Liverpool legend Dietmar Hamann has dismissed the furore over Liverpool's failed bid to sign players during the January transfer window, and insists that the Reds are still favourites to finish in the top four.
Reacting to his old club's failure to sign Yehven Konoplyanka on transfer deadline day, Hamann urged fans to 'calm down'; not be 'too harsh' on LFC's hierarchy, and refuted the accusation that Liverpool do not have strength in depth. He observed:
"Not sure what happened with the Kono transfer. I would have liked to see players coming to LFC but not for the sake of it.
"Apart from United with Mata. I'm not bothered about any signings of the teams around us.
"LFC got no strength in depth? Missed Suarez for 6 games; Sturridge for 10; Agger most the season; Coutinho 8 weeks, and still 4th. Still in pole position for the top 4".
I agree with Hamann to an extent; Liverpool have survived just fine without Suarez, Sturridge, Agger and Coutinho at various stages of the season, and now, in the last part of the campaign, three of those four are playing regularly, and there are still injured players to come back into the team.
Man United are six points behind LFC; Everton are four points adrift, and Spurs just got hammered 5-1 by Man City, which will hopefully arrest their recent upward spiral. Will the signing of Juan Mata be enough for United to overhaul that six point gap? Probably, which is why LFC cannot afford more that one or two slip-ups in the league until the end of the season.
I disagree that LFC's 'hierarchy' should get a pass, though. The incompetence of Ian Ayre et al is a major problem for the club, and cannot just be glossed over. However, I've made my point about that countless times over the last few years (and the last few days) so there's no point going over the same things again now.
LFC are extremely fortunate to have reliable goalscorers like Suarez and Sturridge; without those two, things really would look bleak.
Author: Jaimie K
Reacting to his old club's failure to sign Yehven Konoplyanka on transfer deadline day, Hamann urged fans to 'calm down'; not be 'too harsh' on LFC's hierarchy, and refuted the accusation that Liverpool do not have strength in depth. He observed:
"Not sure what happened with the Kono transfer. I would have liked to see players coming to LFC but not for the sake of it.
"Apart from United with Mata. I'm not bothered about any signings of the teams around us.
"LFC got no strength in depth? Missed Suarez for 6 games; Sturridge for 10; Agger most the season; Coutinho 8 weeks, and still 4th. Still in pole position for the top 4".
I agree with Hamann to an extent; Liverpool have survived just fine without Suarez, Sturridge, Agger and Coutinho at various stages of the season, and now, in the last part of the campaign, three of those four are playing regularly, and there are still injured players to come back into the team.
Man United are six points behind LFC; Everton are four points adrift, and Spurs just got hammered 5-1 by Man City, which will hopefully arrest their recent upward spiral. Will the signing of Juan Mata be enough for United to overhaul that six point gap? Probably, which is why LFC cannot afford more that one or two slip-ups in the league until the end of the season.
I disagree that LFC's 'hierarchy' should get a pass, though. The incompetence of Ian Ayre et al is a major problem for the club, and cannot just be glossed over. However, I've made my point about that countless times over the last few years (and the last few days) so there's no point going over the same things again now.
LFC are extremely fortunate to have reliable goalscorers like Suarez and Sturridge; without those two, things really would look bleak.
Author: Jaimie K
No doubt Brendan has done well getting us to 4th,but with some investment we could be setting our sights higher?!,We could've put down a marker in that transfer window, a real statement of intent,but no we dithered and doddled and procrastinated some more...We have no problem closing multi million pound deals with dunkin doughnuts,vauxhall and garuda,but getting in a top player is another matter?!
