The 'Committee'

I'm actually willing to give him a pass on that mate. Yes it is very easy to find out who is on it, but so many of our fans describe it as mysterious and complain about not knowing who is on it, that the notion it is secretive becomes ubiquitous. Once that happens, its not surprising that other fans just assume you can't find out. I mean I've never googled a list of all active Russian spies, because I just assume that the information isn't available.

Err, page1 of this very thread by JD .

Err, page1 of this very thread by JD .

Hah, fair play mate. 

Used to be called the bootroom, now we have a fancy name in "committee".

I'm actually willing to give him a pass on that mate. Yes it is very easy to find out who is on it, but so many of our fans describe it as mysterious and complain about not knowing who is on it, that the notion it is secretive becomes ubiquitous. Once that happens, its not surprising that other fans just assume you can't find out. I mean I've never googled a list of all active Russian spies, because I just assume that the information isn't available.

Fair does bud - maybe it was a bit harsh.

EDIT: just seen Scally's post 

A bizarre season - the new, much maligned players all made their significant contribution in the game.

A stark contrast compared to a couple of months ago.

It really does show that we, most of us, were too quick to judge. Teams and individuals take time to gel, we lost our best striker EVER and another got injured.... Serious hit to the team. We dropped in confidence and the rest is history.

Lessons learned. sh*te takes time.

Look mate, I'm not having a go but you seem to know very little about football. In one form or another EVERY major club has a simlar structure in one form or another. Arsenal is the only one of our rivals I  can think of which is the exception.

Yep and I'm still amazed it needs saying.

I've no problem with anyone having doubts about the members of the 'committee' and what they do in regards to transfers but almost every club in Europe has the same, or similar, structure for signing players.

You say "replace" Luis but who with? Falcao maybe?

With two potential talents. Like we did with Torres.
Bottled out of it this time to improve the squad overall.
It may be showing signs of promise now but it destroyed the start of the season.

The difference is our committee has spent a hell of a lot of money, with relatively little success stories to show for it this far!

At the end of the day a transfer policy should (in my opinion, obviously) be judged less on the success of the individual, more on the success of the team.

You hit the nail on the head mate -

Under various guises we have indeed spent shitloads [£300m]: something, which, in turn, lends a lie to the daft 'we haven't got City/Chelsea money' myth. But we haven't got the success that spending should demand. Why?

Policy.

Used to be called the bootroom, now we have a fancy name in "committee".

Massive difference though.

The Bootroom used to be made up of 'football' men. The commitee are made up of suits who use a computer as their eye-in, for a good player. Pfftt.

Give me a footballing Luddite any day of the week, over a few numbers, a suit and a Hewlett Packard.

Massive difference though.

The Bootroom used to be made up of 'football' men. The commitee are made up of suits who use a computer as their eye-in, for a good player. Pfftt.

Give me a footballing Luddite any day of the week, over a few numbers, a suit and a Hewlett Packard.

Agree mate.

I think Brendan very much has an eye for a footballer and I'd actually trust his judgement on almost any player.

Rodgers strikes me very much as a man who would use stats along with scouting.  Wonder if he sets a baseline like Shanks, away, against tough opponents with a dodgy pitch if possible.

Agree mate.

I think Brendan very much has an eye for a footballer and I'd actually trust his judgement on almost any player.

Joe Allen
Fabio Borini

Clearly the two Rodgers most wanted out of anyone when he first arrived, doesn't reflect too well on him in my opinion.

Lovren
Lambert
Lallana

Apparently these were the 3 he pushed for most this window, of course you can argue that there's no concrete evidence to suggest these were his top choice players and nobody in their right mind would suggest that Lambert was his number 1 choice to replace Luis but there's still an element of his judgement we can assess if we choose to believe these were indeed his choices. For what it's worth I'm convinced Lallana and Lovren were his choices by the number of chances Lovren was given and the long drawn out pursuit of Lallana. Lambert at £4m anyone can be forgiven in my opinion, was a gamble for a change of style, understandable. Lallana is hardly a complete failure and Lovren may prove his worth in time but so far, for the money we've paid, they haven't had the impact you would expect.

The key successes we've had:

Coutinho
Sturridge

Those that think he does judge a player well will say until they're blue in the face that these are enough to counter balance the failures, those that think he doesn't will point to the many suggestions that Coutinho was a recommendation and Sturridge was a committee signing that Rodgers allegedly had doubts about.

Any more evidence we can look to:

Willing to let go of Henderson - now future captain of the club.

