Once proud club currently being mugged like a pensioner

The Liverpool Echo is reporting today that George Gillett, half of the double act which has got supporters of Liverpool Football Club so steamed up, has turned down an offer for his share of the club that would have put a breath-taking £80 million in his pocket. According to mathematicians at the paper, “that comes to £203,045 for each of the 394 days … he has been co- owner of the club.”

Liverpool fans are generally of the opinion that 200 grand is more than adequate compensation for a day’s work, yet Mr Gillett clearly believes there is room in his pocket for more. The real mystery is what precisely Mr Gillett and his partner in greed Mr Hicks believe they have done over the last year to make Liverpool so much more valuable. Whatever it is, it can’t be related to the performance of the team, whose performance if anything has slipped backwards under their stewardship.

Perhaps it has something to do with the club having taken a step toward building a new stadium, which means they can start to fantasise about raking in the same kind of cash as Arsenal are currently banking. Without Champions League football, however - and Liverpool are currently flirting with a run at the UEFA Cup next season - that pot of gold may not be as full as they’d hoped, and Mr Gillett’s big lottery-winner’s cheque might not be there next time he looks. What the hell’s the matter with you, George? Don’t you like money?