I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved. They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.
But a summer window which brought in three young, but significantly talented starters in Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin and Fabio Borini as well as two exciting young potential stars of the future - Samed Yesil and Oussama Assaidi - could hardly be deemed a failure as we build for the future.
Nor should anyone minimise the importance of keeping our best players during this window. We successfully retained Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Luis Suarez. We greatly appreciate their faith and belief in the club. And we successfully negotiated new, long-term contracts with Luis and with Martin.
No one should doubt our commitment to the club. In Brendan Rodgers we have a talented young manager and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad. This is a work in progress. It will take time for Brendan to instill his philosophy into the squad and build exactly what he needs for the long term.
The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of UEFA's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini - something we heartily applaud. We must comply with Financial Fair Play guidelines that ensure spending is tied to income. We have been successful in improving the commercial side of the club and the monies generated going forward will give us greater spending power in the coming years.
We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight. It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over.
Spending is not merely about buying talent. Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years. Our emphasis will be on developing our own players using the skills of an increasingly impressive coaching team. Much thought and investment already have gone into developing a self-sustaining pool of youngsters imbued in the club's traditions.
That ethos is to win. We will invest to succeed. But we will not mortgage the future with risky spending.
After almost two years at Anfield, we are close to having the system we need in place. The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond. These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.
It will not be easy, it will not be perfect, but there is a clear vision at work.
We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages. We have no fear of spending and competing with the very best but we will not overpay for players.
We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield. This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.
Most of all, we want to win. That ambition drives every decision. It is the Liverpool way. We can and will generate the revenues to achieve that aim. There will be short-term setbacks from time to time, but we believe we have the right people in place to bring more glory to Anfield.
Finally, I can say with authority that our ownership is not about profit. Contrary to popular opinion, owners rarely get involved in sports in order to generate cash. They generally get involved with a club in order to compete and work for the benefit of their club. It's often difficult. In our case we work every day in order to generate revenues to improve the club. We have only one driving ambition at Liverpool and that is the quest to win the Premier League playing the kind of football our supporters want to see. That will only occur if we do absolutely the right things to build the club in a way that makes sense for supporters, for us and for those who will follow us. We will deliver what every long-term supporter of Liverpool Football Club aches for.
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/john-henry-s-open-letter-to-fans
dougy10Mon 03/09/12 at 12:15 Im happy with the owners so far,we all knew when they came in what there plan was so i don't really see what the problem is.fair enough they obv messed up in transfer window by not getting a striker but we move on and keep the faith. as for this suzi person ive not seen any of her posts or said abuse towards her but i cant see what your trying to achieve by posting an essay about how great she is,just ask her out and stop draining mewith your spiel 
crosbyredMon 03/09/12 at 12:17 Suzi ?? i don't remember her at all ...
As for FSG doing a good job , as they saying goes Rome wasnt built in a day .
what i do know is if they didnt come in and save us from the cowboys we would of been in big trouble
The debate isn't about how long it took to build Rome mate. The question is, Are FSG fit to govern our football club. Based on the poor decisions they have made so far i have grave concerns about them. Simple as that.
Im happy with the owners so far,we all knew when they came in what there plan was so i don't really see what the problem is.fair enough they obv messed up in transfer window by not getting a striker but we move on and keep the faith. as for this suzi person ive not seen any of her posts or said abuse towards her but i cant see what your trying to achieve by posting an essay about how great she is,just ask her out and stop draining mewith your spiel What does draining mewith your spiel mean? What language is that? Going back to the point. You are happy with FSG and i am not. That is fine mate, we are all entitled an opinion. Time will tell who was right i guess.
jcallen29Mon 03/09/12 at 12:32 Suzi I thought she got banned not left. So she won't be coming back anyway. Fsg gave Kenny the job but it was what just about every fan wanted. In a way they had to give it to Kenny.
OlivavuMon 03/09/12 at 12:40 There would have been a massive problem had Kenny not got the job. The fans would not have been happy at all.
dougy10Mon 03/09/12 at 12:44 it means your draining the life out of me with what your saying about this suzi person obviously nobody on this forum cares for her for whatever reason so why bother.anyway to say the club is in freefall is absolute rubbish imo 
sliced-bread-no2Mon 03/09/12 at 12:48 Suzi I thought she got banned not left. So she won't be coming back anyway. Fsg gave Kenny the job but it was what just about every fan wanted. In a way they had to give it to Kenny.
Suzi did get banned. But she won't be coming back, even if ever she does get unbanned. I think we need a bit of perspective about FSG. They are the guys who saved Liverpool Football Club from certain extinction. They paid off massive debts left by the previous owners, and they fully backed Kenny and Comolli with their money, who then went and wasted it, with the best we can hope for now being that Henderson fulfills his promise. I personally don't blame them for being more cautious going into this. Kenny was never their man, but after his success as interim manager and demands from the fans, they would have faced massive backlash had they hired anybody else. I geniunely believe they want what's best for the club. They of course want to make a profit, but I don't think they'll do so at the expense of the club. These are men who crave success. They've recognised they've made an error4 days ago, and I think they'll work to rectify this in January. We just have to survive until then.
crosbyredMon 03/09/12 at 12:50 Suzi I thought she got banned not left. So she won't be coming back anyway. Fsg gave Kenny the job but it was what just about every fan wanted. In a way they had to give it to Kenny.
