NESV/Fenway Sports Group: Owners of LFC

You know what....

Usually when people are proved wrong in general there is a silence, however in this case there is a lot of 'credit where it's due' posts coming out of the woodwork which I think is excellent. I've always said FSG have Liverpool in their best interests and this deal only strengthens my argument and I hope it goes on and shows everyone else that this is the case.

The fact that the majority of people on here who voted in the VvD player thread thought the move was "PR Spin" (which by the way I think is one of the most idiotic things in this history of this forum)  and now the open acknowledgement of success....shows that there is a relationship to be repaired however I think things are going the right way

Well F***ing done FSG, well F***ing done.

Next on the list please!

This is exactly the statement I've been waiting for from FSG, finally they showed that they are prepared to do do what's necessary for on field success, and that's paying what needs to be paid instead of low balling. Credit whet it due! 👍

Well f**king done FSG, well f**king done.

Next on the list please!

The next signing probably won't involve a transfer fee

Lots of credit where it's due posts well I'm not one of them.

I don't care about the fee these tight fucks have spent jack sh*t less than Watford I think on a net spend basis since they've been here and they will sell coutinho as well so F**k them and just go get who klopp wants.

When they sign another 3 players for that amount and keep our other top players then I will pat them on the back.

LFC interests at heart never its financial and that is it.

I just hope this is actually from our kitty that must of built up by now and not from a future Coutinho fund they know they’ll be getting, either way, thank feck we got a CB and let’s hope we got ourselves a top one this time!!!

Our squad as stands is looking pretty amazing compared to what we’ve had recent years! Next season could line up like this as stands!

            Karius
Clyne Matip Dijk Robbo
             Keita
      Lallana  Couts
 Salah   Firmino   Mane

Subs: Migs, Lovren, Gomez, Gini, Hendo, Ox, Solanke

Obviously, the hope being we manage to keep hold of Couts and Clyne returns well.... I’d say a top goalkeeper and a fully defensive midfielder, a proper in your face, tough one, and we’re looking set! Possibly a striker too...

            Karius
Clyne Matip Dijk Robbo
             Keita
      Lallana  Couts
 Salah   Firmino   Mane

Subs: Migs, Lovren, Gomez, Gini, Hendo, Ox, Solanke

That is enough to win CL and PL. All we'd need is the same luck Chelsea had last season and City has this season with some late happy wins.

Lots of credit where it's due posts well I'm not one of them.

I don't care about the fee these tight fucks have spent jack sh*t less than Watford I think on a net spend basis since they've been here and they will sell coutinho as well so f**k them and just go get who klopp wants.

When they sign another 3 players for that amount and keep our other top players then I will pat them on the back.

LFC interests at heart never its financial and that is it.

I was waiting for this.

The fact that we just broke a world record for defensive player transfer fees and someone still has the nerve to say it's "All financial interest" is mind boggling.

Even if after all this net spend talk, if they REALLY were ALL IN IT FOR THE MONEY then they wouldn't sanction this deal. They simply wouldn't. They'd fandangle their way around getting a cheaper option and sell it as what they could get, but instead they've got the guy that Klopp wanted. Just as they did with Salah in the summer, and made sure to get a deal in place for Keita since Leipzig were refusing to budge this year (even after offering the big bloody amounts that get you off). The fact is there's a hell of a lot of people out there saying that we're being silly spending so much on VvD. So damned if you do, damned if you don't for FSG 

"When they spend that much on three more players and keep our players then I'll believe them" - even f**king Barcelona couldn't manage this last summer, you're living in a f**king fantasy land if you think that FSG can just splash the cash and make that happen. They've never sold themselves as that style of owner and never will be. F***ing hell.

I was waiting for this.

The fact that we just broke a world record for defensive player transfer fees and someone still has the nerve to say it's "All financial interest" is mind boggling.

Even if after all this net spend talk, if they REALLY were ALL IN IT FOR THE MONEY then they wouldn't sanction this deal. They simply wouldn't. They'd fandangle their way around getting a cheaper option and sell it as what they could get, but instead they've got the guy that Klopp wanted. Just as they did with Salah in the summer, and made sure to get a deal in place for Keita since Leipzig were refusing to budge this year (even after offering the big bloody amounts that get you off). The fact is there's a hell of a lot of people out there saying that we're being silly spending so much on VvD. So damned if you do, damned if you don't for FSG 

"When they spend that much on three more players and keep our players then I'll believe them" - even f**king Barcelona couldn't manage this last summer, you're living in a f**king fantasy land if you think that FSG can just splash the cash and make that happen. They've never sold themselves as that style of owner and never will be. F***ing hell.

