Hicks "wants to sell up"

[Nicey]

He just needs to be careful what he says ... he seems like a good egg .. but as a seasoned pro I am sorry but his previous statement was the catalyst for this **** storm of utter ****e which culminated in fans questioning the Captain, The Local Here Cara, The Boss and the Owners ... all because of one ill advised statements

Heres to all this bollix dieing down ... They need to respect Rafa and visa versa ... I still like them but he just needs to be careful what he says to those ******s in the press

[topscorer]

Hicks Speaks...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/soccer/wires/12/01/2080.ap.eu.spt.soc.liverpool.hicks.0437/index.html

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks says feud with Benitez blown out of proportion
Posted: Saturday Dec 1, 2007 9:37 AM
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LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks says his dispute with manager Rafa Benitez was blown out of proportion.

Benitez publicly attacked George Gillett Jr. and Hicks, the American owners who bought Liverpool in February, last week over their failure to back him in the transfer market.

"It's been a big misunderstanding blown very much out of proportion,'' Hicks said Saturday. "George and I are happy to see that it has settled back down.

"We've a big game on Sunday against Bolton, a big game against Marseille and a big game with our neighbors to the east (Manchester United), and the main thing is the team is playing better.''

The Reds trail leader Arsenal by six points in the Premier League. In the Champions League, Liverpool will likely need to win at Marseille on Dec. 11 to take the five-time winners into the knockout stage.

Before Wednesday's 4-1 victory over FC Porto, about 2,000 Liverpool fans marched outside Anfield to support Benitez. Fearing the Spaniard could be fired, they also chanted his name inside the stadium.

"The fans are very passionate and that's what we love about them,'' Hicks said.

One of Benitez's complaints is the lack of contact with the owners. Gillett's son Foster was at the Porto game but failed to offer his congratulations. On Friday, Benitez said it was "another misunderstanding.''

Benitez will meet Hicks, who also owns baseball's Texas Rangers and ice hockey's Dallas Stars, and Gillett, who also owns the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, on Dec. 16 when Manchester United visits Anfield.

"I guess we are absentee owners - there's no question about it,'' Hicks said. "But Foster returned to Liverpool last week. He's our day-to-day person to help facilitate communication, and we come as often as we can.''

Hicks emphatically denied a British media report on Friday that suggested he was planning to sell his stake in Liverpool after just eight months.

"I am not selling any of my shares to anybody,'' he said. "I have no idea why anyone would think that. It was just rubbish.''

Hicks also dismissed reports of a rift with Gillett.

"George and I have never been closer. We both were very disappointed and confused as to where that inaccurate information came from, Hicks said. "Owning Liverpool has been great, we're still enjoying it.''

[Shanks65]

Would be nice if he came out and quashed the most IMPORTANT bit of specualtion. ie are you thinking about binning our manager!

[Armchairkopite]

He isn't backing Rafa in this article is he.

[Dhav]

He's a snake. He was extremely quick to come out deny rumours that he was selling up but he's let the Rafa speculation fester for the best part of a week, and he still hasn't seized the opportunity to put it to bed once and for all. I smell an agenda here

[Woobus]

Would need to know the question asked for him to say ""It's been a big misunderstanding blown very much out of proportion,'' Hicks said Saturday. "George and I are happy to see that it has settled back down."
If it was about the relationship with Rafa then he is backing him. The person who wrote the article seems to think it was about Rafa.

[sonsofthedesert]

I would read it as about Rafa as this has been the big thing going on.

[robbielad9]

His statement is all a bit "me me me" isnt it?, and why, after flying about 4000 miles didnt Foster even privately congratulate Rafa to cool the situation down a little? Dont anyone say he never got the ****ing opportunity.

[Marky]

I don't know what to think anymore in this rather ****ed up saga.

[Woobus]

His statement is all a bit "me me me" isnt it?, and why, after flying about 4000 miles didnt Foster even privately congratulate Rafa to cool the situation down a little? Dont anyone say he never got the ****ing opportunity.

If you ask me its time to let this die, so far we dont know if the owners have done anything wrong. There has been breakdowns in communications and things have been handled badly in the press but its a learning curve hopefully.
The owners, Rafa and no doubt the players want to forget about all this and the fans should as well. Keep the support up for Rafa but then thats what we all should have been doing from the start unlike some people who seemed to love having a dig at him.
So far all the bad stories that were FACT have turned out to be bollocks so how can we trust anything the papers have printed. We know there has been fights but everyone seems a lot less calm and a few more wins will do us a world of good.

[thesilverfoxlfc]

Its a messy saga is right Marky

[sonsofthedesert]

If you ask me its time to let this die, so far we dont know if the owners have done anything wrong. There has been breakdowns in communications and things have been handled badly in the press but its a learning curve hopefully.
The owners, Rafa and no doubt the players want to forget about all this and the fans should as well. Keep the support up for Rafa but then thats what we all should have been doing from the start unlike some people who seemed to love having a dig at him.
So far all the bad stories that were FACT have turned out to be bollocks so how can we trust anything the papers have printed. We know there has been fights but everyone seems a lot less calm and a few more wins will do us a world of good.

[paulcooper4]

His statement is all a bit "me me me" isnt it?, and why, after flying about 4000 miles didnt Foster even privately congratulate Rafa to cool the situation down a little? Dont anyone say he never got the ****ing opportunity.

how do you know he did or didnt?

[publiusscipio]

I don't know what to think anymore in this rather ****ed up saga.

Are you still going on about being barred?

[topscorer]

At the end of the day he has nothing to apologize for. It's Rafa that aired the dirty linen and Rafa has spent the past few days backing down and coming as close as he's willing to an outright apology to his boss.

To me Hick's is backing Rafa and saying "OK lets move on". He's hardly going to come out and say "Rafa's job was never and will never be in danger and he can be as rude and insubordinate as he likes in public and his job will still always be safe"

It was Rafa that made it all public by going into a public sulk and now he's backed down. I'm glad he did because it would be a disaster if he got fired but he had to back down because it was him that was wrong and Hicks couldn't let him get away with it as if nothing had happened.

Now if you ask me whether Rafa was right to be angry with their stance, based on what I understand from public knowledge, I would say absolutely. Do I 100% back him and want him to stay and be in charge of buying and selling players instead of Parry, absolutely but he has to learn to respect his bosses just like he expects the players to respect him.