Tom Hicks lies - this summer has only been big for Delta cabs

With Javier Mascherano close to completing a move to Barcelona only 4 days shy of the transfer window, I reckon it would be beneficial to look at our summer dealings; you know, in the face of transparency, and all that.

Here are the club's transfer dealings with summer, with thanks to Red and White Kop for the incoming transfer information:

Incoming transfers:

Joe Cole Brad Jones Milan Jovanovic Christian Poulsen Jonjo Shelvey Danny Wilson	English Australian Serbian Danish English Scottish		Chelsea Middlesbrough Standard Liege Juventus Charlton Rangers	Free £2.3m Free £4.5m £1.7m Undisclosed (believed to be around £5m)

Outgoing transfers (including Mascherano's imminent departure):

Yossi Benayoun Albert Riera Alberto Aquilani Philipp Degen Kristian Nemeth Diego Cavalieri	Israeli Spanish Italian Swiss Hungarian Brazilian		Chelsea Olympiakos Juventus Stuttgart Olympiakos AC Cesena	£6m £4m Loan (fee believed to be £4m) Loan (fee unknown) £1.5m £1.2m
J. Mascherano	Argentinian		Barcelona	Fee around £17.5m

Total transfer money received (after Mascherano): £34.2 million
Total transfer money spent: £13.5 million
Money going towards the debt: £20.7 million

£20.7 million - that's more than Fernando Torres' transfer fee, and more than any fee we've ever paid for a player. Roy may be held culpable for decisions on the pitch, but how can the puppet master play with both hands tied behind his back?

Of course, those figures are the basest figures available - wages/signing-on fees (which are now taken from transfer budget) aren't considered, nor is the loan fee for Degen. Paul Konchesky is also expected to replace Insua for a few million pound profit before Tuesday's deadline as well.

While trying to acquire some extra intelligence for this post, I stumbled across this article, written by Tony Barrett for The Times, on January 12 2010. Note the quotes in bold.

Tom Hicks has shrugged aside the controversial resignation of his son from the Liverpool board by claiming that the club’s debt problems are not as severe as those of Manchester United.

The Liverpool co-owner also vowed to spend “big” in the summer transfer window.

In a day of high drama for the two North-West giants, Tom Hicks Jr announced that he was stepping down as a Liverpool director after admitting sending an abusive e-mail to a fan.

United, meanwhile, announced plans to raise £500 million to restructure their debts after paying out £41.9 million in interest during the past financial year.

United’s problems gave Hicks an opportunity to divert attention from the storm at his own club and he duly took it.

In an e-mail of his own to a fan, he intimated that Liverpool’s debt — in excess of £200 million — is more manageable than that of their great rivals.

He also insisted that while Liverpool will not be splashing out in the present transfer window, they are already planning to invest heavily in the summer to bolster Rafael Benítez’s squad, and claimed the long-awaited new stadium will be delivered.

“Our debt is very manageable (see Man U) and we never use player sales for debt service,” Hicks Sr wrote in the e-mail, responding to concerns from a supporter that Liverpool will not be big spenders in January.

“Our interest on £200 million is about £16 million. The new stadium will be the game changer. January is a poor quality market. The summer window will be big.

“We are working hard on the new stadium. We have an excellent management team and manager. We know we need more depth on the squad and will address it this summer. We hope to have a stronger second half of the season.”

Liverpool’s search for investment is continuing, but there is evidence that the financial concerns that have plagued them for so long are beginning to filter down to Benítez’s playing squad.

Ryan Babel, the Holland forward, responded to a question on Twitter, the social networking site, about his opinion on Hicks and George Gillett Jr, his fellow American, by saying: “We need money for the club.”

It is that apparent weakness that has prompted fears that Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres or both could be prised away from Anfield should Liverpool fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Reports in Italy suggest that José Mourinho will launch his third attempt to sign Gerrard, this time for Inter Milan rather than Chelsea, next summer.

The chances of Gerrard leaving Liverpool for an Italian club are remote, but rivals sensing weakness at Anfield will give their supporters added cause for concern.

