Yank Drama - Is the ownership fiasco over?

Sports - Football - Premier League - Liverpool

I would like to think it's over, but don't want to believe it quite yet. There are still the doubts - the bad experience of the past three weeks/months/years, the insecurity, scepticism, inconsistencies, obscurity, hypocrisy, lack of professionalism, lies, deceit, scam, broken promises, ... There is always that thought in the back of the head wishing "please, not the same all over again!".


I remember the day George Gillett and Tom Hicks took over, I had tears in one eye and an expecting, hopeful, glowing stare in the other. Like I wrote in my blog nearly two years ago, it seemed like the priorities and powers had and have shifted, away from the game and the fans to a couple of business men who have nothing to do and no knowledge and concept of the sport apart from money money money.

It's turned the sport into a drama saga, a soap opera. When you turn your telly onto Sky Sports News in the morning, it is not what happens on the pitch that dominates but what goes on behind the scenes, on the board. You wonder who will have it off with whom next, what big shake- and takeover, fight/bust-up/backstabbing will be next in the headlines, who with whom, who against whom, what, why, how, ... Like the big duff-duff at the end of each EastEnders episode you are left wondering how they will follow up on that big bang and what will happen next.

Chelsea

Chelsea and Roman Abramovich started off the new money-talks trend in June 2003 setting a shiny, high-flying example of how to splash the cash and live it out big style - a bit like Dallas or Days of our Lives, the mommies of all American soap operas. It seemed and seems all too perfect, you just wonder if and when the botox-ridden faces are going to crack, the perfect mirror frame will shatter to pieces and burst the bubble.

Manchester United

Malcolm Glazer bought out and gained control at Manchester United in June 2005 and in contrast to Chelsea and their beloved Russian billionaire, the American business man and the Red Devils never saw eye to eye. A bit like The Jerry Springer Show, the fans kicked off with chairs flying and temperaments burning (amongst other stuff). The water has grown still for the moment, on the surface, but it's just a question of time when the troubles will erupt again. A club-record loss of £83.6m announced in their annual financial results this month doesn't help the cause exactly and certainly won't help to keep the calm either.

Manchester City

In contrast to their city rivals, Manchester City have done a better job of trying to emulate the rise and shine of big spenders Chelsea after former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's company was bought out by Abu Dhabi-based Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited in September 2008. New owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan excelled in big-spending, outdoing Chelsea and Manchester United, easy. Overspending and overachieving, City finished last season in 5th position and evolved to serious holy-top-4-Champions League-slot-contenders this season. Even more as with Chelsea though, it is only a matter of time when (not if) the bubble will burst. We will see how far they can grow before they have to fall...

Arsenal

Last but definitely not least of all the ownership drama sagas, Arsenal make the most moderate, sane and rational teams of the lot. The Gunners are the third most valuable football team in the world after Real Madrid and Manchester United according to an evaluation by business magazine Forbes in April 2010, valuing the club at $1.181bn (£768m), excluding debt. The largest shareholder on the board is American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke who has tried to break the peace and has made a couple of attempts and bids to take over the club. He hasn't succeeded - yet. We will see what happens in the next episode...

Back to basics, back to Anfield?

That brings me back to my club Liverpool and their next episode. I hope all the promises and expectations are met this time round - clearing the debts, strengthening the team, finding the way to a new ground (which brings me to a whole new issue and topic, I am for keeping, refurbishing and expanding Anfield and all its history) - only time will tell.

In the meantime, I send a big thanks to New England Sports Ventures (NESV) and their head John W. Henry, our chairman Martin Broughton, Managing Director Christian Purslow and Commercial Director Ian Ayre for holding through, sorting out and taking over the mess Hicks and Gillett left them with.

But I also dare to warn them, we will not just sit back and watch, we will make our voice heard as we have done all the way. I am with Spirit of Shankly (SOS), soon to be Spirit of Shankly-ShareLiverpoolFC (SOS-SL), have joined, spoken and listened to them and hope they will do the same. Take this as a warming as well as a warning welcome:
You WILL NEVER walk alone!

Billionaires or fans? Who is more important, who counts more in modern football?

Chelsea were the first and set the example with Roman Abramovich which many Premier League teams have followed since (in no specific order): Manchester United with Malcolm Glazer, Man City with Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan who took over from former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra, Newcastle with Mike Ashley, West Ham with Björgólfur Guðmundsson, Aston Villa with Randy Lerner, Fulham with Mohamed Al Fayed, Portsmouth with Alexandre Gaydamak, Tottenham with Joseph Lewis and last but not least my beloved Liverpool with George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

There is one thing that jumps out; one thing that comes to mind listing those takeover clubs, names and owners; to me anyway: All the negative headlines that have come with them throughout the period they have been with their clubs (with only a couple of exceptions).

The day my Merseyside Reds were taken over, I was full of expectations and asperations on the one hand, just as the club, staff and players themselves, I'm sure. But on the other hand, the other side of me cried, feeling like my team had lost its soul (David Moores and his family having been at the heart of the club for over half a century before). A club with all its history and legends can't be put into the hands of one or two individuals, I think that goes against the whole team spirit and principle of the team sport. What would Chelsea be without Abramovich?

Nowhere near where they are now and were the last couple of seasons, that's for sure! All the big names, managers and players wouldn't have come into question (UEFA president Michel Platini went as far as calling them 'cheats').

But, what's so bad about that, I hear you ask. All the glamour and glory, is only one side of the coin, as Nick Harris pointed out well in his article for the Independent. It would be naïve to just see that. The other side has especially come to light with the credit crunch, with the debts and clashes of plans, opinions and what decisions are to be made on the business side and with it the sports side, all dominating the headlines.

All this has in the past had its consequences: Jose Mourinho's and Kevin Keegan's departures at Chelsea and Newcastle respectively are two primary examples; West Ham and the near-on liquidation of their Icelandic owner with the credit crunch; George Gillett's and Tom Hicks' conflict which never let the rumours of a sale of their stake settle, the Credit Crunch just adding more spice to it.

So, what else, what can be done, I hear you ask. Barcelona have shown it, so have Real Madrid and I hope Liverpool can follow such elite examples: Where fan groups have taken over. They are the heart and soul of their teams, they make out the game(s) outside and around the pitch just as much as the staff and players do on the pitch. Without them the teams couldn't exist, full stop.

The Spirit of Shankly Group has made a clear statement of their members' intentions and announced their plans of putting a takeover bid in for their club Liverpool FC next year, addressing letters to the club and their owners (=> Thanks but No Yanks, just one strong example). I don't know and have my doubts about if they are going to succeed. But I hope, one fine day, it will work out somehow and they will be able to stabilise the club and give the team and game back its identity, heart and soul.

(picture source: http://www.mcalcio.com/)