Say the Right Thing: The Owners

By: Noel | January 20th, 2011

Everybody may be on pins and needles watching the transfer front, wondering if the rumoured Suarez deal will finally go through, wondering if the Babel to Hoffenheim deal will finally go through, and maybe even wondering if the agreed price with Hoffenheim was always just a way of setting Babel’s value as a bargaining tool in negotiations with Ajax over Suarez. Still, there are other things going on in the world to concern ourselves with, and even a few things going on in the Liverpool world, too. With Hodgson a welcome memory and Fenway Sports Group–formerly New England Sports Ventures–starting to settle in, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner recently had an extensive interview with the LFCtv that addressed a number of interesting issues.

On the chances of Dalglish becoming the permanent manager come the end of the season, and on what FSG will be looking for in any long-term managerial appointment:

We’ve said at his press conference that he fits the criteria that we’re looking for for a manager. He’s extremely competent, he’s excellent at man-management, he knows the philosophy of the club and he’s been everything we could have hoped for. At the same time we are certainly looking at what we can do to strengthen the club in the long term and he would be a candidate.

As I said, you have to understand the philosophy of Liverpool. We understand it ourselves. We’ve had a great history here and I’ve watched a lot of videos and watched the attacking, the relentlessness of the team, never being satisfied with a draw. You can just study the words and the actions of our great managers, Paisley and Shankly, and I certainly would include Kenny Dalglish as part of that triumvirate. They know what it means to win and what it means to be a big four club. Our intention is not just to become eligible for the Champions League, but to be the best team in the league.

It certainly does appear as though Dalglish is genuinely good at the man management side of things, though of course the last manager–who himself came in with a reputation for being a great man manager–did his best to set the bar subterraneanly. Meanwhile, while they may just be words, hearing Werner talk about the club’s history as he does, of heroes and attacking legacies, is hugely comforting. There will always be that little voice of doubt with any corporate entity, that fear that they are only saying the right words and that it’s all calculated, but our former owners could never manage to even say anything like the right words, and to date FSG at least appears to be doing their level best to live up to the things they say.

On the current January transfer window:

It is our intention to improve the club short term. We know there are ways to improve the club and we do have targets. We hope to announce something but we are going to be driven by long term decisions. It’s very important for us to strengthen the club not just this season but next season. I think our supporters understand that if we can move forward and be better, not just this week but next week and the week after then that’s more important than any short term decision.

I understand the desire that fans have that we need to be successful and regain success quickly. I guess our message is that we are hard at work at it, it’s going to take a bit of patience but we are moving forward and we will hopefully improve the club this season.

In the immediate aftermath of the club’s purchase there were a lot of conflicting stories in the press about whether FSG would be willing to spend, and just how much they would be willing to spend. Or at least the press liked to make it out that there was uncertainty, as at the core of every story, whether it suggested that tens of millions would be spent or only tens of pence, was the idea of looking for value to improve the club’s playing staff long term. FSG always said that they would spend, and even spend big, if the value was right. The by all accounts extremely serious attempt to land Luis Suarez currently underway–but to not pay well over the odds for him–seems to again back their words up, and I suspect their actions on this front reflect what most fans do want in the long term.

Now we just have to hope that they can pull it off, of course, but once again the effort is there, and that’s comforting. Elsewhere in the interview there’s talk of Comolli and stadium issues and various odds and ends, so if that Suarez transfer doesn’t go through in the next ten minutes you’ll always have something to click over to and spend a bit more time on. In any case, it’s nice to be able to feel at least a little bit good and hopeful about Liverpool Football Club both on and off the pitch once again. It had been a while.