Coutinho will go for near double that sum sooner or later.

If we're to win anything of note the owners have to back Klopp and stay ruthless.

Clear to me we sensed a threat from City and acted quickly this time around.

It's good football business to get Klopps guy for him and the Keita deal is good too. But yeah more needed.

Keeper for a start.

Coutinho will go for near double that sum sooner or later.

If we're to win anything of note the owners have to back Klopp and stay ruthless.

Clear to me we sensed a threat from City and acted quickly this time around.

Absolutely he will. But he hasn't yet, and if the lad ripped his knee apart in one of those horrible will he ever play again injuries in April, then that changes everything.

They spent the money now. And I believe they will continue to do so. Not outrageous PSG/City style spending, but I've never expected that. This will do. Klopp is getting the guys he wants. That's all that matters to me.

EDIT: Saw your edit. Agreed. I'd give my left nut for a keeper that knows what those things on the end of his arms are for.

Patience is key. He knows what we need and he has so far fixed most of the problems we have.

Another post in this forum which I very much agree with the sentiment behind it, but do have my reservations regarding the point being made.

Patience may be key indeed. But I've heard that story far too many times to be entirely convinced.

We may have addressed a pressing need, but we'll probably soon be losing one of our best players. Why? Because he's been at the club for years and challenged for very little. He understandably wants more.

Sadio, Mo and Bobby may be loving life in Liverpool at the minute, but as they get older and the most they've seen of a trophy in Liverpool is during stadium tours, they will be asking to leave as well. The ones committed to the cause will be the average mediocre ones that couldn't find something better, or a Gerrard type that comes once in a generation.

And then we keep fighting a lost war, trying to rebuild every few years. Arsenal have been on that loop for a few years now. And yeah, they also spend big on occasion (Ozil, Sanchez, etc), but not enough to keep a core team to challenge for honours.

The lack of managerial stability at the club hasn't helped - changing from Kenny, to Rodgers, to Klopp, amid losing so much quality, has led to a disjointed recruiting effort and we've been pretty much "rebuilding", "looking into the future", "onwards and upwards" for this whole period.

I have more faith now than I probably did before. Klopp seems invested in the long term project and he's a name big enough to have a level of job security greater than his predecessors. We as a club also seem more intent on spending and retaining talent.

I hope this will pay off, eventually. I am just really wary of this type of talk, as it is nothing but a repetition of old arguments used to previous managers - we're constantly told by the optimists that we're on our way back to glory, only to look at the league table and see a vastly different reality.

I used to be one of those optimists, but LFC have turned me into a cynic. I blame the club

I was waiting for this.

The fact that we just broke a world record for defensive player transfer fees and someone still has the nerve to say it's "All financial interest" is mind boggling.

Even if after all this net spend talk, if they REALLY were ALL IN IT FOR THE MONEY then they wouldn't sanction this deal. They simply wouldn't. They'd fandangle their way around getting a cheaper option and sell it as what they could get, but instead they've got the guy that Klopp wanted. Just as they did with Salah in the summer, and made sure to get a deal in place for Keita since Leipzig were refusing to budge this year (even after offering the big bloody amounts that get you off). The fact is there's a hell of a lot of people out there saying that we're being silly spending so much on VvD. So damned if you do, damned if you don't for FSG 

"When they spend that much on three more players and keep our players then I'll believe them" - even f**king Barcelona couldn't manage this last summer, you're living in a f**king fantasy land if you think that FSG can just splash the cash and make that happen. They've never sold themselves as that style of owner and never will be. F***ing hell.

And I was waiting for the "hey they are the saviours of the universe" comment as well.....

I'm not talking in 1 year mate im talking over the course of their ownership.

This is one deal and I 100% believe its financial, the CL is worth a lot to them in sponsorships and involvement.

I do agree they sensed a threat but not from City, from the other clubs around us pushing for that spot.

And as I've said many times I want them to prove me wrong but they need to do a lot more until I am convinced.

Lots of credit where it's due posts well I'm not one of them.

