wigan

kesho tunakipiga na wiga. kwa habari za ujio wa mpambano huo bofya hapa huku ukiimba 'yu wili neva woki aloni....' halafu usiikose makala hiyo chini.

Keith Costigan - Liverpool fanatic and football broadcaster in the States with Fox Sports - explains why the Reds are in good hands under the leadership of George Gillett and Tom Hicks in this week's 'LFC Letter From...' column.

Ten years ago I left my homeland of Ireland for the good old USA to follow my own soccer dreams. Although I wanted to go and follow my playing endeavours, it was a difficult move to make as I knew it would be hard being even further from my beloved Reds (I mean Dublin already felt an eternity away).

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that The Reds would have to follow me Stateside to find owners to keep pace with the other big clubs in Europe. It is a move that I believe will make Liverpool the most feared side in world football.

Still, never did I see this coming when I was a kid. Growing up in Dublin, Ireland, you basically had two choices in who you supported. With my big brother supporting Man Utd, I did what any loving brother would do and chose Liverpool as my team. My first memory was seeing Liverpool, not in their traditional Red, but in their all yellow strip. The minute I saw Rushie score in that kit at Villa Park I knew Liverpool was my team.

Over the next ten years I would make several trips to Anfield to watch the Reds trounce on all opposition that was put in their path. It was particularly pleasing to rub my big brother's nose in the fact that Liverpool were the most successful team in the land.

It also seemed that anytime a big name player was available for transfer in England then The Reds were always favourites to get him. John Barnes and Peter Beardsley were just two, and when Derby were ready to sell one of the league's most deadly marksmen, Dean Saunders chose Anfield as his destination (okay, so it didn't always work out for us).

Then all of a sudden we were playing in the Premier League and not Division One and Liverpool could not repeat the success of the eighties (and I didn't answer the phone as much to my brother). It seemed that football had really changed and other teams had embraced the business side of Sky's new approach to football.

When Liverpool won the league it was celebrated by a lap of honour and then the players and trophy disappeared down the tunnel until the new season. Now teams had DVD'S and books on their championship run.

Still this won't last I said to myself, but it has, and if I am being honest over the last few years Liverpool have competed less and less for the big name players on the market and we have seen some very un-Liverpool like players pull on the Reds' shirt(El Hadji Diouf and Cheyrou to name a few).

The improbable run to the Champions League in 2005 brought us into the world eye again but another season without a Premiership crown meant we needed to do something to compete. This brings me to our new owners and what it actually means for our great club.

Living in the US over the last decade I have learnt a lot about American sports and how they are run. I want to let you know that with the owners we have got, I believe we could not have got a better partnership. Everybody I have talked to over here about Tom Hicks and George Gillett have the utmost respect for the duo.

They are both seen as great businessmen in the sporting world and, most importantly for Liverpool fans, they do not interfere with the playing side of things.

Tom Hicks is known as a man who will do anything for his team to win(most notably signing Alex Rodriguez for the Texas Rangers to the richest contract in sport - $252 million). He said he did it because he wanted to "win at all costs". Sounds like the kind of man I would like backing Rafa.

With George Gillett we have got a man who certainly is a man of the people. He is known for mixing with the fans of his Montreal Canadiens and he loves to take on board their advice (hope he can understand the Scouse accent).

When he took over the Canadiens there was a lot of talk of withholding the tradition of that team, and from what I can gather he has certainly done that and more.

Together Gillett and Hicks have also been involved in the structure of many state of the art stadiums so the future of our new home is in good hands as they are already looking at ways to improve the plans on it.

So the last decade has seen a lot of change for my Reds and I hope that will be same for the next ten years. In 2017 I hope to be in our new stadium (whatever the name) with 70,000 screaming fans singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as our procession to our third successive title continues.

Think it sounds far fetched? Well just think of the last ten years and you will see anything is possible.