LFC approach Wigan for martinez

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Seriously. Time to change the topic.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Seriously. Time to change the topic.

 

Martinez, I'm not that sure about him. I'll be interested to see who else we look at.

[JoeyJones65]

On being asked if he would take the Liverpool job if offered.

 

Paul Dalglish ‏@pauldalglish

 

No...seriously, it is a massive job with huge pressure. It is not a job for a young manager who is still learning with every move analysed.

 

Hmmm...wonder who that reply might refer to. Take note FSG.

[Kevin D]

In the grand scheme of things, it's not on the same level as those posts.

 

Well, unless anyone has any credible indications that ATK and FSG are in bed together - something he and those close to him deny - then it's irrelevant and we might as well make sure that the posts being dug up are at least entertaining.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Edit: Never mind, no point dragging this topic any further.

[FrenchEyeGlass]

Paul Tomkins

 

An angry email has been sent to almost every LFC supporter group and website, plus the club itself, asking why I (amongst certain others) appear to be advising FSG. (I don’t know who the sender is.)

 

“Paul Tomkins is an internet blogger/author who writes detailed summaries and analysis based on statistics. He has no experience what so ever in professional football, in any capacity. He also speaks for nobody but himself. Why is he anywhere near the ownership, or his opinion being given such credence? What is Paul Tomkins’ role? – it needs to be explained.”

 

Well, here it is.

 

Before John Henry bought Liverpool FC, he purchased several books on the club, to read up about its history. Two of those books just happens to be ones that I had written. Having enjoyed them, he asked to meet me shortly after the deal was completed. He spent a week trying to contact me via Facebook, but I assumed it was a prank and ignored him. Email proved more successful.

 

He was aware that I had spent five years writing a column for the club’s official website, and that I’d worked hard to forge a reputation for researching issues; even if people disagree with my opinion – and no-one is always right (particularly in football) – it came from a holistic approach that took in many disciplines.

 

I was not offered any kind of role – not least because I made it clear that due to my health and this website, I wasn’t interested in one – and I have never worked for FSG, or been paid a penny by them. Also, after what happened at Liverpool with Gillett and Hicks, I was not prepared to work for the club’s owners, even if, to me, they seemed cut from a different cloth.

 

The only ‘gift’ I have received was a package for my dad late last year, after he entered a hospice with terminal cancer (my dad’s dad played for Aston Villa, and John Henry asked Randy Lerner to send some signed Aston Villa merchandise.)

 

John Henry will occasionally contact me to help him understand something, or seek my advice on a certain issue, but the last time was back in March. FSG had already consulted several people about who would be best suited to run a review of the football side of things, and in particular, how Damien Comolli’s performance – as their football intermediary – could be judged. I wasn’t asked to perform that review, just to give my thoughts on the names who they’d had recommended – presumably provided by their actual advisors.

 

I have not been asked to provide any input on the managerial situation, although there is nothing to stop me providing my views, now that there is a vacancy. I am free to email John Henry any time I wish, and he’s free to ignore them!

 

I did not in any way, shape or form contribute to Kenny Dalglish losing his job, and those people accusing me of so doing are seriously out of line. If anyone thinks I’d dare advise against Kenny then they don’t know me, or indeed, what a total coward I really am; even if I believed that he had to be replaced – and I didn’t – I’d need a billion dollars, plastic surgery, a new identity and relocation to Brazil. He was my idol growing up, and I’d have no right to tell anyone to replace him (although no-one should be kept out of sentimentality, obviously, and it’s the owners’ prerogative to run the club as they see fit; I won’t always agree, but again, that’s football).

 

I don’t want to legitimise all this by giving it air, but seeing as it’s been sent far and wide, and that I’ve had all kinds of abuse on Twitter and via email, I thought it was best that I set the record straight.

 

Like any fan, I am not going to turn down my club if my opinion is sought, by owners interested in getting feedback from many sources. But I am not – and here I italicise – an advisor. The FSG style is to canvas the opinion of many and work with the wisdom of the crowd, and on top of that, they will have an inner circle of key people, of which I am not one.

