NESV/Fenway Sports Group: Owners of LFC

Ian Ayre doesn't come out well in this for me either.

Just said something similar in another thread mate, he's charged with running the club in the owners abscence and he's got this horribly wrong from start to finish. Great commercial man sh*te CEO on the evidence of the past few months.

He should have stepped up to the plate and displayed some real leadership and had our house in order leading up to the case, during the case and following the case, we've bumbled our way through this, changing from defiant to submissive to defiant to submissive which has made the whole situation ten times worse.

This whole thing has been badly handled from the start. By not appealing we became whipping boys for everyone.
I'm fed up of people saying if he wasn't guilty why didn't the club appeal.
That for me was the big mistake we made. I believe that decision was made by FSG.
For me FSG had  duty of care to a  young man ,who spoke little English , had lived in this country for less than 12 months ,had embraced this club and never once shirked his responsibilities , yes , he's a bit over zealous at times but isn't that what we supporters love ,what we pay to watch. This club let him down ,he didn't stand a chance against the FA and Man Utd.He had no idea what he had done , he is not a racist of that I have no doubt. But he will forever be labelled 'racist'.
He deserved better , he deserved a top ,top barrister who wouldn't't have let them ride rough shod all over him , who would have insisted on a level playing field.
FSG have not handled this well ,perhaps it's cultural differences , so unlike the FA , I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt before I hang them out to dry .
For me , they are on a warning , they now need to get on top of the situation and their first priority must be Luis. How he must be feeling I can only guess.
Luis YNWA.

Ian Ayre is the whipping boy, simple as that.

He's the one they asked to place a hard hat on and take one for the team. Better for one man to deflect and take  the hate, than the actual owner, or another 'important' figure head of the club.

This whole thing has been badly handled from the start. By not appealing we became whipping boys for everyone.
I'm fed up of people saying if he wasn't guilty why didn't the club appeal.
That for me was the big mistake we made. I believe that decision was made by FSG.
For me FSG had  duty of care to a  young man ,who spoke little English , had lived in this country for less than 12 months ,had embraced this club and never once shirked his responsibilities , yes , he's a bit over zealous at times but isn't that what we supporters love ,what we pay to watch. This club let him down , he didn't stand a chance against the FA and Man Utd.He had no idea what he had done , he is not a racist of that I have no doubt. But he will forever be labelled 'racist'.
He deserved better , he deserved a top ,top barrister who wouldn't't have let them ride rough shod all over him , who would have insisted on a level playing field.
FSG have not handled this well ,perhaps it's cultural differences , so unlike the FA , I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt before I hang them out to dry .
For me , they are on a warning , they now need to get on top of the situation and their first priority must be Luis. How he must be feeling I can only guess.
Luis YNWA.

Answered your own question in there.

Let’s be clear of one thing from the start: No matter the specifics of all that came before it, Luis Suarez was an idiot for not shaking Patrice Evra’s hand.

But then, so too was Patrice Evra for later trying to start a fight in the tunnel at the half and then for taunting the Liverpool striker after the match.

The FA, meanwhile, were idiots for deciding that a handshake could solve racism months after rightly turning their noses up at Sepp Blatter for suggesting that a handshake could solve racism.

Large sections of the press were idiots, too, for deciding that a handshake could solve racism months after lambasting Sepp Blatter for suggesting that a handshake could solve racism.

The Liverpool PR department were idiots for allowing Kenny Dalglish to go into the post-match interviews unaware of the full details of what anybody with two brain cells to rub together knew would be the main talking point.

Alex Ferguson was an idiot for suggesting Luis Suarez should never wear the Liverpool shirt again when Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes continue to play for Manchester United after refusing to shake Patrick Vieira’s hand in 2005.

Liverpool’s PR department and coaching staff were further idiots for not handling Luis Suarez better going into the match, as if one accepts that Suarez at least believes his view of events—a version the FA’s linguistic experts said, if true, had no racially offensive implications—it seems obvious that he would feel a great deal of resentment towards Evra.

