In terms of the working of the Transfer Committee, I think that this is illuminating:
Sunday 3rd August 2014
“I can categorically tell you Mario Balotelli will not be at Liverpool,” Rodgers said on the eve of Liverpool’s game against Manchester United in Miami'
[ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/03/liverpool-not-sign-milan-mario-balotelli-brendan-rodgers
The fact that we then signed Balotelli made Rodgers look at best stupid or at worst slightly shifty. Not something a young manager would opt for voluntarily I don't think. So he had his arm twisted.
The fact that Sanchez, then Remy, our prime targets, were denied us for different reasons, shows that we did try to sign players that would fit last years style of play. No stupidity there then.
What happened next is though - it seems to me that (having seen the roasting Manu's CEO got last year) LFC management feared appearing inactive and attracting a similar backlash from fans.
So, to me, the signing of Balotelli has all the appearance of being a panic buy - with Rodgers being forced to swallow his pride and challenged to turn it into a positive.
In my view, he literally had no choice.
I've seen no hints from Rodgers that he's unhappy that we bought Balotelli - apart of course from the statement before hand that he wouldn't be buying him, which is certainly odd on the face of it.
But we know that Rodgers has stressed that he does have the 'final say' and is happy with the recruitment policy. In May:
“Obviously, I am involved heavily in the identification of the player. The principle idea when I first came in was that like any manager you will have the first call on a player and the last call. That’s the call on whether he’s good enough to continue to look at and try to organise a deal and the last call to say yes or no. There is a big part that goes on in between. In modern football you need to trust other people to do the work. That’s something we do here and that’s why we have had the success we’ve had. The finer details of that are left to Ian who does a terrific job and our other guys in that field who will go through the contracts. I am aware of where the situation is at right the way through the process.
We will never bring in a player here who the manager doesn’t want in. That’s a great credit to the owners and the other people at the club. We work very closely together – it’s worth stressing that. It’s key that we are very much one club. We are really preparing for next season. I’ve had some very good meetings with our recruitment team. We are very much together as one.”
Now, he may be 'saying the right things' and there are certainly examples of statements made about players, for example, which don't ring true. But did he really let the committee force a pivotal signing (in profile, if not financial terms) upon him against his better judgement? Did he let FSG pick a high profile player for shirt sales? I don't quite get what people are darkly hinting at.
Much more likely of course, is that we ran out of options following the failure to land either Sanchez or Remy. That's something of an indictment of our scouting, perhaps, but I'm not sure it's much more sinister than that. Another possibility is that Rodgers got a little over confident in his own ability to polish a rough diamond; but perhaps he will, yet.
Overall, I think criticism of the rest of our transfer business over the summer is exagerrated and unfair. Various posters have slammed the club for (again) buying unproven potential; or (contradictorily) buying average, overhyped English players. All skim over the signing of Moreno, and the loan of Manquillo. Lambert was peanuts and something, it seems, of an impulse buy who offers something different and some passion, which may yet prove valuable. Lallana's pre-season injury I think has been a big problem for the team hitting the ground running this season, but he's now showing his value to the squad. Can is showing good potential and the ability to contribute now. Lovren has been a disappointment so far - and if he's only ever going to play LCB, raises questions about the purchase of Sakho - but there are a lot of posters acting wise after the event on that signing. Markovic admittedly looks overwhelmed to date; but again, at the age of 20 in a new league, has been dropped into a side seriously underperforming and lacking any attacking cohesion.
But our signings are been summarised much less favourably than is fair. Of the young 'potential', only Markovic has struggled to show it. Of the established players, Balotelli and Lovren need to improve. I can't help feeling that if we'd bought exactly the same bunch of players,
plus a Remy or Sanchez or some other pacy forward capable of filling in for Sturridge, the tone of the debate would be completely different. We missed that final piece in the transfer window, but it's inaccurate to portray the entire summer's business as wasted or misplaced.