Why FSG’s transfer committee have failed to get more bang for their buck - by Joe Simpson

[ritchie]

Hes backed himself but he did really want the job and was super cheap. I want to know the ins and outs of who signed who before I condemn Rodgers totally. That said if all he has to do is coach you should think he can set us up to keep the occasional clean sheet.

 

Lets say we sack Rodgers, the sad thing is we will probably appoint a worse manager anyway since no manager will accept this shit system and have their career trashed by Mike Gordon or whoever.

 

 

As an aside I think we can see whats going on with anytime we have tried to sign a top player with the committee:

Any player who is about to sign will get approached by people like Mike Gordon and wonder who the fuck this hedge fund window licker money spinner is and who the fuck is signing players and if they sign does the manager even want them or is Mike feeling lucky today?

Hence any decent player who is going anywhere wont sign for us and run a mile, cant be a co incidence we lose out on all these players.

 

Mike Gordon, destroyer of promising young managers and young players careers and possibly a promising club.

 

If you're a player and Liverpool are interested in you, you'd want to know 100% that the manager actually wants to sign you and you're not going to be the next Sahin, Assaidi, ilori, Cissokho, Sakho, Alberto, Balotelli etc and be treated like the ugly girl at the dance pretty much from the start because the manager would have preferred Williams, Dempsey and co. The whole situation is just ridiculous. The previous two windows were farcical enough but the good season, and great run we had, papered over the cracks of it and lessons weren't learnt.

 

It's not just a case of Rodgers and the committee at odds either. How do you explain Lallana? A player Rodgers desperately wanted but a player we blatantly didn't need, was way overpriced and can't last 90 minutes.

[Neil G]

But he's okay to advertise the fact to anyone who'll listen that he absolutely does have final say. Why say anything?

Maybe he was asked the question directly?

 

Of course he's going to say on the record that he has final say. To suggest publicly that he doesn't, and that he has players forced on him and can't sign his own choices, will just give the media free rein to run stories about.a divided club, and probably land him in serious shit with the owners.

 

I wasn't looking to get into a big debate over this, I was just pointing out to Dr J that we can't take Rodgers's words at face value on this subject.

[dennis tooth]

But he's okay to advertise the fact to anyone who'll listen that he absolutely does have final say. Why say anything?

 

He might be spinning a different story to selected journos off the record now this season's gone to shit, but it was Rodgers who couldn't keep his mouth shut in the summer about how happy he was with the players we'd got in and how they were his decisions. If he can't be honest with the fans then the fans can only take what he says at face value, he's not even cryptic about it. 

 

I think we can probable gather that he wanted Vorm, Williams, Bertrand, Dempsey, Sigurdson and Ince rather than some of the players we did sign. There's none of them you wish we'd have got. The committee have got a lot to answer for, collectively, but if the scouts have identified Willian, Costa, Mikhitaryan and Sanchez and the club can't sell it to those players then they are restricted a bit. If Rodgers and his no mark staff can't organise a defence then you're going to look bad as well whatever defender you earmark. It was also mooted that the committee came into being in the first place because FSG were so underwhelmed with Rodgers' signings and wish lift in his first summer window.

 

I think he has done what id have done and try to present a united front. I dont see any signals hes been breifing the press and most of us are having to peice together whats going on.

 

What I would say though is, the decision he has taken to allow players to be foistered on him and then denying thats the case while admitting the committee signs players and all the fallout from that, then he will live or die by that decison, if he turns it round and it works out ace, if it doesnt then hes out of a job really, simple. 

 

As a man, its his gamble to make. 

 

As for us as a club Im not sure we should ever gambled all our future on this entirely unneccesary set up, get a manager in who can go after and bring in top players or give him the set up he wants to do that for him but its got to be him deciding as hes got to pick the team.

We try to save money by bringing in a committee with all their advisors, scouts, agents, hangers on, and end up overspending on shite more than we would had we stuck to the old method. Meanwhile any genuine good deal, miktarian for example we miss out on cos we look like a bunch of japanese camera toting tourists at disneyworld.

Anyone can see a division is a division and the committee is a recipe for it when you add all the ingredients.

[clangers]

Committee's often return fudged decisions to reflect differing opinions, I'm guessing that's what we're seeing here. Player X and Y are strongly preferred by committee member's A and B, whilst player Z is the preferred choice of committee member's B and C. We have an available budget and can therefore proceed with the above purchases that keep all members happy. Shared responsibility on the face of it, however it's the manager who'll be held ultimately responsible.

 

As long as the manager get's his preferred choice he'll go along with the additional choices of the committee.

 

In public the manager will never clearly state that he didn't actually want a player or player's simply because it will damage the togetherness of the squad and managerial structures. At least until he loses his job or is Roy Hodgson.

[TheHowieLama]

All well and good that the committee is the latest reason we are shit in the market.

[Phoenix]

Players would only be imposed on him if he didnt have a veto. Which by his own admission he does.

