Why Ayre’s TV proposal can’t happen

ACCORDING to Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre, no-one in the Far East watches Bolton Wanderers. Given the standard of entertainment on show at Anfield on Saturday, perhaps they might want to give it a try.

A drab 1-1 draw with the champions was thoroughly eclipsed by the Trotters’ vibrant 3-1 win at arguably the league’s least fashionable club, Wigan. Is it too much to hope that a lesson has been learned somewhere? Probably.

In Ayre’s defence, he moved to clarify his remarks last Friday, assuring supporters that he had no plans to negotiate overseas TV deals independently, as they do in Spain, he just wanted to say that the existing equal share was unpalatable to the more marketable clubs. That’s a slightly more understandable stance but it must not be allowed to happen. The wealth gap is too wide already. Widening it further to suit Liverpool is hardly a solution.