Saturday, February 28, 2009

How Rick Parry Lost The Liverpool Power Battle With Rafa Benitez

For Rick Parry, yesterday proved one battle too many in the long-running Anfield war.

But his departure as chief executive of Liverpool at the end of the season does not mean yet that peace will come to one of the bitterest disputes English football has witnessed.

Manager Rafa Benitez kept a straight face yesterday as he insisted the removal of his sworn enemy had nothing to do with him.

What Benitez meant to say was that, while he believed he couldn't work with Parry, he doesn't have blood on his hands - because it was co-owner Tom Hicks who was ultimately responsible for his axing.

The chief executive had been marginalised at Anfield for more than a year after Hicks demanded his departure.

Last April, the Texan billionaire called for Parry's head by openly questioning Liverpool's less than sparkling commercial performance, and insisted: "If you look at what has happened under Rick's leadership, it has been a disaster."

It was only the support of joint owner George Gillett that kept Parry in place, but it seems that support has evaporated in recent weeks as negotiations began over a pay off.

Contrary to reports though, Gillett has not fallen out with Parry, but is merely paving the way for his own departure.

Gillett has been looking for a buyer for his 50 per cent stake in Anfield for the past 12 months, and The Mirror understands that he is now ready to accept Hicks will assume full control at the Merseyside club, by either buying the shares himself or finding a partner to buy Gillett out.

Hicks has moved against Parry to appease Benitez, who wants more control over football matters.

But he has also done it to flex his own muscles, and show that he is ready to become more hands on at the club he hopes to have majority control over by the summer. Parry, aware of this, has negotiated a lucrative package to ease himself out of the club.

With Hicks and Benitez working together closely, that will ultimately mean that the Anfield manager will sign a new contract... but not just yet. He still wants other assurances over his control of football matters and transfer budgets.

For Parry, the fight became too arduous. He won his first battle when arriving at Anfield from the Premier League back in 1998 when he replaced Peter Robinson as the chief executive.

His biggest battle was to try and find the right investors to buy Liverpool and build a new stadium, but he and the previous owner David Moores have admitted they made a mistake in selling to the Americans.

Parry's first fight with Benitez came straight after the Champions League triumph of 2005, and since then the relationship between the pair has been increasingly fraught.

A major fall out between the two after the Champions League final of 2007 saw the Americans back Parry and almost sack Benitez, but with Hicks switching sides to win the support of Liverpool fans the chief executive's days were always numbered.

He will leave with a handsome settlement. But for Benitez the pay off could be even more substantial as he gets what he always wanted - full control of the club.

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