FSG's Most Important Summer?

It DOES appear to be about players for me anyway.

Be careful what you wish for. Then it means it's okay to downgrade ourselves to a cheaper manager.

they need to show the world that they are backing the manager and club by sticking with him and give him 70mil and say what else you need you have to make up in player sales, they need to let him chose who he wants and not who has a sell on value and they also need to employ either a director of football or someone who's played the game in charge of transferes as BR got it wrong this summer

they need to show the world that they are backing the manager and club by sticking with him and give him 70mil and say what else you need you have to make up in player sales, they need to let him chose who he wants and not who has a sell on value and they also need to employ either a director of football or someone who's played the game in charge of transferes as BR got it wrong this summer

He hand picked Lovren, Lallana and Lambert and you want to give him carte Blanche again, well in that case I hope you like Ings, Delph and Milner.

Be careful what you wish for. Then it means it's okay to downgrade ourselves to a cheaper manager.

I have no idea what this means? I have no desire to change managers so maybe you are confused as to what my point was?

He hand picked Lovren, Lallana and Lambert and you want to give him carte Blanche again, well in that case I hope you like Ings, Delph and Milner.

Just stop. Lallana is a very good player that's battled injuries. Lambert was only brought in as backup and Lovren hasn't worked out (yet).

You act like those are the only players that were brought in because you know that for the most part, Brendan doesn't get who he really wants, only who the TC says he can choose from.

Just stop. Lallana is a very good player that's battled injuries. Lambert was only brought in as backup and Lovren hasn't worked out (yet).

You act like those are the only players that were brought in because you know that for the most part, Brendan doesn't get who he really wants, only who the TC says he can choose from.

I know you rate Lallana mate that's cool.
No manager can hand pick who ever he wants its always a choice of players from a list which are possibilities of the club getting.
He picked the wrong choices in my opinion.

Which meant there was £50M less in the kitty to spend on a top forward once Sanchez, Remy fell through.

I know you rate Lallana mate that's cool.
No manager can hand pick who ever he wants its always a choice of players from a list which are possibilities of the club getting.
He picked the wrong choices in my opinion.

Which meant there was £50M less in the kitty to spend on a top forward once Sanchez, Remy fell through.

But what if he was told that he had to spread the money on three or four players on lower wages to spread the risk of 'wasting' that money?

But what if he was told that he had to spread the money on three or four players on lower wages to spread the risk of 'wasting' that money?

Like at any club he would have identified to the club which positions needed reinforcing and the TC draw up a list.

I doubt he was told you need cover here there and everywhere.

He tried to bring in too many players some of which were not needed and I will say it for the last time because i have said it enough times the Southampton Boys were not needed.

That I agree with but that's not what you said. I responded to the suggestion that a lack of mobile forwards that can score goals would have made no difference to our season and it was solely down to the manager with a clear inference that a new manager could turn Lead in to Gold and create a title winning team without an experienced core. This is the entire point, people are suggesting another manager could do this when clearly it's nonsence, knee jerk reactions. As I said, he's not blameless but at the same time he's not a moron and must be doing this for a reason which I would suggest is probably a message to the owners about investing in proper talent rather than giving him cast offs to work with. If so, he's playing a dangerous game because we know how that ended for Rafa. So agree to disagree with me if you wish but don't treat me like an idiot by suggesting another manager could come in and perform miracles without a recognised Striker.

Last summers recruitment was based on us playing 433 or 4231 which are Brendan's preferred formations.  He's started every season set up that way, changed it by Xmas because we're awful, been successful from new year except this season where he's reverted back to it and we're awful again.

We have the players to still play a 442 diamond which saw us in a title challenge last season but so far this season he's not used it. Why is that? 

He's had his best performances when we've blitzed teams from the off, been on the front foot, attack minded fast, fluid, free flowing football yet it's NOT how Brendan wants us to play or how he's ever wanted any team he's managed to play.  He wants slow build up, possession at all costs, death by football remember that from when he arrived? 

