A CLUB saddled with huge debts, no money for signings, angry fans protesting and a messy legal battle before a takeover finally kicks Tom Hicks out the door and leads to a swift upturn in the side’s fortunes.

Sound familiar? For Liverpool, read Major League Baseball team Texas Rangers.

The parallels between their stories are uncanny. Hicks is about as popular in Arlington as he is in Aigburth.

After buying the Rangers in 1998, Hicks oversaw a disastrous decade which ended with him running the team into the ground.

In 2009 the Hicks Sports Group defaulted on repayments for $525m worth of loans and in a bid to fend off creditors he placed the Rangers into administrative bankruptcy. Baseball’s governing body had to act as the administrator and loaned them $40m just to keep going.

Finally, in August 2010 a court ruled that the Rangers had to be sold at auction and Hicks was stripped of any role in the sale process.

Since the dark spectre of Hicks was lifted the Rangers have enjoyed a swift revival. And just as at Anfield, a club legend is leading the charge in the form of ex-pitcher Nolan Ryan, the principal owner and president.

The Rangers are currently contesting the World Series with St Louis Cardinals as they look to win baseball’s greatest honour for the first time.

Pity supporters of Hicks’ remaining ‘franchise’ as the nightmare for Dallas Stars ice hockey fans is not yet over.

The Stars have missed the play-offs for three successive seasons and last month lenders voted to have the Stars file for bankruptcy and sold at auction. From today prospective buyers have 30 days to submit a bid.