That was very good. I wasn't around during the Shankly days but I was certainly around for Istanbul and that night was the greatest night of my life, at least so far. It had me welling up during the first bit of part 3 and the second bit left me fuming at what we have now become and what we are having to put up with. Again, well done.
Well, I was around in the 1960's. From the Anny Road end, I saw Doncaster Rovers (then bottom of the fourth Division) hit the bar in the last minutes of a third round FA cup tie when it was 2-2 - we went on to beat Newcastle 3-0 in the final that year. I was at Rome, Wembley, Paris, Rome again and Istanbul. I went to Dortmund to see us beat Alaves. I was at Heysel. Yes, I am an old arse.
Do I blame Gillett and Hicks ? No.
Who do I blame ?
During the 1960's and 70's we had the dream team of John Smith and Peter Robinson as Chairman and Chief Exec. They were sharp, always ahead of the game, managed the club brilliantly and we were the best.
Then they left.
Under the new management, when other clubs looked at developing bigger stadia, we did nothing.
When we did get around to designing a new stadium, it was a poor mans reebok, 55,000 capacity, incapable of expansion.
Now, ask yourself these questions;
1. Who sold to G & H having got rid of DIC, in the knowledge that Gillett on his own could not match DIC's bid and must have struggled to match DIC ?
2. Who recommended the sale to the Board
3. Who had the opportunity to see if G & H were major benefactors or merely businessmen before sanctioning the sale ?
4. Who made them pay over the odds for the club ?
5. In doing so, who is responsible for limiting the resources available for transfer fees ?
6. Who was right to pull the plug on the sub standard stadium design ?
7. Before G & H arrived,who appointed a retired American lady in her 50's as Director of Regeneration for the club ? Do you think Ms Titterington, for all her talents in delivering social housing, is really best place to take the club forward in this role
8.Under who's ownership is the club now punching it's commercial weight (which has not happened since we were the first English club to wear shirt sponsorship (Hitachi)
All I care about is the success of LFC. However, only 2 clubs have deep pocketed benefactors (Chelsea and Man Shitty) Take them out of the equation, and on a balanced and objective assessment by someone who's been around a bit, Gillett and Hicks have, on the whole, managed the club effectively. Granted, they didn't foresee the credit crunch but then again, who did ? I'd be a very rich man now if I had have done so.
So please, no more unintelligent knee jerk 'yanks out' rhetoric. I actually think the club has not been in so safe hands since Smith and Robinson (God rest them) left our great club. We are simply paying for the poor management of the Moores era when we failed to cash in on being the best and most supported team on this globe.
