I wonder what the new owner's think after that

[Bootle Buck]

They have probably already signed their deal before the game was over. Let's hope they handed over the check for a new striker to Rafa.

[Keita]

http://cache.gettyimages.com/xt/73507399.j...torial1&s=1

[davewigan]

Radio City got an interview with Hicks at the final whistle, sounded like he enjoyed it, now lets hope that means he gives Rafa the big 'war chest' !!

[Redkop]

GEORGE GILLETT, the new co-owner of Liverpool, stood alone on the front row of the deserted directors' box at Anfield half an hour after the game had ended.

 

When he saw Steven Gerrard walking down the touchline, he pressed the red button on his mobile phone and took it away from his ear.

 

"Congratulations," he shouted to the Liverpool captain, who smiled back up at him. Then Gillett put his hands together and gestured as if to say he was bowing down to the man who was his new god.

 

A few of us went up to speak to Gillett a couple of minutes afterwards. He couldn't stop smiling. "That," he said, "was like nothing I have ever heard or felt."So welcome to Liverpool, Mr Gillett and Mr Hicks. I guess even American billionaires don't get to witness too many sporting occasions when the atmosphere is as intense as it was at Anfield last night.

 

Gillett and Tom Hicks had chosen to make last night's match against Barcelona their first since they bought the club.

 

They chose well because they got an idea of what they've really bought. They saw more than figures on a spreadsheet and income projections.

 

They saw a group of fans and a famous old stadium who, together, can still produce the kind of spine-tingling chorus no other club in Europe can match.

 

When Yellow Submarine played over the loud speaker system just before the kickoff, they may have had a sense this city still hums to the beat of its twin cultural icons, The Beatles and Liverpool FC.

 

And when the crowd belted out You'll Never Walk Alone, they laughed in awe. "Did you see the smile on my face?"

 

Gillett said afterwards. And inside in a corridor one of the Americans' entourage was beaming in wonder. "Did you see the look in Tom's eyes?" he said.

 

So the new owners have got an idea now of what a great night in Europe means on Merseyside.

 

If they watched the performances of Jamie Carragher and Gerrard, they'll understand, too, how important local pride still is to this club even in the days of raging cosmopolitanism.

 

This was quite a way for them to say hello, taking their bow on the night when their new acquisition knocked the holders out of the Champions League.

 

Their team might have been clinging on at the end, but cling on they did, and the fall of Barcelona by the banks of the Mersey marked a shift in the balance of power in European football.

 

It spelled the end of one reign and, perhaps, now Hicks and Gillett realise what it is they hold in their hands, it may have signalled the beginning of another.

 

 

 

DAILY MIRROR

[Montse]

Good article this...

 

Times

 

?Philistines? converted in the ancient cathedral of the Kop

Oliver Kay

 

The two old men in the directors? box stood open-mouthed, their eyes glazing over. The Kop in all its glory has the ability to leave even the most hardened visitor spellbound and, just as Roman Abramovich gawped in admiration when his first match as owner of Chelsea took him to Anfield in August 2003, so were George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks gobsmacked by their first taste of the passion they have had the good fortune to buy into.

 

Two hours later, as the dust settled on a match of high drama and the noise followed the 42,579 crowd on to the streets, Gillett stood alone in the same spot in the directors? box, watching Liverpool?s players go through their post-match warm-down exercises. Steven Gerrard spotted him and offered a thumbs-up. Gillett smiled down and clasped his hands together almost reverently. ?Thank you so much,? he called to the Liverpool captain before telling a handful of reporters near by that the evening had been ?like nothing I?ve ever heard or felt before?.

 

A cheesy Kodak moment or the blossoming of a Liverpool love affair? The cynic will remember how Gillett previously called the club a ?franchise? and, cringingly, ?the Liverpool Reds?, but the look on the American?s face throughtout the night ? as he listened to his first rendition of You?ll Never Walk Alone and as he sat, captivated, throughout 93 arresting minutes of action ? suggested that the one-time owner of the Harlem Globetrotters realises that he has happened on more than just a franchise.

 

On their only previous visit, the day that they faced the media to explain why they had bought a 62 per cent stake in Liverpool, Gillett and Hicks confessed to being football philistines. Gillett suggested that it was ?like buying the Boston Red Sox? ? an enormous compliment by all accounts, but, whatever the undoubted passion that endures for the finest baseball team in Massachusetts, both reflected last night that the Anfield experience belongs to another world.

 

And so the thought occurred, as it will certainly have done to Gillett and Hicks, how can Liverpool possibly leave Anfield, a move that would have been like the Romans turning their back on Circus Maximus for a slightly larger facility on the outskirts of the Eternal City? With its myriad memories ? the great European nights, yes, but perhaps above all the floral tributes that swamped the ground after the Hillsborough tragedy in 1989 ? it can, at times, feel less like a football stadium than a cathedral, a shrine, an ancient relic.

 

Some day in the coming weeks, though, a shovel will be thrust into the ground on a vast expanse of green around the corner from Anfield and the countdown on the old stadium?s life will begin. Liverpool plan to relocate the short distance to Stanley Park in the summer of 2009, shortly after which the bulldozers and the wrecking balls will move in on the old place, on the biggest trophy room in English football and, yes, on the old Spion Kop which, though rebuilt and seated in the mid-1990s, occasionally still reverberates as much as it did in its pomp.