[Kevin D]

"If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries"

 

Bill Parcells.

[ratcatcher]

It was also mooted that the committee came into being in the first place because FSG were so underwhelmed with Rodgers' signings and wish lift in his first summer window.

 

Ah so you're circumspectively admitting FSG did know something about football after all?

[sir roger]

We basically watched Spurs balls up the Bale money, laughed like drains & then watched our club replicate it with even worse players.

 

All we needed to do was work out which were our three most pressing area of need & go in gangbusters for world class players in those positions, offering them top wages ( I would have earmarked Striker / Def Mids & Right Back )

 

The fact that the shysters on the committee are earning a fortune for their 'expertise' & have no accountability makes me despair.

[dennis tooth]

Players would only be imposed on him if he didnt have a veto. Which by his own admission he does.

 

But it cant be that simple or the whole committee would be redundant.

What ever would Gordon and Ayre do all day if Rodgers threw out all of their silly proposals?

We dont know where the line is drawn thats a big issue. If Rodgers signed Lovren and agreed to Balotelli then he needs to resign.

[RoboRiise]

The one thing going for Rodgers is he's shown he can coach attacking players well IF he's got a week on the training ground between games to work with them (and if they're top players i.e. SASAS). In reality you don't get thatt at top clubs. Liverpool not being in Europe last season was (or certainly fucking should be) a one off. And that was because he couldn't quality for Europe with us in his first season while we were in the Europa.

 

Exactly.  I'm surprised more people didn't have my reaction to those comments; if he really means he struggles when he doesn't have a week between games he might as well just go now because what he needs in terms of training time is fundamentally incompatible with what he is tasked with delivering in terms of league position and European football.

 

The only way he's ever going to get a week between games to coach (something that no other manager of a side with Champion's League ambitons seems to need) is by finishing 7th or lower.

 

Tell you what, I wish he'd just shut the fuck up at the moment and get on with trying to fix the car crash that our season is becoming.  Every time he opens his mouth he just gives more ammunition for people to fire at him with the stuff he comes out with, the comments about Gerrard being the latest example.  If he isn't embarassing himself, he must be completely devoid of self-awareness.

 

This was the first link on the footy section of my homepage tonight.  I know the media will always try to make people look like cunts and I don't particularly care about it, but he makes it way too easy for them.

 

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/spend-100m-expect-challenging-league-best-brendan-rodgers-163444376--spt.html

[Paco]

Dennis knobs

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Exactly.  I'm surprised more people didn't have my reaction to those comments; if he really means he struggles when he doesn't have a week between games he might as well just go now because what he needs in terms of training time is fundamentally incompatible with what he is tasked with delivering in terms of league position and European football.

 

The only way he's ever going to get a week between games to coach (something that no other manager of a side with Champion's League ambitons seems to need) is by finishing 7th or lower.

 

Tell you what, I wish he'd just shut the fuck up at the moment and get on with trying to fix the car crash that our season is becoming.  Every time he opens his mouth he just gives more ammunition for people to fire at him with the stuff he comes out with, the comments about Gerrard being the latest example.  If he isn't embarassing himself, he must be completely devoid of self-awareness.

 

This was the first link on the footy section of my homepage tonight.  I know the media will always try to make people look like cunts and I don't particularly care about it, but he makes it way too easy for them.

 

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/spend-100m-expect-challenging-league-best-brendan-rodgers-163444376--spt.html

 

That Johnson quote winds me up.

[Paco]

Exactly. I'm surprised more people didn't have my reaction to those comments; if he really means he struggles when he doesn't have a week between games he might as well just go now because what he needs in terms of training time is fundamentally incompatible with what he is tasked with delivering in terms of league position and European football.

 

The only way he's ever going to get a week between games to coach (something that no other manager of a side with Champion's League ambitons seems to need) is by finishing 7th or lower.

 

Tell you what, I wish he'd just shut the fuck up at the moment and get on with trying to fix the car crash that our season is becoming. Every time he opens his mouth he just gives more ammunition for people to fire at him with the stuff he comes out with, the comments about Gerrard being the latest example. If he isn't embarassing himself, he must be completely devoid of self-awareness.

 

This was the first link on the footy section of my homepage tonight. I know the media will always try to make people look like cunts and I don't particularly care about it, but he makes it way too easy for them.

 

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/spend-100m-expect-challenging-league-best-brendan-rodgers-163444376--spt.html

I dont think hes saying he needs a week, hes saying he used to have a week and now he has a few days.

 

This is his first foray into champions league football so he has to learn and the nature of the game/business is he has to learn quick.

[BCM]

"If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries"

 

Bill Parcells.

 

The " Big Tuna".  Top Man

[Cardie]

A transfer committee is just a name given to something that happens at every single club. The only difference is by giving it a name it gives people something to rally against collectively instead of arguing whether the manager of Ian Ayre should take sole blame.

