Parry asked to resign as DIC claim they can’t afford LFC price
This day could turn out to be one to remember for Liverpool fans, with Rick Parry asked to resign from his post as Liverpool CEO, and DIC claiming they have pulled out of their attempts to buy Liverpool FC.
DIC’s CEO, Sameer al-Ansari, said that the problems between George Gillett and Tom Hicks had played a part in their claimed decision to withdraw from attempts to take over at Anfield. In an extract from an exclusive interview with Arabian Business Magazine due out on Sunday al-Ansari said: ”You have two partners who do not see eye to eye. And we decided that we pull out completely. Let them sort out their problems.
“We will continue to be interested and would love to own the club but we are not going to put ourselves in a difficult situation where we make the investment but we have no control over the destiny of the club and we cannot influence the success of the club. Unfortunately, the terms that have been put on the table do not allow us to do that.”
Although this could mean DIC feel that their maximum investment in the club would be all but eaten up by paying the price demanded by Gillett, Gillett is the only partner willing to sell. Hicks hasn’t put a serious valuation on his half of the club because he wants to buy Gillett out, take control, and stay with the club until the new stadium is built and beyond. DIC don’t want half of the club, and have no intention of making the kind of offer that would change the mind of Hicks.
Whether this decision to pull out is true, or just the latest in a long line of negotiation tactics carried out using the press remains to be seen.
But Hicks’ determination to make something special of his time at Anfield has seen him write to Rick Parry asking for him to resign.
Parry has refused, saying: “It is my intention to remain focused on the job of serving Liverpool Football Club to the best of my abilities at this very important time of our season.”
Although there are reports that Parry is siding with Gillett in the various attempts at resolving the ownership situation, this is not believed to have been given as a reason Parry should leave his post.
Parry has been at Anfield as CEO for ten years, and in that time there have been many accusations levelled at him from fans, and more that are believed to have come from current manager Rafael Benítez.
His attitude to fans in the wake of the Athens ticket fiasco caused unprecedented anger from Liverpool supporters, stunned at the attitude of the CEO to their concerns that ticket distribution seemed to suggest some tickets had not been allocated to fans. He refused to be drawn into the “numbers game”. This was but one example of where fans felt he had been dismissive towards them.
He has at least two nicknames, either Krusty or Coco, alluding to his perceived ability to make a mess of things somewhat like a clown, amongst other reasons. Prior to the arrival of the current owners Liverpool were offered a chance to buy Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo for a fairly nominal fee, but turned the offer down. The fee wasn’t a problem - it was the wages that Parry said were too steep. Yet those wages worked out at around two-thirds of what was paid to the failed French “Gem” Anthony Le Tallec.
Theo Walcott almost knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League on Tuesday night, but the Arsenal youngster was desperate to play for Liverpool before Arsenal made their interest known, and it was Parry who was blamed for allowing the chance to pass the club by. Again Liverpool could have had him for a fraction of his eventual fee, with Southampton in need of the money, but Parry was said to have refused over a relatively tiny amount of a difference in his valuation and Southampton’s.
Perhaps his indecision helped the club last summer; Florent Malouda’s decision to join Chelsea over Liverpool is believed to have been caused by Rick Parry’s lack of communication with the player. His reputation for switching his mobile phone off when major deals need to be worked on is legendary. He famously went on holiday instead of talking to Steven Gerrard about a new deal after Istanbul, the captain coming unbelievably close to joining Chelsea after being left to think the club didn’t really want him.
But Rafa is believed to have been referring to Parry last summer when he complained about a lack of action in the transfer market. The blame for this outburst later shifted to the owners, as part of the fallout from the infamous Klinsmann revelation, but in reality Rafa was frustrated that transfer deals were failing because Rick Parry was not working on them the way he should have been.
Parry announced in 2003 that Liverpool’s need for a new stadium was essential to their future hopes of competing with the likes of Manchester United. He said it would open in 2006, in good time for the 2008 Capital of Culture celebrations in the city. In 2007 it was still not open, in fact work had still not even started, and by the time the new owners came in they announced that the outdated plans had to be replaced. The “Parry Bowl” was consigned to history.
But finding investors to enable a new stadium to be built wasn’t the only way Liverpool could have made money. From being the first English club to have shirt sponsors back in the seventies Liverpool became the last top-flight club to get a website. Before long the website was renowned as a place to avoid if looking for official merchandise, with constant anger from supporters unable to buy the kit they wanted. It was much the same in the club shops. Fan frustration over tickets isn’t limited to the way the Athens ones were dished out - people have to risk their jobs by spending the whole day with the phone to their ear, hitting redial over and over until they are finally through - at which point they are then in a cue for hours on end. Sometimes they get to the end of that queue without being cut off. Excuses given for the problems with this service have never washed with fans, who are also frustrated at the length of physical queues when tickets are sold at the ticket office windows.
If those basic services are so poorly run, questions must be asked as to how much more income has been missed out on by fans the world over who want to spend anything they can on their beloved Reds. The days of kids getting their mums to sew a home-made number seven on the backs of their red t-shirts should be long gone, but have often shown signs of having to come back.
Liverpool fans themselves have helped Parry to allow the club to remain stuck in the past from a commercial point of view. The outcry when a McDonald’s “M” appeared on the side of the newly-built seated Kop showed that fans weren’t ready for anything too commercial, and many fans still grumbled about having the name of a not-too popular beer on their shirts. But these things make money, and whilst other clubs embraced it and overtook Liverpool, the Reds were left behind.
Of course Parry was always nothing more than the CEO to David Moores post as Chairman, and not all decisions will have been his alone. But his job is to do what’s best for the club, and unfortunately that isn’t any longer in line with what was best for the club ten years ago when he arrived, and it was up to him to make that clear to David Moores.
Parry was in London today with Premier League meetings to attend, and also with Javier Mascherano’s failed appeal taking place. But he will have seen the contents of the letter and will be aware of the reasons that one half of the club’s ownership wants him out.
Hicks, however, is not in a position to sack Parry because major decisions of that nature require both owners to agree. Gillett is hardly likely to agree if the claims he’s been using Parry to help him engineer a hugely profitable sale of his half to DIC are true. But the message couldn’t be clearer. Parry has no future under Hicks. And with DIC planning to install al-Ansari and Amanda Staveley if they did take the club over, it does seem his days at Anfield are numbered one way or another.
“Hicks hasn’t put a serious valuation on his half of the club because he wants to buy Gillett out, take control, and stay with the club until the new stadium is built and beyond. DIC don’t want half of the club, and have no intention of making the kind of offer that would change the mind of Hicks.”
