The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[supersarsfields]

Liverpool 3-2 up. Torres Hatrick. it'll be good to get him back in the team and scoring  again.
Boro got two goals marked of.

[Declan]

Son of club owner flees from irate Liverpool fans
25/02/2008 - 13:48:45

The son of one of Liverpool Football Club's unpopular owners had to flee a tough Anfield pub after fans turned on him.The son of one of Liverpool Football Club's unpopular owners had to flee a tough Anfield pub after fans turned on him.

Tom Hicks Jnr decided to go for a pint of lager at Anfield's Sandon pub after Liverpool beat Middlesbrough 3-2 on Saturday.

The 6ft 4in Texan talked for a few minutes with Scousers grilling him about controversy surrounding the historic club.

The scene soon turned ugly however with Hicks Jnr being spat at and showered with a pint before his minders formed a ring round him and escorted him to a waiting people carrier.

Tony Barrett, LFC writer for the city's Echo newspaper, was in the pub.

He wrote today: "A volley of protest songs – aired with increasing regularity on the Kop in recent months – rang out throughout the pub and the venom being directed at Hicks junior was plain for all to see.

"All of a sudden, his smile was replaced by a grimace of concern.

"And as the volume was cranked up still further by the swollen crowd, Tommy's facial expression quickly changed.

"It appeared to say: 'Get me out of here' to his bodyguards."

Hicks Jnr had been his father's representative at Anfield on Saturday and would have heard anti-American jeers – directed at the instability the Americans have apparently brought to the club.

Saying he wanted an opportunity to talk to fans, Hicks Jnr told the Echo: "I respect that some patrons have major disagreements with us, but that comes with the territory.

"I did have several constructive conversations in my short visit and look forward to following up with them next time I am in Liverpool."

Speculation continues that Hicks Snr and co-owner George Gillett may soon sell Liverpool to Dubai International Capital.

In recent months an LFC supporters' union, the Sons of Shankly, was established to overthrow the American businessmen and moves were made by the fans themselves to buy the club.

[corn02]

Heard about this.

What exactly was he expecting? A total PR disaster, I really can not see how he thought this would be a good idea.

[brokencrossbar1]

PR disaster for who, Hicks or the fans?  Idiotic thing to do when they are not popular.  If they wanted to gauge the feelings of the fans they would have been better organising an open forum where people could go and air their views, not go down the local with the body guards for a quiet drink with the locals!

[The Real Laoislad]

Might have been a stupid idea for Hicks to go to the pub but what kind of sc**bag spits and throws a pint at someone,Does anyone really care what this type of person thinks about Liverpool FC, Scumbags of the highest order,
No one deserves that kind of treatment if you ask me

[GalwayBayBoy]

Might have been a stupid idea for Hicks to go to the pub but what kind of sc**bag spits and throws a pint at someone,Does anyone really care what this type of person thinks about Liverpool FC, Scumbags of the highest order,
No one deserves that kind of treatment if you ask me

Nobody does but it was still daft to go to a pub like that. What was he expecting that's what I want to know?

[Minder]

It may have been ill advised but it doesent mean you have to act like a f**king kn**ker, whatever happened to that warm Scouse welcome coupled with the ascerbic scouse wit ?

[J70]

It may have been ill advised but it doesent mean you have to act like a f**king kn**ker, whatever happened to that warm Scouse welcome coupled with the ascerbic scouse wit ?

Exactly. There is no excuse whatsoever for that type of behaviour.

[corn02]

PR disaster for Hicks of course.

Because it would not be like the media to exaggerate what happened, from people who were there is was just some chanting.

[J70]

Maybe, but some boy posted a supposed first-hand account on Red and White Kop on Saturday after the game, including the spitting. The thread was deleted.

[gawa316]

Feb 25 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

Liverpool FC reporter Tony Barrett was in the Sandon when Tom Hicks Jr dropped in. This is what he witnessed ...

UNLESS Birmingham City's Martin Taylor decides to pop into Eduardo's north London local for a swift half, it would be hard to imagine a more ill-judged pub visit than the one which took place in Anfield on Saturday evening.

Rumours of Tom Hicks junior going for a pint at the Sandon – the very place where Liverpool's most hardcore support congregates before and after matches – would have been almost impossible to believe had I not seen it with my own eyes.

In a display of bravery beyond the call of family duty or crass stupidity and insensitivity, depending on your point of view, Tommy waltzed into the packed watering hole without a care in the world.