Anyone believing that the press’ handling of the entire matter has anything whatsoever to do with a genuine desire to bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice instead of a cynical desire to milk controversy and exploit a dangerous us versus them xenophobia frequently seized upon by sections of the English media to sell papers and drive traffic is an idiot.

Liverpool’s PR department were also idiots for their poor handling of the club’s decision not to challenge Suarez’ eight-match ban wherein they only managed to appear petulant.

Back with the media, to suggest as some did that the word “negro” was racist in any language when discussing the Suarez incident before declaring that “black c*nt” wasn’t when discussing the John Terry case only confirmed that those supposedly leading the debate were themselves little more than xenophobic idiots.

And back with Liverpool’s PR department, they were also also idiots for their amateurish handling of the initial press release following the announcement of Suarez’ eight-match ban. And for dropping the ball on pretty much anything and everything else they came within five feet of throughout this whole interminable, sensational, regrettable idiocy.

Chances are, too, that just about anyone who has at any point during said interminable, sensational, regrettable idiocy offered any kind of opinion—be it in the press or at the pub—backing one side or the other (or the other other) has been a bit of an idiot. Or more than a bit of an idiot.

Speaking of which, offering this opinion on the issue now is at least on some level—and perhaps on many—quite thoroughly and unforgivably idiotic.

Nothing good has come of this circus. Nothing meaningful has been gained. Nobody is any closer to any grand, world-altering truth or to driving racism out of sport or society. Nobody* comes out looking better than they did going in. And chances are yesterday’s apology for a handshake-that-wasn’t won’t actually put an end to any of it. Anyone thinking otherwise is, in all likelihood… well, you know.

* At least if their name isn’t John Barnes.

http://lfcbuzz.com/liverpool-fc-news/you-might-be-an-idiot/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Lfcbuzz+%28LfcBuzz%29

What a f***** GREAT post/read this is.Well done AZ,really really good points all the way mate.Also had me laughing (first time since Saturday)

Still a bit confused!Do we want our owners "hands on" like Ken Bates or Roman,to mention a couple?Or let the club be run as it always has.Warts and all.

Just said something similar in another thread mate, he's charged with running the club in the owners abscence and he's got this horribly wrong from start to finish. Great commercial man sh*te CEO on the evidence of the past few months.

He should have stepped up to the plate and displayed some real leadership and had our house in order leading up to the case, during the case and following the case, we've bumbled our way through this, changing from defiant to submissive to defiant to submissive which has made the whole situation ten times worse.

Ian Ayres needs to go for me .
As soon as the charge was made we should have sat down and realised that we do one of two things defend it 100% regardless of where it goes or accept it apologise and move on.
We did neither and its left usopen to all sorts of abuse.
IF the owners turn up for the FA Cup I dont think they will enjoy the atmosphere.

Still a bit confused!Do we want our owners "hands on" like Ken Bates or Roman,to mention a couple?Or let the club be run as it always has.Warts and all.

I want them to lead... They must have supported our original stance or it wouldnt have happened, you cant let Kenny/Luis/the rest of the players and the fans go one way and then pull the rug out from under our feet and change direction.

Ian Ayres needs to go for me .

I don't think Ian Ayre needs to go.

Personally I think he's in the wrong job as has been said before he's a grate commercial man sh*t CEO.
Maybe they need to bring some else in to run things when they are away, or except this is a learning curve (granted a F***ing big one) for every one involved. Including us the fans.

FSG underestimated the hysteria the media can create over nothing. Kenny needs to learn that management is not like the old days where you looked after the team, your now effectively the face of a 'brand' ( I hate that word with a passion), and every thing he does in relation to Liverpool ie wearing a t-shirt will be jumped on. Management is becoming more and more about PR. Some fans need to stop looking for evidence that is not really their such as a picture of Suarez 'trying to shake hands'. Lastly we need to stop giving a F**k what the media thinks of us, that's the clubs job.

