Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has a new job — peacemaker.
The Spaniard wants to end the internal strife his club and help US co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr resolve their standoff.
There is added urgency after Liverpool was held 1-1 by Chelsea on Tuesday in the first leg of the European Champions League semi-final with Hicks at Anfield for the first time since December.
But the meeting is unlikely to happen before next Wednesday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge.
Benitez wants the pair to end their public feuding as his players bid for a third European Cup final in four years.
“We must be positive,” he said.
Benitez, who earlier this season learned that Juergen Klinsmann was being courted as his possible replacement, met with Hicks at Liverpool’s training ground before Tuesday’s match.
“We were talking about maybe having a meeting with the owners and bringing everyone together,” Benitez said. “It think it will be positive if we are all together.”
Hicks is feeling the wrath of fans after foiling a Dubai oil consortium from taking control of the club.
Before kickoff, fans flicked abusive hand signals at Hicks as he appeared to join in the five-time European champion’s anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone, while his son Tom Hicks Jr — a club director — waved a Liverpool scarf in the air. Chelsea fans bellowed taunts of “USA! USA!” during the early stages of the match.
Despite the result, the Hicks family emerged from Anfield in a congenial mood after emerging mostly unscathed.
Gillett had been planning to also attend the first leg, but he didn’t travel to northern England on doctors’ advice.
That didn’t lessen the tension after the owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team invited officials from Dubai International Capital (DIC) to sit in the director’s area.
Hicks has threatened to block Gillett from selling his 50 percent stake in the Premier League club to DIC, which has pledged to restore stability.
Representing the Gillett family were DIC chief executive Samir Al-Ansari, a Liverpool fan who arrived from the United Arab Emirates to join chief negotiator Amanda Staveley.
Police warned the club about the fans potentially targeting Hicks and Gillett.
“Security advice was provided to the club based on standard ongoing risk assessments,” Merseyside Police said. “As with any other event, the safety of all those attending has been considered.”
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