COME the end of Thursday 30th August 2012, and after Liverpool FC had sanctioned the loan transfer of Andy Carroll to West Ham, all Reds fans tucked themselves into bed and began dreaming of how exciting deadline day would be from a Liverpool perspective, safe in the knowledge that all involved knew at least two players had to be signed in order to beef up the squad, in particular our weak, threadbare strikeforce.
Deadline day started with a mixture of feelings; anticipation, excitement and anxiousness being the prominent three. However, it ended with an overwhelming concoction of disappointment and anger with a general sense of ‘what went wrong?’
Liverpool Football Club failed to secure the signature of any player on a day which provided the platform for boss Brendan Rodgers to add to a squad that consists of roughly 21 players above the age of 18; a number that falls way short of what you would consider ‘strength in depth’.
Every Liverpool fan and member of staff knew that this summer it was essential to strengthen a squad that finished 8th last season – 17 points from the promised land of Champions League football. There was no questioning that an improvement in our attacking options were high on the list of priorities. Unbelievably, after selling Nathan Eccleston, loaning out Andy Carroll and replacing them with just Fabio Borini, Liverpool have managed to weaken their strikeforce and have left themselves with just two recognisable strikers (as well as young Adam Morgan) at the manager’s disposal.
The main question is – who’s fault was it that nobody was brought in to cover the squad? Brendan Rodgers? Ian Ayre? Or was it the owner’s reluctance to part with the necessary cash? For me, it was a combination of all three. Brendan Rodgers made the huge mistake to let Andy Carroll go to West Ham before securing his replacement – a tactic that presents too much of a risk to a club of Liverpool’s stature. Rodgers has spoken since that he was ‘very’ confident of bringing in a replacement for Carroll however, in football, nothing is certain until it is 100% completed.
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Ian Ayre’s role at Liverpool FC is, amongst other things, to negotiate transfers with other clubs. He failed to come to an agreement with not only Chelsea for the loan signing of Daniel Sturridge but also with Fulham for Clint Dempsey; who eventually went to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Whether or not Ayre had his hands tied by the refusal of FSG to part with more than £4million for Clint Dempsey is an issue that is unlikely to ever leave the corridors of Melwood, nevertheless, the fact Liverpool FC could not stump up with an extra £2million for a player that would have made a huge difference is alarming to say the least.
John Henry has since written an open letter to Liverpool fans to indicate that the failure to sign any players was not due to a lack of effort as everyone involved in negotiations pushed hard in the final few days with a number of targets Rodgers had identified. Mr Henry also suggests that, although spending is not about cutting costs, it is aimed at getting the maximum out of the money that is spent. Our American owner also loosely hinted that he disagreed with the signing of Clint Dempsey due to his age, stating – “Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years”.
Whoever is to blame, there are issues to address. Some sooner rather than later and we have to trust that we are in the right and capable hands to guide us to a successful future. John Henry and his fellow FSG members must realise that the animosity from the fans of the club is a direct result of the previous regime that saw Liverpool FC close to administration, and not because we are quick to overreact after a string of bad results. The situation at Liverpool is an interesting one and, although it is a work in progress, the hard work has to come to fruition with positive results after only one point from their first three Premier League games. The prominent figures at the club must also learn from their mistakes from this summer’s transfer window and use it to prevent any future failings.
Follow me on Twitter – @ElliottTunstall
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It has to be at the top, they sanction the deals. They’ll probably blame Ian Ayre though. Funny how they have plenty of cash for Red Sox. Probably why they have none for LFC. I’m sure they’ll get backlash from fans soon.
http://incomepart.com/ref.php?page=act/ref&invcod=143171
That article is drivel, offering no more insight than your average moron could have mustered
Thanks NC, appreciate your comment. Shame you have to hide behind initials, isn’t it? If you think you have more insight than the ‘average moron’ then why not try your hand at writing for us? I’m sure the fans would love to hear your words of wisdom.
Good response. Plus i appriciate the work behind the article its always good to look at great things (such ad LFC) from different view points even in bad times.
