Middle brother (Chris) was the first on the scene... hang on. First things first - my brothers are well balanced individuals who are very capable at expressing themselves in the literary form. I do not mean to mis-represent anything here and if I have I apologise now, but I'm not going to copy and paste all the conversations, which were lengthy! Where was I? Oh right... he (Chris) was very much of the opinion that money and the owners were at the heart of our recent problems. I rebuked his comments and offered, in my opinion, a more balanced view which I will share shortly. This was the point when young brother (Rob) stepped in. Now I know Rob has a loathing for our new American owners (a view shared by many LFC fans) and he stated that "Benitez is being buried by expectation, no finances and a squad with players who've failed to live up to expectation." Again the no finances argument. There were several facebook messages shared and while I wait to hear from Chris I think I managed to get Rob to edge towards a more balanced view.
I was/am concerned that my brothers and fans in general want(ed) to blame someone when the truth of the matter is there has to be (in my opinion) a shared responsibility. There is not one thing wrong with our football club, there are several. But at the same time there is a whole heap of light shining at the end of the tunnel. Again, before I continue I have not had time to research everything I am about to write and I will use the words around, about and circa a lot. I believe I am in the ballpark with what I will write, which is written in good faith.
Now then, what I consider, is a balanced view on what is wrong with LFC at the moment.
The preceding owners and management
Something that has become abundantly clear to me is that the commercial opportunities which were available to our club had not been taken advantage of in the past. In England I believe there are only really two 'worldwide football brand names' and they are Liverpool Football Club and Manchester United Football Club. Chelsea are doing their damnedest to get there as are Arsenal, but at present there are only two.
It is no surprise that our new sponsorship deal is worth at least double to that of the outgoing deal. The figure £20m has been banded about opposed to the £7m per annum we were getting from Carlsberg. 10 Years of that difference buys you a few more players like Torres.
There are other signs of improved commercial success not least the recent suggested interest of Prince Faisal with a figure of £200m for a 50% equity stake in the company. This represents a doubling of the value of the business over what is a very short period of time.
Maybe one of our most important signings should have been Peter Kenyon (or the likes of) in the late eighties / early nineties? I am confident that we would have a much stronger squad today had we taken better advantage of the opportunities in the past.
The existing owners
Where the preceding owners did 'score points' was in the way they conducted themselves, which was largely behind closed doors. Unfortunately that has not been the case with our new American owners. Their well publicised disagreements have been played out in the public eye time and time again. We have to accept that the British media will blow things out of proportion and this is maybe something our American owners were unaware of. We do not know everything which was happening within Anfield at the time they spoke to Jurgen Klinsmann, but again it was played out within the media.
This creates instability and no doubt affects the morale within every level of the organisation including the players. Unfortunately it has a longer term affect within a football club as the media are quick to drag everything back up every time we lose. The owners must take responsibility for this and hopefully they have learnt enough about the British media to know how to deal with their disagreements in the future.
There is also the question of whether key potential signings failed to come to fruition in the early days as there were significant time delays between America and Anfield. Although this is now hopefully rectified who did we miss out on?
That said I believe we do have two owners who continue to act, on the whole, in the best interests of the club. £60m has recently been paid off the club's debts and I suspect they can still see the potential of both the brand and the business as a whole. The credit crunch has impacted on the world and unfortunately we will have to be patient or secure outside investment, just like every other business. This is not the fault of the individuals.
The owners continue to be vilified within certain sections of Liverpool fans but they are businessmen who've had success with sporting ventures in the past. They should be assessed as businessmen first and foremost and as I say on that front things appear to be improving.
There is an ongoing accusation of not enough transfer money being provided to Benitez. We may not have spent as much as some (as reported by Paul Tomkins) but we have burnt through tens of millions of pounds on players. At the moment with every business feeling the credit crunch the owners and management team must put the long term security of the business first. As this hinges on 'on the pitch' success it is a difficult balancing act.
One thing I am clear about as a Company Director / Senior Manager myself is that it is difficult to keep everyone happy and the weight of responsibility is immense, even in a small company. Never mind one with such a worldwide customer base and media presence. We may not like all of their decision but should trust that they are made with the best of intentions.
Rafael Benitez
As any Manager knows the 'buck stops with you', you have to be prepared to accept that and deal with the pressures of being in management within any organisation. I have purposefully left out the players in this blog entry as while the players (staff) may be charged with performing to the best of their capabilities the responsibilty to ensure that happens remains with the Manager. This is true of any organisation.
