Gillett reveals Hicks partnership is 'unworkable'
Soccernethttp://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=520550&cc=5901Liverpool owner George Gillett Jr, has revealed that his partnership with co-owner Tom Hicks has become 'unworkable'.
The American claims that the partnership has been under strain 'for some time' in an interview given to ESPN affiliate radio station The Fan 590 in Canada and that Hicks' refusal to sell his stake in the club led to the Gillett family receiving death threats.
Gillett also revealed that he made an offer to sell his own stake to DIC, but the deal fell through.
'This partnership [with Hicks] has been unworkable for some time,' he said.
'We gave our partner a long period of time to try to make arrangements to buy us out. We didn't put pressure on him but he ultimately did not get to the finishing line.
'Because of the things he said, the fans' reaction has been so negative to him that if we sold to him it has been made untenable for us.
'He threatened to block me selling to Dubai - that was certainly one of the things that made the fans upset.'
'Lord knows DIC have the means with the oil prices going up every day that money was not even an issue,' he said. 'I think they would have been very responsible owners. But making that not possible or difficult didn't endear [Hicks] to the fans.'
Listen to the full interview with George Gillett here.
http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20080327_191143_5912Gillett also revealed how the number of e-mails he has received, have been directed mainly at Hicks. 'We get as many as 2,000 emails a week,' he said. 'Ninety five per cent of them have been directed at some of the comments made by my partner.'
'The fans don't want him to have even one share of my stake in the club, based on what they are sending to me. As a result of that we have received many phone calls in the middle of the night threatening our lives, death threats. A number came to the office and my son, Foster, and daughter-in-law, Lauren, have received them.'
Gillett did not reveal what he planned to do with his half share of Liverpool now, but said there were 'pieces on the chess board moving'.
'What I do know is that the fans and the fabled history of this club deserves better, and we are going to do whatever we can to prove that,' he said.
