Exclusive: American owners deceived Liverpool fans claims Thompson

By Tom Degun

May 29 – Former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson (pictured) has claimed that Liverpool’s American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett deceived former owner David Moores in order to gain control of the Premier League club.

Moores, whose family created Littlewoods, sold the club to Hicks and Gillett three years ago in a deal worth £202 million ($291 million).

However, since the two Americans have been at the helm, they have proceeded to rack up a huge amount of debt for the club which is believed to be in access of £350 million ($506 million).

Liverpool legend Thompson, who captained the club to victory in European Cup in 1981, claimed that Hicks and Gillett misled Moores as well as the club’s supports in order to take control at Anfield and has called for their immediate resignation in order to restore the Liverpool to its former glory.

Thompson told insideworldfootball: “As a Liverpool fan, I certainly don’t want the club in the hands of Hicks and Gillett.

“They came along and in their first press conference; they were very good and said all the right things about buying new players and taking the club forward.

“But now, I can say with my hand on my heart that they told complete lies.

“They have heaped debt on the club and there is still no sign of the new stadium they promised.

“The biggest problem though is the debt.

“When David was in charge, were only £44 million ($64 million) in debt which is perfectly manageable for a club like Liverpool.

“But now we have debt of over £350 million ($506 million).

“How did that happen and why?”

Moores wrote a lengthy letter to The Times earlier this week expressing his regret for selling Liverpool to the two Americans and revealed that he believes that the club must be sold soon.

Thompson, though, does not blame Moores for Liverpool’s current financial turmoil as he believes that the club’s former chairman was deceived by Hicks and Gillett.

He told insideworldfootball: “Even David admitted that he should have done more research into Hicks and Gillett but he thought that he was doing the right thing and thought that he was moving the club forwards.

“We all thought that though, it was not just David.

“I don’t hold David accountable as it’s just these two men who have not kept to their side of the bargain at all.”

Thompson, who now works regularly for Sky Sports, also warned that Liverpool must retain the services of star players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres in order to remain competitive against the top teams in the Premier League but feels that the clubs problems may leave the two looking for an exit.

He said: ”Gerrard and Torres obviously love playing for the club but after a poor season, they want to see real investment and better players coming in.

“We do have a lot of money coming in from the commercial sector which is great but it shouldn’t be the case that the money we get is simply used to pay off our debts but that seems to be the situation right now.”

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