Most of us were a bit concerned in January. To be honest we had the same anxieties in previous transfer windows. Just how committed were the club’s owners to spending in the transfer market. To be fair during the summer and January transfer windows we at least seemed to be approaching the right targets. Ian Ayre got on his Harley and attempted to pull off deals for Mkhitaryan, Costa, Willian and Konoplyanka. Then we all sat back and watched in despair as each deal collapsed.
The club may place a different spin on it, but there was a justifiable concern that an unwillingness to push the boat out was behind most of those deals breaking down.
While I never felt it was fair to compare FSG to the catastrophic ownership of Hicks and Gillet, there was a fear that they may see top 4 as enough. Arsenal have seen that as a trophy for too long. Trouble is, in these days of multi billion pound TV deals, and the millions that comes with Champions League qualification, it is entirely possible to sustain the club and even make money without winning the title we all crave. That seems to be the Gunners business model in the last decade.
“We want to win.” This was John Henry’s declaration as he arrived on English shores in 2010. By the time we got summer 2013, it was beginning to ring hollow. Andy Carroll left for West Ham, despite Rodgers stating he wouldn’t go without a replacement arriving. Then we witnessed another deadline day debacle, which saw a failed attempt to sign Clint Dempsey, and Jordan Henderson offered as a make-weight.
Ultimately we paid the price for these failures in May, as our title challenge just ran out of steam. I’ve said it before, and it is worth repeating the manager and the players deserve enormous praise for getting any where near winning the league, given our squad. The owners however, still have much to prove.
That may seem harsh. Especially given the huge strides they have made in the commercial side of the club. They would doubtless argue that a strong performance in this department feeds directly into creating a winning team on the pitch. It’s hard to argue with that. The number of sponsorship deals the club has secured, and the record revenue from TV and premier league prize monies seems to back up their argument. There is also progress on the stadium at last. Hallelujah.
Now it’s time for them to take the next step, in my view. They have proven they can stabilise the club, and grow the revenues. They have said they are doing so in order to create a winning team in “the most sporting way possible.” They have also appointed their own man, and renewed his contract. They obviously trust Brendan Rodgers. Everything is in place for Liverpool to finally kick on and regain their place on the Premier League perch.
All that’s left is investment in the squad. It’s in this area that nagging doubts remained, at least until now. Are they really ready to push the boat out and bring in the quality Brendan needs? Are they prepared to overspend a little, or relax their policy of recruiting young players, if an older player can improve the squad?
The early signs are very promising. Ricky Lambert is on the brink of a “Roy of the Rovers” style return to his boyhood club. He will almost definitely improve the squad. Imagine for a moment Liverpool struggling to break down a stubborn defence. You look to the substitutes, and you see Lambert or Aspas sitting there. Who would you choose? The Lambert deal is a no-brainer for me, and a sign that FSG are listening and learning.
Then we come to other reported deals on the table. Lallana at £25 million. There is uproar in social media over this. Apparently the collective wisdom of twitter feel he isn’t worth that much. They may be wrong, they may be right. Only time will tell. BUT haven’t we spent the last few transfer windows bemoaning the clubs apparent lack of ambition. I have read countless rants along the lines of “for God sake, just pay what they want” or “it’s only a few more million.” If we do pay that much for Lallana, surely it’s a sign that the club is finally willing to go that extra mile for the players Rodger’s feels he needs. Hasn’t Rodger’s earned that trust.
If the rumours are to be believed the Reds could go into the World Cup with as many as five new players on the books. Lambert, Lallana, Lovren, Moreno and Can are all reported to be close to joining. The combined fees, again according to speculation, amount to around seventy million pounds. There may also be more to follow later in the summer, once those surplus to requirements are sold.
Of course a lot can happen to derail even the best laid plans, but to borrow a baseball metaphor, our owners may finally be stepping up to the plate in the transfer market.
Fsg have already stepped up to plate. The club is healthy once again. 220 million revenue wise last year, it will be over 280 million this year possibly more. Financial success is linked to success on the pitch.