ReplyDeleteliverpool squad still on course for a top 4 finish. really really happy for Raheem Sterling, absolute beast right now
ReplyDeleteImo Brendan will be bitterly disappointed!!!!! however crack on with what we have got. when the worm turns in the summer when his contract exspires Changes will have to be made or we will be looking for a new manager .Nothing new there then. I certainly would not sign a new contract without an overhall of the present transfer policy and removal of certain individuals.Although signings in the summer could prevent that from happening but i won't be holding my breath. I hope this turns out alright in the end Brendans team plays the best football i've seen for a few years and has us all excited.YNWA
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing with the attempted Konoplyanaka signing is we all had an idea it would drag on and in truth I seen it coming, why leave everything to the last minute we constantly seem to drag our heels and put in low bids trying to haggle like we are in some back street market. In truth though Konoplyanaka was not what we needed most as a DM and LB should have been priority but we still missed out on a very promising and exciting player due to the clubs long winded transfer policy. Brendan needs the boards full backing and regardless
ReplyDeleteIt was a disappointing window, all we can hope for now is that we do not regret this incompetency at the end of the season due to injuries/out of form players.
ReplyDeleteRodgers had a list? That's a real upgrade from three envelopes.
ReplyDeleteI still don't get the mad dash at 11pm on the final day. The window opened on the 1st of Jan, One would hope LFC would have compiled a list of targets, say prior to Xmas, and that conversations had started around or before the New Year with interested counter-parties. The start date should not prevent discussions and negotiations prior to that date. So:
ReplyDelete1. If Saleh was a target, why did it appear we only attempted to close out that deal mid-to-late Jan? Hence when it failed (Chelsea gazumped us), we ran out of time to secure other deals.
2. With the Kono deal, it appears the president refused to sign the papers. Shouldn't LFC have checked first that the club was willing and was able to sell the player?
3. What about other targets? Just about every LFC fan has been calling out for a decent DM. Why was that not progressed? It would appear both M'Villa and Di Jong were available. But the selling club refused the loan now buy in summer deal that LFC seem to favour. So when are LFC willing to splash the cash (£11M for Saleh, £15m for Kono) but not willing to offer the £12M for M'Villa. THIS INCONSISTENCY is infuriating.
4. Ince moved to Palace of a loan, following by a free in the summer. We had a sell-on as well as first option to re-buy. If all the other deals failed, we could have resurrected a deal. I would agree it would seem from a distance the Ince's have a self-serving interest, but LFC should have tried to protect their investment, and brutally sold on Ince at a profit in the 2015 window if he did not success at LFC a second time.
Just very confused at LFC's (lack of) transfer policy.
I agree with you on this and I feel the whole LFC hierarchy should be blamed for this mess. brendan rogers should have identified at least 2 players for every critical positions at midfield, LB and RB and tried hard enough to sign from the 1st day of January. LFC will regret for this blunder because come summer star player LS will move to a CL club because LFC will not be in CL with the present squad with all the injuries.
ReplyDeleteThe Dnipro President is a multi Billionaire, rated in the worlds top 50 richest on the planet, why would he let Konoplyanka leave for a measly £15m, as he is their Suarez, I understand that, however its been a litany of failed transfers, there has to be something wrong, but no point dwelling on it, lets just get 3 points against WBA and move on.
ReplyDeletePutting in low bids might be bad for the short term, but for the long term it's good, do you want us paying 20mil for another Stewart Downing, who would have been a good signing for 10mil, or 35mil for Andy Carroll, who would have been a good signing for 15mil? Only now is Jordan Henderson looking like the 16mil player we paid for him. I say keep going the way we are going, yes we will miss on some of our targets, but we will also show clubs that we aren't going to be held to ransom.
ReplyDeleteDon't think the issue lies with Ayre....ultimately, how much the limit to purchase a player comes from the owner, FSG, and not him. Whenever, you pursue a player, you must be ready to pay the asking price....but of course any negotiation to reduce the final price will be a bonus. If you can't afford or no intent to meet the asking price, pls don't ever even to proceed.....real disappointment!!!
ReplyDeleteAdditionally - as we all know, if we don't achieve CL this year, we will lose Suarez in the summer (we may still do even if we finish fourth!).
ReplyDeleteSo, if we had wisely invested in say 20-30m in players available (my pref would have been to bid for Mata using BR's relationship with Mourinho), we would have increased our chances:
1. Achieving a CL place this year
2. Steadily improved the squad quality - which is an important aspect
3. Since to survive in the CL next year, we'll need a lot stronger depth and quality of squad to even stand a chance of qualifying through the group stages.
