Written by John Toher.
Tom Hicks in an interview tonight has tried to portray himself as the fall-guy, the innocent victum of a protracted sale to new owners NESV. “This was a very valuable asset that was swindled away from me, my family are very upset.” he claimed. Has he forgot that he himself swindled Liverpool FC to the tune of £240 million to buy the club in the first place? Or that he swindled the club out of £30 to £40 million pounds a year in interest payments on that loan which nearly brought Liverpool to its knees and into administration and virtual collapse?
He blames Rafael Benitez, the manager he gave a bumper 5 year contract last season as the reason for the malaise at the club.
“Rafa lost the club. We didn’t finish at the top – that’s not the fault of the owners, we spent good money. Rafa has to take accountability for his own results. When we finished second the year before, people weren’t nearly as angry.
“Liverpool fans are just unbelievably strong supporters and they want to win. I’m not a novice, I’ve been in sport for almost 15 years. Whether it’s hockey or baseball in the US or soccer fans in Liverpool, people want to win.”
Hicks also alleges that chairman Martin Broughton and the other independent directors were part of “an organised conspiracy” against him and hit out at protesting supporters, whose “internet terrorism” he claims deterred wealthy would-be buyers.
He added:
“The process was continually frustrated by chatter about financial distress coming out of RBS. The interested buyers that we knew would be the right type of buyers for the club.
“Look what’s happened to Manchester City now with their new ownership – that’s the kind of buyer we were trying to find for Liverpool.
“And those people were scared off by the distress chatter and the organised internet terrorism campaign that was directed against people involved.
“I just want the truth to come out in the courts. Our desire was to get Liverpool into the hands of an owner who would be able to build a stadium and make Liverpool the top club in the world they deserve to be.”
The truth Mr Hicks is you are finished with you and your lies and you wont swindle £1 billion out of LFC in ‘damages’.
