Damien Comolli

[kris90210]

Because I know what he does (or doesn't!!!)

Apart from total goals conceded and some spells of final 3rd excellence, bar the end product, there is nothing I can support about Kenny's management this season and it is so evident it is untrue.

The football fan world is laughing at our club in hysterics about our obsession with Kenny and it's only a handful of rose-tinted pundits and LFC fans who think Kenny should stay.

Genuine question. Why do you hate Kenny so much?

[Phil_Neal]

Genuine question. Why do you hate Kenny so much?

I don't hate him, I just don't want him managing the club. I think he is doing a terrible job and at 61yrs old there is no point giving him time, plus I have seen nothing this season that would give me reason to believe he can turn this around.

I just see no point in keeping him on.

[G]

Genuine question. Why do you hate Kenny so much?

Because Kenny got the managers job when Fagan stepped down and he didn't

[kris90210]

I don't hate him, I just don't want him managing the club. I think he is doing a terrible job and at 61yrs old there is no point giving him time, plus I have seen nothing this season that would give me reason to believe he can turn this around.

I just see no point in keeping him on.

It's just that you seem to be far, far more aggressive towards wanting him out than anyone else on here. It does really seem like you hate him

In my gut, I don't think it's going to work out for Dalglish, but I'm very sad about that - it really is a horrible feeling

[Gibbo]

Why does Dalglish's age come into it?

[MrMichael]

It's just that you seem to be far, far more aggressive towards wanting him out than anyone else on here. It does really seem like you hate him

In my gut, I don't think it's going to work out for Dalglish, but I'm very sad about that - it really is a horrible feeling

Exactly. Its horrible. I have no idea why any genuine LFC fan would be so rabid about wanting Kenny out. Sad, resigned to it, wanting it done with dignity and calm that respects what he has achieved in the past with us both as a player and manager, and what he did by taking over after Hodgson and helping the club feel united again, even if just briefly, that I can totally understand, I'm close to that myself. However I just cannot get this aggressive, turn every single discussion and point to the same thing attitude being displayed here. It genuinely does seem like hatred, to the extent that he can make all sorts of excuses for Comolli, a guy who has no history with the club and only an average previous career record when you look into it, and who is very much an important part of this regime, yet afford none of the same courtesy to Kenny? I really just don't get it.

[Alex]

I don't hate him, I just don't want him managing the club. I think he is doing a terrible job and at 61yrs old there is no point giving him time, plus I have seen nothing this season that would give me reason to believe he can turn this around.

I just see no point in keeping him on.

So whats age got to do with it? He could possibly go on until he is 70. So 9 more years with us. He is fit enough.

I have seen you use his age to bash him plenty. There is no point. Wenger, Redknapp and Ferguson are all older. In fact, Redknapp was the same age as Kenny when he took over at spurs.

[RichC]

So whats age got to do with it? He could possibly go on until he is 70. So 9 more years with us. He is fit enough.

I have seen you use his age to bash him plenty. There is no point. Wenger, Redknapp and Ferguson are all older. In fact, Redknapp was the same age as Kenny when he took over at spurs.

It fits into his agenda.

[Danish_Pastry]

Kenny did take over after Hodgson. At that time the players had hunger for attacking football - they knew each other (from min. ½ a season) and wanted a change.

In the summer KK did change a lot. New players came in, whom hadn't experienced the changes made last season. They even have become major part of the spine. So they have only KK as example - not the difference that happened. Do you think Agger would have KK out after what happened to him under Hodgson?? NOOO. Do you thing Kelly wants KK out - NOOO. Carroll may want him out - Kuyt and Maxi neither (although Maxi had a good spell in the team spoiled, when the summertransfers arrived). Reina was on his way out last year - now he needs to stay, to rebuild a reputation as a good keeper (with all his blunders lately). No - the club need KK to stay, but it also need some kind of major shakeup, to force some of the lazy unconcentrated players to wake up (eg. Suarez and Gerrard out - or that KK brings in several youth players instead of Downing, Adam, Henderson, Carroll on a regular basis (next 3 matches - maybe even at Wembley).

[Lecter]

It fits into his agenda.

[Mostar]

http://www.nesn.com/2012/03/liverpool-fc-director-of-football-damien-comolli-feels-club-is-headed-in-right-direction-excited-to-.html

Liverpool FC Director of Football Damien Comolli Feels Club is Headed in Right Direction, Excited to Play at Fenway Park

Liverpool FC director of football Damien Comolli talks exclusively to NESN.com on all things LFC. The conversation includes his privilege of working for Liverpool, last summer's transfer window, scouting and the way forward with the Academy.

NESN.com contributor Alan Kayll conducted the question-and-answer session, attempting to get an in-depth perspective on the famous football club.

AK: How are you finding life at Liverpool?

DC: As with everybody who is involved in football, my life is pretty dependant on result. So, I have got a great life when we win and not so great when we don't win.