The furtherer out you look, the greater this transfer window now appears to be a failure..
Well spoken!
ReplyDeleteThe simple explanation - I don't think FSG were willing to purchase any money in this specific transfer-window. And in my opinion, thats very very strange regarding our position in the league. One or two players straight into our starting-eleven and we could almost aim at the very top of the Premier League-table! I wonder when we will have that kind of opportunity again...?
I think the problem is that Liverpool seem to think they can always haggle, that's well an gud if there is no clause in the contract, if we scout a player an decide he fits the bill then go an get him, show some balls and throw down a marker!
ReplyDeletetake a bin bag full of dosh an buy the player, don't try and do a littlewoods job an pay 20 pence aweek over 50 years!lol.
That's my ultimate fear. With MU going to spend big in the summer, we may, like Spurs+Everton, always be dreaming of breaking into the top 4 of City, Arsenal, Chelsea on MU.
ReplyDeleteFergi ruthlessly exposed our poor decision making post 1990 by a) outspending us, and b) buying up and coming young talent (Keane et al). We simply have not learned any lessons.
Why did we not pull out all the stops to buy Mata and stop him going to MU. At this moment in time, they are our only realistic challenger to a 4th place. WHY IS THIS NOT OBVIOUS TO ALL AT LFC???
Absolutely agree with the article we move on now. However, as others have already mentioned, it was a golden opportunity to strengthen whilst in a great position in the league, Could be difference between us comfortably being in top 4/challenging for title and now maybe scrapping for 4th.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we pick up where we left off against Everton, is imperative we win 2/3 of the games against the big teams at home. But crunch one could be making sure we don't get beat at old trafford....annoyingly Mourinho giving them Mata has perked them up...here's hoping for a tough windy away day in the potteries for them.
If we finish in the the top 4 then no harm done! If we miss the top 4, this transfer window will be haunting as for many many years!
ReplyDeleteAt least its Moyes spending, hopefully he'll do another Fellaini type cock-up. All the top targets we prob be at champs league clubs and won't be easy to get unless Mourinho decides to give them another one!! Hopefully we'll be champs league and have the added pulling power. No excuses from FSG et al then!!
ReplyDeleteAgree but with a few astute additions it was great opportunity to finish higher especially with the biggies coming to ours. Anyway lets hope they all step up especially the youngsters.
ReplyDeleteI share your fear but financially it is difficult for us to compete with manchester x2 chelsea and even Arsenal. I also agree the damage started some years back.
ReplyDeleteWould Mata have come to us even if we had offered the same fee as Manu - who knows but they are in the CL and prepared/able to pay top dollar
My other fear, is that by some miracle, MU win the CL, in which case 4th will not be good enough.
ReplyDeleteI am sure, somewhere in the MU hierarchy, there is someone smart enough to understand that 4th place for MU is going to be harder this year than winning the CL.
Now you know why Im using this username for some weeks now! Im sure all lfc fans around the world are cursing ayre and they are right. This man costs us yet again another top target if not top player. They say it was a tough owner! Yes and fulham anzhi basel schaktar juventus ajax barca all got tough owners! If ayre has a little face and dignity left in him he would of resigned today asap, and leave liverpool and go live in a village of china where nobody would see his disgrace face any longer! Since the salah disgrace I wasnt expecting any better tbh, but this management has got to leave now, even fsg too! I dont wanna say this but should sas get injured together then fsg will see the reality! Hopefully we will cope which I dont think we will, but let fsg ayre and br and everybody know that lfc wont have a better chance to finish 4th ever again, not without suarez surely!
ReplyDeleteBut Mata is cup tied for CL.
ReplyDeleteWhy China there's plenty space in the antarctic and he can't do any damage there.... on second thoughts he could melt the Ice cap!!
