Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has launched a
staunch defence of the conduct of Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and
George Gillett, who will find out in the coming days whether an
attempt to prevent a takeover and cling onto the club has proved
successful.
Liverpool announced on Wednesday morning that three members of
the board - chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian
Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre - had agreed to sell the
club to the owners of the Boston Red Sox, New England Sports
Ventures.
However, Hicks and Gillett claimed they changed the board,
removing Ayre and Purslow, and have mounted a legal challenge to
block the sale of the club for £300 million - a fee they feel
undervalues the club and will leave them with losses of around £144
million should the sale go through.
Hicks and Gillett are reviled figures on Merseyside having
placed huge debts on the club following their leveraged buyout in
2007, failed to fulfil promises regarding the building of a new
stadium and undermined previous manager Rafael Benitez by publicly
admitting they had held talks with Jurgen Klinsmann in January
2008.
However, despite their toxic reputation amongst Liverpool fans,
Redknapp says the two Americans should not be blamed for the
current crisis at Anfield and that the players should take
responsibility for the club being in the Premier League relegation
zone.
"It's not often you'll hear a manager stick up for a chairman or
chairmen but I'd love to know what the two Americans have done that
is so wrong," Redknapp wrote in The Sun.
He continued: "The whole Liverpool debate raging at present
basically centres around a team of top-level players that is not
performing at its best - a temporary problem. It's as if the world
is caving in at Anfield right now when, really, the only issue is a
lack of confidence among the squad - but it will soon turn
around.
"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners,
George Gillett and Tom Hicks.
"All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place
and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it. But, for all
that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out.
"It's not their fault the expensive players who have been
brought in are not performing as they should be. The Liverpool team
is full of world-class talent and some costly flops.
"Hicks and Gillett wrote cheques for star striker Fernando
Torres and Dirk Kuyt, a member of Holland's World Cup final squad.
Alberto Aquilani cost £20 million and has been a disaster - but is
that the owners' fault?"