On whose head does it fall?

[Carvalho Diablo]

[Pureblood]

Rodgers has a malfunction in his M-3 tactical helmet and is about to remove it during a live fire exercise. That's how shafted we are.

[Tony Moanero]

What would be the point of it? What have we to gain out of doing this multiple times over? Nothing. Thats what.

 

I don't doubt that we are attempting to buy players. I do, however, suspect that we are not willing to pay the transfers fees and wages that have to be paid to get them.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Catch on to what? Information about players we are interested in being passed to the press (albeit with a positive spin)?

 

I don't deny our interest. I suspect that (contrary to the positive spin) we haven't backed up that interest with actual bids. Because the clubs deny having received bids.

 

Come on, that's not how transfers work. Official transfer bids normally come after everything is agreed with the club and the player. I highly doubt Real Madrid have sent the dreaded fax yet, but a deal has most likely been agreed.

[Josef Svejk]

Come on, that's not how transfers work. Official transfer bids normally come after everything is agreed with the club and the player. I highly doubt Real Madrid have sent the dreaded fax yet, but a deal has most likely been agreed.

 

It's nothing to do with whether the bid was "official" or whether it was delivered by fax.

 

Spurs never denied Real's bid, however it was made.

 

Andre Villas-Boas refuses to deny Real Madrid bid for Gareth Bale and that player has asked to leave - Telegraph

[Coro]

Americans and 'soccer franchises'

 

not a good combo

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

It's nothing to do with whether the bid was "official" or whether it was delivered by fax.

 

Spurs never denied Real's bid, however it was made.

 

Andre Villas-Boas refuses to deny Real Madrid bid for Gareth Bale and that player has asked to leave - Telegraph

 

So what you're saying is that they were totally fictitious?

[dennis tooth]

So what you're saying is that they were totally fictitious?

 

Quick, theres a way out of this, straw man him

[Josef Svejk]

So what you're saying is that they were totally fictitious?

 

I'm saying that I'm suspicious about bids that our men in the press say we've made that the relevant clubs deny having received.

 

Lost in the post?

[PaulMcC]

The owners appointed every person involved in transfers in their current roles.

[Coro]

Siggurdson, we didn't feel worth the wages; and Dempsey not the fee. I reckon both would have come to us. But obviously pleased they didn't.

 

People are questioning the club's competence. You mention the Dempsey deal as if it was a simple matter of us not wanting to pay the money. Numero tried the same yesterday. Why skip over some pretty important detail?

 

Here we are a year later still failing in the transfer market.

[TheHitman]

Once we were going to try and sign players on performance related wages, combined with no c/l football and a manager without a track record and people at the club who are still learning how things work in the transfer market, we were always making the job even more difficult to attract the best players.

 

Who knows Henry might do us another open letter come early September as he acknowledges his mistakes again. He seems to have gained a few admirers as he has tweeted something about Arsenal and we can all buzz off that as another season passes where we the gap between us and and the top grows.

 

Bidding for the players you consider are the best and missing out on them is no excuse not to buy players, we are not exactly like United who won the league by a margin. It also doesn't mean they will be shit players as no team would ever buy players then and would never improve. If you are waiting around for the best c/h to buy or the best lm to buy or the best number 10 then there will always be competition and more often than not under the circumstances that the owners have placed us we will miss out.

[index1000]

You cant??

 

Ever heard of the people's club? Have a look at how they work in the transfer market, while you are at it take a look at Arsenal's own long list of failed attempts, then witness the scores of deluded fans blindly following this and spending their hard earned money dreaming 'one day' and then begin to think about some of the deluded cretins in our ranks, such as yourself bending over backwards to accomodate this charade and justify and rationalise it all, all under the 'one day' banner. Think about their long suffering wives and children, decked out in hideous football clothery with no shame, unable to feed themselves but its ok cos they remortaged the house to buy more Arsenal/Everton shares ready to cash in when they reach the top.

 

Or maybe Im just crazy. Am I crazy yo?

So basically the very definition of a football fan makes you deluded? The fans follow the club and the team, the transfer activity is something they have no control of, interest in yes but no control.

i won't bother with the rest of your post because that does suggest you are crazy, i am not sure about that, fucking boring as batshite definitely though.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

The owners appointed every person involved in transfers in their current roles.

 

So?

[PaulMcC]

So?

