Football special: the Merseyside misery
Looking at Liverpool Football Club’s recent run-in with all sorts of on and off the field crises, makes one wonder one of the greatest teams in English and European football’s history can go into such an alarming nosedive so suddenly. For it was only 18
months ago that the club was giving Manchester United a run for their money in the race for the much envied prize of the Barclay’s Premier league; witnessing their form of late that seems hardly believable.
It is certainly their game that suffers as a consequence of all that is happening to them but it must be said that it is not only the footballing side of the matter that is causing their catastrophes, which must incidentally be saddening for the multitude
of the team’s fans worldwide and also for any serious followers of the game, but also the administrative aspect of things too. This once great team is currently owned by the American businessmen duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, whose interest in the club
appears to be only commercial. It was their failure to pay-off the club’s debts that led to the appointment of an independent chairman Martin Broughton earlier this year, who was charged with the tasks of sorting out Liverpool’s problems and finding a suitable
buyer for it. Mr. Broughton recently held talks with a company namely, New England Sports Ventures, who have come up with a bid of 300 million Pounds for the control of Liverpool. This deal, if approved by Liverpool’s board of directors, will pay off the 230
million Pounds loan completely. Hicks and Gillett though recently moved in court to have this deal blocked, claiming that Mr. Broughton had no legal authority to authorize such a deal, despite of their having agreed to the contrary at the time of Broughton’s
appointment. This desperate attempt by the two co-owners to wrest control away from Mr. Broughton and Liverpool FC’s board of directors, has sparked widespread protests against them in the city of Liverpool, whose inhabitants are historically deeply passionate
about the game of football and even more so about their team. The final act of this enthralling drama is to be played out tomorrow, when the court verdict on whether the deal is to go through or not is due to come out.
While it might appear to a casual observer that the administrative troubles are a major contributing factor in Liverpool’s woes, the problem is actually a little more deep rooted than that. At the end of the day it is the team that has to go out and perform
on the pitch, whatever may be happening of it. Liverpool frankly, are not equipped with the resources necessary to do that in these troubling times. Their over dependence on local hero and talismanic captain Steven Gerrard, and of the only other player of
any genuine class, Fernando Torres of Spain, is the reason that the team is not in its usual comfortable position near the top of the Premier League points table. Lack of funds, maybe cited by the current manager and the previous one as a reason for the absence
of squad depth, but it can as easily be put down to poor planning and man-management, as well as to some extraordinarily unintelligent decisions that were made regarding the transfers of players to and from the club in recent times. For instance, Rafael Benitez,
who was the manager of the club before the current Anfield boss Roy Hodgson, publicly humiliated Xabi Alonso, who is widely regarded as the best deep-lying midfielder, leading to the Spaniard’s eventual ouster in bad spirit from the club even though he had
always been a stellar performer in Liverpool’s colours, and also a fantastic ambassador for it. Another unfathomable piece of business was the acquisition and subsequent expeditious selling (at roughly half the price he was bought for) of Republic of Ireland
striker Robbie Keane, without giving him the time to properly prove himself. Also worrying for the club supporters must be the fact that all the players coming through the youth system of Liverpool are still at the fringes of the team, without any of them
having seriously made a case for themselves for a spot in the senior team.
Whatever the reason behind the blues Liverpool are currently facing, it is hoped that they come through this turbulent period of their great history unscathed, and the fans and football lovers are once again treated to the passionate and flamboyant brand
of football that was LFC’s forte in its days of bygone glory.
Tags: