Liverpool FC Forum

[Boxscarf]

United are an estimated £385m in debt and are now floating on the New York Stock Exchange. I suspect they'll be fine.

[parchpea]

I just dont think Fenway have the resources to finance and run both the Red Sox and Liverpool and if
they did they dont anymore.

At this point both of their clubs are having problems and they simply dont have the money to juggle
the two and meet fan expectation.

It was a brave venture going wrong and the best solution may be a sale here and focus on the sport
they love in Boston.

That's the point you seem to miss.

Neither Liverpool, Fenway Racing or Boston Red Sox are funded by FSG. Their business model is for each business entity to be self-sufficient.

Where investment is required the club (or franchise) borrow against their assets. The borrowing is justified like any loan, based on risk of default.

This is why John Henry recently stated that the club would not mortgage on risky business. The age of austerity is hitting football now, very few clubs have the ability to spend wildly to chase success. I don't want to be like City or United in terms of spending. Financial Fair Play will bit City in the ***** if they continue, I am sure. United are in debt to the tune of over £500M - ask united fans how happy they are with the situation.

I havent missed anything, they dont have the money to meet fan expectation no matter were it comes from.

If Liverpool fans want to accept mid table football and no movement on the stadium then I guess I am out of
touch and should keep quiet and be eternally grateful Fenway are doing us a favour.

FFP is a great out for Fenway to not spend money and if that argument held any water the big spenders would
not be spending and risking punishment.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

nah, not having that reg, sorry.
when they appointed comoli they were appointing the first DoF in the clubs 120 year history, it was a radical move at the time and one they said would bring the club into the modern world. 12 months later he was gone. even the timing of his sacking was odd, days before we played a cup final.
thats not even mentioning the billy beane saga, i mean who goes and asks a baseball fella who should run one of the biggest football clubs in the world?
you seem to have glossed over their mismanagement of the suarez affair too not to mention their mismanagement of our search for a new manager, they have constantly put their foot in it with statements like `we have the funds to compete with anyone in football` and saying how much they liked the idea of this game 39, then they basically rubbished the 2 domestic cups (including the F.A  cup, the oldest trophy in football and the genesis of the game) not to mention ayre bragging on telly the day after kenny was sacked that his side of the business was going great.
they have sacked people behind the scene`s in their droves and upset others like pep segura who everyone raved about (even the owners thought he was doing a good job they wanted to make him a DoF).
thats another carry on, first they said they were going to appoint a new DoF, then they said they were going to appoint 2 DoF`s and then they said we are having none.
look at the debacle over this summer as well.
there doesnt seem to be any plan, we just stumble from one carry on to another.
they really need to appoint someone to run the football club for them, someone who knows what he is doing, david dein has been mentioned and so has brian barwick, at the moment i think an appointment like that is even more important than signing a striker. how can we expect to get it right on the pitch when our senior management just lurch from one carry on to another like some drunk staggering down the street stumbling into lamp posts and dustbins on his way home from the boozer.

[Reg]

I just dont think Fenway have the resources to finance and run both the Red Sox and Liverpool and if
they did they dont anymore.

At this point both of their clubs are having problems and they simply dont have the money to juggle
the two and meet fan expectation.

It was a brave venture going wrong and the best solution may be a sale here and focus on the sport
they love in Boston.

That's the point you seem to miss.

Neither Liverpool, Fenway Racing or Boston Red Sox are funded by FSG. Their business model is for each business entity to be self-sufficient.

Where investment is required the club (or franchise) borrow against their assets. The borrowing is justified like any loan, based on risk of default.

This is why John Henry recently stated that the club would not mortgage on risky business. The age of austerity is hitting football now, very few clubs have the ability to spend wildly to chase success. I don't want to be like City or United in terms of spending. Financial Fair Play will bit City in the ***** if they continue, I am sure. United are in debt to the tune of over £500M - ask united fans how happy they are with the situation.

I havent missed anything, they dont have the money to meet fan expectation no matter were it comes from.

If Liverpool fans want to accept mid table football and no movement on the stadium then I guess I am out of
touch and should keep quiet and be eternally grateful Fenway are doing us a favour.

FFP is a great out for Fenway to not spend money and if that argument held any water the big spenders would
not be spending and risking punishment.