 

Think about it. You asked whose head does it fall.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Think about it. You asked whose head does it fall.

 

No, I get your banal implication. I don't need to think about it. I'm asking for the logic behind it.

[TheHitman]

This is a few weeks old but worth a read although I expect to hear that City and Spurs have the most money so it is easier and yeh we had Commolli.

 

 

Transfer window analysis: sporting directors pay off for Spurs and City

 

The two Premier League teams with genuine sporting directors are the ones who have appeared most prepared in the market

 

 

 

 

The imposing 25-year-old Toulouse midfielder Etienne Capoue looks set to be Spurs' fourth signing of the transfer window, at a fee of around £8.6m. Capped 10 times by France, he's been on the wishlist of many European clubs for a couple of years now (Toulouse's high valuation hindered several potential moves) and, with his probable capture, Spurs' midfield is looking ever more impressive.

 

Compared to their other central midfielders (Dembélé, Sandro, Paulinho) he's clearly more defensively minded – breaking up attacks, winning the ball and playing the simple pass out – but he's also improved his attacking play over the past year, adding goals mainly through his energy and power, which see him join in and make runs when the opportunity arises, rather than with flair or creativity. Though he has played centre-back in his teens and early 20s, I expect Spurs to use him in midfield where he should have no problem holding his own. His style looks suited to the Premier League; though he's a strong and towering figure, he's not sluggish and shows a dynamism and agility not always found in players of his size.

 

It seems like another good signing for Spurs; while I'm not expecting him to be the most spectacular of the new arrivals, he's an efficient player with a good mentality who'll be of great use in their squad. I rate him as the best defensive midfielder in French football of the past few seasons.

 

With this addition, though Gareth Bale's future is still uncertain, one has to be impressed with the way that Spurs have worked the market this summer. They've had concrete targets and seemingly got the majority of players they wanted, picking players from the upper shelves with little guesswork, random buying or reliance on late agent recommendations. They've obviously had a plan: players with good strength and physique who will improve the team, all internationals and at a good age.

 

The way it's looking, just a week away from the start of the new Premier League season, it's clear to me that Spurs, along with Manchester City, are the teams who on paper look radically stronger than last year (though an eventual sale of Bale will obviously weaken Spurs).

 

I for one doubt it's a coincidence that the only two teams in the Premier League with genuine sporting directors (or technical directors or directors of football, if you like) are the ones who have appeared the most prepared, structured and with clear strategies in their work in the summer transfer market. Of course, that's an obviously predictable opinion coming from someone with my background – as readers will no doubt remind me – but if you compare their work with those of arch rivals Arsenal and Manchester United this summer, you may even concede I have a point.

 

They have acted swiftly and decisively – with City completing most of their summer deals by the end of July – in identifying the players they wanted, and getting the deals done. This is the way business tends to happen in continental Europe, where sporting directors are the norm. They predominantly secure their targets early in the window, unless it's a big transfer which requires more time (for instance with all the game playing seen in the Luis Suárez and Bale sagas – it's natural that such deals drag out). They want their squads ready in ample time for the start of the season.

 

Now, to be very general, Premier League clubs on the whole seem rather reactive in their general approach to transfer dealings: reliant on agent offers, wanting to wait and see in the summer what's available, rather than having a wish list with multiple options and aiming even for those players that at first appear unavailable by sounding out potential interest early. Some even stick to the dated approach of "taking a late punt". Without wanting to sound disrespectful – I'm a great admirer of English football and the Premier League on the whole – I do feel the approach to the transfer market is more haphazard in England, which may be put down to a weakness in the managerial system that rarely finds the space or the culture for high-level executives empowered to work exclusively on the transfer market and who are experts in the field.

 

With the vast majority of new Premier League signings now being recruited from abroad – and overwhelmingly from continental Europe – it's understandable why some top clubs have taken the step of recruiting executives who are dedicated to the area of player recruitment and have the contacts, background, knowhow and overview of players on a worldwide scale – and, most crucially, know their true value. You can't reasonably expect managers to have this knowledge – their job is to focus on coaching and match preparation – and the pressure on them, and the need to work 18-hour days, means their attention should be directed elsewhere. A chief scout rarely possesses the complex understanding of the business aspect of the transfer market, whereas Premier League CEOs are usually from business or commercial, not football backgrounds and their contacts, while invaluable in certain areas, are of little use in the transfer market. (Of course, all these figures will be involved in player recruitment too; the sporting director works alongside them, not in isolation, although the dynamics of these relationships are a debate for another column.)

