FOR SALE - TWO NOT TOO CAREFUL OWNERS

16 Apr 2010

No more than their fans, I was delighted to hear that Liverpool are up for sale. Doing Liverpool’s games in the Europa League on 3e this season has been like making small talk around the hospital bed of coma patient.

There’s been such a moribund feeling around Liverpool this season, not just due to Rafa Benitez’s less than freewheeling tactics. The Hicks/Gillette takeover sat badly enough at the time: the omens were bad enough when the opportunistic tycoons referred to the famous old club as a ‘franchise’ in their introductory press conference.

But when it turned out they hadn’t a red cent to their name to help the ailing giants recover their position at the top of English football, their status as Merseyside pantomime villains was complete.

The thing is, the sickness in the boardroom distracted from the malaise in the dugout. Benitez was a folk hero after the Champions League success of 2005, but this season’s struggles have shown up the limitations and flaws inherent in his management. Bad signings, questionable man-management and the creeping sense that his military-style philosophy could wring no more from the club’s playing resources have combined to make even a patient fanbase like Liverpool’s reach for the eject button.

Now that there is a chance that the club can regain momentum in terms of its ownership, at least a proper eye can soon be turned on the merits, or otherwise, of Rafa’s reign.

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