• You may have to login or register before you can post and view our exclusive members only forums.
    To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Michael Edwards

Status
Not open for further replies.

Squiggles

Part of the Furniture
Member
The nerd with the laptop who gets horny over statistics. Is he good enough to be our sporting director? Genuine question, because I've no idea.

No progress on Kieta.
VVD shambles and apology.
No progress on Can contract.
Lack of any alternative targets despite CL qualification.

There's surely some questions to be answered among all that.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
I've wondered the same. We know little about him but from what we do know nothing really indicates he has the ability to wheel and deal and get things done.

He may well be excellent at analytics but maybe thats what we need to restrict him to.

We could do with supplementing him with someone from the business side of thinga or maybe even an agent. The LA Lakers did that when the brought in Magic Johnson as the GM, the recognised his weaknesses and brought in an agent to work with him to get deals done.
 
Things certainly haven't been going to plan, but it appears to be similar across the entire league. I don't think there is a manager in the competition that is completely satisfied with their summer spending.

Man City have spent huge numbers and Everton have been busy but most clubs are still desperately trying to complete deals. Most are probably considering how deep into back up plans they are willing to venture. Palace and Stoke have had very little joy whilst Bournemouth spent 30mil on Begovic and Ake.

We can obviously do better but let's not ignore how challenging the window has been for everyone. I'm sure that Edwards would have considered VVD, Keita and Salah as sure things at the start of the window. Their fees immediately became obscene and our haggling has been counter productive and a complete waste of time. I'm sure that every club would like the opportunity to start this window over...

He has a few weeks to try and make the most out of a disastrous start. I'll give him until next Feb before putting the boot in, but a similar transfer window in January should get him the boot.
 
The transfers I can understand.... I expect Henry etc dont wanna spunk any cash on contracts til CL football is secure... maybe this is why Phillippe wants to leave, basically we act like that mate who never gets his wallet out for a round of drinks.

The rest of it is fair criticism, either that or there is gonna be a lot of shit going down in the next 2 weeks.
 
He's got it all to prove for me. I have seen little to impress me, although we do not know what happens behind the scenes. Failure to identify targets and failure to close deals - this all rests with him.
 
Was underwhelmed by his appointment/promotion to be honest. Promotion from within is fine and rewards hard work and committement but FSG seems to take up this option far too often - seemingly as a simple/safer option.

On a sidenote, today's article:

Liverpool's failing transfer guru and why Jurgen Klopp may soon be questioning the club's ambition
[article]It is not just the Liverpool future of Philippe Coutinho that may be on the line in the final days of this summer’s transfer window - as the storm brewing at Anfield has the potential to cast a cloud over the club’s biggest star.

While critics of manager Jurgen Klopp delight in highlighting his failings, Liverpool supporters have invested their hopes and dreams in the hands of the German tactician who has become the face of one of the most iconic sporting brands in the world.

That beaming smile, the booming laugh, those extravagant touchline antics and his compelling post-match interviews turned Klopp into a star long before he arrived at Anfield in October 2015, yet this affable German might be about to face up to his first real crisis as Liverpool manager.

Klopp knew that this would be the summer when Liverpool’s ambitions would be tested to the full, with the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) that oversees the club’s transfer policy being urged to shed their tag of being a set of businessmen who buy youthful players with an eye on selling them for a profit at a later date.

After Klopp reached the end of last summer’s transfer window with his balance sheet in profit, he had every right to believe that his success in guiding the club to a top-four finish in the Premier League would prelude a big summer of spending that would see Liverpool break their transfer budget on several occasions.


Yet as we edge towards the final two weeks of transfer trading and with Liverpool preparing for their crucial Champions League play-off tie against Hoffenheim on Tuesday night, Klopp will have as many questions swirling in his mind as the club’s frustrated fans.

If we get to the September 1st transfer deadline with Liverpool’s No.10 shirt vacated by Philippe Coutinho after a £100m move to Barcelona and the club failing to finalise deals for Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk or Leipzig’s Naby Keita (below) - Klopp’s two top transfer targets - then it might not just be the fans who start pointing accusing fingers in the direction of the club’s owners.

FSG chiefs are no soccer experts and with that in mind, they are believed to have developed a reliance Sporting Director Michael Edwards to feed them with information after he was promoted to his new role last November following a stint as the club’s statistical analyst.

Part of the much-maligned ‘transfer committee’ that was heavily criticised during Brendan Rodgers' spell as Liverpool manager, the influence Edwards commands with the club's owners was confirmed with his promotion to the vital role of chief transfer strategist last year.

A failed footballer, Edwards worked at Portsmouth and Tottenham overseeing data on players before securing his role at Liverpool, with Rodgers said to be uncomfortable with his influence on the club’s owners in the months before his sacking in October 2015.

Edwards' lack of experience in closing out high-profile transfers meant he had plenty to prove in the role and the first big test of his credentials came as Liverpool embarked on what proved to be disastrous talks to try and set up a deal to sign Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk.

His decision to speak to the player and his agent without getting permission from Southampton to open talks was a reckless approach that forced Liverpool into an embarrassing public apology and apparently ended their hopes of signing the defender. It was amateur trading from a novice learning the ropes.

Edwards also failed in several attempts to sign Keita, with his sole success in closing out a deal to sign Mohamed Salah from Roma not enough to absolve him of criticism if Liverpool fail to capture the players they badly need in the final weeks of this transfer window.

As if the frustration for Edwards and FSG after their transfer near misses was not already acute, they are now facing up to the prospect of losing their best player against their wishes and this after the club released a statement only last Friday confirming Coutinho would not be sold at any cost.

After the club took that firm stance, the sale of Coutinho now has the potential to spark an angry reaction from Liverpool fans already concerned about the ambitions of owners who are rapidly using up the stocks of faith placed in them by all associated with the club.

What will the mood be like at Anfield next weekend if Liverpool have slipped up in the Champions League play-offs against Hoffenheim and also lose Coutinho to Barcelona?

It doesn't bear thinking about and in the middle of the storm will stand the manager who could already be forgiven for wondering whether the club’s owners are more interested in trading on Liverpool's glorious reputation without making serious attempts to preserve it.

The answer to that question will be delivered in the next two weeks.[/article]
 
Anyone thinks we will get another open letter in the fifth anniversary of this letter from John Henry:

I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.

But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Şahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/123951-john-henry-s-open-letter-to-fans

Maybe FSG thinks we are like Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow - live, die, repeat and experience the same thing over and over again.
 
Shame. Had my rant written up about how Pro FSG this forum was and this was a clear indicator. Ha
 
Well theres a locked thread with the title 'Frogfish is a plank', don't read anything into that either
 
It's hard to say, but as already covered, FSG have this tendency to promote from within, which leads to people in various roles who are only specialists in a certain aspect of that particular role. It's not really a good trend, especially as we've seen the poor results.

We need someone as a figurehead at the club, that knows the game at both a personal and executive level, someone who understands this ever evolving market and how to deal with clubs.
 
Anyone thinks we will get another open letter in the fifth anniversary of this letter from John Henry:

I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.

But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Şahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/123951-john-henry-s-open-letter-to-fans

Maybe FSG thinks we are like Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow - live, die, repeat and experience the same thing over and over again.


Hahahaaahhhaaaa yeah no it was fairly easily deemed a failure.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom