Baleforce
Terry Naylor
It did though. If we had pushed every deal and got every player every manager wanted we’d have been bankrupted 10 times over.
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Daniel Levy - Former Chairman
- Thread starter Howard Webb
- Start date
It did though. If we had pushed every deal and got every player every manager wanted we’d have been bankrupted 10 times over.
Legohamster
Nayim
Absolutely it is, but we've paid a premium to get the player in now and not risk losing him and ending up with a Joe Rodon alternative.
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
But he doesn’t look any better than Joe Rodon…
Gazza
Chris Perry
I think we need some context. Had Liverpool coughed up money for geuhi I think they would have been better at the back … he would have men important.
How important JPVH is to de Zerbi ? Enough to pay that much. He will know that we have a budget, he will have to navigate that … so let’s see
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
Is there not a sensible middle ground between the overly conservative approach taken by Levy and ENIC and the often-cited example of doing a Leeds which is the other extreme?
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
is there an example of a club doing that, I can't think of one?
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
The biggest clubs understand that sometimes it's worth paying a premium to secure the manager's first-choice target. In the past, we would have spent three months haggling over a fee, only to leave ourselves with no time to pursue alternatives if the deal fell through. That's why your claim that Levy is the greatest chairman in history is flawed. You can't always hold out for the perfect deal. Sometimes success requires compromise.
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
but we are potentially spunking 52m on a player who is inferior to what we already have
you can back your manager without letting them make stupid mistakes
Welshspur60
Radek Cerny
Solanke too.
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
Most of the biggest clubs in world football operate responsibly within their means without being paralysed by risk aversion. Excluding the state-backed or billionaire-funded outliers such as Emirates Marketing Project and Chelsea, clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have all shown a willingness to back their managers decisively when the right opportunity arises. They don't spend recklessly, but neither do they allow the pursuit of the perfect deal to become an obstacle to strengthening the squad. There is a balance between financial prudence and ambition, and the best-run clubs are usually able to strike it.
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
"Potentially" is the operative word. None of us knows whether he'll prove to be a good signing. What we do know is that the manager has identified him as a player who can improve the team. Are you suggesting that the club should overrule him?
If not this player, then what? Another 18-year-old who isn't ready to make an immediate impact? Another bargain signing from a lower-table club that we're hoping can make the step up? At some point, if you want to compete at the highest level, you have to trust the manager's judgement and be willing to back his first-choice targets.
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
they pass on players they can't afford too, they don't get everyone in the manager wants
also, Liverpool and Dortmund both came close to financial collapse in the last couple of decades
Munich are bankrolled by the national tech and insurance industries of Germany
there absolutely is a balance, and I think we have been closer to it that any other club in the game over the last 25 years
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
yes, they should overrule him if its bad business
Brighton to Spurs is a big step up too
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
How recently did Dortmund nearly go bankrupt? That was more than 20 years ago.
They don't get every player they want, but they don't spend months haggling over every deal either. Liverpool signed players like Mané rather than settling for Clinton Njie. Arsenal identified Declan Rice as a priority target and got the deal done, rather than filling the squad with 18-year-olds who might not be ready for another three to five years.
Liverpool and Dortmund have both won league titles within the last 15 years. Arsenal have won multiple major trophies during that period as well. None of these clubs are reckless, but neither are they paralysed by the pursuit of perfect value in every negotiation.
Sorry, but your last paragraph doesn't hold up. Clubs that have won significantly more than one trophy in the last 17 years have generally struck the balance between financial responsibility and ambition far better than we have.
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
liverpool paid mane 300k a week, it was madness
I think they are reckless, RBS could (and should) have pulled the plug on liverpool
which clubs that haven't cheated, or risked financial ruin, have had as many CL qualifications as we have in the last 20 years?
(thats a better gauge of success, most trophies are worthless)
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
And potentially alienate yet another manager less than a year into his tenure? Are we really going to repeat the same mistakes?
Should we pass on a proven, ready-made player who could improve the team almost immediately in favour of yet another teenager who may not be ready for three or four years? At some point, you have to decide whether the priority is building for an indefinite future or giving the current manager the tools he needs to succeed now.
Baleforce
Terry Naylor
not a proven ready made player no, we should get all of them that we can, but van Hecke is nowhere near that
he's a punt
SissokoWasGood (BoL)
John Lacy
I think so much of Levy’s thinking was also shaped by not ‘doing a Leeds’ because he came into it around the time that they were risking everything and ultimately came up short. I think through his lens, the stadium was ultimately something that would mean the club was on a stable footing for years to come. We could fully maximise the fanbase, and it had the nice consequence of boosting the value of the club.
But he just didn’t look at it like ‘now we’ve built the stadium, let’s push on’. That thinking is really clear to see. And I think it’s just an extremely Levy centric way of looking at things to assume his way was the only safe way to run a club. Liverpool paid Mane a lot of money, and they won the biggest trophies. And they’re still here. There’s definitely a middle ground between the Levy and Leeds extremes, and it’s high time we moved toward it.
The good thing is, because we’ve been so far on the Levy side for so long, there should be plenty of slack to allow us to move toward the middle and still be perfectly safe and sustainable.
Jurgen the German
George Hunt
Liverpool won both the Premier League and the Champions League with Mané playing a central role. I'd say that worked out pretty well. Compare that to Clinton Njie, who was signed because he represented better value.
As for recklessness, where are the PSR breaches? Where are the UEFA sanctions? These clubs aren't gambling their futures; they're investing intelligently and backing their football departments.
I've already named them: Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan. They've all won major honours while operating within financial constraints. The evidence suggests they've found the balance between prudence and ambition. We've spent years congratulating ourselves on the prudence part while largely missing out on the ambition.
DeanoAustin
Jack Jull
Laughable how it’s being reported that Levy said Brighton had “had our pants down” when those are Jordan’s words.
I like Jordan because he gives original well thought out opinions. However, he does seem firmly entrenched in his views against our owners and for Daniel Levy.
In principle, I’d agree with his views on our ownership but you have to say that they look like they are changing strategy from what ENIC have done historically and that was what he challenged them to do after their pronouncements last September. I think his bias might be clouding his views.