 

This makes a role such as Franco Baldini's at Spurs – and indeed Txiki Begiristain's at Manchester City and to a certain extent, Michael Emenalo's at Chelsea – fundamental, to my eyes at least. There's nothing more important within a football club than recruiting players. The one real "alchemy" within the operations of a club is identifying players, understanding their correct value and ultimately attracting the right ones, as they are the only assets with the potential to increase in value even tenfold in a relatively short time, and can eventually help to build a more successful club (Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto and Udinese are some examples of continental clubs who have perfected this art). In that regard it's strange that Premier League clubs don't bring in these specialists to the extent that they do for, say, marketing – while you can significantly increase commercial sales through being successful on the pitch, you need a steady stream of very talented players (for the right price) to achieve it. Successfully operating and understanding the transfer market is a specialist task and should be treated and respected as such. Of course, much like finding players, getting the right man is itself quite an undertaking. It's one that perhaps Daniel Levy has finally cracked.

 

 

Transfer window analysis: sporting directors pay off for Spurs and City | Tor-Kristian Karlsen | Football | theguardian.com

[PaulMcC]

No, I get your banal implication. I don't need to think about it. I'm asking for the logic behind it.

 

The owners appointed everyone in their current roles. If they can't get transfers done it ultimately falls on the owners for appointing these people who are relatively inexperienced.

 

Whose head does it fall on in your opinion?

[FanchesterCity]

Surely the vast majority of this stuff isn't Liverpool spinning some PR yarn, it's just the media doing what they do.

 

Sometimes they print stuff that's true, often they print stuff that's pure speculation but word it in a way that has fans believing / hoping it's genuine inside information.

 

The source of this info can be

 

a) The selling club

b) The buying club

c) The agent

d) Some supposedly 'close' to the player (the sort of close friend who can't keep his mouth shut??)

e) Some overheard rumour in a pub

f) A suggestion offered by the media to someone at the club in order for them to print 'Liverpool sources say....' and it not be libelous. i.e. Press guy asks "is there any truth in Messi coming to Liverpool" and the response is "Mess wouldn't come".... so the press print "Liverpool not confident of Messi arrival'.... which is enough for the speculation to start.

g) It's just completely made up

 

With all those options (and probably more), the chances of it being the club engaging in a cunning ruse are slim aren't they?

 

I can understand why some would feel there's benefit in pretending to be looking at top players, but at the same time, that just changes fans views from 'unwilling to spend' to 'incompetent negotiators' - so I personally can't see much benefit in all that.

It's probably better PR to be honest and say "We're not going to be spending big, and that's that". It'll still have fans moaning, but at least they'll know the score.

 

I think the Suarez situation has hindered things... not knowing if you'll need to spend big to replace him, or complement him - and that could mean two entirely different types of player depending on the outcome.

[Major Tom]

People are questioning the club's competence. You mention the Dempsey deal as if it was a simple matter of us not wanting to pay the money. Numero tried the same yesterday. Why skip over some pretty important detail?

 

 

You're missing the context of the point I was making there, Coro. I wasn't talking about the owners, merely going up against Spurs in the transfer market in whatever capacity.

[Ranxerox]

Rodgers has a malfunction in his M-3 tactical helmet and is about to remove it during a live fire exercise. That's how shafted we are.

 

that movie was shit

[PaulMcC]

Liverpool should always be able to make players think they're a better club to join than Spurs. We're 5 time European Champions and Spurs have won 1 trophy in 20 years.

 

Unless they are given players reason to believe they are more ambitious than Liverpool?

[Josef Svejk]

Surely the vast majority of this stuff isn't Liverpool spinning some PR yarn, it's just the media doing what they do.

 

I have in mind not the press in general, but the likes of Chris Bascombe at the Telegraph and Tony Barrett at the Times. Journalists with club ties.

[index1000]

No, I get your banal implication. I don't need to think about it. I'm asking for the logic behind it.

 

Logic? good luck finding that

[dennis tooth]

You're missing the context of the point I was making there, Coro. I wasn't talking about the owners, merely going up against Spurs in the transfer market in whatever capacity.

 

At first they said we couldnt seal deals due to our Cl deficiency, then spurs did a shitload of business and how silly does those peoples look nows?