Now you’re getting it, Jim. Your readers will come around. I sense that midlands and John are already beginning to consider a change of heart even if they aren’t ready to admit that yet.
Jim’s got it alright but that’s for reason’s only he really knows about!
I won’t come round to Hicks. Not because he’s a liar. Not just because he can’t be trusted. But if he’s trying tactics like a) Publicly firing Parry b) Hiring people like Texas_Dawg and Financial Dynamics and c) piling debt on the club irrespective of their intial public statements….then he’s no good to us.
In any other business, Parry would have been sacked years ago. Can’t believe i’m agreeing with Hicks though!!!
Well Mr Parry the end is near you will not be missed. i have been on a waiting list for a father son season ticket with my dad for all of your tenure. We have payed over the odds for all type of matches because of the incompetencies that you as Chief Executive have extoled on our club.We have been successful despite you rather than because of you .My father talks of Mr peter Robinson being the best at this job you should have learned from a master Do not switch your phone off anytime soon. You are being ppaid back in spades for Athens
Bart you’re missing the bigger picture.
Maybe in any other business Parry may well have been sacked.
But now it’s about getting rid of Hicks. And as that’s the goal - to support the future of the club - Parry must stay until he’s gone.
So as a Liverpool Fan, Bart, join the chorus: Tom Hicks Get out of our Club!
Is Hicks trying to win over the fans by sacking Parry? If so it’s a good start!… even if it is a little too late..
It’s the timing of this at a point in the season when players, manager and fans should be focused on winning and nothing else.
Plus the fact that we’re once again splashed all over the media.
That’s not the way to run a football club!
It’s the timing of this at a point in the season when players, manager and fans should be focused on winning and nothing else.
Plus the fact that we’re once again splashed all over the media.
That’s not the way to run a football club!
A little short term pain for the long term gain. And the players don’t care about that stuff anyway. Their focus is on the game.
The players do care, Texas Dawg and Matthew. Stevie G came out and said so publicly a few weeks ago. Where are you two getting your lines from????
The short term pain is Hicks (and Gillett). The long term gain is getting rid of them.
Hmmmm. Want to say a lot but don’t know where to begin.
I guess Parry out is a good thing but installing Hicks to do his job? You’ve got to be kidding me. Maybe or most likely Hicks will appoint someone else to do the job other than himself but let’s not lose sight of what that could and probably will mean…
If Hicks manages to position himself to take over the club in full, a prospect looking more likely if very difficult to understand just how he’s going to achieve that given that Gillett won’t apparently sell to him, and given the fact we WILL have crippling interest payments under Hicks therefore limiting our spending, then surely whoever takes up Parry’s position will be there to ensure that things are done with Hick’s wallet’s best interests at heart?!
This is to state the obvious a ridiculous situation, made even more ridiculous by the fact that Hicks doesn’t even have the right on his own to oust Parry. And like i say, unless Gillett goes changes his mind or Hicks legally contests and wins the right to negate Gillett’s block of selling his shares to his partner just how is Hicks going to take over anyhow? Ridiculous.
Jim, seriously, Hicks is making our club a f’ing shambles. Say what you want about Gillett and you’d be justified, but if it was 2 Gillett’s in charge the club would be owned and run by DIC by now. Hicks can’t afford to own this club before the stadium is built and spend the money we need in the interim to compete, that is a fact, Hicks knows that, but HE DOESNT CARE HOW SUCCESSFUL THE CLUB IS, if he did he would have sold to the dubaians - ok so we know he’s in it for the money thats obvious but his reluctance after all that has gone on to let go speaks volumes. We still need to rid the club of this cancer.
And i doubt whether DIC are about to go away as you say. I remember you controversial article ‘nothing changes’ a couple of weeks ago - well the same applies to what Al Ansari has said today. Saying that they will not bid again until the owners have sorted their problems out is something we all knew already is it not?
How do we get Hicks and Gillett out?
Texas_Dawg, how are you getting a ticket for the Chelsea Champions League when you’re from Texas and real fans cannot get a ticket? You’re an employee of Hicks aren’t you?
The players do care, Texas Dawg and Matthew. Stevie G came out and said so publicly a few weeks ago.
Care or not, they are grown men and strong enough to not let it affect their play. And it clearly hasn’t, right?
It’s OK, Midlands. Gillett will soon be gone, and Hicks can put his people in place to provide Rafa and the players the full cooperation, support and focus from the front office that they should have. You’ll come around. Especially once the wins increase under Hicks.
Texas_Dawg, how are you getting a ticket for the Chelsea Champions League when you’re from Texas and real fans cannot get a ticket?
Classified sources.
You’re an employee of Hicks aren’t you?
Nope. Guess again.
‘Hicks determination to make something special of his time at Anfield’ did Hicks Jnr write this article? What a joke, don’t you mean make maximum profit for himself.
Whilst i agree that Parry needs to go we need him on the board right now to provent Hicks loading more debt on the club when he has to refinance and find the additional £300 millon for the stadium.
What we do not need is that Texan Two Hat, getting his ‘yes’ men on to the board and getting full control of the club.
This is whole affiar is a total shambles desgined by a half wit Tom Hicks, he knows he cannot sack Parry at this point in time so why bother sending a poxy letter to him?
oooh, Texas_Dawg, you back-tracked. You now accept that the players do care. You really aren’t earning your money from Hicks tonight.
Gillett may or may not be gone soon but for sure he will go. We all know that.
The question for us fans: is how can we stop Hicks from getting 100% share? Parry staying is our only solution at the moment. Hopefully he’ll put enough spanners in the works to help Gillett and the Banks kick your boss in the pocket _ where it really hurts for him.
Texas_Dawg says: Classified sources.
- to the question of how he’s getting tickets for the Liverpool game when he lives in Texas while real fans all round the world cannot get a ticket. That tells us everything we need to know about Hicks and his friends and how they want to run our club.
But Hicks can’t fire Parry. Now that Gillett is back in his seat Hicks can’t do anything unilaterally, Sorry, I’m wrong, he can do what he has just done issue yet another ill-timed, calculated-to-disrupt missive. Why could this, however justified by Jim, not wait until the close season when a natural review of the club and our season takes place?
“But Hicks determination to make something of his time at Anfield has seen him write to Rick Parry asking him to resign” So we now know from you Jim, Hicks motivation in attempting to fire Parry? Where is this sourced? For “something of his time” you can only be referring to money. If the spirit of the club, fans and team ever crossed his mind he would have waited until the season closes. Or has he been made to initiate further controversy by the knowledge that his position is weakening.
Dawg, you are so wrong if you think opposition to Hicks is waning or if you feel our stamina in opposing him is limited. This is not any football club and we won’t roll over like good dogs. the only change I am considering is of mind over the chances of success of a boycott. If things do quieten down at any stage we can count on Tom to put his size whatever feet in it again just like today.
