Saddened! wrote:
Pretty funny open letter to Liverpool fans today from the owners, explaining that they would never risk the future of the club with risky spending. A pretty ridiculous statement to make given their recent signings, very few of which are looking like good buys at present.
Think you struggled to read it properly, have you changed opticians lately?
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.
That quote there pretty much accepts that they have cocked up since they've came here but they are clearly keen to change that. Compare this summer's signings to the signings made the previous summer:
Joe Allen - Young player, clearly talented and looking like the type of player that could contribute as a starter for a long time. He's also young enough to give us good years and be sold for a good amount in the future.
Nuri Sahin - A loan signing oozing with talent and potential. If he settles we have a talented player that we haven't paid for yet, I imagine Madrid would be open to selling him seen as they have signed Modric, so we are in a bit of a winning situation. If he performs really well, the only problem could be a pretty large fee, but at least we'd be making a 99% certain investment, which I'd rather make a big investment in.
Fabio Borini - Another young player who the manager has worked with before and clearly liked. Quite a high fee but for a 21 year old versatile forward, it's pretty decent money given the 'pedigree', if you will. If he improves he'd easily sell at a profit, whilst he's versatile and determined enough to always have a place here. He's probably the riskiest of all signings, but he's a high character player who, IMO anyway, seems too determined to come here and fail.
Oussama Assaidi - Another young player. Small fee and probable small wages. If he performs we've got a bargain, if he doesn't we've spent very little and he's still young enough to either be sold or loaned out to enhance reputation.
Samed Yesil - Young player for the future. Could work out and we've saved millions, could end up failing and we've wasted very little.
All in all, the biggest problem with this transfer window was the quantity, rather than the quality IMO. We've signed the right type of player (age, reputation, price) and we've got rid of the right type of players (high earners, older players, players of little value to the club). The big problem is this should have happened last summer, but the owners made a clear error in judgment. They seemed to think Dalglish could turn it around in one big splurge in the market, when really he should have been starting the firesale and shifting the club into the right direction. They went for the CL and failed spectacularly, back to plan A it is and I'm really happy with that. My only 'problem' with plan A is they were supposed to have a 'structure' in place that allowed them to maintain direction regardless of manager; however, they thrown those plans out of the window and effectively put all faith in Rodgers, which is incredibly dangerous.
A lot of fans/journalists have a huge problem with FSG having final say on transfers, basically they give the thumbs up or thumbs down on a 'target', but I don't think that's too bad considering they're owners and they clearly don't want their money being 'wasted'. Dempsey was/is a decent player who had his best season last year, but he'll be after his last big contract and he offers little in terms of resale value. The owners clearly don't want that type of target, is that really so bad?