So what you're saying is that despite not having the ability, we have to spend, spend, spend just because Citech, Chavski and Ure do? Have you forgotten what it was like to pay 40 million a year in interest that should have been gone on boosting the squad?? You cant have it both ways, either live within your means and accept we cant compete with oligarchs and arabs or throw money up in the air and be bust in 3 years. Which one is good for LFC?   Who else can you blame?

[maypaxvobiscum]

I'm not sure if I'm missing a point, but are some posters actually unhappy that the club is self-sufficient unlike many other clubs who could be in precarious positions once their sugar-daddies lose interest?

[Reg]

nah, not having that reg, sorry.
when they appointed comoli they were appointing the first DoF in the clubs 120 year history, it was a radical move at the time and one they said would bring the club into the modern world. 12 months later he was gone. even the timing of his sacking was odd, days before we played a cup final.
thats not even mentioning the billy beane saga, i mean who goes and asks a baseball fella who should run one of the biggest football clubs in the world?
you seem to have glossed over their mismanagement of the suarez affair too not to mention their mismanagement of our search for a new manager, they have constantly put their foot in it with statements like `we have the funds to compete with anyone in football` and saying how much they liked the idea of this game 39, then they basically rubbished the 2 domestic cups (including the F.A  cup, the oldest trophy in football and the genesis of the game) not to mention ayre bragging on telly the day after kenny was sacked that his side of the business was going great.
they have sacked people behind the scene`s in their droves and upset others like pep segura who everyone raved about (even the owners thought he was doing a good job they wanted to make him a DoF).
thats another carry on, first they said they were going to appoint a new DoF, then they said they were going to appoint 2 DoF`s and then they said we are having none.
look at the debacle over this summer as well.
there doesnt seem to be any plan, we just stumble from one carry on to another.
they really need to appoint someone to run the football club for them, someone who knows what he is doing, david dein has been mentioned and so has brian barwick, at the moment i think an appointment like that is even more important than signing a striker. how can we expect to get it right on the pitch when our senior management just lurch from one carry on to another like some drunk staggering down the street stumbling into lamp posts and dustbins on his way home from the boozer.

Good points mate but by definition what you're saying is that the local Anfield management is either non-existant and/or cr@p?

[Reg]

John Henry should be told Liverpool need youth and experience

John W Henry’s 800-word open letter to Liverpool fans can be summed up in one sentence: “Yes, we’ve made mistakes but we’re still trying to clean up someone else’s mess.”

6:00AM BST 04 Sep 2012

His appeasement campaign ticked all the right boxes to ensure he calmed the disquiet after a traumatic weekend. The only problem was he found nowhere in his re-affirmation of Fenway Sports Group’s transfer policy to address the question every supporter wants answering. Why did you allow Andy Carroll to go without being sure you would sign a replacement?

At least in blaming others, there was an acknowledgement of FSG’s own errors. There was even the slightest hint of slaying a sacred cow when the signings of Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli - whose £110 million spree (and the lucrative pay-offs they received) have left a mental and fiscal wound on the Americans - were acknowledged as influencing the current shift.

Most fans will gleefully apply the blaming of ‘former regimes’ to Tom Hicks and George Gillett, even if targeting them is the equivalent of digging up a two-year-old corpse and giving into another burial.

None of this was the central issue on Friday evening.

There was a breakdown in the chain of command, the manager realising when it was too late that just because he wanted a player, agreed he was worth the asking price and had enough money to complete a deal, it did not necessarily mean he would get him. By any standard of boardroom interference, this was pretty exceptional at Anfield.

Clint Dempsey did not sign because, for his fee and age, he fitted Rodgers’ profile but did not fit that of FSG. But who now determines that profile, and how can we be sure this will never happen again?

Liverpool say Rodgers could have signed Daniel Sturridge for £15 million last Friday, but there were sound reasons for the manager not to pursue him. Rodgers wanted the player to prove himself for a season before committing so much money.

And why are FSG so reluctant to identify those who influenced this decision? We know Henry listens to advisers. With a self-confessed limited knowledge of English football, he clearly isn’t conducting this new era of quality control alone, so he has someone doing the vetting on his behalf.

When FSG first revealed they were taking independent advice, it led to a surreal period when individuals as diverse as Johan Cruyff to a blogger employed by Liverpool’s official website issued denials that they were the chief consultants. Whoever they are, they are able to act without fear of being held accountable for their decisions. They told FSG that Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini were acceptable purchases but Dempsey was not.

