Source: Team_Talk
Kennedy: New owners must learn
Alan Kennedy says John W Henry must learn from the mistakes of George Gillett and Tom Hick if his takeover for Liverpool is successful.[LNB] The protests against Gillett and Hicks' controversial reign have often contained anti-American slogans and Henry is risking a similar reaction if his proposed £300million takeover goes through.[LNB]But former Liverpool full-back Kennedy, who won six league titles and two European Cups in a glittering career at Anfield, told Radio Five Live: "Not all American owners are Hicks and Gillett.[LNB]"I'm not sure what their idea was when they first came to the club.[LNB]"They were inheriting the history of a massive club and I think if a new owner comes in and he decides what he wants to do and gives the manager money then all well and good.[LNB]"I think the club are just glad to get anybody in there at this moment in time because, potentially, it still is a massive club."[LNB]Kennedy criticised the hands-off approach of Gillett and Hicks.[LNB]"When Gillett and Hicks took over four years ago, they thought it was a cakewalk," he said.[LNB]"They thought it was nice and easy and the club was running smoothly and they started off quite nicely.[LNB]"But, the last couple of years, Liverpool haven't hit top form and they've suffered - sometimes at the hands of the people who are running the club.[LNB]"Gillett and Hicks haven't really been hands-on people; they've allowed other people to come in and do their work for them.[LNB]"The demonstrations, as we saw last week, were unbelievable and they just wanted the Americans out, at any cost."[LNB]Liverpool face a race against time to complete a deal, with a deadline of next week to repay or refinance £282million of loans - owed principally to the Royal Bank of Scotland.[LNB]Kennedy fears the club could become another Leeds and find themselves in the wilderness for many years if a takeover collapses.[LNB]He added: "We have a database of fans, probably well in excess of 60,000 people.[LNB]"But we haven't got a stadium that could take 60,000. The debt is the problem.[LNB]"They've been haemorrhaging this debt for the last two or three years and they think they can get away with it.[LNB]"We need a clear direction to go in."
