Luis Suárez

[Tribute]

Yes that brings cash in but top players also demand big salaries and dare I say that those savings you have listed above could easily be swallowed up by the signing of a couple of top players

Thanks for clarifying Lec.
Is your reason for him leaving based on personal experience or gut feel, given he's obviously very ambitious (and rightly so)...

[Lecter]

Or maybe players just moved around less because the wages weren't as good so the cost of upheaval in their personal lives wasn't worth it, etc. Do we even know whether there are more transfers these days? I'd guess it's likely.

It depends on whether you define loyalty as a state of mind (he's loyal because he chose to stay at one club) or simply a feature of behaviour (he's loyal because he stayed at one club). It's often not easy to distinguish the former from the latter but I suspect the fatuous tossers on TV who trot out the cliché about loyalty being a thing of the past haven't got quite that far.

I'm sure there was less movement and less freedom of movement back then

Remember also clubs could actually prevent players from leaving even out of contract players back then

Players only really started gaining power after the Bosman ruling

[cream]

It's also more of a global game, top players from lesser leagues want to play in the top leagues and don't mind moving from one league to another. Top players from from the top leagues don't tend to move around as much and are unlikely to play for their rivals in the same league.

[dom9]

Or maybe players just moved around less because the wages weren't as good so the cost of upheaval in their personal lives wasn't worth it, etc. Do we even know whether there are more transfers these days? I'd guess it's likely.

It depends on whether you define loyalty as a state of mind (he's loyal because he chose to stay at one club) or simply a feature of behaviour (he's loyal because he stayed at one club). It's often not easy to distinguish the former from the latter but I suspect the fatuous tossers on TV who trot out the cliché about loyalty being a thing of the past haven't got quite that far.

I'm sure there was less movement and less freedom of movement back then

Remember also clubs could actually prevent players from leaving even out of contract players back then

Players only really started gaining power after the Bosman ruling

Yep, so it puts loyalty in a slightly different perspective then. It's easy to be loyal when you have very little choice / maximum wage / no freedom of contract even when the contract expires.

The Bosman rule only happened in 1995, and in my opinion loyalty has actually increased since then in terms of the number of players playing for one club for their whole careers. I've not looked at the figures mind. Obviously "disloyalty" has also massively increased with freedom of contract, but as Neil alludes, it's probable that the number of transfers has increased with more players changing club more regularly.

[Sarb]

I think this reducing of the wage bill is a bit misunderstood. Suarez got his salary upto £100k through performances. So we'll still pay big wages but it will be incentivised, the way it should be. We've been an easy target for crap players wanting to get on board and earn a big wage. Football is changing and I think a lot more clubs will follow suit. I think we'll still spend a decent sum every window too, but there are good players out there to be had without paying a fortune eg. Coutinho

[dom9]

I think this reducing of the wage bill is a bit misunderstood. Suarez got his salary upto £100k through performances. So we'll still pay big wages but it will be incentivised, the way it should be. We've been an easy target for crap players wanting to get on board and earn a big wage. Football is changing and I think a lot more clubs will follow suit. I think we'll still spend a decent sum every window too, but there are good players out there to be had without paying a fortune eg. Coutinho

There is a certain irony with this method of reward however.

If you're not careful, you might spend more on incetivised bonuses than you earn from winning a competition. This is what happened when Portsmouth won the cup and it was one the nails in their coffin. They would have been financially better off getting knocked out in the earlier stages.

I'm sure the financial bods know what they are doing however.

