[Locke]

Haha, this is rich:

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has launched a staunch defence of the conduct of Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who will find out in the coming days whether an attempt to prevent a takeover and cling onto the club has proved successful.

However, Hicks and Gillett claimed they changed the board, removing Ayre and Purslow, and have mounted a legal challenge to block the sale of the club for £300 million - a fee they feel undervalues the club and will leave them with losses of around £144 million should the sale go through.

However, despite their toxic reputation amongst Liverpool fans, Redknapp says the two Americans should not be blamed for the current crisis at Anfield and that the players should take responsibility for the club being in the Premier League relegation zone.

"It's not often you'll hear a manager stick up for a chairman or chairmen but I'd love to know what the two Americans have done that is so wrong," Redknapp wrote in The Sun.

"In all of this, I have utmost sympathy for the Reds' owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks.

"All they seem to have done is plough a fortune into the place and they stand to lose a fortune when they sell it. But, for all that, all they get is grief week-in, week-out.

"It's not their fault the expensive players who have been brought in are not performing as they should be. The Liverpool team is full of world-class talent and some costly flops.

"Hicks and Gillett wrote cheques for star striker Fernando Torres and Dirk

Kuyt, a member of Holland's World Cup final squad. Alberto Aquilani cost £20 million and has been a disaster - but is that the owners' fault?"

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...ngland&cc=5901

Piss off 'Arry. You know damn well what they've done, this is just your chance to get a dig in at our expense at the moment.

If you were forced to sell players in order to buy players and then the money from the sale disappeared into an interest payment you'd have problems running a team too.