But I feel privileged to work for LFC. It is such a fantastic club. I also like the city very much, it's difficult to find people who are more welcoming than people in Liverpool.

AK: What is a typical day for Damien Comolli?

DC: It is usually a long and busy day but very exciting. If I'm in Liverpool, my time is spread with day to day stuff which involves interaction with Kenny [Dalgish] and his staff, players contracts, recruitment, meeting with agents, academy, medical, etc...

We have spent a lot of time recently working on the EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) as we felt it was an important step up for our academy.

Obviously the closer we get from the windows, the more work there is regarding recruitment and scouting.

I also travel a lot to watch games. There are weeks where I watch 5 or 6 games in 5 or 6 countries.
My philosophy every day when I leave my place is what can we do today to take the club forward,what can we do to gain five percent in all areas and make our organization a world class one.

The good thing is all the staff at Melwood and at the academy have got this in mind as well.

AK: When you first arrived at Liverpool what scouting system was in place and what changes have you made to this area?

DC: We have changed pretty much everything after a thorough review. We have made scouting in the UK a lot stronger from under eight (years old) up to the 1st team.

I wanted to give as much resources as possible to the academy and to the u14/u19 age group as this is a key area for scouting.

The work is starting to pay off, as shown with the signing of top young talents both from the UK [United Kingdom] and abroad. Frank McParland and Stuart Webber are doing a great job in this area.

Regarding the first team, we have increased the number of scouts but with more presence in the UK and reallocated the foreign scouts in areas which we think are more relevant to us. Steve Hitchen our overseas scouting coordinator has done a great job at recruiting very good foreign scouts.

The owners are very supportive in this area as well and will give us more budget to recruit more scouts abroad in the summer to expand our network further.

AK: Within the fan base people say you have signed x player and Kenny has signed x player, how exactly does it work when you sign a player?

DC: I am not sure where those rumours are coming from as they are false. Kenny and I work together, if we get it right it is together and if we get it wrong it is together.

As I said many times before, we would not sign a player Kenny is not comfortable with.

AK: We saw a massive turn around in the playing staff during the summer are you happy with the way it went?

DC: Yes, we are happy. We knew it will be a challenge as for instance we had so many players out on loan, whom we probably would have to move on, and players here at Liverpool who didn't get playing time and wanted to leave.

I have never gone through a transfer window doing so many deals.

Since January 11, we have signed nine first-team players and we are very pleased with the way it went. This is a long term rebuilding project. We didn't sign players for six months, but for a long period of time as we know they will keep improving.
AK: There are conflicting reports as to whether Alberto Aquilani has reached the amount of games played with AC Milan to make his transfer permanent in the summer. What is the latest on this?

DC: We never give information on transfer as there is a confidentiality clause in every transfer agreement we do, so I won't comment on this one apart from confirming that AC Milan have got an option to buy Alberto.

AK: Liverpool failed to do any business in the January window, why was this?

DC: We didn't fail to do business. It's a question of opportunities. There is no point in doing transfers for the sake of doing a transfer. It has to be relevant for the team and bring us an improvement. There were no opportunities to do so in January so we decided not to do anything. Our potential targets were not available.

AK: After the Carling Cup final win at Wembley you made some comments regarding "big" players showing interest in coming to Liverpool. Are you expecting a busy summer?

DC: I'm not expecting a summer as busy at it was last year. We only have a few adjustments to make.

AK: You have set up a relationship with Nacional in Uruguay. Should we expect to see deals with any other clubs across the world in the future?

DC: We have been talking to Nacional when we signed Seba Coates as they have got a great academy which has produced players such as Luis [Suarez] and Seba. That's not too bad!

If I remember well, out of the 23 players who won the Copa America for Uruguay last summer, 18 have played for Nacional at some point in their career. That's why we thought having a relationship with them would make sense. They were very keen to work with us as well.

We are looking at building other relationships globally, we are talking or about to finalize a few of those.

AK: What is your opinion of the reserve league? Do you feel a new system needs to be implemented to get the progession of the younger players moved quicker?

DC: Definitely! As I said before we have worked a lot on the EPPP for the last 2 years, a big part of this work being related to the games programme, especially the Under-21 league. This is something English football desperately needed, we are pleased it has been voted through. The idea of playing the best against the best in an official competition was very attractive to us.

Also our involvement in the NextGen tournament was very positive for Rodolpho's [Borell] players.
We can't wait for the new reserve league to start.

AK: We have seen four home grown youngsters make significant steps to the first-team squad over the past 18 months. [Jay] Spearing, [Martin] Kelly, [Jon] Flanagan and [Jack] Robinson all products of Steve Heighway. How important is it to bring through a new crop and do you feel LFC has the potential for them in the U-16's, U-15's, and U-14's?

