Liverpool no longer a big club ?

Well Raheem Stirling doesn't seem to think so and he's been supported in this view by one half of the original SaS http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32821209

What do you think guys ?

 

Well let's face it, it's not about being a big club is it ? Newcastle are a big club. It's about being a successful club.

Liverpool overachieved in many peoples eyes last season and many also expected them to return to 5th or lower this season - especially after the sale of Suarez. That's exactly what has happened.

When you compare their history to that of the rest of the top 4 - they are certainly a big successful club. That's not the situation NOW. They are not on the same page when it comes to financial clout as the rest of the top 4. It's not strange that top players would see Liverpool as a stepping stone at this point in time.

How can Liverpool fans seriously have a go at Sterling when in the past they have signed players from less successful clubs who joined because they wanted to win things. Gerrard decided to stay and as a consequence never won the league. If he'd moved on then he'd have had a championship medal.

The issue is that Liverpool and their fans still see their team as one of a top 'five' and cannot accept the reality that a move to Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea or Man United as a step up in terms of success. If someone in the first team at Swansea wanted to leave to join eg. Stoke, we'd scratch our heads as it's a sideways move to another mid-table team, yet if he went to join Liverpool we'd accept it as furthering their career. This is what Liverpool cannot grasp. Until they become a permanent fixture in the top four and seriously challenge for the title each season then they always stand the chance of players wanting to move to the more successful clubs. It's very simple.

 

I no longer get excited at the prospect of playing them and see them as a team with a fantastic history, who have had fantastic player, but are now no more than a top 5/6 PL side and have good to average players. Their fans need to let go and realise what they are and can no longer compete either on the pitch or financially with the likes of Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd. A once great club who are now just a very good PL side and nothing more.

I agree with Stereo and believe that last year they well over achieved and without Suarez would have been struggling to get anywhere near a top 4 finish.

 

'Big Club' is pointless and meaningless term as there's no set criteria to define one. In general its simply a term used by fans to sledge each other.

Fan base - Both Sunderland and Newcastle may be described as 'big clubs' if we use geographical location as a factor, but neither has shown any ambition other than survival so, are they 'big clubs' ?

Chelsea have a relatively smaller fan base yet their ambition is to win and this year they have the accolade of being the most consistent performers in our domestic league, does that make them a 'big club'? They were embarrassed and humiliated, along with all other UK entries, against European counterparts. All UK clubs fell decisively against the 'smaller clubs' of Europe.

Chelsea nor Man City have the histories Man U or Liverpool stand on and Arsenal only have domestic successes and one season of note with the 'invincibles', so can we truly describe any of them as 'big clubs'. Arsenal aside, our perennial top five are just consequences of the wet dreams of their billionaire owners. Does using someone elses' money make them big clubs?

Imo, there's only three 'big clubs' in football and none are UK clubs:

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Beyern Munchen are the only truly 'big clubs' ticking every box domestically, in Europe, world wide fan base and recognition. Each constantly achieves domestic success and each are always a major threat to any club in Europe.

Maybe these will be joined soon by the Old Lady Juventus who, after surviving a murder attempt, is desperate to eat at the top table again.

Liverpool, big club? not in this life.

 

A big club could once be described as a club with a winning history, a strong fan base and European pedigree. Today a big club sadly equates to BIG MONEY. By the first criteria Liverpool are certainly a big club, but gauged on today's financial requirements to be "a big club" then probably not.

 

its a huge club, with millions of fans all around the globe............and a trophy room both our clubs could only dream of

 

I think that we can all agree that 'Pool used to be a big club, and a real force to be reckoned with. The 'Pool v United match used to be the biggest on the planet.

But that was all a long time ago, and things are very different now. The idea that, in the 70s, a player would chose to leave 'Pool (as opposed to being kicked out) was simply not one that would have been contemplated. Today, unfortunately, 'Pool is seen as nothing more than a stepping-stone to bigger things.

