FSG are not shit

[VladimirIlyich]

Football Club in being a business and being bought and sold for a profit shocker.

[thegreatelephant]

They will sell a minority share in the club for more than they have into it.

 

Dumb fuckers.

 

and all that off the back of 1 league cup. genius.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

They only need to sell 30% and that should cover their outlay. Gravy.

[jimmycase]

They only need to sell 30% and that should cover their outlay. Gravy.

 

And what's wrong with that?

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

And what's wrong with that?

Nothing. Pretty good business for them. They got a great deal as we all know and they can stay at the club as major shareholders having already made their money back. Nice work if you can get it.

[jimmycase]

Nothing. Pretty good business for them. They got a great deal as we all know and they can stay at the club as major shareholders having already made their money back. Nice work if you can get it.

 

Fair comment.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I'll keep coming back to the 5 promises that Randolph & Mortimer made in their first press conference.

 

1.  Respect the traditions of the club

2.  Back the manager

3.  Sort out the commercial side of the club

4.  Start work on a new stadium

5.  Not add any debt onto the club.

 

Obviously, the two cunts managed the incredible achievement of doing the exact opposite of at least four of those five promises.  But the promises still stand as a useful yardstick to measure subsequent owners by.

 

So, how are FSG doing?

1.  A mixed bag, I suppose.  They haven't exactly trampled the club's traditions, so that's something.

2.  Without doubt.  After they cleaned the turd that the two burglars had left on the carpet, Liverpool has had three managers, each of whom have been trusted to bring in players.  They have never engaged in the sort of scheming or briefing against managers that some owners do.

3.  Well, we've got a "commercial partner" for just about everything now.  There seems to be a lot of corporate money coming into this club.

4.  This is a mixed one.  Personally, I'm happy that they decided to redevelop Anfield, rather than move.  I'd be much happier if there was any realistic prospect of the Anny Road being expanded.

5.  This is the one that, more than anything, will always make me tend to look favourably on FSG.  Liverpool FC still exists, because Hicks and Gillett were replaced by people with a different business plan for making profit out of a football club.

[Joey8FrogsLegs]

Sorry, mistake on the phone and don't know how to delete post. Nothing to say on this!

[Iceman]

"We have the money to compete with any team in the world"

 

"Judge us on our actions, not on what we say." 

 

 

Yay for soccer !

 

I'll be on my yacht bitxhez

[redfromtubebar]

https://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2017/02/liverpool-and-the-league-title-a-question-of-the-owners-ambition/

 

How apt that this latest defeat occurred just after Groundhog Day in the United States, writes David Tully.

 

The reds, it's fair to say, have been hiding in their own burrow ever since December 31st. Here we are, just a little over a month since George blared "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" over the tannoy after the reds defeated Man City to go within six points of Chelsea and clear in second place, and the feel-good factor has well and truly eroded. A quick glance on social media after a poor result will tell you that a lot of Liverpool supporters have, not so much thrown, but positively launched the baby from the bathwater and its landed squarely in front of two banks of four playing a low block.  

 

To many a neutral, it's an overreaction. Liverpool are only four points away from second place. Only one point away from fourth place. Most of us would have taken this situation back in August. But there's a strong feeling amongst those that have been here before. A strong feeling that Liverpool have let a huge opportunity slip. A strong feeling that Champions League qualification, something a lot of us talked about as clear cut back in November, looks to be slipping away.

 

So, why has the mood among the fanbase sunk so low? Well, one is recent history. We've become conditioned to finishing behind the teams currently occupying the other positions in the top six. One almost-glorious season apart, we’ve been absolutely hopeless in the league since 2009. Considering our recent diabolical form, it's not going to be a tremendous surprise if we were to slump to sixth place again. In fairness, sixth is where the realists amongst us believed we were heading once we checked out of the transfer market with a negative net spend back in August.

 

Say what you want, but clubs that aspire to win the division do not come into the season showing a tidy profit from transfers. When you consider that this team is coming off of an eighth place finish the season before, then this would suggest bigger surgery was required than was actually performed. The wildcard in all of this was Klopp. Only a fool would suggest that he's not a world class manager, and the very best Liverpool could hope to get. Klopp made us all believe that we could do the impossible with this squad of players. After the initial heart palpitations rescinded, we got behind James Milner as a left back. We got behind Jordan Henderson at the base of the midfield. And it worked for a while.

