Topic: The Men in Suits behind the scenes

[killer-heels]

Things are turning very nasty amongst the fan base now.

I think FSG are very lucky they have SOS on board with the token seat because things could be getting bad.

Signings are not going to turn the fan base, certainly not the match going one, against FSG and nor should it. Also if performances drop, the manager will carry the can.

[Dim Glas]

Things are turning very nasty amongst the fan base now.

I think FSG are very lucky they have SOS on board with the token seat because things could be getting bad.

any examples of this?

[Samie]

People are making sense in the transfer thread?

[killer-heels]

any examples of this?

Mac Red has been forced into hiding.

[CraigDS]

any examples of this?

Prob Twitter. In which case... meh!

[afc tukrish]

People are making sense in the transfer thread?

Surely not...

[deanloco9]

any examples of this?

As someone said mostly on Twitter but the replies to SOS have shifted on a negative side which isn't good to see, it used to be the idiot minority

But I've seen people taking FSG Banners inside Anfield and allegedly Stewards have asked them to take it down

I even seen a FSG out plane the other week!?  (Not sure what the Jurgen In was about though as no talks about them sacking him!)

Medical staff speaking out that things need to change at the club (Jose luis Parada)

Former players speaking out against FSG (Jose Enrique)

Something just seems really off and I don't like it.

[LiverBirdKop]

any examples of this?

I've seen some on Twitter.  I blocked two accounts today. Idiots insulting Klopp. Wasn't following them, just appeared on my feed since Klopp was trending. Gave them a piece of my mind and blocked them. Will probably earn me a temporary ban.

 

[killer-heels]

As someone said mostly on Twitter but the replies to SOS have shifted on a negative side which isn't good to see, it used to be the idiot minority

But I've seen people taking FSG Banners inside Anfield and allegedly Stewards have asked them to take it down

I even seen a FSG out plane the other week!?  (Not sure what the Jurgen In was about though as no talks about them sacking him!)

Medical staff speaking out that things need to change at the club (Jose luis Parada)

Former players speaking out against FSG (Jose Enrique)

Something just seems really off and I don't like it.

Well we know something is off, in that we are shite.

[deanloco9]

I've seen some on Twitter.  I blocked two accounts today. Idiots insulting Klopp. Wasn't following them, just appeared on my feed since Klopp was trending. Gave them a piece of my mind and blocked them. Will probably earn me a temporary ban.

 

Don't know why anyone is insulting Klopp especially after what he has done, yes some subs have been strange this season (even since the FA Cup semi final last season) but we have limited resources. It is so unfair to blame him and if anyone is to be blamed it's his assistant who never stops talking to the media and releases tactical books whilst at the club!

[Dim Glas]

As someone said mostly on Twitter but the replies to SOS have shifted on a negative side which isn't good to see, it used to be the idiot minority

But I've seen people taking FSG Banners inside Anfield and allegedly Stewards have asked them to take it down

I even seen a FSG out plane the other week!?  (Not sure what the Jurgen In was about though as no talks about them sacking him!)

Medical staff speaking out that things need to change at the club (Jose luis Parada)

Former players speaking out against FSG (Jose Enrique)

Something just seems really off and I don't like it.

the plane was the doing of 2 idiots on Twitter. 

Jose Enrique is an absolute whopper with his head rammed up Newcastle United’s Saudi arse, nothing he says should ever be taken seriously.

For sure there’s a lot of work to do at the club and a lot has gone wrong quickly.

But I don’t see any real trouble that will cause the club problems between actual fans at this point. Frustration, some anger, a need to know why things have gone bad so quickly - sure. But I’d suggest most fans that are important to the club are willing to show patience. These fans have been through much much worse.

[Dougle]

Things are turning very nasty amongst the fan base now.

I think FSG are very lucky they have SOS on board with the token seat because things could be getting bad.

Right city, wrong club.

[TepidT2O]

Things are turning very nasty amongst the fan base now.

