If you haven’t heard the rumours that Jürgen Klopp will be provided with a £200million transfer kitty this summer, where exactly have you been hiding?
Once you’ve picked yourself up off the floor and have wiped the tears away from your eyes, let me tell you that Micky Quinn reiterated the suggestion yesterday morning on talkSPORT! So there you have it, it must be true.
My first thought upon hearing that our fine owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) would be handing £200million to the Liverpool manager had me working out how much they’d need to cough up after selling Philippe Coutinho. 200 minus 70 = 130. Then I started looking at what squad players would be sold to bring that figure down even further. I still couldn’t stop laughing. You see, whenever anything crops up concerning the owners, I immediately turn into a pessimist. They’ve made me like that.
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Whenever anything factual comes out of the club that is remotely positive I immediately look at dates i.e. the timing of such. I then start wondering what they’re really up to. It’s a shame because I really do want to believe all the nicey-nicey warm stuff are sincere gestures from their hearts. The reality is, I still don’t trust them.
However, despite the suspicion and the paranoia, I cannot align myself with the hardcore anti-FSG peeps. I know their hearts are in the right place and I’d much rather defend them than the owners, but some of them are as deluded as those who think John Henry actually cares about overseeing Liverpool FC to their first ever Premier League title. I’m sick of the lot of them. I just want to watch 11 players working together to try and put the ball in the back of the opposition’s net. They all bore me to death.
Many, many years ago, the KopTalk forums and members’ website were full of topics debating the actual games, debating the players and potential transfers. We never discussed the board or the owners. The chief executive received the odd mention but that was it. Boy, do I miss those days. It’s all a huge turn off for me today. Will it ever return? I really, really hope so because I miss it.
FSG, to date, do not match my expectations and until they do or until we have someone else that does, I’ll refrain from getting stuck into it all like I used to. Supporting Liverpool Football Club at the moment is like watching Groundhog Day. Same old, same old, year in, year out. Only Jürgen Klopp gives me hope and he’s not the Messiah. He can’t work miracles.
A £50million Virgil van Dijk is not going to solve our problems by himself either. It will help but we really do need another 4 or 5 £50million players so let’s hope FSG somehow find £200million for the manager without having to sell our little Brazilian. That would be a start.
I’d give anything for the owners to have as much passion as our great fans and our dedicated manager. If they could show the same commitment, if everyone could be on the same page, we could really step up. The reality, and here comes the pessimism, is that under FSG we continue to plateau. Champions League qualification would be progress but when you take into account that we’ve had no European football this season, is it really anything to celebrate? I agree with Roy Keane on this.
While discussing the owners, I want to touch upon Linda (not a euphemism). I know she surfaces on Twitter very predictably following a win but whether you believe she’s sincere or not, at least she actually says something. You’re going to think I’ve lost the plot but I’d happily have her … as our Chairwoman. Let’s be honest, Tom Werner is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike.
John Henry stands back and lets her take the flack on Twitter which I find rather cowardly. I’d not allow my significant other to be the sole spokesperson on Twitter for my business/group knowing that she was being subjected to vile abuse because of my failings. If he could fly the flag a little on Twitter then Linda might be cut some slack from the trolls. I find his lack of a presence very unsupportive. Linda’s no wuss though. She gets stuck in and she doesn’t need a pensioner behind her (Stop it!).
I’m not taking the p*ss. I’ve suggested this before. Even if she was a munter, I’d suggest the same. If we have to have one of them, then who better to pretend to be bothered than Linda? She interacts with the fans. She shows an interest. She’s actually considered a very intelligent woman and I think she’d suit the role. She’s better on the eye than Werner too. She doesn’t deserve the abuse she gets. I have no problem with people pulling her up but some of the stuff I have seen is shocking.
Anyway. £200million? I look forward to our new fleet of buses.
YNWA
Duncan Oldham
KopTalk Editor
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