HBenn

There is no rush to extremes, it's based on what the journos were saying. Thats based on what they are fed by the club. Fortunately Ward set the record straight with the goal report by Jones.

What concerns me currently is the suggestion that Gordon moving was such a significant factor. It sounded like decision making will slow down but also it is concerning where these "Ward is leaving and in other news, Jürgen has become more active in the decision making process over the last 12 months" nudge/nudge wink/wink is coming from. The articles from Jones this morning clearly comes from Ward and he is saying how Jürgen was trying to stop him going and there was no fallout. Dominic King says they play paddle board together. It just feels like a line to take potential flak away from FSG.

Jan will be really interesting because for me they cannot afford not to buy. If they don't buy I think our ability to get CL is severely hampered and that then, you would imagine, would have an impact on the team and probably a material impact on the amount of money they can get into the club to enact the new model. The Ward departure maybe is for the reasons you say. Neil Jones has said today that Klopp tried to stop it and the suggestion is that it is more to do with Gordon moving than anything else. Even that though seems a bit odd. He would have a few months of it being unsettled before new owners/investment arrive with hopefully a wad of cash. It all seems a bit muddled to me. Why announce now he is going? Why sit on the Graham resignation? Why announce anything until you have a plan of what to do going forward? I don't think Wards departure has anything to do with a potential sale but maybe, if an external appointment is something that is currently on the table, it gives an insight into them expecting to have new investment/ownership in place before the end of the season. Otherwise how do you bring in a top sporting director with the uncertainty of all that hanging over the club?

The biggest positive to me in everything is an acceptance that the current model is no longer fit for purpose.

As per goal today, he signed a 3 year contract and Klopp tried hard to convince him to stay.

Tbf to frencheyedglass the inference in the way it is written is that we had to take a chance on another injury prone player on loan on the last day of the window because of FSGs approach. He may not have meant that but that is certainly how it is written. Edit: Even in this market £40m gets you more than that.

At the end of the day when you get the likes of Billy Hogan saying they have established we have over 500m fans (8 years ago) you know that it will be being used as a hook somewhere in the sales pack. Of course someone (you would expect) will drill down into this during due diligence but you would imagine the club showing how they have or how these fans could be monetarised plus the upcoming TV deals will be used as justification behind whatever valuation they put on the club. The club will be using the biggest number and a buyer will be using the smallest number.

Yes, fair point. Part of me thinks the Glazers are in for a bit if a rude awakening. Part of me thinks I maybe though as I was surprised how much Chelsea went for considering he was in such an apparent weak negotiating position. Ideally though ours is sufficiently advanced that it has very little impact.

The rhetoric coming from the journalists yesterday was interesting. All seemed to be on the same page in that they said there is an acknowledgement within the club that the current model doesn't work anymore (no shit Sherlock) but then there was a difference in how some described it. Some were saying there is an acknowledgement that the self sufficiency model doesn't work and I think one even said that there was an acknowledgement that looking to pretty much break even every summer can work no longer. Like Scott M said things can be interpreted different ways. If they are saying that the club didn't want to spend significant amounts that is open to interpretation. If the club have really been operating to a model of looking to pretty much break even on transfers every summer no wonder we are getting into a mess. If they are working to a model of the club being self sufficient then that is not necessarily the same thing

Don't really disagree with you. I am struggling to understand though why they think they can even justify that number in the first place? Will their revenue jump significantly if they get back in CL? I mean based on what you have said above you would think it's a no-brainer. I think Forbes kind of agreed with what you said and valued then at £3.9bn compared to our £3.6bn (even that seems a bit of a too big a gap). On top of that how does their £500m debt Vs our £150m debt play into it all? Is the argument that they have more potential? I.e. If they played every match and got to a CL final their revenue would dwarf ours? We are getting £600m and they are still getting more having not even been in CL? If so, still feels a hefty premium based on potential.