“unless Gillett goes changes his mind”
He will.
“And i doubt whether DIC are about to go away as you say”
They are. They have other things to do and know they can’t offer the same type of money for Gillett’s half that Hicks can. DIC had its chance last year. They blew it.
Texas_dawg, tell me, why do you support Hicks? What’s your rationale for promoting his tenure? It’s all well and good coming on to a site like this trying to wind real fans up but if you going to do so i’d like to know why?
“That tells us everything we need to know about Hicks and his friends and how they want to run our club.”
LOL. Man, you are able to draw an anti-Hicks conclusion from ANYTHING. I must say that I’m impressed.
midlands-red….don’t get me wrong….absolutely can’t stand Hicks….i think he’s a disgrace…
just can’t stand parry either…
“and know they can’t offer the same type of money for Gillett’s half that Hicks can”.
er yes they can. They already have, and where is the evidence that Hicks has even got the money to buy Gillett’s half?!?! We know already he was given the opportunity and couldnt do it. In fact, Hicks didnt even have the money to buy Liverpool, he borrowed it. So get your facts straight.
Martin, I have to say that Texas_Dawg is not winding me up he’s just solidifying why Hicks is wrong for our club.
Texas_Dawg, er, have you noticed how EVERYTHING you say about Hicks is positive. Ghosh that sucks!!
“Texas_dawg, tell me, why do you support Hicks? What’s your rationale for promoting his tenure? It’s all well and good coming on to a site like this trying to wind real fans up but if you going to do so i’d like to know why?”
Fair questions, Martin.
It’s not that I am incapable of being uncritical of Hicks. I’ve seen him make mistakes with the Texas Rangers. And he has basically admitted that the handling of Rafa last fall was a mistake by now promising his full support of Rafa. Hicks is a good leader, capable of admitting mistakes, since we all make them.
But even his biggest mistakes with the Rangers came from trying his best to win. He signed Alex Rodriguez and Chan Ho Park to huge contracts when he thought that signing them would put the Rangers over the top. Well, those moves ended up setting the Rangers back a few years, but he has since made good moves and brought in new management to get the team back on track.
The other teams he has owned are the Dallas Stars, and, basically, the Texas Longhorns football program. And he made both of them champions when they hadn’t won in decades (even though I hate the fact that he did with the latter because I HATE the Texas Longhorns >:( ).
So it’s not that he’s perfect, just as no one is… it’s just that I find the outrage way, way overblown. And given that he hasn’t had the chance to run the club as he would like, yet, most of the anti-Hicks predictions are based entirely on wild speculation.
lol, yeah i did say ‘trying’ Midlands! He’s not winding me up either! But he’s trying, so maybe he’s from Manchester and attempting to have some fun. Wouldnt surprise me, lets face it, theres no way he a liverpool fan.
People need to get real here. Hicks can not be allowed to get rid of Parry. As incompetent as Parry is he has the club at heart. We have 2 friends of the club on the board now - Parry and Moores. If we lose these two then they will be replaced two yes men who won’t give a damn about our traditions and every cent of debt will be placed on the club (fans). We need to get rid of Hicks first and then throw Parry out the door on his arse.
Anything that makes Hicks’ position stronger will be devastating to Liverpool FC.
Bart, I know what you mean about Parry but don’t be blinded by Hicks PR.
Your position is like having a choice between Everton and Man United. You don’t either to win but it’s only Man United who will get in the way of our long term goals. On this basis, we need to get Hicks out (because he’s Man United) and then Parry we can deal with later.
Cant be bothered to justify your comments anymore by giving you a response Texas. Goodbye.
“er yes they can. They already have, and where is the evidence that Hicks has even got the money to buy Gillett’s half?!?! We know already he was given the opportunity and couldnt do it. In fact, Hicks didnt even have the money to buy Liverpool, he borrowed it. So get your facts straight.”
DIC is a group of investors, just as Hicks and his partners in any deal are. Their money is “borrowed” just the money Hicks raises is.
How do you know what Hicks has offered Gillett?
“Cant be bothered to justify your comments anymore by giving you a response Texas. Goodbye.”
OK. Bye, Martin.
I’ve just speed-read the comments of the last few hours and that’s probably some kind of record for comments on here in one stint!
I think if Texas_Dawg was working for Hicks from a PR point of view that he’d choose a less obvious nickname. (I suppose someone will say that’s a double bluff).
I’ve not seen Sky properly, what did they say?
My own personal dealings with Rick Parry prior to the existence of this website relate to a complaint I sent to him after being messed about in the club shop. This is going back probably to the days when Igor Biscan was actually being used by Houllier. Yes, that long ago. And Rick replied to me with a cheque, apologising for what happened. I never cashed the cheque - partly because it was one of those things you want as a souvenir, and partly because the words and numbers on the cheque didn’t match. That bit wasn’t his fault. Or at least I don’t think it was (cue 200 comments from others who had this happen with cheques from LFC). And I can’t even remember where the letter is now.
In many ways I do feel for him, because he’s a Red, he’s done things like finding Rafa, he’s a human-being like the rest of us.
But he’s an extraordinarily well-paid human-being. His job is well-paid because it demands a certain level of commitment.
How many people wanted him sacked in summer 2005 because of how he treated Gerrard?
I’m sure also that the stories about the players that got away would include a hundred more Anthony Le Tallecs if we looked into it more closely. But to miss out on certain targets for things like offering a maximum of £3m when £3.5m would be enough is quite wrong.
The way he treated supporters over Athens was ridiculous really. He was asked to explain how the numbers broke down - if he was happy with the way they broke down where was the harm in explaining it?
Go back to the morning after Athens and would anybody then have complained about him being sacked for the reasons I hear have been hinted at?
I think most people would have been happy if DIC had announced today that they’d taken the club over and had sacked Rick Parry at the same time.
So why the tears now?
I think it’s this worry that Parry is the last remaining link between the club as a body containing the fans, the players, the ground, the history, and the club as the money-making investment object.
It’s this perception that he’s going to protect the club from whatever Hicks might do, and to ensure DIC can’t do anything either.
But he didn’t protect the club a year ago when this offer document was approved. I’ve just found another article when looking for some figures and it mentions that the club had spent £11m on various fees for advice related to the takeover, and this figure was mentioned in the offer document. Why didn’t any of those advisors insist the offer document said “There will be no debt on the club”?
If he was sacked today he’d get a nice pay-off, a chance to recharge his batteries and another cushy job somewhere or other.
