And the results from the first annual fan/owner pint toss are in. And a pint of bitters it must have been.
A report or two indicates that LFC co-owner George Gillett will be
selling his shares to Dubai Investment Capital. Now whether or not the incident involving Tom Hicks Jr. was the mitigating factor as to why his imminent departure has suddenly been made public is open to speculation. It
is, however, hot on the malty heels of
Liverpool’s most infamous pint toss. Either way, it’s granny’s Christmas gift in February for Liverpool fans. Or at least half of it.
For this year’s City of Culture, what happened yesterday (and the graffiti incident at Melwood) showed a complete lack of any. No matter how bad relations may have become, this shouldn’t be the way things are done.
Liverpudlians have every right to be angry at the way things have been mishandled. But as much as the previous ownership looked to whore out one of football’s grand old Dames to the highest bidder, it must be asked: what is different in the way our fans, with banner and song, are courting anyone with a well-padded wallet and claims of amorous intent?
This myopic “any port in a storm” mentality that has infested popular sentiment amongst fans is ill advised and dangerous – specifically when this port is one that categorically denies admission to certain nationalities. If the Dubai Investment Capital consortium does indeed take 50% ownership of the club, and administers party line, Israeli Yossi Benayoun could well be looking for a new job next season. It will be an interesting exercise to see how sports and politics collide.
I truly think we have gotten it wrong. The wrong American is staying and the wrong group is taking the right guy’s place, leaving us with a gunslinger and a nation of institutionalized bigots. And as sour as the relationship got between King George I and Tom Heavy Thumb, I can hardly wait to see how momentous the implosion of this torrid affair will be.
As marriages go, either of convenience or of shotgun, this proposed union is not a match made in heaven – any of them – and the only impregnation will be that in the already fecund imaginations of the scribes in London. If we thought the last relationship was loud in its public bleatings, this one will resound deafeningly through the streets of Anfield. Too many egos and ideologies will ultimately spoil the broth, and a thin broth it is right now. Although, there will always be the oil for them to talk about….
Anyway, it’s onto Bolton on Sunday. Two good wins against Inter Milan and Middlesbrough will have the boys’ tails up, provided it’s the same boys we saw on Saturday. It is a Bolton team that saw four slip by them in the last meeting against Liverpool. Four more would be nice. But this is Liverpool. We dare not speak the name of Consistency.
Fernando Torres found his form, and the net three times, over the weekend for his second hat trick with the Liver bird on his chest. He’s still the best and worst player on the pitch for Liverpool. Mercurial is perhaps too specific of a term to describe his form on any given day.
It’s an early one. Kickoff’s at 7:30. Keep the pint count to 10 on Saturday night.
See you at Slainte.