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Category: Team News

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Signalflash

I disagree with Red2death that the owners haven't delivered on promises. Since they came in they have made changes in the boardroom, most importantly by shunting aside Purslow, appointed a director of football, got rid of Hodgson and they are trying to get a new CEO. They really have started at the top and are working their way down to the team. You can't possibly expect them to get everything done in a few months and find competent replacements immediately. The real problem was Hodgson was so poor the team has regressed and shortened the amount of time they have to take to get things done properly. Do you really think they want to get relegated? I am halfway through Soccernomics which demonstrates how club football has evolved and where it is going, complete with references to Billy Beane who I understand Henry follows. Read the book, because our new owners clearly agree with its findings, and you will understand what they are doing. You may not agree with their direction, but they clearly have a well thought out plan. In the meantime I hate watching the team lose and I'd love someone new to come in and score goals, but we're going to have to be patient - oh and that's in the book too, it shows how over a long history clubs implode when they cave in to "change it all now!!!". Today survival, but the goal is to win the league.
Red2death

Hmm, I'd have to say the stuff they've done still doesn't really demonstrate actual active change for Liverpool:

shunting aside Purslow
-> This wasn't down to FSG. Purslow was always going to go once new owners arrived. That was the plan regardless of who took over the club.

appointed a director of football
-> Yes, this is a positive action. I'm sure it was already set in stone as part of the takeover deal. They needed someone to implement statistical analysis at whichever club they chose to buy.

got rid of Hodgson
-> Hodgson's own position with the team and the fans became untenable. They didn't want to even consider his future until summer, but results and the prospect of fan/player revolt forced their hand. In the end, they held out stubbornly till Jan, but in the end had to let him go.

they are trying to get a new CEO
-> This actually goes against them. A new CEO is usually one of the first things on any new owner's agenda. New leadership should be in place within weeks in order for stable growth to proceed. That it's already been 6 months and they're still in the process of locating a leader speaks of inaction rather than action. I'm sure they want to bide their time till the perfect person comes along, but they need to strike a balance.
Signalflash

Fair enough. Perhaps they did want too much time, Hodgson and thousands of people staying away took care of that dream. With regards to Purslow and other personnel changes I don't think anyone outside of the organization can say for sure who was definitely out or in once the deal was done. Purslow was redefining his job as time passed. I think he would have stayed if he could. I don't know why CEO has been such a tough position to fill. Regardless, at the moment the price of players/contracts is now their problem and it is going to be tough to compete with billionaires in the short term. What they say, what I have read, and what they have done is consistent with the approach they have adopted. As I said they are trying to do this over the longer term and I accept it while I am concerned you may be correct that they need to do more now.
Mike

Suarez-gate is killing me. I'm done. I'm shutting off my computer and phone. It's all bullshit anyway.
Yann

What I would like to see return to LFC is an inner sanctum style of business - whether about transfer negotiations, grievance dispute handling, strategic planning etc. – which is kept inhouse and private, and the only thing the outside world finds out is what they really need to in order to stay informed. Cosying up to the insatiable media monster by feeding it endless grabs of rumour and ‘he said/he said are’ ultimately creates a rod for a club’s back by distorting supporter expectations and driving emotional reactions to essentially non-events or situations of little consequence.

As for The Special One, if ever there was a bad fit for Liverpool, he’s it (after Hodgson). None of the club’s success has ever revolved around or been orchestrated by any egomaniac and Jose has shown that he believes himself to be bigger than any club he has managed. He’ll bail on Real on the pretext of some internal dispute when the going gets tough if he’s not afforded a massive wad of folding to buy ready-made superstars. Club management is simply a vehicle through which he can stoke his legend. No thanks.
Eddie

the owners have shown their intention right from the word go since they took over. they have shown their intention and wasted little time in sacking hodgson. they stated their commitment to stadium expansion whether it be to anfield or a new stadium. (the former being more likely). the idea of bringing through youth is working well with opportunites to kelly spearing pacheco shelvey wilson, and the recent promotion of suso and coady. as a result potentially this could save plenty of money, providing these players become regular
first team players.