Obviously he can’t say too much when he’s in post, and I wouldn’t expect him to, but it would be interesting to hear his take on why he’s backing Gillett over Hicks, and why he thinks that’s best for the club. That’s his take on it, not ours. I really would like to hear it.
I think we’re getting close to the end of this now, very close. But I’ve thought that before now and nothing’s happened.
As for the timing thing, I don’t see any other time this could have been done if it was going to be done. We’ve got to the end of that vital 5-game run, we’ve got this gap before the Chelsea games, and although Blackburn are no pushovers it’s better to be said today than say last Thursday.
I heard someone say on Sky earlier that “Parry is a legend”. Is he?
Anyway, off to do some reading to see what’s being said about this elsewhere,
Agree with what you’re saying Midlands and it’s an apt analogy. The Parry issue really is an insignificance at the moment.
“I’ve just speed-read the comments of the last few hours and that’s probably some kind of record for comments on here in one stint!”
Maybe I’m actually working for… Jim!
“So why the tears now?
I think it’s this worry that Parry is the last remaining link between the club as a body containing the fans, the players, the ground, the history, and the club as the money-making investment object.”
Come on Jim, you’re better than this!
Parry’s no legend. He’s proven to be incompetent. But his time for leaving is not now. So the timing could have been alot better. Hicks is making Parry a pawn in the game for guys like you to shoot out your lines about ‘his time to go is now’. It’s not.
Hicks and Gillett have a battle to resolve. Bringing Parry, Rafa etc in it is to try and win the fan battle. It’s not happening here.
As for Texas_Dawg being a double bluff blog name. Yes, it’s just that. He is part of the Hicks PR machine….believe me on that one!
Yeah, Parry is a separate issue !
Martin, the trick is not to be taken in by the barrage of ‘Pro-Hicks’ comments.
To me there’s an element of truth in everything that’s being said on all sides. But Hicks character was set from the out-set. He has no plans on changing. Just like Mugabe (sorry for bringing politics into it!) at that age you can’t change. Hicks is what he is a ‘leverage buy-out man’. He wants to make money and the more the merrier. Nothing wrong with that_ for some. And actually it’s the world we live in. But he’s been lieing to us from day one. His latest PR stunt is to TRY and divide and rule us. It’s for this reason I’m disappointed in what Jim’s been saying _ but he’s an informed guy so I’m sure he believes in what he’s writing (although I do wonder what he’s been drinking recently!).
Hicks needs to go. His PR machine needs to go with him too.
Gillett and Parry can be dealt with thereafter.
John,
I’ve just read this from you:
“But Hicks determination to make something of his time at Anfield has seen him write to Rick Parry asking him to resign” So we now know from you Jim, Hicks motivation in attempting to fire Parry? Where is this sourced? For “something of his time” you can only be referring to money. If the spirit of the club, fans and team ever crossed his mind he would have waited until the season closes. Or has he been made to initiate further controversy by the knowledge that his position is weakening.
If you read this from The Times:
Hicks is said to hold Parry responsible for Liverpool’s poor performance commercially, especially in relation to Manchester United, whose turnover of £212.1million dwarves the Mersyside club’s £133.9m.
The American also claims there is a lack of communication between Parry and Rafael Benitez, the manager, when it comes to signing new players, and is unhappy at Parry’s sometimes fractious relationship with fans and sponsors.
You can see in those two paras that Parry’s contribution to Liverpool’s commercial success isn’t seen as good enough. The buck, even at two to the quid, stops with Parry I suppose. Is that fair? To a point yes. Being fair, any comparison with Man U should be moderated to include the difference in matchday revenue based on attendance. But any difference after that should have been getting closed down year on year. I think I heard a figure somewhere that the new stadium could bring us an extra £40m a year (I’ve not checked that, so that could be some other figure floating round in there from something else) but if so then the difference between us and the mancs is still £30m-£40m or so. And never mind matching them, what if we could better them?
Now of course the quick answer to this being a motivator for Hicks’ letter is that he sees all that profit going to waste. All that extra money to spend on other interests. But it makes it more likely we can have another Torres next time we want one.
The Rafa one is interesting when taking on board a comment someone else made earlier, I’ll have to come back to that one. But fans do hate or loathe Parry, and it’s revisionism to say otherwise. At best people put up with him, save for a small group of people maybe. And if sponsors are being mistreated then that’s again a scandalous way to do your job. I did say “IF” there, I’ve not heard anything out there before about sponsors being unhappy with Parry. But it may be that Hicks just thinks Parry could do more with them, rather than it being something a sponsor thinks should be done.
I’m stopping posting on this issue!
midlands-red has it spot on!
“As for Texas_Dawg being a double bluff blog name. Yes, it’s just that. He is part of the Hicks PR machine….believe me on that one!”
Midlands, I’m not employed by Hicks. I’m just a friend. (That’s how I got the ticket.)
If you’ll read my posts I’ve never claimed to be the Liverpool fan that you and others here are… but that also allows me to be somewhat objective about what Hicks is attempting to do here, what his motivations are, etc. And I speak also from the experience of his owning teams that I support, one of which I care about every bit as much as you care about Liverpool.
So Hicks wants Parry out!, Benítez not happy as major signings have been missed!
All of a sudden Rick Parry is the fall guy!
Liverpool have spent an horrendous amount of money with the last two Managers, most of them have failed to produce the goods or have been sold after just one or two seasons, loaned out or floundered in the reserves.
Rick Parry in my opinion has done a pretty good job, his hands will surely have been tied by the past two owners David Moores and the current two yanks.
Parry is not the one who has saddled the club with massive debts and unless the future ownership of LFC is settled in the near future the prospects look bleak.
The fans need to have a louder voice, Hicks is deaf to everything that is being said, Gillett obviously is not happy with Hicks and probably wished he had never asked him to be a partner. Benítez is jockeying on the side he thinks will win the ownership battle and the only person trying to be peacemaker for the sake of LFC is Rick Parry. Lets get behind him as his heart is Liverpool FC.
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The alternative is unthinkable.
ALL of the pro Hicks sentiments are based on wild speculation. SOME of the anti-Hicks sentiments are based on speculation, most of them are based on a combination of Hicks statements (lies) (Weetabix, transferring money from us to the US teams,etc.) - his duplicity (backing Parry over Rafa in December, asking parry to resign in April) and finally his actions, (Corinthians of Brazil, the non-stadium etc).
Texas_Dawg you’ve always claimed to be a cheerleader for Hicks. There’s no problem with that. It’s just that you then confuse being a cheerleader for Hicks with doing what’s best for Liverpool FC. That’s why your unbelieveable.
Look. Hicks wants to make money. Good luck to him. His friends want to benefit from his largesse. Good luck to them. We don’t want to be the cash cow that gives you guys all that fun: Get out of our club.