ReplyDeleteJesus, will you get off banging this friggin drum ya melt. Dealing with E. Euro fkrs minted by raping their crumbling Communist system is what Ayre ended up doing. It's never easy negotiating with mentalists who believe they are latter day Aristos; view these players as serfs and can't wait to rub the 'rich' westerner's nose in the Kiev Karsey. Granted, Ayre isn't the 'shining light' we would expect to front our club and should ultimately be replaced. However, tossers like you posting panic stricken shite like this regularly on the net, do more damage to our reputation. You simply feed the Manc media machine more ammo. Stick to fuckin cricket ya blert!
ReplyDeleteI suspect--granted it's speculation, that the Kono issue was installments vs lump sum. Anyway, whose fault is it that we 30M Euros was spent on the poor Aspas, the redundant Alberto and the unneeded Llori? Better spending there could've added to our depth.
ReplyDeleteThe summary of the winter transfer window and it's preparations can seemingly be summarized as so:
ReplyDeleteSpent 2.5 months trying to negotiate a price Basle were not willing to accept for Salah then spent the last 3/4 days trying to negotiate a fee for Konoplyanka when the owner was not willing to sell.
Now, I am not a rocket scientist or an expert in business or negotiations but the last 2 and a bit months sound like a complete waste of time to me. If we were not willing to pay the price for Salah why waste time negotiating? If the owner of Dnipro was not willing to sell then why keep negotiating? These facts alone prevented us from looking at other targets.
My other concern is why was it out in the public domain for the whole duration of out negotiations? No-one heard of the interest in Mata till the last minute. No-one heard of the other interest in Salah till the last minute. Have we a leak at the club or just totally incompetent at doing business quietly and quickly.
I am all for not paying what we cannot afford and on this basis perhaps missing out on some players but we are missing out on too many players for it to be about this. This does not explain the time wasted this window going down a dead end.
Clearly Liverpool thought no-one else was in for Salah so thought their "hard ball" approach would cause Basle to buckle in the end - I can think of no other reason why they would waste their time.
Decisions need to be made do business quieter and quicker - if we have a price we wont go beyond then fine, stick to it and move on to other targets much sooner.
If we miss out on top 4 we lose Suarez and any chance of top 4 for the next few seasons in my opinion, regardless of how much we get for him. To have been top at Christmas, and potentially miss out on top 4 in May as all our rivals (bar Spurs who invested very heavily in summer and arguably did not need to strengthen this Jan) invest and strengthen would be criminal and would call into question the whole ethos of our transfer policy and the transfer committee and negotiating tactics. I don't see this going on at other clubs - this kind of incompetence seems to occur at Liverpool in more recent times. The source of it all must be rooted out and removed from the club in my opinion.
BR must take a share of the blame for wasting money in summer (this year and last) on players who have not played a part in first team. Borini, Alberto (who looks like he may be decent but then give him a chance if he is), Aspas, Aissaidi etc. I do not include Allen in the list because since he has come back from injury, I think he is a decent player, good passer a good presser and can fit the BR mold - see away game at City over Xmas for example.
Overall, there seems a plan and direction the club is moving in that seems sensible and we have made progress but this is being needlessly put at risk by serious errors in judgement being made by some of the hierarchy and instead of spin I would like to see some honesty where the offenders admit where we could do better, work hard and get on with doing as good as we can now and then rectify the mistakes in the future. Players for the summer window should be being recruited quickly and quietly now so that their signing is already agreed prior to the season closing.
Of all those, it's the Ilori one I just dont get. Why spend £7m on a player, not EVER play him, and then loan him out.
ReplyDeleteAs others have said, it is better to spend big on proven talent (eg Mata et al) than waste more money on a number of unknowns who aren't even good enough squad players.
Complete failed transfer policy.
yep missed that
ReplyDelete...but could Kono do it on a cold wet night in Stoke?
ReplyDeleteAgree with most of what you state (except Allen) and concur that it's the transfer policy at fault which needs a revised strategy.
ReplyDeleteCan't expect too much of him though, you know what young players are like; they can lose form and consistency, and then get it back, in the space of an afternoon. But he is playing well isn't he.