all we need now is the owners to show their intent in the transfer market. a £20 million fee for suarez does sound reasonable. lets just hope that we do sign him not just to improve the current squad. But also that through signing suarez, im sure other major players in the world would want to play at liverpool with the likes of suarez gerrard torres reina carra cole kuyt johnson etc. not only does suarez represent value for money, but also for the "long term" his signing will be an excellent acquisition.
Nihat

heads up?
came on liverpoolfc i got sleepless due to the
waiting of suarez signing for us
make deal done and give suarez number 7 jerzy.
i am indeed true liverpool supporter by both flesh and blood.
suarez, young,fabio contrio and nzogbia things will be different.
in deglish we trust.
nihat in Nairobi kenya
nihat_yare@hotmail.com
haha

Suarez, Young, Coentrao and Nzogbia? Yeah right, you will be lucky to get one of them...
Joeston

Suarez, Young, Coentrao and Nzogbia? Yeah right, you will be lucky to get one of them...
Ed

One of you two is plagiarizing the other, and I'm going to find out who it is.
Red2death

I find it slightly weird that fans are comforted by FSG's lack of promises. Fair enough, H&G were all hot air and no action, but to me vagueness isn't any more comforting (though it might be more professional).

For corporate types and politicians, actions speak loudest, promises carry some weight but not a lot, and verbiage not amounting to a promise really counts for nothing - no matter how nice it sounds.

I'm happy that our new owners are more professional, more in line with what LFC's image should be. Though behind the scenes, I really have no idea if they're any better than the previous folks or not. We'll just have to wait and hope they are.
Justin

I always enjoy watching LFCtv interviews with our new owners. Their policy of deliberate vagueness promises to not provide any fans with unfounded hopes and desires, which is something I can appreciate in a very intimate sense in a post-Hicks/Gillett era. They are quiet and act swiftly and with confidence, this is something I think every club should aspire to.

That being said, my original point is that I'm exceedingly impressed with our new ownership thus far, and interviews and related articles have only managed to improve this perception.

I also find it somewhat hilarious/interesting that LFC would choose to include a "Transfer Rumors" column on their official page, as if none of us aren't currently scanning the likes of Goal.com and caughtoffside.com every ten minutes to see if anything had actually occurred. If the problem is really players' agents catalyzing media frenzies over players' possible transfers, clubs endorsing this kind of speculation is hardly the route to calm the exorbitant fees these agents are pushing through (to their own profit, I might add).

Besides the whole Suarez debacle, I think another hot issue at the moment is the whole Jose Mourinho stir up. While I'm sure that a great deal of the media hype is part of some strategy to scare the Real administration into providing him with some transfer funds, I find the prospect of Mourinho returning to the Premier League a daunting prospect. I believe that Manchester City would be his most preferred destination, as he has openly stated that his ideal managerial situation would include the kind of free-wheeling spending the City-Sheiks are all to willing to do. However, I've began to (somewhat naively, as Mou has specifically stated many times that Manchester United would be his preferred EPL club) entertain the idea of Mou taking over at LFC in the summer. However, this is not a personal desire of mine, I can't help but consider what might happen, should the situation arise.
Ed

Mentioning Media Watch is a surefire way to send me through the fucking ceiling--there's nothing that I hate more about the official site.
Noel

If people want goal.com level transfer reportage, I can just say that reports link Aguero to Liverpool in a shock transfer swoop. In fact, that sounds like a great deal of fun, so... everybody should consider it said.

As for Mourinho, at this point I have faith that FSG wouldn't sign the twerp. I think as you get into the more serious supporters the opinion on him personally is almost universally negative, and his need to be in control while only sticking around for a year or two at best and looking to spend big doesn't fit with FSG in any way. Which is good, because I don't honestly know which move would fill me with more despair: bringing in Mourinho, or bringing in O'Neil--though in different ways, of course, since Mourinho is about being a loathsome person and O'Neil is about being generally incompetent. Thankfully, neither seems likely.
Colin

What I really like was the way they conducted themselves throughout the Roy Hodgson saga. They made no noise and when they did speak, it was that the King has been appointed as manager. That is how Liverpool used to do things! So fans might want to stop hounding them to make some noise.