Have you ever actually been to a football game?

There is literally nothing nasty amongst the fan base.

[deanloco9]

the plane was the doing of 2 idiots on Twitter. 

Jose Enrique is an absolute whopper with his head rammed up Newcastle United’s Saudi arse, nothing he says should ever be taken seriously.

For sure there’s a lot of work to do at the club and a lot has gone wrong quickly.

But I don’t see any real trouble that will cause the club problems between actual fans at this point. Frustration, some anger, a need to know why things have gone bad so quickly - sure. But I’d suggest most fans that are important to the club are willing to show patience. These fans have been through much much worse.

Nodded all the way through that closing paragraph! We've been in much worse times and if we repeated last season not many would say a lot! - Never want to go back to the H&G days. I do think FSG have failed to back Klopp though but I may be wrong!

Just thinking about H&G Makes me so angry.

Hopefully we can get the DOF/Sporting Director job filled asap!

[classycarra]

People are making sense in the transfer thread?

[Tiz Lad]

Manchester United are confident they will receive offers in excess of £5 billion this week which, if accepted by the Glazer family, would eclipse the world-record price for a sports team.

Last year a group led by Rob Walton, a member of the Walton-Penner family that owns the American retailer Walmart, bought the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion (£3.8 billion), which is the present record.

As many as six rival bid groups are expected to table offers before Wednesday night’s deadline, set by United’s New York bankers, and the expectation is that at least two will raise their offers beyond £5 billion. It is understood opening offers, tabled in February, were closer to £4.5 billion.

While a Qatari group led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani remain favourites, sources have said the Ineos bidders fronted by Sir Jim

Ratcliffe impressed during their meetings with United officials in Manchester last Friday. The Qataris had their meetings the previous day, with insiders insisting those discussions were also positive.

While Ineos is only looking to purchase the 69 per cent stake of United at present owned by the Glazer family, its pursuit of United, The Times understands, could be strengthened by a possible partnership with one of the other bid groups.

Sheikh Jassim’s group is looking to buy 100 per cent of the Premier League club in a debt-free takeover but some of the offers that are submitted this week will only be for a minority share.

The Qataris and Ineos very much remain the leading contenders as the second stage of the sale process reaches its conclusion but as many as eight groups have met with United officials — as well as their bankers from Raine — during tours of Old Trafford and the club’s Carrington training ground in the past fortnight.

Among them were representatives from Elliott Investment Management, the United States fund reportedly offering its services to all potential buyers.

Glazers and United making FSG look like chumps. Yet vast swathes of our fanbase would tell you that they're super clever businessmen, not the fact that they're overseeing a rapid decline on and off the field, and the value of their asset head south

[Samie]

What's that got to do with us? FSG have confirmed they are looking fir investment and not a takeover.  But that doesn't mean we won;t get one though.

[Barneylfc∗]

Manchester United are confident they will receive offers in excess of £5 billion this week which, if accepted by the Glazer family, would eclipse the world-record price for a sports team.

Last year a group led by Rob Walton, a member of the Walton-Penner family that owns the American retailer Walmart, bought the Denver Broncos for $4.65 billion (£3.8 billion), which is the present record.

As many as six rival bid groups are expected to table offers before Wednesday night’s deadline, set by United’s New York bankers, and the expectation is that at least two will raise their offers beyond £5 billion. It is understood opening offers, tabled in February, were closer to £4.5 billion.

While a Qatari group led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani remain favourites, sources have said the Ineos bidders fronted by Sir Jim

Ratcliffe impressed during their meetings with United officials in Manchester last Friday. The Qataris had their meetings the previous day, with insiders insisting those discussions were also positive.

While Ineos is only looking to purchase the 69 per cent stake of United at present owned by the Glazer family, its pursuit of United, The Times understands, could be strengthened by a possible partnership with one of the other bid groups.