While Rodgers was pursuing the ex-Fulham striker for two months, there were those at his own club insisting the American was not a Liverpool target. It was decided long before Carroll left that Dempsey was not worth £6 million, so Rodgers was wasting his time on Friday.

In the discussions between manager and owner to prevent a repeat of Friday, Henry may need a crash course in how a blend of youth and experience is the key to success.

Rodgers understands the economic plan and has embraced it. He knows that while Liverpool are outside the Champions League, he can never expect more than a £20 million summer budget. He will look for solutions rather than stir up agitation, and, if anything, he should be helped by the lowering of short-term expectations. If he is to succeed, however, the manager must be allowed to manage and stand and fall by his own decisions. If he is unable to do so, the Liverpool job will rapidly become one of the most unworkable in English football.

[SouthCoastShankly]

Spurs are the only non-CL club spending consistently every season. It will come back to bite them. They cannot maintain this level of investment without stepping up into a permanent CL team, earning CL revenues every season. They are playing a high risk strategy.

We however are not. One thing is clear is our strategy does not jeopardise the club whereas Spurs will be under even more pressure than us for results. ABV is feeling it already.

[Boxscarf]

I'm not sure if I'm missing a point, but are some posters actually unhappy that the club is self-sufficient unlike many other clubs who could be in precarious positions once their sugar-daddies lose interest?

I don't think anybody is saying we need a sugar daddy, I applaud FSG's attitude towards finance, because the last thing we need is to wrack up monumental debt by overpaying for players in terms of transfer fees, signing on fees and annual salaries. However the money this club makes through revenue streams is clearly not enough to develop the squad further and get us back into the mix for the Champions League which is ultimately where FSG want us to be, competing in Europe's finest competition. We need a helping hand to get the ball rolling and once we're in the mix, then FSG can give Rodgers the money from Warrior sports, Standard Chartered and CL football to further build his team and bring in the quality additions we need. I mean couldn't FSG have at least put £10m on the table to cover the Clint Dempsey fee? We offered two players in a straight swap and then £4m and that wasn't enough. Now if we cannot afford to sign Clint Dempsey for £6m, then how the hell are we ever going to get back into the top four?

[heimdall]

I'm not sure if I'm missing a point, but are some posters actually unhappy that the club is self-sufficient unlike many other clubs who could be in precarious positions once their sugar-daddies lose interest?

yes you are missing the point, what the feck is the benefit in being financially self sufficient (short term) if you are consigned, long term, to midtable with no hope of getting champions league and the extra money that generates.
This is how I see things going under FSG, this year we'll end up 6-10th place and will loose a few top players and fail to attract any new players of any significance, only fairly cr@p players(Downing standard), exciting "young" players or complete mercenaries(Cole). The season after that we finish in 8-12th place, more of the top players leave including the manager to be replaced by someone of the calibre of Allardyce and we then stay rooted in the mid table until some rich fecker buys us and pumps in a sh1t load of cash ala Citeh or the chavs.
We are really on the brink here people and if FSG do not realise that you have to speculate to accumulate in football then they are not fit for purpose to own this fabulous football club.

[Boxscarf]

It's incidents like the Dempsey one that angers me. The fella cost £6m, couldn't have FSG just dipped into their pockets to ensure we had an attacking player in the squad that has shown he can score goals? No, of course not, now we're stuck with no clinical finisher and three youngsters who will have a monumental amount of weight on their shoulders to get us the goals we need to win matches. It's unacceptable to me, Dempsey should have been signed and the club should have gone all out to get him. Now he's gone to Spurs and he could be the difference between Spurs finishing in/out of the top four.

[Homebooby]

there's clearly a disconnect between the ownership in america and the management over here. i just don't get the feeling of any sort of strategy being played out. what is FSG's long term aim? because whilst everyone plays their little games with one another it's the football club and the fans that ultimately suffer as a result.

so they've admitted that they've made mistakes in that letter. it's ok following an ideology but not at the expense of this season. yes they want us to be successful but the list is endless. they hired commoli, promoted him and sacked him. a disaster. they've hired ian ayre who's a joke (he was nowhere to be seen during the suarez affair but is always happy to jump infront of a camera when it suits him). he's not a football guy and we need a proper football man to run the football side of things over here.

