Brendan Rodgers transfer market dealings, good or bad?

To put it into perspective though, 39 of those players were signed for the youth/reserves.

Agreed.

It's also unfair to credit him with signing Kirkland when we landed the former Coventry keeper the same day we got Dudek. Both signed in August 01 by Gerard Houllier - some three years before Benitez became our manager.

As for Rodgers' transfers they've been, by and large, disappointing thus far.

Borini - shocking in his time here. Yes he's had a couple of injuries but even when fit didn't exactly set the world alight and was shipped out. Seems to have found some level of form at Sunderland, maybe he will come good in the end but I doubt it. Wouldn't be surprised if he was sold permanently in the summer.

Allen - abysmal signing. Given that he was the must buy signing in Brendan's first year, I was expecting a lot more than what he's shown. Even before his injury last year, he found himself out the team. That doesn't look good on Brendan since he was so adamant on getting Joey. He's struggled to make the grade since and still finds himself anything but first choice unless injuries force Rodger's hand.

Assaidi - poor signing although it looked like we actually had a decent winger on our books when he first came because he was direct and ran with the ball. However he only seemed to do it for ten minutes per game then wouldn't be seen again and was eventually completely frozen out the squad. Another one who ended up being shipped out on loan.

Sahin - loan signing who did very little in his time here and was soon shipped back off earlier than expected. Always heard he wasn't played in his rightful position, truth was he just wasn't up to it at Liverpool. Was hardly a loss when he left either.

Yesil - looks a decent prospect but injuries have prevented him making any real impact during his time here. Reserved judgement on young Samed for now.

Sturridge - happy when we signed him and no reason to change that. Without doubt, Brendan's best signing.

Coutinho - Phil has been a good signing although the last couple of months have been his biggest test for him. When he arrived he was boss, made everything look easy. Started his second year in a similar vein. However the last couple of months have seen him dip a level or two. And to remain a good signing, he'll need to pick it up again otherwise he'll be heading to an average signing.

Alberto - really like the look of the lad, would rather see him get more minutes. So again reserving judgement on him for the time being.

Aspas - thought we had a really good forward when I saw him in pre-season. Looked like a real finisher however since the season proper started, he's been a f**king disaster. Woeful signing unfortunately.

Mignolet - had the very difficult job of replacing Reina. And he hasn't. It hasn't helped that he's got a poor defence in front of him but he's just not up to scratch unfortunately. He doesn't look comfortable catching the ball from crosses. He's made quite a few shockingly bad errors. He's also had a few impressive showings as well though so maybe he'll come good - a decent defence would help of course. Average just now.

Toure - didn't want him when we signed him, still don't. The early season buzz has died down and he's starting to show the frailties he's always had. Was never expecting a world class player so he's probably been the slightly below average I was expecting.

Cissokho - dreadful signing. Has practically nothing going for him. Sorry Aly lad but you're not gonna make it at Anfield and if injuries didn't prevent us from doing it, then I think you'd be doing the same as Sahin and have your loan deal cut short in January.

Sakho - massively overrated by many Liverpool fans. Started shaky on his debut against Swansea, still reminds me of Djimi Traore the way he panics with the ball and sells himself tackling far too quickly. There does seem to be something there though, just not the level some fans think. So far I've been disappointed given the high fee we spent.

Ilori - can't comment as I haven't seen anywhere near enough of him and he's been loaned out. Reserved judgement.

Moses - sh*t signing. Simply not good enough.

All in all, I don't think Brendan can claim too many of his signings have been raving successes. His success rate in the transfer market will have to improve.

All this.

To put it into perspective though, 39 of those players were signed for the youth/reserves.

And for further perspective, in net terms, he spent the roughly the same as Martin O'Neill did, during his much 'vaunted' tenure, though shorter than Rafa's here, at Villa.  I only say that 'cos I think MON is so overrated, didn't exactly live on pennies at Sunderland either.  Glad he never came here.

Smicer was a sh*t signing by Houllier. And Hamann was a truly world class signing by Houllier.

Hamann was excellent, loved him. Oh how we could do with him right now.

I demand a Hamann or a Masch fr BR and the owners this very moment. if they can't deliver, they have themselves to blame and no one else for missing out 4th spot.

