FSG snowflakes contribute to the LFC plateau

Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a fan of Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and their ownership of Liverpool Football Club. I have no faith in them at all and I pray for the day that they sell up and leave town, not that they’re often in it.

Better the devil you know? Thanks but I’ll take my chances.

Although I’m holding back until the transfer window closes, I wanted to publish a quick editorial to advise you not to pay too much attention the vast amounts of claims and lies that have been made online since the weekend in relation to them and also the manager. Although this is in some ways may appear as a small defence of FSG, unlike others, I believe in fairness. I won’t latch onto something that will make someone or something look bad purely because it supports any views I may have. I’m not defending them, I’m merely advising caution.

What annoys me more than FSG is the snowflakes who continually defend their ownership. FSG have failed as owners and I believe that will continue to be the case.

Anyone who accepts FSG’s unambitious ownership is a contributor to Liverpool’s failings.

Owners/chairmen used to be placed under extreme pressure if we finished 2nd in the league, today our fan base allows and accepts far less. The pressure must always be on our owners and our chairman (a title which is a laughable at Anfield these days) to ensure complacency doesn’t set in. But it has set in and we continue to allow it.

I had more time for George Gillett and Tom Hicks than this shower. At least they injected a little comedy. Had the global economy not collapsed and their gamble paid off, the previous duo may have given us something to sing about. Obviously, that eventually turned nasty and they were finally sent packing. Don’t worry, I expect you to have little or no sympathy for them at all. But the current lot are no different as far as I’m concerned. They’re just a different kind of cowboy. They’re just smarter and wiser.

<<– Buy football club shares online –>>

When the owner of your club blocks non-abusive comments on Twitter from a fan who writes a critical article about them, that says it all. Would it really have been that difficult to reply with something like: “I’m sorry you feel that way. We really are trying our best.” even if it’s a lie and even if it’s posted through gritted teeth?

I firmly believe that the owners need to move on and with them they need to take every failed member of senior management with them. Hand over the club to someone who cares about football, someone who will look after our bird and not neglect her while they’re flirting around with their true love in The States.

They came, they tried, they failed. They would leave with a hefty profit and their reputation still intact before things turn sour and I think it will go that way. I know what football fans are like. If they think you’re taking the piss they will come for you, your other businesses and your sponsors.

Amanda Staveley, backed up by some very wealthy Arab investors and football fanatics, is currently looking for a Premier League club to buy. She’s tried multiple times to oversee a purchase of Liverpool Football Club and guess which club she’d still like to snap up over any other? The opportunity could be there without having to go looking.

I’m not going to criticise FSG for their failings this summer because it wouldn’t be right to do so until the transfer window closes. I am still hoping to see activity. They still have time to add to the squad although I don’t think many of you will be holding your breath and even if they did deliver some players, will it really change anything? Liverpool Football Club needs more than a few players. It’s about how the club is run and what it actually wants to achieve. A new stand and a bus just doesn’t cut it for me and I’m yet to see an additional player signed because of a sponsorship deal with someone else they’ve whored us out to.

And as for Coutinho? Get him sold. Who in their right mind would have turned down £90million last summer for him? The world has gone mad. We’d have bit their hands off. He’s a very good player but he’s inconsistent and do you know why that is? Because what’s the point at Liverpool? Would you feel inspired to play for a club that is not really going anywhere fast? Don’t keep an unhappy player and don’t deny him his dream move. I’ve banged on for months that he was pushing for this move while being shot down by ‘true’ fans online. Coutinho has done nothing wrong. I personally wouldn’t miss him at all. We can hang on to him for another season possibly but he hasn’t led us to any titles so far. Take the money. Get rid.

We may end up with Virgil van Dijk and/or another but do you really think they’re going to make the difference? We have some pretty average players in the squad and a captain that couldn’t lead the Girl Guides in a canoe. I’m not convinced by our goalkeeper and I believe we absolutely need a clinical striker. Firmino can do a job but a clinical striker who has played in that position from when he was 6 years of age has instincts that just can’t be injected into the very best alternatives. Imagine a Liverpool without an Ian Rush or a Robbie Fowler? Where did it all go wrong?

Jürgen Klopp shouldn’t be immune from criticism either. Oh he may like his heavy metal football and he may show passion that we all want to see but had Brendan Rodgers come out with some of the things he’s said recently, he’d have been hung from The Kop. That doesn’t concern me too much though because as I’ve said for a while, he’ll be gone in a couple of seasons if the owners fail to deliver.

Ultimately, I can’t see Liverpool Football Club returning to the top of English football for as long as Fenway Sports Group are running the club. Their decisions and appointments from top to bottom throughout their tenure have been shocking, with the exception of Klopp, possibly. I’m not sure if he’ll go on to achieve but he was seen as a coup at the time.

We have absent owners who are not committed. Look at Chelsea and Manchester City. Look at the way their owners cheer on those two clubs to success. At least they care. At least they want to be the best and try everything possible to do so, even if we don’t agree with all of their decisions. Investment, commitment and desire. It’s not a complicated recipe. What a surprise that they tend to win the silverware.

We have many weak supporters who defend the owners that “saved us” yet dare to pull up committed, lifelong fans when they express their concerns rightly or wrongly. Give me their hearts any day.

We have some local fans who stress over where their fellow supporters are coming from and how many LFC merchandise carrier bags they’re taking into the stadium on match-days because apparently, that’s a biggie. Instead of cherishing our global support they want to demean it.

We have supporters’ groups who are more focused on who can wave flags on the Kop than the failings of the owners. Oh I’m sure they do a nice job and gives them a feeling of being involved and all that but you don’t need to be a part of a group to speak up.

We have the once fantastic Liverpool Echo spamming the f*ck out of us with auto-playing videos that drive me insane who no longer have the balls to ask the questions the fans would like asking. Why is that? I’m all for having a great relationship for the access etc but I know I’m not the only one who thinks FSG are given an easy time by the local media.

We have a CEO that’s kinda not really a CEO like we think, that patronises us about greenhouses while Tweeting while taking a dump. At first, I kinda liked his interaction and banter, now he comes across like one of these self-appointed Twitter ITKs blocking people and getting caught up in the abuse. He has become a parody of himself.

Then we have the former pros, the legends. I’ve never seen so many club ambassadors. What’s that all about? I feel like the only Reds that are free to speak up and represent us are those employed by Sky Sports and not LFC. You can’t speak out against FSG if you’re teaching 7-year-old Ethan how to kick a soccer ball during the day at some event over the pond where the club is pretending to care about its fans.

Anyway, I’ll wait and see what happens between now and the window closing before loading both barrels. However, that doesn’t stop me from having the opinion that some supporters are just as much to blame as the owners are.

If you want Liverpool to be successful again, you need to keep them all under pressure. If you don’t, we will continue to plateau.

See you back here on September 1st!

YNWA

Duncan Oldham
KopTalk Editor

• If you enjoy my editorials, please support me by becoming a KopTalk member