We love the club that's all that should matter to us. I don't give a F**k what the lad down the road thinks of Liverpool or any Liverpool players. He knows less about the inner workings of the club than I do, so he can suck a big fat pink spotted donkey dick when he starts repeating the press to me. 

I don't think we should start attacking the owners did they get wrong? yes. I think we can all see that. But as some of our fellow reds across the pond have said the culture of there is totally different. Like redangle for me they are on a warning. As they are yanks I'll give em 3 strikes befor they can join the lad sucking the big fat pink spotted donkey dick.

I want them to lead... They must have supported our original stance or it wouldnt have happened, you cant let Kenny/Luis/the rest of the players and the fans go one way and then pull the rug out from under our feet and change direction.

I dont want owners who ditch us at the first sign of trouble just to protect their investment.The truth is out the only reason they are here is to rape us of as much money as they can in a short a period as they can.

Im not looking into anything that went in Saturday to be honest, that was all the end of the bad way we have handled this from day one.

We shouldnt have got to this, the people at the top of the club should have stepped in and taken responsibility, we should have set out why we felt Luis was being harshly treated as soon as the FA report came out and the inaccuracy's within the report,instead of us dropping little hints out.

We as a club have handled this badly from day one, and the way we have backed down yesterday f**king stinks.

I feel very let down by the club right now, how do you think Luis feels. His name and character has been ruined, simple as that and we have done nothing at the top to help restore it..

and on top of that the fans and Kenny have been made to look idiots.


Again though to say im not banging the drum, i dont want them out, im just very disapointed in the whole top end of the club right now. And i cant shake that currently. They need to come out and talk to us. Come over now... Not just to watch the CC Final, sing YNWA but not really understand what it means. Get on a flight and spend a couple of weeks in and around the club and repair some of this damage and speak to the fans.

I don't think Ian Ayre needs to go.

Personally I think he's in the wrong job as has been said before he's a grate commercial man sh*t CEO.
Maybe they need to bring some else in to run things when they are away, or except this is a learning curve (granted a f**king big one) for every one involved. Including us the fans.

FSG underestimated the hysteria the media can create over nothing. Kenny needs to learn that management is not like the old days where you looked after the team, your now effectively the face of a 'brand' ( I hate that word with a passion), and every thing he does in relation to Liverpool ie wearing a t-shirt will be jumped on. Management is becoming more and more about PR. Some fans need to stop looking for evidence that is not really their such as a picture of Suarez 'trying to shake hands'. Lastly we need to stop giving a f**k what the media thinks of us, that's the clubs job.

We love the club that's all that should matter to us. I don't give a f**k what the lad down the road thinks of Liverpool or any Liverpool players. He knows less about the inner workings of the club than I do, so he can suck a big fat pink spotted donkey dick when he starts repeating the press to me. 

I don't think we should start attacking the owners did they get wrong? yes. I think we can all see that. But as some of our fellow reds across the pond have said the culture of there is totally different. Like redangle for me they are on a warning. As they are yanks I'll give em 3 strikes befor they can join the lad sucking the big fat pink spotted donkey dick.

You dont think he should go but he is in the wrong job? Not sure what the difference is as he is clearly out of his depth.

You dont think he should go but he is in the wrong job? Not sure what the difference is as he is clearly out of his depth.

As I was writing that post I changed my mined to be honest.

Im not looking into anything that went in Saturday to be honest, that was all the end of the bad way we have handled this from day one.

We shouldnt have got to this, the people at the top of the club should have stepped in and taken responsibility, we should have set out why we felt Luis was being harshly treated as soon as the FA report came out and the inaccuracy's within the report,instead of us dropping little hints out.

We as a club have handled this badly from day one, and the way we have backed down yesterday f**king stinks.

I feel very let down by the club right now, how do you think Luis feels. His name and character has been ruined, simple as that and we have done nothing at the top to help restore it..

and on top of that the fans and Kenny have been made to look idiots.


