Report: FSG hold meeting with Michael Edwards with Liverpool return on the cards

[TLW]

Michael Edwards is in the frame for a return to Liverpool where he played such a pivotal part in setting up the club on the pathway to success.

 

Edwards left Liverpool in 2022 after 10 years and despite having many offers to join rival clubs including Chelsea, the 44 year-old has instead taken up a role as a consultant at the sports advisory business Ludonautics.

 

Edwards met with FSG in Boston last weekend as they conducted a meeting about what role he could possibly play in the post Jurgen Klopp era.

 

However as the Guardian reports, it will not be a return to the Sporting Director role with Edwards wanting a role that holds more control that covers a lot more areas such as Head of Football Operations.

 

 

If last summer was pivotal in shaping Liverpool 2.0 as Jurgen Klopp famously referred to it, this summer shapes as even more vital.

 

As we have seen in the modern era, even powerful clubs can quickly fall to insignificant status rather quickly if they do not get the off field appointments spot on.

 

Finding the right replacement for Klopp is naturally is the key job for the top brass, and with Liverpool having a fine season and still with a number of World Class talent and exciting talent coming through, it remains one of the plumb jobs for any manager wanting to challenge themselves at the elite level.

 

If Edwards agrees to a Liverpool return in the Head of Football Operations role, he would be the man that would lead the search for that along with finding a new Sporting director after Jorg Schmadtke filled the role temporarily last summer.

 

Xabi Alonso is the man firmly in the frame to fill the role, but it is believed that Liverpool are playing a much more respectful role in trying to bring him ‘home’  knowing that he still has his full focus in guiding  Bayer Leverkusen land their first Bundesliga, this is compared to Bayern Munich who are publicly courting the 42 year-old.

 

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[Lee909]

Makes sense with tbe talk of the Bournemouth guy. They're supposed to get along. So maybe Edwards upstairs running the football side of things,Billy Hogan the finance and Hughes sporting director and hopefully Xabi as coach/manager. 

[Section_31]

2 minutes ago, Lee909 said:

Makes sense with tbe talk of the Bournemouth guy. They're supposed to get along. So maybe Edwards upstairs running the football side of things,Billy Hogan the finance and Hughes sporting director and hopefully Xabi as coach/manager. 

 

I'd take that.

[Vincent Vega]

There’s definitely something to this as all the connected reporters (Joyce, Bascombe, Andy Hunter) have done articles for today’s papers. 
 

They all seem pretty confident that we have an excellent chance of getting Alonso, and that we’re being respectful to Leverkusen my allowing Xabi to get on with his job of winning a first title for them, but Xabi is fully aware of our interest. They’re all saying that the noise coming from German reporters is just that, noise. 
 

Deep down I’m still hoping we can persuade Klopp to take a year’s sabbatical before coming back, and that we just need to find someone to hold the ropes for the year he’s away. I think it’s unlikely though, and the club have to prepare for a future without Klopp, and Xabi has to be first choice in that scenario. 

[Barrington Womble]

25 minutes ago, Vincent Vega said:

There’s definitely something to this as all the connected reporters (Joyce, Bascombe, Andy Hunter) have done articles for today’s papers. 
 

They all seem pretty confident that we have an excellent chance of getting Alonso, and that we’re being respectful to Leverkusen my allowing Xabi to get on with his job of winning a first title for them, but Xabi is fully aware of our interest. They’re all saying that the noise coming from German reporters is just that, noise. 
 

Deep down I’m still hoping we can persuade Klopp to take a year’s sabbatical before coming back, and that we just need to find someone to hold the ropes for the year he’s away. I think it’s unlikely though, and the club have to prepare for a future without Klopp, and Xabi has to be first choice in that scenario. 

 

If klopp agrees to a year off and comes back, it's no year off. It's still his team, if it's struggling he'll want to be there. And there'll be pressure to make it happen.  If it's going well, he'll be wanting to see the team so he's ready to step right back in. I just don't see that as an option at all. 

[Carra_is_legend]

Klopp himself will laugh anyone out of the room if that was put forward as a viable option.

[Vincent Vega]

43 minutes ago, Barrington Womble said:

 

If klopp agrees to a year off and comes back, it's no year off. It's still his team, if it's struggling he'll want to be there. And there'll be pressure to make it happen.  If it's going well, he'll be wanting to see the team so he's ready to step right back in. I just don't see that as an option at all. 

I did say it was unlikely, and you’ve given some reasons why. It will just feel weird seeing him manage another team in the future, and I hold out a small amount of hope that he could find his way back to us. In all likelihood I know we will appoint another manager and we all move on.

[Megadrive Man]

I wonder if Klopp and Edwards had a major fall out?

 

It seems odd that Edwards left and hasn't taken up a new role, and now seems to be open to coming back when Klopp is leaving.

 

Was it Edwards who didn't want to offer Henderson a new contract, but Klopp stepped in to ensure it happened? 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

1 minute ago, Megadrive Man said:

I wonder if Klopp and Edwards had a major fall out?

 

It seems odd that Edwards left and hasn't taken up a new role, and now seems to be open to coming back when Klopp is leaving.

 

Was it Edwards who didn't want to offer Henderson a new contract, but Klopp stepped in to ensure it happened? 

