http://www.joe.co.uk/sport/liverpool-to-appoint-first-ever-sporting-director/95866 Michael Edwards is to become Liverpool's first ever sporting director with his promotion set to be confirmed by Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the club's owners, imminently. In what amounts to a significant vote of confidence in Edwards and the work he has done as technical director, FSG have decided to increase both the scope and seniority of his role as part of a review of football operations and a restructuring necessitated by the planned departure of chief executive Ian Ayre at the end of this season. Edwards, 37, has been the subject of external criticism, but FSG's belief in his methods has never wavered and their faith has been increasingly repaid over the last 12 months with a number of the signings he presided over coming to the fore under the management of Jurgen Klopp. Among those recruited in keeping with the transfer strategy that Edwards has implemented have been Roberto Firmino, Divock Origi, Emre Can and Sadio Mane. The former head of performance analysis at Tottenham Hotspur also oversaw Liverpool's outgoing transfers during the summer when they sold Christian Benteke for £30m and Joe Allen and Jordon Ibe for a combined total of £26m. A significant factor in Edwards' promotion is the working relationship he has established with Klopp, who had previously worked under a sporting director at Borussia Dortmund. Edwards, a graduate of Sheffield University, also has a strong rapport with Mike Gordon, the president of FSG who is heavily involved in the day-to-day running of the club. While critics questioned the strength of the playing squad that Klopp inherited upon succeeding Brendan Rodgers in October last year, the Liverpool manager never doubted that there was substantial scope for improvement; faith that does not appear to have been misplaced given the strong start to the season that Liverpool have made. Klopp is understood to be fully supportive of Edwards' ascent and the pair will continue to work together on transfers following a successful summer in which Liverpool made a profit on player trading and improved the squad at their manager's disposal.
Was hoping we appoint someone with a proven track record and more experience. But this structure is the way forward.
disasterous. vanity buys coming. will end in tears you heard it from me first.... anyone else is just bullshit.
balotelli, markovic... etc etc etc etc. seriously first team now. karius... klopp clyne rogers milner clyne matip klopp lovern rogers klavan klopp henderson comoill says he got sacked over him Can.. maybe committee Lallana rogers wijnaldum klopp coutinho.. i hope committee sturridge rogers firmino comittee (rogers clearly bargained get him and benteke) mane klopp origi committee (long socuting record quoted by origi himself) hmmmmmmmmmm............... at best 3/4 players. the trash: mingolet? sahko. foisted on rogers. called him nuts nearly day 1 assaidi. committee alberto committee aspas committee cisssohko ? ilori the commys Balotelli. nobody wants to take responsibility for that. markovic commys. manquillo committee moreno ? prob committee gomez. rogers via his brief assistant manager. at least rogers can be blamed for allen borini, toure, lambert, bogdan? ings? benteke It seems to be that the committee were as bad as rogers and together they were awful. Why? simply put edwards picked players on stats not football knowledge. If he's now in power and picks vanity players this could end in tears. I wouldn't put him in charge of a chip van FFS. Mark my words, no good will come of it.
Mane was actually committee. He was scouted when he was at Salzburg and Rodgers decided against it (this was in the Echo). Can Origi Sturridge Coutinho Firmino Mane Grujic (scouted before Klopp came) Sakho - he was a very good signing before the issues started Our entire attack were committee signings. No manager/scouts will have a 100% record. It's usually 50/50 and so far our team have done a good job. We've hardly talked about committee since Klopp took over. Because we have everyone working together - it's not committee vs Klopp etc. I'll be honest, I did want a more experienced director. And what is the agenda about using analytics to scout player. I guarantee that analytics is just one part of the scouting process. This Is the 21st century - analytic are a massive part of football. This isn't the 60's where you turn up to a match to watch a player and sign him there and then.
Another thing - the players you listed as flops - what's to say that those players would have succeeded if signed when Klopp was manager. We all know that Rodgers played a political game with players. It would be interesting to see how those young players developed under klppp
We've not talked committee cos klopp got who he wanted.. period... oh and sahko was never good. he was constantly injured, most of the time out of position and so far up his own hole that he couldn't see the things he was up to were off. If you want mane ok but you aint getting sturridge. he was rogers wish i nthe summer and the club refused to back him for 18mil. we got him for 12 in january. this lot blew the suarez money andthe sterling money more or less. Luckily klopp came in and showed what a real football man can do. I have ZERO confidence in this guy managing the overall sporting director portfolio which should be about hiring coaches etc etc for the full club. ZERO.
look again at that list and what they all did after leaving or on loan.... yes rogers systematically went out of his way to get shut of committee buys.. which is all the more scary. this lot knew what rogers was like and they STILL went out and bought players for themsevles and their ideas I'm pretty sure we will hear of players klopp never wanted shortly. AND thats only the buying... what about the new training facilties, the hiring and continuity of coaches.... and all the other sporting aspects that a proper sporting director should be managing.
Jurgen Klopp has spoken about the appointment of Michael Edwards as the club's sporting director. He said: "It's not allowed to be a one-man show. I know a lot of things but not everything! I like to have the best people around me. "If the manager changes in the future, this club will have a good base. We are working for the good of Liverpool."
I've said i nthe past i wanted one but to promote michael spreadhseet Edwards to the role is an insult. Everyone knows klopp will see out that contract but after that our future could be in the hands of this guy.. ****ing disaster. think ed woodward at utd x10.
Please have faith.. And no, Rodgers wanted Dempsey, not Sturridge. We could have signed Sturridge that summer.
sorry but you are dead wrong. we bid for the guy and cheslea wanted 18mil so we said no and waited. rodgers wanted shut of carroll and did want dempsey but that is irrelevant cos rogers was the one targetting sturridge we basically waited 6 months to get a 6mil discount and ended up in 7th
The encouraging thing is that the owners and Klopp want this structure. He may or not be the right man for the job but everyone is happy that this is the way forward. I wanted someone a lot more experienced. We'll have to wait and see.
And we were willing to pay that. Rodgers said no and tried to sell Hendo to fund Dempsey. Please have faith
my message will be enjoy the good times while they last... this is like 2013/14 all over again. enjoy it now lads cos this sort of stuff will waste the best manager we've had since rafa left. fingers crossed we can deliver before he buys an aged superstar who's always injured cos a mate told him it in a casino or something.
