Such unreasonable abuse will be levelled at the owners regardless of what they do or don't do, mainly because they're not Arab multi billionaires.
Yes. It shows progression over 38 games and will allow us to attract better players next year as they can see the club stopping the rot. There would have been huge pressure on the owners and on the club if Kenny's contract had not been made permanent.
It's a sad state but finishing 6th would have shown more progression. Carling Cup was nice but it's not that amazing. Perhaps winning the FA Cup as well may have saved Kenny. But the fact that we were so far off the pace is quite hard to bear. Had Chelsea not won the Champions League, would they have signed the likes of Marin, Hazard and potentially Oscar? It shows you how important the CL is. Winning Domestic Cups = Short term success Qualifiying for CL = Long term competitiveness
Whoever you are going to blame (Kenny or Comolli) for buying the likes of Carroll, Downing, Adam, etc should also receive the praise for not only buying Enrique, Suarez, Bellamy, etc but also for getting FIFTY MILLION POUNDS for Fernando Torres...!!! Plus the others sales such as Babel
Didn't Kenny show signs of improvement during his 18 months in charge? Remember where we were when he took over? What if we finish 8th with no cup final? Do we just sack him because there will be pressure from some to do so? Personally I hope they learn to look at the bigger picture.
Our league position and performances after January were simply unacceptable regardless of who was in charge or what we won.
both fair points. I do think the players let kenny down after January and some believed their own hype. I think these same players need to look at themselves cos their errors defensively cost Kenny and they will cost rodgers too. In the end kenny simply didn't look like he could get them to change and we all probably thought throwing in a few more kids might have freshened it up. not sure but i think FSG had their minds made up on comolli and kenny long before the CC cup win.
Kenny was too arrogant in the end. He needed to drop big names and new signings to show that they are not guaranteed first team football, he was too loyal to them IMO.
I rarely hear anybody on here abusing them and can't remember more than a handful of people expressing a desire to have Arab billionaires in charge. Some of us however do believe that they haven't made a particularly impressive start. Bad appointments, overspending on players not worth the money, league position, lack of direction during the Suarez affair, Kennys sacking and the way it was handled, a sell to buy policy during "their" mans first transfer window. You can argue against all these points of course and in the interest of fairness I am happy to say that at least they did give Kenny the Torres money to spend and I am glad that they are trying to structure the club to be more self sufficient and I am happy that they appointed BR ahead of the other candidates. However I feel its hardly relevant where the owners come from to most of us? We all want improvements from here on in and fingers crossed they have learned from the first couple of years and the new manager and the new structure will bring those improvements.
So why won't the same apply to BR if he has a bad 6 months. Did the 12 months before not count for anything? If BR has a great first season but a slow start to the following one do we just sack him too? I bloody hope not. Bear in mind there hasn't been a single great manager in history that hasn't had a "bad 6 months" here and there.
I see what you're saying but the situation is different with BR - he's here to reinvigorate us, Kenny saved us and should have left it at that. BR is young, has a vision and needs time.
Kenny deserved another season because he did such a good job in his first 6 months. He proved that he was a good manager, he could play good football and get points. We went downhill just as quick as we improved when Kenny first took over. I can understand why the owners wanted to get rid because it really was such a poor season bordering on embarrassing. Kenny has given the squad more depth but the overall quality of the first XI has significantly declined IMO. I truly believe we have a good foundation to build up on but we can't keep buying these mid table players, hoping they're going to transform us. We need real quality to supplement these supporting players. We spent £22m on Suarez - a player reaching his prime, prolific at Ajax, captain of Uruguay and he wanted to join us even though we had no CL football to offer. I'm not saying that we need to spend £20m on every player we bring in but this is the level of ambition that I want us to get back to. In contrast, we spent £20m on a 27 year old winger who played for mid table teams, limited international and european experience ... Shrewd spending is required but for the money we spent on Henderson, Downing, Carroll and potentially Allen, I'm sure we could have found a much cheaper foreign alternative.
Kenny did deserve another season with regards to progress on the pitch. however, what happens off the pitch is just as important, like it or not it's a fact. Kenny's performance was very poor off the pitch. In this media driven world, you need a darling of the press, a political animal and a game player.......Kenny, was none of those; a throwback to let's do our talking on the pitch. Unfortunately, in times when money talks.....this was not enough.
I know where you're coming from and believe me this isn't a Kenny vs BR debate because as gutted as I was to see Kenny treated (IMO) badly I am full of hope that BR can do a great job I just didn't agree with your assertion that so many people were levelling abuse at them or that it was because they aren't Arab billionaires. I don't know many people who give a **** if they're Arab oil men anymore than American businessmen or Llamas from Peru, all most fans want I think are owners who do the right thing, back the manager where possible and keep the traditions of the club at the forefront of their thinking. I'm not sure FSG have done that very well so far but it doesn't mean I don't think they can or will now they have "their man" in place. Plus I totally agree with you that BR needs time (from all of us) but what he also needs early on is 100% support from upstairs. I hope by the end of the transfer window we can all sit back and say well done FSG you have backed your man and now BR the rest is up to you
I don't think FSG have done much wrong so far, really. I'd like them to splash the cash a bit more but if they don't have that kind of money, they can't do that. Of course, that would raise a whole different issue.
