RBS Move To Force Hicks & Gillett Out Of Liverpool & Possible Consequences ?

The big news is ultimately out. If sources as reliable as the Guardian and Bloomberg are to be believed, the major lender for all of Liverpool's debt , The Royal Bank of Scotland has finally moved in favor of the thousands of fans wanting to see the end of the much maligned Hicks and Gillett era. 

Reports tonight stated that Liverpool's owners, Hicks and Gillett could struggle to come up with any loan extension beyond the stipulated October 6th deadline. All this is because RBS has reportedly agreed to move Liverpool's debt into the toxic assets division or in the hands of its restructuring team. Thus suggesting a severe blow to the American owners much rumored move of going for another loan extension to postpone the deadlines, which would in effect put the club under even a bigger debt and that too at a higher interest .

The foresaid annoying rumor has been doing the rounds after the frantic fortnight last month when  Kenny Huang from China made a desperate bid to buy the club. Following all those rumors the highly pro-active supporter groups of the club tried to desperately gather related information and finding suitable indications from sources in America , the Kop faithful group wrote an open letter addressing the group's chief executive Stephen Hester that no further loan be approved to the infamous American pair.

All said and done the Americans at last seem to have been cornered and unless they consider legal means which anyways should prove unfruitful , they are under immense pressure to sell  the club before the October 6th deadline date. That is because if Hicks and Gillett fail to do so , RBS being the major lender could takeover the club and sell it at any knock-down price. The process also means that the money that H & G owed to the Kop Holdings of more than GBP 144m could stand forfieted as RBS would look to 'maximizing their debt recoveries' which now reportedly stands in the region of 300-350m GBP after RBS allowed the Americans to refinance their debt a few months ahead.

Now as a Liverpool fan, all these developments sounds delightful at the first instance. Every Red fan all around the globe knows of the miseries that the American owners inflicted on the club. Hicks and Gillett promised a lot upon their arrival but have failed to live upto such committments times and again. 

However, we need to remember that there are basically three possible outcomes if/when the RBS manages to do what it has promised now.In all the three cases theclub has to be sold.

The first outcome is the obvious possibilty of cash inflow and a better squad and other infrastructure facilities which is all a very good news.

The second outcome and third outcomes though are sensitive and here is where both FA and the club needs to be cautious. They need to ensure the club is sold to "fit and proper" owners to avoid a shameful example of Portsmouth only a year ago.

The last outcome could mean a mid-way between the two, i.e., because the club could be sold for a moderate price by RBS, any decent enough owner may take responsibility of the club. A person or group which runs a sustainable business but may not be able to give Liverpool the strength to compete against the other giant spenders in the premier league. Such a step would still be a step towards mediocrity.

After the news tonight though, every Liverpool fan has the right to hope for a better future, what really shapes up though is another story and we must all wait and watch.