No sign of Hick’s “big” summer but what did you expect?

The transfer window closed at 6pm on Tuesday, leaving many Liverpool fans experiencing a collective sense of deflation.  After Hodgson made it clear that he was in the market for a striker, fans were hoping that we would sign a proven goal-scorer to help support the talismanic but injury-prone Torres.  After all, the last striker Liverpool signed was Robbie Keane, way back in July 2008, and he was sold in the following transfer window after failing to establish himself at Anfield.  Last season, a succession of injuries to Torres meant that we had to rely on Voronin and the inexperienced Ngog to supply the goals.  As the statistics show – Liverpool scored only 61 goals compared to Chelsea’s 103 last season – the lack of a genuine alternative to Torres in attack was one of the fundamental reasons why we were condemned to a 7th place finish.

Despite the reports that Roy Hodgson was desperately trying to sign Carlton Cole on deadline day; allegedly offering Lucas and Babel as part of the deal, and submitting a last-minute bid to Spurs for Roman Pavlyuchenko, the deadline passed without anymore attacking additions being recruited.  And once again, Liverpool had made more money through sales than they had spent on new signings.  Tom Hick’s promise that this would be a ‘big’ summer for transfers had been exposed as yet another lie.  For the fourth consecutive transfer window, Liverpool have spent considerably less money than they have accumulated through sales: yet more proof, if any were needed, that our parasitic owners continue to drain the life out of the club.

The signings Roy Hodgson had already made have also been scrutinised.  Some have doubts about the merits of Paul Konchesky and 30 year-old Christian Poulsen, whilst a shortage of conventional wide players is still an area of contention.  Opinion has been divided about the success of the transfer window for Liverpool.  Some fans think we were right not to rush into bying any forward for the sake of it (this particularly concerns Carlton Cole) and appear to be reasonably happy with the additions to the squad.  Others are frustrated at the lack of activity and are convinced that we are really going to struggle this season.

I appreciate both sides of the argument.  On the one hand, we have owners who have once again reneged on assurances that they were going to invest in the team.  Christian Purslow and Martin Broughton have tried to appease fans by claiming that all transfer money received would be made available for the signing of players; that it would not be redirected to help pay the Americans’ debts; and yet once again there is a deficit in what has been spent compared to funds received.  The way we seemed to be scrabbling around at the last moment to sign a forward, apparently unable to produce the money to pay for the likes of Carlton Cole, was undignified and insulting to a club of Liverpool’s stature.  We don’t have enough senior players to name a squad of 25, and considering the limitations of this squad, the decision to allow the flawed but gifted Aquilani to leave on loan is surely a risky one – if not an inexplicable one to some.  We have also sold or loaned out a number of promising young players.  Surely, then it has been an unmitigated disaster of a transfer window?

These are all valid concerns, of course, and we will discover how critical they are as the season goes on. I would argue, however, that there are still a number of positives that we can take from this turbulent transfer window… not least that it is finally over – that the turmoil and uncertainty of the last few weeks can at last be secondary to the football instead of dominating everything (at least until the club ownership media circus returns).  I also feel that we have made some quality additions to the club.  Joe Cole has hardly had the best of starts here, but he is a class player with the kind of skill we have been missing.  Jovanovic should be an astute signing on a free transfer, and I’m impressed with the Raul Meireles capture: he could be really galvanise our midfield with his dynamic style of play.  Christian Poulsen is an experienced campaigner with a winning mentality, and although he is far from a spectacular signing I think Konchesky will be a solid left-back, and will hopefully offer the kind of consistency we have been lacking in that position.   I am relieved we didn’t buy Carlton Cole. He is not of the required standard for Liverpool, and for around £12 million would have been outrageously overpriced.  I looks like Ryan Babel is going have the opportunity to play in his preferred role up front, so we can see if he can deliver on his potential and perform for us under Hodgson.  If he does not, then we should look to sell him in January and try to bring in a new striker then.  Also, I would like some of our younger players to be more involved this year.  The likes of Pacheco and Martin Kelly are excellent prospects and need first-team football to help with their development.

So what is the truth?  Are we ruined, or is there still hope?  There are certainly troubling signs that we are still a club in crisis, but there are perhaps also some things to be cautiously optimisic about.  At the moment that is just about the best we could expect.  Until we have new owners there will always be dark storm clouds over Anfield.

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