ReplyDeleteWe'll never know now :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on that. I'd say bring someone else to deal with transfers though and leave him with commercial. I love Dunkin Donuts!
ReplyDeleteShould have gone with a Samsung.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is the end of the world. Steve Nicole doesn't think so, and I actually hold his judgement in high regard, because it takes quite a bit to convince him.
ReplyDeleteIf he has a release clause then he eventually would have had to let him go. Perhaps it was like Suarez's release clause in the summer or perhaps given more time and legal advice he would have had to sign the paperwork. Either way we were either misinformed or should have been trying to do this deal much earlier. The Salah fail is definitely and aspect and I hope that the owners are seeing these fails and considering what to do come summer.
ReplyDeleteYep, Chelsea were 2nd yet spent 50M. We are 4th and spent nothing, but nothing to worry about, eh??!! What a load if rubbish . LFC look like a pile if amateurs after this latest fiasco. Who actually believes the summer will he any better? I don't, I think this is the start if the owners bleeding us dry. Don't believe me? Come back in August so I can say 'I told you so'!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe are not talking about the commercial side, we are talking about transfers. Are you asleep??
ReplyDeleteExactly!! He has rebuilt the club commercially but with major transfers he has failed miserably. Why oh why Liverpool is still toying with a transfer committee whereas all the top clubs have scouts reporting directly to the manager who ultimately has the final say whether or not to sign a player. We are becoming the laughing stock of the football world as we cannot even conclude a normal transfer, so in my eyes Ayre is a real doughnut!!!
ReplyDeleteBR and his relationship with Mourinho??!! That's a laugh. He mocked BR last week, went under his nose to sign a player that he didn't need, criticised the Moses saga and stated in the past his 'hatred' of everything LFC. He would do anything to stop us..........FACT!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAgree!!
ReplyDeleteWho knows man. Our finishing position may entirely define our success in the summer window.
ReplyDeleteI still smell something bloody fishy about this Kono situation.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have the finances that Chelsea do and as I stated below I believe BR was given a small amount to play with due to his previous buys (apart from coutinho and Sturbridge) I'm starting to think FSG are doubting the manager when it comes to spending the cash I just hope that there's no friction in the boardroom that spills out onto the pitch and affects performances
ReplyDeleteGood one
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem that way at the moment, nor has it seemed that way in the past after all our other transfer failures.
ReplyDeleteAgree.
ReplyDeleteBut then why is so respectful back to Mourinho. He should be fighting fire with fire - even in his understated statemenlike way he exudes in public.
Wide awake son, without one you don't have the other....................try and keep up!!
ReplyDeleteHe agreed the contract and triggered the release clause................the owner would not sign off the deal, that might not be legal as it is a legally binding release clause!!!.................do you expect Ayre to kidnap the player???
ReplyDeleteYes they would and £16m is a huge fugure!!!.
ReplyDeleteBut do you have any idea when your mind and body is full confidence?!? You could and would do ANYTHING.
ReplyDeleteRem - one of the reasons BR got the job was they wanted:
ReplyDeletea) a loyal yes man - how who wouldn't mouth off (unlike Rafa)
b) new his place, ie told what to spend instead of wanting/desiring more (unlike Rafa)
c) would accept he is the coach of the team and not think above his station (unlike Rafa)
To date, BR has done all of the above.
commercially i think he is very good. maybe he has one job too many with the re-mit to sign players. this should go to someone else, whose sole purpose is just that.
ReplyDeletenever!!! that just contributes to chelscum.
ReplyDeleteA CEO for instance????................agreed but people slamming Ian Ayre have not got a clue about his worth to Liverpool commercially!!
ReplyDeletethey are wrong about his commercial expertise. but right about his ability to seal player deals.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Nexus then?
