September 2012 at 13:28
Following yet another summer where off the pitch activities at Liverpool Football Club have dominated the headlines, we once again find the club ownership attempting to explain away business decisions that have overshadowed footballing matters. Spirit of Shankly reiterates its stance that the position of manager at Liverpool Football Club should be supported with all of the resources at the club’s disposal. However, events of last Friday and the subsequent “open letter" from the club’s Principal Owner, John W Henry, indicate that almost two years into FSG's ownership of the club this is not yet the case. As pointed out by the union in May, there remains no ownership presence on this side of the Atlantic. It is our opinion that this situation has led directly to the "mistakes" alluded to in Mr Henry's open letter. Should the club’s absentee owners not wish to establish a full-time base in Liverpool, it remains imperative that they appoint a Chief Executive of a calibre commensurate with the club’s global status, to act with the full authority of the owners in their absence. Without this Chief Executive, it is far from sufficient for a club of Liverpool’s stature to have a part-time Chairman, based on another continent, with various other interests, and from whom little or nothing of consequence is seen or heard. In case FSG need reminding, they are now employing their third manager, have already dispensed with the services of their Director of Football and now accusatory fingers are pointing in the direction of their Managing Director. The questions posed of FSG by Spirit of Shankly during the close season remain unanswered. If the board is based in Boston, why has no Liverpool-based Chief Executive been appointed to oversee the club’s affairs? It is almost two years since Liverpool Football Club was sold to FSG, with the stadium development being a condition of the sale, yet still no decisions have been made and still communication with fans and neighbouring residents alike remains patchy at best. Commendably FSG will not sanction the spending of money the club has not got, but why not increase the money available to the club through selling shares to supporters? There comes a point at any football club where the Chairman has to step forward on behalf of the board and be held accountable for decisions that they have made and strategies that they have implemented. With key questions continuing to go unanswered, Spirit of Shankly suggests it is time for Tom Werner to be held accountable as Chairman of Liverpool Football Club. After all, the buck stops with him, not with those acting with his authority and not with people no longer at the club.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/fsg-we-still-need-direction
It's between the owners and manager, keep out of it.
You're no businessmen to tell businessmen owners how to make money for the club. Quick short term fix is not the best solution. And having a Chief executive in UK wouldn't have made much difference. It's not like he would've used his own money.
SOS Response
posted on 4/9/12
Kemlyn - you're a good poster but in fairness and with all due respect, it's none of your business what they offered. They sent a letter out which I believe they shouldn't have had to do but they did it because some fans were uncertain, they answered the main points and answered them well, they don't have to go into every little detail. The letter is more than any other club has done.
posted on 4/9/12
SOS can as far as I'm concerned. They played a part in unifying the fans against SOS, but with that sense of their perceived self importance has grown.
I'm glad that JH at least attempted to clear up the situation as regards the transfer window. Regardless of the the sense of spin, I felt it was important to at least try to support the manager, who without it could have come in for some undeserved flak. It didn't really answer as to why it happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ayre is dispensed with, or moved away from the footballing side of the business in the near future.
posted on 4/9/12
Kemlyn - you're a good poster but in fairness and with all due respect, it's none of your business what they offered
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And here was me thinking this was a discussion forum. I’ts none of a fans’ business what the club does????? Cone on, are you serious, TOOR?
What’s the point of coming on here, if it’s not to debate these things? I've made it clear that I'm not anti-FSG, and I'm genuinely not, , but I’ve no idea what “we tried our hardest” means, and I'm curious to know.
If the answer from the board, or from this forum, or both, is “Mind your own business”, then I guess it does answer my question, i n a way...
posted on 4/9/12
SOS can as far as I'm concerned. They played a part in unifying the fans against SOS
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that makes no sense ... that should have read H&G.
posted on 4/9/12
comment by Kemlyn Road (U10652)
posted 11 minutes ago
Kemlyn - you're a good poster but in fairness and with all due respect, it's none of your business what they offered
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And here was me thinking this was a discussion forum. I’ts none of a fans’ business what the club does????? Cone on, are you serious, TOOR?
What’s the point of coming on here, if it’s not to debate these things? I've made it clear that I'm not anti-FSG, and I'm genuinely not, , but I’ve no idea what “we tried our hardest” means, and I'm curious to know.
If the answer from the board, or from this forum, or both, is “Mind your own business”, then I guess it does answer my question, i n a way...
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I think you misunderstood. I didn't say we can't debate topics, I said that it's none of your business how much they offered and they don't have to disclose that type of information, no other owners would do such a thing so why should they?
posted on 4/9/12
They aren't going to come out and criticise Ian Ayre for not getting the deals done in public, if it was his fault. They're not going to talk about an individual dealing, whether they decided they didn't want to spend big on a player who is 29 or not, they aren't going to disclose how much they actually allowed to be offered or whether Ayre was the person who decided, this just doesn't happen and it shouldn't happen now. The letter shouldn't even have happened, in my opinion.
posted on 4/9/12
no other owners would do such a thing so why should they?
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Well, some owners do, but on the narrower point, of what the bid was, they are of course entitled to secrecy, though I can't think what piurpose it serves. As the owners, they are entitled to do whatever they want.
But on the wider point of what "we tried our hardest" means, perhaps they can find some other way of explaining it.
Or not, if they don't want to. As a fan, I don't have much leverage other than to sell my tickets, and I'm sure they wouldn't be crying in their Chowder over that. So I'm not in a position to demandi anythng, and I’d be very surprised if they read ja606.
I'm just curious to know what other fans on here might think it means, other than "It's none of your business".. But I won’t p!ss in the wind any further, I don’t have a hat on, though I am about to go out.
Have a good evening (what’s left of it).
posted on 4/9/12
Your comment suggested that the owners should have disclosed how much they offered.
" but why was it so hard? Was there not enough money, or did all the selling clubs put barricades up around their players? “We tried” doesn’t really answer the question, and I found it a bit insulting, tbh."
This is the point I was saying they didn't have to disclose that information and that nobody else does. In their letter they basically answered it though, without attributing their points to individual situations, which they shouldn't do. He talked in general. I think he basically said he doesn't want to pi$$ money up the wall which has happened previously and as we know, he regards signing older players for over the odds as doing such. I think your answer is in the letter, if you look but of course, he wasn't going to say how much the bid was and go into details about individual deals.
posted on 4/9/12
SOS are a PR disaster
"Annual membership of the Spirit of Shankly, Liverpool Supporters Union, costs £10, for those living in the UK and Ireland and £15 for those living in Europe and the rest of the world."
why do you need money to write an embarrassing letter once a quarter.
All you need to do is go have 5 pints at the Sandon, bring a laptop, type, and hit spell check. Sorted.
Oh wait..............
posted on 4/9/12
Kemlyn
Just got back to the post.
So my F-------off comment was not aimed at Honest or any other fan.
It was solely intended for the SOS and affiliates.
As for the KD comment, ultimately KD decides what player he wants and the money spent was not spent wisely enough for me.
Carroll knee jerk, fair enough 'chelsea' paid but it was crazy. so were the other signings that followed, cant believe those "tight fisted" americans let him spend that.
But thats in the past, FSG have learnt and we need to trust a bit more in them is all.