Five years on from Istanbul - a club in crisis

THE GLORY

Five years ago yesterday, the world witnessed one of the greatest miracles in sporting history. Five years ago today, the then Liverpool chairman David Moores woke up in his hotel room in Istanbul with Old Big Ears as a bedfellow. From a personal point of view, it ranks as one of the best days of my life. May 25 2005 ranks only behind the birth of my daughter in the terms of the single most memorable days. I can still remember the key moments play for play. The shock when Paolo Maldini headed in a first minute free-kick. The despair when Hernan Crespo scored two quick goals before half-time. The desolation during the interval, as I (along with many other Liverpool fans) contemplated whether watching the second period or not. Some even left the Attaturk. Those that didn't sang their hearts out and pushed their heroes on. For me, loyalty and pride won out over reason. I sat down to watch the second-half with no hope or expectation, just looking for respectibility. In either a stoke of luck or superb tactical move, right-back Steve Finnan had picked up an ankle injury. From there, as they say, the rest is history. On came Dietmar Hamann, to sit in front of the back four and look after Kaka, who had run rings around Liverpool in the first 45. Liverpool switched to 3-5-2, with Vladimir Smicer and John Arne Riise as auxiliary wing-backs. Just into the second-half, keeper Jerzy Dudek made a fabulous save from Andriy Shevchenko. There was the feeling of 'here we go again' among the fans. But for the players, this gave them renewed believe. There was a shift in momentum. Minutes later, Riise's cross at the second attempt was headed powerful in by captain Steven Gerrard. A consolation? Most thought so but the look of sheer determination on Gerrard's face suggested otherwise. Four minutes later, and it was on. There seemed no danger midway inside the AC Milan half. But sub Smicer capitalised on some space to fire in a harmless looking shot, but Milan keeper Dida could only palm it into his net. There was hope, and the believe was back. 'Hang on' we though. 'This could happen.' Within two minutes, a remarkable six minutes was complete. Gerrard (who else) stormed into the box and Gennaro Gattuso could only bring him down. It may have been a red card foul, but Liverpool didn't mind. Xabi Alonso stepped up, and his penalty was saved by Dida. Disaster. Not so, though. Alonso was quickest to react and fired the ball into the roof of the net. Astounding, astonishing, call it what you will. Despair had been replaced with delight in the space of six minutes, such a remarkable change in emotions over such a short period of time I had never experienced before, or since. From there, the action died off a little. Liverpool were content with the turnaround, while Milan were so shellshocked they struggled to retain the initiative. So into extra-time, and penalties seemed the likely outcome. Liverpool were getting penned back, and Milan could find no way through. In the 117th minute though, Milan sub Serginho crossed for Shevchenko. The great Ukrainian headed goalwards, and Dudek saved his shot. But it rebounded into the six yard box, and Shevchenko reacted quickest. From there, time stood still. One of the greatest strikers in the world was a couple of yards out, with just the keeper to beat, to win the Champions League. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Then, the next thing I knew, the ball had sailed into the crowd behind the goal. Shevchenko's shot was, amazingly, saved by Dudek from a couple of yards, and we were going to penalties. There was belief when the spot kicks started. Jamie Carragher, an inspiration in the comeback, ran up to have a word with Dudek. As it transpired, he was telling the Pole all about Bruce Grobbelaar's tactics in Liverpool's last European Cup win, also won on penalties - 'The Spaghetti Legs.' It worked, too. Serginho fired over the crossbar, and Andrea Pirlo saw his shot saved. 'The Spaghetti Legs' were working. Hamann and Djibril Cisse made it 2-0 to Liverpool. Jon Dahl Tomasson reduced the arrears. Riise then saw his penalty saved by Dida, and then Kaka made it 2-2. Was it going to be so close but then so far. But Smicer, in his last kick in a Liverpool shirt, slotted in. 3-2. And the rest is written into folklore. Shevchenko came up against Dudek for the thrid time, and again he lost. The celebrations were something to behold, and carried on throughout the night in Istanbul. The next morning, five years ago today, we woke up as European Champions, amazingly, against the odds, one of the biggest shocks in sporting history. From that night, only Carragher, Gerrard and manager Rafael Benitez remain. Dudek, Finnan, Sami Hyypia, Djimi Traore, Alonso, Luis Garcia, Harry Kewell, Smicer, Milan Baros, Cisse and Hamann have all moved on. But we will never forget that night.