Hide behind initials?? How old are you? Dis you get an education? Nicky Clark – any wiser now?
You see? I didnt get an education because I cant spell did..
Elliott you dont speak for me mate!dont be brown nosing to these clowns,the blame lies at the door
of FSG who are just the same as itchy n scratchy,the same coin turned over,i dont trust these yanks who have stated that they havent bought liverpool to make money,which is complete
and utter crap!if that was the case where is the money to buy new players? this group of leeches
are just after a more dollars and look at liverpool being a global brand with up to 400 million fans worldwide as an investment,henry and werner are liars and have already started to take
the piss with our club,time to get shut of these
mercenaries who have no love of our club,yanks out!YNWA redmen.
FSG have slashed LFC’s wage bill for the second season running, and are boasting about how high the Red Sox wage bill is!! John Henry needs to do one. If FSG were skint, fair play, but the fact they have plenty of cash is taking the p*ss.
OK, under FSG we wont go into administration, but is going into the Championship any better?
Slashed the wage bill for 2 seasons running? That’s a laugh. Last season saw below average players signed for ridiculous transfer fees and bloated wages. The cut started this summer my friend. And all these silly rumours about the Red Sox getting all the money are absurd. Do some research. The Red Sox are doing the same thing we are, lowering the wage bill and adding solid young players for the future.
Grow up and get with the program.
Kenny Dalglish was praised last season for reducing the wage bill and the average age of the squad. Short memory? Yes his transfers were ridiculously overpriced and overpaid (and extremely poor imo), but the fact remains he was asked to reduce the wage bill and he did.
John W. Henry said TODAY: “We continue to have the second highest payroll among the 30 clubs. Baseball is a 365-days-a-year sport for us. Our commitment to winning with the Red Sox is unabated.”
Is that enough research for you? I’m in my 50s, so I think I’m grown up enough, thanks.
By the way, insulting people you do not know is hardly the pinnacle of maturity.
John Henry does not have the faintest idea what football is about.He must realise that there is a huge difference between football and baseball.He should therefore just stick to baseball.Also his policy about seeing to the long-term future of the club is utter rubbish.Being a miser that he is,Liverpool will surely be playing in the second or third division in a couple years time.Liverpool definately needs new ownership urgently….owners who are not afraid to spend to achieve success.
What I find really amusing is that if Henry did not have money to buy players during this transfer period, then where the hell would he have any money to buy players in the January transfer window??? The cost of players in January transfer window is very much higher. I wonder what his excuse gonna be then. Maybe he will then only be looking for cheap “free agents” who are over the hill.
Its the owners, the top of the food chain. Its funny how the owners claim they do not want to spend this or that and get the club back succesful again, but they are supposedly the highest spenders in USA in baseball with RED Sox.
Jokers.co.uk they are:
Our club needs some serious investment in playing staff for us to get back into Top 4 let alone get back into competing for the league title. (100-150) Needs to be spent on players if club are to compete/match our competitors for top 4 positions in league.
This summer we have shipped out 8 1st team squad players:
And brought in 4 players to cover them. Yet with the 8 squad players we had at club we finished 8th, 4 out of the 8 players sold scored some of the measley amount of goals we scored last year: Bellamy, Carroll, Kuyt and Maxi.
The five players we should have brought in a transfer window are:
1: Llorente Of A Bilbao Or Soldado Of Valencia for £18-£23M to compete with Suarez and Borini FD
2: T Walcott Of Arsenal should have been brought for £12-£14M to compete with Sterling For RW/ RWF
3: B Matuidi Of PSG should have been brought for £10-£14M to compete with LUCAS for DM Role
4: I Munian Of A Bilbao should have been brought for £16-£20M to compete with Gerrard and Shelvey for AM Position
5: D Capel Of Sporting Clube De Portugal should have been brought for £10-£14M
Those five players would have cost club: £85m, THAT £85M would have been well spent and club would have been rewarded benefits over course of season. The £85M for these 5 class, quality players is £2M more than K Dalglish spent on 4 average players last season.
