Topic: Young talent can plug gaps

[redintweed]

problem is those Dempsey- and Carrollshaped gaps need filling pronto..and even if they can it's unfair to ask it of Sterling et al to do so at this point in time, but let's hope we can make do till January..

and by god FSG need to have straightened their shit out by then, success on the pitch must be the priority, balancing books and getting your model to look tip top distant second

Can't agree with this. We seem to forget, we were only a day or two from administration before FSG took over. Now I have my doubts about them, but I'm willing to wait and see how FSG pans out. We can't just go all out and demand success on the pitch and not worry about the books. If they hadn't trimmed the wage bill and got rid of the dead wood and made the club viable, how long do you think they will keep pouring money into the club? Last season we burnt 100 million quid on transfers, and how did that turn out? We don't have a sugar daddy like Man City or Chelsea. We have to live within our means. Tottenham, Newcastle and to some extent, Everton have been doing it and getting some decent results. We are a bigger club with greater revenues than those three, so we have to start getting smarter in how we do things. With a club the size of LFC, we really should be doing better. Unless some mega rich Russian or Arab buys us, then we have to live within our means.

We for sure have some talented kids coming through. We are going to need to be on the ball and keep the production line working. We just can't afford to buy 3 30 million quid world class players. A lot of responsibility for our future performances will rest with our ability to produce good kids that can step up to the first team squad. We have employed new scouts, Brendan has experience in youth matters and it seems that FSG want to build from within (judging by a lot of their statements).

Looking at our squad, with all the games that we could possibly play (depending on cup runs), a lot of youngsters are probably going to get a chance at some stage this season. Sterling has taken the bull by the horns, but teams will get smarter on how to play him. When that happens, then we'll see how good he is, or any other youngster that gets a run in the first team.

I'm sure we'll continue to battle with the top teams for the best young talent. But while Brendan is in charge, he'll be looking for a certain type of player, much like Rafa did. I just hope that Brendan is around for the long haul and all the (hopefully) good work comes to fruition.

[keyo]

Can't agree with this. We seem to forget, we were only a day or two from administration before FSG took over.

just a word about this....as it seems to pop up all over the place and used to justify an awful lot of things on here

we were not close to admnistration because our operation results were so poor that we were making massive losses that was putting pressure on finances

we were close to administration 10 because G&H and the other directors and the banks were playing a game of brinkmanship whilst wrestling for control of the bank and 2) because G&H financed the purchase of the club through debt that required servicing through massive interest payments, whilst rorting the club via expenses and "consulting fees" for "architects" and "surveyors" in the US

the books were effectively balanced on the day fsg took over, the debt wiped off the books (save for an amount relating to stadium costs) and the club reverted to operating on it's normal cash flows without significant financing costs.....what fsg had to deal with was the level of wages paid, which appeared to be around 70% of turnover, and revenues coming in......cost cutting will help with the first part, not necessarily the second part, so it is a balancing act......investment is often required to grow, compete, and generate more revenue, fsg have decided to go for stability now after a couple of years where the clubs lack of cost efficiency and effectiveness definitely blew out

they now have a strategy, which may or may not be successful, but it is a choice, it is not being forced upon them, they have stated many times they have the resources to compete, but also they will not overspend (again) and the club will have to stand on its own 2 feet financially which is their way of establishing control over transfer spending and wage costs through a low risk, low cash flow (relatively going forward) policy

[B0151?]

sorry but i hate the 'carroll shaped gap' as much as i love him, he hasn't really contributed while he's been here so there is no gap. there is still arguably a 'torres shaped gap' yes

[BreakfastPercy]

sorry but i hate the 'carroll shaped gap' as much as i love him, he hasn't really contributed while he's been here so there is no gap. there is still arguably a 'torres shaped gap' yes

Agreed. And plus it's quite nice people are excited to see which youngsters will play tonight rather than there being undue focus on whether Carroll would be playing either Young Boys or Utd. We really didn't need that influence and extra pressure on a young squad. His injury perhaps took a little pressure off too, even though I wish him a speedy recovery.

There's going to be some absolute bargains in January anyway if we can make it that far with a few points. Llorente, Huntelaar, Walcott: all players going into the last 6 months of their contract off the top of my head. Ideally we sign a value forward and Carroll starts banging them in.