I don't think they've actually done a lot right either mate but that's just a personal opinion and it certainly doesn't mean I don't think they are capable What I hope is that they themselves are learning all the time and they give us a bit of stability by backing BR in every way they can.
I think a lot of people are just determined to find fault in them. Not saying you are, but there is a strong contingent.
Equally some people are determined to absolve them of any blame and likewise not saying that's yourself Maybe we should put it to "the man in the street" test let him decide or maybe not
KK didn't set player prices. It's an argument I see thrown about all the time and it stems from fans not being used to the DoF role. Comolli was the bridge from the football part of the club to the business part (makes sense as the owners hadn't a clue about football). Kenny set footballing targets: "Hey Damien I like the look of Jordan Henderson. High pass completion rate, moves the ball well, I rate him a 4/5 for players I want." Damien then takes this and says to John Henry: "We have identified a target, his name is Henderson and I think he's worth 15m up to 18 or so." Henry then signs the cheque. So DC was fired for the prices, and Kenny was fired because they underperformed. It's also why Rodgers doesn't want a DoF, as he can get the boot if the DoF inflates prices. As for the OP, players are naturally going to leave. We should be looking to get players better than what we have, not equal. Hence Downing and Adam not helping us, but Suarez being vital. If Rodgers thinks his targets are better than what we have, we will improve. If they're brought in to replace a departing player and to just do a job, we will stagnate. I have patience with FSG that I didn't have with H&G because you can see they are trying.
What money? There's not a lot of money now without Reina leaving. As far as his form goes it began when Hodgson told him to play more like an English keeper. I heard a month or so ago the club were trying to re-recruit Rafa's keeping coach. If that's failed I can see him losing faith. Carroll's fee was linked directly to Torres'. We got paid £15m to swap Torres for Carroll. DC took care of the numbers but at the end of the window we could've spunked £25m on Doreen ****ing Bent. We weren't the only club after Adam. Doni was a sub we needed and looked good until he got sent off. Henderson is a promising youngster and if you think that was spunk you'll be one of those muppets who sold Lucas in 2008. Facial of spunk! Bellamy and Enrique were good buys, which leaves Downing, who may still work out. He was hardly alone in having trouble scoring this season and has been rated by every manager who's worked with him. He's a confidence player so maybe struggled more. He may also not work out. No manager gets 100%. The best only get 50% success in transfers. Kenny is certainly up on the average. Glass of spunk with your humble pie? No, they had no choice because he got the form of 2nd in the league. You can't concede that anybody who dares to question FSG - your second coming - can even be fans. They must be 'fans'. Arab multi-billionaires won't fit into FFP. FSG are reliant on FFP being implemented. I never wanted a multi-billionaire. I'd also have gone to the championship with Kenny because I'm a fan, not a 'fan' who kisses FSG's arses just because they're not H&G. Winning domestic cups = a step back to where we were. A progressive step. A robust step. Inch by inch life's a cinch; yard by yard it's very hard. Sadly FSG did not realise this, which they should've when the Sox didn't win the World Series in their first year. Qualifying for Champions League is what Dudelange, FC Santa Coloma, Valletta and Tre Fiori did. How competitive are they? No, to a fickle 'fan' they'd be unacceptable. To a proper fan they'd be a trifle more complex. Kenny proved his chops and BR has yet to so let's give BR the benefit of the doubt in as hypocritical a way as we can. Bollocks to vision. Every manager's got one. AVB had one for Chelsea; Ramos had one at Spurs. Scolari had one for Chelsea. Vision never won a title in its life. He's a manager, not a can of ****ing Red Bull. Shove your media-fed BS up your spunk chute because 'reinvigorated' and 'saved' are BS terms. I remember the club and fans being immensely ;reinvigorated' at getting the form of 2nd and just seeing Kenny in the dugout gave me a ****ing hard-on. I think some people who are just as determined to kiss FSG's arse whatever they do, because they're fickle muppets who can't take a season of rebuilding without running around like Chicken Licken spunking fear all over the place. They had a plan when they arrived. They made much of it. It was sound. They threw it away. Baby/bathwater. They should've implemented their "vison" at the end of Kenny's half-season. it had nothing to do with the 'fans' and everything to do with FSG having belief after Kenny did much better than they expected. They said so. Any manager getting that kind of form - from a squad we were told by your media overlords was **** and all Rafa's fault for putting Roy at 19th, remember - would have been given a three-year contract. it had **** all to do with Kenny being a club legend. His status didn't stop them jettisoning him when they felt like it, when the media turned, when the Chicken Lickens started squawking. Why should we give BR time when they couldn't give Kenny after he'd ****ING EARNED IT?' Because you've puckered up and bent over for them? Spunk on all of that. The fact is BR will get a break from true fans, just as Kenny didn't from bogus 'fans' and 'owners'. But true fans will not kiss their arses. You should cut that out, too.