The resignation of Hicks Jr from the club’s board at least solved one problem, the Texan falling on his sword after he sent an abusive e-mail to Stephen Horner, a Liverpool fan, in which he said: “Blow me, f***face.”

The Liverpool hierarchy did not hesitate to accept Hicks’s offer to step down. His place has been taken by Casey Coffman, the executive vice-president of Hicks Holdings.

Manchester City added to the pressure on Liverpool when they opened a five-point gap to them in the Barclays Premier League thanks, to a 4-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the City of Manchester Stadium, Carlos Tévez scoring a superb hat-trick as Roberto Mancini made it four wins in four games since succeeding Mark Hughes as manager.

No new stadium. Players being sold to service the debt. The only people this summer transfer window has been big for is Delta cab drivers driving our assets to John Lennon Airport and out of this football club.

There it is, in black and white, clear as crystal: Tom Hicks tells lies - as does George Gillett, Christian Purslow, and possibly even Martin Broughton. Get out of our club.

An open letter to the Royal Bank of Scotland

Dear Mr. Hester,

Grobbelaar; Harkness, Hysen, Tanner, Burrows; McManaman, Molby, McMahon, Walters; Rush, Saunders

These names will mean nothing to you. In fact, these names, collectively, will probably mean nothing to most Liverpool supporters.

To me, it’s that biting October wind. It’s the moment the door is knocked upon and your granddad stands there. It’s a hat, cap, badge or a scarf as you walk down Walton Breck Road and catch sight of what will come to define you as both a football fan and a person.

Port Vale, Rumbelows Cup third round, 29 October 1991. My first match at Anfield. It wouldn’t be the last.

I studied Dickens and Shakespeare at great depth in university, but my memory can hardly differentiate between Macbeth and Magwitch. The midfield of McManaman, Molby and McMahon is a different story.

I remember seeing the ball hit the net from Rush’s header and hearing the sparse Kop roar. I will never forget the touch of my granddad’s hug as we scored as the smell of celebratory cigarettes filled the night air. My first taste of Liverpool Football Club.

Ask any Liverpool fan about their first experience and they’ll be similarly encyclopaedic, because that’s what supporting this football club is about. A mosaic of memories in your mind displayed every time you see your team play.

This football club has the most impressive mosaic of all. That famous Anfield roar on a European night originates from the voices of the thousands who have gone before us. Inter Milan, St. Etienne, Auxerre, Roma, Olympiakos, Juventus, Chelsea. Layer upon layer of the club's history being created by us, the fans.

Football is the purest form of escapism. For 90 minutes, it doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, married or single. For 90 minutes, it doesn't matter if you're a lawyer, a librarian or a landscape architect. You get lost in the experience of innocence; part of you drifts back to that night against Port Vale, or that league match against Norwich; that time when all that mattered in the world was who started up front.

That innocence has been ruined by snakes who slithered into our garden and offered David Moores the fruit of his labours three-and-a-half years ago. Moores greedily devoured, and now Liverpool supporters have to suffer for his sin.

Now, it feels like we have to be chartered accountants to understand the football club. We’re sending letters to your bank using words and terms it’s not our job to fully comprehend. When my grandfather took me to that Port Vale game in 1991, he was taking me to watch a football match, not a business venture.

All of our actions and efforts to remove Hicks & Gillett are necessary evils. Just because we do it doesn’t mean we enjoy it. It will make us stronger and it will bring the fans of this football club together once more, but I look forward to the day we can all stand united over our support for a new left-back, as opposed to disdain for leveraged buyouts.

I don’t know what to believe regarding Kenny Huang’s bid. I don’t know how much control RBS have, or how much control Christian Purslow or Martin Broughton have, for that matter. The fact that this sort of business is our business is the most lamentable part of it all – Shankly’s holy trinity of manager, players and supporters is not sacred anymore.

Perhaps there should be intentions from those in power to do something with Liverpool Football Club that hasn’t happened from the moment David Moores accepted Hicks and Gillett’s bid.

Act with the best interests of the club, and its supporters, in mind - give us our football club back.