As Liverpool managing director Christian Purslow and Kenny Dalglish begin the search for a new manager they can expect to face the same opening question from every serious candidate: who am I going to be working for?
For now the answer will be, “Don’t know”. Liverpool is for sale, but if there is one thing that Rafael Benítez’s abrupt ejection this week tells us it is that a deal is not imminent. As long as there was a prospect of a prompt exit for Tom Hicks and George Gillett, it made sense for the club to retain Benítez, leaving his future and the terms of any settlement to a new buyer.
But with no prospect of a deal before the start of the new season, and possibly not before the end of the year, it was left to the current board to make a call on the Spaniard’s future.
The uncertainty over the ownership is unlikely to end any time soon. To appease RBS, holders of the club’s £237 million loan, investment bank Barclays Capital was appointed alongside new chairman Martin Broughton in April to help find a buyer.
Progress has been slow, however, with the club not significantly closer to finding a buyer than it was when Hicks and Gillett were pursuing investors individually.
Price may yet be a barrier to a deal, though Hicks’s recent £600 million-plus public valuation will privately be tempered by realism and a respect for the verdict of the market.
Whatever the final figure it will have to reflect the club’s liabilities, which swell to £351 million when the owners’ shareholder loans are included.
Nor is the wider economic climate helpful. The days of trophy-asset hunting are, for now, over and any investor will have as much concern for the bottom line as the reflected glory of owning Liverpool.
Persuading a manager on an upward curve to take the post will be a challenge. Only short-term contracts will be on the table, and the lack of clarity over future investment may rule out candidates who can equal Benítez’s CV when he took over in 2004.
High-quality managers would certainly want an increase on the £15 million transfer budget promised by Hicks and Gillett.
That said, they would inherit a talented squad, featuring two of the world’s best players if Gerrard and Torres can be persuaded to remain and be at a club generating more revenue than it ever has, exceeded only by Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Plenty of managers would bite your hand off for that. The question for Liverpool is whether the very best will be tempted.
For now the answer will be, “Don’t know”. Liverpool is for sale, but if there is one thing that Rafael Benítez’s abrupt ejection this week tells us it is that a deal is not imminent. As long as there was a prospect of a prompt exit for Tom Hicks and George Gillett, it made sense for the club to retain Benítez, leaving his future and the terms of any settlement to a new buyer.
But with no prospect of a deal before the start of the new season, and possibly not before the end of the year, it was left to the current board to make a call on the Spaniard’s future.
The uncertainty over the ownership is unlikely to end any time soon. To appease RBS, holders of the club’s £237 million loan, investment bank Barclays Capital was appointed alongside new chairman Martin Broughton in April to help find a buyer.
Progress has been slow, however, with the club not significantly closer to finding a buyer than it was when Hicks and Gillett were pursuing investors individually.
Price may yet be a barrier to a deal, though Hicks’s recent £600 million-plus public valuation will privately be tempered by realism and a respect for the verdict of the market.
Whatever the final figure it will have to reflect the club’s liabilities, which swell to £351 million when the owners’ shareholder loans are included.
Nor is the wider economic climate helpful. The days of trophy-asset hunting are, for now, over and any investor will have as much concern for the bottom line as the reflected glory of owning Liverpool.
Persuading a manager on an upward curve to take the post will be a challenge. Only short-term contracts will be on the table, and the lack of clarity over future investment may rule out candidates who can equal Benítez’s CV when he took over in 2004.
High-quality managers would certainly want an increase on the £15 million transfer budget promised by Hicks and Gillett.
That said, they would inherit a talented squad, featuring two of the world’s best players if Gerrard and Torres can be persuaded to remain and be at a club generating more revenue than it ever has, exceeded only by Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Plenty of managers would bite your hand off for that. The question for Liverpool is whether the very best will be tempted.
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