John W Henry's prudence can help Liverpool build £40m summer kitty

[King Binny]

John W Henry's cautious notice about what is likely to be a quiet January for Liverpool was to be expected. In contrast to his predecessors, Liverpool's owner intends to run his new acquisition along sustainable lines, which should not be too tricky as even their inflated wage bill is covered by matchday and commercial revenues.

Liverpool's view that January is a notoriously difficult time to purchase players is not born only of parsimony. But prudence means keeping costs in line with income and although Liverpool have access to short-term finance from Royal Bank of Scotland – first revealed here – there will not be vast sums coming in to the coffers in time for the transfer window.

In August Liverpool received £14m from the Premier League's central funds but that was before New England Sports Ventures' debt-clearing takeover, and cash was then committed to servicing interest. Like every top?flight club they have, though, been receiving £1.5m a month from the league. In January there will be another injection of about £6m – plus the £1.5m monthly payment – but that £7.5m will hardly support a major transfer-market investment.

Instead it makes sense for Liverpool to consolidate that income with the near-£10m they are likely to receive in May for television appearances, while a top-10 Premier League finish brings in a minimum of almost £7m. Alongside that are the net transfer revenues raised this calendar year of about £15m. Even without selling another player, a summer fund of £40m looks realistic.

Martin Broughton will engage in his final act as Liverpool chairman as he takes his seat for their match against West Ham United at Anfield on Saturday. Last month Broughton's commitment to Liverpool caused him to miss his first board meeting in six years as the chairman of British Airways, when he was in court to press the case for a forced sale from Tom Hicks and George Gillett. But, having overseen the sale of the club to the owners of the Boston Red Sox, he will now step down. Broughton will inform the Premier League of his handover of the chairmanship to Tom Werner, the NESV-appointed executive director, at a meeting of clubs on Friday.

 

[RedStar]

How much will it cost us to get rid of Grandad? that will surely determine what there is to spend in january if as most people hope he is fucked out before that

Id be happy to get rid of him and get a decent manager in even it meant no new players til the summer, the thought of him hanging around for another 7 months is too much to bear

 

[King Binny]

Yeah, as much as it sounds great to hear that we will have money to spend without digging into loans/owner's pockets, my concern is by the time we get to spend the money, will we be able to attract the type of players we want? The reporter is being pretty optimistic by stating "a top-10 Premier League finish brings in a minimum of almost £7m". With the league being so close, a point or 3 can make a huge diff.

 

[darkstarexodus]

[quote author=Binny link=topic=42816.msg1219700#msg1219700 date=1289971238]
Yeah, as much as it sounds great to hear that we will have money to spend without digging into loans/owner's pockets, my concern is by the time we get to spend the money, will we be able to attract the type of players we want? The reporter is being pretty optimistic by stating "a top-10 Premier League finish brings in a minimum of almost £7m". With the league being so close, a point or 3 can make a huge diff.
[/quote]

To my knowledge, the prize money for league finish is awarded in increments based on placement, not a cutoff situation where top ten gets money, bottom ten doesn't. If memory serves, each place in the table is worth approx an extra 500,000. (Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

I also don't think that finishing outside the top 4 this season would be a huge impediment to signing class players so long as there is a vision in place and money to fund it in the summer. While we certainly won't be offering what City has thrown away the past few summers, I think it quite likely that NESV will be able to portray Liverpool as a club well-positioned to regain its spot among perennial Champions League teams. The key will likely be whether we find a quality manager with the pedigree to attract top players and convince them that we are on the rise again. Not finishing top 4 NEXT season would be a far bigger blow than missing out this season.

 

[mark1975]

As new owners though you'd expect them to make some sort of statement from their own resources, especially when they essentially got the club 'on the cheap'. If this story came out last November about G&H there would be an uproar.

 

[Hansern]

If you believe todays papers we are about to sign Griezmann for 7 mill £.

I think they'll spend a bit in january. Read Comollis interview on .tv or at the Beeb. If the right players are available, we can sign them.

 

[mark1975]

Good stuff.

 

[KingDing]

REDS SET TO SPLASH CASH IN JANUARY

Liverpool's director of football strategy Damien Comolli claims owners New England Sports Ventures are prepared to finance the signing of a world-class player in January - but only if the price is right.

Comolli was brought in earlier this month to oversee recruitment and the development of the academy.

Manager Roy Hodgson plans to make changes in the forthcoming transfer window but much will depend on whether the club can bring in the right type of player without paying over the odds.

But that is not to say principal owner John Henry and NESV chairman Tom Werner will not release funds for the right individual.

"We have a pretty good idea of what we would like to do and we have identified targets," Comolli said.

"If there's a possibility of us getting a world-class player, we will have the backing.

"John and Tom want to win - and you win with top players.

"If it can be done in January, great. If it can't because we feel it is the wrong market or players are overpriced, then we will wait.

"I'm not going to say we won't do anything in January because that is not the idea at the moment.

"We will do what is right for the long term. What is right for the long term can be something we do in January."

Comolli arrived from French club St Etienne a fortnight ago having previously worked in England with Arsenal and Tottenham, and his immediate priority has been to help draw up

list of potential signings in January. A longer-term brief is to generate a steady flow of quality youngsters from the academy to the first team.

From what he has seen in his short period at Anfield, the Frenchman does not believe the problems are as bad as they are sometimes portrayed.

The club had a difficult start to the year but appeared to have bounced back from that only to lose at Stoke on Saturday.

However, Comolli likes to take a more measured view of things.

"The club is not in a bad state. We've had some great results. It's not in ruins. Everything is there to be successful," he told BBC Sport.

"We have to win and bring back trophies. For a club this size, it's not about top six or top four - we must win everything that's winnable."

 

[rurikbird]

Talk about mixed messages

 

[Sanddirft Red]

[quote author=rurikbird link=topic=42816.msg1219780#msg1219780 date=1289986782]
Talk about mixed messages
[/quote]

I'm listening to the one with quotes 😉

 

[rurikbird]

John W Henry's prudence can help Liverpool build £200 transfer kitty for summer of 2030.

 

[Insignificance]

["John and Tom want to win/quote]

Well they have been around for a month. Could one of them care to hand Roy a paper with this sentence on?

 

[StevieM]

[quote author=Insignificance link=topic=42816.msg1219839#msg1219839 date=1289994398]

["John and Tom want to win/quote]

Well they have been around for a month. Could one of them care to hand Roy a paper with this sentence on?

Preferrably with "P45" stamped at the top of the page.

 

[spider-Neil]

I'm less worried about roy wasting money in jan with a DoF in place.

 

[Judge Jules]

That's fair enough as far as it goes, but I'm struggling to see a positive in this. if we get players Roy wants, I don't trust his judgment. If we get players he doesn't want, that's hardly likely to increase his chances of doing any better than he has already.

Bottom line: he has to go, and go quickly. Anything less is a consolation prize at best.

 

[RolandG]

It seems that John and Tom are intent on letting Roy see out the season.

Comolli comments on getting players that he wants is worrying and seems to back up the notion that Roy will remain until at least the summer.

 

[peterhague]

[quote author=RolandG link=topic=42816.msg1220003#msg1220003 date=1290018191]
It seems that John and Tom are intent on letting Roy see out the season.

Comolli comments on getting players that he wants is worrying and seems to back up the notion that Roy will remain until at least the summer.
[/quote]

people keep saying that, but i'm not convinced. the fans are already on the verge of open revolt, can you imagine what'll happen if west ham beat us on saturday? there are no absolutes here. if he gets the team winning with acceptable regularity, then he'll cling on for the season, if he keeps losing, he won't.