Extra Shitty Bitters, surely? 
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whilst I donât mind taking the piss out of rivals on occasion, I reserve that kind of banter for the Mancunian type
Kiss MY Alderman.
Not Now, MadamâŠ
Bob Mortimer is a fucking genius.
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Iâm not sure if FSG are âgoodâ owners or âbadâ owners. What exactly quantifies such? I think we all have opinions, and thatâs the start and stop of it.
I read a great quote from a book about the rise of the Premier League called The Club, the quote was attributed to a club owner (name is escaping me at moment): ânever trust a business deal that comes with an American accentâ.
FSG are hardly martyrs or Saints. I keep reading this strange thought that they âsaved Liverpool from liquidationâ and I donât remember it that way at all. They identified an amazing opportunity to make a lot of money. Liverpool football club are a brand, a global brand. FSG saw a business opportunity to purchase a struggling asset that also happened to have a built in global brand with a rabid fan base that would always support - AND SPEND MONEY - win or lose. They struck absolute gold when they hired Klopp. Heâs helped to build the brand, globally, and as a result of the success, the global recognition. Kloppâs style of management aligns perfectly with John Henryâs belief in Moneyball.
8/11 seasons without a trophy
44 trophies on offer, won 3. And thatâs not to diminish those wins! Spectacular winning the league AND CL!
Furloughed staff, raised ticket prices, European Super League
Loaned money to the club to redevelop Anfield and build a new training facility, which the club will have to pay back.
I look at the ages these players will be at the end of all their renewed and âimprovedâcontracts, and I look at when Kloppâs contract is ending, and it does make me wonder what the future holds.
Speaking of all these new and âimprovedâ contractsâŠ.all Iâve been hearing the last 13 months is Liverpool Football Club have the highest wage bill in the world and it hindered their ability to make signings. But, they were somehow able to go even higher on the wages? What am I missing?
This is neither a pro or anti FSG post. Iâm just posting some ideas for conversation. Iâm not sure where I come out on it but I do find myself leaning more toward they get far more credit than they deserve. Theyâre running a global brand, not a football club. Results on the pitch be damned, fans will continue to âbuy Liverpool stuffâ across the globe and theyâll continue to sell out Anfield every week.
And please, if my opinion or outlay of facts doesnât align with yours I ask that you please save the passive aggressive name calling or âwittyâ comments and just stick to the facts.
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you should probably do some research and pay less attention to what youâre âhearingâ as weâre not even close. the above tells me youâre not even paying attention to whatâs going on, especially with the Barcelona/Messi situation.
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This is my point. Youâre just being a cool guy. Spend less time being triggered and explain your point.
Please provide context of what youâre saying. Youâre comparing us to Barca. The biggest club in the world? Iâm not understanding your point. And as I said Iâm the part you highlighted; what am I missing?
EDIT: and thatâs the one thing youâre pulling from that entire post? Iâm asking genuinely.
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They are good owners. You or other fans may think or know of others who may be better, but having taken over the club and given us a world class manager, a team that has position for position arguably many of the best players in the world, and won major trophies against teams that have had much greater investment, playing an entertaining brand of football, while ensuring the club is financially secure and continually improving it I canât see how they can be considered âbadâ.
This is probably the best squad Iâve seen us have, perhaps even the best team since at least the early 80âs.
Technically it is correct. We were heading into bankruptcy if there were no buyers.
Sure. But that doesnât mean they canât also have saved us from going bankrupt. The two can go together. I would also add that the only other interested parties who were looking to buy us at that time were shysters who would not have moved the club forward anywhere near as successfully as FSG have.
Yes. He was always the guy they wanted. It was who they wanted Brendan to become when they initially failed, and why they were so patient with him before Klopp was available. The fact they succeeded in getting him, when clubs like Utd failed, should be seen as a feather in FSGâs cap
Given where we were when they took over, and the competition the club have faced in that time I donât see this as a negative. Itâs as much the journey weâve been on as the winning of trophies that has made this tenure under Klopp in particular so much fun.
I would rather have won the three we had, than 8 league cups.