Sheikh Jassim’s group is looking to buy 100 per cent of the Premier League club in a debt-free takeover but some of the offers that are submitted this week will only be for a minority share.

The Qataris and Ineos very much remain the leading contenders as the second stage of the sale process reaches its conclusion but as many as eight groups have met with United officials — as well as their bankers from Raine — during tours of Old Trafford and the club’s Carrington training ground in the past fortnight.

Among them were representatives from Elliott Investment Management, the United States fund reportedly offering its services to all potential buyers.

Glazers and United making FSG look like chumps. Yet vast swathes of our fanbase would tell you that they're super clever businessmen, not the fact that they're overseeing a rapid decline on and off the field, and the value of their asset head south

What's this?

[Aldo1988]

What's this?

Something that should be posted on RedCafe?

[Eeyore]

Something that should be posted on RedCafe?

I think it is naive to think that the potential sale of United won't have ramifications for Liverpool on several different levels. The sale price is likely to influence how much an investor is prepared to pay for either the club as a whole or for a partial investment in the club.

Then there will be differing implications depending on who buys United and whether it is a full sale or not. According to numerous media reports Gordon has already expressed private concerns about Liverpool's ability to compete financially with the likes of Newcastle, City and PSG.

Presumably, the worst outcome for Gordon would be Qatar buying United and adding another club to the list we would struggle to compete with. The best would almost certainly be their ESL ally the Glazers retaining control and demonstrating an ability to bring in a minority partner for big money.

That is even before we get to the possibility of failed bidders switching their attention to Liverpool.

For me what Gordon and FSG would like to see is a US-style European Super League with strict FFP protocols and much stricter ownership rules. A successful Qatar bid given their links to PSG makes that much harder to bring about. Whilst the Glazers retaining control of United makes that far more likely.

The ultimate question though is what implications it will have for our structure if Gordon becomes less involved if United becomes another state-funded team. If Gordon does become disillusioned would we need to take the leap and increase the powers of the next Sporting Director/DoF.

Personally, I think our ownership/investment situation will more than likely be in limbo until the United sale is concluded.

[Barneylfc∗]

Something that should be posted on RedCafe?

I'm interested to hear how they're overseeing a rapid decline off the field.

[Suareznumber7]

Glazers and United making FSG look like chumps. Yet vast swathes of our fanbase would tell you that they're super clever businessmen, not the fact that they're overseeing a rapid decline on and off the field, and the value of their asset head south

 

[Eeyore]

I'm interested to hear how they're overseeing a rapid decline off the field.

Just playing Devil's advocate here. I would imagine he means the Glazers being able to garner bids to both buy the whole club or bring in investment whilst FSG currently has been unable to do either. Add in the loss of a number of the suits and there is an argument that the club has some off-field issues.   

Hopefully, he is wrong and things are being overblown.

[Tiz Lad]

I'm interested to hear how they're overseeing a rapid decline off the field.

So you think not having a club doctor for 6 months, 2 directors of football leaving within 12 months, head of analytics and lots of other Key staff leaving. Medical staff leaving and not replaced is not a rapid decline?

Releasing a wooly statement pre Xmas over a sale/investment, key conduit between Klopp and the owners not available for 3 months creating a huge vacuum of uncertainty.

They're currently making a huge mess.

[Samie]

We've got a new doctor and club analytics head now. Head of Analytics was basically his deputy.

[RedSince86]

So you think not having a club doctor for 6 months, 2 directors of football leaving within 12 months, head of analytics and lots of other Key staff leaving. Medical staff leaving and not replaced is not a rapid decline?

Releasing a wooly statement pre Xmas over a sale/investment, key conduit between Klopp and the owners not available for 3 months creating a huge vacuum of uncertainty.

They're currently making a huge mess.

Hear hear.

Screams of an Ownership distracted elsewhere (NBA aspirations and finding ways to fund a new franchise at $4 billion), that highlighted bit shows a serious derelict of duty, how the fuck have they allowed this to happen, seems they can't find any minority investment because any potential suitor knows they'll use probably 90% of that for their NBA project that needs funding.

