I don't think it's just about the owners, though they have been a big factor in Liverpool's current plight. I think Rafa Benitez had lost the dressing room. When players like Gerrard, Torres, Carragher, Mascherano and Benayoun have publicly displayed a lack of faith in the manager hinting that they may move on if he stays and because of his cautious approach in his style of play leading to frankly boring and unnattractive football and finishing outside of the Champions League places his position becomes untenable. I think it was Jose Mourinho who said last year that if Rafa had been at any other big club in Europe with the results he was getting he'd have been sacked a long time ago.