It is truly amazing that BR couldn't see what we really needed instead of relying what we have and thought it would be good enough. Only a quality DM can help him this very moment.

I think for me, the problem lies solely with FSG, not the Gaffer

Borini, Aspas, Cissokho, Moses, Assaidi, and Allen (to a lesser extent) been utterly dire for us. But isn't that what you get when the most you'll pay is a little of £10m, or take in loan sighings? Sure there's going to be the out surprise package like Sturridge and Couts in the mix but all in all, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

FSG here are the ones holding us back, not the Gaffer, who is doing very well given the tight budget he's on. I don't care about being 'burnt' in the transfer market a few years ago, that's crap talk. Every owner who ever bought a club has been burnt at some point. It's time for them to stop hiding behind that excuse and either back us without the bullshit or move on.

I think for me, the problem lies solely with FSG, not the Gaffer

Borini, Aspas, Cissokho, Moses, Assaidi, and Allen (to a lesser extent) been utterly dire for us. But isn't that what you get when the most you'll pay is a little of £10m, or take in loan sighings? Sure there's going to be the out surprise package like Sturridge and Couts in the mix but all in all, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

FSG here are the ones holding us back, not the Gaffer, who is doing very well given the tight budget he's on. I don't care about being 'burnt' in the transfer market a few years ago, that's crap talk. Every owner who ever bought a club has been burnt at some point. It's time for them to stop hiding behind that excuse and either back us without the bullshit or move on.

I'm sorry mate but if you don't put any blame on Brendan then that's silly! Yes on the pitch he is making the team perform well but when it comes to individual transfers he hasn't done very well at all. They are both to blame but to say Brendan isn't to blame at all is the most in denial statement I've seen.

I'm sorry mate but if you don't put any blame on Brendan then that's silly! Yes on the pitch he is making the team perform well but when it comes to individual transfers he hasn't done very well at all. They are both to blame but to say Brendan isn't to blame at all is the most in denial statement I've seen.

Well said. Yes, the owner takes a bigger portion of the blame but BR has to also shoulder some blame because if he was given 10 to 12 mil to spend on a player  he jolly well make sure that he gets the player that fits the system and the game well and not buying the Aspases, Ilorises and many others that hardly play more than a dozen games and got shipped out after that. That is not a clever way of making best use of the clubs resources, it's just sitting there not helping us to achieve the desired results. By loaning the players out, either they are not good enough or needed more game time elsewhere that will only help the Sunderlands or the someone else to avoid the drop.

Looks like we have slowly turn into a charity club.

No way Rodgers can get away with any blame for the thread bare squad.

I'd have Suso and Assadi over Moses whilst Coady would be more depth in midfield than f**k all.

He has played just about every possible defensive pairing yet now we find ourselves short he has loaned out a player that he spent money on in the Summer of whom was a starter for Sporting at the age of 18. Johnson has been playing sh*te whilst injured yet Kelly just isn't trusted enough yet is good enough for the bench. Wisdom has been loaned and young Flanno has had to be converted to a left back over a loan signing that was brought in for cover there even though every man and his dog who knew he was sh*te before hand didn't want him. Which begs the question: Why the f**k would you bother your arse doing the deal and send Robinson out on loan?

We are in a good position but there really shouldn't be discussions about depth at this moment when we have spent on depth and loaned so many out?

Quality in depth yes, depth in general, no.

I don't mean to convey that the Gaffer is totally blame free. Of course he's messed up and he'll mess up in the future.

I'm saying if he's only given around £15m to £20m (and I'm being generous there), then good luck bringing in a couple of world class players that you need to come first in the Prem league.

So again, for me, the 'buck' ultimately stops with FSG because as far as I'm concerned, they provide the manager with the tools to help him do his job properly

Sorry redkop63, but if the manager is given £10 to £12m to bring in game changing players, then your manager is jolly well screwed. The Sturridges and Coutinhos of this world are the exceptions and not the rule and don't fall out of trees.

In any one single transfer window, the Gaffer's single most expensive signings to date are Allen and Sakho at £15m each (and not in the same transfer window either). More often than not, you need to be breaking the £30m price tag to have real game changers these days. You do the maths

For me, the Gaffer has his back up player in Borini, Assaidi, Suso (I hope he comes back), Alberto etc, but now he needs serious money to strengthen the first eleven, and that's now all down to FSG

Mata is about to move to the scum for £37m. Over the odds, in debt, but they will pay it because they know he is worth it (all things being relative).