 

If anybody cares.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Tomkins: no I'm not advising them on the new manager but I could if I wanted to, I have a direct line to them and they've read my books!

 

Fuck off

[Babb'sBurstNad]

.... The FSG style is to canvas the opinion of many and work with the wisdom of the crowd,

 

Have you ever agreed with an entire crowd? I can't help but think of the old quote about a camel being a horse designed by committee.

[TheHowieLama]

Wrong

 

This isn't because of moneyball, (a term that means nothing because it only worked for one club for a short spell) this is because of the MLB draft system. TB spent years at the bottom of the standings and one comp you get for that is top draft choices. A smart team with good scouts can ID the top draft picks and sign them when they are young and then develop them or trade them for other players. This is what helped TB move up. Eventually a small market team like them loses these players to free agency (lure away to the big market teams like the Red Sox) and so begin a slow descent to the bottom where the cycle starts anew.

 

Moneyball was all predicated on a focus on a previously ignored baseball stat that turned out to be a pretty good indicator of performance. Oakland led all other teams in embracing this stat and since it was previously ignored players who excelled in it were undervalued in the market.

 

The stat is widely appreciated now and so the market is effecient and there are no longer any bargains or obviously "undervalued" players.

 

In short moneyball was a time and place thing, not a time proof strategy.

 

 

BTW the Red Sox have the 3rd highest payroll in the MLB and have right through all the Henry years.

 

Well you are kind of right - it actually has worked for three teams (including the Rays) and as you point out worked well enough that everyone now "uses" it. The problem is, as with any system it is only as good as the fellas using it. The Rays have not had an advantage in the draft for many years now - they have continued to find players who seem to contribute more than you would think. In any case, on the field baseball is a game of playing tendencies against the averages, with a little bit of an opportunity to tilt the table and the smart fellas, like Maddon do it best. In any case, there is no quantifiable way to translate that ideaology to football - to many variables and not enough meaningful individual stats.

 

I would say that FSG should be, and undoubtedly are, looking at the Rays success as a whole though, in what is the toughest division in all of sport - as a model. Sub par stadium and one of the lowest payrolls in the league and have had a period of extended success.

 

 

ATK took the knife -- huh....

[andrew78]

Fuck me everyday there is something else,we are the butt of everyones jokes ,facebook,twitter,papers.Is there anyone actually in charge of our club its like a comedy sketch show,does anyone actually know how to run a football club

[MLB]

Wow. Just wow. That the likes of atk and especially Tomkins might be advising the owners of the club is just..... hard to believe, to put it lightly.

[TheHitman]

Tomkins: no I'm not advising them on the new manager but I could if I wanted to, I have a direct line to them and they've read my books!

 

Fuck off

 

To be fair to him he seems to have got a lot of personal abuse for no reason on twitter. He may waffle on infinitely about x,y,z, It would seem his only sin is to be deemed someone who rates Rafa. Unless someone can advise me, what he has done that is worthy of getting abuse from people he has never met on twitter.

[Guest ShoePiss]

To be fair to him he seems to have got a lot of personal abuse for no reason on twitter. He may waffle on infinitely about x,y,z, It would seem his only sin is to be deemed someone who rates Rafa. Unless someone can advise me, what he has done that is worthy of getting abuse from people he has never met on twitter.

 

[Guest ShoePiss]

Seriously though, I just don't like his writing style so I very rarely read anything he has to say unless it's posted on here. I don't know what abuse he's got and don't really have any explanations.

[MLB]

Tomkins advising the owners of the club. Jesus wept. I'm starting to have serious doubts about them.

 

Also, is everyone we're after under 40? Is this part of the recruitment strategy? Martinez, Rodgers, Villas-Boas... who's next, Di Matteo?

[PaulMcC]

Tomkins advising the owners of the club. Jesus wept. I'm starting to have serious doubts about them.

 

Also, is everyone we're after under 40? Is this part of the recruitment strategy? Martinez, Rodgers, Villas-Boas... who's next, Di Matteo?

 

And ATK. 2 extreme opposites. They probably haven't a clue who to listen to.

