But I have some questins on the detail. Firstly, I believe that the biggest problem has been the ‘model’. The 50/50 thing with each having the power to veto is a recipe for disaster in any busness….and so it has proved!

But I do think that their objective was exactly the same as the Glazers at Utd. Both are investors in sport with the emphasis on business. Both saw the opportunity to exploit the growth potential in the PL, astutely so in my view. The PL product is seductive and still has huge growth potential in the emerging markets (TV and commercial revenue in particular).

The model for both was this: buy the club through leveraged debt financing, which they can get because of their other assets, hold it for a number of years while servicing the debt, providing enough funds to keep the team at the ‘top’ and not look for any interim profits. Then sell for twice the value that was paid = an excellent return on investment.

The good thing about this business plan is that it appreciates the need to keep the value of the asset high i.e. success on the pitch is essential. I think the issue at Liverpool though is that the new stadium, which in the long term would definitely increase the value of the club and, obviously, gate receipt revenue, created an extra dimension that ran into the unforseen that was the financial crisis.

So what I’m suggesting is that their (cold) hearts were not in the wrong place (as it makes no sense from the return on investment perspective) but that either their judgement was poor or they were just unlucky.

All that said, owner issues are one thing and managers are another. I’m not suggesting for a minute that Rafa shuold be sacked but more wondering how long you guys will stick with him.

Jofrad, I agree with your comments on how the club is perceived with all this internal toil going on but when you mention the ‘washing dirty line in public’, as I refer to in the article, don’t you think Rafa has been one of the worst offenders in this regard?

And what do you think of my suggestion that this is for his own personal gain i.e. to keep the fans onside….or is that just the slanted perspective of a Man U tragic…which maybe it is! (:

As for comparisonto fergie, it’s obviously the most common one, but I often find myself comparing him to wenger, in the five full seasons Rafa has been at Liverpool, wenger has brought one trophy home,the fa cup in 2005. Nothing since. But still when anyone asks if it’s time for him to go a cry goes up in the media that this would be ‘stupid’ ‘silly’ and “overreacting’.

I will always maintain that Rafa will win the league with Liverpool at some point, and as long as the football is entertaining and we have a team putting the effort in, I’m happy.

Things have never been the same since Rafa made his public attack on them after 3 months and I believe that started the rift between Gilett and Hicks also. However, money HAS been available and plans for an (excellent) new stadium are thru the design and planning phases.

But like many businesses worldwide there have been some problems because of the world financial situation in the past year. One of your owners sold another business to enable a refinancing. They have stayed out of football matters by and large and, it would seem, they supported Rafa in the power struggle with Parry and gave him the new contract terms he wanted.

Utd fans will never love the Glazers but they have not hampered the clubs progress, which is the bottom line. There have been more problems with the Liverpool model, granted, but the owners are being used as too much of an easy scapegoat at times….and anyway…Liverpool have progressed during their tenure.

As for the ‘Ferguson’ question…..let’s consider it. Firstly, I should point out that this is Rafa’s 6th season at Anfield (not 5th). Would you deny him his CL success?

But back to Fergie: He joined Utd in November 1986. Exactly 3 and a half years later in May 1990 he won the FA Cup. The next year he won the Cup Winners Cup, the next year the League Cup and the Super Cup, and the following year the PL.

The main difference was that Fergie got 3 years to rebuild and from then on delivered silverware until finally winning the League. Rafa won his 2 trophies in his first 2 seasons and nothing now for 3 years, and that increases the pressure.

If Fergie hadn’t delivered the title when he did would he have started to come under pressure? Almost certainly, and even more so if Liverpool had been winning it. That’s the point where Rafa now finds himself and in that context, and the context of how long previous Liverpool managers were given to deliver, I think it’s reasonable to look at where he stands.

As for the ‘City’ comment Jofrad…..I’m a a loss as to how that has any relevance to the subject at hand?

You say that the European Cup win helped him. Personally, I think this brought even more pressure on him.

The media have a very anti-Rafa stance, and Liverpool fans who believe blindly anything written in print, are easy to goad and get on the bosses back. By August the knives were out and we were winning nothing. A month later and we could go back to the top of the league at Stamford Bridge.

For the past for years Liverpool fans have faced a choice, to trust in Rafa or trust in the owners. We see Rafa working week in week out to make Liverpool a better team, while the owners have been lying or misleading for four years. Not much of a choice at the moment.