Why I doubt Steve Morgan would have been able to keep Liverpool debt-free

By Richard Buxton in Liverpool Fans Blog

Published 18:32 20/02/10

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Steve Morgan claimed earlier this week that Liverpool would have been debt-free had he completed a successful takeover in 2004 . As heart-warming as his sentiments were, is it really possible to stay out of the red and remain amongst the elite of the English top flight?

Prior to acquiring Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Garston-born business magnate was something of an irritation in the Anfield boardroom.

Morgan was very much a fan in a position of both privilege and power and his views on the club's then manager Gerard Houllier, for example, were highly reflective of those emanating from the Kop.

As a 5% shareholder, he attempted to fulfil the lifelong ambition of any supporter by tabling a bid to secure a majority stake in the club.

Morgan's decision was prompted by Rick Parry, the club's erstwhile chief executive, sending photographers in the Far East trigger happy during a fact-finding trip to Thailand to investigate the club's potential new owner - Thaksin Shinawatra.

The controversial Thai prime minister opted to buy Liverpool because he "couldn't invest in Everton or Manchester United or City". Little did he know that he would enjoy a short-lived spell as proprietor of the latter three years on from his flirtation with the Reds.

Shinawatra withdrew his interest not long after Houllier was sacked, whilst Parry embarked on a global investment search that spanned three years.

Morgan, meanwhile, continued to remonstrate with his fellow directors to break the minimalist approach to running a club in the modern game.

Liverpool's failure to turn their glittering history into a lucrative commercial venture saw them fall behind the forward-thinking Manchester United.

Anfield had revelled in a corner shop culture with a small hut in the Main Stand car park serving a multi-purpose as the home of the club's Development Association, programme store and official merchandise outlet.

It was only in the summer of 1996, following the agreement of a deal with sports manufacturers Reebok, that things started to gather slight momentum in the grounds of L4, but it was not enough to compete with the Old Trafford megastore which offered a vast array of United memorabilia.

Morgan may well have had the foresight to break the corner shop mentality and the confidence to stand up at the AGMs and expose Moores' selfishness in taking the green of dubious sports tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks. But, crucially, he did not have the funds required to take the club forward.

His claim that he would have made £70 million available to Rafael Benitez may have been true, but once that money had gone, where would Liverpool have gone from there?

Much like now, there would be no funding in place to build a new stadium which would restrict ambitions to compete with the best clubs in the world.

The Spaniard's sell-to-buy policy would only go so far as the likes of Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano would not consider moving to Anfield to play for a club that was living within its means to stave off financial plight and settling for a good run in the cup or even clinching a Europa League place.

And what of Benitez? If he had failed to achieve success on the limitless budget provided, would he have been removed - as Morgan had aimed to do when he believed Houllier's time in the dugout was well and truly up? Or would he have been provided a stay of execution due to extenuating circumstances.

Morgan deserves rightful acclaim for steering Wolves into the Premiership but his financial management system would not have worked at a club of Liverpool's stature; especially when he showed a strong disrespect by having a workman deliver his bid to seize control of Anfield in a pickup truck.

It doesn't mean that Gillett and Hicks are the lesser of two evils, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it highlights that unless you are a Middle Eastern sugar daddy, able to spend money like it is going out of fashion, you cannot be debt-free to keep up with the Jones' both domestically and on the continent.

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