Rift rumours persist after Rafael BenÍtez fails to get backing Oliver Kay Liverpool were quick yesterday to dampen speculation that Tom Hicks, one of their co-owners, was preparing to sell his 50 per cent stake in the club, but that is just about the only emphatic statement from Anfield over the course of a week in which Rafael BenÍtez has been given no reassurances about his position at the club. BenÍtez claimed yesterday that he is now “happy” with the situation at Liverpool, having sought to put his spat with Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the co-chairmen, behind him. BenÍtez has had no contact from the owners since the e-mail from Hicks that so enraged him nine days ago, and there remains concern at the club that fundamental problems are being ignored. Foster Gillett, son of George, was appointed in the summer as a “linkman” between BenÍtez and the owners, based at the club’s training ground, but he has had little or no contact with the manager since returning to Merseyside on Wednesday after four weeks away. Rick Parry, the chief executive, is the other potential go-between, but his working relationship with BenÍtez remains uneasy, despite what the manager described as a “positive” two-hour meeting last Monday. In a statement yesterday, Parry declared that reports that Hicks was preparing to sell his 50 per cent share-holding were “complete rubbish”, while the Texan was said to be “angered” by the claim. But there have been no such unequivocal statements or denials from Anfield or from the United States in response to reports about BenÍtez’s position. It is no secret that the working relationship between Hicks and Gillett is running far from smoothly, but the pair are close to confirming a £500 million refinancing package. That deal, however, will take the club hundreds of millions of pounds into debt, another source of deep concern for Liverpool’s supporters at a time when their faith in the supposed American dream is being tested to the limit. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle2980601.ece