Manager Poll

[Imy]

Smicer was a far better player than Downing and proved as much with some of his displays. Just couldn't handle the physical nature of the league and suffered with niggling injuries. Supremely gifted.

I remember a game where Houllier started both Smicer and Litmanen, they were fantastic together, The old codger never used them to the same effect again

Downing supposedly is excellent in training, just doesn't reproduce in the games.

Smicer was physically fragile (but as seen by Messi and his Barca chums size is not everything) Downing is mentally fragile.

[kris90210]

Seems to have dropped off the radar as of late and for me I really think he should be under as much if not more pressure than Kenny.

Why?? Mate, we don't know the extent of his role. We don't know enough about his working relationship with Dalglish to make an informed judgement about his performance.

For all we know, he wanted us to sign Mata et al, but Kenny said, 'no, I want premiership proven...' We have no idea.

All we can do is trust that the people behind the scenes know what is going on, and if he is majorly culpable for out transfer policy, then it's not gone unnoticed and something will be done about it in the summer.

[Roboklopp]

To be fair, Baros was hardly Rafa's fave either. Cisse (again not Rafa's fave) broke his leg & the only real options were Le Tallec & Pongolle (I liked the latter but he was young).

Rafa did get the best out of Baros v Juve (even tho he never scored, he harassed their defence so much they were permanently on the bakc foot), but he hardly "insisted" on playing him & flogged him to Villa soon as he could.

[Buzzo]

To be fair, Baros was hardly Rafa's fave either. Cisse (again not Rafa's fave) broke his leg & the only real options were Le Tallec & Pongolle (I liked the latter but he was young).

Rafa did get the best out of Baros v Juve (even tho he never scored, he harassed their defence so much they were permanently on the bakc foot), but he hardly "insisted" on playing him & flogged him to Villa soon as he could.

He inherited Owen (who instantly left) and had to choose from Baros, Cisse (until leg break) Neil Mellor, and Pongolle that season. Based on how long any of them survived at the club I think it would be fair to say none of them were rated. Winning the CL with Baros, Mellor and Pongolle as your forwards seems like some kind of alchemy now.

[RichC]

Why?? Mate, we don't know the extent of his role. We don't know enough about his working relationship with Dalglish to make an informed judgement about his performance.

For all we know, he wanted us to sign Mata et al, but Kenny said, 'no, I want premiership proven...' We have no idea.

All we can do is trust that the people behind the scenes know what is going on, and if he is majorly culpable for out transfer policy, then it's not gone unnoticed and something will be done about it in the summer.

You can flip that around though. We don't know Kenny didn't want Mata etc....

Essentially for me they both have to carry any of burden of blame together, as they were sold as a team to us.

[Daniel 7]

Remember the Baros hat trick v Crystal Palace and Rafa keeping him on the pitch afterwards to tell him where he went wrong?

[kris90210]

You can flip that around though. We don't know Kenny didn't want Mata etc....

Essentially for me they both have to carry any of burden of blame together, as they were sold as a team to us.

No, based on the interviews he's given you can't. Comolli has gone on the record to say that Kenny has the final say on transfers. Ultimately the buck stops with him in my opinion.

And sad to say, the transfer record isn't the only thing that Kenny deserves criticism for. I certainly don't see why Comolli should be coming in for 'more' blame than Dalglish for our current predicament

[G]

No, based on the interviews he's given you can't. Comolli has gone on the record to say that Kenny has the final say on transfers. Ultimately the buck stops with him in my opinion.

And sad to say, the transfer record isn't the only thing that Kenny deserves criticism for. I certainly don't see why Comolli should be coming in for 'more' blame than Dalglish for our current predicament

The way I see it is this,Kenny says I need a winger.Comolli and the scouting team do their job then present Kenny with the options,Kenny then picks from that list in order of preference then Comolli goes out and try's to deal for them in the order Kenny told him to.If he can't get 1st choice then he tells Kenny that and he then goes for who's next.We seen that with Carroll who we went for when our bid for Lorente was rejected.

At the end of the day who we sign depends on lots of factors such as who's available,who's willing to deal and who was on the list in the 1st place.Its too simple to say its the managers fault.

[kris90210]

The way I see it is this,Kenny says I need a winger.Comolli and the scouting team do their job then present Kenny with the options,Kenny then picks from that list in order of preference then Comolli goes out and try's to deal for them in the order Kenny told him to.If he can't get 1st choice then he tells Kenny that and he then goes for who's next.We seen that with Carroll who we went for when our bid for Lorente was rejected.

At the end of the day who we sign depends on lots of factors such as who's available,who's willing to deal and who was on the list in the 1st place.Its too simple to say its the managers fault.

That's you making assumptions though mate. That was the way we worked under Rafa. Who's to say it's how we work now? For all we know, Kenny has specifically gone out and said, 'get me Stuart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.'

Someone has to take responsibility, and the buck stops with the manager.

[RichC]

No, based on the interviews he's given you can't. Comolli has gone on the record to say that Kenny has the final say on transfers. Ultimately the buck stops with him in my opinion.

And sad to say, the transfer record isn't the only thing that Kenny deserves criticism for. I certainly don't see why Comolli should be coming in for 'more' blame than Dalglish for our current predicament

We'll disagree then.

