Liverpool fans left in a catch-22 situation

As a former assistant manager, European Cup-winning captain and seven time league winner with Liverpool, former Reds defender Phil Thompson is better qualified than most to comment on the current crisis threatening to engulf Anfield.

Thompson, currently a pundit on Sky Sports, recently revealed that he now refuses to watch the club he made over 300 appearances for, in protest of the club’s scheming American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

The duo have lumbered the club with a debt totalling around £350m during their disastrous three-and-a-half-year spell at the club, the majority of which must be paid back to lenders the Royal Bank of Scotland by October 6. Failure to do so will see the pair removed as owners and RBS take control of the increasingly deteriorating club. To prevent this, Texan billionaire Hicks is desperately seeking to secure more bank loans and raise the cash to buy-out his struggling partner Gillett and hang onto the club for another two years.

Life-long Liverpool fan Thompson, who stood on the Kop as a boy, is passionate about the club’s future and believes a boycott of the club is the best way to get rid of the Americans. He revealed:

“If you go and support the club, purchasing tickets, then you are supporting the owners, so no, I won’t do it.

“I am not going to go because the more money I put into the club the longer I could possibly keep them there.”

He certainly has a point. Continuing to watch the club boosts the coffers of the club’s much reviled owners through match day revenues. It is a Catch 22 situation for Reds fans who want to support their struggling side but not the finances of owners Hicks and Gillett. A mass boycott would intensify the global spotlight on the Americans; however a high number of fans have already parted with their cash in exchange for a season-ticket earlier this summer.

Thompson shares fans concerns over the current owners, the club’s high interest loan repayments and the ongoing sale of the club. Yet is a mass boycott what a Liverpool side struggling for confidence and form really need right now? The ownership saga is deeply affecting the players and hangs in the Mersey air on match days like a bad smell. Fans still believe they can help improve the club’s recent poor form by continuing to turn up on match days and support the side and will not want to abandon there club at such a critical stage in the club’s future.

The Reds now head into the international break in the relegation zone with six points from seven games following Sunday’s humiliating home defeat to newly-promoted Blackpool. By the time Roy Hodgson’s side travel to Goodison Park on 17 October for an electric Merseyside derby there should be fresh developments regarding the club’s ownership.

However it seems the damage has already been done and maybe such drastic action by the club’s supporters should have been taken months ago to force the duo into a quick sale. There have been sit-in protests and the lobbying of investment firm Blackstone, but more radical action may have been needed. Should Hicks somehow manage to refinance his loans and remain in charge at the club then the possibility of a boycott should certainly be examined.

In truth, fans may not need to boycott as it is unlikely the Americans will be in charge for much longer with Hicks struggling to find backers who will help him cling onto power at Anfield. It now seems likely that RBS, who have made millions from Liverpool and openly admitted that the loan they provided to Hicks and Gillett was too high for either of them to deliver on, will seize control of the club.

Liverpool fans will hope RBS have the club’s best intentions at heart or supporters may yet turn their anger towards the banks who have so far refused to act on the crisis at Anfield which has hit a critical stage.

Would you boycott games at Anfield in an attempt to get rid of the club’s current owners? Leave your comments below-

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