LIVERPOOL fans thronged to Anfield last night, but it is hard to imagine they walked there with hope in their hearts. The increasingly unedifying spectacle of Liverpool FC unravelling in public continues to dominate the news agenda.

Players past and present have come forward to echo fans’ views that such open division is "not the Anfield way" – yet the owners of Liverpool FC have somehow failed to grasp this sentiment.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett may have been wounded by the protests staged by angry Liverpool fans at last night’s 2-2 draw. They may feel the tide of public opinion has turned suddenly against them without any real basis.

If so, then they are wrong.

For Liverpool FC’s American owners have broken two unequivocal pledges they made to the club and the fans: To build a world-class stadium; and to never saddle the Reds with their debt.

The proposed new stadium was revealed with a fanfare . . . and then scaled back amid escalating costs. Now a more modest home is proposed – and suddenly the fans’ taunts levelled at Everton FC over their potential "Tesco Stadium" are starting to ring hollow.

Meanwhile, in a move that could leave the club facing annual interest payments of £30m, the proposed financial restructuring deal – plunging Liverpool FC into £350m of debt – is a fear increasingly haunting fans.

And for many fans, the revelation that Jurgen Klinsmann was approached to manage the club was an unforgivable knife in the back of Rafael Benitez.

It is hard to see how this unseemly situation can be retrieved now. Hicks and Gillett have a mountain to climb in terms of regaining the fans’ trust, and meanwhile support is growing for a takeover bid by Dubai International Capital.

Right now, the best advice they could follow comes from Bill Shankly, who said: "At a football club, there's a holy trinity – the players, the manager and the supporters. Directors don't come into it. They are only there to sign the cheques".