Liverpool FC Forum

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

FSG have done a lot of things right (saving us from going under, deciding to stay at Anfield etc) but unfortunately Barrett is spot on, this Moneyball malarkey doesn't translate over into football.
To my knowledge American sports don't really have a transfer system (not one on the scale of football anyway) and there are other barriers like salary caps etc to stop the big clubs in New York and Los Angeles buying up all the best players.
Footy is like the Wild West in comparison and atm Barcelona are like Clint Eastwood, Real Madrid are like John Wayne, Chelsea are like Lee Van Cleef and we are like Gabby Hayes.

[Doeboy]

Sad to admit this,  but a big club is no longer about it's history and tradition. It's all about now and with that in mind,  we are quite a way of our competitors and im genuinely worried that chasm will only continue to grow unless something drastically changes.

We stood still while we were successful rather than capitalising on it and are now paying the price. You know it's a dark day when players are even deliberating whether to join us or a spurs etc for example

[Doeboy]

Also i want a manager to come and not give us soundbites about how big we are and go on about our history and tradition.  Want someone to come in and admit that have fallen behind and will continue to do so unless we change.  Someone who can rattle some cages and make a serious change to our blueprint to make us one of worlds top clubs again

[Penguins]

I agree, but i don't believe a manger has even close to the amount of clout he once had.
Owners dictate what the manager says and what he is allowed to do. And that includes saying that we have fallen behind.
As I am a fan of the NHL(not close to football) the structure of a club is very much different as to how we see it in Europe.
There are set limitations for each club in the league and each club has several different positions covering for what to us is the managers job here.
Here it is the law of the jungle where the big piranha is allowed to eat the smaller ones while over there everyone is given a change and even if you are dead last the system allows you to come back to the top in 10-15 years time with
the rules in play.
They have drafts and salary caps which forces the bigger clubs to "let" the smaller clubs get the best youngest talents around to allow them to catch up.
That is just a foreign mindset here that Chelsea would let all the other 19 clubs in the league to get best there is before they would be allowed to to get 1.
And then where are not even touching the topic that american owners expect good return on investment.

It's just a disaster to expect anything to change when you have owners who live in a different world then where the footballing world is at.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Also i want a manager to come and not give us soundbites about how big we are and go on about our history and tradition.  Want someone to come in and admit that have fallen behind and will continue to do so unless we change.  Someone who can rattle some cages and make a serious change to our blueprint to make us one of worlds top clubs again

Even if a new manager wanted to say that our marketing department would probably stop him.

[Reg]

That Barrett article is the best I've real in a long time.

Would also say that the manager creates a large degree of credibility within a club and BR simply hasn't created that credibility, he has failed to become a top tier hard nose, successful man as well as manager. White teeth does not make up for short comings on the field.

If I was J Henry I really would go and speak with Mourinho, the situation has arrived at that stage. If Barrett is right, this could be the last throw of the dice for a long time and it's the size of challenge that Mourinho would relish.

[Dundreamin is back]

LFC are like the Labour party last year we thought we were going to win the big one and 12 months on we are in complete disarray with backstabbing and internal unrest is rife. The only difference is Ed Miliband fell on his sword whilst Rodgers is trying to steer a sinking ship. Ed Miliband done his own tombstone whilst Rodgers is having his done by the fans and I guess the players too. So Brendan do the honourable thing and fook off NOW

[eds]

Wow that post by SS, I love reading the old conspiracy or two but that one was just amazing!

Why won't people just believe the most sane and obvious reasons to our decline?

* Our owners haven't had a f**king clue on how to run a football club since Day 1
* Whoever they have consulted or hired to run the club have been even bigger peanuts than them
* Their unproven moneyball rubbish has been an unmitigated cluster f**k of a disaster

Hence:
   - Why they appointed a spud with shiny teeth to manage us
   - Hence why over 200 MILLION has been wasted on dross or "potentials"
   - Hence why we are led to believe a computer program picks the players that arrive at this club
   - Hence why Suarez left last season and Sterling is now leaving, Coutinho to follow them next season
   - Hence why players like Depay, Sanchez, Willan, Salah, Sigurðsson, Mkhitaryan, etc have all stayed clear

And yet somehow:
* Our club's finances and frugal spending have convinced the lemming horde on here that they are doing a GREAT job, compared to you know....... 
* The shiny teethed idiot hit gold last season by having Suarez and Sturridge fit and firing, convincing the same lemmings that he was the next messiah   
* That we have the "best bunch of kids" in club football & it's only a matter of time before we catapult to the top of England and Europe once again     

The reality is that our current owners , executive team and manager are so far up s**t creek that it is absolutely frightening what is going to happen to us NEXT season.

[Reg]

   - Hence why we are led to believe a computer program picks the players that arrive at this club
   

The mystical computer programme claim.... just like Rafa's 5,000 player videos....

Ayres plays Clash of Clans on his computer and Rafa had 50 pornos.

