Opinion | Liverpool at Christian Purslow’s Villa is a reminder for supporters of darker days gone by
- Englishman was chief executive at Liverpool from 2009 to 2010
- He is now in the same role at newly promoted Aston Villa
Not many people at Liverpool have fond memories of Christian Purslow. The chief executive of Aston Villa will take his seat in the Villa Park directors’ box with a characteristically confident swagger on Saturday to watch his club host Liverpool. Yet even someone with as little self-awareness as the 55-year-old must wince at some of the memories of his time on Merseyside.
This is the man who brought Roy Hodgson to Anfield, the managing director who signed Joe Cole and gave the midfielder a contract worth £140,000 (US$180,900) per week.
Purslow called himself “the Fernando Torres of finance”, but left behind fiscal carnage at Liverpool that took years to unravel. The ramifications of the decision to pay Pepe Reina more than £100,000 per week nine years ago were still being felt in Kiev last year when Loris Karius made two catastrophic errors in the 3-1 Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.
Ten years ago, when Purslow was appointed at Liverpool, Anfield was a mess. The owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, had been in control for two years. The pair had bought Anfield and loaded the debt on to the club. Then the credit crunch hit and the Americans were struggling to pay back the loans. Rafa Benitez, who had won one Champions League in 2005 and led the team to the final again two years later, was in open warfare with the board. The Spirit of Shankly Supporters’ Union (SOS) was formed and fans were marching and chanting in protest at every opportunity. Top-class players like Torres and Javier Mascherano were beginning to consider their futures. Into this environment Purslow arrived to save the day.
His brief was to sell the club. It turned out not to be as easy as Purslow thought. That did not matter. The private equity trader enjoyed life as a football executive.