 

?What a great one to start with,? Hicks had said beforehand and, if anything, the occasion surpassed its billing. There was the blockbusting long-range shooting of John Arne Riise, the bewitching footwork of Lionel Messi, the relentless drive of Gerrard, the languid genius of Ronaldinho and, bestriding it all, reacting to every Barcelona twist and turn, the colossal figure of Jamie Carragher, who, like the Kop, seems to double in size on nights such as this.

 

As the stalemate on the night continued, the nerves of the Kop were briefly replaced with a little of the humour of old. As Víctor Valdés, the goalkeeper, begged to have the ball back as the clock ticked down, a huge inflatable beachball was thrown back at him, much to the Spaniard?s confusion.

 

After Eidur Gudjohnsen, the former Chelsea forward, had made the aggregate scoreline 2-2, the final ten minutes were excruciating, but, as the old stadium shook to the sound of anthems old and new, a line from Gillett?s press conference a month ago sprang to mind. ?We don?t know about football, but we know about respect, winning and passion.?

 

Now you do, George. Now you do.

 

[Kahnee]

As the stalemate on the night continued, the nerves of the Kop were briefly replaced with a little of the humour of old. As Víctor Valdés, the goalkeeper, begged to have the ball back as the clock ticked down, a huge inflatable beachball was thrown back at him, much to the Spaniard?s confusion.

 

[JohnnyH]

 

That was very funny. He was looking for the ball, turned his back on the kop and when he turned around again the big inflatable ball was heading onto the pitch. He momentarily made a move to collect it and then realised his error. The whole pace just erupted.

[Spike]

it was funny when Valdes went to get the ball in the first half and the steward dropped it in front of him rather than handing it over. He went ballistic at the steward much to our delight

[Kahnee]

That was very funny. He was looking for the ball, turned his back on the kop and when he turned around again the big inflatable ball was heading onto the pitch. He momentarily made a move to collect it and then realised his error. The whole pace just erupted.

 

Either the cameras missed that or I blacked out for a second

[Buzz]

Either the cameras missed that or I blacked out for a second

I wondered what Valdes sent it to the Kop qat one point, must have been the beech ball.

[Moose]

There was a moment in the second half where the crowd jeered like there was a streaker or something and then the commentators made reference to there being two balls on the pitch, that must have been it.

[Guest JV]

Excellent read that.

[allez les rouges]

it was funny when Valdes went to get the ball in the first half and the steward dropped it in front of him rather than handing it over. He went ballistic at the steward much to our delight

 

i saw it, it was very funny.

[Boca]

Some interesting quotes here

 

 

New owner Tom Hicks signed hundreds of autographs in the rain last night as he left a delirious Anfield, promising an even better future for Liverpool.

 

Hicks, along with new co-owner George Gillett had just witnessed Liverpool's stunning aggregate defeat of European champions Barcelona to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

 

They were surrounded by assorted sons and colleagues in the Liverpool directors box, knowing that they were within touching distance of the 75% ownership of shares that will make their bid unconditional and pave the way for a full takeover.

 

The last-16 second-leg will be current chairman David Moores' last game as chairman. By the time the next Liverpool match comes around, the takeover will be complete.

 

Hicks was treated like a hero as fans jostled around him in the pouring rain, a giant Liverpool scarf around his neck, before he was whisked away in a giant people carrier with his entourage.

 

And Hicks said: "Everyone involved with Liverpool wants to be the very best.

 

"The new stadium is going to be very critical to that and we are going to be doing a lot of work on that while we're here. That is the next step and that will help us to be competitive with anybody.

 

"

 

Hicks and Gillett are expected to hold meetings with club officials as well as local council officials involved in the planning for the new Stanley Park stadium, before flying back to the States.

 

And Hicks made it clear that he sees Manchester United as the main rivals to his new Liverpool empire, not just champions Chelsea.

 

He added: "Chelsea's transfer market moves are probably going to slow down, from everything I hear.

 

"But we're not going to do that, I promise. The team east of here (Manchester United) is the club we have our eye on. They've been competitive over a long period of time and that's what Liverpool has the opportunity to do."

 

The new owners are unlikely to make any further announcements about their ownership of the club until the offer to all shareholders ends next week.

 

But Hicks had seen enough to know the acquisition of the club is going to be an exciting venture.

 

The Barcelona second-leg was the first match he and Gillett had seen live, and he said: "What a great game to start with.

 

"With the modern wonders of satellite television, I've been able to watch every game in the States. We took in the game in Barcelona from a ski resort in Canada, and we watched the match with Manchester United from our baseball team's spring training camp in Phoenix.

 

"So it's good to be at a game in person. Tonight's very special. George and I are thrilled to be here with our sons. There couldn't be a better match."

[RP]

"F*** me, we're involved in something here".

[johngibo YPC]

There was a moment in the second half where the crowd jeered like there was a streaker or something and then the commentators made reference to there being two balls on the pitch, that must have been it.

 

No, that was different. The Kop kept the ball so they got another one. When play restarted the ball got thrown on the pitch

That beachball thing was genius

[Billy Dane]

It looked like the ref was giving Gerrard a b******ing over the beachball... "if they do that again, you're in big trouble."...

[johngibo YPC]

?Will I always have this much fun when I come to Anfield??

 

Someone needs to have a word with Mr Hicks about what its like against Fulham in the league!!

[Magic8Ball]

wonder if somehow we can get the stadium capacity upgraded from 60,000 to 80,000