biggest and best four clubs and they should be right back up there as soon as possible.

I hope for the long suffering supporters that this doesn’t turn out to be yet another false dawn.