Moving on to lalana. Not worth a penny more than 15. There is a very good reason why he was a league one player. Because that was his level. Fair enough, he improved and had a good season last year. You know, clear of injuries, new playing style etc. But for that amount of money, I expect better. For those who say, what’s a few more million quid. Where do you think money grows? On trees?
We don’t have unlimited funds and have many areas to improve . I’d walk away if the deal is not accepted and never look back.
Liverpool back for good trust rodgers keep calm every one lalana going to be top dog trust me next level don’t matter waer he was playing league 1 he’s England international going to world cup if he’s 25 coutinho must be 30 million gerrard wnt go on for ever ynwa
Consider, fabregas is up for sale, 30 million. Rakitic would run the midfield , same as above. Griezman, 10 goals quoted at 18 million.
Am I missing something? We have to look at class players with the transfer kitty. This is the chance to cement the too 4! Man U an spurs will be set back years if they miss out again.
Golden chance and I want us to take it. For once, no money wasting. Not a penny more.
“We will never walk alone”. Lets walk with fsg and rodgers for some more 5 seasons, and Liverpool shall regain the repetition.
There are signs that FSG are listening, with the way the infrastructure of the club is shifting. The old morals and heritage seem to be important again. CL qualification is a massive boost, not only to determine the money available to buy players, but to ensure that the quality of player improves to the standard that we crave. Playing for Liverpool FC has always been important but to play for them in the CL is a real pull.
I agree with you about Lambert and Lalana. Lambert will add something we didn’t have last year, namely, a plan B. At the price paid it is not the end of the world if it doesn’t work out. Lalana is a gamble but so far he looks the part. How many players have come from nowhere to play well on the world stage. £25m may seem a lot but by the time Southampton lose 25% they will fell they are not being compensated for losing their captain and best player.
Great read, Jeff.
‘The owners however, still have much to prove’
Ok, where to start…..?
They saved SAVED our club, got shot of Woy Hodgson, returned King K to his rightful throne, won a trophy, got to a second final, sacked the king when they wanted a different direction, hired a manager not a fan favourite at the time (some still don’t like the manager), actually hated HATED by some and then finish second!!! by two points!!!! whilst playing some of the best football in Europe.
yeah, sure… these slack owners really need to prove themselves….. apart from splashing £60m on one player, some people will never appreciate FSG because they are ‘yanks’…. what a great country we live in.
Total bollocks, Fsg are a money making scheme for themselves and don’t care about our club and our sport. Anyone with money could have bought the club but they never purchased it as it held to much debt and still does as the latest figures show. All LFC need is a British businessman to run the club and allow the club to spend what it earns and not cream huge chunks of the profits. FSG OUT!
Why would thy make money for anyone else? ‘money-making’, ‘too’ much debt. Hicks and Gillett bought it, so your point? Illiterate idiot!
Get a grip you obviously know nothing about them ! Look at the red socks took a fallen giant on the brink of collapse and made them champions they will do the same with Liverpool , they have bought into the history of our great club and will bring back the the glory days
Rodger’s? Who the f**k is that? Rodgers is his name! By the way, multi billion’ is hyphenated, ‘any where’ should be one word, á la ‘anywhere’! A comma is used instead of ‘and’, so ‘, and’ or ‘and,’ is a no-no! Also, ‘bemoaning the clubs apparent’, club’s, please! Embrace the apostrophe! If it’s a baseball metaphor, you’re expecting it to be differentiated, so quotation marks please: ‘stepping up to the plate’! Are you english? You should learn to speak (or type) your own language!
Hey Aaron great points. I think you misunderstand my arguement. I agree that the owners have done a lot in terms of stabilising the club. Indeed commercially they have taken us forward. I think I said as much in the article. My slight concern has been that they have yet to prove themselves in the transfer market. For the record I am optimistic and think they will
Hi Damo I’m not English I’m Scouse. Sorry you were offended by my punctuation I don’t have an English degree I’m just a supporter who dabbles in writing. I don’t charge so calm down
He probably doesn’t realise LFC is global!
So what? Just buy a good oriental player? Pleb!
