Anfield strife still evident as Gillett feels heat of fan fury
Liverpool co-owner George Gillett looks on during Barclays Preimier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield on September 13, 2008 in Liverpool, England. Photo: Shaun Botterill, Getty Images
Monday September 15 2008
George Gillett met Liverpool supporters' union Spirit of Shankly after Saturday's win over Manchester United in a move which demonstrates his desperation to win over the club's fans.
Gillett left the city in little doubt about fans' views of him though, having scuttled out of at least one pub to avoid confrontation on Friday night and faced a 2,000-strong protest of fans demanding that both he and Hicks leave Anfield.
Gillett indicated, when approached at half-time at Anfield, that he intends to be at Liverpool's opening Champions League group stage match in Marseilles tomorrow and he made light of suggestions that he should accede to the demands of Liverpool fans, angered by the failure of Gillett and Hicks to deliver the cash needed for the new stadium at Stanley Park which is key to the club's future.
But the distance between Gillett and the Hicks entourage in the Liverpool directors' box hinted at the internal strife which still bedevils the club and threatens to make decision-making on issues as broad as the new stadium to Rafa Benitez's next contract difficult in the extreme. The suited Tom Hicks entourage sunned themselves and photographed each other in the front row of the Anfield directors' box while George Gillett, who applauded madly, four rows back, appeared to have no contact with them.
Benitez, who last met Gillett when United last visited Anfield in December amid the storm of controversy surrounding Hicks' approach to Jurgen Klinsmann about the manager's job, said he had met Gillett before the game and intended to do so afterwards and that the encounter had been cordial.
"We had an important game so we had to concentrate," he said. "I don't know his plan but clearly yesterday we were talking about this important game and this situation. It was a positive meeting." (© Independent News Service)
- Ian Herbert