If so Edward’s was 100% correct. Seems like a no brainer getting him back to work with say Hughes who he knows well and the new boss.

[TheHowieLama]

32 minutes ago, Megadrive Man said:

Was it Edwards who didn't want to offer Henderson a new contract, but Klopp stepped in to ensure it happened? 

 

It was.

[joe_fishfish]

30 minutes ago, VERBAL DIARRHEA said:

If so Edward’s was 100% correct. Seems like a no brainer getting him back to work with say Hughes who he knows well and the new boss.

We got so lucky with the Saudis bailing us out of that Henderson contract. Without that he’d not only have been around this season sulking about not being first choice while putting in worse performances than we’ve seen from Clark and McConnell in recent weeks, but he’d be here next season as well!

 

Imagine if we’d missed out on Szoboszlai or Endo because Henderson didn’t get that Saudi move. We’d be nowhere near a title challenge that’s for sure.

[Fallen Angel]

46 minutes ago, Megadrive Man said:

I wonder if Klopp and Edwards had a major fall out?

 

It seems odd that Edwards left and hasn't taken up a new role, and now seems to be open to coming back when Klopp is leaving.

 

Was it Edwards who didn't want to offer Henderson a new contract, but Klopp stepped in to ensure it happened? 

It’s possible I guess - was a shock when ME left. 
 

I doubt Klopp would be back - strikes me as someone who knows his mind. I thought, given how well his new team have started, he’d be here a few more seasons yet. Wasn’t to be. Just hope he pulls that title in - it’s well deserved. 

[El Dangerous]

As long as there’s still room for Jorg 5 Garry’s to wave his dick around from Ibiza im all in.

[VladimirIlyich]

3 hours ago, Vincent Vega said:

I did say it was unlikely, and you’ve given some reasons why. It will just feel weird seeing him manage another team in the future, and I hold out a small amount of hope that he could find his way back to us. In all likelihood I know we will appoint another manager and we all move on.

He's going. Get over it.

[magicrat]

2 hours ago, joe_fishfish said:

We got so lucky with the Saudis bailing us out of that Henderson contract. Without that he’d not only have been around this season sulking about not being first choice while putting in worse performances than we’ve seen from Clark and McConnell in recent weeks, but he’d be here next season as well!

 

Imagine if we’d missed out on Szoboszlai or Endo because Henderson didn’t get that Saudi move. We’d be nowhere near a title challenge that’s for sure.

Or would the Saudis even looked at him had we effectively flagged up he was done by letting him leave . 
Saudis don’t seem to do in depth scouting by the look of it . All they seem to care about is the name and status of the player . Liverpool want to keep their skipper and key midfielder so we better lob in some oil dollars and swoop . Oh and he plays for England too.

[lifetime fan]

Just now, VladimirIlyich said:

He's going. Get over it.

Easier said than done. 

[Ron B]

One thing FSG seem to have wrapped their head around is it’s about recruiting really good people, not just one good person and building everything around them. They didn’t stick the landing with Rodgers, so they changed course, identified Klopp as the man and brought him in. But also they brought in Michael Edwards, and several others behind the scenes - people are clearly sensational at their job and not just recruited because they were flavour of the month (at Brighton or wherever), former players at the club, or were pals with the manager. 
Compare that with the shambles at Old Trafford. What lunatic thought that three months coaching the under-16s, followed by two months putting out cones for the first time, qualified Darren Fletcher to be technical director?

Nobody is going to buy an FSG scarf, no one has a Pep Lijnders tattoo, I don’t think many of us have pictures of Linda Henry on their bedroom wall*, but this does feel like exactly what you want the club and the ownership to be doing. 
 

*OK, that one might happen

[Salou]

Hope this doesn't turn out to be a case of a guy coming back and trying to prove all the positive press around him (which I think he's been very smart at cultivating with his media contacts) and trying to be "too clever" e.g. selling Van Dijk and Salah because of 'age' and trying to run everything by numbers. I think where it worked with him and Klopp early on is they were both strong enough to say no to each other. Sense was that Edwards (and then Ward) left because Klopps word was becoming increasingly more final and influence of the DoF was reducing. The worry would be that Edwards is trying to come back with even more of a say and that dynamic goes too far to the side of the DoF. 

[TheHowieLama]

I hope he comes back, oversees a hugely successful transition post Klopp and then steps on a plug.

[Scott_M]

Is Edwards going to be like Ratcliffe & FSG like the Glazers? 
 

I obviously hope there is a better example than those bozos but it’s the first that came to mind. 

[Anubis]

1 hour ago, TheHowieLama said:

I hope he comes back, oversees a hugely successful transition post Klopp and then steps on a plug.

Man, you are evil….

[Jairzinho]

I hate him.

[3 Stacks]

Edwards is the best option. Whether he is actually a genius or not, and how much credit he deserves for the success, he gives us a level of continuity with all the changes that will occur.

[Barrington Womble]

Make of this what you will..got a non-LFC mate who works in the media. Apparently Edwards is back as head of sporting operations, Hughes as director of football. I don't really know how those roles differ, but I'm sure they do. News will break over the weekend. 

 

I've got to say I'm amazed as I've been doing some work with a VC who are all in on him and Graham. 

[3 Stacks]

Ornstein just tweeted they are close to an agreement. Edwards and Hughes.