To compete with top teams nowadays, a team needs financial backing; they need top dollars coming from someone or somewhere other than the club itself regardless of history. Liverpool FC is a club renowned for its history, culture and tradition. We rely on it so much that we still believe that it is enough to get us to high places, however in the past 10 years Liverpool have only won 5 trophies. One of them being the amazing Champions League in 2005 but still missing that elusive Premiership title that every fan craves. On the 6th February 2007 two American, Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool FC. For three years the fans heard promises come and go, stadiums, players, managers come and go. Fortunately that reign came to an end, with court battles included and on the 15th October 2010 NESV (New England Sports Venture) now known as FSG (Fenway Sports Group) and their owner John W. Henry bought Liverpool Football Club.
Football as we know it has changed. It is no longer a city, town or suburb attraction. It has become a worldwide, global fascination. The main cause of this phenomenon is media and globalization. We have witnessed a fine display of the globalization of Liverpool during the pre-season tour of Australia and Asia where fans flocked by the thousands to catch a glimpse of their favourite team and players. This commercial asset is one LFC and their owners must and will take advantage of.
After the tumultuous time with Hicks and Gillett most of us thought we were going down the same road with Henry and FSG and they didn’t fully start off on the right foot. Even though words can be soothing and hearing quotes from the Chairman of FSG saying: “We recognize that Liverpool Football Club is a historic institution ultimately grounded in the community and the fans. Our first step as new owners will be to listen”, is all very nice but Liverpool fans needed to see actions and for the owners to put money where their mouth is.
One of FSG’s first moves was to get rid of Hodgson only after 6 months in charge and appoint Kenny Dalglish. A very bold move that went down extremely well with Liverpool fans who now had “The King” back where he belonged. Following this came a string of sales, new signings, record fees and positivism. The likes of Suarez, Carroll, Downing, Adam, Enrique, Coates, Bellamy, Henderson, Doni all come into the re-shaping of the LFC team, with the “help” of Liverpool’s new Director of Football, Damien Comolli. However things quickly began to change. Their “moneyball’ stance of finance and how to buy and sell players is a very American way of doing things, whether this works only time will tell, many are very skeptical. Of the new players that came in 2011, today, we see that Luis Suarez is the only one who has lived up to the price tag. Jordan Henderson has had his ups and downs and seems to be a much more mature player nowadays, the rest have faded off to below-mid table teams, leading to the understandable sacking of Comolli. This affected Dalglish’s team and never got going. Although winning the Carling Cup in 2012 after 6 years of no trophies the results in the Premiership were not as expected and FSG parted ways with Dalglish. Tom Werner, chairman of FSG, said: “Kenny came into the Club as Manager at our request at a time when Liverpool Football Club really needed him. He didn't ask to be Manager; he was asked to assume the role. He did so because he knew the Club needed him. He did more than anyone else to stabilize Liverpool over the past year-and-a-half and to get us once again looking forward.”
Rodgers is appointed as manager, a young manager without experience managing a top team but with a view of football that could give anyone goose bumps when played with perfection. FSG have taken a gamble with Rodgers, but I consider it to be an important step forward and hopefully we will allow him to develop and show us what he can do. Rodgers transfer policy seems to adapt quite well to the style of FSG and although we lost an irreplaceable leader in Jamie Carragher we seem to have a good player in Kolo Toure, a player with the necessary experience to talk and boss people about. Young players are coming in for reasonable prices, fringe players are being let go and exciting times lie ahead. FSG has promised the redevelopment of Anfield, an amazing item on the to-do list and plans have begun with the purchase of housing around the grounds.
Liverpool fans are still very incredulous to what the future holds and only time will tell but rest assure, FSG are in for the long run, and rest assure, Liverpool FC will once again become great.
