Do you think FSG are still doing a good job?

[Russ Atmosphere]

These owners have not spent any money on transfers that wasn't recouped from elsewhere, such as selling Torres or slashing wages. Whilst we seem to be getting better value for money I don't see how there is anyone still believes these owners will have us compete with the best teams in the league because we'll have to rely on luck and not investment to do so, it's highly unlikely.

[Horus]

No one can doubt that FSG stabilised the club at a critical time- for that we were, and are, grateful.

 

Beyond that, they have presided over a period when, to quote Huntelaar “we are no longer a European address”, they have turned down the chance of a New Anfield, and have gambled on cheaper inexperienced staff in key positions. Much of the income growth has been windfall, not the result of investment, which is why they bought us in the first place. Our debt is still around £88m.

 

To be fair to FSG they have promised nothing beyond what they have done, whether that will be “enough” is yet to be seen.

They were originally rejected because they didn't have the resources, with cecil saying the best thing about them was the fact they existed.

 

Do you know what the breakdown of that £88m is?

[bossy]

We are a club that is operating with the fear that our truly world class player will leave at the end of the season if we don't finish top 4 and the chance of finishing there is precarious because a nuMber of other teams are a all hanging around in a similar position to us. Our owners are reluctant to spend big money whereas other clubs are blowing us out the water every time we put one of our 'value' bids in.

The owners are very good at PR and yes they have stabilised the club after the last lunatics. They are also good at getting sponsorship deals with the likes of dunkin funking donuts. They are not so good at competing in the transfer market and that is a serious problem. 6/10

[Coro]

One of the things I've become aware of over the past couple of years is agencies that will work on your behalf and respond to social media and forums to promote your brand.

 

On forums they will act as typical posters but jump on certain subjects to make sure your message is heard and try to persuade your customers or prospective customers to the same view.  I had this pitched at me a couple of times at work and turned it down but for larger companies than the one I work for the outlays would be tiny.

 

LFD - I want to be clear and say I'm not accusing you of this but at best your posts related to FSG are very naive and picking out players signed under different owners is crazy.  United just signed Mata under the Glazers so does that make them great?

 

The least depressing explanation of LFDs posts.

 

Most people would type up any old shite for money.

[KOP123]

The owners gave the club a decent amount of cash to spend in the summer, they are not sugar daddies and should not be criticised for not making huge sums of cash available in this window. The real issue is with the transfer committee and how poorly the spent the funds available in the summer, the obsession with buying development players and their average scounting ability is the real issue. We could have quite easlily had another DM and left back if they would have had their strategy correct, the mistakes for me where;

 

1)  Paying 7m for another development centre half (lloris) when we already have wisdom, kelly and coates

2) Paying 8m for a stiker  (Aspas) who at the age of 25 has only ever had one season in a top flight league and even then for a struggling team, we could have kept borini

3) Paying 7m for yet another 'the next big thing' young spanaird (Alberto) given that what we really need was experience and the seems to be a never ending supply of their top spanish young players

4) Should we really have paid 10m for mignolet without getting any cash back for reina

5) Sakho is a decent player, but still in development, and cost us 18m, we could have got an established centre half for less than that

 

we could have quite easily now had another 3 players in the squad if it was'nt for the poor transfer policy

[Mr T]

They need to recognise the precarious situation we are in. Reinforce now and the club has a decent chance of taking a big step forward. Don't and we have a slim chance.

 

I reckon if we fail this year then that's the beginning of the end of Rodgers.

[stringvest]

One of the first things FSG did was through Chang contact bloggers and people who run forums to charm them and make them feel important. Getting their pr right has been very important to them. One of the things that has really surprised me is how many fans have just bought into their spiel.

Why are you surprised? You don't have to go very far back to see exactly the same technique used. Very effective.

 

[Tyler Durden]

My opinion is that if we finish this window without at least a couple of first team players to plug gaps in our stretched, already small squad then I want them to fuck off and sell up. Simple as that really, it will tell me everything I need to know about them and what their real ambitions are.

[Major Tom]

My opinion is that if we finish this window without at least a couple of first team players to plug gaps in our stretched, already small squad then I want them to fuck off and sell up. Simple as that really, it will tell me everything I need to know about them and what their real ambitions are.

 

Definitely crunch time.

[mcjackson]

No one can doubt that FSG stabilised the club at a critical time- for that we were, and are, grateful.

