With former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett back in the news, now's as good a time as any to remember that as bad as this season has been, it could have always been worse. Plus Charlie Adam's expected season-long absence is finally confirmed, and with the pre-season tour fully set it's time to send Liverpool Football Club your money…
* 2010's epic swindle may feel as though it took place ages ago, but the resultant legal action continues on apace, and the latest word out of the London high court is that the judge in charge of the case doesn't consider the dashing duo comprised of Messrs Hicks and Gillett to be especially trustworthy. Much to the joy of Liverpool fans everywhere, when the pair sought access to financial documents of the Royal Bank of Scotland—the entity holding the club's debt at the time of sale—Justice Peter Smith said the bank was "entitled to be fearful about potential misconduct" should they had over said documents.
Referring to a 2010 injunction to block the club's sale by the former owners in Texas court, a case that saw the pair's lawyers argue they couldn't ask for the injunction in England as the courts there were closed and that moreover no similar application had earlier been made there—both patently untrue—the judge further said, "I do not trust them. They have demonstrated that if it suits them they will abuse the process."
However, English lawyers for Hicks and Gillett will still be allowed to review the documents in question. The two Americans and any of their other representatives, though, will not be allowed direct access.
* Moving back to more immediate issues concerning the club, in his Thursday press conference ahead of the weekend's game against Norwich, Kenny Dalglish confirmed that Charlie Adam will in fact miss the remainder of the season. Given that everybody assumed his absence would at least last into the summer, this belated confirmation a full month after he suffered the initial injury colliding with QPR's Armand Traore manages to seem both entirely unexpected and completely anticlimactic.
If there was any doubt previously, then, it's now certain that Adam will miss the rest of Liverpool's season. He also isn't expected to be ready in time for the Olympics on the off chance Team GB would have wanted to take him to London as one of their three permitted over-age players. Good news for the player, however, comes from the fact that he will not require surgery on the knee, and as a result should be ready to begin training with the club in time for next season.
* For those looking to sort their summer vacation plans, Liverpool have finally completely finalised and publicly confirmed a North American pre-season tour that feels as though its been common knowledge for at least the past six months with trips to Toronto, Boston, and WashingtonBaltimore set for the end of July. But on the off chance you hadn't heard about it when each of the individual dates was speculated about, confirmed by sources, leaked, and officially announced, now you know that the whole thing has been sorted and set.
The club has also set up a portal so that you can easily buy tickets, thereby sending them cash monies with which they will be able to fund this summer's spending spree on Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, mk. 2. Or maybe on players actually capable of fitting into a fluid pass and move side and helping the club get back into the top four. One or the other.
The North American series kicks off with the runt of the litter as they take on Toronto FC in Toronto, followed by games against Roma at Boston's Fenway Park and Tottenham in Baltimore. No word on if they plan on offering ticket packages including a tour of filming locations from The Wire for the Baltimore date.
We'll be back later with any breaking news, but in the meantime, remember, it could always be worse…