Now unless I'm seriously mistaken the management mistakes have all been over this side of the pond in the 23 months of Fenway ownership.

1. Woy Hodgson was appointed on advice from over here who then bought the most useless set of 4th Division footballers ever to disgrace the red shirt.
2. They gave in to pressure having paid off Woy and appointed Kenny. They also brought in a first class coach in Clarke and Comolli, a noted DoF.
3. Kenny/Comolli squandered millions and Clarke failed to make the team perform leading to our 8th place position last year. Fenway's fault?
4. Fenway appointed Rodgers - first sign they are taking a leadership role. They gave him a further 25+million to spend.
5. Fenway agreed to take the hit on Adam, Carroll, tried to offload Henderson whilst re-signing key players.
6. Ayres had 2 players booked in for medicals at 6pm and 8pm. One didn't inform the club he 'changed his mind' the other did a U turn to Spurs on the M6. Anfield failure, not owners.

Lads - stop this 'blame the yanks' culture. Anfield, as a subsidiary company of Fenway screwed up, not the parent company.  If Ford's factory at Speke screws up, people don't blame Ford Detroit, its a local issue. Same with LFC - an independent subsidiary of Fenway.

The only blot on the landscape from Fenway so far is not coming up withy a stadium solution which one might say is understandable in the current financial climate. - and I say its Fenway's blot because JHW is clearly pulling the strings on that one, not local management.

I have to say that this matches an awful lot of what I am thinking as I stare in disbelief at a lot of what is posted on here to be honest.

I am not in the UK anymore, so can't truly comment on the coverage through the summer, but my opinion is contrary to the SOS letter in that I think the media coverage/controversy this summer was way way less than the last 5 yrs. Never a question about financial stability, never a question about losing key players really, never a question about owners, never a question about managers. This seems to me to be a drastic improvement since 2 years from the end of Rafas' reign. Anything that was in the media seemed to be speculation with little foundation and that seems to be due to the fact that the 'Liverpool way' is far more in effect than it has been. The media simply didn't know anything and made it up.

To call the summer a debacle is beyond comprehension due to none of us really knowing the true objectives of the summer and who the targets were. If we got 4 out of the 5 targets, is that better than previous years? I think so, but I can't do anything other than speculate. What I did observe was a lot of players leaving the club, mostly in areas where everyone has been complaining we were too heavy and most of the people were on the cull list of everyone for the last year or so. I assume monthly costs have come down in the process. Is that success? I would presume so.

In terms of player retention, media speculation suggested that key players would go, Rodgers saying he wanted to keep them and it seems like he was supported in all those areas. Is that success or debacle? I know what I think.

The only thing that appeared to go wrong was the Dempsey thing and although the reasoning is spoken about with authority on here, I question whether we know anything. I find it very hard to believe that anyone on the Liverpool side would see fit to agree to let Carroll go (especially with a retention clause - this implies they were covering themselves in case of coverage emergencies) without believing they had more than enough coverage. I personally think that timing came into it and the mistake was made to announce the Carrol deal before securing the Dempsey deal. I suspect that Fulham decided to test our resolve at the last minute and also dish out some retribution for the way they saw us going about Dempsey in the media. It would not surprise me if an initial deal was on the table and then the price was hiked again and on principle we stood up to them. That's why Spurs came in and nicked it I think. Anyhow, it's speculation, but these things happen in life, it's not perfect everytime and I think the benefit of doubt is appropriate. It was a bit of a shambles, but to call the whole summer a debacle is way over the top.

The last thing to consider is that these things no doubt happened year on year prior to 24 hr news and internet. There's more bollox out there now than ever before to deal with, everyone can start a rumour, agents do regularly in order to raise interest in there clients and test the markets, news companies pick it all up cos they want to be seen to be the first and most of the post starters on here are just as guilty. I have no issue with that, but we should consider that this is a factor that just was not the same 10 - 20 years ago. I happened to be off sick on Friday and found myself watching SSN news on transfer deadline day. To see the efforts that they went to to turn something as mundane as shifting a few bog standard players from one club to another was stunning and shocking. We have to be sure we don't get caught up in that type of *****. If you disable rational thought and start thinking like that, I can fully appreciate you would call it a debacle and see it as the end of the world.

