Liverpool FC Forum

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Cheers PC, those figures seem much more plausible.

[kazza]

Cash in the bank is awful. It shows we are living beyond our means ( from a smart business sense). You look at Spurs and they have less turnover, half our wages and with huge reserves yet they out performed us on the field in the last couple of years. I mention Spurs because we probably follow the same model as them and they will get a new stadium soon so their revenue will skyrocket.

Also shows our owners are doing what they can and are certainly not fleecing the club.

[Pig Catcher]

To me it shows that FSG are making whatever they can available to the football side of the club. But it also shows that they are achieving a very poor return on that. Ultimately it is their responsibility to put the right people and structures in place to ensure we are achieving results that match the investment. I don’t buy the nonsense from people who say they are fleecing the club or are being too conservative with spending, but it’s fair to say that we are underachieving on the footballing side and the buck stops with them. In terms of putting the right people in place, Klopp was a good move and we’ll see how Edwards gets on with trying to secure transfer targets having taken on that responsibility from Ayre.

[Doeboy]

Cash in the bank is awful. It shows we are living beyond our means ( from a smart business sense). You look at Spurs and they have less turnover, half our wages and with huge reserves yet they out performed us on the field in the last couple of years. I mention Spurs because we probably follow the same model as them and they will get a new stadium soon so their revenue will skyrocket.

Also shows our owners are doing what they can and are certainly not fleecing the club.

Have to admit, Levy at spurs is doing a very good job with them. Reading the papers, always got the impression he is a businessman more concerned with profit rather than what's on the pitch but to be fair to to him, they are getting it right on the pitch to. Does make you wonder once their new stadium done and all paid off, they will start paying out more in wages and move up a level.

My worry with us is that we don't have someone as astute enough on the ground on a day to day basis. Also personally I don't buy into this whole 'transfer committee'. Just seems a convenient hiding place for individuals under the umbrella of a 'committee' with a lack of any real accountability.

Fully endorse the use of stats/scouting in terms of bringing players in but in the current setup just feel as though the dynamic is wrong and this committee can be seen to undermine the manager at times when it's the manager who's head is on the chopping board while those in the committee conveniently remain in the shadows.

I look at Chilwell and Zielinski last summer, young players Klopp was apparently very keen on who wouldn't have cost the earth in today's market (We could have got both for around £20-23m) but we fail to get it done. Klopp is the best judge of which players will fit in HIS system and he will be able to work with. If he gets it wrong, he is accountable.

The stats men and scouts should be their to supplement his decision making but in my opinion they are there as a buffer in order for FSG to get what they really want and to find an excuse not to buy a player the manager is keen to buy but less so FSG, whether it be for financial reasons or any other

[Doeboy]

To me it shows that FSG are making whatever they can available to the football side of the club. But it also shows that they are achieving a very poor return on that. Ultimately it is their responsibility to put the right people and structures in place to ensure we are achieving results that match the investment. I don’t buy the nonsense from people who say they are fleecing the club or are being too conservative with spending, but it’s fair to say that we are underachieving on the footballing side and the buck stops with them. In terms of putting the right people in place, Klopp was a good move and we’ll see how Edwards gets on with trying to secure transfer targets having taken on that responsibility from Ayre.

FSG obviously have a lot of faith in Michael Edwards. Has gone from a stats man to taking over transfer negotiations from Ayre. My personal opinion? He is a yes man for FSG and put in place for a reason and personally speaking, I'd prefer a more experienced pair of hands dealing with our transfers. Pretty much Commoli MK2 and a convenient buffer between the owners.

Very interested to see how we go about transfers this summer.

[parchpea]

Well weve got in the top 4 for once and Klopp has done it on a pretty low budget compared to rivals and contending with injuries to key players.

Last time we did it FSG didnt seize the opportunity to push us on by investing enough or on the right calibre of player so this time must be different.

Klopp must be backed in the market and the chance to buy top class players must not pass us by again after the all the pain and suffering getting here.

[devaney]

SHOW ME THE MONEY !!!!!

[C-R]

[devaney]

Thanks CR - what a great film !!

[7_Kewell]

Ian Ayre resigned as general manager of 1860 Munich this morning 

[metalhead]

Ian Ayre resigned as general manager of 1860 Munich this morning 

to be fair to Ayre, 1860 Munich were in heaps of financial and management trouble, they got relegated to the amateur league.

He joined a sinking ship, not even the most talented manager would steady a messed up club.

[parchpea]

I think what it does show is Ayres standing in the game, he didnt get an elite job offer and in my opinion was very lucky to stay with us as long as he did.

We can only hope our new CEO takes the club to another level.

[kazza]

FSG and LFC: It’s time for Liverpool to live dangerously again
Neil Poole

11 June 2015
Neil Poole is concerned that Liverpool’s owners don’t have the appetite to make the big changes necessary for the club to compete at the top of the league again. It’s time to stop playing safe and live a bit more dangerously.

There’s nothing malevolent about FSG. They don’t have a total disregard for Liverpool Football Club. They are not Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Hicks and Gillett rode into Liverpool on buckaroos, all rootin’ tootin’ antics. Smith and Wesson revolvers in each hand, they haphazardly shot Liverpool FC’s money, heritage and reputation into the air and in doing so nearly put a fatal bullet through the head of an unfortunate cormorant passing above.

