by LFC2007 » Thu May 24, 2012 6:16 pm
Upon taking over they massively reduced the debt burden on the club, invested fairly substantial sums of money in new players and appointed the right man for the job in Kenny. Few would dispute that those were three very significant steps that put us in a much healthier situation than we had been under the previous regime.
Since then, we've not progressed at the pace we'd all hoped to and that's resulted in a change of manager -- a bold, some would say premature move on FSG's part. Whether it turns out to be the correct decision remains to be seen, though I suspect that unless the new manager achieves remarkable success there will always be those who will say that Kenny could have achieved the same, if not more had he remained in charge. I won't be one of them, so long as the man replacing Kenny has us progressing at a reasonable pace. It's one thing to wonder what might have been, but at some point we actually have to move on and judge the new guy in line with reasonable expectations.
In respect of the search for the new manager, based on what we know, I can't agree that FSG have gone about the process in the wrong way. From Dave Whelan to Frank Do Boer, it's everyone but FSG who are leaking the club's interest to the press and they have no means of controlling what those people choose to divulge. Do the candidates who are apparently under consideration give us any reason to be concerned? Possibly, given how inexperienced some of the main contenders are. But there are a number of examples of managers coming from lower levels and having major success at the very top, Rafa being the classic example. His experience consisted of managing Osasuna, Extremadura and Tenerife (Spanish for: Swansea, Wigan and Norwich) before taking over and winning league titles at Valencia.
Like others, I'm concerned about the so-called new 'management structure', particularly if it means the manager can be overruled by a DOF or similar on matters relating to the team. The man who works day in day out with the players is the man best placed to make decisions on tactics and new signings, not an executive above his head. Again, though, we're yet to find out how it will work and just as there are examples of inexperienced managers who make the successful jump to much bigger clubs, there are also club, like Barca, that have thrived under different management structures to the traditional manager/chief exec relationship.
How we progress off the pitch will very much depend on how we fair on it. That's why top four football is so important. We need the money and the lure of CL football to attract the players to help us win the trophies that will sustain our success. It will also help drive revenues, and they'll be needed to help fund a bigger stadium which according to Ayre, we're making good progress towards, so on that score, there is no reason as yet to think they won't deliver on their promise or at least no reason to believe they have no intention of doing so.
All in all, although they've taken some bold decisions, as yet I see no major cause for alarm. Early days, though.