ReplyDeletelet me check my list..............................................................................................................yep, fine.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that he did not go over to the Ukraine with a gameplay says it all. Why wait till deadline day to conclude the deal? We were linked with the player since the start of the week, or even longer, and you always gonna have complications waiting till the last minute to pull it off. So why don't you explain to me what happened to the Costa, Mkhitaryan, Willian, Eriksen, Salah deals. It will be in the best interests of the club if Ayre focuses entirely on the commercial aspect of things and leave the transfers to the experts in that field
ReplyDeleteLike who at Liverpool???.
ReplyDeleteReally, how do Chelsea and City do it then? That's right, they spend money they don't have and buy who they want. Nothing to do with commercial side there, owners put their own money in.
ReplyDeleteYou answer your own question, read it and think about it!!!
ReplyDeleteNot all top clubs use scouts, Liverpool aren't the first big club to do it. Lyon did it and they went from a 2nd division club to the most supported club in France. They didn't even let the managers have a say in the matter and had to manage the players he had at his disposal. The only reason they aren't still winning the French league is because PSG and Monaco are loaded!
ReplyDelete10 for that, you must be mad!
ReplyDeleteI rest my case coz it seems it just does not sink in with you. Either you are a big fan of his or you know him personally. You keep repeating yourself what Ayre has done commercially for the club when the topic is clearly on transfer failings. So in conclusion I will not drop to your level to say "you need to educate yourself" coz that is not in my nature. This a debate forum and not to criticize others
ReplyDeletelet's hope stoke city churn out the 'cold wet night in stoke' playing experience for man utd today
ReplyDeleteHe'd lose. Mourinho is better with the sharp comments backed with humour. Better to ignore the comments and pretend to be statemanlike while doing everything you can to beat them next time you play them.
ReplyDeleteWho at Liverpool can negotiate transfer deals if it's not Ian Ayre.......................answer the question.
ReplyDeleteSuarez didn't have a release clause
ReplyDeleteMaybe owners are gambling on making 4th with what we have now and spending big in Summer when we will have the money to buy better players who only go to CL clubs - who knows ?
ReplyDeleteBTW Mandy Carroll just sent off :-) Battle of the pony tails !
I know but there were parties that thought he did. I was pondering whether we were in a situation like that ourselves. Had we been given erroneous information or was it just not enough time to push it through?
ReplyDeleteDoes BR have a release clause ?
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said (especially Allen).
ReplyDeleteAnd will you come back and admit you were wrong if that is not evident? I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteI will, guaranteed. If I'm wrong I'll admit it and be glad to, but somehow I doubt I am. We will sell apron £50M of players in summer and we won't spend anymore than that.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen a player who was consistent at that age? Hardly a controversial point is it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Rogers should be sacked immediately because he's doing such a crap job. I mean what was he doing playing Gerrard and Coutinho the other night when so many on this site said they were rubbish.
ReplyDeleteHe should be slagging the owners off in public at every opportunity just like Rafa - I mean that really worked a treat, turned us from a football club into a circus.
So far so good
ReplyDeleteJust saw that Kallstrom hurt his back on the first day of training and may be out for a long while...whoops.
ReplyDeleteSo how is breaking even "bleeding us dry"? Not that thir is any evidence of that happening anyway as up to now that has not been the case in any window.
ReplyDeleteThe incompetent hierarchy you described signed Suarez and sturridge for less than utd paid for Juan mata. That is down to good signings not luck.
ReplyDeleteReally, I realize that the site is about critical realism...and I'm good with that, but it's time to move on now. We didn't get anyone new, but that doesn't mean we have nobody to help out. We have some talent in the wings that should get a look in the remaining months: Ibe, Teixeira, Alberto, Aspas should get looks. Eventually we'll get Enrique, Sakho and Agger back...Lucas too. Allen looks ready to go so I'm less upset about getting a player than I am about what appears to be a broken process in getting players in general. One important point about the window though...it's closed...and the team and fans can focus like a laser on winning matches through May.
ReplyDeleteAbso-bloody-lutely!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm frankly disappointed my sonnet received so little response....b*stards! :-) I fear its complexities proved too much... pearls before swine I tells ya! ...Grumble, moan, grizzle! :-)