Time for a DOF?

We know the familiar complaints about our record in the transfer market.

There is general consensus that things have to change to improve our performance. We cannot complete with our rivals financially to the level where we can afford to blow them out of the water. Therefore we need players we can buy in young, train and fit to our system regardless of how long the manager stays at the club. This is how dynasties are built. We can see how the likes of Southampton are punching above their weight using this approach.


We cannot go back to the “old” days of a manager having total power. A modern superstar football contract might cost the club a hundred million pounds over five years. There is simply no way we can afford to but many of those players without oversight given that most managers in the modern game last about two years.


The way I see things there are two basic options:.


1)Boost the existing transfer committee. Get in better scouts, better analysts and let the manager have the casting vote on ALL decisions.
ADVANTAGES: The manager has ultimate power and can therefore be held responsible if the players don’t work out.
DISADVANTAGES: The current manger is still young and is not used to handling players at the top level. Hence we may be buying more Borinis / Allens / Lovrens/ Lallanas / Lamberts. When the new manager (eventually) arrives, the players we have spent years buying may not fit with his system.



2) Hire a Director of Football to ensure that the players we buy represent value for the club and fit the club’s ethos.
ADVANTAGES: the likes of Henderson, Sterling and Suarez stay with the club through different managers and accrue value giving us the option to keep or sell as we see fit.
DISADVANTAGES: The manager has less authority and may struggle to fit the players into “his” vision.



Brendan has previously said he will not work under a DOF so we have to decide whether or not things need to change and, if so, what we do about it?

What have we lost a match? Yep, get a DOF in. They scored one too? Right, lets get this f***ing defensive coach in sharpish, the way we defend set-pieces is a joke.

Its fine as it is at the moment.

The Committee just needs a bit of rejigging I think and perhaps a few new scouts to join the team after we lost 3 a few months ago.

BR doesn't want to work under a DoF and I don't think it really works in England as the managers aren't really used to it here. Its like someone buying players for the team and then saying to the manager, "now manage them".

What have we lost a match? Yep, get a DOF in. They scored one too? Right, lets get this f***ing defensive coach in sharpish, the way we defend set-pieces is a joke.

No it's bigger than that.

Even if we had won there have been questions since Brendan arrived about the success of our transfers.

If you're happy with our performance in that regard that's all well and good. Most other fans aren't.

I hate DOF

What difference will it make if FSG refuse to cough up the money for top proven talent?

What difference will it make if FSG refuse to cough up the money for top proven talent?

It reduces the risk so more money is likely to be invested.

If you owned the club and you knew that a contract could cost a hundred million pounds over five years how likely would you be to let a manager decide who to sign when you know that, on average, he will only be there two to three years before he is replaced?

It reduces the risk so more money is likely to be invested.

Maybe.

But look at what Man City's DOF spent a lot of money on last summer. It hasn't improved their team as the mauling by Barcelona showed. 

Maybe.

But look at what Man City's DOF spent a lot of money on last summer. It hasn't improved their team as the mauling by Barcelona showed.

The question is whether they would have gotten a better result if all the money had been put in Pellegrini's hands instead.

The question is whether they would have gotten a better result if all the money had been put in Pellegrini's hands.

We don't know the answer to that. But my guess is he can't have done much worse last summer anyway.

The point is mate, if Liverpool had plenty of money then anyone could pick out the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Karim Benzema etc ..  It's about having the money to get them. Getting a DOF with a brilliant eye for cheap talent would be nice in theory; but in practice they're rarely found.

We tried a DOF and we ended up with Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam. The problem isn't a Director of Football or Committee or Manager on his own making decisions, the issue is the club wide policy. A DOF working to the same policy as the Committee is now will bring in the same players. I've said from the very beginning that if you have a policy based around young talent it won't work because of several factors, not least of which is the fact that they're too inexperienced to win anything so you're an unsuccessful club and the successful clubs will just cherry pick your young talent from you because the player will want to win things. We're seeing this now with Sterling. It's an ultimately self defeating policy because there's no return on your investment. The player leaves before his development is complete. 

If we had gone in to the Champions league this year with a host of experienced players, there is a higher chance we would have made it through to the Quarter finals because they would know how teams in the competition play, know individual player styles because they had either played with them or played against them in the competition before. This in itself would alleviate some of the problems of having an inexperienced manager. Similarly if we had a highly experienced manager who was playing inexperienced players we might have gotten away with it because he at least knows what to expect. Our transfer policy has lead to a situation where its the blind leading the blind at the club (insofar as experience, not talent).

Our club's transfer policy is a cancer at the heart of our club and as long as that policy is there it will continue to slowly kill us; we will remain an unsuccessful also-ran at best. The policy needs to go. Once it does, we can examine the personnel based upon their performances working under what can be considered 'normal' conditions. The personnel aren't our problem, the policy is.

