Americans join the Prem’s rich tapestry of abhorrent moneymen

Liverpool climbed back into fourth place in the Prem in style last night, but celebrations at Anfield were overshadowed by protesting fans, angry at the way their American owners are handling affairs at the club. They’re guilty of undermining the manager, holding back the cash and dancing around Stetson hats while firing off six shooters into the air, but are they the worst businessmen ever to control the purse strings of a Premier League club?

My vote for worst Premier League owners (and worst football team owners of all time) goes to Bjørn Rune Gjelsten and Kjell Inge Røkke, the Norwegian clowns who took charge of Wimbledon in the late 90s. After putting barmy Norwegian manager Egil Olsen in charge, they stood by and watched the club get relegated, and then killed them off completely by orchestrating a thoroughly unpopular move to Milton Keynes. Destroying the legacy of a club and introducing a dangerous precedent for franchising in football kind of puts Tom Hicks and his Klinsmann tapping in perspective, n’est pas?

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