We recruited badly for how WE want us play, not how he wants us to play.

Like at any club he would have identified to the club which positions needed reinforcing and the TC draw up a list.

I doubt he was told you need cover here there and everywhere.

He tried to bring in too many players some of which were not needed and I will say it for the last time because i have said it enough times the Southampton Boys were not needed.

Should've been Schneiderlin & Clyne, not Lallana, Lovren & Lambert, both players would've been on around the same wages and cost the same, which again, shows to me that the policy isn't a huge problem in my opinion.

Like at any club he would have identified to the club which positions needed reinforcing and the TC draw up a list.

I doubt he was told you need cover here there and everywhere.

He tried to bring in too many players some of which were not needed and I will say it for the last time because i have said it enough times the Southampton Boys were not needed.

There is no possible way of you knowing this.

All the evidence over previous windows suggests Brendan might have been told he has to spread the money out and certain players were off limits.

Of course Brendan could have said he needs player x, y and z and still wanted more but I think its more likely many players were off limits to him as we wouldn't pay the wages required.

Should've been Schneiderlin & Clyne, not Lallana, Lovren & Lambert, both players would've been on around the same wages and cost the same, which again, shows to me that the policy isn't a huge problem in my opinion.

What if Brendan didn't feel he needed a RB and midfielder?

What if Brendan didn't feel he needed a RB and midfielder?

He didn't, did he? As shown when he purchased Lovren and Lallana for big fees. Judging by that, CB and attacking mid were our priorities.

I don't recall ONE person being underwhelmed when we signed those players at the start of the season. Even Mario carried a lot of excitement.

Fair point.  I'd advise many people on here not to read the opening few pages of the Balotelli player thread. Painful reading.

Fair point.  I'd advise many people on here not to read the opening few pages of the Balotelli player thread. Painful reading.

Off to the Mario thread I go to remind myself how delighted I was!

Fair point.  I'd advise many people on here not to read the opening few pages of the Balotelli player thread. Painful reading.

Everyone scattering to read back now..

If I remember rightly, I never posted anything.. It didn't feel right at that point.. I wasn't excited then, didn't think it would really work out

All I remember is Si being nearly as excited by it as Federer is every time he thinks about Mo Diame

All I remember is Si being nearly as excited by it as Federer is every time he thinks about Mo Diame

Like a kid at Christmas mate.

Mario Balotelli Player Thread.

How good does that look?

Delighted with this one.

First post in there.

An article in today's Echo pretty much repeating what I was saying in the Brendan Rodgers thread last night:

Liverpool FC talking point: Reds need 'bona fide' quality to regain goalscoring identity but how much will they have to spend in the summer?

Liverpool's abject defeat to lowly Hull City only served to reinforce what's required at Anfield this summer.

This is a squad crying out for bona fide quality in the final third of the field.

There is a goals crisis which has to be addressed. The mistakes of previous windows have to be addressed if the Reds are going to avoid a repeat of this torrid season and regain their identity as an attacking force.

All last summer Liverpool's hierarchy insisted they weren't going to 'do a Tottenham'.

The Londoners had embarked on a £104million spending spree after the £85million sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid in 2013 but squandered much of it on a raft of signings and trailed home sixth.

The warning signs were there but lessons weren't learned. Liverpool did exactly the same.

Rather than replace Barcelona-bound Luis Suarez with a top class marksmen they used that £75million instead to fund a major overhaul of the squad. The £116million they spent went on nine signings, most of whom have struggled to justify their price tags.

In the aftermath of a desperate night at the KC Stadium, Brendan Rodgers spoke about the need for a different approach in the transfer market this summer.

“For supporters, and for players themselves, it is always great if you can get in those marquee players that can really help you,” he said.

“And I think we can see that that's the type, maybe the one or two players, that we need.”

Can Liverpool still attract elite players?

The manager is right. The Reds need quality rather than quantity in order to push on.