Again though to say im not banging the drum, i dont want them out, im just very disapointed in the whole top end of the club right now. And i cant shake that currently. They need to come out and talk to us. Come over now... Not just to watch the CC Final, sing YNWA but not really understand what it means. Get on a flight and spend a couple of weeks in and around the club and repair some of this damage and speak to the fans.

When does YNWA go the other way? Luis is not a racist and was wronged with a overly lengthy ban that should have been appealed but was not. Pretty fair to say that we could have appealed it to heaven above and it was not going to get overturned but none the less.

The club issued a statement saying we are moving foward and yes of course they would shake hands; Kenny said it, the club and owners expected it, shake his hand and lets be done with it.

Evra is a c**t, we know he is one but there are plenty of them in the world. When the times comes for Luis to do what the manager and the club requested him to do he said fck it I have been wronged and I don't want to shake the cnts hand. Well he made his manager look like a fool, the club look incompetent in getting its own players to do what they are asked to do.

John Barnes mentioned several times yesterday that both Evra and Luis (the modern footballers) have egos that put themselves before club and they should have just let it go and taken care of business on the pitch.

We are screaming here how the club screwed Luis yet when his manager just days before said this was done and dusted and expected this to happen the player decided for the sake of his own self laid the manager out to dry.

Yeah maybe we should have appealed to the EU supreme court or something on behalf of Luis but we did not and were moving foward and away from this as stated by Kenny.

Luis was asked to do something by the manager and club that he did not want to do, told them he would do it and then said ah fck it I am not doing it.

There is not a person on this board that have not had and employer ask them to do something they did not want to do, there is not a self employed person on this board that has not had to bite they're lip when a client asked them to do something that perhaps they did not want to do. C*nt or no c*unt the club (employer) asked the Luis (employee) to do something and the employee (who's feelings were hurt) said yes at first then changed his mind and in front of an international audience decided to go rouge on his manager and club.

Right or wrong and despite any circumstances when did it become fashionable for a player at this club (yes an employee) to ignore a directive from the club and the manager? Since when did it become acceptable to hang your manager out to dry when the entire football world was watching?

If the owners and club handled Luis wrong sorry to him but he handled this just as badly. He was asked to make a simple gesture that takes all of 3 seconds. His manager asked him, his director told him and the owners expected it; but it was to difficult to just let it go and move forward.

It was supposed to be done and dusted.

When does YNWA go the other way? Luis is not a racist and was wronged with a overly lengthy ban that should have been appealed but was not. Pretty fair to say that we could have appealed it to heaven above and it was not going to get overturned but none the less.

The club issued a statement saying we are moving foward and yes of course they would shake hands; Kenny said it, the club and owners expected it, shake his hand and lets be done with it.

Evra is a c**t, we know he is one but there are plenty of them in the world. When the times comes for Luis to do what the manager and the club requested him to do he said fck it I have been wronged and I don't want to shake the cnts hand. Well he made his manager look like a fool, the club look incompetent in getting its own players to do what they are asked to do.

John Barnes mentioned several times yesterday that both Evra and Luis (the modern footballers) have egos that put themselves before club and they should have just let it go and taken care of business on the pitch.

We are screaming here how the club screwed Luis yet when his manager just days before said this was done and dusted and expected this to happen the player decided for the sake of his own self laid the manager out to dry.

Yeah maybe we should have appealed to the EU supreme court or something on behalf of Luis but we did not and were moving foward and away from this as stated by Kenny.

Luis was asked to do something by the manager and club that he did not want to do, told them he would do it and then said ah fck it I am not doing it.

There is not a person on this board that have not had and employer ask them to do something they did not want to do, there is not a self employed person on this board that has not had to bite they're lip when a client asked them to do something that perhaps they did not want to do. C*nt or no c*unt the club (employer) asked the Luis (employee) to do something and the employee (who's feelings were hurt) said yes at first then changed his mind and in front of an international audience decided to go rouge on his manager and club.

Right or wrong and despite any circumstances when did it become fashionable for a player at this club (yes an employee) to ignore a directive from the club and the manager? Since when did it become acceptable to hang your manager out to dry when the entire football world was watching?