I don't care about the fee these tight fucks have spent jack sh*t less than Watford I think on a net spend basis since they've been here and they will sell coutinho as well so F**k them and just go get who klopp wants.

When they sign another 3 players for that amount and keep our other top players then I will pat them on the back.

LFC interests at heart never its financial and that is it.

I have been one of the most critical posters regarding FSG, and I still don't fully trust them, but this is a huge step in the right direction.
Coutinho is definitely going, but isn't it better to spend the money on players like Keita and Van Dijk, than Lambert and mario like they did with the Suarez money?

I also believe Can is leaving, so more money will need to be spent on the midfield to plug the Gaps left by these two leaving as is midfield is already weak. This is where well know four sure if FSG have changed, but spending £70 million on a defender is a good sign.

Lots of credit where it's due posts well I'm not one of them.

I don't care about the fee these tight fucks have spent jack sh*t less than Watford I think on a net spend basis since they've been here and they will sell coutinho as well so F**k them and just go get who klopp wants.

When they sign another 3 players for that amount and keep our other top players then I will pat them on the back.

LFC interests at heart never its financial and that is it.

We've just broken a world record for a defender and bought the second most expensive centre midfielder in the history of the game. We've broken the record for most expensive player from Africa 3 times in the last 3 years and have spent more than Real Madrid have in the last 5 seasons.

We're now 6th in terms of net spend in the last decade, ahead of Bayern Munich, Juve, Arsenal, Chelsea and everyone else not called PSG, United, City, Barca or Real Madrid.

Give me a break, your argument here is completely and utterly invalid. Selling our top players? Name 3 they should have kept and would get into our team now, I count Suarez and at a push Sterling, although he wouldn't be starting every game for us. We've made a fortune of selling dud players but admittedly we've bought loads in too. Last 2 years though there has been clear improvement. We've not bought any tat and haven't let go of anyone any good.

To not give credit it simply wet behind the ears. If you're not fully sold yet, fair enough, but I think giving 0 credit is just not on.

Owners trying to act like proper owners. Let’s see how that works out for us.

Personally I don't blame FSG only, but LFC as a club have utterly failed to keep their top players not called Steven Gerrard.

How many world class talents have we had at the club in the past 10 years?

Xabi Alonso. Javier Mascherano. Fernando Torres. Luis Suarez. All gone to win the biggest trophies of their careers elsewhere.
Sterling wasn't a world class player for us but arguably had the potential to be. Gone as well.
Philippe Coutinho is the next one likely to achieve that level and could be gone soon too.

Obviously, if we eventually lose Coutinho, it doesn't have to be the end of the world. Even the best teams lose players at times (though those trying to equate this situation to Barcelona losing Neymar are clutching at straws, he only left because he had a release clause), the way we react to it is going to be crucial though - we must continue to build a strong enough team so that our next player nearing his peak will actually want to stay at the club. There's no denying however that the narrative so far has been one of nurturing promising players to achieve their best, and then selling. That was going on before FSG but they are yet to stop the cycle.

We have spent a lot on transfers also since before FSG (Houllier and Benitez total spending was relatively high) but for a long time not as much in wages, which is actually more correlated to success. I can't see us paying anyone something close to what Suarez earns at Barcelona, for example, but instead we think it's a good idea to pay 30m+ for Benteke, 20m for Markovic and other very questionable transfers of that sort (if the internet is to be believed, Suarez earns nearly double our highest earner). The likes of Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the past 6 years have paid their players more, retained more talent, and as a result needed less spending in transfers compared to us, who had to overcompensate for a weaker starting point and a preference to spend on transfers rather than wages.

I understood the need for rebuilding at multiple times during FSG's reign. In my opinion they made mistakes changing managers far too often. I can see the process currently undergoing and hope the optimists are right, that it will continue to go on the right direction. I sure hope this is the case. I'm unable to be as optimistic as some here - been let down too many times - but I hope they're absolutely right.

And I was waiting for the "hey they are the saviours of the universe" comment as well.....

I'm not talking in 1 year mate im talking over the course of their ownership.

This is one deal and I 100% believe its financial, the CL is worth a lot to them in sponsorships and involvement.

I do agree they sensed a threat but not from City, from the other clubs around us pushing for that spot.

And as I've said many times I want them to prove me wrong but they need to do a lot more until I am convinced.

What exactly would they have to do to convince you, assuming they give 2 fucks about your opinion as opposed to Klopp's of course?

