Now I like John W. Henry but amd I the only one in thinking that he should not be making comments about which players are staying and which are going? I thought that it was Kenny Dalglish & Damian Comolli who had this job. Maybe i'm just reading too much in to it and he is giving them a boost and i'm being a grouch but still while I like reading his tweets regarding stats and money I think he should leave the comments about our players (especially with the transfer window open) to the manager as now if Kenny wants to sell N'Gog or Aquaman it's gonna make JWH look an idiot
mmm I can see your point mate however I read this and was pleased with his comment. It's nothing more than a statement that we don't NEED to sell Aquaman or Ngog I reckon. The roles and responsibilites are clear between the three of them I reckon - we're not in the same boat as Chelsea. I would love to see Aqua stay - he could play a big part this season coming.
I think he's just trying to make himself seem like a normal Liverpool fan in the eyes of our supporters. It's always been his plan to keep the supporters onside, because ultimately it was us who got rid of Hicks and Gillette. Kenny hasn't come out and said they're leaving, and Aquilani's agent has said as much about him staying at Liverpool before so I think him suggesting they're staying isn't too bad. To say Aquilani was the missing link was perhaps him trying to generate a bit of media about Aquilani. Too many papers calling him a flop etc.. and Henry is trying to get him some good publicity. Then again it's JH who's paying the wages so it shouldn't matter if they stay or go, because it's up to Kenny who gets a game and who doesn't.
i think when the guy is tweeting away about a firendly and is being impressed by n'gog it shows his football education is only underway. seriously though aquilani looks great with a ll the flicks and such but hey, we don't look very solid with him playing, he's a real luxury player isn't he? very entertaining on the ball though. I don't know how we'll accomodate all the players we have now.
Kenny doesn't own the club. Neither does Comolli. Kenny can't buy a player if Comolli doesn't agree we should. Comolli can't buy a player if Kenny doesn't agree we should. Kenny+Comolli can't buy a player if Henry doesn't agree we should. Henry can do whatever he feels like doing. It's the benefit of owning the club.
I'm happy with JH's comments because Aquilani IS a good player and a lot of fans have been criticising Aquilani because he was injured for most of season previously and didn't have much time to impress (despite scoring goals, assists and picking MOM awards). Ngog may be far from the finished article but there are players here who are more worthy of leaving this club i.e. Joe Cole, Jovanovic, Poulsen etc. A lot of fans keep pushing for youngsters to start more games and be given a run out but when the likes of Ngog and Insua play poorly, fans want them gone!
Can't disagree with anything you've said there, but I think the issue is not JWH's right to say those things, but the wisdom of saying them. I recognise that I'm a bit of an old fart when it comes to facebook and twitter etc., but it still seems odd to me that people just come out with things that anyone can read without seeming to give too much thought to it. JW may have the final say in everything, but if he has any sense- and I believe he does- then he will leave footballing decisions to those he is paying to make them.
Your post made me reread the quote from Henry - to be 100% accurate he says Aqua was 'a' missing link not 'the' missing link. Small point I know but it changes the context a lot. I have high hopes for Aqua - we would all be delighted right now if he had just signed for us afresh after his last season!
That or hes attempting to big up their performances in order to sell them on.Though he hasnt mentioned the ' Poulsen Goal' yet.
Agree with previous poster that he's just trying to be a "normal" fan but you have to question the appropriatness of putting something like this up on a social networking site.
I think he was just paying the player's a bit of a complement, they are afterall liverpool players and he should be able to do so. It might turn out that he's just trying to boost their profile and possible transfer value, nothings clear in football!!
I don't really think JWH has a chance of making himself look foolish with that tweet, i think he is just trying to demonstrate to the fan's that he's actually taking a big interest in our friendlies. Were either N'Gog or Aquilani to leave he would just say that all though they impressed him in this match he differed judgment on their benefit to the team to someone with more experience IE Kenny or Damien Commoil or something along those lines. For me i won't be too sorry to see Ngog leave he tries hard and is an OK finisher but i'm still struggling to see what sort of striker he is, he doesn't really have the lightning pace to play on the shoulder and doesn't have the physicality to play as a target man, and doesn't really have the intelligence to play between the lines as a second striker either. Hope Aqua stays though I've always thought he was decent but didn't really fit Rafa's system hopefully he'll do a bit better in team that is set up to be more attack minded.
The only reason people are criticisng him for these tweets are because he's praising Aquilani and N'gog, who most people want to see sold. When he praised Robinson, Coady et al no one batted an eyelid.
Agreed. I also think the reaction would change again if it was Jovanovic and Poulsen he was praising. The one thing that means he hasn't yet crossed a line though, is that we don't know what him and Kenny have talked about. If Kenny has said 'Aquilani is class i want to keep him, and N'Gog still has potential to fulfill so we should keep him for another season at least' then Henry is very reasonable in stepping forward and paying these guys a compliment. It will give them a boost, will calm the fans (plenty of people telling him to keep Aqua), shows he's taking an interest and watching the game (rather than just saying '6-3 what a good game'). Also from a more cynical perspective, the more people think we don't want to sell these players, and also the more positive press is out there about them, the more their value is protected. Right back to Souness and Ali Dia, and then as recently as Ferguson and Bebe, there are managers that will listen to other people's opinions on players, and comments like these can affect media coverage for the rest of the year. Then if we do sell them people look on them as 'Aquilani has struggled at Liverpool' rather than 'Aquilani the Liverpool flop', which can be worth several million. I hope this isn't the case with Aqua but even so it makes sense to but good vibes out there.
John Henry has not crossed any line. He hasn't pulled a '''Roman Abramovich'' and demanded that Kenny sign ''x'' player and Kenny must play ''x'' player.He's given both Ngog and Aquilani a bit of encouragement.Now Kenny has said before that he would have no problem with Aquilani returning.He would use him as part of the squad without any hesitation.If Kenny had any problem with both Aquilani and Ngog,they would be where El Zhar,Degen and Jovanovic are....not part of the touring party.Kenny wants those three out..he wanted Konchesky out. It looks like that he's willing to give Insua a chance.
From what we know of JWH he's a Liverpool Way kinda guy. When did you know NESV were buying the club? So, he's not a loose cannon. You can bet KK, SC and DC are on-board. SC has been praisng Joe Cole today. I think part of it is letting the fans know they could be staying and part of it is what come naturally to Kenny - instilling confidence. On Aqua JWH is clearly in touch with fan thinking. My suspicion on Ngog is his confidence took a knock last year after such a good start and JWH is aware of it through KK and SC. I think being top scorer under Hodgson says he's his type of player, a Bobby Zamora. But younger so still able to be better. Do we need a player like that? Possibly not but if we're going to have to keep him then it's better for us if we get the best from him and JWH won't have dome him any harm.
At the end of the day, if Kenny feels that they are not needed and a club offers to buy them, they will probably leave. The manager must have the final decision of any transfers in or out.
