I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.
But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.
Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.
No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instill his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.
The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of EUFA's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini - something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.
We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club's traditions.
That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.
After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.
It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work.
We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.
We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.
Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.
Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It's often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.
John Henry's Letter to Fan's
posted on 3/9/12
FSB
So you're judging Fenway on why might possibly happen?
Right.
posted on 3/9/12
'However, mediocre teams that produce great players occasionally quickly become selling clubs as their assets are snapped up and they become a conveyor belt of talent for other clubs. Which isn't so great.'
i agree, but we do also buy quality players like surez. We also keep players like agger and reina (who was been one of the best in the world before id bad spell).
posted on 3/9/12
Fred, I'm judging them primarly on what they have done during the transfer window (loads out, a few in) and what they said in their letter.
footballing success is fairly closely aligned with money spent. Like it or not that is the reality. FSG are taking us down a path of minimising outlay by offloading loads of players and buying a few relatively cheap, unproven players and gambling that they will become great players. Some of them probably will and if we are a mid table club they will quickly want to leave, Showing a lack of ambition and hoping that you can unearth some gems is not a poilcy that fills me with great confidence.
posted on 3/9/12
Some fans have a real misunderstanding of how FSG work..
They do not take any profits from any of their sports franchises, they maximise the financial and commercial potential and re invest the profit each year back into the team + player sales revenue, they gave dalglish a pot of gold which I think reflects the low price they paid, and they took the first year financial loss on the chin while we got rid of high earners, this year when the accounts are published (considering kenny and his teams severance pay) we will see a modest profit due to last years shifting of deadwood, this will somewhat match up to the additional funds invested this year, this season will be the first with the new commercial deals, also we have further reduced the wage bill, so next year, when we have actually made the money we will see a larger investment,
As for how they make their money, the biggest money making buisness in their protfolio is the ,ew england sports network, that's where they earn the money that makes them all so rich, and the key to the success of this tv sports and internet news enterprise is success for the teams it backs, hence why they reinvest the money the clubs make, its also one of the reasons why lfc was such an attractive proposition to them, as the football team in the world with consisetently the most website hits, this transferrs some fans over to the nesn website, and more hits means more ad revenue for them
All this infor on fsg is freeley availiable if you look around for it, with figures and quotes to back it all up, its embarrassing the lack of backround, basic buisness and financial knowledge the FSG haters have. What they are doing is prudent and sensible for the club and indirectly makes them richer through the sports newtwork business
posted on 3/9/12
Insert Random Username
I learnt a fair bit from that comment.
posted on 3/9/12
Insert Random Username
Very interesting stuff - obviously it's all lies though and you must work for FSG
posted on 3/9/12
Random, Do you really consider leaving us with a paper thin squad is prudent and sensible for the club though, even if the money saved will be put back into the club at a later date? It's nice to hear that they're not simply pocketing the cash but the results of the business model don't inspire me with confidence yet.
To take it to extremes I won't be applauding their financial acumen if we get relegated before they get round to reinvesting the savings they made during the window. I would have been happier if some of the money had been readily available to fund a proven goalscorer like Dempsey.
posted on 3/9/12
To be fair Random, what they do with the money is their affair. Its their money. I don't really care about the details of their business model. I'm only interested in how the consequences of their actions manifest themselves on the pitch.
posted on 3/9/12
Some fans have a real misunderstanding of how FSG work..
They do not take any profits from any of their sports franchises, they maximise the financial and commercial potential and re invest the profit each year back into the team + player sales revenue, they gave dalglish a pot of gold which I think reflects the low price they paid, and they took the first year financial loss on the chin while we got rid of high earners, this year when the accounts are published (considering kenny and his teams severance pay) we will see a modest profit due to last years shifting of deadwood, this will somewhat match up to the additional funds invested this year, this season will be the first with the new commercial deals, also we have further reduced the wage bill, so next year, when we have actually made the money we will see a larger investment,
As for how they make their money, the biggest money making buisness in their protfolio is the ,ew england sports network, that's where they earn the money that makes them all so rich, and the key to the success of this tv sports and internet news enterprise is success for the teams it backs, hence why they reinvest the money the clubs make, its also one of the reasons why lfc was such an attractive proposition to them, as the football team in the world with consisetently the most website hits, this transferrs some fans over to the nesn website, and more hits means more ad revenue for them
All this infor on fsg is freeley availiable if you look around for it, with figures and quotes to back it all up, its embarrassing the lack of backround, basic buisness and financial knowledge the FSG haters have.
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Great point. FSG are investing hundreds of millions so they can get some of the people who visit the liverpool website to click through to the nesn website and generate a bit more in ad revenue. How else would you possibly drive website advertising revenue for a domestic sports network than buying a foreign sports 'franchise'? Why do non of you see this? Enrol on a business school course and you will learn lots of other gems such as this.
posted on 3/9/12
Borini Goal Machine
The man with the worlds most simplistic view.