Comolli

[Ted]

Sacked

[gkmacca]

Is this real? It came out of nowhere.

 

 

Comolli was appointed to the position of Director of Football Strategy at Anfield in November 2010, and given a remit to oversee the recruitment of players to the club.

 

 

His first major impact was to play a role in the January signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll, for a British transfer record fee of £35m.

 

 

He became Director of Football in March 2011, effectively taking on many aspects of a chief executive's role, though focused solely on the business of playing side of the club.

 

 

He was pivotal in the signings of Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing, Jose Enrique, Sebastian Coates and Craig Bellamy, though in all instances manager Kenny Dalglish had the final say in the deals.

 

 

The mixed success of those players, most notably Carroll but also Henderson, Adam and to a lesser extend Downing, appears to have cost him his job.

 

 

It is an extraordinary turn of events that sees a high profile member of the administration relieved of his job days before an FA Cup semi-final, against Everton rather than at the end of the season.

 

However an awful run of results that has left Liverpool closer to the relegation places than the top of the table in terms of points has seen the American owners act decisively.

 

 

Liverpool sack Director of Football Damien Comolli as owners react to failed transfer policy and desperate run of results - Telegraph

[usernameunknown]

Wow! Stunned really. Cant pretend I'm gutted though.

[fowler9]

hope we don't replace him to be honest, that way theres no confusion over who signed who

[lifetime fan]

And how much has this cost us?

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Fucking hell, I wasn't expecting that.

[redfromtubebar]

Wow, I'm surprised by the timing but happy with the news.

 

The player recruitment and in particular the fee's paid since his appointment has been farcical.

 

I wonder if John Henry has somebody lined up to take the role already.

[Major Tom]

Someone had to take the rap for our shocking work in the transfer market.

[benite]

Stunned....nobody saw this coming.....STRANGE timing as well

[gkmacca]

Comolli claims he's going back to France for 'family reasons'. Bizarre timing, and as usual Kenny's left with the job of having to deal with all the fallout days before a big game.

[Kennys_spell]

Statement on Official site

 

Damien Comolli to leave LFC - Liverpool FC

 

 

 

Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool FC confirmed today that Director of Football Damien Comolli has left the Club by mutual consent.

 

 

Principal Owner John Henry said: "We are grateful for all of Damien's efforts on behalf of Liverpool and wish him all the best for the future."

 

Liverpool Chairman Tom Werner added: "The Club needs to move forward and we now have a huge game on Saturday. It is important that everyone joins us in supporting the manager and gets behind Kenny and the team and focuses on a strong finish to the season."

 

Damien Comolli commented: "I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the Club and back to France for family reasons. I wish the Club all the best for the future."

[Wezza]

Something had to give. Can we take it from this then that if Comolli is going, Kenny will be staying long term?

[Russ Atmosphere]

There wasn't any option but this.

[kalasoma]

Woah. This was weird and totally unexpected. Why now? Why? Are they saying that Comolli was responsible for all the signings?

[Kennys_spell]

Wow, I'm surprised by the timing but happy with the news.

 

The player recruitment and in particular the fee's paid since his appointment has been farcical.

 

I wonder if John Henry has somebody lined up to take the role already.

 

The first thing that went through my mind when this was announced was "Benitez will not work with a Director of Football".

 

Now I'm not "in the know" - in fact I'm about as far out of the loop as you can get, all my "intelligencia" comes off this board so that tells you how much I know!

[No2]

 

I wonder if John Henry has somebody lined up to take the role already.

 

Christian Purslow?

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

There wasn't any option but this.

 

Well, there was. But there wasn't another way of keeping Kenny on for another year and keeping credibility.

 

Unless these signings, which haven't done well and cost shit loads, were all Comolli's idea, then Kenny has dodged a bullet.

 

Shit timing, though.

[Hooch]

Woah. This was weird and totally unexpected. Why now? Why? Are they saying that Comolli was responsible for all the signings?

 

Good question. It looks a lot like an admission that our signings haven't been good enough.

[Rorschach08]

That'll sure be a big confidence boost for the players signed in the summer 2 days before a semi-final.

[kalasoma]

So does this mean that they are making the way for Kenny to be DoF after his contract ends and then bringing in a new manager? Are we going to have a CEO or DoF going forward?

[Duff Man]

Someone had to take the fall. Be interesting to see if they appoint another DoF.

[kalasoma]

Does that mean there's a spare ticket going for Wembley?

[Whelan]

Damien Comolli commented: "I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the Club and back to France for family reasons. I wish the Club all the best for the future."

 

Are we all going to ignore this bit?

[usernameunknown]

Are we all going to ignore this bit?

 

Oh come on! He's been sacked.

[The Dude Abides]

A fallguy for Kenny, nothing more. But also clears the path for FSG to sack him in the Summer unless things change drastically on the pitch.

 

Wonder what the plan is now?

 

I'll put it out there, Rafa back in the Summer makes too much sense not to happen.