Tough talk: Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez wants
some cash to spend
Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has moved to head off
a public row between Rafael Benitez and the club's new American
owners, insisting they will back him in the transfer market this
summer. A frustrated Benitez told George Gillett and Tom Hicks it
was time for the talking to stop and the spending to start
following the 2-1 Champions League Final defeat by AC Milan last
week.
Gillett responded yesterday by expressing doubt that Liverpool will
be in a position to challenge Manchester United, Chelsea and
Arsenal for the Premiership title next season. But Parry tried to
allay fears over Benitez's future at Anfield. "The commitment of
the owners is absolutely clear," said Parry. "They are going to
provide backing to Rafa - they have made that clear to him this
week - so we will be moving forward very positively.
"They think he is a fantastic coach and they want to provide him
with the backing." Parry also responded to fresh criticism of the
behaviour of Liverpool fans in Athens from UEFA's head of
communications, William Gaillard. Parry said: "To have a stadium
with no counting system and no turnstiles in this day and age is
simply unforgivable. We produced a report for UEFA a week before
the Final predicting, sadly, all of the things that did go
wrong."