THE CRISIS

In this light, then, it is either a remarkable coincidence or a prescient piece of time that Moores has broken his silence to have his say on the turmoil surrounding his beloved club, on Tom Hicks and George Gillet, and on his role in the sale.
In a letter to The Times newspaper, he stated how long he, along with then Chief Executive Rick Parry and the rest of the board, had been looking for a buyer for Liverpool since 2003, when it became clear Moores could not match the deep pockets of the new wave of foreign owners like Roman Abramovich, and looked meticulously for the right candidate. Moores denies that the correct due diligence procedure was followed. However, he does admit that, while they were meticulous in looking into the finances and affairs of Gillett (who was the first to be approached by the club), the board pretty much took the word of Gillettt when it came to Hicks. Although Rothschild, one of the most respected names in world finance, vouched for both Hicks and Gillett, they were representing the Americans, so they partiality could be called into question.
Between 2003 and 2007, he considered Thai president Thaksin Shinawatra (question marks over his motives and reputation), the Dubai International Capital corporation (now ironically the ownners of megabucks Man City, and it's hard to know where the problems lay with DIC), shareholder (and Liverpool fan) Steve Morgan (although his hear was unquestionably in the right place, the concerns were over the depth of his pockets), and American tycoon Robert Kraft. All but the last were considered unsuitable, and Kraft and his associates backed out of a possible deal.
The length of time it took to find a buyer suggests the process was meticulous. The remit for Moores and Parry was to find someone with deep pockets and with the same passion for the club that they shared. Not too much to ask for, then? The most important question has to be asked though - surely, in this day and age, it would not have taken long to find out that Hicks and Gillett would not be able to follow through on their assurances? But, given the steps Moores and his colleagues went through, it's hard to know how the men behind the names weren't exposed. 'We went beyond a simple Google search. PricewaterhouseCoopers advised us on the fabric of the deal, and Rothchilds telephoned a non-executive director at Liverpool to assure us they were good for their money.' Who knows, maybe even Hicks and Gillett thought they were good for their money. That seemed to tick the deep pockets box. For the second box, the passion was there for Moores to see when he went to watch Montreal Canadiens in action, the ice hockey team owned by Gillett. No-one had a bad word to say about Gillett, and, apparently, the team was very similar in ethos and culture to Liverpool. This was enough to convince Moores and the board.
'After so many false starts, everyone was eager to sign on the dotted line,' Moores says in reflection. This appears at best hasty, and at worst completely irresponsible. Within months, Moores went from controlling the club to being giving the role of honourary president, in the spring of 2007. At the end of the 2008/09 season, he stepped down from that role, leaving himself with no direct role in the club. The preceding season had been an extremely successful one. But this merely papered over the cracks. The debts were mounting, key players were sold with inadequate replacements being signed, and there was significant stalling over the small matter of the new stadium. And the season just gone has been disastrous, both on and off the pitch. This means Moores has not returned to Anfield since last season. The turmoil surrounding the club has been too much for him to bear.
There is no question, in my opinion, that Moores has the best interests of the club at heart. He desperately wants the club to return to its glory days (that's why he was so keen to sell the club in the first place), and I think he genuinely belived Hicks and Gillett were the right men to achieve this. But his letter also seems almost like a defence in a court - as if he wants to be charged with manslaughter and not murder. Even through all he has done for the club, Moores has to take some of the blame for the state Liverpool now finds itself in. Even if it was unintentional and not motivated by self-interest, he is culpable to some degree. And this is probably what hurts the most - that he sold to Hicks and Gillett rather than to an Abramovich. He wants Hickas and Gillett to sell up, for the good of the club and the supporters. To be fair, he does admit that in hindsight, he made the wrong decision, even if it was for the right reasons. These feelings will certainly be echoed around Anfield and far beyond. This letter may have had the desired effect - today, Gillett released a statement giving assurances about the proposed new stadium, the futures of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, and, most importantly, that he and his associate hope to have sold the club by the end of 2010. The situation at Liverpool should serve as a timely reminder that you should be careful what you wish for. But whatever happens in the next few months and years, we will always have Istanbul.