Letting go of Reina - I would say that was more forced by the penny pinchers though but still either letting him go, or not bringing in adequate competition was an enormous mistake (for clarity this isn't a Reina point, it's the fact we needed 2 decent keepers)

Lucas?! By all accounts was very close to leaving this window, only his sustained run in the side lately, I would suggest, has changed his mind or we've put a block on it. It was widely reported that we were willing to listen to offers (which some people mocked as if we weren't getting any)

There's enough there to make me retain doubts about Brendan's actual ability to spot a player and I am convinced the committee, as it stands, needs ripping up and starting again. Our future, under this system, looks more that of a feeder club than a club out to get a measure of success on the playing field, the success on the books is what drives this approach and I don't personally see that changing until we see a change in ownership.

Joe Allen
Fabio Borini

Clearly the two Rodgers most wanted out of anyone when he first arrived, doesn't reflect too well on him in my opinion.

Lovren
Lambert
Lallana

Apparently these were the 3 he pushed for most this window, of course you can argue that there's no concrete evidence to suggest these were his top choice players and nobody in their right mind would suggest that Lambert was his number 1 choice to replace Luis but there's still an element of his judgement we can assess if we choose to believe these were indeed his choices. For what it's worth I'm convinced Lallana and Lovren were his choices by the number of chances Lovren was given and the long drawn out pursuit of Lallana. Lambert at £4m anyone can be forgiven in my opinion, was a gamble for a change of style, understandable. Lallana is hardly a complete failure and Lovren may prove his worth in time but so far, for the money we've paid, they haven't had the impact you would expect.

The key successes we've had:

Coutinho
Sturridge

Those that think he does judge a player well will say until they're blue in the face that these are enough to counter balance the failures, those that think he doesn't will point to the many suggestions that Coutinho was a recommendation and Sturridge was a committee signing that Rodgers allegedly had doubts about.

Any more evidence we can look to:

Willing to let go of Henderson - now future captain of the club.

Letting go of Reina - I would say that was more forced by the penny pinchers though but still either letting him go, or not bringing in adequate competition was an enormous mistake (for clarity this isn't a Reina point, it's the fact we needed 2 decent keepers)

Lucas?! By all accounts was very close to leaving this window, only his sustained run in the side lately, I would suggest, has changed his mind or we've put a block on it. It was widely reported that we were willing to listen to offers (which some people mocked as if we weren't getting any)

There's enough there to make me retain doubts about Brendan's actual ability to spot a player and I am convinced the committee, as it stands, needs ripping up and starting again. Our future, under this system, looks more that of a feeder club than a club out to get a measure of success on the playing field, the success on the books is what drives this approach and I don't personally see that changing until we see a change in ownership.

I also have concerns about BR's ability to pick a player, but the same could be said about all managers.
People bang on about ferguson like he was some kind of genius in the transfer market, but there are 2 things to consider. 1) he got incredibly lucky with a crop of good youngsters all coming through at once, 2) he made frequent and very expensive mistakes, that journos and others like to pretend never happened.

I'd also dispute the "success on the books" critique.
The finances needed sorting out, simple as that.

Q. Looking back to last month’s transfer window, was it a strategic decision not to spend on incomings and what would you say to any fans fearing it might illustrate a loss of faith or a reduced commitment now?

”I’m glad you asked that question because I have a very positive view about the transfer group at Liverpool.

“I feel that the work of our transfer group has really been excellent. You know Brendan has played a key role in it but its also important to acknowledge the work of Michael Edwards (Head of Analytics) and Dave Fallows (Head of Recruitment) and Barry Hunter (Chief Scout) and Ian Ayre as well as the work that John Henry and Mike Gordon (FSG) and I have done.

“Obviously I am partial to the decisions that have been made but if you look at the players who were playing on the pitch on Tuesday against Tottenham, there was a lot of very positive play by a number of important contributors.

“When you go through it I am proud of it.

“The 2013 window saw Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho join, Simon Mignolet and Mamadou Sakho. But our transfer targets last summer included people who really played well on Tuesday, including Lovren and Lallana – who made the key pass to Balotelli – Emre Can, Markovic.

“The thing that I am encouraged about is that these are players are in their 20s and I think their talents will only improve as they grow as a group.

“Listen, I may be looking at this in a rose coloured glasses way, but I actually don’t think so. We have had a lot of feedback from scouts and from other teams in the Premier League and around the world, who feel we’ve got some real world class talent.

“So I do feel that the work that the transfer committee has done has been more favourable that certainly some people have written about.
 
http://www.empireofthekop.com/anfield/2015/02/14/tom-werner-talks-sterling-contract-champions-league-praises-liverpool-transfer-committee/#sthash.AwMErQSg.dpuf

I'm guessing the Committee is staying!