Oh but he was given money to buy Mkitharyan and Willian. Well was he? It's a nice story, but end of the day, they ain't here and are playing for other teams. There's a thing these owners do and it's all to do with giving the illusion of bidding for these players knowing very well your money is safe as those players are and will go elsewhere. Not saying it is done, but it's easy to do and until FSG get their first £30m+ player, I'll always have my suspicions about them. Never mind $75m dollars for a baseball player bollocks

Not to worry, the gaffer will get another £15m to spend in August and look out if he doesn't unearth another Sturridge!

I don't mean to convey that the Gaffer is totally blame free. Of course he's messed up and he'll mess up in the future.

I'm saying if he's only given around £15m to £20m (and I'm being generous there), then good luck bringing in a couple of world class players that you need to come first in the Prem league.

So again, for me, the 'buck' ultimately stops with FSG because as far as I'm concerned, they provide the manager with the tools to help him do his job properly

Sorry redkop63, but if the manager is given £10 to £12m to bring in game changing players, then your manager is jolly well screwed. The Sturridges and Coutinhos of this world are the exceptions and not the rule and don't fall out of trees.

The Gaffers single most expensive signings to date are Allen and Sakho at £15m each

You do the maths

For me, the Gaffer has his back up player in Borini, Assaidi, Suso, etc, but now he needs serious money to strengthen the first eleven, and that's now all down to FSG

Buddy, you have missed the point. What I'm saying here is whether FSG gives BR 10, 12 or 15 or even 20 mil to get a player is one thing. With the budget provided and getting the right player in and hit the road running immediately that's what BR has failed to do on most of his signings. They either got loaned out, in the reserves (far too long) or shipped out after some time.

Simply said a budget provided to buy a player doesn't necessary mean that we WILL get the desired quality as many of BR's signings have proven so. Does it mean that now the owner gives BR 35 mil to spend on a player, there's a guarantee that BR will deliver? There's no guarantee here.

In summary, what I meant is knowing how miserly our owners are, with the budget provided, BR must be sharp and calculative enough to get the players that we really needed that can really help us to improve and not found to be unsuitable and got loaned out or sold which means that on the whole BR has not been sharp enough to pick the players he acquired.

Sorry, buddy maths is not one of my strongest point, but I'm sure he has more players that got loaned out plus those in the reserves than those performing well on the pitch.

I hate to say this, but in all honesty I think BR has to be very careful from this very moment as many of his 6m, 8m, 10m 12m, 15m signings are not performing to expectations and I'd believe FSG is watching very closely at the moment.

The more I see what is unfolding before me, the more likely that we may not sign even one single player in this window as FSG could be asking what has happened to the players that we have signed a few windows before? Why are they still languishing in the reserves or got loaned out? Are they not good enough or that we have misjudged too many players' capabilities and do I need to give you more money to continue doing so???
 

Buddy, you have missed the point. What I'm saying here is whether FSG gives BR 10, 12 or 15 or even 20 mil to get a player is one thing. With the budget provided and getting the right player in and hit the road running immediately that's what BR has failed to do on most of his signings. They either got loaned out, in the reserves (far too long) or shipped out after some time.

No. You're missing the point. The point is that when you are given 10, 12, or 15 (he's never been given 20) to get a player, that player is not going to be good enough

Why aren't we looking at Mata, Draxler, Gundogan, or players of that ilk? Because you don't get them for £12m. If all you have to spend is £15m to spend...on one two players...where do you think they are going to end up 95% of the time?

Simply said a budget provided to buy a player doesn't necessary mean that we WILL get the desired quality as many of BR's signings have proven so. Does it mean that now the owner gives BR 35 mil to spend on a player, there's a guarantee that BR will deliver? There's no guarantee here.

There's no frigging chance here of him getting £35m here! Has he had the chance to prove what he can do with £35m to £45m price tag players? Not a chance in hell

In summary, what I meant is knowing how miserly our owners are, with the budget provided, BR must be sharp and calculative enough to get the players that we really needed that can really help us to improve and not found to be unsuitable and got loaned out or sold which means that on the whole BR has not been sharp enough to pick the players he acquired.