If the owners and club handled Luis wrong sorry to him but he handled this just as badly. He was asked to make a simple gesture that takes all of 3 seconds. His manager asked him, his director told him and the owners expected it; but it was to difficult to just let it go and move forward.

It was supposed to be done and dusted.

You're right AZ. Luis is far from innocent and without critism in the whole affair.

My bug being the way we have dealt with the whole episode from day one... And that has been poorly. I just think we should have been open and honest at why we feel the whole situation has been poorly reported. Had we done that I think we could look openly at other aspects of it.

You're right AZ. Luis is far from innocent and without critism in the whole affair.

My bug being the way we have dealt with the whole episode from day one... And that has been poorly. I just think we should have been open and honest at why we feel the whole situation has been poorly reported. Had we done that I think we could look openly at other aspects of it.

It was not dealt with right PD, I am not disputing that in the least but there comes a point where sh*te just don't work out the way we would want it and that is where Luis found himself.

I would not wanted to shake his hand either but you know when your asked by the manger to do something and you say your going to do it then fcking do it.

We are making him out to be some kind of martyr here, I had read earlier where he did not feel support from Ajax after biting that player. How exactly is any club supposed to support a player going vampire?

While the club could have and arguably should have done more Luis does not help his case one little bit with his poor decision making.

So while we are dishing out the blame by the ladle I think at least a spoonful should be saved for Luis.

Something has now gone form this club.Its been a tight knit family for over 50 years,H&G tried to damage it but it made us even stronger but now on two occasions the new owners have turned their backs on us.
Putting this odwn to one moment where Luis could have made things right is just not on.
As soon as we decided to accept the decision because of the appeal process was a moment when we lost our principals.
This is what has caused the problem you always fight if you think you are right our entire history is based on this and now that has been broken.
I feel very very sad that we have come to a situation where we make Kenny apologise for being Kenny what have we become.
Success as a team is not any form of success if we ditch our beliefs to obtain it we are not UTD.

Liverpool owner and sponsor raised Suarez concerns

Mon, Feb 12:55 PM GMT

http://uk.mobile.reu13 ters.com/article/idUKTRE81C0V020120213?irpc=932

By Steve Slater and Keith Weir

LONDON (Reuters) - Liverpool's U.S. owners and their shirt sponsor intervened over the weekend to help defuse a race row that was damaging one of the most successful English football clubs.

Forward Luis Suarez apologised on Sunday for not shaking opponent Patrice Evra's hand before his team's 2-1 defeat at Manchester United and manager Kenny Dalglish also said sorry for his post-match reaction when challenged over the snub.

Suarez was returning to the Liverpool starting line-up for the first time since serving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Evra during a match in October.

Standard Chartered, a bank which pays around 20 million pounds a season to sponsor the former English champions, went public with its criticism in a brief statement,

"We were very disappointed by Saturday's incident and have discussed our concerns with the club," the bank said in a statement.

A person familiar with the matter said: "It was a very robust conversation."

Europe's largest soccer clubs are now major brands who attract international sponsors and have fans around the globe.

Standard Chartered was attracted to Liverpool by its strong Asian support base. The bank is based in London but makes almost all its profits in Asia. Most of its staff are in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The BBC reported that the Fenway Sports Group, the U.S. group that bought the club in 2010 and also owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team, had said an apology was necessary.

A spokesman for Liverpool declined to comment on the reports that pressure had been brought to bear.

The English Football Association, which imposed the original eight-match ban, will take no action over Suarez's refusal to shake hands because it is not a disciplinary issue.

The British government will host a summit in the next few weeks to discuss the issue of racism in soccer after two high-profile stories this season.

Chelsea captain John Terry will go on trial in July accused of racially abusing opponent Anton Ferdinand during an on-pitch row in a Premier League match in October.

Terry, who denies wrongdoing, has been stripped of the England captaincy for the Euro 2012 tournament and manager Fabio Capello quit as a result.

