LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) - Liverpool have been plunged into a new boardroom crisis after George Gillett confirmed that his relationship with fellow co-owner Tom Hicks had broken down against a backdrop of death threats from disgruntled fans.
Gillett, who jointly bought the club with his fellow American last year, admitted he was now considering buying out his partner and revealed that his life had been threatened by supporters who, he believes, have been antagonised by ill-judged statements from Hicks.
In comments which would seem to preclude any reconciliation between the two men, Gillett said: "This partnership has been unworkable for some time."
Speaking to Canadian radio station FAN590, he added: "We have tried to be co-operative, we have tried to be supportive but when your public persona is more important than the facts, that makes it difficult to have a rational relationship."
When they jointly bought Liverpool, Gillett and Hicks both agreed they would not sell their stakes to a third party without first agreeing to the move between themselves.
Hicks recently used the accord to prevent Gillett from selling his stake to Dubai Investment Capital (DIC), angering many fans who have not forgiven Hicks for a perceived attempt to replace popular manager Rafael Benitez last year.
Gillett claimed Hicks had failed to buy him out when he had the chance and that he could not now contemplate selling to his estranged partner because of the hostility among supporters.
"We were very fair," Gillett said. "We gave our partner (Hicks) a long period of time to try to make arrangements to buy us out ... but he ultimately did not get to the finish line."
In the meantime, the reaction of fans to Hicks had been so negative as to make selling out to him an "untenable alternative", Gillett added.
"He threatened to block me selling to Dubai - that was certainly one of the things that made the fans upset.
"Lord knows DIC have the money; with oil prices going up every day, that's not an issue. They certainly have the history and they are fans.
"I think they would have been very responsible owners. But making that not possible or difficult didn't endear people to the fans."
Gillett said he was receiving up to 2,000 emails a week, "95 percent of them directed at some of the comments made by my partner and five per cent aimed at both of us."
He added: "The thing that angers fans the most is the prospect I might sell even one share of my stock to my partner.
"They do not want him to have any controlling interest in this club - they do not even want him to have any ownership in the club.
"As a result of that - and it's been very difficult for my wife with the amount that I travel - we receive many phone calls in the middle of the night threatening our lives, death threats.
"It's interesting the calls are not against my wife or myself or my son or my daughter-in-law, as much as they are against us selling to our partner.
"So we are rethinking that. Frankly, I don't think it's fair for me to put my family in that kind of danger.
"So instead of thinking about selling, I might think about buying."
Given that Gillett initially brought Hicks on board because he could not buy Liverpool on his own, many observers will question whether that suggestion is realistic.
Hicks held talks with DIC earlier this month but broke them off abruptly after the investment arm of the Gulf Emirate indicated that it would want a say in the running of the club in return for taking a minority stake.
DIC were involved in advanced talks on buying Liverpool entirely before Hicks and Gillett took control last year and may now be tempted to make a fresh bid to buy out both Americans.
Both Benitez and Liverpool's captain Steven Gerrard have stated that the boardroom machinations at the club have not helped the team this season and there is growing support among supporters for a project aimed at buying the club.
It would then be run as a cooperative on the model of Barcelona, where the club president is directly elected by fans.