They both shoud carry blame but thats as someone looking in and seeing what I can see, FSG will ultimately decide where if any blame is going to be placed. I'd imagine they'll not be happy with a whole host of things at the moment.

[RichC]

That's you making assumptions though mate. That was the way we worked under Rafa. Who's to say it's how we work now? For all we know, Kenny has specifically gone out and said, 'get me Stuart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.'

Someone has to take responsibility, and the buck stops with the manager.

But you're making asumptions as well ! You even do it in the same sentence

[el matador]

the biggest problem with this club is its biggest strength.

the fans.

fsg wanted a younger manager to take the club forward but we wanted kenny. so they listened to the fans and gave us what we wanted. if kenny hadnt been given his contract the fans would have gone ballistic so they caved.

this mess has been created by the demands of the fans. any club run by the whims of its fans is doomed to fail. which leads me to ask for all the good ian ayre has done for this club can he be trusted to make the right decisions without thinking as a fan.

was he one of the driving forces behind kennys appointment full time. there was no doubt that after the hodgson debacle kenny was exactly what the club, fans and the team needed. but after he saw us to the end of the season did we really need him as the long term manager.

is kenny really what fsgs long term vision is about ?

[RichC]

the biggest problem with this club is its biggest strength.

the fans.

fsg wanted a younger manager to take the club forward but we wanted kenny. so they listened to the fans and gave us what we wanted. if kenny hadnt been given his contract the fans would have gone ballistic so they caved.

this mess has been created by the demands of the fans. any club run by the whims of its fans is doomed to fail. which leads me to ask for all the good ian ayre has done for this club can he be trusted to make the right decisions without thinking as a fan.

was he one of the driving forces behind kennys appointment full time. there was no doubt that after the hodgson debacle kenny was exactly what the club, fans and the team needed. but after he saw us to the end of the season did we really need him as manager.

is kenny really what fsgs long term vision is about ?

good post.

Kenny was given the job full time probably down to the clamouring for him to be given the job and now he's in it, I am guessing you're right and it would have been an AVB type manager rather than Kenny.

He's here though and he deserves a bit more time to see where he can take us. Chelsea rightly get grief for not giving AVB time we should at least afford Kenny a bit more time as he's said himself he'll do whats best for the club and I really think he would step down if he believes that is for the best.

[G]

That's you making assumptions though mate. That was the way we worked under Rafa. Who's to say it's how we work now? For all we know, Kenny has specifically gone out and said, 'get me Stuart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson.'

Someone has to take responsibility, and the buck stops with the manager.

So are you

Here's Comolli talking in his first interview after his promotion to DoF while Roy was still here.

Who will be in charge of buying and the recruitment of players?

I think sometimes it becomes controversial and it should not be. As John Henry said, it will be a consensus among us. That's the way John sees it, that's the way I see it and that's the way Roy sees it. The manager's decision and the manager's opinion on a player is absolutely crucial. As far as I am concerned, and the way I have always worked in this job, is do not bring a player in who the manager doesn't like because there's no point. Talking in very basic terms, if you bring a player in who the manager doesn't like you are just wasting money, that's the bottom line. That's the way I have always been working and I expect with Roy it will be exactly the same thing.

That could be read that he decides who to bring in as long as the manager agrees with it.

Now here's Kenny after he came in

"We will work closely together, he did a fantastic job in the January transfer window. Luis was coming in anyway but to get Andy in at the last minute was a great piece of business.

"We will work together, make decisions together, have discussions together, and we'll sign players and try to push the club onwards and upwards."

He continued: "It's never been anything different as a manager, it's always been 24/7.

"The responsibilities may have changed regards to the time commitments to the media, and that's why the director of football, a good one, is really important to have.

"People are always linked with players and have a large number of games to watch.

"The more eyes you have, the better chance you have got of picking somebody up. The more good eyes you have, the better chance you have of picked a good player up."

Seems to me pretty clear that no one man rules the roost and Comolli is a very big part of the decision making process regarding who gets signed.There is no doubt that the fee's paid are very much his down to him since he's the one at the negotiating table.

If Kenny is at fault for bad signings IMO Comolli is very much at fault too.

[MrMichael]

Seems to me pretty clear that no one man rules the roost and Comolli is a very big part of the decision making process regarding who gets signed.There is no doubt that the fee's paid are very much his down to him since he's the one at the negotiating table.

If Kenny is at fault for bad signings IMO Comolli is very much at fault too.

Yep, that's how I see it.

What do we know? Comolli is primarily in charge of negotiations, ie. arranging fees. Comolli is very much FSG's man, chosen by them more than Kenny was (kinda chosen by circumstance), so it would be reasonable to assume that the owners look to Comolli for confirmation of any players Kenny suggests. Also, with Kenny not having had an active management role for a long time before this one, and as far as he knew, never going to be going back into management again, you would have to assume that his network, knowledge of the market especially outside the UK, would not be especially strong. Comolli however, that's supposed to be his thing.

All in all, while in no way absolving Kenny of responsibility for our purchases, or how they have been used especially, I think it is very valid for us to be questioning the level of responsibility Comolli should be taking, especially for the hideous fees paid (which most definitely is more his dept than Kenny's).