Sunday, February 07, 2010

Can't take that as Red

Edited from The Independent

...
Funny the tricks that memory – and possibly shorthand – play. But how could the minutes released by Liverpool's managing director, Christian Purslow, and the 12 Spirit of Shankly representatives from their meeting last week differ so much? There was no mention, for instance, in the MD's version of having said: "Royal Bank of Scotland are annoyed and unhappy with Hicks and Gillett and they want a change of ownership." Nor: "The promises of Hicks and Gillett are unforgivable. Hicks and Gillett cannot hang on to the club." Meanwhile, as the protest movements against the owners at Liverpool and Manchester United gather momentum, there remains an odd contrast between the attitude taken to the two breakaway fans' clubs. At Anfield home games, there are regular mentions of AFC Liverpool's forthcoming matches, whereas their Manchester equivalent are ignored by United and have even been publicly criticised by Sir Alex Ferguson. Undeterred, FC United are going into Europe. They will visit Hamburg on 15 May to play a friendly against an All-Star XI from St Pauli, the Bundesliga second division club who are famous for their left-wing affiliations.