We’re all kidding ourselves if we’re thinking this won’t happen to us one day. FSG will sell to the highest bidder and there aren’t many organisations that could afford us let alone run us on a competitive basis given what’s now happening.
Football was fucked a long time ago. Once you allow nation states to own clubs it becomes an arms race of wage and transfer fee inflation. We’ve become de-sensitised to the excesses. It’s why now when we hear Salah wants £380K a week we think that’s not an unreasonable amount and that FSG should pay it.
I’m just glad Klopp came along when he did because it’s felt like this is one last hurrah of football as it’s meant to be and I’m glad I’ve been able to experience it.
I think that’s a bit absolute. You can see it worked in Bosnia to a degree. Constructivism empowering agencies that can force tactical concessions from a repressive state has been effective. Sure, norm diffusion takes time (circumstances will dictate how much) but it can be effected.
Lost any sympathy for Newcastle a few years back at Anfield, after an anti Ashley song they got a round of applause from Anfield (not to mention incredibly generous foodbank donations from travelling reds around that period), only to respond with ‘sign on’ etc. Bunch of cunts who get far too much goodwill in our fanbase.
City had a good 3 or 4 years of splashing the cash on rotating managers and players building up their teams to take them to the next level and start winning things before FFP restrictions came in.
Newcastle will have to deal with FFP and a massively inflated priced transfer market from the off,I think it’ll take them a good few years to build a squad good enough to compete for the title if done under FFP rules.For them to win it by spending lots of money,they’ll have to do some kind of City type of BS accounting to get top class players in ASAP and win it within anywhere near 5 years.
I read that because of Mike Ashley’s stinginess, and the relaxation with covid, they can afford to spend £150M and stay within FFP.
In this market, with lots of clubs struggling, if spent under a good manager (big if) it could get them knocking on the door of a European spot. Not CL, obviously. Not yet.
What manager will they go for?
I hate the thought, but scanning the tabloids, one man I saw linked was Stevie G.
That’s my concern too. We are further away as ever from having any wage cap system established, or any other way to keep a level playing field. As such, a top four spot will be harder and harder to get for us within fsg’s way of working, especially when Klopp and Edwards will be gone.
You are right, the sweet spot for them to sell the club will be in a year or so, possibly at the end of next season. After that, the devil knows whom we will be handed to.
In any case, our days as one of England’s top clubs are probably numbered from now on if we continue with the same ways as until now. Unless we end up as another play-toy for a filthy-rich billionaire, Abramovic-style, or as a sports-washing institution for a corrupt regime somewhere in the world. In the latter case, it will be the end of me following LFC (and more generally, top-level football).
