A Question and Answer Session with John W, Thomas and Ian
By Faith Fulcher on Dec 13, 10 08:38 PM in Fans
This evening John W Henry, Thomas Werner and Ian Ayre appeared on the new look LFC TV programme LFC Now. Supporters had made aware of this a week ago and had that time to prepare questions before either submitting them by phone, email, twitter or facebook.
It was a very cordial affair and both John W and Tom were jacket less whereas Ian wore his - different traditions I guess. The main question of course was about Roy and this was side stepped several times. Below is a transcript of the main answers - my note taking is not quick enough anymore to ensure that the questions were also noted and for that I apologise.
Tom started by saying how much he loved Liverpool, its people and the challenge of being chairman of such a great club.
John also said the same and he also wished everyone a happy holiday and he hoped that 2011 would be a better year. They were both impressed by the reception they had received from Liverpool supporters.
According to Tom the supporters own the club.
Tom said that they are willing to talk to the supporters because each side wants to know more about the other.,
Ian Ayre has said that everyone at the club can sense how the atmosphere has lifted since the arrival of the new owners. This he believes also applies to the City itself.
Claire in her news bulletin said that the players and the staff had a long meeting at Melwood today because of the disaster (my word) on Saturday.
THEY ARE AT THE MOMENT SAYING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS - JUST WHAT THE SUPPORTERS WANT TO HEAR.
When asked about the game, John said that it was a disappointing result and we must some good opportunities.
Ian Ayre - Bad results affect our sales and marketing
Tom expects a slow and steady progress until we get to where we need to be.
Then the question was asked Where do they stand with Roy Hodgson
Henry: when we got red sox they were not good to compete with other teams but we tried if there are right people managements CEO. This also includes the right people to choose players.
Tom then switches the question to the commercial side and talks about the strength of his commercial team. He then touched how to spend money wisely and baseball. He said that when they took over the Red Sox they invested enough so that in the end they went to toe to toe with the New York Yankees.
When asked again about Roy, John passed the question over to Tom, who immediately brought Rafa into play saying that we were poor on the road under him. They believe in Roy though and he needs to be given more time. They do realise though that the teams performance has to improve. A lot of people are already reading between the lines and believe that Roy may be a 'marked man'.
After a break the questions then turned to a new stadium.
Tom said that when they arrived at Fenway it was a dilapidated stadium but they choose to redevelop it due to its history. Likewise with Anfield, they do feel that there is a definite case for rebuilding but having had several meetings the decision is still to be made and of course the new stadium in Stanley Park is still part of this.
John, said the moment he saw and Anfield and the pitch, he fell in love (we all know that feeling ) with it. Anfield is he feels a cathedral. I think personally he believes in the re-build but there is of course the lack of space and residential area that needs to be considered.
Another caller comes on and reiterates yet again that Roy's CV is not good enough for Liverpool and that he cannot believe how the club overlooked Kenny Dalglish. This was overlooked and they immediately went on to talk about transfers in the January window.
They said that they were studying the situation but I get the impression there is very little intention of any funds being spent then. He does realise though that the lack of activity in the last couple of transfer windows was unacceptable.
Tom then said that they are prepared to take risk but risks that will improve the team in the long term.
John then said that he could not understand why the clubs supporters do not look at the long term situation. In the last few years there have been too many short term decisions and it is up to them to change it.
John and Tom went to the Former Players dinner last night and were impressed by how many of them told him that we had to be patient.
Tom then said that they have sat and watched a lot of matches from the past from the days of Bill Shankly
Tom indicated that he is determined to bring the glory days back - Ian then popped in with "We are Overdue a Trophy". He then said we want to the first league cup everywhere as Shankly said "if you are second you are nothing".
Ian Ayre then covered a question about the Stadium tour and how they have improved over the last couple of years. Would they be able to transfer this too a new stadium if built - he believes so but it would be a lot of work by him and his team.
THEN THEY ACTUALLY HAD A CALLER WHO BELIEVES IN ROY AND TOLD US ALL TO BE PATIENT.
Rory Smith then queries if the phones in Liverpool are working as all callers were from outside the area.
John Henry has said that they have had several meetings with Kenny and that they are looking for a longer more term and better role for me. They had dinner with Kenny and Marina and could only understand half of what he said.
Is there a five year business plan This is definitely being looked at. It is not acceptable where we are at the moment. We are definitely looking at being at the top of the table in 5 years time. That is the ultimate goal
Are they aware of the standard of sports journalism in this country. Could they fund a much more statisically driven sports journalism and commentry within the club set up.
They find working with statistics is a very useful tool. It will help to make better judgements.
They are amazed by the amount of press coverage that the club gets but even though some of it is bad it shows that the club is being supported. They did not mention any of the papers but said that some of the articles had been amusing so much so that they rang each other to check if the rumours were true.
They are looking at the season ticket situation. They are talking about re engaging with the people on the list so that they can ensure it up to date. They are also looking at other means to support the people on it, especially those that have been on it for years. They will also be planning more match days where they can offer free tickets to children but as we all know it is important that they can support their team.
Again the subject of Roy was touched on and this was the answer. play and results are unacceptable and everyone must take a responsibility including the manager
Quizzed about new players: They are under the impression that players definitely want to come to the club and will ensure they attract the right people
Another caller came on asking about Roy- Matt would not let the question go any further stating that it had been covered earlier. I think though if John did not know how we felt about Roy, he certainly does now.
Do they realise what they have to compete against to get Liverpool back to the top. which way are they going to go. Shocked at what they found in the due dilligence exercise. they do realise how big the situation is and do not believe that we the supporters understand the size of the wage bill.
They have certainly found that some of the players are grossly overpaid and are looking into what they can do to change the situation.
John and Tom have both reiterated that they will do everything they can to get us back to where we belong but we must be patient.
They are both in it for the long term and expect to see us where we belong in 3-5 years.
It was as I have said a very interesting 90 minutes, they had to leave then and Ian Ayre was left to answer general questions on his own for the last 30 minutes. Hopefully there will be more of them but I hope its suggested that they go in front of a live audience without the questions being vetted first. That would make it very interesting.
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