We give these people too much credit! 


  Who mentioned a conspiracy? 

[Reg]

Liverpool's owners to scrutinise club's transfer committee after misplaced spending


IAN HERBERT  Author Biography  CHIEF SPORTS WRITER  Wednesday 20 May 2015


The jobs of two key members of Liverpool’s transfer committee are the most vulnerable ahead of the imminent end-of-season review in which the club’s American owners will seek explanations for a disappointing campaign.

With Brendan Rodgers’ position thought to be under no immediate threat and no preliminary soundings having been made to alternative managerial candidates, the fiercest scrutiny is thought to be falling on the club’s head of recruitment Dave Fallows and Michael Edwards, the director of performance analysis. Their statistically driven approach to recruitment has been a key factor in a transfer market strategy which saw the club spend £110m last summer on players who have not materially improved the squad.

Rodgers has always been supportive of the idea of a transfer committee, which Liverpool opted for after the Northern Irishman made it clear he would not operate under a director of football. Liverpool were making representations to Louis van Gaal to fill that role when recruiting a replacement for Kenny Dalglish in the summer of 2012.

Fallows was recruited from Manchester City, where his role entailed assigning scouts to targets, preparing recommendations based on their work and building a database of scouted players. Edwards was hired at Liverpool as ‘head of analytics’ by Damien Comolli, the director of football who was released in April 2012 and had worked alongside the Frenchman in a role as head of performance at Tottenham

The two men running the player acquisition department and chief scout Barry Hunter - whose own track record at Manchester City included a role in the purchase of David Silva, Sergio Aguero – do not take sole responsibility for the disastrous summer of spending. Other members of the six-man transfer committee – Rodgers, chief executive Ian Ayre and Mike Gordon, the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) president who will undertake the review of the season, have ultimate sanction. But taking a statistical approach in the transfer market has not secured the thriving, cheap assets FSG had anticipated.

The relaxation of Financial Fair Play rules which is anticipated last month removes one of the foundations on which FSG’s purchase was built – a knowledge that the owners Chelsea and Manchester City could not outspend them with their personal fortunes, while Liverpool’s untapped global revenue generation potential could give them a competitive advantage over those same clubs.

FSG are thought to feel the same point of principal applies to the retention of Raheem Sterling at Liverpool as when Luis Suarez was agitating to leave two summers ago. It is understood that the owners are prepared to make Sterling a marginal part of the next campaign, on his current £35,000-a-week salary if necessary. But while Suarez’s desperate desire to play football ensured that he knuckled down to his last season, the owners could not be as certainty about any such ethic being seen in 20-year-old Sterling.

The loss of Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard from Anfield is becoming clear. There would be at last some prospects of either of them pointing out to Sterling that regular first team football would not be guaranteed to him at most of his potential elite suitors, Jordan Henderson would hold infinitely less sway with the youngster if he is appointed as captain for the next campaign

[Kenny Kan]

article from blind religion

However there’s a massively more shocking story coming out of Liverpool today and the revelations will blow Liverpool’s fans minds. Two very sources have alleged the following.

- Brendan Rodgers was sacked last November. He will face the same indignity as Kenny Dalglish having to fly to the U.S and receive his p45 Wednesday 3rd June 2015

- FSG had a crisis meeting last year and blamed themselves for not having a contingency plan for this season going so badly

- With so many new signings having loyalty to Rodgers and senior players like Gerrard, Toure and Johnson having excellent relationships it was decided the sacking couldn’t take place until they had left

- Gerrard’s influence in the dressing room became a big worry for FSG and his position amongst supporters and it was decided he would have to leave

- FSG have been sounding out replacements for Rodgers since last year

- From November on there has been a transfer ban which led to no January activity and pulling out of the race to sign Depay late on

- FSG have been using the press to leak stories about reported interest in Rodgers transfer targets with no intention of signing them to keep Rodgers in the dark

- Liverpool are already identifying a different set of targets that Rodgers has not approved and is unaware are even being discussed

- Klopp has refused to speak with FSG until the season is over and said he will not allow his team to be distracted with a Cup Final approaching

- However his agent has been in discussion with LFC for months and has already provided a list of targets

- Feeling inside Anfield recent slump is because the players and the staff know the writing is on the wall for Rodgers

- FSG deliberately sabotaged the Sterling deal. The offer was nothing like £100,000 per week and even with potential bonus incentives did not reach that figure.

- FSG are aware changing manager is expensive and agreed last November to sell Sterling to find the new managers spending spree though they hadn’t identified manager at that time

- Rodgers recently had a furious exchange with a staff member when in front of the players his methods were questioned

- FSG did not attend Steven Gerrard’s last game out of a lack of respect for Gerrard but simply because Rodgers has made it clear he is looking to speak to them face to face as he is aware there are two agendas being pushed at Anfield.