[clangers]

Tomkins advising the owners of the club. Jesus wept. I'm starting to have serious doubts about them.

 

Also, is everyone we're after under 40? Is this part of the recruitment strategy? Martinez, Rodgers, Villas-Boas... who's next, Di Matteo?

 

I know, astonishing if true. So he's a bit of a stato?

 

As much as many wouldn't have liked it, I'd have preferred our owners to have researched, identified suitable candidates and if necessary made contact prior to getting rid of Kenny to find out if their potential replacements are available. I know it's underhand but it's at least it might have been indicative of them having some direction. It's reasonable to assume that they didn't just decide to get rid of Kenny as a spur of the moment decision.

 

Of course for all I know that's exactly what's happened but given the ever increasing beauty parade developing with such a wide variety in candidates I'm getting the impression that they don't know what they want beyond the candidate being under 40.

 

Seeking the opinion of an internet blogger with no credibility or experience is just astonishing.

[clangers]

To be fair to him he seems to have got a lot of personal abuse for no reason on twitter. He may waffle on infinitely about x,y,z, It would seem his only sin is to be deemed someone who rates Rafa. Unless someone can advise me, what he has done that is worthy of getting abuse from people he has never met on twitter.

 

Little too much self-promotion about him and pretty self-aggrandising seems to be one of several objections. Bit of a nobody trying to worm his way into the club, blindly supports every manager and was so in love with Rafa to the point of making RAWK appear ambivalent on the subject.

 

Nothing against him myself, his articles are far too wordy.

[Liquid football]

Dont know what the hell some people here are talking about. He explicitly says in the article that he hasn't been consulted about the decision over the managers job.

[Guest ShoePiss]

Little too much self-promotion about him and pretty self-aggrandising seems to be one of several objections. Bit of a nobody trying to worm his way into the club, blindly supports every manager and was so in love with Rafa to the point of making RAWK appear ambivalent on the subject.

 

Nothing against him myself, his articles are far too wordy.

 

Do you remember how long he met with Rafa? It was hours.

 

HOURS.

[Guest San Don]

Are people seriously suggesting FSG are taking advice from an ex(?) taxi driver and also a wannabe journo whose articles are so long and boring they are a cure for insomnia?

[Brownie]

The fact that John Henry actually contacts him for advice on football, is astonishing.

[MLB]

The fact that John Henry actually contacts him for advice on football, is astonishing.

 

 

To say the least. It's the most worrying thing I've heard about them by far. If they are impressed by the mind-bendingly tedious, calorie-free pablum that that shitehawk peddles then christ knows who we're going to end up with managing us. Whose wise counsel are they going to seek next, Red Nick? Hell's fucking bells.

[Strontium]

Anyone defending ATK after that needs to have a word with themselves. No wonder the cunt asked to have his posts deleted, the conniving little shit. Absolute disgrace. I actually shocked that anyone is defending him after reading that. Are the quotes for real? I'm assuming they are.

 

 

Right, I didn't know ATK was working for FSG, that explains why he got his account here deleted.

 

Everyone probably knew this already, meanwhile I am just joining the dots with a crayon like some big retard.

[Guest davelfc]

The fact that John Henry actually contacts him for advice on football, is astonishing.

 

Is it, really? Have you read much of what Tompkins writes? Long winded but written in a way that a businessman would understand, probably why some don't like it. He always backs up what he writes with facts, figures and statistics. It can get a little boring but some people like it.

 

I enjoyed his posts years ago on RAWK, then he got up himself when he moved to the offal and I rarely read anything he writes now, but when I do, he makes some good points.

 

In his recent response, typically long winded and over complicated. He says that he was asked his opinion on some advisors, not about football. You can be sure that J Henry asks quite a few people their opinions, but forms his own. I'd frankly be surprised if he just winged it especially since he admits knowing little about football.

 

What he needs to do, and what we've seen recently could be the start, is to put in place competent people who have the footballing knowledge to take away the seemingly amateurish way we have been run as a club for a while. So that calls to forum members about non fan issues becomes a thing of the past.