Is it time the clock really started ticking?

[The Birdman]

What have Man City got to do with this?
Since 08/09 they have spent £412 million gross and £390 million net on players.

Nearly half a billion pounds gross and they still get knocked out of the CL at the group stages, 1 PL, 1 FA Cup to show for it.

The ONLY way we can compete with Man C, Man U and Chelsea is to look long term, buy the best young/developing players we can, give them 3-5 years to mature as a team and get back into the Champions League, once we get into the CL we can attract the next level of player up again.
If we happen to pick up a cup in-between then great.

Any fan expecting anything else is deluded.

[baitman]

The ONLY way we can compete with Man C, Man U and Chelsea is to look long term, buy the best young/developing players we can, give them 3-5 years to mature as a team and get back into the Champions League, once we get into the CL we can attract the next level of player up again.
If we happen to pick up a cup in-between then great.

Any fan expecting anything else is deluded.

agree with this. it is the only way we can go forward, we need to build a sustainable base and move on from there.

the only issue with this is any of our team once they start to look tasty will be ripe for poaching by city, utd, chavs, barca, madrid, etc, and not much we can do about that

[Arn]

agree with this. it is the only way we can go forward, we need to build a sustainable base and move on from there.

the only issue with this is any of our team once they start to look tasty will be ripe for poaching by city, utd, chavs, barca, madrid, etc, and not much we can do about that

That is why you must do it short term first and after you started to play in the CL year in year out then you can start to think long term if you can't afford to do both.

In our case short term is much more important than long term because we clearly can't afford both.

To think long term as much as we have done simply isn't working and probably never will if we want to keep our best players just as you say.

Short term first and after we started to play in the CL, long term.

[Tee]

I agree Arn, which is why I wish we can bring in the likes of Alonso this summer. We need to think about the short term in order to successfully achieve our long term targets, if not we will end up rebuilding every 2 or 3 years, probably with new Managers each time.

[The Birdman]

That is why you must do it short term first and after you started to play in the CL year in year out then you can start to think long term if you can't afford to do both.

In our case short term is much more important than long term because we clearly can't afford both.

To think long term as much as we have done simply isn't working and probably never will if we want to keep our best players just as you say.

Short term first and after we started to play in the CL, long term.

I agree Arn, which is why I wish we can bring in the likes of Alonso this summer. We need to think about the short term in order to successfully achieve our long term targets, if not we will end up rebuilding every 2 or 3 years, probably with new Managers each time.

Define short term?
I presume you are implying that we need to buy ready made international players who can come straight in and improve us from 6/7th to 4th in 1 hit?

What players who fit that bill are going to join us this summer? name them.

By your logic we need 4-5 players, minimum of £20m each to buy the type of quality you are talking about.
They will all be between 27-30 (approx) in age.
All of them will want at least 4 year contracts on 100k + a week.

If we took the lower figure of 4 new players thats £80m transfer kitty and a basiv 100k p/w that's an additional £21m PER YEAR increase in the wages.

Yeah, short term has a lot going for it doesn't it.



Edit: Give up on this signing Alonso crap. Never going to happen in a million years, IF he left Madrid (which he won't) he's much more likely to sign for Man U, Man C or Chelsea ahead of us in the PL.
Then factor in where Mourinho ends up (if not at any of the 3 PL clubs)

Why would he leave the best/2nd best side in the best league in the world which also happen to be his home country to go anywhere else? let alone re-join us.

[Tee]

Tell you what, lets just spend near on £100m on Carroll, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Allen and Borini.

[Sarb]

Tell you what, lets just spend near on £100m on Carroll, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Allen and Borini.

It's harsh to include Allen and Borini in that list yet to be honest. Allen showed he has ability in first couple months of the season. Yes he went off the boil. Borini is in and out with injuries

For me, what your post highlights though is that FSG have supported the managers with funds. Mispending has been our problem for many years, dating back to the Houllier era. All the managers have done it. I'm totally for going for the long-term youth development strategy now. It's the only way we will be able to compete with the likes of City

[Tee]

But we have spent big! Just on the wrong type of players, profiled for age, nationality and resale values...i.e. moneyball!! We cannot go down that road alone right now and need to bring in better short term value for that kind of money.