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You were doing so well. Please quote where I said I âknow betterâ. I stopped reading after this.
You just canât help yourself. Iâm sure this emotional and passive/aggressive tact gets many of you very far in business.
I didnât say you did. I said you or other fans may doâŠ
The use of âYouâ in your text implies me, no? As I said in my post, again, I was asking for conversation, not that I had any answers whatsoever.
Why does this topic always seem soâŠ.aggressive?
Id also be curious how much Liverpool merchandise youâve purchased over the last 3 years. Or tickets to Anfield, or how many PAID streams youâve purchased to watch them play.
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You have. You have just misinterpreted what has been said and taken it as aggression towards you.
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The club was totally fucked by the time FSG came in. Broughton had been appointed by the banks for one purpose and one purpose only. Sell the club to repay the debt. To all intents and purposes we were insolvent. RBS were repaid but monies Hicks & Gillett owed to Mill Financial were never recovered (they tried to sue RBS and Gillett but finally dropped the action 7 years later).
We were days away from being put into administration with the consequent 9 point deduction (Portsmouth had become the first PL club to suffer this sanction in the previous season). After 8 games of the PL season weâd have been dead last on -3 points! I think had that happened there would have been a very good chance we would have been relegated at the end of the season.
Did FSG buy a distressed asset? Absolutely. Did they get a bargain? No. The club was fucked, hence the fact that there was hardly any interest in it even at a distressed valuation.
Furloughing staff was fair enough, theyâve hardly raised ticket prices, and the ESL is a means to an end for FSG (broadcasting rights). The money was loaned to the club interest free and theyâve written off over ÂŁ50m of the clubâs debt since they became owners. The club will easily be able to pay off the loan (I think it will be fully repaid in less than three years) due to the increased revenue generated by the investment into the stadium that FSG have, in effect, underwritten.
They have implemented a smart wage policy that rewards players in line with their contribution and the teamâs over all success. We have never had the highest wage bill in the world or even in the PL but before they came in our wage bill was consistently no higher than 5th. It has been shown time and time again that the clubs with the highest wage bills tend to be those that win the league, or at the very least compete for it. We had been off the pace for years save for one or two brief moments of hope (08/09).
Now, the clubâs wages rise and fall with regard to our on-field success and, as such, with the club regularly finishing in the top 3 and even winning the league and CL, our wage bill now ranks in the top 3 in the PL. Consistently higher than that of Chelsea which would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.
Yes, they have been extremely fortunate to hire Klopp but he joined for a reason as well. Convinced that they were good owners and that his philosophy not only aligned with theirs but also with Liverpool FC as a club. Heâs right - it has been the perfect match.
Yes, theyâve made missteps along the way but, imo, FSG deserve huge credit for the transformation theyâve overseen over the last decade.
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letâs start with this:
and right smack in the middle, you come up with this:
now back to âFACTSâ
Maybe our income:wage ratio is high because we donât have the commercial revenue stream of the galacticos or the false revenue streams of the oil/plastic clubs, but our wage bill is 4th behind the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea, and thatâs just the PL clubs. not sure where our updated contracts put us in all of Europe, maybe 6-7th?
10 second web search will show the info youâre missing. so once I skim a long-winded post and find someone who wants to reference âfactsâ but gets a basic referenced statistic completely wrong then I have a hard time taking the rest seriously?
I hope that makes sense. Iâm definitely not âcoolâ, amigo.
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hear hear Kopstar
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Thereâs zero aggression in that post. Are you just upset because he countered all your points intelligently and succinctly?
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Discussion! Love this!
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My point was in general.
But since you opened your mouth in your usual âlook me me! Over here Doing stuff!â style, why donât you tell me how you have supported the club. Youâre American, yes?
I hope you donât mind me saying but you seem to be a bit prickly at the moment. Intent on picking a fight where none exists.
Sincerely, people are not trying to rile you up - unfortunately you seem to be seeing digs where there arenât any. Perhaps take a walk and get some fresh air or something - clear your head. Youâll feel better for it.
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Thanks @Kopstar for the advice. When you pay my taxes you can tell me what to do.