Anyone with 1/2 a brain should be able to see the strains of something very positive in the way we play now and where this could go. There was a time when winning was not everything and actually enjoying watching your team play was a priority....don't lose sight of that. We'll get more of an idea how things really are in 6 and 12 months time. What's the alternative, go support another club? No feck1ng way

[lakes10]

I just get the feeling that we are going to be sold again very soon.
should have been sold to them london bankers who where life long liverpool fans. they were willing to put fans on the board and to have open meetings.


saying that they might have all gone bust by now lol

Lakes you'll  be telling us next that one of your well informed mates reckons that H & G are about to put in a bid 

if he did i would never talk to him again lol

by the way, Hicks say he nerve knew it was going to cost so much to run a football club.
(ESPN interview Dec 2011)

that just says so much about the guy lol

[maguskwt]

there's clearly a disconnect between the ownership in america and the management over here. i just don't get the feeling of any sort of strategy being played out. what is FSG's long term aim? because whilst everyone plays their little games with one another it's the football club and the fans that ultimately suffer as a result.

so they've admitted that they've made mistakes in that letter. it's ok following an ideology but not at the expense of this season. yes they want us to be successful but the list is endless. they hired commoli, promoted him and sacked him. a disaster. they've hired ian ayre who's a joke (he was nowhere to be seen during the suarez affair but is always happy to jump infront of a camera when it suits him). he's not a football guy and we need a proper football man to run the football side of things over here.

Now unless I'm seriously mistaken the management mistakes have all been over this side of the pond in the 23 months of Fenway ownership.

1. Woy Hodgson was appointed on advice from over here who then bought the most useless set of 4th Division footballers ever to disgrace the red shirt.
2. They gave in to pressure having paid off Woy and appointed Kenny. They also brought in a first class coach in Clarke and Comolli, a noted DoF.
3. Kenny/Comolli squandered millions and Clarke failed to make the team perform leading to our 8th place position last year. Fenway's fault?
4. Fenway appointed Rodgers - first sign they are taking a leadership role. They gave him a further 25+million to spend.
5. Fenway agreed to take the hit on Adam, Carroll, tried to offload Henderson whilst re-signing key players.
6. Ayres had 2 players booked in for medicals at 6pm and 8pm. One didn't inform the club he 'changed his mind' the other did a U turn to Spurs on the M6. Anfield failure, not owners.

Lads - stop this 'blame the yanks' culture. Anfield, as a subsidiary company of Fenway screwed up, not the parent company.  If Ford's factory at Speke screws up, people don't blame Ford Detroit, its a local issue. Same with LFC - an independent subsidiary of Fenway.

The only blot on the landscape from Fenway so far is not coming up withy a stadium solution which one might say is understandable in the current financial climate. - and I say its Fenway's blot because JHW is clearly pulling the strings on that one, not local management.

Totally agree with Reg here. Especially the 'blame the yanks' culture. What kind of owners do you want? just say it...

[Bad Bob]

there's clearly a disconnect between the ownership in america and the management over here. i just don't get the feeling of any sort of strategy being played out. what is FSG's long term aim? because whilst everyone plays their little games with one another it's the football club and the fans that ultimately suffer as a result.

so they've admitted that they've made mistakes in that letter. it's ok following an ideology but not at the expense of this season. yes they want us to be successful but the list is endless. they hired commoli, promoted him and sacked him. a disaster. they've hired ian ayre who's a joke (he was nowhere to be seen during the suarez affair but is always happy to jump infront of a camera when it suits him). he's not a football guy and we need a proper football man to run the football side of things over here.

Now unless I'm seriously mistaken the management mistakes have all been over this side of the pond in the 23 months of Fenway ownership.

1. Woy Hodgson was appointed on advice from over here who then bought the most useless set of 4th Division footballers ever to disgrace the red shirt.
2. They gave in to pressure having paid off Woy and appointed Kenny. They also brought in a first class coach in Clarke and Comolli, a noted DoF.
3. Kenny/Comolli squandered millions and Clarke failed to make the team perform leading to our 8th place position last year. Fenway's fault?
4. Fenway appointed Rodgers - first sign they are taking a leadership role. They gave him a further 25+million to spend.
5. Fenway agreed to take the hit on Adam, Carroll, tried to offload Henderson whilst re-signing key players.
6. Ayres had 2 players booked in for medicals at 6pm and 8pm. One didn't inform the club he 'changed his mind' the other did a U turn to Spurs on the M6. Anfield failure, not owners.