DC: Don't forget Raheem {Sterling] who has made his debut last week! Frank McParland, Rodolpho Borell and Pep Segura have done a great job at developing our academy for the last three years and taking it into a new dimension both from a coaching and scouting point of view. We are now up there with the very best.

The quality of Rodolpho and Pep's coaching has helped developed Flanagan and Robinson tremendously. Their progresses over the last three years have been very impressive. Same thing for Raheem.

Now that we have got both the scouting and the coaching right, we can expect more players to come through. We have got a lot of talent from U-16s to U-12s. It is an enjoyment to watch them train and play.

Credit to Kenny as well as he's got no problem in playing all those young players. Good enough, old enough as far as Kenny is concerned.

AK: Finally, Damien, and thank you for your time. The club has announced a tour of North America in the summer. With the club being based in Boston and a game at Fenway confirmed, how important is it for the club to visit these places and are you excited about heading to New England?

DC: We are very excited to come to New England and play at fenway for the 100th anniversary of the ball park. Everybody at the club enjoys going to new places (visited Malaysia, China and Singapore last year).

We also know our US fan base will be delighted. And the most important thing for us is to put in the work necessary in order to build up a fitness level which will help the players perform throughout the season.

[Shaggy]

Blimey Liverpool cabbie Alan Kayll interviewing DC!

[Shaggy]

Vulnerable Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli must help Kenny Dalglish sign better players

Springtime is traditionally scapegoat-hunting season at Anfield.

By Chris Bascombe

11:59PM BST 30 Mar 2012

The premature post-mortem into the league campaign begins, and if criticising a popular manager is too hard to stomach, there is usually an array of boardroom executives, owners or Liverpool players who are more convenient targets.

Nowadays, there is an even more vulnerable object of the fans’ ire: the director of football.

For those with no appetite to question the signings of Kenny Dalglish, shifting attention to Damien Comolli (pictured) – a man with no historic or emotional ties to the Kop – is less provocative.

Each poor performance is followed by questions about his role, but the definition of Comolli ’s position is clear. When Dalglish identifies a player he wants to sign, Comolli starts the negotiations to complete the deal.

That is how it worked last summer. If player contracts need extending, Comolli takes care of this. He has basically absorbed many responsibilities once associated with the chief executive.

There is now a distinction between the corporate and sporting aspects of how Liverpool are run, so you will not find anyone trying to agree a fee for a player one minute while trying to organise the ticket office the next.

Comolli is also entrusted with finding talent and bringing it to Dalglish’s attention.

There is a difference between a recommendation and a demand he sign someone. As yet, there is no player recruited under the new regime who the manager did not want. That will remain the case.

Equally, there will be an expectation this summer that Comolli shows evidence of the contacts and ability to spot a bargain that convinced Fenway Sports Group to make him their first appointment after taking charge.

Dalglish will anticipate his scouting department will supply a series of attainable names that will have him purring with excitement. This is where pressure on Comolli will justifiably intensify. Comolli believes his track record at Arsenal and Spurs demonstrates his ability to unearth talent. It must be said, there are those at both north London clubs who believe his contribution was significantly overplayed.

We are left to reach conclusions depending on the strength of each briefing, as in football credit is never apportioned fairly if it is a threat to one’s own self-interest.

If Comolli was the greatest talent spotter since Brian Epstein, his former clubs probably would not admit it, but it does not mean they are wrong in their mischievous whispers that FSG were sold a pup.

What is not disputed is Comolli oversaw many of the deals at White Hart Lane for players who have excelled since he left, but it needed the appointment of Harry Redknapp to get the best from them.

Liverpool’s form since their Carling Cup win triggers an alarming sense of déjà vu for Comolli. In February 2008, Juande Ramos’s Spurs side beat Chelsea in the League Cup final.

Of the subsequent 20 Premier League games, Spurs won just three, leading to the dismissal of Ramos, his assistant Gus Poyet and Comolli himself. After recommending Ramos’s appointment, Comolli had been warned he would be held accountable for failure.

Of the five Premier League games Liverpool have played since beating Cardiff, they have lost four. They head to Newcastle tomorrow, a club who have benefited from the French market you would expect Comolli to know best.

While there are those who will seek to drive a wedge between the director and the manager as sides are taken in the blame game, the fate of Comolli and Dalglish is united by a single factor which will decide their futures. They must identify and sign better players.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/9176958/Vulnerable-Liverpool-director-of-football-Damien-Comolli-must-help-Kenny-Dalglish-sign-better-players.html

[Imy]

Lets hope that interview is one of showing support and not really his views.

Because the UK scouting (which they've increased)and the signings they've made have been majority failure. He also says the 1st team also needs just a few adjustments

Lets hope in reality he's going to be kicking some asses.

[Shaggy]

Yep, he's never gonna say "well many of our transfers last summer have proved disastrous". I'm sure some of the **** from last summer will go. Downing to Sunderland for £8m, Adam to Villa for £5m.