KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Clever economics or crafty manouvering

Oh? Winning the FA Cup for the first time in 35 years doesn't count as "doing anything of note", then? No, mate. Man City is a serious player this season. But it remains to be seen what happens to them when FFP comes into operation in the 2013/14 season. Will they have the squad then to continue to compete, or will they need to cull too much of it in order to get those wages back in line with their earnings?

What of Arsenal, who've not yet completed paying off the Emirates and sales of the Highbury flats have stalled, leaving them with a minor loss last season. Their most valuable players are already out the door to boot, with the money re-invested a little too hastily.

What of Chelsea? 70m pounds in the hole last season, another 100m spent on transfers since January. Who will have to leave to counter-balance that?

What of Spurs? Already unable to pay wages and transfer fees. Everton? All but broke.

So that leaves Man U, heavily in debt but sustained by their fan base and ridiculous deals such as the one for their training kit. And Liverpool - cleared of the burden of debt, with owners willing to reinvest every penny earned back in the club, a plan that has seen 110m pounds reinvested in the squad.

I'd say that financially we're more than just "okay". So if we're in trouble (as the tone of your posts seems to suggest), then the entire league is as well.

And we have a realistic chance of getting into the top four just depends how you look at it

I think City or Chelsea have everything to do with the way business is run in football today. Hence 35 mill being spent on a player. Take a look at that whole Torres saga! We would never have had to pay that amount of money for Carroll if that hadn't happened.
To reply directly to your initial post and its title I'd say it's really a bit of both. I think your fear stems from the cowboy yank era we had last year.

no,thankfully lfc are in no financial danger anymore.thats good,lets get to the top table though.i believe we will be at the top table using that inventive formula henry has.
the fa cup is nice as has been said.portsmouth won it year before remember.
to become serious man city need to become like chelsea did...perhaps they will but to date theyve nnot.yes a threat now but i saw enough last year to suggest lfc are still better.
perhaps arsenals cycle is up.wngers policy of french buys showing now like houliers did..going so far.
totenham are a one season pony talked up by wide biy redknap.look ay his excuses already coming out.
everton,much as id love the blighters to be relegated will not be too far away from lfc in the league tbh despite no outlay.
man u seem to have just found a new crop of youth and the purchase of ashley young looks good.early days yet and many of them may be running on euphoria as it can happen.if adam is doing the same then he like young will soon look distinctly average.

Chelsea took a few seasons to get going too remember? It took the signing of Mourinho before they won the league, though. So it's a long climb from mid-table back to the top. Your point about Portsmouth is well made, since they made the final twice in 3 years despite being relegated the second time. But that's also the nature of the FA Cup, where one can dodge the big teams all the way to Wembley. By contrast, Man City had to beat last season's EPL champions along the way. The FA Cup may not be the prize it once was, but it does take a little something special to win it, and since they'd not managed to do it for three and a half decades it can only be considered "notable". A city fan would have your eyes for suggesting silverware was meaningless.

I don't like all this talk about the players signed during this window being poor, particularly those who made such an impact last season. They weren't lucky for 38 consecutive league games. Young and Downing were brilliant in a Villa side that did its level best to get relegated. Adam and his partner in crime at Blackpool (who's name suddenly escapes me) very nearly kept the entire club up. Henderson was Sunderland's best player despite his tender age. If they are anywhere near as good this season as last they will all have proven their doubters wrong. That all of them are already showing signs that last season was not a flash in the pan (witness Young keeping Valencia out and Nani an after-thought at United, Adam and Henderson showing signs of growing into their roles at LFC, Downing's signing already being called "shrewd"), how can you say something to the contrary, particularly since all these players are now surrounded by better coaches, players, and managers?

downing was perhaps 5m ott and not the required quality.but at least he was from a decent club and to an extent among the the higher ranked players.
adam was non existent after christmas at blackpool..yes blackpool.henderson was unheard of despite this claim to fame of being ermmm sunderlands best player.carrol..well its all been said over already so no point repeating.but you see there newcastle sunderland blackpool...theur so called best players,get a team full of them and thats what lfc become another sunderland.contrast that to say choosing bayern munichs best player or athletico madrids best player..or the like...and for the same money you have proven quality.in some respects i feel a tad sorry for adam.hes a nice guy by looks of it but hes being asked to become this ilustrious player he can never be.he will be found out soon enough but its not his fault.the main players ie.the top teams are focused on league position followed by dreams of cl success then if fa or league cup nice but they are an after thought as is the uefa cup or europa league as its now known.if lfc can make top 4 it could well be at expence of man city.id be delighted at that,you sound like that may disapoint you though.

I cannot see why it can't be sustainable especially if we start winning trophies and getting into the champions league once again.

Bayern Munich's best player? Who are you talking about, because they sold no one to the EPL? I hope you don't mean Per Mertesacker who played for Werder Bremen, a club that shipped 61 goals last season, which is not exactly what you want on your resume as a central defender.

Atletico Madrid's best player? You STILL seem to think he'd sign for a club that didn't qualify for the Europa League and could only offer 35k a week? It's not all about whether a club can meet the transfer fee - witness how hard it was for us to get rid of David N'Gog.

I very much doubt Adam is being asked to become an "illustrious player". You've obviously not listened much to Kenny's press conferences, where he says how important the team effort is so much that it's becoming boring. You seem to misunderstand Adam's role in the team entirely.

You're right that everyone thinks the EPL is more important than the FA Cup - I never suggested it wasn't. But you might want to look at the pressure a certain Arsene Wenger is under because he's won nothing for 7 seasons, not even the league cup which he had one hand on last season. Perhaps you don't understand what a morale boost winning silverware is in your world where the players you don't understand are rubbish and only winning the EPL and CL count for anything.

And if LFC make the top 4 this season my suspicion is that it will be at the expense of Arsenal not City. I most certainly would not be disappointed - I only care about the success of the Reds, but I'm not so blind that I don't note the fortunes of other clubs along the way.

FSG will seldom go into their own pockets for money, what they'll do is make very good sponsorship deals and give kenny as much of that money as possible. imo they have done nothing wrong so far they are incredibly good business men (and women) but just as important they are winners weather it's with the red sox or their nascar team or with lfc they know how to win and they won't except 2nd.

our net spend this summer was always going to be pretty low, because we had a lot of dead wood in our squad which comolli and kenny have done a brilliant job to get rid of all of them in 1 summer, although we should have a close look at net spend next summer.

We have not trimmed 30 million from the wage bill...since they have come in we have a net spend of 40-50 mill. Which is great investment for the club. There is also no reaosn to believe should the right player become available, that we won't move in january for him.

i can see atleast one player if not two players joining us in jan. maybe cahill or a RW OR DM