 

The first murmurings of discontent with Klopp has now begun. It’s not reflected in the ground as yet, though it was disconcerting to see Klopp arguing with a fan the other week, but social media, as it’s want to do, is tearing him apart after every defeat. The frustration is beginning to rise and the voices are getting louder. Some well-known voices in the media are beginning to question the wonder of giving him a six-year contract back in the summer.

 

It’s not fair. Klopp is doing the best that he can with the players he has at his disposal. Like everyone who’s reading this article, I’m frustrated by our recent blunt instrument approach to games and I’m in the corner of those that want Klopp to shake things up, either by personnel or tactical means. But I have no doubt that he’s the right man for the job.

 

However, the real problem at this club is not on the training pitch. The problem is found on the other side of the Atlantic. Nothing will truly change at this club while Fenway Sports Group have the reins. Fenway invokes a shrug of the shoulders to many supporters. They’re not a divisive ownership group and strong voices for and against them are pretty rare. They’re middle of the road owners who like to run a steady ship. A steady ship is sixth place. A steady ship is one 30m player every summer, while your nearest rivals spends double on the next grade up of player.

 

We, the supporters, are ambitious. A lot more ambitious than those in Boston. I’m thirty-three years old and I do not remember Liverpool winning the league. I’ve seen just three serious title challenges in my twenty-seven years watching the team. But I’m ambitious because I know that this was once a club that was used to winning. And I’m fed up because I want ambition at the very top of this club.

 

Deep down we all know that Fenway have decent intentions, but will not do what is necessary to bring back number nineteen. The latest domestic and overseas television deals are so huge that owners like Fenway have zero need to speculate to accumulate. I can imagine what their business instincts are telling them; why spend big going for the title when the current status quo is doing just fine? The ground sells out every week. The line is only going up in revenue streams across the football club. They’re managing the club logically and sensibly.

 

But football supporters don’t want logic all the time. Football supporters want to dream. We want to feel as though our club is doing everything possible to win on AND off the field. Everybody at the club, from the cooks in the canteen to the board of directors should be doing everything in their power to get this club challenging for the league. And for that to happen, we need to behave a little less than sensibly when it comes to recruitment. Look, every transfer carries a risk element to it. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful by spending big money, but it does carry with it the increased likelihood that you have a stronger chance with what, in theory, should be a better standard of player in your first eleven. Some will tell you that for every John Stones, there’s a Joel Matip. That’s a good point, but also bear in mind that for for every Alexis Sanchez, there’s also a Mario Balotelli.

 

FSG are a sports investment company. They don’t need to take any risks when the guaranteed television deals are reward enough. Their asset, purchased for just 300m back in 2010, is now being talked about at being worth 1 billion just seven years later. It’s appreciating nicely, and all FSG has to do is just about enough to keep the club where it’s already at. The Premier League financial juggernaut doesn’t show signs of slowing down, and now there’s serious players from the Far East getting involved. FSG can quite easily walk away with a 700m profit from a rather modest investment. As luck would have it for John Henry and co, it’s the raised profile of the Premier League and the mammoth revenue that television provides, rather than Liverpool’s on-pitch performances, which have been mediocre, is what accounts for their potential windfall.

 

Football clubs are becoming globalised. Liverpool are fortunate to have passionate fans around the globe, but there’s a growing problem; there’s not enough of them. Football watchers in the the United States and Far East want to support winning teams. Winning teams are what sells. Take a look around any college campus in the United States and you might see the odd Liverpool shirt, but you’ll see a lot more wearing the shirts of the teams currently fighting it out for the Premier League title. Ultimately that support leads to revenue by way of overseas tours, sponsorship, and merchandise.

 

So, while we try to find this mythic different way of winning, and look down our noses at our rivals spending mega money to attract the best, bear in mind that their fan bases will continue to grow and grow, and their revenue streams will get larger, and ultimately the gap between them and us will get wider. That is unless we finally get our act together.

 

Now, what was Griezmann’s release clause again?

[jimmycase]

Good article but why do people use the Americanism 'off of' as in "teams coming off of an 8th place....."

[FrenchEyeGlass]

I guess it's time to go into the fourth window in a row hoping that our owners invest in the squad, and then starting next season furiously depressed when we make a profit and buy nobody of note?

 

Surely it's time to start demanding these cunts to put up or move on. With our revenue, global brand and a manager as revered as Klopp, surely there'll be somebody with billions lying around willing to buy us? Why, as a fan base that was so vocal and powerful in removing H&G, have we tamely accepted such an unambitious, largely absent, frequently inept and frankly inadequate ownership for so long?