To be fair I would have strongly advocated ud going after Falcao and Di Maria to make a 'statement' post Suarez - look how that would have ended

To be fair I would have strongly advocated ud going after Falcao and Di Maria to make a 'statement' post Suarez - look how that would have ended

I would have been sickened if we wasted our Summer budget on those two, not because I thought they were bad players, but both were way overpriced. Only the Mancs would be desperate enough to pay that money.

For that money we could have signed Cavani and Reus who are much better players.

I would have been sickened if we wasted our Summer budget on those two, not because I thought they were bad players, but both were way overpriced. Only the Mancs would be desperate enough to pay that money.

For that money we could have signed Cavani and Reus who are much better players.

I don't think in the summer you'd have said Cavani was much better than Falcao or Reus Di Maria.....I wouldn't have anyway, Falcao was devastating prior to his injury and Di Maria was instrumental in Madrid winning the CL

look how that would have ended

Aye... if Liverpool FC was Man Utd and Brendan was The Elephant Man Van Gaal.

Unless, of course, you reckon that Man Utd/Van Gaal are very similar to us in all things - I'm not sure comparing how players fare with other teams, under different regimes and styles is valid argument mate but I get your drift.

Aye... if Liverpool FC was Man Utd and Brendan was The Elephant Man Van Gaal.

Unless, of course, you reckon that Man Utd/Van Gaal are very similar to us in all things - I'm not sure comparing how players fare with other teams, under different regimes and styles is valid argument mate but I get your drift.

It's the only ground of comparison we have. On that logic all those mourning us missing out on Sanchez should shhhhh because he may have bombed here

It's the only ground of comparison we have. On that logic all those mourning us missing out on Sanchez should shhhhh because he may have bombed here

But it's not a comparison if it's totally different Alf; that's the point.
 
On Sanchez: I think Arsenal style of play is closer to ours than Man Utd's mate; and Sanchez's style of play close to Suarez's (that's why Brendan wanted him maybe?). Certainly close enough to make an educated guess that he would have fitted in here. If you don't see that; fair enough Alf.

But as you said yourself, Di Maria was instrumental in Real's CL win so... chances are, he's still a good player - just he's in a team which has no specific style.

Would he have performed better here than at Utd? You don't think so, which is fair enough mate. Me? Not that I wanted him tbh but I reckon he would have.

Still we got Lazar in the same window so it's all good. 

I don't think in the summer you'd have said Cavani was much better than Falcao or Reus Di Maria.....I wouldn't have anyway, Falcao was devastating prior to his injury and Di Maria was instrumental in Madrid winning the CL

I did though mate I stated many times last Summer on the transfer thread how highly I rated Cavani and Reus and we should use the Suarez money to sign these two as I'm a huge fan of both players having watched them frequently.

I never wanted us to sign Di Maria as I always thought he was overrated and I only saw Falcao on YouTube videos plus he was recovering from a serious knee injury so I didn't want him either.

For me it was always obvious that Cavani and Reus are better players.

But it's not a comparison if it's totally different Alf; that's the point.
 
On Sanchez: I think Arsenal style of play is closer to ours than Man Utd's mate; and Sanchez's style of play close to Suarez's (that's why Brendan wanted him maybe?). Certainly close enough to make an educated guess that he would have fitted in here. If you don't see that; fair enough Alf.

But as you said yourself, Di Maria was instrumental in Real's CL win so... chances are, he's still a good player - just he's in a team which has no specific style.

Would he have performed better here than at Utd? You don't think so, which is fair enough mate. Me? Not that I wanted him tbh but I reckon he would have.

Still we got Lazar in the same window so it's all good. 

Fair play. Just making the point there are so sure things in the market (although Sanchez would have been close.)

I would have been sickened if we wasted our Summer budget on those two, not because I thought they were bad players, but both were way overpriced. Only the Mancs would be desperate enough to pay that money.

For that money we could have signed Cavani and Reus who are much better players.

Sorry, but to say that like it is a fact is blatantly absurd. I'm pretty sure both would have cost more than 70mil* if they could even be bought at all.
Whilst I wouldn't have been against a big name signing, I do believe our approach is superior to the Mancs attempting to get every big name in sight. It isn't just LVG's ineptitude which has resulted in these players flopping. Flops happen no matter whether you shop in Asda or Waitrose.

As for the better part. History has vindicated you, but many would have disagreed last summer. Hell, I remember a lot of chat about Cavani being overrated. Which brings us back on to hindsight being 20:20, but useless in the transfer market. We like to complain, but we've actually got a decent hit rate. Above the average 40% anyway.

*Plus the difference between their combined 550k pw and whatever we paid them.