Warring Liverpool co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are trying to repair their fractured relationship.
The pair have been at loggerheads over a number of issues this year, leading Gillett to describe their partnership as "unworkable".
There were fears the public feud between the billionaire businessmen would create anarchy at Anfield - including affecting the spending plans of manager Rafael Benitez - but a ceasefire appears to have been called between the two factions.
In an interview with Canadian radio station Fan590 late on Thursday night, Gillett revealed: "It's fair to say that communication between the Hicks and the Gilletts has been substantially improved and I believe that it will be for the benefit of the club.
"Time is a healer and there were things that had happened previously. It took a while for both of us to realise that we weren't communicating very well and the huge responsibility we have to the fans to do the right thing for the club.
"I believe that the Hicks family are communicating better with us and we're communicating better with them and I think that will be much better for the club."
Gillett refused to confirm whether this meant he no longer wanted to sell his half of the club to Dubai International Capital.
But he added: "All of us are focused on the transfer window and we want to be ready for that and we want to have adequate resources and good communication with Rafa and our hope is that we're making better progress."
Gillett insists he is focused on backing Benitez's attempts to improve on last season's trophyless campaign.
"What did I think of last season's performance?" he said.
"I'd rather let the fans make that decision. But for a club that has a history of winning trophies, any season that you don't win one of the five or six trophies that we compete for, I suspect the fans, as well as the Hicks and Gilletts, are disappointed.
"But overall I felt that the team played quite well, particularly beginning and late.
"I think they were very representative and I think (Fernando) Torres was a wonderful selection.
"By summer, I think the rest of the boys played quite well and we have to help Rafa try and be more competitive in the chase for the Premier League."
Liverpool fans had been divided on which side to take during the Gillett-Hicks feud, with many unhappy with both parties.
Gillett admits to being taken aback by the passion of the club's supporters but vowed to live up to his responsibility as joint custodian at Anfield.
"Soccer is the leading sport in the world and it's just shocking how popular Liverpool is. So it surprised me, but it really is an amazing responsibility," he said.
"We've always felt that for the 40-plus years I've been around professional sport that we really hold these assets in trust for the fans and that we have an obligation to the fans. We feel that very strongly in Montreal and Liverpool."
FROM itv-football
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment