5553 No One Free From Blame in Live

by : Paul Grech

Perhaps he thought that it wouldn't be noticed amidst the euphoria of beating Arsenal. Or else he hoped that the success on the pitch had overshadowed the farce going on off it. Whatever the reason, Tom Hicks saw it fit to demand the resignation of Rick Parry less than two days after one of the most memorable nights in the club's history.

Little thought seems to have gone into the implications of such a request and how this would be once again dragging down the club's reputation. It will surely deflate players at a moment when things on the pitch are going well and some momentum can be built.

Whilst it is hard to feel for Parry since he was the one who recommended that the club be sold to Hicks and Gillet, at this stage that is besides the point. Given how Hicks operates, he is hardly likely to have someone else with the required experience lined up to take over the position something that would blow away any deals - either in extending staff contracts or in buying new players - that are currently being negotiated. After all it was Hicks himself who ordered that any transfers had to be handled by Parry rather than Benitez.

It would also mean that the man on whom Benitez relies most to get information on what is going on would be gone. Even though the relationship between the two is fraught, it would still leave a vacuum at a critical stage of the season.

The dismissal of Parry in itself is not really an issue. If anything, if the reasons for this really are the club's disappointing commercial performance and his handling of transfers, then most fans would be in agreement. It is the timing and the fact that Hicks has once again managed to put the club in the news for the wrong reasons that really rankles.

There is, however, a different angle to this. Hicks easily lends himself to being the villain of the piece but the reality is that someone within Anfield has decided to publicise the contents of the letter. The truth is that the letter has been used as another weapon in the dirty war going on for the control of power at Anfield.

One where both sides are showing little regard for what really benefits the club.