Sorry but that's insane reasoning. All FSG have taught us is that if you pay peanuts, it does actually look like you get monkeys.

Sorry, buddy maths is not one of my strongest point, but I'm sure he has more players that got loaned out plus those in the reserves than those performing well on the pitch.

£8m players not good enough for a Liverpool FC side to maintain a title challenge. Hardly a shocker when they get farmed out to another club, and one you don't need a degree it maths to see.

I hate to say this, but in all honesty BR has to be very careful from this very moment as many of his 6m, 8m, 10m 12m, 15m signings are not performing to expectations and I'd believe FSG is watching very closely at the moment.

This is ironic. Give the manager next to nothing to by players with, watch those players inevitably fail to deliver, then have the manager watched because of his dodgy suspect transfer dealings.

The more I see what is unfolding before me, the more likely that we may not sign even one single player in this window as FSG could be asking what has happened to the players that we have signed a few windows before? Why are they still langusihing in the reserves or got loaned out? Are they not good enough or that we have misjudged too many players' capabilities and do I need to give you more money to continue doing so???

FSG pay next to nothing to get world class players and then have the audacity start wondering why we are struggling to reach fourth. Priceless.
 
Scum - Mata £37m
Us - £0m

Let's all blame the manager

I'm sure Rodgers would love to spend £20m on one player instead of having to deal with two or three players that amount to £15m to £20m worth. Perhaps that was the plan though; build your depth and now that it has been done, FSG begin to hand over £35m for those single game changing transfer deals. I won't hold my breath

Pity you didn't watch the first 85 minutes he was one of the best players on the pitch.

That's what that puzzles me. He can't be any worse than Cissokho yet we loaned him to someone else and got an inferior loanee player in, in Cissokho. At lease Assaidi went past defenders on a number of occassions while we got all the backpasses from Cissokho. Are our coaches up to mark to be in the club. Speechless. I think Assaidi may not have been signed by BR???

No. You're missing the point. The point is that when you are given 10, 12, or 15 (he's never been given 20) to get a player, that player is not going to be good enough

Why aren't we looking at Mata, Draxler, Gundogan, or players of that ilk? Because you don't get them for £12m. If all you have to spend is £15m to spend...on one two players...where do you think they are going to end up 95% of the time?
There's no frigging chance here of him getting £35m here! Has he had the chance to prove what he can do with £35m to £45m price tag players? Not a chance in hell
Sorry but that's insane reasoning. All FSG have taught us is that if you pay peanuts, it does actually look like you get monkeys.
£8m players not good enough for a Liverpool FC side to maintain a title challenge. Hardly a shocker when they get farmed out to another club, and one you don't need a degree it maths to see.
This is ironic. Give the manager next to nothing to by players with, watch those players inevitably fail to deliver, then have the manager watched because of his dodgy suspect transfer dealings.
FSG pay next to nothing to get world class players and then have the audacity start wondering why we are struggling to reach fourth. Priceless.
 
Scum - Mata £37m
Us - £0m

Let's all blame the manager

Hold it buddy, let's not boil over and quote every single one of my post. You're simply asking for a bottomless pit of resources to get the quality players in and you know too well you'll never get it from FSG. Don't you and won't you agree? So what do we do then, keep moaning and sulking and throw everything out of the pram?

My point is BR must do the best with the resources  that he's given unless we can get a Sheikh in tommorrow, then all problems will most probably go away.

I'm not saying FSG is  blameless, they could or should have given BR a bigger budget but going by the last few transfer windows, the success against the failure rates of players purchased, can we really blame FSG for not backing BR fully with a better budget in the transfer window.   

Well, no point deliberating further as we are deliberating on different platform, you're asking for a sheikh budget while I'm deliberating on a shoestring budget (and how best we can make do with it) and simply asking BR to be sharper in his acquisition of players. 

Cheers mate.

Cant believe Mignolet not playing after some dodgy games he needs to play not have it play on his mind before a derby

Hold it buddy, let's not boil over and quote every single one of my post.

I will if it's all the same to you

You're simply asking for a bottomless pit of resources to get the quality players in and you know too well you'll never get it from FSG.

Asking for a bottomless pit? Absolute rubbish. As my next post down will demonstrate.