Personally I don't blame FSG only, but LFC as a club have utterly failed to keep their top players not called Steven Gerrard.

How many world class talents have we had at the club in the past 10 years?

Xabi Alonso. Javier Mascherano. Fernando Torres. Luis Suarez. All gone to win the biggest trophies of their careers elsewhere.
Sterling wasn't a world class player for us but arguably had the potential to be. Gone as well.
Philippe Coutinho is the next one likely to achieve that level and could be gone soon too.

Obviously, if we eventually lose Coutinho, it doesn't have to be the end of the world. Even the best teams lose players at times (though those trying to equate this situation to Barcelona losing Neymar are clutching at straws, he only left because he had a release clause), the way we react to it is going to be crucial though - we must continue to build a strong enough team so that our next player nearing his peak will actually want to stay at the club. There's no denying however that the narrative so far has been one of nurturing promising players to achieve their best, and then selling. That was going on before FSG but they are yet to stop the cycle.

We have spent a lot on transfers also since before FSG (Houllier and Benitez total spending was relatively high) but for a long time not as much in wages, which is actually more correlated to success. I can't see us paying anyone something close to what Suarez earns at Barcelona, for example, but instead we think it's a good idea to pay 30m+ for Benteke, 20m for Markovic and other very questionable transfers of that sort (if the internet is to be believed, Suarez earns nearly double our highest earner). The likes of Bayern Munich and Chelsea in the past 6 years have paid their players more, retained more talent, and as a result needed less spending in transfers to us, who had to overcompensate for a weaker starting point and a preference to spend on transfers rather than wages.

I understood the need for rebuilding at multiple times during FSG's reign. In my opinion they made mistakes changing managers far too often. I can see the process currently undergoing and hope the optimists are right, that it will continue to go on the right direction. I sure hope this is the case. I'm unable to be as optimistic as some here - been let down too many times - but I hope they're absolutely right.

Let down to many times, boo hoo, poor you, Meanwhile the rest of us are enjoying a kick ass attacking team, filled with really exciting players, plus now we have the world's most expensive CB added to the ranks to sure up the defence. I expect you are perhaps more miserable that your argument about FSG being cheap has vanished than anything else but I recommend you focus on the positives rather than the negatives.

Let down to many times, boo hoo, poor you, Meanwhile the rest of us are enjoying a kick ass attacking team, filled with really exciting players, plus now we have the world's most expensive CB added to the ranks to sure up the defence. I expect you are perhaps more miserable that your argument about FSG being cheap has vanished than anything else but I recommend you focus on the positives rather than the negatives.

Bla bla bla. For someone who speaks of the wisdom of age, you act like a child. Kinda disproving your point.

Not holding my breath with everyone praising the owners I see all over social media.

We will sell Coutinho to make up for the Van Dijk deal and id rather keep Phil.

Not holding my breath with everyone praising the owners I see all over social media.

We will sell Coutinho to make up for the Van Dijk deal and id rather keep Phil.

I’m with you. One comes in, the other one goes.

Not holding my breath with everyone praising the owners I see all over social media.

We will sell Coutinho to make up for the Van Dijk deal and id rather keep Phil.

Phil wants to go, like Suarez, and Sterling before him. Can't see how that can be laid only at FSG's door.
We've signed Mo, Keita and now VVD for pretty big money.
We need to build a team that big players want to come to/stay at, and don't think can dispute that the quality of signing has improved, along with the size of the outlays.

To have any chance of bringing in serious top line talent we have to be in the Champions League and that is not guaranteed. Would be if a genuine Champions League was established.

32 teams make up 8 groups of 4, then on to the knockout stage. How long will it be before that becomes a 18 team league with 34 matches a season, guaranteeing us playing Barca,Real, PSG twice every season. Plus a European Super Cup on a straight knockout basis. The money this type of set up generates is the only way we can compete with the current elite.

As it is now if we don't get into the C/L we will lose all our top talent. It is not anywhere near a level playing field. Only a genuine European Champions League will give us any chance of competing with the elite.

Money rules and has done for years. And in a sense it would give other premiership teams a better chance to get into the top Euro League. Leicester was a freak and in a different set up they would have a good chance to join the elite. Everton to, Newcastle even, if they ever get their act together.

Just sick of us having to accept losing top players, because they want to play in the C/L every season.