The fan polls at the time had Rafa as No1 choice. On average he got around 60% of the vote. Lets not forget, Kenny was brought in to steady the ship. He got his 3 year deal after a few months of turning around our fortunes after a dismal spell under Hodgson. Kenny is a god to the vast majority of LFC fans and should continue to hold that status. However, i always considered it madness to give him the job for the long term. Time has witnessed why he should have never been given a 3 year deal. When Kenny was sacked the fan polls again had Rafa as the fans choice. He didn't even get an interview.
NichoMon 03/09/12 at 12:53 Suzi I thought she got banned not left. So she won't be coming back anyway. Fsg gave Kenny the job but it was what just about every fan wanted. In a way they had to give it to Kenny.
The lovely Suzi was indeed banned. CrosbyRed, your defence of her weakens your argument straight away as your real agenda is not to discuss the club but your "friend" Suzi. Am I the only one that thinks CrosbyRed is Suzi re-incarnate? We shall know soon enough by the tone of future posts.
crosbyredMon 03/09/12 at 12:55 Suzi did get banned. But she won't be coming back, even if ever she does get unbanned.
I think we need a bit of perspective about FSG. They are the guys who saved Liverpool Football Club from certain extinction. They paid off massive debts left by the previous owners, and they fully backed Kenny and Comolli with their money, who then went and wasted it, with the best we can hope for now being that Henderson fulfills his promise. I personally don't blame them for being more cautious going into this.
Kenny was never their man, but after his success as interim manager and demands from the fans, they would have faced massive backlash had they hired anybody else. I geniunely believe they want what's best for the club. They of course want to make a profit, but I don't think they'll do so at the expense of the club. These are men who crave success. They've recognised they've made an error4 days ago, and I think they'll work to rectify this in January. We just have to survive until then.
FSG bought the club for a song. If you look at their nett spend you will be surpised to see just how little, [in relative terms], they have put into the club. The bulk of money that Kenny wasted was craeted by huge profitable sales. The nett player spend was around 35 Million. The club has also received tens of millions from the Warrior sports clothing deal and Standard Chatered. I am yet to see much of that money being spent on players. Let me repeat, lost out on the purchase of Dempsey by 2 Million quid. How much will that end up costing us?
The lovely Suzi was indeed banned.
CrosbyRed, your defence of her weakens your argument straight away as your real agenda is not to discuss the club but your "friend" Suzi.
Am I the only one that thinks CrosbyRed is Suzi re-incarnate? We shall know soon enough by the tone of future posts.
You obviously haven't read the content of my posts then. I can assure you that i am not Suzi, if being a friend of hers on here is a crime then so be it. I cant get over how much one little woman has got your backs up. Anyhow, i am here to discuss LFC. It would be nice if you did as well.
NichoMon 03/09/12 at 13:01 You and Suzi share the same IP address. What a co-incidence. If you are only here to discuss LFC, why did you mention Suzy in the first place?
crosbyredMon 03/09/12 at 13:15 You and Suzi share the same IP address. What a co-incidence.
If you are only here to discuss LFC, why did you mention Suzy in the first place?
We share the same IP address because we live in the same house, [she is my auntie]. It was Suzi who told me about this forum and the stick she had taken to dare question FSG's ability to run LFC. I made a point of mentioning Suzi because in my opinion her concerns back then have since been proven. If it was Suzi coming back here under another name she would have never mentioned the name Suzi. Your attempt at being the next Columbo is wa off the mark.
AmericanKopiteMon 03/09/12 at 13:33 Alright. We're done here. Either the argument about Suzi stops now or the thread is locked for good. This is important LFC news about the owner stepping up and trying to answer for our club's mistakes and misfortunes. Let's discuss that and not about whether a former poster here left or got banned. On topic, girls. Keep it on bloody topic.
Crosby, you're more than welcome to come and discuss the owner and other LFC matters, but leave it at that. The rest of us will discuss LFC with you like good human beings and if anyone wants to discuss Suzi, leave it to personal messages.
crosbyredMon 03/09/12 at 13:36 Alright. We're done here. Either the argument about Suzi stops now or the thread is locked for good. This is important LFC news about the owner stepping up and trying to answer for our club's mistakes and misfortunes. Let's discuss that and not about whether a former poster here left or got banned. On topic, girls. Keep it on bloody topic.
Crosby, you're more than welcome to come and discuss the owner and other LFC matters, but leave it at that. The rest of us will discuss LFC with you like good human beings and if anyone wants to discuss Suzi, leave it to personal messages. 100% agreed.
AmericanKopiteMon 03/09/12 at 13:39 Back to matters: I appreciate that the owner does step up and give the fans an answer, but at the same time I'm a bit skeptical that he's done this, because its not the first time. He's told us like I've told myself that this is a work in progress and we're building here, which I can believe, but I'm starting to get tired of the hearing that since it's what I hear from myself and the owners. I just wish there'd be another answer for every time we mess up. I just really want to hear, "Yes, we should've signed a striker. We're sorry. Please stick with us until Christmas when we will sign a striker."
sliced-bread-no2Mon 03/09/12 at 13:40 Didi Hamann @DietmarHamann Brendan Rodgers shows that he won't put the clubs future at risk too much money has been wasted in the past Didi Hamann Didi Hamann @DietmarHamann The fact that far too much money was paid for these players is not the owners fault ...most important thing is financial stability Didi Hamann Didi Hamann @DietmarHamann People have to be careful criticizing the owners they spent large amount of money on players in last 2 years ------ Didi is always good to follow on Twitter.
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