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Comolli buys


redsoxs
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The fact he only got the job because he's mates with Billy Beane is a bit of worry. I also reckon he's sacked off the scouting missions and he's cruising the Newz Bar for sameheads. The morning of the meeting when we drew up our targets he just looked at the opta website and picked out the players who'd created the most chances because he'd done no work.

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I'm sure theirs a reason why you've left out all the bits that go into what his job actually is and things he's said such as

 

Regardless what is said, it basically the same point.... if Comolli is picking the players which are offered to whom ever the manager may be, who is really picking the players?

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Which kids has he bought for us? Ibe is one

 

Did we sign Sam Magrhi?

 

These might come good in the future you just never know

 

Not Magri, yet (as mentioned in other thread)

 

Teixeira just mentioned.

Seyi Ojo and Jerome Sinclair who are currently in the under 16s, are 14 and 15 respectively, but both played in the last under 18s game last weekend (Sinclair started and Ojo as a sub).

There was the 2 Irish lads, Mclaughlin and O'Hanlon (the new Bale apparantly...)

A couple of Americans, Pelosi and Bijev, who I think should both be with the reserves next season.

Nacho who is from Spain.

A couple of Welsh youth internationals, a defender and recently Ward, who is a keeper.

We were looking at a Mexican lad called Bueno last summer, but we couldn't sign him til he turned 18 (in March), but since then he has been playing for his club's first team and scoring goals as well, so his price will have gone up, and/or he may decide to stay there here he is playing.

 

I dunno how much of a part Comolli has played in signing these though. Also, with a few of them still in the under 16s it could well take a while before we see any of them even near the 1st team.

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Liverpool FC Director of football Damien Comolli talks exclusively to NESN.com on all things LFC. The conversation includes his privilege of working for Liverpool, last summer's transfer window, scouting and the way forward with the Academy.

 

NESN.com contributor Alan Kayll conducted the question-and-answer session, attempting to get an in-depth perspective on the famous football club.

 

AK: How are you finding life at Liverpool?

 

DC: As with everybody who is involved in football, my life is pretty dependant on result. So, I have got a great life when we win and not so great when we don't win.

 

But I feel privileged to work for LFC. It is such a fantastic club. I also like the city very much, it's difficult to find people who are more welcoming than people in Liverpool.

 

AK: What is a typical day for Damien Comolli?

 

DC: It is usually a long and busy day but very exciting. If I'm in Liverpool, my time is spread with day to day stuff which involves interaction with Kenny [Dalgish] and his staff, players contracts, recruitment,meeting with agents ,academy, medical, etc...

 

We have spent a lot of time recently working on the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) as we felt it was an important step up for our academy.

 

Obviously the closer we get from the windows, the more work there is regarding recruitment and scouting.

 

I also travel a lot to watch games. There are weeks where I watch 5 or 6 games in 5 or 6 countries.

My philosophy every day when I leave my place is what can we do today to take the club forward,what can we do to gain five percent in all areas and make our organization a world class one.

 

The good thing is all the staff at Melwood and at the academy have got this in mind as well.

 

AK: When you first arrived at Liverpool what scouting system was in place and what changes have you made to this area?

 

DC: We have changed pretty much everything after a thorough review. We have made scouting in the UK a lot stronger from under eight (years old) up to the 1st team.

 

I wanted to give as much resources as possible to the academy and to the u14/u19 age group as this is a key area for scouting.

 

The work is starting to pay off, as shown with the signing of top young talents both from the UK [united Kingdom] and abroad. Frank McParland and Stuart Webber are doing a great job in this area.

 

Regarding the first team, we have increased the number of scouts but with more presence in the UK and reallocated the foreign scouts in areas which we think are more relevant to us. Steve Hitchen our overseas scouting coordinator has done a great job at recruiting very good foreign scouts.

 

The owners are very supportive in this area as well and will give us more budget to recruit more scouts abroad in the summer to expand our network further.

 

AK: Within the fan base people say you have signed x player and Kenny has signed x player, how exactly does it work when you sign a player?

 

DC: I am not sure where those rumours are coming from as they are false. Kenny and I work together, if we get it right it is together and if we get it wrong it is together.

 

As I said many times before, we would not sign a player Kenny is not comfortable with.

 

AK: We saw a massive turn around in the playing staff during the summer are you happy with the way it went?

 

DC: Yes, we are happy. We knew it will be a challenge as for instance we had so many players out on loan, whom we probably would have to move on, and players here at Liverpool who didn't get playing time and wanted to leave.