It will be interesting to see how easily the Glazers sell Utd. The advantages they have are the size of ground (even if it needs updating) and supposedly the fanbase size. I read that it is supposedly over a billion but I cannot believe it is really that much bigger than ours. The training ground needs modernising but again that is small beer isn't it? £50m in a transaction of £4bn plus. I think it will come down to who is the greediest of the two personally. Currently the suggestion is that the Glazers are looking at what £5-6bn for them? Ok, that maybe a bit of brinkmanship but if they really are looking at that sort of number and don't get it then the shit could really hit the fan for them. Could be reminiscent of us with Hicks where he just saying no out of greed. They have taken all manner of shit from the fans and not battered an eyelid so will be interesting to see how much they dig in now. I may well be proven wrong but I don't think FSG will operate in the same way.

I hope so. Personally not convinced that a sporting director quits or Graham resigns in June because of new owners but I do wonder why they are announcing it now (knowing the turmoil it would cause). Perhaps that suggests something is afoot. I have plenty of criticisms of FSG but normally off the pitch things only come into the public arena when they want them too. They have kept Graham's resignation quiet for months and they didn't need to announce Ward is going until the end of the season. So why now?

And then get Laimer in during Jan (I know it's just a rumour)

Sorry, probably being slow, Klopp has said what? That he would wait until this Jan after we got the money from getting out of the group?

I could see there being some truth in that. He spoke about them being less risk averse and within a few months they are talking about the need for investment and a different approach. The bit I don't get though is if FSG are willing to back that new approach and get the money to enable it then wouldn't that make Ward and Graham's jobs easier?! I mean I can see them falling out in the summer if they were recommending cheaper players ( because they had to work to a budget) and Jürgen wouldn't budge on it being say Barella, Bellingham etc but if that money is arriving why go? Unless Jürgen just doesn't rate them. However even that feels a bit weird. 7 years in and he decides he doesn't rate the recruitment guys? Could be true I suppose. All a bit odd. Also wonder why the announcement has come now. Graham handed his notice in during June and they sat on that until today. Ward is staying until the end of the season. Why not sit on both bits of news until the new year once the window has closed? What is the need to do it now? Our transfer targets probably don't care about the club doctor, sporting director, Mike Gordon or head of research but they MAY think twice if it sounds like we are in turmoil. For a club that prides itself on keeping things in house and with results on the pitch not being great it all feels unnecessary to do it now unless bigger announcements are about to come out.

Jurgen talking up the need to now sign proven quality now, the owners seemingly acknowledging the need for proper investment. Certainly feels like the way we operate will be changing. Even if Jurgen does take a more hands on role though, surely they would need someone else to do the negotiating stuff. If so, timing feels a bit unfortunate with two good guys going to Chelsea.

Arguably the best news in all of this is the reaffirmation that the club can see the current business model won't allow them to stay competitive.

Dominic King is saying he will be replaced with an external appointment and that he and Jürgen are big mates. Who knows.

At Utd under Ratcliffe. That will be the next rumour.

Ok, fair enough. I don't know but based on their surprise I don't think his contract was up in 6 months or they would have only given him the job for a year. Maybe they are resigning ahead of a takeover but would that happen (in Graham's case) in May? Either way personally think Ward going is more to go with his inability to be able to do his job the way he wants to - whatever the reason is.

Have a day off! As usual your desire to defend all things FSG is admirable but this is laughable. You could well be right, maybe our owners, that supposedly always think long term, gave him a one year contract to look after the long term future of the club, forgot and are now completely surprised he is leaving.

It is a bit weird he resigned in May. It feels like the club were waiting for the World Cup to make a series of announcements. Ornstein said that Gordon wanted the takeover stuff to come out after the Southampton game.

What are you trying to get at? The fact that the owners are surprised his contract would suggest it wasn't up in the summer. The fact that Graham is also going is also suspicious. The fact Graham resigned in May and it's only come out now suggests something is coming.

I imagine it's longer than a year and now Graham has gone as well it seems something is either about to kick off or will do soon.

Ian Graham gone too