George Gillett promises Liverpool fans: I won't sell to Tom Hicks

Apr 18 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL co-owner George Gillett last night called on Tom Hicks to stop causing turmoil at the club, and insisted he will never sell his shares to him.

Gillett was responding to Hicks's claim that he is preparing a "very attractive offer" to buy out his fellow American. In a television interview yesterday, Hicks once again demanded chief executive Rick Parry resign and labelled his reign at Liverpool FC “disastrous”.

But last night Gillett repeated his complete support for Parry and issued a damning attack on Hicks’s behaviour.

He said: "I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks. If Tom wanted a serious discussion on the issues to help the club move forward, he should bring his views to the Board and not to Sky Sports.

"Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his public comments.

"Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position. His failure to discuss this with the Board or the Management Committee is significant.

"I was also taken aback by his version of the events as reported. Tom needs to understand that I will not sell my shares to him and that we need to find a way forward that is properly funded and truly in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club.

"The real business of winning matches and running and developing the club is what we should all be focused on at this moment."

Hicks had claimed he would soon be able to buy out partner George Gillett and have the money to fund the new stadium and finance manager Rafael Benitez’s summer spending.

However, Merrill Lynch – the bank currently re- tained by Hicks to try to find financing for the American – yesterday announced it was laying off 10% of its staff be- cause of the credit crunch.

Last night Liverpool FC fans’ groups criticised co-owner Tom Hicks’ latest attack on Parry as destabilising ahead of next week’s Champions League semi-final with Chelsea. They are also angry at the manner of his TV in- terview, which has sparked claims he is out of touch with fans.

The interview, conducted at Hicks’s home in Dallas, showed the 62-year-old in front of a roaring log fire.

He was watching Sunday’s match against Blackburn while dressed in a Liverpool jersey and drinking from a Liverpool mug.

At the end of the game, Hicks celebrates Liverpool’s 3-1 victory by telling the cameras: “Well, Everton won’t like that.”

Hicks’s critics were far from convinced by the apparent show of club solidarity.

Neil Atkinson, chairman of the Spirit of Shankly group set up to fight the Americans’ ownership, said: “We have a European Cup semi-final coming up and this is a terrible time to do what he has done.”

Les Lawson, spokesman for the Liverpool Supporters’ Club, said: “We’ve seen what Hicks has said and we still want him out. For all this to come out again as we are about to play Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final has angered the fans more.”

SPORT: PAGE 36

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