The Leaving of Liverpool - Decision Time For FSG
2023 is shaping up to be one of the most pivotal years in the history of Liverpool Football Club. Decisions that need to be made will alter the course of its history for a long time to come. Key amongst them is a choice FSG need to make- stay or go. For me, it's obvious-go.
Some will disagree with this, but they have done some wonderful things for Liverpool. Made inspired recruitment decisions (e.g. Klopp, Edwards). Modernised Anfield. Upgraded training …
Tony Evans: 'The Unlawful Killings' & Refusing to Allow The Banterfication of Hillsborough
How was 2022 for you? The answer has to be “crap” in a general sense. From a Liverpool perspective it’s been a mixed year.
We forget quickly but the first five months were as uplifting as any period in my supporting life. The quest for the quad was special. To go into the last week of the campaign with the possibility of winning all four trophies was an astonishing feat.
The final two games were disappointing and Paris was disheartening …
Into the Unknown: A Full Season of Transition Needs to End Well
Will there ever be another quiet day at Liverpool this season? It seems impossible to imagine right now, off the back of the announcement that Julian Ward (Sporting Director) and Dr Ian Graham (Director of Research) will be leaving the club at the end of this season. Against the backdrop of FSG putting the club up for sale and a challenging league campaign, it appears the last thing that the club need. The only constant at Anfield right now seems …
New Liverpool FC Owners: What Do We Need?
If and when FSG sell Liverpool Football Club, their prime motivation (beyond securing a maximum return on their investment) should be to leave the club in a position where it is financially able to compete with other clubs in a way they simply can't right now.
This is a point Jurgen Klopp acknowledged before the PL game versus Man City a few weeks ago. Selling to owners who can make the club more financially competitive is, whether people like it …
Understanding The Timing Of FSG’s Sale
It was always inevitable that FSG would sell the club sooner rather than later, but the key point is to understand the timing of their ‘For Sale’ sign and statement, and what has led the Boston-based consortium to choose now as the moment to cash in.
FSG are primed to make an enormous amount of profit from the proposed sale of Liverpool Football Club, and that in itself is very reflective of how they have marshalled the Reds' transfer activity. …
Tony Evans: Stop Cryarsing! Football Has Changed
Here’s what you can expect as a Liverpool fan in the 2020s: life will be a roller-coaster.
Here’s what you can’t expect: to win the title more than once in a – and I use the phrase consciously – blue moon.
It’s no use cryarsing about every defeat and every missed transfer target. The words ‘the game has changed’ are thrown around too flippantly in football. But the truth is the game has changed. The sovereign-wealth fund clubs are skewing …
Tier 2 Shopping: The Smart Money
When you look at the transfers that Liverpool have made under Jurgen Klopp, the key factor over that body of work stands out a mile. The ability to consistently take players to the next level isn’t a skill too many coaches have been able to evidence. Certain managers can improve a player no doubt, but to make them elite or world class – that’s a special skillset. For all the incessant chatter over Liverpool’s need for reinforcements in midfield, the …
Succession
Effective succession planning is the key to sustained growth and success for organisations of all types - and football clubs are no different. For Liverpool, I feel a disjointed approach to succession planning has led to the club's recent on-field woes.
The model FSG had developed and put in place at Liverpool was inspired by the 'moneyball' concept - in addition to using data to find value-for-money incomings, using data to know when to move players on and replenish the …
Can Jurgen Klopp Build Another Great Liverpool Team
When Jurgen Klopp arrived at Borussia Dortmund, the remit was to increase stability and ensure survival within the German Bundesliga. Vast funds were not apparent, therefore smart recruiting and elite coaching were the key facets that saw tremendous success follow. That time period of approximately 7 years, saw many of the team (those that weren’t poached by Europes wealthy clubs) peak and begin to regress, indicating the need for new blood. Klopp’s final season at Dortmund was an undeniably difficult …
A Failed Venture
The Super League, a revolutionary idea that was shunned by the masses, ill prepared for public consumption by the instigators and put back into its box for normality to resume within the elite football corridors throughout Europe.
UEFA are no shining light with their failures, short comings and inability to implement Financial Fair Play did indeed bring the potential need for change to the table for discussion. Reform, adjustment to the often times remarkable Champions League & clarity of their …