Looks like Brendan Rodgers will have a sporting director to help him at Liverpool, Interesting read http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/323808/Brendan-Rodgers-to-share-duties Cheers Mabon
As I though, the Boston Boys are introducing a baseball club structure into the Liverpool football club. They are doing things the way they know how to do them. Rogers is not going to have it all his own way, not by a long shot.
I've no idea if a different structure will work at Liverpool but bringing ideas from different industries very often works out. If another industry has a good idea then use it. I don't go along with the argument that 'this is the way it's done here, so no other way will work'. Sometimes you need to think outside the box, innovate, try new ideas, etc. If it doesn't work they can always change back. So nothing lost in the long run. And maybe something gained. I don't think it's simply a case of introducing a baseball structure because that's all they know. Perhaps it works well in baseball and they think it can work well in football. Nothing at all wrong with that. Not our club, so if it goes pear shaped we can laugh at it.
What?,like having the players wearing cleats and having the subs warm up in the bullpen. You could be on to something though Yankee. please log in to view this image
That's why Martinez turned it down. Seems Rodgers' ambition got the better of him. It'll end in tears.
Doesn't look like happening anymore! "The proposed appointment of Louis Van Gaal as sporting director looks increasingly unlikely, with Rodgers believed to have demanded complete control of football matters" http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18285289 (Last paragraph)
Page .... I think you need to take a look at the film Money Ball to see a cameo of the way baseball clubs are organized and the constrained role of team manager. The Boston Boys are doing this for a number of reason, but chief amongst them are that that's their bread and butter methodology, it partitions responsibility, and establishes to some degree check and balances, but it also fits well with the nature of that sport. Baseball is sport that can be run from a committee, a sport of minimal options that hasn't changed much over a hundred years, every club plays the game the same way, the only way. Football is significantly different; there as many ways to play football as there are clubs to play it. Football requires vision and architecture and the dual approach of fitting the architecture to the players on hand whie acquiring and divesting players to evolve to a preferred architecture. Rogers is going to be more of a committee member at Liverpool than the czar he was at Swansea. I'm glad you are running this experiment. It's either going to work great or it will be full of contention and disharmony, but i don't think it will be what Rogers expects and as KJ has said, Martinez walked away from it for a reason.
And another thing I'm a devout Yankee baseball fan so this aggravates me to no end. By the way, over the last hundred years, with the exception of one highlight reel about 10 years ago, Boston Red Sucks have driven more sports fans into drink and depression than any other sports team in the history of world sport. They make Cardiff look successful. If history is any prediction enjoy your walk in the wilderness - the bad karma of Boston is descending on Merseyside.
Yankee,i lived in Houston for 3 years a few years back and having been to watch the Astros many times i know i know all about drink and depression(apart from the Astros one season world series closecall),but your point on 'moneyball' has been discussed many times on our board and most of us reckon John Henry realises it wont work in our game. What knocked me sick was Henry's loyalty to Valentine because of his 'legend' status for previous success,even though the Sox support wanted him gone and a new man in his place,if he'd shown Kenny the same loyalty he would have given him at least one more season and Brendan would still be the Swans manager. I've always liked Swansea and i feel gutted that it was your manager we got,good luck in your search for a suitable replacement and good luck for next season.
It's going to be an interesting season all around. If it's any consolation for us at least our manager doesn't want to go to Villa; what a poke in the eye that is for Norwich.
Yankee - As the dust settle s over the Rodgers Liverpool saga we will find that Norwich are in exactly the same boat but without £7m quid in their pocket and probably minus Fat holt too, a bitter pill to swallow for 2 teams that have shown the way for the smaller clubs, i feel we have both had our wings clipped for daring to follow basic laws of buisness and finance and common sense. Im gutted for Norwich the same as i was with us losing Judas 2, i feel like we have been punished for daring to dream and yet live within our means . OF course these are just the hard facts of football and as long as we have success there will be people with money quing up to take our stars away, the only way around this fact for the likes of Swansea and Norwich is to either find a Russian oil billionaire or hope the overspending world of football has its own version of the credit crunch. Life is never boring being a Jack !! ive never known it any different either !!