 

And yes, I want unbridled levels of investment, not this fucking hand to mouth bullshit. I want to see us compete for the stars of the game. I want us to enter THIS generation of football and stop living in the romance of two decades ago.

 

I want to see us win a fucking title, for fucks sake. I never have and I wonder if I ever will. I know I wont as long as we're owned by these cunts.

[moof]

Oh, the hysterics.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Oh, the hysterics.

 

This would insinuate that this was an emotional reaction.

 

Well, it isn't really is it? Because as I said at the start of the post, I've wanted them gone for years.

 

Anybody happy with their ownership is happy with mediocrity.

[TheHowieLama]

Bring in another Mane and another Matip - sorted.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

I've seen us win loads of titles. And will see us win more hopefully. Wallets open chaps.

[Ben Sherman]

I'm 51 and I honestly don't think we'll win a league title in what remains of my lifetime.

[Paco]

I guess it's time to go into the fourth window in a row hoping that our owners invest in the squad, and then starting next season furiously depressed when we make a profit and buy nobody of note?

 

Surely it's time to start demanding these cunts to put up or move on. With our revenue, global brand and a manager as revered as Klopp, surely there'll be somebody with billions lying around willing to buy us? Why, as a fan base that was so vocal and powerful in removing H&G, have we tamely accepted such an unambitious, largely absent, frequently inept and frankly inadequate ownership for so long?

 

And yes, I want unbridled levels of investment, not this fucking hand to mouth bullshit. I want to see us compete for the stars of the game. I want us to enter THIS generation of football and stop living in the romance of two decades ago.

 

I want to see us win a fucking title, for fucks sake. I never have and I wonder if I ever will. I know I wont as long as we're owned by these cunts.

If klopp is saying the money is there but he'll only spend on the right players then he's either lying to us or he's telling the truth. Why would he hang about if he couldn't do what he wanted to do? I'm not sure he'll get years and years if he doesn't win a trophy or get us in the champions league in the next 2 seasons but he has been under very little pressure so far.

 

I watched one of those arenas one night about a British architect now living in Berlin and he compared working in Britain and germany. In britain everything has to be done within a set time deadline. In germany they prepare for years and then take their time with the work until it's done as well as it can be.

 

Champions league next season will give klopp a bit more time but if we miss out next season is going to be critical for him. Rightly or wrongly, We just don't have the patience for long term projects that don't involve winning a cup or CL qualification. Maybe we should just let him get on with it even if he doesn't win something in his first 3 seasons. Maybe we have to change. Maybe ive been listening to too much covey in the car.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

I'm 51 and I honestly don't think we'll win a league title in what remains of my lifetime.

I'm 49 and I do. Hopefully.

[clangers]

I'm expecting a fiscally neutral summer transfer window this time around.

[Dave D]

Bring in another Mane and another Matip - sorted.

Hold your fire on another Matip.

 

Get 30-40 games out of him first   

[TheHowieLama]

Hold your fire on another Matip.

 

Get 30-40 games out of him first   

 

Why - if I get another one then they can just split duty.

 

Either way we are better off.

[Boss]

There is no coherent plan with this lot. First it was moneyball, which was a disaster.

 

Then it was nurturing youth and bringing in young players (or old heads on a free exclusively). Then they sold our best player and our best young player the following season and abandoned that idea just before we started winning things (with Suarez). 

 

Then it morphed into signing players from Southampton and that hasn't worked out in terms of winning things. Now it's sort of become a half way house between using Klopp's reputation to bring in Bundesliga players and persisting with the Southampton experiment. 

 

It's a mess. What is their angle in all this?

[3 Stacks]

There is no coherent plan with this lot. First it was moneyball, which was a disaster.

 

Then it was nurturing youth and bringing in young players (or old heads on a free exclusively). Then they sold our best player and our best young player the following season and abandoned that idea just before we started winning things (with Suarez). 

 

Then it morphed into signing players from Southampton and that hasn't worked out in terms of winning things. Now it's sort of become a half way house between using Klopp's reputation to bring in Bundesliga players and persisting with the Southampton experiment. 

 

It's a mess. What is their angle in all this?

 

Not sure what you're talking about here. The plan hasn't changed at all. From the beginning it's been about signing young players (around or under 25) and developing them. It's not like we've ever abandoned that philosophy. 

[Boss]

Not sure what you're talking about here. The plan hasn't changed at all. From the beginning it's been about signing young players (around or under 25) and developing them. It's not like we've ever abandoned that philosophy. 

 

Well if that's the case why sign Klavan and Manninger then?