You chaps might want to get yourselves over to the Spurs board and take a gander at my "Mouser Watch 2" thread, which acts as a forum for discussing all things LFC, with a particular focus on their fans, the Mousers. Debate is lively, but with a minimum of wumming and piss-taking.

 

Dreaming Scousers? I have never thought of Liverpool as a big club, Manu maybe, at least at one time Manu was the worlds biggest in revenue and turnover, but sadly that has all changed since the Yanks took over.........



Sterling wants Trophies and he'll not get them at Liverpool.

 

Who gives a toss apart from scousers? I am a Swansea City fan who have seen my team beat Man U twice, and Arsenal twice this season, there maybe a gulf between clubs above us, but its not that huge, we should have had results against Chelsea and Man C this season. Liverpool fans can continue to dream the dream, because its what we do as well, but the reality is there is only 6 points between us.

 

The issue is how long do we go back to decide who are big clubs. Leeds, Hudderfsfield and Sheffield Wednesday have all been bigger in their day. You are big for wht you are doing here and now not what you did 20 or 30 years ago.

 

Liverpool are not a super club anymore and have lost that status for well over a decade and more, they don't hold that fear factor for any club anymore.....

 

Of course Liverpool is a big club - but they are not this season a big team.
From memory they have lost something like 50 premier league goals with Suarez going (late tbf) and injuries mainly to Stourage. IMO they have done well to score 51 goals (the equivalent would be for us to have scored 27 league goals).

From what I have seen, Sterling really isn't anywhere near as good as he thinks he is & there are a few other prima donnas who believe they are more important than the manager or the club & city.
2nd and one game away from the title last year and 5th this isn't too shabby.

 

Liverpool have never won the premiership since it was formed a hell of a long time ago.......Big clubs win it on a regular basis Liverpool are no better than anyone else who have not won the premiership title....They have no fear factor anymore that players want to leave and good players rather look elsewhere......The big club status is a myth now

 

We have to be realistic about where our club is at this moment in time and it's not a good place. The difference between us and some other clubs is the status we once had and all we have won. It doesn't mean a lot right now but does mean we are still a bigger attraction to some players and we still have a certain financial clout.
Over this PL period where we haven't won the league there are plenty of trophies that we have won and I'd take our haul over Arsenals anyday. Spurs don't even come into it, I noticed HAIG had chipped in.
Are we a big club? I'd say yes but would be biased.
I would say that we are at a point where we need to get the signings right and start winning again, that's right winning not 4th that would be a small club mentality.

 

Of course Spurs comes into it! We're one of your major rivals, now.

Players would rather come to us than to you, as is clearly evidenced by the fact that we've had several players choose to come to us rather than to LFC, over the last few seasons. And let's not forget that LFC nearly went bust, not so long ago.

Past glory has nothing, at all, to whether or not 'Pool is a "big" club. That's all in the past; and whether Mousers like it or not, LFC is a very pale shadow of the team that it was in the 70s and early 80s. Today, they are a club that teams like to go to Anfield to attack; they are a club that top players - if they end up at 'Pool - use as a stepping-stone. These are not the hallmarks of a "big" club, despite Mouser delusion to the contrary.

 

I have never and will never see Spurs as a rival.

 

That doesn't alter the fact that Spurs and LFC are rivals.

Once we've got our new stadium, I see us pushing on and leaving 'Pool in our wake. 'Pool's rivals, at that time, are likely to be West Ham and Stoke.

 

Keep dreaming fella, you're so deluded you should jump ship and support us.

You've won 1 trophy since the FA Cup in 1991 which was The League Cup

In the same time we've won 3 FA Cups 4 League Cups, The Uefa Cup and The Champions League

I could go back further but then it gets silly Man Utd had a poor season last year did that make you their rivals? You got into the top 4 a few years back that didn't make you rivals to Chelsea, Arsenal or City.

We are poor at the moment I admit but by **** we're not Spurs.

 

Hmmm so what are you saying guys ?