Advertisement

Liverpool play waiting game under cloud of uncertainty

Uncertainty hung over Liverpool on Thursday as the club`s board, fans and prospective new owner awaited clues on when the legal battle with the Premier League soccer club`s current owners might be resolved.

London: Uncertainty hung over Liverpool on Thursday as the club`s board, fans and prospective new owner awaited clues on when the legal battle with the Premier League soccer club`s current owners might be resolved.
With just over a week to go until the Oct. 15 deadline by which more than 200 million pounds (USD 318.4 million) of debt owed to RBS must be refinanced, the possible sale to the New England Sports Ventures (NESV) hinges on a bitter boardroom battle. American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have this week sought to sack board members and install their own people as they bid to retain control of the 18-times English champions and get a higher price than the 300 million pounds offered by NESV. Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton is disappointed with the way the American duo are seeking to block a sale but cannot do anything other than await the outcome of the legal action. Players were also holding out for news, with Jamie Carragher saying an NEVS takeover -- which the club`s board said had been agreed on Wednesday -- would be a good thing for Liverpool. "Everyone knows it`ll be a good thing for the club. Hopefully it will be sorted sooner rather than later and we can start looking forward on the pitch and start improving results, which is what we need to do," the defender told the club website (www.liverpoolfc.tv). The current break in the Premier League schedule for international matches means the club`s attention can be on ownership issues which they will hope to resolve before the team`s next match on Oct. 17 -- the Merseyside derby at Everton. With Liverpool in the relegation zone and their neighbours just above them on goal difference, that is a match guaranteed to focus the spotlight back on to the pitch. Bureau Report