PS Where will you be sitting when you go to the Chelsea game - that real Liverpool fans would like to go to? The executive box? Maybe we can meet-up and you can reveal your true identity. I’ll be outside the Kop in my shirt and scarf _ contributing to your plane ticket no doubt!
“his duplicity (backing Parry over Rafa in December, asking parry to resign in April)”
Duplicity… or listening to the fans?
Damned if you do; damned if you don’t.
“Look. Hicks wants to make money. Good luck to him.”
You would prefer an owner who wants to LOSE money?
“His friends want to benefit from his largesse. Good luck to them.”
Ha. What does this mean?
Believe it or not, Hicks is a fierce competitor that strongly wants to win. It’s why he signed Alex Rodriguez to the Rangers, why he hired Mack Brown to coach the Texas Longhorns, why he brought Brett Hull to the Dallas Stars, etc. These were major upgrades to what was at these teams before Hicks got involved. And they cost A LOT of money. Your motivations may be different, but Hicks wants to win just as badly as you do.
Jim, this nauseating garbage you’ve been churning out lately in support of Hicks would really be more appropriate to Pravda or maybe the Sun…………………….You and this “Texas Dawg” should really get a room somewhere !!!
‘Leverage Buy Outs’ are an interesting way of buying into clubs to make money. Piling Debt on the club was not the deal Hicks (and Gillett) had agreed to. So, yes, he’s making money for himself and you, Texas_Dawg, but draining the club of cash flow and identity. Mr. Dawg, you just don’t or rather choose not to get it. But that’s your loss.
As for all those stars he’s bought other clubs….you seem to forget (because it suits your cause) that he said he plans to take money from Liverpool FC to support his other sporting hobbies. So we get the debt and his miserable face when Rafa works miracles. Hmmmmm, the only thing Hicks wants to do if Get Out of Our Club!
Last time i looked, last Tuesday for instance, we were winning. One of the things getting in the way of more victories is the press rubbish Rafa and the players have to face which is caused by the “interventions” of Hicks and Gillett. We are succeeding in spite of them.
I wonder if the timing of this is due to the pressure coming from the need for substantial reinvestment in the team this summer. Rafa has stirred the pot in precisely the same terms as he did before christmas (One senior signing and two frees is what he lined up then but was slapped down by Hicks). This time Hicks knows he won’t be able to thwart Rafa so publicly. The money isn’t lying around in the club coffers and he famously doesn’t put his hand in his own pocket so more borrowing might be needed. Who would get in the way of more debt being loaded on the club? Rick Parry for one. Is David Moores the next in line for a letter from Hicks suggesting he might like to resign?
Post from RAWK
____________________
Fact is that Gillett currently has the upper hand in the boardroom by a majority of 4-2 (Hicks Snr & Jnr opposed by Gillett Snr & Foster, Parry and Moores).
It is quite obvious that Hicks wants to replace Parry with Ayre to equal the voting on the board particularly with the imminent refinancing etc.
We need Parry to dig in with Gillett on all issues forcing the impending sale to DIC, as one poster so eloquently put it ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ so let’s cut Parry some slack please lads.
_____________________
I have to agree. We have bigger fish to fry - a big fat salty one from the black lagoon of Texas. Parry to go but not til we rid ourselve of the parasite Hicks first.
“As for all those stars he’s bought other clubs….you seem to forget (because it suits your cause) that he said he plans to take money from Liverpool FC to support his other sporting hobbies.”
And, money could come from those other clubs towards Liverpool. There’s really nothing scandalous here, midlands. While you are making wild speculation about what Hicks will spend, we have from his past the example that he is willing to spend a lot of money — a lot more than the previous management in each case — to win.
And for the record, again, I have no financial ties to Hicks.
“This business has to do with fan affinity and brand devotion. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with winning.” - Tom Hicks
Stephen,
I think his point was simply that you don’t want winning to come at the expense of the club’s reputation and fan loyalty. Sounds reasonable, right?
texas_dawg, hicks actually said he’d take money from liverpool for his other brands, sorry clubs. go dig out the quote, or have you conveniently forgotten it?!
you have clear financial ties to hicks, dawg. keep up the work and don’t forget to itemise each blog you’ve sent so that he pays you well!
Typical of you dawg to omit the keyword - Brand. I think his point was simply that you dont want winning to come at the expense of all those suckers coughing up for everything with the club’s logo and crossing the pain barrier on seat prices. Sounds reasonable, right?
Texas Dawg are you for real son?? Do you think we are idiots? I know people in Texas aren’t exactly worldly but come on!!
You think wrong my friend ,that quote was made when he was talking about money and financing - fans didn’t come in to it. How can winning affect a club’s reputation and fan loyalty. Nonsense my friend. Get yourself a new forum your done here mate. Bye bye. End of.
MR - I’ve not drunk anything stronger than a strong coffee in the past few weeks, so maybe I should start some drinking!
I think if this saga was a film we’d probably need to pause it about now to take stock of what’s happened, and see if we’ve missed anything. Obviously it’d need to be on a DVD. That’s how I look at it anyway.
It’s been full of twists and turns and sub-plots and of course like a lot of good ‘whodunnits’ there’ll be bits we haven’t noticed yet, but if we could watch it back again a second time we’ll bang our heads against a wall wondering how we missed that obvious detail.
And unlike a DVD we can’t cheat in guessing how it might be ending by looking to see how long it’s got left to run.
I want to go back and check various quotes at various times, various off-the-record claims and stories containing obvious leaks.
You say that Hicks is using Parry as a pawn, but that takes me to that point I wanted to come back to.
Someone mentioned this discrepancy I think: Parry was being blamed for getting in the way of transfers for Rafa, but Rafa was getting told to let Parry do the transfers back in November / December.
It can be explained in a number of ways, and I don’t know for sure, but I’d hazard a guess at something like this:
G&H arrive at the club, new owners. If Rafa warned G&H that Parry was messing up transfers, what would G&H say? Would they believe it and sack Parry on the spot? Would they check with Parry, believe him and sack Rafa on the spot? Or would they need to tell Rafa that they’ll keep an eye open? I don’t know what they’d do, or what they did (or even if that did happen), but personally I think I’d keep an open mind and keep an eye on what went on.
Over the summer Rafa lost Malouda – just as well some might say, although he might have been a better player had he been under our coaches… Did he lose other targets?
You can imagine Rafa angrily telling Foster about this, and the owners promising to bring it up with Parry. It’s Rafa’s word against Parry’s. Parry gets asked, Parry answers, “Complete nonsense” and “Utter rubbish”.
