Former Liverpool defender Phil Thompson believes that the time has come for Tom Hicks and George Gillett to sell the Anfield club - and he is demanding that the co-owners do so as quickly as possible.
The man who lifted the European Cup with the Reds in 1981 feels that the two Americans has reneged on promises made to the Liverpool supporters when they took over at Anfield, in particular the pledges made about a new stadium being built.
"We wanted our new stadium well before Arsenal, but they've now got a 60,000-seater stadium that they’re filling every week and are taking in vast amounts of money every week compared to what we are," Thompson told Click Liverpool.
"The club, the stadium and what's happening on the field just seems to be secondary in the Americans’ minds. They're all about money and getting the debt down which shouldn't have been there in the first place.
"When they came in I was one of those who thought that they were saying the right things but they didn't keep to their word of having a spade in the ground after 60 days and not heaping debt on the football club.
"They've been offered decent money [to sell]. If they can't see the future and if they're not going to invest in the team, whether it's Rafa Benitez or somebody else, they're not magicians and you can't work [like that] at the top of the Premiership."
Thompson, assistant manager to Gerard Houllier at Liverpool from 1999 to 2004, also feels that Rafael Benitez has not been backed with enough funds in the transfer market by the Americans.
"I can remember myself and Gérard Houllier being given a budget in the summer of £12 million," he added.
"That’s not a lot of money but we did it, we got by. We bought some decent players, and some bad ones as well, but I think Rafa's not had any money to spend last summer and no money to spend in January.
"We're a team who finished second last year and that was a chance to consolidate our position.
"People say that we’ve spent £40 million but we’ve also recouped that £40 million so [effectively] Rafa's spent nothing and that's wrong. There should have been money in the kitty for the manager to spend.
“The only thing we as fans can see [is] that they're paying off the debt while we as a football club and a team suffer, and that is wrong. It should be all about the football team.
"They have to have a serious look at what they have been doing and if they haven't got the commitment to invest in the team as Rafa and the supporters see fit, they've got completely different views."
Thompson also feels that the time has come for some of the Liverpool players to start making their views known to the owners at the club.
"Fernando Torres said he didn't want to be fighting for fourth place every year and he is absolutely bang on. He's a player, a foreign player, who has come to the club. They have to listen to him," he asserted.
“He and Stevie Gerrard should be saying 'If you're not going to invest, why would we want to remain here?' They need to give them some ultimatums."
The man who lifted the European Cup with the Reds in 1981 feels that the two Americans has reneged on promises made to the Liverpool supporters when they took over at Anfield, in particular the pledges made about a new stadium being built.
"We wanted our new stadium well before Arsenal, but they've now got a 60,000-seater stadium that they’re filling every week and are taking in vast amounts of money every week compared to what we are," Thompson told Click Liverpool.
"The club, the stadium and what's happening on the field just seems to be secondary in the Americans’ minds. They're all about money and getting the debt down which shouldn't have been there in the first place.
"When they came in I was one of those who thought that they were saying the right things but they didn't keep to their word of having a spade in the ground after 60 days and not heaping debt on the football club.
"They've been offered decent money [to sell]. If they can't see the future and if they're not going to invest in the team, whether it's Rafa Benitez or somebody else, they're not magicians and you can't work [like that] at the top of the Premiership."
Thompson, assistant manager to Gerard Houllier at Liverpool from 1999 to 2004, also feels that Rafael Benitez has not been backed with enough funds in the transfer market by the Americans.
"I can remember myself and Gérard Houllier being given a budget in the summer of £12 million," he added.
"That’s not a lot of money but we did it, we got by. We bought some decent players, and some bad ones as well, but I think Rafa's not had any money to spend last summer and no money to spend in January.
"We're a team who finished second last year and that was a chance to consolidate our position.
"People say that we’ve spent £40 million but we’ve also recouped that £40 million so [effectively] Rafa's spent nothing and that's wrong. There should have been money in the kitty for the manager to spend.
“The only thing we as fans can see [is] that they're paying off the debt while we as a football club and a team suffer, and that is wrong. It should be all about the football team.
"They have to have a serious look at what they have been doing and if they haven't got the commitment to invest in the team as Rafa and the supporters see fit, they've got completely different views."
Thompson also feels that the time has come for some of the Liverpool players to start making their views known to the owners at the club.
"Fernando Torres said he didn't want to be fighting for fourth place every year and he is absolutely bang on. He's a player, a foreign player, who has come to the club. They have to listen to him," he asserted.
“He and Stevie Gerrard should be saying 'If you're not going to invest, why would we want to remain here?' They need to give them some ultimatums."
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