 

Beyond that, they have presided over a period when, to quote Huntelaar “we are no longer a European address”, they have turned down the chance of a New Anfield, and have gambled on cheaper inexperienced staff in key positions. Much of the income growth has been windfall, not the result of investment, which is why they bought us in the first place. Our debt is still around £88m.

 

To be fair to FSG they have promised nothing beyond what they have done, whether that will be “enough” is yet to be seen.

 

Good points.

 

I've been more positive than most regarding the owners, but I've got to admit I'm getting especially frustrated with the transfer failings. They've done well to stabilize the club, sign some sensible commercial deals, etc. The stadium issue is a big one, and I'm fairly confident they'll take it a positive direction. 

 

But the glaring hole at this point is the squad, imo. Something's not right with our transfer policy if we consistently lose out on our primary targets each window and don't seem to have a reliable plan B. 

[magicrat]

My opinion is that if we finish this window without at least a couple of first team players to plug gaps in our stretched, already small squad then I want them to fuck off and sell up. Simple as that really, it will tell me everything I need to know about them and what their real ambitions are.

Don't hold your breath . Our white knight has just opted for a place on the Chelsea bench

Its not about ambition ;ambitions cost nothing.. This is about having the resources to invest in the way City and Chelsea have. Yes FSG rescued us from the two shysters but they're not the boys to take us to the top of the heap.   

[Major Tom]

Don't hold your breath . Our white knight has just opted for a place on the Chelsea bench

Its not about ambition ;ambitions cost nothing.. This is about having the resources to invest in the way City and Chelsea have. Yes FSG rescued us from the two shysters but they're not the boys to take us to the top of the heap.   

 

Probably the reality and it makes for grim reading. But the thing for me is it wouldn't take massive investment from here to get us into the CL. Once there, life becomes a lot easier of a few levels. If I can see that - and I'm stupid - how come they can't see that?

[Horus]

Don't hold your breath . Our white knight has just opted for a place on the Chelsea bench

Its not about ambition ;ambitions cost nothing.. This is about having the resources to invest in the way City and Chelsea have. Yes FSG rescued us from the two shysters but they're not the boys to take us to the top of the heap.   

Our white knight didn't have a choice, because we failed to get anywhere near the valuation of the player for over a month, before the plastic flags came in and did the deal. After watching us for so long, he probably thought that Chelsea must really want him as they got the deal done so quickly.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

I just don't believe we have no money. It makes no fucking sense. We were bidding 25m for numerous players a few months ago. How can that just disappear?

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I just don't believe we have no money. It makes no fucking sense. We were bidding 25m for numerous players a few months ago. How can that just disappear?

 

I think that money went on Sakho and Ilori.

[magicrat]

Our white knight didn't have a choice, because we failed to get anywhere near the valuation of the player for over a month, before the plastic flags came in and did the deal. After watching us for so long, he probably thought that Chelsea must really want him as they got the deal done so quickly. 

[magicrat]

Our white knight didn't have a choice, because we failed to get anywhere near the valuation of the player for over a month, before the plastic flags came in and did the deal. After watching us for so long, he probably thought that Chelsea must really want him as they got the deal done so quickly.

Probably true . FSG doing everything on the cheap

[Barney_Rubble]

Of course they are doing a good job.

 

Look at the club when they took over to where we are now. It is not even debatable, we have improved in nearly every aspect of the club.

As Bab quite eloquently put it below, the fact that the current lot of yanks brought us from the abyss and made us less shit doesn't mean they are doing a "good job". Club of this statue shouldn't be scrambling around shopping at Lidl or Poundland or have incompetent idiots like Ayre appointed at the club in any capacity.

 

Doing better than bad owners is not quite the same as doing a good job.

I couldn't put it better myself!

 

My opinion is that if we finish this window without at least a couple of first team players to plug gaps in our stretched, already small squad then I want them to fuck off and sell up. Simple as that really, it will tell me everything I need to know about them and what their real ambitions are.

I wanted this lot to sell up and fuck off for a long time now. If we want to restore this club, our club, to its rightful place, these fucking yanks aren't the owners who can get us there.

 

They are here for one thing and one thing only - to get as much as possible out of the club, without bringing us to our knees as the previous lot did. This is their only strategy - the rest is just PR bullshit for the gullible who are stupid enough to believe it.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

I think that money went on Sakho and Ilori.

 

But we chased them for months prior?

 

If that is true then its a fucking load of bollocks. There is no way I can see Rodgers sanctioning Downing, Borini and Assaidi leaving if he didn't think we'd bring in one big forward.

[Guest LFD]

We have improved dramatically under them and to say otherwise is just wrong.

