From Groundhog Day to a perfect day

The last few days have felt like the movie "Groundhog Day" for most Liverpool supporters.

In the 1993 American comedy film the main character Phil Connors finds himself reliving the same day over and over again, leading to inevitable frustration and despondency.

Unfortunately Liverpool fans have experienced the same continual anger and despair that haunted Connors this week as the club's long and drawn out sale process ended in turmoil with the civil war that had developed at boardroom level being fought to a conclusion in both the British High Court and, somewhat bizarrely, in a Texan Court.

At first it all seemed so simple. The independent members of the board, namely Martin Broughton, Christian Purslow and Ian Ayre, had to prove to the High Court that co-owner Tom Hicks broke his contract with RBS by attempting to sack both Purslow and Ayre after they had approved the sale to NESV.

After a Tuesday full of twists and turns, RBS and the Liverpool board eventually succeeded the following day, with Hicks' lawyer unable to persuade Mr Justice Floyd that his client had been isolated and effectively removed from the sale process by the English members of the board.

Hicks used this argument to justify his blatant breach of contract, however the excellent Lord Grabiner, who represented the board throughout the case, devastatingly destroyed his arguments.

At 10:42 am on Wednesday morning the judge paved the way for the sale to NESV to be completed without the permission of Hicks and Gillett, as he granted the mandatory injunction wanted by RBS against the owners.

Liverpool supporters saw the rest of the day as a time to celebrate and rejoice at what appeared to be the end for two parasitic liars who have left our club on the precipice of both sporting and financial oblivion.

The parasites in question had different plans though, as they appeared before a Texan judge confident of obtaining a restraining order to prevent the completion of the sale process.

With the day almost over Reds supporters eagerly anticipated news of an NESV takeover that night, however we were left distraught as the news that Hicks had managed to stop the sale filtered through to fans.

This restraining order valued the club at over £1 billion, and demanded that Broughton, Purslow and Ayre face trial before the Texan judge for trying to finalise the "illegal" sale of Liverpool Football Club.

It also claimed that the "English establishment" (presumably meaning RBS, the board and the High Court) had attempted to pull off a conspiracy by "epically swindling" the owners out of the vast sum of money that this ridiculous injunction claimed they deserve.

Liverpool supporters reacted angrily, with many voicing their opinions through emailing Judge Jim Jordan and posting on his Facebook page.

The injunction that he had imposed was the personification of insanity. The massive valuation of the club within it ignored Liverpool's gargantuan debt and the fact that this debt had to be paid off by Friday.

Also, it was littered with spelling mistakes and scribbles, which characterised this hastily written piece of legal toilet paper. The Texan judge also failed to realise that he had no jurisdiction whatsoever over the case as Liverpool is both UK based and UK owned. It has nothing to do with America or Texas.

To add to this Hicks' lawyer claimed that Liverpool's Chairman, Martin Broughton, had tortured the Texan people with his actions and therefore should face imprisonment until he could face trial on 25th October.

This despite the fact that Broughton, to the best of my knowledge, has never set foot in Texas and that the vast majority of Texans don't have a clue who he is.

Liverpool's board were confident of removing this Texan injunction, however they had to go to the High Court for the third day in a row in order to prove their legitimate grievances.

This set up yet another nervous day for Liverpool supporters desperate to see the ownership situation resolved quickly so that the threat of administration and a points deduction could be eliminated.

The owners were comprehensively defeated once again in the British High Court and Mr Justice Floyd granted an anti-suit injunction that made all injunctions imposed on the sale outside of the UK null and void.

"This case has nothing to do with Texas," the judge added.

Although this anti-suit injunction was met by untimely jubilation from some supporters, the majority preferred to remain cautiously optimistic instead as we were fearful of both the Groundhog day cycle continuing and the possibility of Hicks attempting another desperate stunt to try and block the sale.

With a court in Dallas set to rule on whether to lift the injunction or not at 1pm on Friday afternoon, Liverpool fans had to suffer through a restless night once again.

The fear amongst fans grew as Thursday night turned into Friday morning, as news that Mill Financial, a US based hedge fund, were interested in either re-financing Hicks or taking control of the club saturated the media.

The "internet terrorists", as Hicks so profoundly calls us, went into action once again as thousands of fans spammed Mill Financial with angry emails threatening to boycott their business interests if they managed to re-finance Hicks.

Friday 15th October arrived the next morning. Liverpool's D-day. It may not have been the biggest day in our history, but it will almost certainly turn out to be the biggest day in our club's future.

Thankfully, it started off well as Liverpool announced that club legend Jamie Carragher had signed a two-year contract extension. Even better news was soon to follow as it was revealed that Hicks and Gillett had decided to lift the Texan injunction that was currently halting the sale process.

However, this was not an admission that the club should be sold to NESV. Firstly, Hicks wanted to remove the threat of him being prosecuted for contempt of court in Britain. Moreover, the restraining order had limited his ability to complete a re-financing agreement with Mill Financial.

It was now a race between Mill Financial and NESV to pay off RBS before the deadline. Liverpool supporters were backing NESV as we were worried at the prospect of being owned by a hedge fund, who would have the sole aim of milking the club for as much money as possible.

Fortunately, NESV had the upper hand because they had both the approval of the Liverpool board and the Premier League.

Conversely, the Premier League correctly refused to deal with Mill Financial after they had sought approval under the owners' and directors test. This was because Mill Financial had not received authorisation from the board to buy the club.

The Groundhog day experience of the last few days had now been replaced by what seemed to be a perfect day for Liverpool Football Club on Friday, as NESV managed to complete the purchase of the club just minutes before 4pm.

It was fantastic news for fans, who could finally celebrate as the Hicks and Gillett era had finally come to an end. It had been a long and disruptive process, however the club is now out of the hands of two lying parasites, and is now owned by a group with an excellent track record of transforming sports teams fortunes.

On top of that perfect day, the evening's entertainment was provided by a certain Mr Hicks who, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, proceeded to tell another round of lies.

He claimed that him and George had spent £150 million on players.

He claimed that he had new owners lined up who would spend the same amount on Liverpool as Sheik Mansour has at Manchester City.

He claimed that he had the money to pay off RBS.

And he claimed that he had been committed to selling the club.

He lied, he lied, he lied and he lied again.

But now, instead of providing agonising viewing for fans, it was very entertaining because we know that he can harm us no more.

He may sue for a ridiculous amount of money in court, however we know that he has not got a leg to stand on. He will fail in court, like he has failed before and will certainly fail again.

Now, with new owners in charge, Liverpool can move towards a bright new future. With NESV in charge Liverpool are now in a secure financial position. NESV have wiped out all of Hicks' acquisition debt, leading to a dramatic decline in the amount of interest we are paying every year.

Under Hicks and Gillett we were paying £25-30 million a year to service the debt that they had put upon the club. As the majority of the debt has now been paid, the club will only have to pay £2-3 million a year. This immediately leaves Liverpool with an extra £22-28 million to spend in the transfer market.

Moreover, NESV have a track record of re-vitalising the Boston Red Sox through consistent investment into the playing squad and the stadium.

They have an excellent financial and, more importantly, sporting record, which is something nobody could honestly say about the lying parasites who previously owned us.

We should reserve judgement on them until they have proven their words with their actions, however I am confident that NESV can provide the necessary investment and expertise to transform Liverpool.

Liverpool have now entered a new era. Let's get back where we belong.

The top of the Premier League.

YNWA