You see the same thing with the RedSox team, 4 seasons ago they were World Series champions, the last 2 years they have finished bottom of the eastern division and it looks to be carrying on with another quiet winter spending by FSG.

The sooner they are gone the better, they don't care anymore and it seems Gordon knows it as well.

This damning article by a Redsox fansite is very eerie, i'll post a snippet of it.

The Boston Red Sox are stalled while other big teams sign the biggest and best prizes in free agency. For most big-market teams, a quiet offseason would be the cause for alarm bells all over the region.

But not seemingly for the uninvolved Boston Red Sox ownership with their apathetic and ostensibly bottom-line-obsessed attitude. After winning four World Series in Boston, its prime focus is Plan B.

That entails increasing the value of the club exponentially, while the on-field product resides in the oblivion of last place in the AL East. Plan B rakes in profits hand-over-fist by charging outrageous prices for seats and everything else you can buy in old Fenway Park from hot dogs to beer.

One would think that a multi-billion (with a “B”) dollar organization that owns the Red Sox and Liverpool Reds and their stadiums among other holdings, would display some pride in their storied Boston franchise. They don’t.

https://chowderandchampions.com/2022/12/26/boston-red-sox-sleepy-offseason-lousy-harbinger-disappointment/

[JJ Red]

It should be noted as well that their NHL team (happens to be my hockey team in the US), the Penguins, are also in need of a rebuild. Their season has been a lot like ours...they're not completely out of it but they have had some terrible results this season (they've lost 7-0 and 6-0 in the last couple of months). Much better teams around, they'll never even contend for the cup, and they have an aging squad.

I suppose my point is that they are going to have 3 separate fan bases of 3 huge clubs in their respective sports, all asking for major rebuilds at the same time.

[killer-heels]

It should be noted as well that their NHL team (happens to be my hockey team in the US), the Penguins, are also in need of a rebuild. Their season has been a lot like ours...they're not completely out of it but they have had some terrible results this season (they've lost 7-0 and 6-0 in the last couple of months). Much better teams around, they'll never even contend for the cup, and they have an aging squad.

I suppose my point is that they are going to have 3 separate fan bases of 3 huge clubs in their respective sports, all asking for major rebuilds at the same time.

I think the sensible thing would be to sell the hockey and rounders team they have and use the money for players for us.

[Dim Glas]

they only just bought the Penguins 

That team has 3 superstar players that have been with them for the past 17/18 years, all tied up to big contracts (2 of them till they are 39/40 yearas old), so using up a big chunk of their wage cap. FSG sure do have a lot of decisions to make as to what to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins moving forward.

[killer-heels]

they only just bought the Penguins 

That team has 3 superstar players that have been with them for the past 17/18 years, all tied up to big contracts (2 of them till they are 39/40 yearas old), so using up a big chunk of their wage cap. FSG sure do have a lot of decisions to make as to what to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins moving forward.

Is there much money in Ice Hockey? Why buy them?

[Dim Glas]

Is there much money in Ice Hockey? Why buy them?

There’s money there for sure.  For one thing, they teams are cheaper to buy than the other big sports! They ‘only’ paid about $900m for the Penguins. The salary cap obviously is a big deal too.  Then tv revenue, sponsorship, gate receipts (ticket prices in the NHL are often extortionate, but people pay ‘em), and all the usual stuff. I get the feeling FSG also want a ‘nice’ portfolio of historical and / or big market teams, as much for the kudos, not that they want to lose money on them of course.

But yeah, in the NHL - the salary cap is a big deal and a huge plus for the owners who know from the getgo how much wages go out each year (and it’s far less than in the other big sports in North America).

[Barneylfc∗]

So you think not having a club doctor for 6 months, 2 directors of football leaving within 12 months, head of analytics and lots of other Key staff leaving. Medical staff leaving and not replaced is not a rapid decline?

