Amid all the celebrations of Liverpool's Premier League success, club legend Phil Thompson joined Friday's OTB AM to single out the important role that has been played by the club's owners in making the turnaround in fortunes possible.
From sitting on the brink of administration to regaining their status as one of the world's outstanding clubs, it has been a turbulent decade for Liverpool.
Through a raft of acute signings on and off the pitch, a club that had not so long ago looked a shadow of its previous self has risen once more. Friday's night confirmation of their Premier League success is already being viewed as a staging post for more victories to come.
"It has been quite a big, big turnaround," admitted Phil Thompson on Friday's OTB AM. "We had to believe in the owners, we had to believe in Jurgen and now we're getting our rewards."
As the manager and players were receiving the majority of the credit on Friday's OTB AM, however, Thompson took some time to address those without which Liverpool's turnaround would almost certainly have never occurred: the Fenway Sports Group; the club's owners.
"They were quick learners because they had seen what Hicks and Gillett had not done and they adapted quickly," he remarked of FSG's ability to not fall foul of the same mistakes that plagued Liverpool's previous owners. "What they had done in Boston [with the Red Sox] they replicated on Merseyside.
"They didn't make promises that they weren't going to be able to keep and weren't pronouncing that they're billionaires and going to throw loads of money at it, they were clever and they've done things the right way."
Liverpool owner John W. Henry (left) and chairman Tom Werner. Beyond the success that has been witnessed on the field of play, Thompson was at pains to point out the invaluable work that has been done off it too.
Alongside FSG's willingness to engage the local community and foster those existing links between Liverpool and the club's fans, what they have done with Anfield itself has impressed Thompson.
"Look at the new Main Stand, it is quite astonishing," he noted with a nod to their shrewdness at balancing their ability to spend on these renovations while keeping a competitive team going. "They've kept money to make sure it goes to building the side.
"The Anfield Road side will get done too when the finances are right and it just feels like they've brought a lot of sense to the operation."
There is plenty for Liverpool fans to get stuck into from Friday's OTB AM. Listen back to Graeme Souness, Mark Lawrenson, Phil Thompson, Jason McAteer and Team OTB's own reaction to the long-awaited success.
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