 

I have never gone through a transfer window doing so many deals.

 

Since January 11, we have signed nine first-team players and we are very pleased with the way it went. This is a long term rebuilding project. We didn't sign players for six months, but for a long period of time as we know they will keep improving.

 

AK: There are conflicting reports as to whether Alberto Aquilani has reached the amount of games played with AC Milan to make his transfer permanent in the summer. What is the latest on this?

 

DC: We never give information on transfer as there is a confidentiality clause in every transfer agreement we do, so I won't comment on this one apart from confirming that AC Milan have got an option to buy Alberto.

 

AK: Liverpool failed to do any business in the January window, why was this?

 

DC: We didn't fail to do business. It's a question of opportunities. There is no point in doing transfers for the sake of doing a transfer. It has to be relevant for the team and bring us an improvement. There were no opportunities to do so in january so we decided not to do anything. Our potential targets were not available.

 

AK: After the Carling Cup final win at Wembley you made some comments regarding "big" players showing interest in coming to Liverpool. Are you expecting a busy summer?

 

DC: I'm not expecting a summer as busy at it was last year. We only have a few adjustments to make.

 

AK: You have set up a relationship with Nacional in Uruguay. Should we expect to see deals with any other clubs across the world in the future?

 

DC: We have been talking to Nacional when we signed Seba Coates as they have got a great academy which has produced players such as Luis [suarez] and Seba. That's not too bad!

 

If I remember well, out of the 23 players who won the Copa America for Uruguay last summer, 18 have played for Nacional at some point in their career. That's why we thought having a relationship with them would make sense. They were very keen to work with us as well.

 

We are looking at building other relationships globally, we are talking or about to finalize a few of those.

 

AK: What is your opinion of the reserve league? Do you feel a new system needs to be implemented to get the progession of the younger players moved quicker?

 

DC: Definitely! As I said before we have worked a lot on the EPPP for the last 2 years, a big part of this work being related to the games programme,especially the Under-21 league. This is something English football desperately needed, we are pleased it has been voted through. The idea of playing the best against the best in an official competition was very attractive to us.

 

Also our involvement in the NextGen tournament was very positive for Rodolpho's [borell] players.

We can't wait for the new reserve league to start.

 

AK: We have seen four home grown youngsters make significant steps to the first-team squad over the past 18 months. [Jay] Spearing, [Martin] Kelly, [Jon] Flanagan and [Jack] Robinson all products of Steve Heighway. How important is it to bring through a new crop and do you feel LFC has the potential for them in the U-16's, U-15's, and U-14's?

 

DC: Don't forget Raheem {Sterling] who has made his debut last week! Frank McParland, Rodolpho Borell and Pep Segura have done a great job at developing our academy for the last three years and taking it into a new dimension both from a coaching and scouting point of view. We are now up there with the very best.

 

The quality of Rodolpho and Pep's coaching has helped developed Flanagan and Robinson tremendously. Their progresses over the last three years have been very impressive. Same thing for Raheem.

 

Now that we have got both the scouting and the coaching right, we can expect more players to come through. We have got a lot of talent from U-16s to U-12s. It is an enjoyment to watch them train and play.

 

Credit to Kenny as well as he's got no problem in playing all those young players. Good enough, old enough as far as Kenny is concerned.

 

AK: Finally, Damien, and thank you for your time. The club has announced a tour of North America in the summer. With the club being based in Boston and a game at Fenway confirmed, how important is it for the club to visit these places and are you excited about heading to New England?

 

DC: We are very excited to come to New England and play at fenway for the 100th anniversary of the ball park. Everybody at the club enjoys going to new places (visited Malaysia, China and Singapore last year).

 

We also know our US fan base will be delighted. And the most important thing for us is to put in the work necessary in order to build up a fitness level which will help the players perform throughout the season.

 

Alan Kayll is a lifelong Liverpool FC fan. He is a committee member of the LFC Supporters Club and editor of the LFC Supporters Club website.

 

Liverpool FC Director of Football Damien Comolli Feels Club is Headed in Right Direction, Excited to Play at Fenway Park - Liverpool FC - NESN.com

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Guest the boy

My philosophy every day when I leave my place is what can we do today to take the club forward,what can we do to gain five percent in all areas and make our organization a world class one.

 

I can't help but fume when reading this sort of talk. His negotiations in the past 18 months may set the club back years. Mention of 'five percent' when his profligacy last summer may continue to eat up twenty or thirty per cent of the club's budget alone.