 

 

[xerxes]

Some aspects of the transfer committee are, I believe, overstated.

 

Most clubs will have a similar informal arrangement when buying players with the exception of those who have all-powerful DOFS like Spurs and WBA. The CEO will handle the finances, the scouting staff will present reports and DVDS, the performance analyst will reel off the stats. All that differs is the influence, based upon experience, that the manager has. But I do not believe a single player has been bought who Brendan did not want.

 

Much hinges on the experience of the manager, and other key staffers at any club. Our problem continues to be lack of experience overall. Brendan has no past experience of buying and building a team, nor of shopping at the top end of the market, FSG and Ayre are picking it up as they go along from scratch.

 

When FSG arrived the principle of hiring a DOF in the circumstances was right, the person who they employed was wrong, the decision to sack him was right, the decision not to employ another candidate was wrong.

 

I think the presence of Mike Gordon is less of a worry, and instead a sign that FSG want one of their own present to work out how the so-called experts are squandering their cash.

 

Brendan declared upon arrival that he would not work with a DOF, and that he has the final word on the deliberations of the transfer committee. I think he is a very good coach. Butis it, and was it, wise to allow a man with only four years managerial experience, only one of which was in the top flight, with no record of team building or big money transfers such freedom? As Sgt Wilson used to say in Dads Army, “Do you think that is wise?”

 

FSG bow have a problem of their own making. Brendan deserves the time to see out the season and restore things. However he has brought in so many players who have failed to make an impact that recruiting in more makes no sense, improving what we have does. Yet we all know that key positions do need strengthening now. It boils down to judgement, Brendan’s and theirs’. Will Brendan be any wiser in May than he is in January?

 

All managers, given the chance, will look to buy their way out of mistakes, but no cub can afford for a manager to keep on making them.

[VladimirIlyich]

I'm surprised nobody has said something like this to him,

'Hey Brendan?'

'Yes?'

'Didnt you used to work with Mourinho?'

'Yes,yes I did. In fact he is both a mentor and friend to me.'

'Ok,let me ask you a question then?'

'Sure.'

'Would Mourinho buy Ashley Williams,Lovren,Vorm,Balotelli,etc?'

'Err,probably not,no.'

'Then why the fuck are you buying these players for a club that pisses all over Chelsea's successes and not going for similar quality?'

'Another thing Brendan'

'Ok'

'If he is your mentor then why the fuck can his teams keep clean sheets for fun and squeeze the life out of games to get a win or draw when necessary and you cannot? Especially if he mentored you?'

 

Brendan goes red faced and slinks away.

[stringvest]

That'll teach him not to fuck with Vlad's emotions.

[Ranxerox]

Players would only be imposed on him if he didnt have a veto. Which by his own admission he does.

 

So he was in a position to veto Balotelli? Not likely after what happened in his first window. He wouldn't have gone into this season without another striker and no way was Henry going to find himself writing another open letter. Just because you have a veto doesn't mean you have the political capital to use it.

[dennis tooth]

If Mario did come from the committee and he agreed to it rather than rodgers choice then what happend to rodgers choices? Either they failed to get them in ala Costa, Cavani or whoever in which case they should be getting teabagged/sacked whatever they do nowadays we overpaid execs get found out as being less than useless and cant hide behind anonymity any longer.

Next window we are likely to find through moneyball climate modelling stats that signing Ched Evans could really have an upside and offset some of our balance sheet as the high impact low value player we are after, do you know he had the highest throw in ratio of any rape convicted forward in the englandshire district of aggregated resultant table occupying teams? If that doesnt sway you you need to get outta soccer.

[magicrat]

I suspect none of the players that came in were bought against the clear expressed wish of Rodgers, He may have been lukewarm on some or preferred someone else but agreed , like in the case of Balotelli, that now other targets had been missed and as the window was about to close this is the best we can do,  I think he held the view that he could mould players to his way of thinking and get them playing this blitzkrieg football that worked so well last season .No Suarez, No Sturridge and painfully obviously No Plan B = Rail crash

[TheHowieLama]

He probably thought after last year that he should just take what he could get.

[Dr. J]

 

So he was in a position to veto Balotelli?

I don't know but what we do know is that a significant criterion for the owners is resale value and if there's more damaged, devalued goods out there than him I'm glad they didn't come here.

 

If Balotelli was forced on him than what possible reason could anybody on the committee have given after Rodgers (presumably) told them 1) he doesn't fit his style of play, and 2) he didn't fucking want him anyway, at any price.

 

That scenario doesn't play out, He might not have wanted him first choice, who would?, but in the end he agreed to it. If he didn't, you'd have to imagine a case of him telling Henry 1 and 2 above and still having Balotelli forced on him by owners who must realize he came at a cut price because he's shite and therefore have an even lower sell on price, which would be  the case based on 1 and 2.

 

Occam's Razor, once again.