Norway - as the dust is settling perhaps we are not in too bad a position overall. Logistically in preparing for the new season it's a pain in the rear end, but it's not like we haven't been around this block before. We should have contingency plans in place or a set of lessons learned to fall back on for a better approach this time around. We're 7 million richer. We've lost Rogers, but as we've all debated for the last few months, the magician seemed to lose his magic in the final third of the season. Why? There's a reason for that. It may be inconsequential, but there's always a reason for things and our drop off was material and would have been fatal had we not had such a good Jan / Feb. Is there a weakness there - Liverpool will find out now, not us. We've parted with Pascoe, who I think we will all agree was a minion under Martinez and not much more under Sousa, and for some reason was placed above Curtis by Rogers - perhaps Curt did not bend over enough, who's to say. I don't know anything about the other two that have left, so let's call it a wash there. KJ commented on stepping stones in another thread. And now I realize the point he was making, I think we've finished taking a step, completed a cycle, and now we need somebody who is big time ready to consolidate and build from here. Our foundation is intact - the players. Graham made an interesting tweet on Tues before it all went over - "would be gutted to see the gaffer go but if he does good luck to him ... we as players will stick together and move on", which I thought brought it down to earth for me. Managers don't play games (not on the field anyway), players do. And what we are, we still are. How we play, we still play ... nothing is going to stop our tiki taka style, at this point it's too ingrained. And, we're still 7 million richer, and if we can close the deal on Sig, we've basically got him for free. The heart and soul of the club remains: the players, the board, and us supporters. We're still a club on a monotonically upward trajectory from our nadir a few years (God, it almost seems forever ago). We are financially healthy and thanks to the boneheads from Boston healthier. Over the next few weeks our dear old friend Alan Curtis is going to be called on once again to carry the load and make the player preparations and perhaps some pre-season work before another comes in and he humbly hands the reigns over. There aren't too many clubs that can call on somebody like him. If we augment him with say, Brian Flynn, on a short term assignment, we will be well set as HJ goes off and carries out his search. I like where we are. We have a philosophy, we have a plan, we have a soul, and a focus on the tasks ahead and we have money to do it with. Onward and upward.
Great post there Yankee, well said, we are indeed in a very good place at the moment, but we don't want to take that for granted, it doesn't take much to have the whole pack of card come tumbling down, but it does seem that from the info coming out regarding the Rodgers move, that all things where in place, in way of a contingency plan, the way that the compensation clause was put in back in February when the contract was signed, the clause to stop Rodgers taking any players with him, the speed at which Jenkins attempted to get Siggy signed in Germany, the speed at which we are concluding the new manager appointment, all shows to me that we have learnt much from the Martinez exit. Agree on Curtis by the way, he's always been there to call on, when needed! Alan Curtis is Swansea City.................
Good sentiments, Yankee. As for Flynn, I would like to see a role for him in the background. He would be of immense value. As for the manager, I favour Laudrup. He would give us world-wide credibility and his presence might well attract players that otherwise would never have considered us. Let's face it, if a man that many consider to be one of the greatest ever players in the history of the game chooses to join us, it would speak volumes about our club, resound around the football world and we might become a magnet for quality players to get on board. I'm not suggesting that the very top players would be involved, we couldn't afford them but the level below that could become very interested in us as a progressive up and coming club. PS: Would be very happy with Poyet for different reasons.
I'm starting to get bored with people slagging Brendon off! He came to our club from nowhere and for nothing. Played the Swansea way and took us to the Premier league! As honest about moving to a big club from day one, has been just as honest since. We are now £7 million better off and in the EPL, with money to spend on training facilities and academy. Managers/players moving is part of football. I wish him well for his future, and thank him for the great job he's done for us jacks. His time in Swansea has left me with the GREATEST MEMORIES that have influenced my life. I am so happy he came to us and he deserves to move wherever he likes. Cheers Buck Anyone who is bitter about his move or motives needs to sit on the outer mumbles island and reflect on the past ten years of Swansea City...it won't be long till they appreciate Brendans influence. In Huw Jenkins I trust
Three cheers for Threejacks !! Thanks for signing that contract with us so the the MONEY came our way Mr. Rodgers . Cheers Buck !
