Angry fans swamp web after LFC revelations

Jan 15 2008 by David Bartlett, Liverpool Daily Post

FANS reacted angrily last night after Liverpool FC owner Tom Hicks confirmed he and George Gillett had secretly held a meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann to line the German up as the next manager of the club.

Internet forums were awash with comments from furious fans, many demanding the pair end their involvement with the club.

Hicks yesterday insisted the talks with Klinsmann would not have resulted in the sacking of Rafael Benitez, and that it was just “an insurance” policy in case Benitez switched his allegiances or failed to deliver the club into the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

But fans said the admission of the meeting, held at Hicks’s second home in California, had critically undermined the Spaniard. It also emerged a deal was almost reached with Dubai International Capital, who were rival bidders at the time Hicks and Gillett bought the club.

The talks in the autumn had been over DIC acquiring a minority share of 15%, but broke down over the valuation of the club, with the Americans understood to be hoping for £150m for that stake. Yesterday, the Daily Post reported how DIC may be poised to make a new offer for the club as the American owners try to refinance the debt they took on when buying Liverpool.

Last night, the LFC official supporters club called on the owners to offer the Spaniard a five-year contract and agree to sign Javier Mascherano as a symbol of their commitment to the manager.

Les Lawson, secretary of the Merseyside branch, said: “I just can’t believe what’s going on.

“The only way to win the trust of the fans back is to offer Rafa a five-year contract and give him the money to hire Javier Mascherano.”

On a forum, one typical fan wrote: “They're obviously trying to force Rafa out. They swept into Liverpool with a lot of Razz-a-Mattaz but haven't delivered on anything they promised.”

Yesterday, the club’s website had a statement from Hicks in which he admitted that himself and co-owner Gillett had sounded out the German, unveiled last week as the new manger at Bayern Munich, about taking over at Anfield if Benitez left the club.

Mr Hicks said: “In November, when it appeared we were in danger of not advancing in the Champions League, weren’t playing well in our Premier League matches, and Rafa and we were having communication issues over the January transfer window, George and I met with Jurgen Klinsmann to learn as much as we could about English and European football.

“He is a very impressive man. We attempted to negotiate an option, as an insurance policy, to have him become our manager in the event Rafa decided to leave our club for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the UK press, or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason.

“After George and I had our long and productive meeting with Rafa following the Man United match, we put all of our issues behind us and received Rafa’s commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool.

“We never reached agreement on an option with Jurgen, and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany and coach a great club team. Rafa has both of our support, and our communication has greatly improved.”

He said Foster Gillett, chief executive Rick Parry and Rafa were now having regular meetings at Melwood on Monday mornings to prevent any future problems.

SPORT: PAGES 46-48

davidbartlett