The owners believe Parry, but rather than saying anything much to Rafa they decide to leave it, hoping it’ll be ok until the next transfer window. Then we get this Klinsmann mess. What made the owners think Rafa was looking around for another job? Maybe not Parry, but then at the same time Rafa decides he has had enough of Parry messing his deals up and does some negotiating. There are two problems with that even if you don’t bring the Klinsmann thing into it. 1- It’s Parry’s job, and Rafa has no right to do it (in the owners’ eyes, assuming they believed Parry). 2- Perhaps Rafa hasn’t got the legal or financial knowledge required to do that level of negotiating?
Later on, that storm dies down a little, at least for the Hicks-Benítez relationship, and Rafa shows some evidence of how Parry really did mess things up. Maybe Hicks had to kick Parry’s arse into the plan to meet Skrtel’s club, and maybe Hicks started to realise what was happening.
And of course there’s the (shorter) cynical version of why there’s this discrepancy. Rafa and Parry don’t get on, so Hicks knows one has to go, which sacking would be least popular? Does sacking Parry endear Hicks to Rafa more? Does going along with Rafa help his cause?
But that takes us back to timing. If that’s Hicks’ motivation then he’s no reason to do it now. Using the version of Hicks that’s only here to bleed the club dry it would be best done just after any takeover and just before he told Rafa that he had another crap transfer budget.
Quick reply with regards to the post above on the voting in the board room. Sacking Parry and putting Ayre in there in his place would make no difference. Even if Tom Jr turned on his father and made it 5-1 against Tom Sr the bottom line is that Hicks has one vote and Gillett has one vote. They are the only votes.
Of course, Parry and Moores’ alleged intervention into the bank loans doesn’t fit in with this, but from what I recall it was something slightly different that gave them the power to block that, it might even just have been down to bank policy rather than club policy.
Jim, Rafa this and Rafa that is music to Hicks and Financial Dynamics ears. This is not about Rafa it’s about the Boardroom amd who has ultimate control. Both Rafa and Parry (though we would care less for him but for the fact that he has a role on the board) are pawns.
I love reading your columns Jim. I must click on this site every few minutes. But on this and a few others lately, it feels as if you’re getting lost in the blah blah of the Hicks crowd. Yes, Parry’s a problem. Yes, Rafa’s not happy with the way he’s handled transfer dealings. But Hicks now wants a yes man in the Boardroom ie someone who does not brief against him or stop him doing what he wants to do.
So, Jim, I think a logical thing to do is ask yourself:
why this announcement now?
why has he not mentioned Moores name? surely he’s as culpable as Parry.
and, why has he gone so public? after being told it’s not ‘the liverpool way’, he does this.
Hicks is just a bad egg for Liverpool FC. He’s not even less popular with the red part of Liverpool than Margaret Thatcher was. Who’d want to be Chairman in those circumstances? Only a bloody minded individual like Hicks.
Jim, join us in Getting Hicks out of Our Club….and then let’s go for a drink (of juice) to talk about moving forward without him and his friends.
“How can winning affect a club’s reputation and fan loyalty.”
A good example I am familiar with is that of Jerry Jones, who owns the Dallas Cowboys. While he made the Cowboys a winning club again, he alienated a whole lot of long-time Cowboys fans in the process. I doubt he cares since the team has been successful, but many of those fans will never come back, and the make-up of the Cowboys crowds has completely changed (for the worse).
There are many other examples from sports of teams that have won at the cost of traditions, fans, etc. I believe Hicks is saying that he doesn’t want to win at such a cost. He wants to win… but do so correctly.
“But Hicks now wants a yes man in the Boardroom ie someone who does not brief against him or stop him doing what he wants to do.”
Or maybe he wants a man in the boardroom that works better with Rafa. What’s wrong with that?
I’m hoping this is a situation where Jim’s initial article on this topic was written partly to provoke debate, and the failure to highlight the issue of timing was a deliberate oversight, and not one borne of genuine belief in what Hicks has done.
No doubt, a list of Parry’s transgressions over his tenure would be as long Hicks’s nose if his real name was Pinnochio (okay, that was a stretched simile, but it mostly worked). This is not the real issue here, and we all know it (with the exception of Texan Tommy – internet searches are wonderful things, “Dawg”). It’s the timing and the intent behind the timing.
IF this had happened in the summer, when it couldn’t possibly have distracted the team, then I might for a moment believe that there was a genuine intent to benefit the club through an improvement in management. But the transparent attempt to undermine a Gillett ally (pretty much every newspaper story on this referred to Hicks’s rage at Parry’s interview with the BBC) and replace him on the board with a hand-picked Hicks lackey is reprehensible behaviour for anyone claiming to support the club.
Hicks knows that he can’t fire Parry and he knows that Parry won’t quit. All he has achieved is to draw attention to the dysfunctionality of the Liverpool board and the untenable relationship between the owners. Maybe it’s his way to achieve his goals through causing as much discord as he possibly can, bullying and badgering those in his way. To me, it smacks of a desperate man clutching at straws to save himself from drowning.
is that your pro-hicks line again?!?!
……or maybe he just wants a yes man. Most bullies do, Mr. Dawg!
Julie, Hicks is behaving like a man who can’t get his own way. The bully in the playgorund who is use to kicking people around until someone stands up to him. Gillett and Parry (aka no saints they of course) are finally showing a bit of backbone. Now it’s for Moores to give an interview this weekend to show his distrust of Hicks.
As for Jim, Julie, I really don’t know what’s happened to him but he’s entitled to change his mind - we’ve just got to be just as robust in bolstering other liverpool fans who share our view.
Jim, I have to say that i just can’t understand why you seek to justify Hicks as much as you do. I know you’re not lauded his capabilities, but for some reason that is confusing all of us (apart from texas_daug), you seem to tentatively be looking for justification in his words and actions and i guess we can’t understand why? We have been so betrayed by Hicks that we automatically assume that everything he does is either a lie or for his best interests, and in some ways i applaud you for trying to view things objectively, but it does seem strange to me and others like Midlands Red and John Steele to name a few.
I appreciate the work you do Jim, don’t get me wrong, i have appreciated the many addresses you have personally made to my comments over the last few months, but there seems to have come a point a while ago where a paradigm shift occured in your thinking.
Like i say, i appreciate the objectivity, but i do find it strange considering what he has done.
It seems very obvious to me that the attempt to oust Parry has 2 purposes like i mentioned earlier: 1) to enable him to have a ‘yes’ man on board he can completely control - which is going to be very, very important in the near future when we have no money to spend before the stadium is built, and 2) to even the balance against him on the board.