The question is do they have the financial muscle and the pulling power to get what they need? And can they really do their shopping in the elite market?

Liverpool's recent past is littered with examples of them trying and failing to land stellar names like Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Diego Costa, Willian and Alexis Sanchez.

Their latest attempts to land top drawer talent this summer won't be helped by their failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Manchester United showed last year that it is still possible to attract stars when you are operating outside Europe's elite but you'll probably have to pay through the nose to get them, like they did to land Radamel Falcao and Angel di Maria.

Just how much Liverpool will have to spend this summer is unclear.

A rough estimate would be around the £35million mark, plus whatever can be generated by off-loading the likes of Mario Balotelli , Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert , Jose Enrique, Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto and Sebastian Coates.

That kitty could be swelled to the £70million mark. The wage bill will also be heavily reduced by the departures of Steven Gerrard , Glen Johnson and Brad Jones when their contracts expire.

Kopites want to see a show of ambition from the club this summer – proof that the owners are serious about getting back to challenging for the biggest prizes.

This season has proved there is no substitute for quality. And Liverpool desperately need an injection of it.

Yes the manager has his faults, yes he takes a measure of blame for the season's woes but without real quality no one is going to be able to take us to sustained success. This is not just FSG's most important Summer, I believe this is the Club's most important Summer and failure by FSG to back the manager with some quality, experienced signings and a repeat of the last three Summers where potential over experience was the policy will consign our success to the annals of footballing History.

Can't disagree with much of that. But not feeling too confident about FSG...

Can't disagree with much of that. But not feeling too confident about FSG...

Nor do I mate and that's the problem. Put Klopp in, put any manager you want in and then give him players like Balotelli, Borini and Lambert and tell him to score goals and he'll struggle. Tell him he can have players like Danny Ings as his goal scorer and he'll look at you as if you've gone mad. Everyone but FSG seem to understand that we need some stardust in the team, that they need to take a risk on a proven goal scorer if we're to kick on. There's only so much you can get out of certain players no matter who the manager is.

We have a decent spine to our team, not the best but good enough that it doesn't need replacing in a hurry. Mignolet, Skrtel, Sakho, Lucas, Henderson, Sturridge. They're all experienced, they're all talented, they all perform well in their respective roles. The rest are too inexperienced or simply not good enough. Give Brendan Rodgers five world class players to put around this spine and he'll win you the league. Now I doubt we'll get five in the Summer and I wouldn't really want us bedding in another five players but over the next two or three windows, this is where we have to improve the team.

Nor do I mate and that's the problem. Put Klopp in, put any manager you want in and then give him players like Balotelli, Borini and Lambert and tell him to score goals and he'll struggle. Tell him he can have players like Danny Ings as his goal scorer and he'll look at you as if you've gone mad. Everyone but FSG seem to understand that we need some stardust in the team, that they need to take a risk on a proven goal scorer if we're to kick on. There's only so much you can get out of certain players no matter who the manager is.

FSG didn't give Brendan those players. Brendan and his preferred committee chose those players and they've shown to be largely useless.

FSG didn't give Brendan those players. Brendan and his preferred committee chose those players and they've shown to be largely useless.

What does preferred committee mean? Did he hire the scouts? Did he hire Ian Ayre?

FSG didn't give Brendan those players. Brendan and his preferred committee chose those players and they've shown to be largely useless.

I'm not arguing with you over who bought what. It's supposition, rumour and hearsay and no one but the club knows who bought what.

What does preferred committee mean? Did he hire the scouts? Did he hire Ian Ayre?

His scouts and his preferred way to handle transfers. His scouts watch and recommend players.

Then they go through that statistical program and get a yes or no. But every player going through that is his player or his scouts' player.

Ayre doesn't choose players. He's the face of the club (shudder) when negotiations take place.

At least that's all the specifics that have come out about the committee.

At least that's all the specifics that have come out about the committee.

That's the problem though isn't it?

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.

Why would you be partial to the decisions that were made if you did not have a hand in it?