Releasing a wooly statement pre Xmas over a sale/investment, key conduit between Klopp and the owners not available for 3 months creating a huge vacuum of uncertainty.

They're currently making a huge mess.

I wouldn't call it rapid decline. Restructuring maybe, but certainly not rapid decline.
It remains to be seen whether we continue to be shit next season. I'll just keep my toys in the pram for now.

[faisfais]

FSG is run by smart people. Their track record in both Red Sox and Liverpool prove that. I think the current situation around transfer market is more borne out of the economic uncertainty around the US economy (borrowing is no longer free). Liverpool can never compete financially with clubs run by nation states (or behave like nation states). Thankfully,  football is still won/lost on the field by 11 players with a tactical game-plan. I trust FSG to buy intelligently this summer to strengthen the midfield. It is on the club to ensure Klopp has a good pre-season & it is on Klopp's updated squad to implement his tactical game plan developed during this time.

Liverpool 2.0 is already starting to take shape post World Cup. Our updated front line dismantled Manchester United 7-0, and dispatched a disciplined Everton & hard-to-beat Newcastle side 2-0. But as evidenced by recent defeats, the update is not complete - the midfield has not been updated yet. Once we get the personnel integrated with updated tactics, we will start our upwards trajectory to more consistent winning sequences.

I don't really understand the knee-jerk reaction of some of our supporters when they see other teams signing quality players or spending billions of dollars. Look at Napoli.. a key few astute (bargain-bin by EPL standards) additions and departures of tired/disillusioned individuals, complimented with FULL 100% trust on Spalletti by the owners - BOOM.. possibly heading towards an infamous double!

Let's keep holding FSG accountable when they actually fuck up.

[Fruity]

FSG is run by smart people. Their track record in both Red Sox and Liverpool prove that.

Don't Red Sox fans hate John Henry. Wasn't he booed when he did some talk in January.

Considering what has been going over there I really don't understand why people on here think our club will be treated any differently. They have a business model that mainly revolves around being tight minge bags. They apply it there as far as I am aware and it has been applied here.

Unless an investor turns up with £200 million they will not be spending that this summer not unless we make some serious money in player sales.

I reckon next two transfer windows net spend will be about £80million tops. £40 million per window Net. Might be 50 if we are lucky.

[faisfais]

Don't Red Sox fans hate John Henry. Wasn't he booed when he did some talk in January.

As someone who has lived in Massachusetts for 9 years, Boston fans whine about everything.

[meady1981]

Best not to worry about it.

[Fruity]

As someone who has lived in Massachusetts for 9 years, Boston fans whine about everything.

Maybe but they were bottom of their league last season so might have a point.

[JJ Red]

they only just bought the Penguins 

That team has 3 superstar players that have been with them for the past 17/18 years, all tied up to big contracts (2 of them till they are 39/40 yearas old), so using up a big chunk of their wage cap. FSG sure do have a lot of decisions to make as to what to do with the Pittsburgh Penguins moving forward.

I think this season (so far) has been a bit of a wake up call for Pens fans. You're spot on about the contract situation; Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are all on big long-term deals and the salary cap situation does limit options.

My overall point was that they are going to have 3 passionate fanbases all baying for blood at exactly the same time. They'll all be looking at the others spend and then complain that the money should have been used to help them.

You could make the argument that we are possibly the easiest to fix...because there is no cap and we earn enough to justify a big spend

[faisfais]

You could make the argument that we are possibly the easiest to fix...because there is no cap and we earn enough to justify a big spend

No cap 'is' a bit of a problem..

[faisfais]

ChatGPT right there

Hehe.. No, I am just an engineer who likes fixing something I love rather than just buying a new one.

Let's put it this way - I would be questioning FSG more, if we did not have one of the largest wage bills in Europe. If we were not spending on transfers AND not paying market rate to retain our talent, I would question FSG's business model with more scrutiny.