How JW Henry & FSG privately reacted to the outrage that followed their furlough decision

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FSG believed their initial decision to furlough staff would be counteracted by the fact they were topping up wages by 20% to make sure nobody was out of pocket.

This is according to James Pearce, who writes an excellent piece in the Athletic about the events of the past five days.

Pearce states that owner JW Henry was among those ‘shocked’ by the outcry that followed Saturday’s announcement – and was part of a call on Monday that unanimously decided to reverse the decision.

“The Athletic understands principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner (both pictured top) and FSG president Mike Gordon were “shocked” by the torrent of criticism and stung by what they regard as unfair accusations of greed. During a series of conference calls on Monday, they were in full agreement that back-tracking was the best solution to limiting the damage caused by the fallout,” Pearce writes.

“The club hierarchy believed criticism of their furlough decision would be mitigated by the fact that, unlike Tottenham Hotspur, they would be topping up the 80 per cent coming from the government with the remaining 20 per cent to ensure that no employee would be left out of pocket.

“They were wrong. And the backlash over the weekend was so toxic that The Athletic understands a number of other Premier League clubs who had intended to announce the furloughing of staff have since decided to shelve those plans.”

We were delighted to see the club act quickly and they were rightly praised for listening to the fans on Monday evening.

They’ve dropped the ball on a few occasions since taking charge, but everyone makes mistakes – and the key thing they’ve displayed (as they did in 2016 when they reversed a decision to hike ticket prices) is an ability to apologise and listen.

That proves the power of the LFC fanbase.

Imagine being a Spurs fan right now… Their owners sacked Mauricio Pochettino, appointed Jose Mourinho, oversaw the team’s demise into a mid-table club and have not apologised for furloughing staff. (They were not even topping up the wages with the other 20%, either.)

FSG are very good, all things considered.

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