Now we don’t even know where to start with this? There’s almost too much to go on and it sounds like an episode of Dynasty or Dallas back in the 1980’s. The source we have is rock solid but we have to be careful and put this is what they are alleging and not the opinions of Blind Religion.

The United States laws are far more aggressive over stories like this and to be honest we were due to run this story yesterday but have been up debating all night if we should for our own safety.

However the news is too huge. We were told that all through Liverpool’s resurgence of form after a dreadful start there was absolutely no chance FSG were going to turn it around bar Champions League qualification. Even then after Liverpool’s performance in the competition Tom Werner is the one who flatly refused to accept LFC can allow that to happen again.

Since then it has been one long rollercoaster of FSG engineering Rodgers sacking. The decision to encourage Gerrard to move on we’re told wasn’t financial or football related but his relationship with Rodgers had become so close they were concerned about sacking Rodgers with Gerrard still there.

Players like Johnson and Toure have had support from Rodgers despite poor form and they too have influence in the dressing room. We were told that Rodgers and Toure did have an exchange but that exchange was because they’re actually quite close and felt they could. It was club officials that leaked the story to drive a wedge between Toure and Rodgers and further lessen Rodgers hold over the dressing room.

FSG are refusing to negotiate with Skrtel until the new manager arrives. However they will pursue targets such as Milner and Ings simply on the basis of value. Now if all of this sounds dramatic the fact Liverpool are the ones who at the start of the season sabotaged the Sterling deal puts the whole thing in a new light.

We’ve been told in no uncertain terms it was absolutely clear FSG as soon as they decided to oust Rodgers and set about making that job as easy as possible also decided to manage the situation with the fans and how to finance it. There has been a consistent media campaign against Sterling. Ex players talking about his agent leaking stories when in fact we’ve heard it was FSG leaking stories about Sterling’s agent leaking stories.

Its mind blowing stuff and soap opera-esque. However FSG knew the fans loved Sterling and they also knew that Sterling would be the best way to finance a huge spending spree for the new manager. They decided that the fans would accept Rodgers departure, Sterling’s departure and Gerrard’s departure if they could drive a wedge between the fans and Sterling and after all three have departed embark on a huge spending spree.

That’s absolutely the plan we’ve been told will happen. Rodgers will be gone, Sterling will be gone and this was all decided last year. Liverpool have forced Sterling’s hand and he will ask for the move as his wages remain low and his contract runs down. FSG will make a statement saying due to his contract situation they had no choice but to try and get the best price they can.

Some fans won’t be sad to see Rodgers gone and some will. All fans will be sad to see Gerrard leave. Some fans earlier in the season would have raged at Sterling leaving and said more evidence LFC are a selling club but the situation has been so expertly managed by FSG that Liverpool fans will come out of this with full support behind FSG.

We have no idea if that’s right but we’ve been told FSG have absolutely no worries that they will get rid of Rodgers, get rid of the remaining influences in the dressing room, cash in on Sterling and use that money and the extra TV revenue to spend another 100m this summer.

The feeling in the United States is that they won’t have to spend a penny this summer but will be heralded as the best owners in the Premier League as they put extra TV money and players sales to a pot of 100m. What set of fans are going to moan about a 100m spending spree? Unless it turns out like the last 100m Liverpool spent.

   

[red till i die!!]

Apparently paddy power has suspended all betting on rodgers being sacked    Klopp is now 2-1 to succeed him.

[Boocity]

That Barrett article is the best I've real in a long time.

Would also say that the manager creates a large degree of credibility within a club and BR simply hasn't created that credibility, he has failed to become a top tier hard nose, successful man as well as manager. White teeth does not make up for short comings on the field.

If I was J Henry I really would go and speak with Mourinho, the situation has arrived at that stage. If Barrett is right, this could be the last throw of the dice for a long time and it's the size of challenge that Mourinho would relish.

I doubt he would do that, it wouldn't surprise me that with the relaxation of FFP, FSG cut and run while we are worth something, they won't compete financially with Chelsea, man U, City or even Arsenal so they would see their asset unable to compete at the top table and start losing its value.

[leeroy74]

Well Klopp was in talks with someone else yesterday, cant remember who and Rafa has just agreed to succeed Ancelotti at Real Madrid so who does that leave? that's right, no one.

stick with Rodgers.

[Homebooby]

I have the feeling that FSG want Klopp and that Klopp wants to come to us, but not under the current regime. I think he has told FSG how he wants to work and they are currently evaluating that proposal against what BR will explain on what went wrong this season and what he will do to remediate it and they will compare and contrast. Am guessing that they are not keen on the Klopp proposal as I expect his requests to be for more control and less what has been in place these past years. biggest risk is that we take too long like we do with all transfers and he makes the decision for us.

I would love to see BR given a chance in a different set up, but things are so bad at the moment regarding him I think we need a change just to reset everything, also the way we're viewed by prospective signings. Klopp will simply offer a more attractive option for many.