This move seems motivated by controlling factors and not primarily by a desire to improve our commercial performance, do you not agree?
btw julie, totally agree with you. Whilst the timing could be worse, i.e. near the chelsea game like Jim mentioned, it is very bad form to time it now. But i guess it had to be timed now, right? Things are going on in the background which can’t wait to be addressed and Hicks is making more tactical moves than Rafa on a champions league night…
Jim, I actually used to come on this site for some objectivity and analysis but of late you seem to be overly trying to justify the mess Hicks has brought to this club. We are a laughing stock and to top it off all our ‘fans’ forums have been infiltrated by many texas idiots like Dawg. Guys that don’t even support Liverpool FC but feel the need to butt with non-sensical rubbish about american sports and teams we don’t give a shit about. Every right thinking lover of Liverpool FC wants this torture to end. A campaign to get rid of this cancer is needed not justification of their assualt on our club.
Websites like yours should be at the fore front of this campaign! C’mon Jim, you need to raise your game big time and get back to what you are good at - putting the fans and the club first. YNWA
Martin, Oliver Kay backs you on the boardroom voting situation and he also gives some insight on the source of the leaked letter to Parry. It will be hard to pin this leak on DIC!
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo…icle3724528.ece
Jim from reading your articles of late although you try to give an unbiased view of each situation as it develops I just find there is clearly very much an underlying support for Hicks and a defensiveness toward alot of the statements he has made. At the same time you tend to demonise Gilette and DIC for using underhand tactics in their attempt to gain control of the club even though their approach has been no more underhanded than that of the Hicks camp. If anything I believe comments made by Gilette have been far more sincere.
Even in relation to your comments below:
“I think if Texas_Dawg was working for Hicks from a PR point of view that he’d choose a less obvious nickname. (I suppose someone will say that’s a double bluff).”
“As for the timing thing, I don’t see any other time this could have been done if it was going to be done. We’ve got to the end of that vital 5-game run, we’ve got this gap before the Chelsea games, and although Blackburn are no pushovers it’s better to be said today than say last Thursday.”
You just seem very ready to defend Hicks however subtle you may be when doing so.
Also Parry cannot be blamed for everything that has been wrong with Liverpool over the last 10 years and again I feel he is being over demonised by yourself above. Doing so is just another way of showing support for the Hicks camp. True Parry has failed Liverpool in many different areas but now is not the time for his position to be brought in to question.
I just hope Liverpool fans dont buy into and get distracted by Hicks attempts to see Parry out the door and actually wait until Hicks is gone himself before showing any further discontent in relation to his position as CEO.
John: thanks for the link to the Times story. A quote from it follows:
“Although a letter was sent to Anfield, the first that Parry knew of it — he was at a Premier League meeting in London — was from a family member, who had heard the story on Sky Sports News.
They, in turn, were alleged to have received the information indirectly from the Hicks family via a Liverpool supporters’ group, an additional source of disappointment to Parry.”
I’m assuming the “They” at the start of the second paragraph is Sky Sports News, but…is there really a LFC supporters’ group that is that closely allied with the Hicks’s family that they’re acting as Hicks’s mouthpiece?
“Guys that don’t even support Liverpool FC but feel the need to butt with non-sensical rubbish about american sports and teams we don’t give a shit about.”
Stephen,
I don’t expect you or anyone here to care about those sports or teams. But Hicks’ behavior with them should provide insight for those speculating about how he will behave with Liverpool. That’s why I’ve mentioned them. (And why they’ve been mentioned here many times, for this reason, before I arrived.)
John, thanks for the link. Although there may officially be only 2 voting rights as Jim says in reality the situation i think is more complicated as Oliver Kay seems to intimate. and yes, will be very hard to pin on DIC! hahaha.
Texas Dawg, here’s a little task for you - you can pretend its a game - look up the last 8 years of the texas rangers and post their final position on this forum.
If that doesn’t exhaust you too much then you can put your mind to a little essay. Look up a team in Brasil (they play soccer there) called Corinithians and give us some feedback on how they got on under Hicks’ control. You get bonus points if you bring in the following topics: broken promises, failure to build stadium, fan hatred and long drawn out court battles and compare what happened there to the current situation at LFC. Off you go now. 1000 words or more should suffice.
Dawg…………you’re a shameless hypocrit. You accused me on the previous blog of being afraid of your dissenting opinion but then wouldn’t respond to my reply and ran away from the debate like a cowardly dawg. Therefore I’ve posted my reply on this blog as well.
I don’t feel remotely threatened by your feeble arguments because they are so transparently biased and false. However I am in no doubt whatever that your Mr Hicks does pose a major threat to the financial viability of our Club and this does bother me very much.
You claim that we are all unfairly against Hicks but our disgust with him (and you) is based on objectively assessing the mountain of compelling evidence against him. Refer for example to Anfielder’s lengthy post of 4 April. I haven’t seen anything approximating a rebuttal to any of those points and this is because you have no rebuttal that would stack up to close analysis. Clearly you know this just as well as we do.
Unlike you (who are working as a mouthpiece to Hicks’s order) we have no inherent reason to be either for or against your client/boss/father other than his own past conduct.
Your denials of being a Hicks stooge are about as believable as OJ Simpson’s denials of being a murderer………………. but the problem for you is that we are not the OJ Simpson jury. Liverpool fans come naturally equipped with excellent bullshit detectors !!
Texas_Dawg, while you’re doing Stephen’s homework, here’s a link to a site detailing the players concern about the turmoil at boardroom level (it’s from a few weeks ago)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article3449209.ece
Then when you’ve read it………. go to bed!
Good call Stephen. Hicks and his Dawg seem to believe that any attempt to hold Hicks accountable for his own past record can just be casually dismissed as “spin” or “speculation” when in fact that’s all Hicks himself has to offer.
The Parry incident is a side show compared to the real issue at stake at the present time. That Gillett wants such a huge amount for his shares and that Hicks puts his price beyond DIC is a testimony to their utter greed. Obviously the wellbeing of the Club and the fans opinions of them mean very little vs their greed for money. I have been an LFC fan for 67 years but all of this is making me think that I should stop supporting LFC if all it means is a cash cow to 2 American greedy, couldn’t careless con men.
Henry Winter in Friday’s “Telegraph” comes right out and says that Hicks is Liverpool’s biggest foe:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/04/11/sfnliv111.xml
Here we go again though! Pages and pages of it all season long.
First the manager. I think that lasted 3 months,
Now this until the end of the season.
Judge me by my actions he said!
“Texas Dawg, here’s a little task for you - you can pretend its a game - look up the last 8 years of the texas rangers and post their final position on this forum.”