No it's bigger than that.

Even if we had won there have been questions since Brendan arrived about the success of our transfers.

If you're happy with our performance in that regard that's all well and good. Most other fans aren't.

I wonder if it's got anything to do with the fact we buy 2nd or 3rd level players that aren't coveted by other teams?

It doesn't matter who is doing the choosing, be it the manager, the transfer committee or a DOF, if you are operating within those parameters you will struggle to consistently buy quality. End of.

That's my view on it and it kinda makes this whole thread a moot point for me.

We don't know the answer to that. But my guess is he can't have done much worse last summer anyway.

The point is mate, if Liverpool had plenty of money then anyone could pick out the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Karim Benzema etc ..  It's about having the money to get them. Getting a DOF with a brilliant eye for cheap talent would be nice in theory; but in practice they're rarely found.

But unless a rich sheik buys us out we have to accept that we simply don't have the money to outspend the petrodollar clubs.

We have to start from where we are. We have money from the TV deal but City have money from the TV deal AND a billion pound sbehind them.

If our only hope is to outspend them we have already lost.

I get the point your making Hollywood but there is no guarantee a DOF would correct any 'mistakes' in the transfer market.

I get the point your making Hollywood but there is no guarantee a DOF would correct any 'mistakes' in the transfer market.

Of course you're right there are no guarantees. The trial of using Commolli was ultimately a failure but if we had, say, rafa on board surely we would do better than we are doing now?

Of course you're right there are no guarantees. The trial of using Commolli was ultimately a failure but if we had, say, rafa on board surely we would do better than we are doing now?

Rafa as a DOF?

In theory that should cover the next few months wa**s but in reality it's too much of a clash. I can't see Brendan feeling at all comfortable with such an iconic figure in that role who is still in his prime for coaching.. One bad run like earlier this season and the calls would start immediately
And Rafa I wouldn't think is ready to step 'upstairs'

Of course you're right there are no guarantees. The trial of using Commolli was ultimately a failure but if we had, say, rafa on board surely we would do better than we are doing now?

So you'd rather we change the manager then?  

So you'd rather we change the manager then?  

Precisely. Can you imagine what some of these people would be like if we had Rafa as one of the groundsmen never mind "director of football"  . It's bad enough now while he's the manager at Napoli. My wish has always been that if those that want such a thing are successful in hounding Brendan out of the job (and they had a real good go at it a few months ago), then I hope they bring Rafa back in as the manager. That way we can once and for all lance this festering boil which sits on the club like an elephant growing on it @rse.

Well that's why Brandan didn't want to work under a DOF.

People want a "footballing man"- Rafa, LVG etc but that puts the manager under pressure if he is not getting results.

So what's the best solution?

Well that's why Brandan didn't want to work under a DOF.

People want a "footballing man"- Rafa, LVG etc but that puts the manager under pressure if he is not getting results.

So what's the best solution?

Employing a manager who's first name is easy to remember is step one.

Employing a manager who's first name is easy to remember is step one.

Do you know the difference between typos and factual errors? My crap typing skills often lead to me making typos because I hit the wrong key on the keyboard.

It is of course a good idea to check your own posts if you are going to be a pedant though - the word you were looking for is "whose" not "who's". That's an error of syntax and highlights poor language skills.

Happy to help 

But unless a rich sheik buys us out we have to accept that we simply don't have the money to outspend the petrodollar clubs.

We have to start from where we are. We have money from the TV deal but City have money from the TV deal AND a billion pound sbehind them.

If our only hope is to outspend them we have already lost.

It isn't about outspending them but there has to be a willingness to match them from time to time or at least put up a fight. With £75 million in the back pocket (plus standard summer spend) last summer was an opportunity to go after a couple of the 'coveted' players you claim so regularly claim we should not be thinking about.

They didn't take it. Instead we gambled on a bunch of younger players at the next level. Some of them are actually starting to look the part (Can, Moreno) so the timing of this thread seems a bit of a strange one to me.

 

 

It isn't about outspending them but there has to be a willingness to match them from time to time or at least put up a fight. With £75 million in the back pocket (plus standard summer spend) last summer was an opportunity to go after a couple of the 'coveted' players you claim so regularly claim we should not be thinking about.

They didn't take it. Instead we gambled on a bunch of younger players at the next level. Some of them are actually starting to look the part (Can, Moreno) so the timing of this thread seems a bit of a strange one to me.

Would we be better off to have bought Falcao? Or Ozil? Or Jovetic?

We needed a bigger squad with the increased unmber of games so we took a decision to buy more players.

As for the timing - we are approaching the summer transfer window so we need to decide whether the new recruits are bought under the exoisting framework. The general consensus seems to be that we need to change things to improve our performance.