 

OK we haven't signed anyone in January - do we know that is their fault? No we don't know.  Given we have tried to sign Salah, they must have released some funds to Rodgers and The Committee.

 

Let's remember the squad we had when they arrived.  It included Konchesky, Poulsen, Degan, Soto, Ngog, Jovanovic, Aquilani, Joe Cole, El Zhar etc.

 
Even one of our star players didn't want to be here in Torres and we didn't have many stars at the time.
 
Not only that we had Hodgson as our manager, the brand of football was awful, the performances no better and we were way down the league table.
 
So things on the pitch were bleak!
 
Off the pitch the club had debt thanks to Hicks / Gillett - two cunts who deserve all the criticism they get!
 
Our fan base had been really hurt, the club was a mess from top to bottom and people were understandably fearing new American owners.
 
So what have we seen since?
 
They sacked Hodgson and brought back a legend to hopefully stabilise the club and Dalglish did do that in really tough circumstances, winning a trophy along the way.
 
They gave the managers financial backing.  Dalglish got £110 million to spend.  Rodgers has spent £94 million (according to http://www.lfchistor.../ByManager/25-1).
 
So in five transfer windows we have spent over £200 million on new players.  But what makes that even more impressive is we got hardly any money back from many of the players I listed above.   Actually we had to pay off many of the players such as Jovanovic, due to their ridiculous wages.
 
Commercially we seem to be growing off the pitch all the time.  
 
I didn't like the way they sacked Dalglish, but at least they have brought him back to the club (or not blocked Rodgers from bringing him back), so they must still be on relatively good terms.
 
They also appointed Rodgers, which seems to have been an inspired choice.  I didn't think Rodgers had the CV for the job.  But I have been delighted with him so far and I don't think anyone can't be given we are top of the league.
 
The club all seem to be together, pulling in the same direction and the owners, even Ayre needs to get some credit for this - not just the players and Rodgers.
 
I often see people criticising them for reducing the wage bill.  I don't see how that is negative, some of the wages were ridiculous for players who were not earning what they were getting.  
I think they are trying to pay players what they deserve.  As a result the expensive flops have gone, such as Carroll and Joe Cole.  But wage increases have gone to Sterling, Suarez (twice), Shelvey (when he was here), Skrtel, Agger etc.  That's the way it should be!
 
Our house is in good order and I think some people should feel ashamed of some of the criticism and abuse - yes abuse, these owners got!  Being cautious about them was perfectly understandable, but many assumed they were bad for the club, with little evidence.
 
They have made some mistakes - The Chang appointment, Comolli coming, the initial treatment of Dalglish as he was sacked.  But they have reacted quickly if they have made mistakes.  Sacking Chang, Comolli and welcoming Dalglish back to the club.   
 
There is still a lot of work to do.  They need to complete the new stadium, they need to keep backing Rodgers financially in the transfer windows, they need to stay strong in the summer like they were last summer when the big clubs come for Suarez.  But if you step back and look where we were when they took over, to where we are now - I think we have to say they have done an excellent job.
 
We are on the way back and they deserve as much credit as Rodgers and the players for getting us back in the mix and the club back on track.

[Iceman]

The only time I have been excited by them as owners, was when we spent the 100mil when Kenny was the manager. 

 

Since then, they have been disappointing. They are hasty when they should show patience and indecisive when they need to act quickly.

 

They should call it quits and sell us on. They remind me of an old fart who owns a supercar but only takes it out of the garage on a Sunday to show it off to the locals.

 

With just a few tweaks we could be ready for the Autobahn, these guys can't handle it.

[Guest LFD]

LFD - I want to be clear and say I'm not accusing you of this but at best your posts related to FSG are very naive and picking out players signed under different owners is crazy.  United just signed Mata under the Glazers so does that make them great?

 

I was simplifying things and it was tongue in cheek.  Read my long post above to show why deserve far more credit.

[Guest LFD]

They should call it quits and sell us on. 

 

Be careful what you wish for - we should know better than anyone that we can get a lot worse owners than FSG.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Be careful what you wish for - we should know better than anyone that we can get a lot worse owners than FSG.

That's not a reason to champion FSG's mediocrity.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Let me make one thing clear, I don't think they're bad owners. They've put money in (as a business we were actually losing money) but the manner in which they've approached various aspects of the sport has slowly eroded my confidence in them.

 

I will always give credit for them offloading the dross and stabilising us; however, I'm beginning to think what we're likely to be stabilised as will be a Europa league club.