Don't you and won't you agree? So what do we do then, keep moaning and sulking and throw everything out of the pram?

Whilst FSG pay peanuts? Yeah I'll kick and scream. But it's actually called giving a toss about the club, but you call it tantrums if it better fits your view of things.

My point is BR must do the best with the resources  that he's given unless we can get a Sheikh in tommorrow, then all problems will most probably go away.

And whilst he's given such poor backing some of us will continue to bury our heads

I'm not saying FSG is  blameless, they could or should have given BR a bigger budget but going by the last few transfer windows, the success against the failure rates of players purchased, can we really blame FSG for not backing BR fully with a better budget in the transfer window.

Yes. Because, like I keep saying, they've only shelled out peanuts to date. Let's keep in mind that Rodgers had not been a complete disaster either in his transfer dealings. Works both ways; he's not been a total success, but he's not been a total failure either. Either FSG trust their man or they get shot of them. Unless of course mediocrity and stability is their aim before selling us. Either way, I wish they'd make some big decisons and none of this wishy washy going nowhere crap.

Well, no point deliberating further as we are deliberating on different platform, you're asking for a sheikh budget while I'm deliberating on a shoestring budget (and how best we can make do with it) and simply asking BR to be sharper in his acquisition of players.

Stop putting words in my mouth. Since when is asking for one £30m plus player wanting a Sheikh? Keep some perspective, I'm not asking for untold millions.

Cheers mate.

Your welcome.

Brendan Rodgers has had no choice but to work with the cards he’s been dealt – and it’s been a pretty weak hand right from his first season. Because he’s had such weak hand, each transfer window he’s had to make do and shuffle those £7m to £10m players around to get the best out of them whilst playing catch up from the first August in charge. But the problem is that there’s only so much shuffling around a manager can do. Let me ask a simple question here, I know there are no guarantees; but do you think Willian or Mikhtaryan (both costing upward of £30m) would have been loaned out to Stoke and Sunderland? If not, why not?

We know paying upward of £30m for a player is no guarantee of success, but if that’s the case, how much more is that true for your £7m to £12m players?

I’ve had a guts full of FSG and I personally think they are going to ultimately cost Rodgers his job. Why do I think that? Because one thing’s for sure, the longer FSG keep dealing weak hands to him, the more ‘catch up’ he’s going to have to deal with.

When you consider that no manager is going to be 100% successful in the transfer market, that just makes the Gaffer’s job that more difficult. He needs real help not token gestures - when all the while across the pond our ‘saviours’ are spending $75m on one baseball player

I’m not asking FSG to fork out £50m every season, but this season, the first in a long time, we are so close to reaching the Champions League, it’s essential that FSG back our manager. If they don’t, we may not be sitting fourth after 22 games for another 5 to 10 years.

Quite simply, you have to speculate to accumulate. You’ll never win a raffle if you never buy a ticket. And the irony is, if we did get into the ECL, FSG would very probably double any £30m expenditure on their part.

EDIT: This is relevant and totally confirms what I believe to be correct

glad to hear on the Anfield Wrap that they very much endorse what some of us have said on here.Ayres is a puppet and if FSG don't understand how the transfer market works they need to walk away from LFC.Brendan is being stuffed and it will be him who will carry the can for any on the field failures

If Brendan isn't aware that he is being asked to produce a CL team with players who are not CL quality then he isn't as bright as many think.
If Salah was the missing link to our team then how come we were not prepared to pay £2million more when it was clear the player wanted to come here.
So maybe the title of the thread is wrong and it should be "who the F**k is responsible for Brendan missing out on his first choice targets".
He talked about Cisshoko in quite damming terms on the Anfield wrap the only good thing he could say about him was he tried hard which proves he was not a choice Brendan made.
That being the case when does he challenge FSG to meet his own expectations of the club and if they do not meet at the same point what happens then.
Just being the Liverpool manager is not the right attitude, being the Liverpool manager and progressing the club to the top is the only reason why you should take the job.

I think it's a bit 50/50 and maybe the original brief has overshadowed any rational thoughts on the unexpected position we find ourselves in for both parties.

If we go back to the start of his (Brendans) tenure, he's reduced the wage bill dramatically, sold on players who didn't 'fit' his philosophy or didn't contribute enough, he's brought in players who do, even though some of them aren't ready yet, he's made use of the Academy players who are ready and loaned out those who aren't.