Lads - stop this 'blame the yanks' culture. Anfield, as a subsidiary company of Fenway screwed up, not the parent company.  If Ford's factory at Speke screws up, people don't blame Ford Detroit, its a local issue. Same with LFC - an independent subsidiary of Fenway.

The only blot on the landscape from Fenway so far is not coming up withy a stadium solution which one might say is understandable in the current financial climate. - and I say its Fenway's blot because JHW is clearly pulling the strings on that one, not local management.

I have to say that this matches an awful lot of what I am thinking as I stare in disbelief at a lot of what is posted on here to be honest.

I am not in the UK anymore, so can't truly comment on the coverage through the summer, but my opinion is contrary to the SOS letter in that I think the media coverage/controversy this summer was way way less than the last 5 yrs. Never a question about financial stability, never a question about losing key players really, never a question about owners, never a question about managers. This seems to me to be a drastic improvement since 2 years from the end of Rafas' reign. Anything that was in the media seemed to be speculation with little foundation and that seems to be due to the fact that the 'Liverpool way' is far more in effect than it has been. The media simply didn't know anything and made it up.

To call the summer a debacle is beyond comprehension due to none of us really knowing the true objectives of the summer and who the targets were. If we got 4 out of the 5 targets, is that better than previous years? I think so, but I can't do anything other than speculate. What I did observe was a lot of players leaving the club, mostly in areas where everyone has been complaining we were too heavy and most of the people were on the cull list of everyone for the last year or so. I assume monthly costs have come down in the process. Is that success? I would presume so.

In terms of player retention, media speculation suggested that key players would go, Rodgers saying he wanted to keep them and it seems like he was supported in all those areas. Is that success or debacle? I know what I think.

The only thing that appeared to go wrong was the Dempsey thing and although the reasoning is spoken about with authority on here, I question whether we know anything. I find it very hard to believe that anyone on the Liverpool side would see fit to agree to let Carroll go (especially with a retention clause - this implies they were covering themselves in case of coverage emergencies) without believing they had more than enough coverage. I personally think that timing came into it and the mistake was made to announce the Carrol deal before securing the Dempsey deal. I suspect that Fulham decided to test our resolve at the last minute and also dish out some retribution for the way they saw us going about Dempsey in the media. It would not surprise me if an initial deal was on the table and then the price was hiked again and on principle we stood up to them. That's why Spurs came in and nicked it I think. Anyhow, it's speculation, but these things happen in life, it's not perfect everytime and I think the benefit of doubt is appropriate. It was a bit of a shambles, but to call the whole summer a debacle is way over the top.

The last thing to consider is that these things no doubt happened year on year prior to 24 hr news and internet. There's more bollox out there now than ever before to deal with, everyone can start a rumour, agents do regularly in order to raise interest in there clients and test the markets, news companies pick it all up cos they want to be seen to be the first and most of the post starters on here are just as guilty. I have no issue with that, but we should consider that this is a factor that just was not the same 10 - 20 years ago. I happened to be off sick on Friday and found myself watching SSN news on transfer deadline day. To see the efforts that they went to to turn something as mundane as shifting a few bog standard players from one club to another was stunning and shocking. We have to be sure we don't get caught up in that type of *****. If you disable rational thought and start thinking like that, I can fully appreciate you would call it a debacle and see it as the end of the world.

Anyone with 1/2 a brain should be able to see the strains of something very positive in the way we play now and where this could go. There was a time when winning was not everything and actually enjoying watching your team play was a priority....don't lose sight of that. We'll get more of an idea how things really are in 6 and 12 months time. What's the alternative, go support another club? No feck1ng way

Good sensible post this.  I'll admit to feeling rather grim as the transfer window closed and we found ourselves a couple of strikers light.  Time will tell if that mistake will truly bite us in the ***** or if we'll be able to muddle through and have another go in January.  In the meantime, I'm prepared to accept the explanations from the manager and the owner at face value: that it was nothing more sinister than a tactical miscalculation which all parties had a hand in achieving.  There's still much to applaud about our transfer business this summer and I'm optimistic that we'll turn our fortunes around on the pitch once all the new faces--including the manager--get a little more time to bed in.  I doubt it will be a stellar season for silverware but I still think we'll lay the foundations for future success.