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Since confirmation late on Sunday that 12 of Europe’s richest clubs intended to form a breakaway European Super League, it has been difficult to ignore that those who made the decisions have hid in the background and left those who didn’t to face the consequences.
Managers and players have been left to face the press and try to handle the criticism without having known the Super League was coming or even having since been briefed on why their clubs are moving towards it, leaving them to fill in the blanks themselves.
The cowardice, the lack of basic respect or consideration for the faces of the clubs involved in the attempted founding of the Super League, has been striking, and it doesn’t look as though Liverpool’s players and coaching staff will be getting answers any time soon.
“We know that this announcement has provoked strong feelings within the game and elsewhere,” read the first attempt to bring them into the loop, an email from chief executive Billy Hogan on Monday as Jürgen Klopp and the players prepared to face Leeds United.
“We believe this decision is in the best long-term interests of Liverpool Football Club. Importantly, and we can now start an engagement process with you, supporters, and key stakeholders. I will keep you updated and discuss further on our Town Hall tomorrow.”
According to David Lynch of This Is Anfield, Tuesday’s Town Hall meeting has since been cancelled, leaving all those who work for the club largely still in the dark two full days and one Premier League game after news of the planned Super League began to break.
Beyond the cowardice and inconsideration shown by leaving club staff in the dark, given players and coaching staff would need to at least accept the vision for it to be implemented it seems almost preposterous they have been left to draw their own conclusions.
From a basic human standpoint, Fenway Sports Group’s treatment of the public faces of Liverpool Football Club in their Super League rollout seems crass and immoral. From a business standpoint, it lands as simple incompetence.