FSG’s subsequent entrance, however, was understated: all spectacled consideration and East Coast academic analysis of the long game. But with just enough big cigar pictures doing the rounds so we could see they were winners. In the autumn of 2010, although still wary, the Liverpool supporters largely welcomed the sedation FSG, formerly NESV, provided as we nursed the bruises suffered in Hicks and Gillett Wild West.

FSG have been largely consistent in their approach since arriving in Liverpool. There are of course some early exceptions to this rule as they found their feet on the other side of this side of the pond in a sport with which they were not familiar; the Damien Comolli-driven jizzing of thirty five million pounds on Andy Carroll only months into their tenure; backing down on the appointment of a Sporting Director in the wake of recruiting Brendan Rodgers; and the slight easing up of an a dogmatic belief that players weren’t worth buying past once their umbilical cords dropped off days after birth. All of the above show their capacity to back track or change their mind to some extent.

In the last four years though, there have been few shocks. There have been few surprises. Year after year any money that has been brought in from the sale of players has thankfully been plunged straight back into the acquisition of new players rather than used to keep the lid on spiralling interest repayments. They have backed incumbent managers with the profits of sales.

Year on year they have, in the majority, prioritised ‘value’, with the purchase of young players with potential over seasoned professionals on high wages.

Their stance on valuable assets like Torres and Suarez has appeared admirably robust: they are sold for top dollar or they are made to stay, at least temporarily. It looks like they are set to repeat this with Raheem Sterling.

For all but one year, season tickets prices have been frozen. This season individual ticket prices have been frozen.

They were true to their word when they said they would review the ‘new stadium vs Anfield redevelopment debate’ and resolve the longstanding issue. From early on the signs were that they favoured redevelopment and this information was allowed to gently seep out. As such there was no shock when the development of the Main Stand and Anfield Road was announced. This has come to fruition as we now see the Main Stand structure steadily rising into the Liverpool skyline to create a modest increase in capacity of eight and a half thousand seats.

Life under FSG is predictable. They have calmed the waters and there are positives which can and should be taken from this.

Unfortunately, five and a half years on it’s starting to look like calm and consistency might not be what we want after all. Not all of the time anyway.

A flat line is about as consistent and unobtrusive as it gets, but it quickly becomes pretty traumatic when you realise its accompanied by the absence of a heart beat and the sound of a single monotonous beep.

FSG have not, and do not appear driven to make the big changes that are needed at this club to keep it alive.

And by alive I do not mean simply existing but having living, breathing experiences that get pulses racing. It seems that every decision currently being taken at the club is enough to make it look like changes are being made but none of these changes are enough to give us the seismic kick up the ***** we clearly need.

One of three big changes needed to be at the top level this summer: we either needed to change the manager, significantly change the personnel on the transfer committee, or appoint a respected Director of Football.

Instead, Liverpool chose not to renew Mike Marsh’s contract and binned off Colin Pascoe. This is tantamount to doing a bit of weeding round the periphery of your garden and ignoring the ten-foot sink hole that’s just appeared and taken your family and the barbecue with it. Pascoe was only ever to Rodgers what Sebastian Coates was to Luis Suarez; someone to keep him company.

It’s still early days in regards to player acquisition. Indeed the window isn’t even open. Nonetheless none of the players we’ve signed, about to sign or have been linked with will suffice, even collectively to get us back into the Champions League. James Milner is a good signing. Note the use of the non-flamboyant ‘good’ there.

Danny Ings’ own surname is so underwhelmed with itself that it can only be arsed looking like half a word. We’re on the verge of signing Adam Bogdan. Take you pick here. There’s a potential play on bog standard or there’s a vision of a toilet.

I’m being unfair on the player here of course. And I wish every Liverpool player well. But my issue is not with the players but with the apparent prioritisation of a midfielder when we have lots already, a fourth choice striker and a reserve keeper. Again, all changes, but changes which leaving you staring blankly into space as insects fly in and out of your gormless, open mouth.

Again the focus seems to be on dithering around with the easy tasks and tidying up the edges rather than getting hands dirty and grappling with the challenge of buying players who can make us competitive again.

I’d rather have FSG than Hicks and Gillett, of course. But it’s beginning to feel like we’ve gone from one extreme to the other. I’m all for steadying the ship but Liverpool are currently a submarine and I’m not enamoured with remaining submerged below the Champions League positions for too much longer.

It’s time for us to put our heads above the parapet and take some risks to get ourselves back afloat. It’s the only way John is getting the cigar out again.

******************

Old article but still relevant. In the last two years they got the new manager and they seem to trust him with buying players. I think the owners have learned a lot, we are significantly more stable and this may be the time to push on, this summer will be interesting.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

You do get the sense that it's a big summer. After being linked to the likes of Van Dijk, Mbappe, Keita etc i don't think the fans will be too impressed if we go down our usual road of 2 or 3 mid priced signings.

[parchpea]

As transfer fees go through the roof you wonder how long FSG will keep their interest and if we dont get VVD or Keita over the line or anyone else then maybe they are flagging already.

They came in with moneyball and hopes FFP would open the door but if anything the games gone the other way, more expensive and bigger stakes, frankly I dont think they have the stomach for it.

I genuinely hope they prove me wrong in the coming weeks, but if we only get Salah its not good enough and its no use crying over the value, if you arent prepared to stump up then give it over to someone who will, Liverpool shouldnt be standing still.

Theres is absolutely no excuse now, weve rebuilt the stadium and committed to a new training complex and have record Premiership money and an odds on chance of Champions League qualification. After two very quiet windows and a positive balance sheet now is the time to show ambition and have a real go or sell it someone who will.