Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks branded chief executive Rick Parry's tenure a "disaster" on Thursday, saying the club was lagging behind top European rivals by failing to capitalise on commercial opportunities in Asia.
Hicks repeated a call for Parry to quit and vowed to buy out co-owner George Gillett, although his fellow American partner has said he would not sell his 50 percent stake in the Premier League club to Hicks.
The billionaire owners have both admitted their relationship has broken down since buying the five-times European champions in Feb. 2007 for 218.9 million pounds ($432 million). Hicks told Sky Sports News he hoped to change Gillett's mind over selling up.
"I am planning to make him a very attractive offer," he told the television channel without elaborating. "It's complicated but it's going to happen (Hicks buying Gillett out) although I can't force George to accept." He said that if he ever managed to buy Gillett's stake, his aim was to secure the club's finances and keep team manager Rafael Benitez on board.
"My goal is take all the debt off the club except the working capital needed and get the permanent financing totally in place for the (new) stadium," he said. "If I were to buy George out, the first thing I would do is offer Rafa (Benitez) a one-year extension to make sure he is going to be here up to when we get the stadium."
Takeover negotiations with Dubai International Capital (DIC), an investment consortium which made a 400 million pounds bid for Liverpool last month, have also broken down, media have reported.
Hicks, who was reported by British media last week to have sent Parry a letter calling on him to quit his post, blamed the chief executive for Liverpool's failure to keep up with other clubs commercially. "If you look at what has happened under Rick's leadership, it has been a disaster," he said.
"We have fallen so far behind the other top clubs. The new stadium should have been built three or four years ago. "We have two sponsors, maybe three. We should have 12 or 15. We are not doing anything in Asia the way Manchester United and Barcelona are."
He said the club was failing to capitalise on its large number of fans in Asia and losing out on the chance to make money there which could be used to buy players. "Rick needs to resign from Liverpool football club. He's put his heart into it but it is time for a change," Hicks said. Parry said he had not been asked to resign by the Liverpool board and added that, unlike Hicks, he was not prepared to discuss the issue in public.
"The board has not asked me to resign and that is the only forum it will be discussed in," Parry told Setanta Sports News. "I think the season is speaking for itself, Champions League semi-finalists again."