This Is Anfield@thisisanfield 17s17 seconds ago New deal with Standard Chartered is reported to be worth around £30m per year. Current deal was due to expire this summer.
would hate it. despite some weird loyalty to some players and a bad record in the transfer market he made the team better than most would make it
The problem is better than most thought still isn't good enough. I think I saw he's the first manager that after 3 seasons won't have any trophies for Liverpool.
Seriously, can we just let Sturridge go. I love the guy, but he is of no use with all the injury shit.
Tony Barrett @TonyBarretTimes Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool "are on par for where they're at" having reached two semi finals & reached 5th in the league.
What the fuck does that even mean? We are on par for being average and not being able to win the big game? If so, then yes Brenda, you are on par for where you are at. What a douche-waffle.
Dan Kennett@DanKennett 19m19 minutes ago Finally some validation from Tony Evans on #LFC recruitment last Summer. The process was bypassed and Rodgers was allowed to name targets.
David Hendrick@DaveHendrick_AI · 2h2 hours ago "Liverpool exist to lose cup semi-finals" - Bill Shankly.
I'll judge him after I see what we do in the transfer market. He has been frustrating but after losing Suarez this is about where we all thought we would be before the season. If we only sign players like Ings and that level of talent I will be right there with yall.
Also, what do you guys think about the Henderson contract? Is he really worth 100k a week just because he is going to be the de facto captain?
Mike Bernard @mikebernard_fsg · 31m 31 minutes ago LFC are close to sealing a transfer target - the midfielder wants to move and fee is yet to be agreed but likely to be around €20m or so. Mike Bernard @mikebernard_fsg · 30m 30 minutes ago The player is a defensive minded midfielder who plays on the continent and will be one who will go straight into the first team next season
I think this window is going to be like the 2013 summer window....linked with a lot of good players, miss on all of them. I guess we did get Sakho that window even if Rodgers didn't want him.
I mean, Lolvren and Lallana were our big time signings when we had Champions League to offer for the first time in years and when we should have gone balls to the walls. I fear who we will end up with when we have absolutely nothing to offer next season. Ings and Milner to get us back in the top 4? Also, clubs all over Europe and especially England know we are an easy mark in the transfer market and will fucking swindle us for whatever beaster players we end up with. Couthino and Can were exceptions.
We are never going to win signings against other teams because we won't pay the wages. This is why we need a manager that will work under a director of football and they will collaborate to find young talent. I know its a pipe dream, but this is exactly what Klopp has been incredible at.
Mike Bernard @mikebernard_fsg · Apr 22 Right - confirmation now. Real Sociedad have inquired as to the availability of Dejan Lovren. Miscommunication on my part!
This is why I'm pissed that Henderson will be on 6 figures per week. He has been a good player for us and is rarely injured but other than Rodgers signaling that he will be the captain next season, he had absolutely no leverage in negotiations. Where the fuck else is he going to go? City would give him his wages but he'd be a squad player.
From mikenernardboston blog. I have followed him a bit and he does mention names and pieces of info before I see them elsewhere but I don't take it too seriously. So anyway, here is some info and an interesting post. So am I Mike Bernard? No, of course I am not. I cannot and will not disclose my true identity for obvious reasons. Mike Bernard is a made up name just to cover my true identity. I originally worked for New England Sports Ventures (NESV) in 2006 and moved to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) in 2009 as a Legal Associate in the Commercial & Contracts team. In my role as Legal Associate, I was responsible for drawing up legal contracts for players and staff for the Boston Red Sox from 2009 to 2011. I was then seconded to the divisional Commercial & Contracts team dedicated to Liverpool Football Club and became permanent in the role in early 2012. From 2012 to 2014, I was responsible for drawing up legal contracts for players and staff for Liverpool Football Club before I left my post with FSG in February 2014. I took up a permanent role as a Senior Contract Lawyer at Greenberg Traurig LLP in Boston in March 2014 but am now semi-retired and work part time which leaves me time for the family, a slower paced work life and posting on Twitter from time to time. My two sons, who are avid Liverpool supporters, encouraged me to set up this site and are helping me with this new project. Being 52, I like to keep occupied as much as possible! Having worked for NESV and FSG for almost a decade, I gained a number of friends and colleagues whom I still remain in contact with. All snippets of information I post is from close, trusted friends who still work at the offices at FSG. Transfer Committee inner-workings Posted on 20 Apr, 2015 By mikebernard Spoiler A point that crops up over and over again is the Committee and the roles the members play within it. I often read how the Committee has failed and this person is to blame for this and that person is to blame for that and it is quite alarming the finger pointing that goes on from fans and on Twitter. So I thought why not break it down properly. I will highlight who the members of the Committee are and their specific roles. So lets begin. Brendan Rodgers – Manager As manager, Brendan Rodgers sets out where he needs the team strengthened. He picks out quite specific positions in the team that need strengthening and then feeds this back to the Committee and the process begins of selecting 3 targets for that position. Rodgers may indeed say who he would like to fill the role and name players but there is absolutely no guarantee that this player will automatically appear in the