For me FSG can't have any complaints with how he's managed this part of his job.

At the start of their tenure they told us right from the off what they wanted to 'achieve' and how they would go about achieving it.  They told us it was a long term plan that they expected to take a minimum of 5 years.  We're 3 and a half years into it.

I doubt any of them expected us to be where we are so soon yet both parties seem to be reluctant to deviate from that long term plan and bring in the players we need for the here and now. 

This for me is the issue.  It's all well and good having a plan but sometimes the plan needs a boost or a tweak to really hammer home an advantage. 

If Brendan isn't aware that he is being asked to produce a CL team with players who are not CL quality then he isn't as bright as many think.

I think he's fully aware but as we know there's sweet FA he can do about it other than walk away. Which means FSG win and we lost out

If Salah was the missing link to our team then how come we were not prepared to pay £2million more when it was clear the player wanted to come here.

My guess is because FSG wouldn't stump the cash

So maybe the title of the thread is wrong and it should be "who the F**k is responsible for Brendan missing out on his first choice targets".

Agreed

He talked about Cisshoko in quite damming terms on the Anfield wrap the only good thing he could say about him was he tried hard which proves he was not a choice Brendan made.
That being the case when does he challenge FSG to meet his own expectations of the club and if they do not meet at the same point what happens then.
Just being the Liverpool manager is not the right attitude, being the Liverpool manager and progressing the club to the top is the only reason why you should take the job.

But surely you need full backing from those who have the transfer monies to be fully capable of doing your job

I think his first couple of signings Borini and Allen were a bad start.He clearly wanted some familiar faces on the training ground and it really hasn't got much better since then.Sturridge is an excellent signing and whilst people rave about young Couthino he is still lacking goals to be a really good lad.The debacle over Simon being bought as competition for Pepe did not help either especially now as Simon doesn't have any competition.

I was rocked and shocked a couple of years back when I saw how many players Rafa had signed.

Rafa's  £229m spending spree: The 76 players signed during the Liverpool manager's reign ......

All here.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1221975/Rafa-Benitezs-229m-spending-spree-The-76-players-signed-Liverpool-managers-reign.html

Aside from the H&G saga, that was a big negative for Rafa. Even in the first two and a half years of Rafa's reign without those two clowns there was just far too many bang average players coming in. I find it somewhat ridiculous how those looking to constantly castigate Brendan over his transfers seem to deceive themselves to the realities of the signings at Liverpool the last decade or so. But of course when they isolate it down to the managers, Rafa and Kenny are Liverpool legends and are afforded the luxury of their denial. However for me the problem doesn't lie entirely on the shoulders of the managers. Since Houllier's day the signings have been consistently average which raises the question of what on earth the scouting department is up to. It's a crucial part of modern day football clubs these days and yet this club still seems to undermine and underestimate its influence, shown no more than a fans discussion pinpointing it down to a problem that is supposedly only the manager's.

Aside from the H&G saga, that was a big negative for Rafa. Even in the first two and a half years of Rafa's reign without those two clowns there was just far too many bang average players coming in. I find it somewhat ridiculous how those looking to constantly castigate Brendan over his transfers seem to deceive themselves to the realities of the signings at Liverpool the last decade or so. But of course when they isolate it down to the managers, Rafa and Kenny are Liverpool legends and are afforded the luxury of their denial. However for me the problem doesn't lie entirely on the shoulders of the managers. Since Houllier's day the signings have been consistently average which raises the question of what on earth the scouting department is up to. It's a crucial part of modern day football clubs these days and yet this club still seems to undermine and underestimate its influence, shown no more than a fans discussion pinpointing it down to a problem that is supposedly only the manager's.

people always look at the volume of Rafa's signings but never the net spend.He too was trying to find world class players for avg prem money and its a crap shoot.Rafa always has the satisfaction of taking us to the top of European football though which now seems so so far away. We have been plagued by possibly two of the worst people in football Rick Parry and Ian Ayres both unable to make a decision even with a loaded gun to their heads.We do not know the full story behind Comoli and Kenny's signings and we still don't know how many of Brendan's 1st choices have been secured.
What is becoming more clear to me is that the club is hell bent on sorting out the balance sheet before making any more real investment into the team.