And the douchebags of the year are...

And the douchebags of the year award goes to..

If there ever is an award for douchebags of the year in the footballing world, it would certainly have to go to Tom Hicks and George Gillette. Never before have two men who know absolutely nothing of football have been this determined to destroy a football club. Time and again, the duo have defied all logic and rationality to cling on to an asset that should very well be classified as distressed.

And as if being told off by the British High Court wasn't enough, Hicks and Gillette have confirmed they would rather drag the club towards a nine-point deduction than admit defeat. Despite yesterday's ruling in London, Hicks and Gillette have won an injunction against the ruling from, get this, a district court in Hicks' home state of Texas. That's right. A district court. Not only did they defy the court ruling in Britain, they decided to insult it too by getting an injunction from a district court.

And so, the rest of Liverpool's board are heading back to the British High Court to sort this mess out and proceed with the sale of the club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV). Among the things that will be discussed will probably be whether an injunction in America could have an effect on the ruling in Britain. I'm no law expert but I can't for the life of me see how the district court in Texas can stop the sale.

Of course, there will be a hearing for the injunction at the court in Texas but guess what, it would only happen on Oct 25, well after the deadline for Liverpool to repay its debt to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). So I guess Hicks and Gillette's last roll of the dice is merely a big "screw you" to Liverpool and its legions of fans around the world who hate the American duo.

It is also interesting that this district court in Texas saw it fit to give them the injunction to stop the sale. Hicks and Gillette claimed the rest of Liverpool's board are in cohorts with RBS and that, for some weird reason or other, were determined to sell the club below its market valuation. Oh, wait, I forget. There is a reason. According to Hicks and Gillette, the reason why Liverpool's board is willing to sell the club for less is because RBS has given it strict instructions to make sure Hicks and Gillette see no returns for their investments.

What returns are these guys going on about? Are they living in some parallel universe where Liverpool is a successful football club? Worse yet is how they claim there are parties out there willing to pay GBP400 million for the Reds. If that's true, how come we've never heard of them? I'm pretty sure they would have voiced their frustrations to the press, much like what Peter Lim has done.

But as Hicks and Gillette continue with their la-la land valuations for the club in their head, Liverpool's real market value has steadily dropped. Anyone can tell you that a team that's not in the Champions League and sitting third from the bottom in the Premier League is certainly not worth GBP400 million. Anyone that knows football that is, which is probably why they went to get an injunction from a district court in Texas where they've only heard about Liverpool in connection with the Beatles.

There's also another rumour floating around which makes even less sense but has gotten everyone's attention. US hedge fund, Mill Financial, which owns George Gillette's shares in the club after the the latter failed to repay a loan to the fund, has bought over Tom Hicks' shares in a private deal and is now the largest shareholder in the club and effectively the new owner. How this is has happened and whether it's true remains quite a mystery.

But I am a little baffled if such a thing can be allowed. Gillette shares can be held by Mill Financial because he had pledged his shares in Liverpool as collateral for the loan he took from the fund. But could have Mill Financial made a secret deal to buyout Hicks' shares yesterday?

From a corporate governance point of view, it would seem unlikely as the shareholders, based on their agreements with RBS, need to have board approval in order to sell the club. And since selling the club involves selling their shares, then wouldn't Hicks have needed board approval to sell his shares to Mill Financial?

Then there's the Premier League's rules. If indeed Mill Financial has acquired both Hicks and Gillette's stakes in the club, it would effectively be the new owner of Liverpool FC. But don't all new owners have to take a test from the Premier League? And seeing as to how the Premier League hasn't made any announcement regarding Mill Financial, it would then suggest that the latter hasn't yet become the new owners of the club and may very well fail the test.

What's a frightening prospect for Liverpool fans are rumours that Mill Financial's got enough to repay the RBS loan this week and will then seek another buyer for the club and send it further down the spiral. Worse of all, Hicks may still be involved in the picture.