I’ve already addressed this. The Rangers have been near the bottom of MLB for their entire existence. Hicks at least spent a lot of money to bring in high-priced players (Alex Rodriguez and Chan Ho Park), but they just didn’t work out. The Rangers are on a better track now though with some good young players. But not winning with the Texas Rangers is nothing many people hold against Hicks… because the Rangers have always been very bad. A very different case than Liverpool.
“Texas_Dawg, while you’re doing Stephen’s homework, here’s a link to a site detailing the players concern about the turmoil at boardroom level”
Fair enough, midlands. I stand corrected. Thanks for the link.
The timing of Hicks’ latest rant really pisses me off.
The team has just qualified for the semi finals of the Champions League and this is not needed, not at this crucial stage of the season.
It is clear that Hicks doesn’t give a damn about LFC’s performances and what is best for the club.
He needs to leave and leave NOW!
I have to say I’m rather disheartened by the whole situation. There’s so much arguing and politics going on and it seems that the club and supporters seem to get forgotten when debt, new owners and a new stadium are being tossed about.
So instead of banging my head in a door I wrote a letter to Hicks - it’ll probably be shredded by his secretary but t’s worth a shot. Apparently for every letter that’s written there are at least 1000 people who feel the same way so a letter counts for an awful lot really.
If anyone else is interested:
Hicks Sports Group Holdings LLC
1000 Ballpark Way, Ste. 400
Arlington, TX 76011-5170
United States
Attn of: Mr. Tom Hicks
I think Gillett is now intent on staying, He´given up on selling, as he realises that staying put will put the brakes on Hick´s takeover plans, as long as Gillett stays so will Parry!! Hick´s Votes will stay the same and Give him less movement in the Boardroom..
I think that as long as Gillett is on the scene there will be no new Stadium, Hick in my veiw will be an unwilling partner, and when votes are needed he will dig his feet in…
This is where the Battle lines are drawn, Hicks slings shit this way, Gillett slings shit that way, This is the type of Management crap we will now see for a long time, Hicks will do things against certain indiviuals in public and Gillett will do the same, and so we will be in Stalemate, and like i said…no new Staduim…because they will not sit down together!! and Liverpool FC and the supporters will be the ones to suffer as a result
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse……
Parry cannot stay in the long term but why should he be ousted by an ****hole like Hicks. Hicks must be the initial target for all concerned about the future of the club. His behaviour is uttlerly intolerable and has done severe damage to the Liverpool’s reputation as a well run organisation. What effect is all this having on the morale of the players and staff ? Rafa is receiving from European clubs and if Liverpool progress any further in the Champion’s League these will turn into offers. Who can blame him if he jumps ship at the end of the season.
I heard this morning that the legal agreement whereby one owner is obliged to give the other the first opportunity to buy his shares runs out in 6 weeks time. If this is true then we can all hope Gillett sells to DIC.
Sky Sports News claim they have an exclusive interview with Rick Parry at 10am this morning. Should be fascinating.
Here we have our club riven between a team which I feel on the edge of greatness and a boardroom on the edge of meltdown. I have been saying for months that Hicks is more than just a threat to us maximising our capability he is actually a threat to our existence at the top level. Henry Winter’s article this morning is saying something similar.
I can’t believe Parry is giving an interview to Sky Sports News. I was watching their newpaper review this morning and they are so anti-liverpool. Sorry, a bit off topic.
I can’t stand Rick Parry, I have had my suspicions on his transfer negotiations (or lack of) for sometime, ever since we managed to lose McManaman on the free.
My view is that he knows he is a dead man walking but is willing to see through the fight as a fan. In this respect, we have to support him.
Being the eternal optimist, it is better for this saga to played out now rather than in the summer.
Finally, (and again off topic), all these troubles just convince me even more that we are going to end up wining the European Cup again this year.
Keep up the protests!
Jim, sometimes mate it reads like you are on Hick’s pay role it really does.
I am with John Steele on this one. Yes Parry has made mistakes and yes I would like a more competent CEO, but that is not the issue now and is certainly not an issue for the business end of the season.
George needs to come out and back Rick on this today, and we as fans need to bit our tongue and stand firm with Rick, because Hicks is positioning himself for one final push to seize control
Texas Dawg is working for Hicks in some capacity. Even if he’s not an employee in the usual sense. The ticket to the game was probably in thanks for all the hard work. It is part of a PR strategy to get on the blogs etc and promote positive spin on Hicks. Also to give the impression that his supporters are better informed and more powerful than the average fan, hence attempting to weaken anti-Hicks resolve.
Jofrad and Anfielder have both made sensational posts in recent days to remind any waverers why we don’t want Hicks. I haven’t seen anything remotely comparable defending Hicks in response.
Somebody said there’s someone called Texan Tommy on another site. Texan Tommy, Texas Dawg - the same individual? Maybe its Hick Jr himself. Surely he’s got better things to do, but if not it shows just how much of a real threat fan power is.
As others have said, while Parry might not be popular, now is not the time to sack him. Ayre to replace Parry? Not on your Nelly! Last thing we want is Hicks’ toadies and lick spittles on the board. We need to keep our focus on the real problem, and that is getting both Gillett and Hicks out of our club.
“No individual, certainly not me, is bigger than the club. The club will be fine but once again it shows there’s a little bit of a lack of unity at the top. I’m just getting on the with the job.”
Parrys statement, goes to prove how unprofesional Hicks is. texas, listen up, looks like your lard ass buddy is running around like mad to secure Gilletts side, however you know you cant!!! DIC will be here in 6 weeks time….see you at the party
I also meant to reference the Hicks quotes posted by Jussi the other day. Fantastic.
texas_dawg, is Hicks son…
Not so much of an interview after all. They caught him as he was going into work and he agreed to answer a few questions. I have to say I was moved. Jim, you have given us the litany of failures of Parry the CEO above and although they are largely anecdotal I am not going to be hypocritical now and argue against them. He has been a poor CEO by any standards but not enough to justify the sanction of a mid-season sacking.
There is though, Rick Parry the Liverpool fan and he undoubtedly has a love for our club. It took bottle to go into work this morning in that calm manner given that he says he learned of the Hicks letter from family members who had seen it on TV. Hicks could have had his son hand that letter to Rick Parry by hand so please no one try to sidetrack this by pointing elsewhere for the leak to SKY.
I have posted on this and other sites my views on Parry and the responsibility I believe he bears, albeit with others,for getting us into this mess, but I am not aware of making any personal attacks. If I have I apologise. At this moment, whatever the reason, he is doing more for our club than I could ever do.
I don’t usually resort to “sources” in making my responses here, preferring to stick to opinion however flawed. I have though, promised a friend connected with the club that I will post the following comments:
On Rafa and Gillett. After the match on Tuesday night whist young Hicks and his entourage were enjoyi