(Additional reporting by Matt Falloon; editing by Mark Meadows)

It was not dealt with right PD, I am not disputing that in the least but there comes a point where sh*te just don't work out the way we would want it and that is where Luis found himself.

I would not wanted to shake his hand either but you know when your asked by the manger to do something and you say your going to do it then fcking do it.

We are making him out to be some kind of martyr here, I had read earlier where he did not feel support from Ajax after biting that player. How exactly is any club supposed to support a player going vampire?

While the club could have and arguably should have done more Luis does not help his case one little bit with his poor decision making.

So while we are dishing out the blame by the ladle I think at least a spoonful should be saved for Luis.

Not disputing that at all mate, at all but I am of the thinking had we handled the whole situation better from day 1 then Saturday may never had happened at all.

I've said a few times already I dont think Luis will be a Liverpool player next season. But I feel the owners still will be of course.

I'm just upset how we have handled this whole situation. Weak and stupid... Now just reacting and making ourselves look silly because it's not just gone away.

Something has now gone form this club.Its been a tight knit family for over 50 years,H&G tried to damage it but it made us even stronger but now on two occasions the new owners have turned their backs on us.
Putting this odwn to one moment where Luis could have made things right is just not on.
As soon as we decided to accept the decision because of the appeal process was a moment when we lost our principals.
This is what has caused the problem you always fight if you think you are right our entire history is based on this and now that has been broken.
I feel very very sad that we have come to a situation where we make Kenny apologise for being Kenny what have we become.
Success as a team is not any form of success if we ditch our beliefs to obtain it we are not UTD.

Hey Walton for the record Kenny apologized to the reporter he ripped into when asked a question about the handshake that did not happen that Kenny thought did. He did not apologize to the mancs or the FA or to Evra, it was to the individual reporter that asked the question.

 For me most of the sh*t that has been/is going on, is a storm in a tee cup.

 The most annoying thing (from yesterday) is having Kenny apologize, no need, another PR mistake 

 What the owner need to take from this is you must have the right men in the right job, something they must already know, yet for some reason we have Ian Ayre as the managing director, if the last few month have showed anything it is the fact that Ian is out of his depth.

 The other is why a club with the standing and the World wide profile of Liverpool has had no public relations manger for 5 months ? it is a very important job and we should have the best person available. 

 IMO this affair would off been killed off months ago if were employing the right people

For me most of the sh*t that has been/is going on, is a storm in a tee cup.

 The most annoying thing (from yesterday) is having Kenny apologize, no need, another PR mistake 

 What the owner need to take from this is you must have the right men in the right job, something they must already know, yet for some reason we have Ian Ayre as the managing director, if the last few month have showed anything it is the fact that Ian is out of his depth.

 The other is why a club with the standing and the World wide profile of Liverpool has had no public relations manger for 5 months ? it is a very important job and we should have the best person available. 

 IMO this affair would off been killed off months ago if were employing the right people

Kenny was apologizing to a reporter Eddie for going off on him when asked about the handshake when he did not know what had happened. Don't think anyone put a gun Kenny's head to do it, he probably felt bad for the guy.

 

"Ian Ayre has made the Club's position absolutely clear and it is right that Luis Suarez has now apologised for what happened at Old Trafford," said Dalglish.

"To be honest, I was shocked to hear that the player had not shaken hands having been told earlier in the week that he would do.

"But as Ian said earlier, all of us have a responsibility to represent this Club in a fit and proper manner and that applies equally to me as Liverpool manager. 

"When I went on TV after yesterday's game I hadn't seen what had happened, but I did not conduct myself in a way befitting of a Liverpool manager during that interview and I'd like to apologise for that."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/kd-we-all-have-a-responsibility-1


Once again he did not apologize to the mancs or anyone else except for the reporter in question, it was an honorable thing to do after he realized that what was supposed to have happened did not.

On the topic of a PR guy I agree with you, perhaps one of FSG's faults has been letting things run at the club level and not getting involved enough but this issue needs to be addressed and soon I agree.

 You need to calm down AZ did I mention Man U