Purchase of Robbie Keane

[DannyMan2006]

The whole Keane signing was a strange one. A striker that plays best in 442, when all last season we were doing just fine with 4231. So ok, he changes his plans and goes for 442, but then when Torres gets injured, Rafa realises Keane is ****e upfront alone, and doesn't quite know where else to play him, so he spends many a game in the bench while we go back to 4231 with Kuyt upfront.

The two worst aspects of his transfer were his fee which was ludicrous, and the fact that what we really needed was a top class right winger and a **** hot full back or two.

Maybe had Torres not got injured we would have seen a successfull Robbie Keane. Heres hoping for the second half of the season.

[dww]

Rubbish. Rafa is given a budget. The players brought in are not decided by their potential increase in value, just value for money. If Rafa feels that a 35 year old is worth £15m then so be it.

After all, it is Rafas performances the previous year that judge the amount in the budget. If he thinks the 35 year old will win the trophies for LFC who is to say otherwise? No doubt if the player flopped his budget would be affected the following year due to poor performance.

A compromise I would suggest is this:

Give Rafa the control, but if a clause is inserted in his contract. The clause being that if we finsih out the top 4 the board can sack him and pay a nominal compensation package to Rafa. Basically, he can have the control but failure would result in a financial loss to him. If Rafa was confident of success using his methods then he should be willing to accept that.

Increase in value is a separate issue but I would suggest that buying expensive players with minimal resale value is a big risk for the business even if it makes sense for the manager in the sense that a manager is always judged by short term results. The fact that Rafa has generally done a good job and looked to the future is no guarantee he will always do so. I don't see any sense in giving the manager powers that can become unsustainable. I would suggest that board intervention at that level should be minimal and they should express trust in Rafa's judgment but I don't see giving him complete, unfettered control as either necessary or even sensible.

[MrsB]

Increase in value is a separate issue but I would suggest that buying expensive players with minimal resale value is a big risk for the business even if it makes sense for the manager in the sense that a manager is always judged by short term results. The fact that Rafa has generally done a good job and looked to the future is no guarantee he will always do so. I don't see any sense in giving the manager powers that can become unsustainable. I would suggest that board intervention at that level should be minimal and they should express trust in Rafa's judgment but I don't see giving him complete, unfettered control as either necessary or even sensible.

I agree and I think you can see at Arsenal where this could lead to.

[Neil Young]

so was keanes acquisition rafa's idea or not....judging by the interview it doesnt seem like it. the last time i checked we dont have a technical director or is that incompetent **** parry masquerading as one....cant be the yanks cus they know fcuk all about the game.

So, to summarise the thread so far, we don't know.

[flyboy]

So, to summarise the thread so far, we don't know.

i kinda noticed that too

[flyboy]

the way i see it is that possibly rafa is sending out a signal here"well you can choose you you wanna buy but i;ll decide whos on the field that day" unfortunately our other "strikers" have let me him down and ultimately everyone is paying for it. just imagine if kuyt had delivered in recent games with keane on the bench...keane eventually would have handed it a transfer and rafa would have succeeded in his plan....just a theory

[peekay]

I think Rafa wanted Barry at any cost followed by Keane, if money is available. I think Parry and the board overruled Rafa and went after Keane. That is my guess.

[the rev leeroy brown]

buying keane was defo rafa's idea. he obviously wanted a link up man for torres as gerard was still harping on about wanting to play centre mid. he also wanted barry though (**** knows why) but the board had backed him enough in the transfer window already and knew spunking another 20 million on a 28year old slow left back would be a waste.

[shanks69]

Increase in value is a separate issue but I would suggest that buying expensive players with minimal resale value is a big risk for the business even if it makes sense for the manager in the sense that a manager is always judged by short term results. The fact that Rafa has generally done a good job and looked to the future is no guarantee he will always do so. I don't see any sense in giving the manager powers that can become unsustainable. I would suggest that board intervention at that level should be minimal and they should express trust in Rafa's judgment but I don't see giving him complete, unfettered control as either necessary or even sensible.

don't forget that if the expensive players with minimal resale value help win the league and or cl,that would probably bring more money in than any sale.