And if club spent £35 Net spend last season and finished 8th, obviously underspending and clearing squad will not make team any better.
£35M net as £115 was spent on players brought in, £80M was brought into club on players sold(Torres, Babel, Bennayoun,Koncheskey, Poulsen, Meireles and Ngog)
Oh god, another Football Manager fan…
Ha!Ha! love your name soueys tache! that has really made my day!i was a regular back in the golden days of dodgy perms n taches even had one myself,Ha!Ha!I cuold F..k.n kill Mcdermott,neal and Thompson!
FSG are right to some extent in lack of spending simply due to the fact we (LFC) have not been performing on the pitch at the same level as the “big boys” of the EPL. For a club with our history and status a top 4 finish every season is a minimum requirment. No investor /owenr in their right mind will put vasts amount if cash into LFC until issues and problems are addressed regarding lack of performance. And quick fixes do not last! And which world class players will want to come to LFC if we are not at the very least a top 4 team in the EPL. Its clealrly evident the style of football BR is promiting is begining to gel and take shape and should only get better. I appriciate time is not a comodity that LFC can afford to take great advantage of as things stand in the current climate but the weakness lies in the final 3rd if the pitch (which is a clear cut case). That being said i feel as a fan the blame in my eyes some what falls greater on the shoulders of both BR and Ian Ayre. It would be fair to assume FSG would have made it clear during the transfer window the limit of spending they would allow. That in mind deals should not have been left till deadline day. The Andy C saga could have been dealt with alot sooner with the string interest from the hammers. That in turn would have left time to bring in new fowards. However, all things considered its not the time to place blame its the time to work with what we have and make the most of our (LFC) strengths and minimise our weaknesses. Our number 9 needs to be more direct in getting his shot of once in the box as appose to trying to win a penalty. BR have a word please!!
In all sincerity, Henry needs to realize some FACTS, and the sooner he comes to an understanding of these, the better- for both our sakes.
As LFC fans, we really have suffered, for far too long. We have had to put up with ridicule and heartache, most especially under Hicks and Gillet, and i believe we deserve some respite. We deserve to have a team that we’d be proud of and one that sends shivers down the spine of opposing supporters.
When LFC was up for sale, i sincerely hoped we’d get people with serious loads of cash, not to just waste on players, but to put the necessary infrastructure in place.
Several mistakes have been made, accepted. The question is, do FSG have what it takes to make corrections and get things right? We need a new CEO, and if i was in charge, i’d go for brian barwick, why? The man has got financial clout both with the FA and UEFA. Next up is a director of aquisitions, someone good at negotiations. I’d go for david dein or txiki bergiristein, with ayre retained as commercial director.
About barwick, i meant political clout.
As for BR, i was not convinced about hiring him. I’d have preferred a more experienced coach, but i’m willing to let BR prove his mettle. However, i believe we can compete without spending fortunes. If i was in charge of scouting, there are some exceptional talents out there that won’t cost a fortune. First, i’d advise the sale of spearing, henderson, reina, doni, jones, downing, skrtel, as well as the return of carroll, and make sahin permanent. Then i’d purchase elkeson (£8m), pedro franco (£4m), marcus henriksen (£4m), leroy fer (£7m), markel susaeta (£9m), leandro damiao (£18m), jack butland (£10m): £60m.
This is assuming FSG have not given up on LFC and sold. With £60m, we’d get quality signings. However, if LFC has been sold to wealthier owners, i won’t count out the purchase of the likes of hummels, falcao, moutinho, etc. All hope is not lost. The question bothering my mind is, can FSG effect the right changes?
im sure br will sleep easy toninght after reading your post. first where you are willing to give him a chance. then the more he reads the more he will c you for what you are(A MUPPET). not only would you get rid of last years player of the year(also #2 vice captain)skrtel, you also get rid of 3 times golden gloves winner and #1 vice captain. for zero priemer league experience between all players and your #1 goalie was never played top competition football ever.