[Lecter]

I think this reducing of the wage bill is a bit misunderstood. Suarez got his salary upto £100k through performances. So we'll still pay big wages but it will be incentivised, the way it should be. We've been an easy target for crap players wanting to get on board and earn a big wage. Football is changing and I think a lot more clubs will follow suit. I think we'll still spend a decent sum every window too, but there are good players out there to be had without paying a fortune eg. Coutinho

I dont think it has been misunderstood, they want the wage bill down. They and you can dress it up how you want but the bottomline is we will be paying less money out that is their goal

Either way its going to be more difficult to attract players by offerring incentivised wages rather than offerring them huge salaries like we use to

Football is going to eventually go towards incentivised wages but you can bet your life that being at the forefront of that movement isnt going to help attract top players short term

I want to make it clear that I like this idea of offerring wages partially based on performance. I think its sensible long term but lets not kid ourselves that short term it isnt going to affect our ability to sign top players

[Sarb]

I dont think it has been misunderstood, they want the wage bill down. They and you can dress it up how you want but the bottomline is we will be paying less money out that is their goal

Either way its going to be more difficult to attract players by offerring incentivised wages rather than offerring them huge salaries like we use to

Football is going to eventually go towards incentivised wages but you can bet your life that being at the forefront of that movement isnt going to help attract top players short term

I want to make it clear that I like this idea of offerring wages partially based on performance. I think its sensible long term but lets not kid ourselves that short term it isnt going to affect our ability to sign top players

I agree on the attracting of top players. I think we're in a difficult position. It's the culmination of mismanagement of previous regimes also. Hicks and Gillett era will affect us for a very long time. We don't have a team good enough for Top 4 so if we don't pay the wages and don't have CL football, we can't attract the players.

Long term I think we'll be okay. The playing field will become a bit more leveller, but it's going to be long term. Will be tough for all concerned.

But I think the chance we had to attract the top top players was the summer after Kenny took charge when he got the job. There was a buzz around the club and we played some great stuff. To go out and spend the way we did was scandalous.

[BigChief]

Lets not forget we had Torres saying he was staying and senior management reiterating that he wouldnt be sold in the months preceeding his transfer to Chelsea

I'm not blaiming anyone at the club, not Ayre, not Brendan, not even FSG

However I dont believe Suarez will be a Liverpool player next season

I've made my peace with that. Just hope he doesn't screw us over by selecting one club (Bayern) who will then proceed to cap any price we put on his head.

[fidget]

Where would Suarez rank amongst the best players ever to play for Liverpool? Top 10? Top 5?

top 1
We've had a couple as good but none better in my opinion.

[dom9]

top 1
We've had a couple as good but none better in my opinion.

[Lee]

That is some claim. Some claim indeed.

[Yozza]

top 1
We've had a couple as good but none better in my opinion.

Long way to go to usurp the top 3 imo....

From Times Online
February 13, 2009
The 50 greatest Liverpool players

50 Fernando Torres
49 Rob Jones
48 Peter Thompson
47 Jackie Balmer
46 Sami Hyypia
45 Matt Busby
44 Peter Beardsley
43 Elisha Scott
42 Jerzy Dudek
41 Bob Paisley
40 David Fairclough
39 Ray Clemence
38 Jan Molby
37 Phil Neal
36 Tommy Lawrence
35 Albert Stubbins
34 Chris Lawler
33 Steve McMahon
32 Steve Nicol
31 Sammy Lee
30 Gerry Byrne
29 Ronnie Whelan
28 John Toshack
27 John Aldridge
26 Dietmar Hamann
25 Steve Heighway
24 Mark Lawrenson
23 Joey Jones
22 Ray Kennedy
20 Ian Callaghan
19 Michael Owen
18 Jimmy Case
17 Emlyn Hughes
16 Phil Thompson
15 Alan Kennedy
14 Robbie Fowler
13 Ron Yeats
12 Ian St John
11 Ian Rush
10 Roger Hunt
9 Jamie Carragher
8 Billy Liddell
7 Alan Hansen
6 Kevin Keegan
5 Tommy Smith
4 Graeme Souness
3 John Barnes
2 Steven Gerrard
1 Kenny Dalglish

[Neil Young]

I dont think it has been misunderstood, they want the wage bill down. They and you can dress it up how you want but the bottomline is we will be paying less money out that is their goal

In monetary terms or as a percentage of income?

It's a crucial difference.

[Vermilion]

It's impossible to judge, different eras, vastly different quality of teams and team mates and managers too.

But i could see many of our younger lfc fans having Suarez as their No1.