Hey, Jeff, I’m scouse too! Born in Broadgreen, lived in Kremlin Road! Do have an english degree though (and journalistic background). Sorry about that, makes for some hard reading sometimes when people don’t seem to know about the automatic spell and grammar-checking facilities of Word. Just paste it in and dispense with the need for sub-editors, or punctuation-nazis!
Damo
Please avoid over-use of exclamation mark, it has the power to turn the most delicately crafted prose into the rant of an over-excited child. Exclamation marks, CAPS LOCK and alphanumeric truncation add little value to jounalistic writing. You are suffering from a severe case of “bangorreah” !!!!!
This is a football forum not Letters to the Editor. Get a life !!!!!!!!!
Agree with most of your points Jeff although I feel most fans will never be truly convinced of FSG’s intentions. Since their takeover they have consistantly said the right things, supported the manager and provided funds. FSG would appear to have integrity and are not the asset strippers many fans believe they are.
C’onsistantly’, is that a word now!
Jeff. Who do we credit/critique transfer business too if not the scouting network and management team, as well as the owners? They are all in it together.
The bulk of the owners input into signing a player is, I would imagine, be to hear feedback about certain players and if there is a large majority vote and finance are available for said player, then its a no brainer and player is signed. Age and other variables obviously factor into play…..
If the committee are split due to age, price, re-sale value and the business doesn’t make footballing sense… because the player is awful a la C Dempsey (should never be paid a wage by Liverpool no matter how few strikers we have), then the owners may veto the purchase.
My deduction is that they have made the money we have, available when needed and convinced of the reasons for a particular player purchase that sometimes hasn’t worked out al la Caroll, Downing, Aspas, Alberto etc.
But the key point Jeff is this, of all the added benefit they have already brought to our club, they are still, not yet, universally accepted, based on poor purchase acquisitions.. that have yielded one trophy, two finals, records busted, cancelling out the debt and playing some exquisite football that has returned us to the champions league.
I just don’t understand it mate, I really don’t, no matter how much lipstick you place on your arguments.
Lallana though? Would prefer Jay Rodriguez!
Hi Damo no worries at all. I am learning aren’t we all and the feedback is appreciated actually. I rate Lallana for what it’s worth.
Lalane is not worth the price,i think 15 million pounds is better.Glen johnsn should be sold,he can’t cope with the demand of the game.Why don’t u sign me Goldpenny just for 1 million pounds.I wil deliver,i am an absolute baller.YNWA.
I am not an expert, but I think 25mil for lallana is ok. look at spurs they have bought so many players from abroad for 20 – 25 mil range and they are not performing at the level they are suppose to. Look performing in other league and in english league are 2 different things. Suppose we bought someone for 20 mil from abroad and he did not performed as we expected then what. The players from abroad needs time to get used to physical approach of this league. We have seen lallana for past 2 seasons and I think he is a very safe option.
Please dont start abusing me.
vjm
Proven? Proven at a mid table club . He will need to find another gear to be a top 4 standard plus another one to play in the CL, with the group we end up playing .
25 million is a hell of a lot. Lamela was never going to make it. Too lightweight and everyone expected more from him for years in Italy-never got it.
soldado was too old to adapt , plus their managerial mess meant that even proven players like dembele couldn’t do much. Let’s not draw comparisons with spurs. How about mr downing? The consistent guy that was proven pl performer !
Rogers should start with Moreno , and selling senior Johnson to QPR or somewhere else. Mr liability of the past few seasons if there was one. Bring wisdom back to compete with Flanagan and sort out holding mf. We are far too exposed at the back from lack of cover. Can’t shut a game down even at 2-0 up.
We need to get top players this transfer window. 2-3 top players are more worth than 10 aspas , asaidi and co. Finishing top 4 this year will put distance from the rest for years due to increased CL revenue next season. No more average players please and no more overpaying.
Great point above mate,Lallana is proven in England & is a safe buy.Truth be told he has the greatest technical ability in that England squad.
rickie lambert
Moreno
Sanchez
Javi Martinez
Koplyanka
sell
Agger
Lucas
oussaidi
Reina
Coates
Aspas
no lallana..wasting money