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Henry opens dialogue with Liverpool fans

John Henry is awaiting the outcome of Tuesday's court hearing © Getty Images

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Prospective new Liverpool owner John W Henry has begun a dialogue with the club's fans through Twitter, expressing his hope that the ownership issue is "sorted out soon''.

Henry, 61, is awaiting a High Court decision before he can complete a £300 million purchase of the club, and the Boston Red Sox owner will be closely following proceedings at Tuesday's hearing in London.

The club's major creditors Royal Bank of Scotland take current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to task over their attempts to change the structure of the board contrary to previously-agreed undertakings. Henry had refused to comment on the ongoing situation, but finally broke his silence by engaging with fans on social networking site Twitter.

"Hello LFC supporters,'' he opened up with on Tuesday, before adding "Everyone is hoping for the best. There have been enough twists and turns. Hopefully all gets sorted out soon; LFC moves forward. It would be inappropriate and presumptuous at this time to respond to questions. In the interim, we're all rooting for the same thing.''

Henry has intimated he wants to engage with fans and is following the Spirit of Shankly pressure group, who have been so vociferous in their opposition of Hicks and Gillett, on the site.

Most legal experts believe RBS will win their case, which is based around whether chairman Martin Broughton acted correctly in refusing to accept Hicks' attempt to change the composition of the board in order to block the takeover by Henry's New England Sports Ventures group.

The bank issued a statement on Monday in which they stated that Hicks and Gillett agreed to "contractual undertakings'' in relation to corporate governance arrangements back in April and they were now in breach of those.

Should RBS lose there is the chance the club could be put in administration, possibly incurring a nine-point deduction. Former Reds striker John Aldridge admits if it came to that option he would take it to be rid of the current owners.

"It should come as no surprise that Tom Hicks is trying every trick in the book to hang on to his stake in the club and he is resembling a dog with a bone - he just won't let go,'' he wrote in the Liverpool Echo. "All we can hope and pray is that things go our way in the High Court of Justice and I'm sure Liverpool have enlisted the best legal minds in the business to help.

"But if we lose, I would still be happy to take the ignominy of going into administration and a nine-point penalty from the Premier League if it ultimately led to Hicks and Gillett being jettisoned. They have made Liverpool a laughing stock and if they happened to lose £140 million, as it is being reported, nobody would laugh more than me.

"You have to remember that not so long ago, Hicks was bragging in the Wall Street Journal that Liverpool would be his best ever piece of business. All they wanted to do was fill their pockets full of cash; never once did they think about the feelings of supporters who Hicks has now described as 'a noise we are dealing with'.

"Shame on him. People might wonder whether Liverpool would be able to withstand a nine-point deduction and fear that relegation would become a reality yet I'm absolutely convinced we would finish 10 points clear of the drop zone. But let's not think that way. Let's just hope that come the weekend Hicks and Gillett will be gone - and we can all finally start to move forward again.''

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