I have to confess that my position on the amount of blame to be associated to Rafa has softened a bit. Partly because of my Brothers' input and the recent article written by Paul Tomkins . I truly continue to believe that Rafa is the man to move our club forward. His record speaks for itself and should afford the man every last ounce of patience the fans and owners can muster. I do not believe either party should be anywhere near getting to the end of their patience yet.
However there have been, in my opinion, shortcomings. Alonso's departure from our club must rest squarely on Rafa's shoulders. Albeit this decision was taken before perhaps Alonso's best season in a red shirt. I had initially also brought his transfer record under scrutiny with my brothers but Chris set me straight on a few things and apart from bargain basement signings the only true failings to date have been Ryan Babel (who was courted by many clubs before arriving at Anfield) and Keane. Chris believes the Keane 'mistake' was quickly rectified, but I would argue that we ended up out of pocket by millions at a time when millions matter. Babel continues to frustrate with flashes of brilliance and I remain un-convinced by Lucas. I do accept though that the majority of signings have been successful.
I have no doubts that Benitez is a tactical mastermind and few in the game, know the game better. I would question though whether he is a man-motivator. At the moment, we appear to be in a rut (the worst for some time), so maybe motivation is possibly more important than the tactics? There are times according to Aurelio that he doesn't speak to the players after the game, win or lose.
I would imagine man motivation is his Achilles heel. Rob pointed out some great comebacks in the past which must have required motivational prowess, I would question whether the great comebacks were instead tactical master strokes. Nobody knows for certain expect the players and the management team. I don't believe he is as cold as portrayed or doubt his lack of desire or love for the club. But we all have a weakness and I believe this could be his.
Summary
There have been a multitude of things that have come together over the past few years which I believe have led to this pressure point. The old management didn't take the best opportunities afforded to them and the new owners have been a PR nightmare increasing the media pressure on the organisation significantly. More recently Alonso has left after his best season in a red shirt and expectation has not been so high in a long time. I agree with Chris when he points out that the Premier League is getting stronger every year and the 'top 4' are all going to lose more games. But when Liverpool lose a game we seem to always attract more attention than other clubs (zonal marking etc.)! When we hit a rut though and the chips are down is Benitez as good at picking the players up as some other managers?
However, the business (from what we see) is getting stronger and the new MD appears to be making very quick strides towards cashing in on our massive brand name. Our debts are being reduced and the possibility of outside investment is looking more than hopeful. This will hopefully resolve the owners' grievances and provide a cash injection for players and our long awaited new stadium. A solid business plan implemented now will secure the long term success of the club and provide for transfer funds and a new stadium.
Benitez will resolve the current rut and he must be given the time and support to do so. I don't agree that he needs more money to be competitive but I accept that he might do to win the title. At the moment we are not competitive and he must fix that first and foremost.
The longer term?
I believe there is quite a simple formula for any football club:
1. A stable environment, good players, facilities (especially youth facilities) and the best management team will bring on the pitch success
2. On the pitch success drives revenues and brand awareness
3. The company must be run effectively to take advantage of the increased revenues
4. The company must be commercially astute to take best advantage of the increased brand awareness to further increase revenues
5. Increased revenues and a well run company will increase profitability
6. Profitability allows for growth both in player talent and facilities providing stability
Think of the 6 points in a cycle, ever revolving.
This is what every football club should be striving for. The top clubs at the moment (excluding Manchester United who have achieved this consistently for years) and the up and coming clubs are reliant on investment money to provide player talent and facilities - to enable growth. Investors may not always be forthcoming so we shouldn't rely on investor input for ever and a day - there is a cap on the amount of value which can be derived from any football club.
For longer term growth and security we must employ the cycle noted above. We had the opportunity to employ the cycle in the early nineties but failed to do so or failed to put it into use effectively. Only one or two clubs can be successful in any one season which makes me wonder about the future of football in general.
As for our business plans, taking into account last season (where we were in the title fight and had a good champions league run) I believe points 1 - 4 are improving year on year. At the moment we have a blip to deal with and possibly a long season ahead. This is not any one person's fault but a collective sharing of responsibility past and present. A blip can be dealt with but we must continue to make progressive steps forward over the entire season.
Finally
My response to my sister "I think you have expressed a general feeling which is emanating from even the most ardent LFC fans (myself included). However, if we beat United on Sunday it will be a different story again. Remember at this time last season the same things were being asked about Ferguson after a shocking start to the season. A couple of wins change everything. Also, last time we struggled to qualify for the last 16 in the CL... we won it! Walk on!"
Note: My sister posted her response on Wednesday morning when I started writing this blog entry. I was then struck down with flu so had to wait till today to finish it.
