Spirit of Shankly welcomes the news of Rick Parry’s imminent departure from Liverpool FC. Although Rick has worked to build bridges with fans over the last year, the sad fact is his handling of the Athens ticket fiasco, the sale of the family silver to the tragicomically inept Americans and his part in the ongoing civil war at the club meant his position has been untenable for some time.

 His departure appears to mark the imminent demise of his ally George Gillett. The consistent undermining of the position of manager by these two has been an insult to the principle set out by Bill Shankly some 40 years ago – that the club has a “Holy Trinity” of players, manager & fans, with the role of directors being to sign the cheques.

Tom Hicks should be under no illusion that today’s announcement does nothing to enhance his position in the eyes of our members. We will continue to campaign for his and Gillett’s departure as they have proven incontrovertibly that they are not fit custodians of Liverpool Football Club.