[Tee]

Rafa quite clearly stated at the time that Barry was not a direct replacement for Alonso therefore we must assume his purchase was to provide us with options on the left wing and at left back.Him not coming led to us buying Reira who luckily enough has been a good replacement.

It was just rumour as far as any of us know about Alonso being for sale anyway and without that whole saga who knows if Alonso would've played with the form he has.For me that possible sale was a major factor in giving Xabi the kick he needed to rediscover his first season form.

Sorry dude but it is more than clear Alonso was for sale - Juve were very close to buying him but could not pay the fee Rafa wanted.

Alonso did not need a kick to rediscover his form IMO, he just needed the opportunity to start a season fresh from injuries and he had that.

[dww]

don't forget that if the expensive players with minimal resale value help win the league and or cl,that would probably bring more money in than any sale.

They might - you have to think of the chances of risk and reward I agree. I think that the financial arm of the business has the right to input (and veto in extreme circumstances) on these sorts of decisions.

You have to think that we couldn't have absorbed say a Shevchenko style gamble that failed to come off. If that had happened we would have had very little to turn round the team the year after. Most of the time in my view Rafa hasn't looked to make those sort of gambles but it is far from unimaginable.

[Baldemort]

With regards to resale value, Keane could turn out to be a massive gamble. If you buy Torres for £20 mill and he's ok but not great, you can still flog him for there or there abouts. If he's good but he wants to leave, you get even more. But Keane will be past it by the time we sell him, and if he's spent a lot of his time warming the bench, watching us miss out on the title, it'll be a waste of millions as we'll get peanuts for him come resale time. However, if we win, nobody will give a ****.

[fred_plasticine]

The whole Keane signing was a strange one. A striker that plays best in 442, when all last season we were doing just fine with 4231. So ok, he changes his plans and goes for 442, but then when Torres gets injured, Rafa realises Keane is ****e upfront alone, and doesn't quite know where else to play him, so he spends many a game in the bench while we go back to 4231 with Kuyt upfront.

The two worst aspects of his transfer were his fee which was ludicrous, and the fact that what we really needed was a top class right winger and a **** hot full back or two.

sorry but that's not true. when keane knocked two past whoever it was we played a 4-2-3-1 with kuyt the lone striker and keane in the free role behind him. he himself said that free role is where he plays best.
just because sky draw the line up as 4-4-2 doesn't mean it actually is one.

[Baldemort]

sorry but that's not true. when keane knocked two past whoever it was we played a 4-2-3-1 with kuyt the lone striker and keane in the free role behind him. he himself said that free role is where he plays best.
just because sky draw the line up as 4-4-2 doesn't mean it actually is one.

I agree. But when Gerrard is fit, Keane won't get that role in a 4231. That's why it has to be in a 442. And to be fair, Keane has played the lone striker often this season and has been awful. I've lost count of the number of air kicks. How often have we played 4231 this season with Keane replacing Gerrard in the hole/free role?

[Parm]

His first choice was clearly Gareth Barry and Robbie Keane.

The intention was to sell Xabi Alonso and buy Barry with the cash from that sale. This is as wll known as anything. The board blocked this from happening and I guess we are all happy about it due to Xabi's form.

In the end Keane came in as planned and Riera was brought in to compensate for the lack of a left sided player.

The reason Rafa is unhappy is that the board thought paying over the odds for Keane was acceptable, but that it was not acceptable to pay over the odds for Barry. How can they make this decision? Rafa is not saying he wants more money, he is saying that he should be the one allowed to say how it is spent. After all, he is the one judged on his signings and he is the one who will carry the can if Keane flops.

We all found it absurd whenRoman went over Mourinhos head and bought Shevchenko, saying it should be left to the manager to pick targets. Well that is what Rafa is asking for.

If LFC have £20m to spend it should be Rafa who gets to decide how every penny is spent. Parry can still negotiate, but if a club say they want X more million taking up more of the budget it should be for Rafa to decide if that is the correct course of action.

I can not see what all the fuss is.

Spot on, the final choice should be with Rafa, with Parry (or his replacement) doing the negotiations and coming back to Rafa with the final yes/no