shortlist. When presented with the shortlist, Rodgers is then asked to choose which player he prefers, the second choice and finally third choice. Of course, there may be times where he does not agree with a any of the players presented (Loic Remy, Mario Balotelli and Samuel Eto’o is a prime example where Rodgers had pinpointed Wilfried Bony and Jackson Martinez as his preferred choice when the Alexis Sanchez deal failed to materialise) and there have been times where the Committee have come back with a couple more choices but that is a very rare occurrence. Even though Rodgers will select his preference of the players on the shortlist, the other members of the Committee do likewise (excluding Ian Ayre) and then its a case of working out who is the prime target. Dave Fallows – Head of Recruitment Dave Fallows was approached prior to the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager of the club. Brendan Rodgers, in his dossier and following meetings with FSG when interviewed for the position of manager, was unwilling to work with a Director of Football and actually said he was open to work with Dave Fallows in some capacity as an alternative. I do not know of their specific relationship prior to them working together at Liverpool but they did know each other before they were appointed at the club. Fallows’ specific role is to work with Barry Hunter and pick 6 suitable players for each role that Rodgers has pinpointed to be strengthened. Now 4 of these players must be under 23 years of age and 2 can be of any age (which is to do with moneyball and for which I will not bore you with now). These players are then comprehensively scouted, reports compiled and statistics drawn up and then presented to the next man in the chain, Michael Edwards. Fallows is also responsible for meeting with the players’ agents on the 3-man shortlist. His job is to effectively sell the club to the agent along with Ian Ayre who carries out the financials such as contract terms and wage structures. Michael Edwards – Head of Performance & Analysis Perhaps the most important person in the chain. Michael Edwards’ role is to work on the 6 players who Dave Fallows presents to him as the specific targets on the long list and compile it down to the most suitable 3. He is the numbers man who works on stats and only stats. He is unaware of the players Brendan Rodgers prefers and simply works on what he is given. I will not go into his workings in detail as it would take a huge amount of time and typing but he effectively cuts 3 players from the 6 presented to him based solely on statistics. Ian Ayre – Managing Director The man who appears to get the flack when everything goes wrong – and unfairly too. Ian Ayre has the most demanding role in the setup. He is set a transfer and wage budget by FSG and then has to work on implementing the same whilst trying to capture the players presented to him on the shortlist for each role. However, when targets are missed he then has to reassess his whole approach, work on new numbers and also factor in other targets proceeding or failing. The circumstances are always changing and if a player is sold, FSG’s stance is that money goes straight into the budget which means Ayre is continually fighting an ever changing budget. Ian Ayre is also one of the best negotiators around. The way he seals deals is brilliant and the work he does goes unnoticed by fans. He undeservedly takes it on the nose from supporters when signings fail to materialise. However, you have to take into account that he works to a budget, has to juggle numbers almost 24 hours a day and if I’m being absolutely honest – he works miracles. There are a number of rumours going around that he will leave his role this summer to work elsewhere. There is truth to that rumour but it is not of FSG’s choosing – the sponsors for whom he has bought into the club are constantly headhunting him which says it all really. Its no surprise that FSG have kept faith with Ayre since they took over the club in October 2010. All members of the Committee are responsible for coming together and pricing a player and setting aside an initial wage from the budget they are given. Ian Ayre has next to no input in this respect but simply hands over the report to the owners and the work begins. When fans go on Twitter and question why we do not offer an extra few million onto a few and and an extra thousand on the weekly wage, this is simply down to the figures that are put in front of the owners by the Committee. This has nothing to do with Ian Ayre. If any blame is to be angled in that respect, it is at the rest of the Committee including Brendan Rodgers. CHANGES Upon FSG’s last visit to Liverpool, there were questions raised as to why the summer transfer window yielded such a low level of success. I will not bore you with the ins and outs of that extensive meeting (which involved all members of the Committee, Colin Pascoe, Mike Marsh, Tom Werner and John Henry) but the following changes will come into force in the summer:- – When Brendan Rodgers highlights a position he is also able to highlight a particular player and that player will form part of the 6-man list presented to Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter – Michael Edwards role will continue to exist, however, a 4-man shortlist will now be drawn up rather than 3 – Brendan Rodgers will accompany Dave Fallows at all final meetings with agents and potential signings on the 4-man shortlist – FSG will allow slight movement on player fees and wages (something they were wholly against when setting up the Committee when it came to pricing a player’s value) In summary, Rodgers will have a greater say on whom he wants on the 6-man shortlist although there is still scope where the said player may not appear on the final shortlist and FSG will allow more leeway with negotiation of player fees and wages.
This made me chuckle a bit. Tim Bolton @timbolton1 The Liverpool transfer committee turn up for talks with Memphis Depay
This Is Anfield @thisisanfield · 2h 2 hours ago Apologies for the problems on the site right now. Dejan Lovren’s shot just came back down and landed on our server. Be right back.