Well, he was surrounded by a team of burly minders, so what is there to care about?

Hicks arrived outside the Sandon an hour after he watched the team his dad so controversially owns beat Middlesbrough 3-2.

Emerging from a silver people carrier, he enjoyed a cigarette outside before pulling out a camera and taking pictures of the exterior of the pub, the birthplace of Liverpool FC.

Even while he was puffing and snapping away, his security were never too far away from him.

Someone had clearly warned them young Tommy may not be too popular in L4 given the way his father is viewed by the vast majority of Liverpool's fans.

As supporters looked on, some oblivious to who this well protected individual was and others all too well aware, Hicks junior then told his bodyguards he fancied a drink and walked into the pub.

The Sandon may not be a coliseum and it may not have contained any lions but there was an inescapable feeling Roman-style blood sports were about to take place.

Having avoided the main bar, Hicks junior went to the slightly less crowded middle bar and ordered a pint of lager for himself and soft drinks for his always on-duty security guards.

As soon as he spoke, ears began pricking up and people quickly realised the identity of Texan in their midst.

It isn't exactly difficult to spot a sharp-suited American in a pub full of Adidas Samba wearing locals after all – and word spread around the boozer quicker than news of a goal against Man United.

All of a sudden, the bar was packed as fans flocked from all corners of the Sandon to see if the seemingly unbelievable rumour sweeping the pub was true. And it was.

At first, Hicks junior had nothing more troublesome to cope with than a few direct questions as to why he was there, what his dad was doing with the club and whether or not they were about to sell out to DIC.

Such polite questioning reflected the shock that someone so closely connected with the least popular man at Anfield – apart from Gary Neville – would have the chutzpah to turn up in their midst.

One fan took it upon himself to press Hicks junior on what was going on and interrogated him Paxman-style for a full five minutes.

But while that was going on, the mood was turning increasingly nasty as anger replaced the shock.

A volley of protest songs – aired with increasing regularity on the Kop in recent months – rang out throughout the pub and the venom being directed at Hicks junior was plain for all to see.

All of a sudden, his smile was replaced by a grimace of concern.

And as the volume was cranked up still further by the swollen crowd, Tommy's facial expression quickly changed.

It appeared to say "Get Me Out Of Here" to his bodyguards.

At least his desire to evacuate showed he had something in common with the fans who, by that stage, had adapted one of their favourite protest songs to inform him, not too politely, that the "lying b******d" should get out of their pub.

Hicks junior has not told any lies of course. And guilt by association is a heavy burden for any son to have to bear.

But as his father's representative at Anfield on Saturday it borders on the inexplicable that he could have expected anything other than the "welcome" he was given.

As his bodyguards got closer one fan swilled Hicks junior with a pint of lager – and given the price of a pint in the Sandon after the match that's quite a protest.

Another spat in his direction.

It was ugly and it was nasty. And, perhaps worst of all it was all so avoidable.

As it became increasingly clear things could have been about to go badly wrong, Hicks' bodyguards decided discretion was indeed the better part of valour. They positioned themselves around him and guided him out of the pub through the hostile crowd and into the people carrier.

His hasty departure was totally at odds with the way he sauntered into the pub.

And yet it is hard to imagine that he expected to get anything other than the reception he got, given the feelings of the fans towards the regime he is a part of.

At best, it was a well meaning attempt to build some bridges on Hicks junior's part.

At worst, it was yet another failure to understand English football culture and proof of the failure of Liverpool's owners to grasp just how unpopular they have become.

One thing is for sure – Tom Hicks jnr is unlikely to be going for another pint at the Sandon any time soon.

[EC Unique]

Everton keeping the pressure on for 4th How will they get on in the CL

[AZOffaly]

Everton are looking very solid in fairness. They're picking up good results and are a lot more consistent than Liverpool at the moment. At this stage I'll be surprised if Liverpool get fourth.

[Great Leap Forward]

Everton keeping the pressure on for 4th How will they get on in the CL

Everton weren't equipped for the CL the last time they reached it but they have a far better squad now. I am not saying they will finish 4th but anybody that watched them last night would have to be impressed. But for inspired goalkeeping and a blind referee they would have put 6 by City last night.

If any team is going to oust Liverpool out of 4th it will be them. In all fairness I can't see reason why either team can't go for 3rd. Avram Grant looks clueness now that he has a full squad.

[Declan]

At worst, it was yet another failure to understand English football culture

Culture alright to spit and throw beer over people you don't like