Brendan Rodgers

[gratziani]

Did the owners spend 35 million on Carroll , 25 million on Lallana etc etc

That is not accepting mediocrity as they invest money in the playing squad

What needs to be looked at is who invests the money, this seems the biggest problem to me and who we bring in for our method of play.

Also Brendan needs to learn that some players cant just swap positions and still perform like pushing Can all over the place when you have two right backs already in Johnson and Manquillo.

[Norbs]

To be honest I don't even think we would have needed a top striker, just a decent one who suited our system. Which kind of feeds into your next point, last season we had a system that we wanted to play, this seasons mess seems to have resulted in us throwing that out of the window and who knows what the plan is now. That is the thing that worries me most, if we don't know how we are going to play, it will come down to blind luck as to whether we make the right signings. Benteke has all the hallmarks of a Balotelli mk2 simply because I don't think he would suit our system.

And Balotelli was Carroll mk2. We are never going to revert to a.style of play that suits these players and so we need to stop signing this type of player. The Carroll experiment went one stage further with Downing signed as a provider for him to justify the signing. It all seems amateurish and shows a lack of direction.

However, maybe we're getting it wrong. Chelsea (Drogba) and City (Dzeko) have prospered with a strong forward in the side adopting very different styles of play. Would Benteke be a decent fit at Chelsea? Probably as he's surrounded by talent to open up the play. For us I think he'd become isolated and targetted and would inevitably fail

[Norbs]

Did the owners spend 35 million on Carroll , 25 million on Lallana etc etc

That is not accepting mediocrity as they invest money in the playing squad

What needs to be looked at is who invests the money, this seems the biggest problem to me and who we bring in for our method of play.

Also Brendan needs to learn that some players cant just swap positions and still perform like pushing Can all over the place when you have two right backs already in Johnson and Manquillo.

Indeed

[Paddy]

I think the only two main changes will be a new RB and a striker. Think the rest will remain the same, in terms of usual starting personnel.

Other signings will be bedded in slowly, the team needs consistency, with players in the correct positions.

[dww]

I think Milner will be a starter and key player for us.

We should be looking to build a team that tries to exploit Coutinho's ability. For me that means we need not only another striker but probably also a wide player who makes good runs inside (especially if Sterling goes).

[Muddled]

Did the owners spend 35 million on Carroll , 25 million on Lallana etc etc

That is not accepting mediocrity as they invest money in the playing squad

What needs to be looked at is who invests the money, this seems the biggest problem to me and who we bring in for our method of play..

Whilst not wanting to open up a can of worms around net spending, the headline figures read like money has been spent but in reality, FSG have put up approximately £20m per transfer window.

EDIT: A much more accurate figure would be a net spend of £16.9m per transfer window.

[SK]

Whilst not wanting to open up a can of worms around net spending, the headline figures read like money has been spent but in reality, FSG have put up approximately £20m per transfer window.

Thats the point tho isn't it? They never promised to bankroll the club, but would simply allow it to spent the money it generates. And with finances getting better and better that number should increase in the future

[gratziani]

Fair point but the 75 million they got for Suarez was added to 50 million more so 125 million was invested in the players recruitment.

Just as everyone said the wrong type of players.

[Shaggy]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in this review now.

[SK]

Is the review today or tommorow?

[Paddy]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in this review now.

Any idea how it's gonna end?

[kev776]

Any idea how it's gonna end?

Right, any more questions?

[dww]

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in this review now.

It really would be fascinating.

I find it hard to believe that we would be pressing ahead seriously with a bid for Benteke without being sure of the managers position. Not that I have any idea how far we are pushing that deal at the minute.

[Muddled]

Thats the point tho isn't it? They never promised to bankroll the club, but would simply allow it to spent the money it generates. And with finances getting better and better that number should increase in the future

I was just playing devil's advocate. FSG are running the club well (from what I can gather) and I think it's easy to forget how close we came to administration a number of years back.

Fair point but the 75 million they got for Suarez was added to 50 million more so 125 million was invested in the players recruitment.

Just as everyone said the wrong type of players.

I agree. Of the 29 players FSG have bought (spending £271.5m in the process), you could count the successes on one hand. I think it's Tomkins that had a piece on transfer success being around the 40% mark. We're not even close to that and if they insist on this transfer strategy, they have to be more savvy.

[kev776]

Apparently we are closely monitoring the progress of a certain Edward John Frank Howe, who has impressed our American owners.