[Sarb]

But we have spent big! Just on the wrong type of players, profiled for age, nationality and resale values...i.e. moneyball!! We cannot go down that road alone right now and need to bring in better short term value for that kind of money.

Have to see how the new Scouting/Talent department does. I know it's early days, but Coutinho seems to be a bargain. We had no one in that area in the Summer so I couldn't really blame Rodgers for going for players he knew and had worked with. Allen and Borini are young. Time is on their side

[Tee]

Have to see how the new Scouting/Talent department does. I know it's early days, but Coutinho seems to be a bargain. We had no one in that area in the Summer so I couldn't really blame Rodgers for going for players he knew and had worked with. Allen and Borini are young. Time is on their side

Yes mate, but its not on our side. IMO.

[Sarb]

Yes mate, but its not on our side. IMO.

It's the way it goes though isn't it. Maybe not in our time. But hopefully our kids will see a successful LFC era again. I hold out hope!

[Tee]

It's the way it goes though isn't it. Maybe not in our time. But hopefully our kids will see a successful LFC era again. I hold out hope!

I could not disagree more. Don't want to sound like I am having a pop because I am not mate, but "Its the way it goes" is an acceptance of our situation. I think we the resources we have and the investment put in we should be challenging. Rafa did more with less, if that makes sense.

[Muddled]

And let's not forget, a new manager's first signings are statistically amongst the worst they will make.

Therefore, Tee is right to write off Borini.

[Sarb]

I could not disagree more. Don't want to sound like I am having a pop because I am not mate, but "Its the way it goes" is an acceptance of our situation. I think we the resources we have and the investment put in we should be challenging. Rafa did more with less, if that makes sense.

No offence taken mate. Not sure Rafa did more with less. He had some world class players at his disposal not to mention players like Hyypia, Mascherano, Torres, Gerrard, Alonso, Reina, Carragher in their prime. Whichever way you look at it, he couldn't take a team with that core of talent and win the title. There was also a lot less competition in his day for the title. He had the benefit of a team in the Champions League but he also made some horrendous signings. Some of his deals towards the end of his reign hindered us too. Yes, to an extent his hands were tied by Hicks and Gillett, but he also spent a fair wedge of money even still

I don't accept us not winning the title in 20 odd years. For LFC that's unacceptable. At the moment, we just don't have enough quality players or enough quality in the squad to get near challenging. I'm not sure we can even attract it, especially the established ones. We need to implement a style of play that will want quality players to play for us regardless of whether we've been a success or not, a bit like Arsenal. They have the ability to attract the likes of Cazorla, Podolski etc because of the style of play

[Arn]

Define short term?
I presume you are implying that we need to buy ready made international players who can come straight in and improve us from 6/7th to 4th in 1 hit?

What players who fit that bill are going to join us this summer? name them.

By your logic we need 4-5 players, minimum of £20m each to buy the type of quality you are talking about.
They will all be between 27-30 (approx) in age.
All of them will want at least 4 year contracts on 100k + a week.

If we took the lower figure of 4 new players thats £80m transfer kitty and a basiv 100k p/w that's an additional £21m PER YEAR increase in the wages.

Yeah, short term has a lot going for it doesn't it.



Edit: Give up on this signing Alonso crap. Never going to happen in a million years, IF he left Madrid (which he won't) he's much more likely to sign for Man U, Man C or Chelsea ahead of us in the PL.
Then factor in where Mourinho ends up (if not at any of the 3 PL clubs)

Why would he leave the best/2nd best side in the best league in the world which also happen to be his home country to go anywhere else? let alone re-join us.

Realistic signings.

Amorebieta on a free.
Fazio on a free.
Xabi £10m+. Not that I believe he is a realistic signing but you can't totally rule it out.
Mertens £15m+.

Not impossible signings.

I doubt that Xabi is after big money and that CL football is a must. I believe that he just want to enjoy the football the rest of his career.