 

It will be several years before we can expect the changes to the youth system to pay dividends; I hope for his sake he radically improves our efficiency with deals involving mature players before then. Flanagan, Sterling, Robinson, Kelly, Shelvey etc. are all products of the previous regime whom Commoli has had nothing to with. Hope this is remembered and does not cloud judgements of the man's success.

 

Since January 11, we have signed nine first-team players and we are very pleased with the way it went. This is a long term rebuilding project. We didn't sign players for six months, but for a long period of time as we know they will keep improving.

 

Hope this is merely playing to the gallery, and that he is not sincerely 'very pleased with the way it went'. At least two or three of those signings need cutting loose to make room for players that can improve the form of the team rather than take it backwards.

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I can't help but fume when reading this sort of talk. His negotiations in the past 18 months may set the club back years. Mention of 'five percent' when his profligacy last summer may continue to eat up twenty or thirty per cent of the club's budget alone.

 

I take it you didn't read it all then.

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I thought it was a good interview to be honest. I doubt truthfully he is happy with last summers signings but he is hardly going to come out and say that.

A one summer fuck up is hard to handle, two would be inexcusable.

 

Last summers dealings along with the Carroll deal are inexcusable, its almost insanity for FSG to give more money to them , if they do get another chance i hope and pray KK and DC have truly learnt lessons and admit the mistakes and are ruthless in shipping out the shit aswell as signing the right players this time.

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AK: Within the fan base people say you have signed x player and Kenny has signed x player, how exactly does it work when you sign a player?

 

DC: I am not sure where those rumours are coming from as they are false. Kenny and I work together, if we get it right it is together and if we get it wrong it is together.

 

As I said many times before, we would not sign a player Kenny is not comfortable with.

Blame shifting?

 

Its the scouts (McParland, Webber & Hitchen) who offer players to Comolli, Comolli then reviews them players by visits/video/stats & Est costs etc...), then chooses the players which he feels are the best presented to Kenny?

 

They then choose one of his players together, he then negotiate the contract.

 

I've got this right?

Edited by redsoxs
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Sorry mate, I'm not buying that Kenny has players forced on him and that it's a case of signing off on players he's not convinced by (my apologies if I've misconstrued your post). I love the fella unreservedly as I've said numerous times on here, but he's accountable for the team and results. I think his treatment and use of some of our players has left a lot to be desired to be honest and that the squad might have been managed much better. He's my only "hero" for want of a better word, and having him back is a dream come true. I want him to stay here and win the league - I genuinely can't think of any "story" being as magical as that. To do that though, he's got to recognise and rectify his and his staff's mistakes. If/when he does that we'll have a much better chance of the success we all crave. Absolving him of blame achieves the opposite for me and, dare I say it, insults the standards he himself set for this club.

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People need to read this article.

 

How anybody on here can read this fool try to constantly pull the wool over our eyes and not fume is beyond me.

 

Get him away from our club, regardless of whether Kenny should go or not.

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People need to read this article.

 

How anybody on here can read this fool try to constantly pull the wool over our eyes and not fume is beyond me.

 

Get him away from our club, regardless of whether Kenny should go or not.

 

Spot on !

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  • 2 weeks later...
Blame shifting?

 

Its the scouts (McParland, Webber & Hitchen) who offer players to Comolli, Comolli then reviews them players by visits/video/stats & Est costs etc...), then chooses the players which he feels are the best presented to Kenny?

 

They then choose one of his players together, he then negotiate the contract.

 

I've got this right?

 

when you read that interview now, it does look like his covering his own arse.

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Yeah, Commoli bought them all. Kenny didn't have any input.

 

I think that misses the point completely. Dalglish himself has said that he agreed the players and wanted those players brought in.

 

FSG will be looking at the "moneyball" value per buck!

 

The truth is that most people thought the players brought in would improve us - almost everyone of those people also thought that the fees paid were probably too high. The performances this season have shown that the fees were definately too high and that part of the deal is all down to the art of the Director of Football.

 

That I believe, is what Commolli has paid the price for.

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I think that misses the point completely. Dalglish himself has said that he agreed the players and wanted those players brought in.

 

FSG will be looking at the "moneyball" value per buck!

 

The truth is that most people thought the players brought in would improve us - almost everyone of those people also thought that the fees paid were probably too high. The performances this season have shown that the fees were definately too high and that part of the deal is all down to the art of the Director of Football.

 

That I believe, is what Commolli has paid the price for.

 

I have to dipute that mate, can only go from the circles I roll in and of course the opinion on this forum at the time but I'd say opinion was very mixed, if slightly leaning toward negative towards most of our summer signings.

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