Tom Hicks claims Liverpool FC in better state now than David Moores' time

27 May 2010 06:55
TOM HICKS has claimed Liverpool Football Club is in better shape than when he took over from David Moores.[LNB]However, not for the first time, his words rang hollow.[LNB]Despite his promises of a new stadium, the Texan conceded that a spade would not now go into the ground until a new owner took over.[LNB]Despite assurances that Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard would not be sold, both players remain hugely guarded about their future.[LNB]And it is now clear there is no buyer for the club on the horizon.[LNB]After a lengthy response to David Moores' calls for Hicks and his partner George Gillett to quit, key questions still remain unanswered.[LNB]'Why was a crippling debt loaded onto Liverpool Football Club?' - despite Moores' revelation that the original share document offer dictated that should not happen.[LNB]'Does Rafa Benitez have a long-term future as manager?'[LNB]'How much does Liverpool really owe?'[LNB]'And will he drop his asking price if no potential buyers come forward?'[LNB]Hicks, who has ignored repeated requests from the Echo for an interview, yesterday spoke for 11 minutes to friendly sources at Rupert Murdoch's Sky Sports News group in which he attacked the 'misinformation' and 'questionable journalism' which had blighted his and George Gillett's tenure as Anfield owners.[LNB]'People with agendas can use the tabloids in a way that gets certain messages out and that's very disappointing,' he complained.[LNB]'I am disappointed at a personal level that our efforts have not been received as well as I wish they had been. I'm disappointed (in David Moores) because I think we've done everything we can to improve the club in so many ways in the past three years from the way it had been run before.'[LNB]But in a separate interview Hicks also conceded he has finally had enough of owning Liverpool FC.[LNB]'It's never been my primary business,' he told the Dallas Morning News. 'And it's a business I no longer want to pay the price to be in.[LNB]'It's a brutal invasion of privacy.'[LNB]Hicks' interview to Sky still left Reds fans no clearer about their club's future - and his words carried numerous inconsistencies.[LNB]Hicks claimed that Liverpool's level of debt is currently £237m with £21m annual interest repayments.[LNB]Yet the Reds most recently published accounts stated the group's total debts stood at £472.5m on July 31, 2009, with £40m annual interest repayments.

Source: Liverpool_Echo