What would be the cost of getting LFC back as serious title contenders?

[David Hodgson]

Just musing about what potential new owners would see as the minimum investment required in the playing squad to give us a half decent crack at the title, given the existing squad as a base to work from.

 

In rough terms I think it's the 4 players Torres spoke of us needing. They might be a Cahill, a Turan, a Silva and say Forlan. They'd set us back, what, about £73m ? Most of that could be funded by selling the deadwood and the players these new men would replace. Sell kuyt, Babel, Yossi, Riera, Skrtel, agog, El Zahr, Plessis, Degen and Spearing and we'd raise about £50m.

 

The net spend required simply wouldn't be that great.

 

If you're trolling the forums Christian, think on. Just turn that alleged £15m netto into £23m and you can have that CL place back.

[Benzo-13]

Tony Evans this morning says that Woy is in and sorting out deals for Gerrard and Torres is priority one.

[floyd]

 

If you're trolling the forums Christian, think on.

 

 

Edit - it's only a joke Cecil. Please don't put your LA Law freinds on to me

[Roscoe]

Tony Evans this morning says that Woy is in and sorting out deals for Gerrard and Torres is priority one.

deals as in sales or new contracts?

[DJM]

Sales unfortunately:

 

Gary Jacob, Tony Evans

Last updated June 29 2010 12:01AM

 

Roy Hodgson is expected to be in place as Liverpool manager on Thursday — and his first job will be to field formal offers for the club’s crown jewels, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.

 

Real Madrid have tabled a £20 million take-it-or-leave-it bid for the England captain, whom Liverpool value at £35 million.

 

Torres, the Spain striker, would cost in excess of £60 million, but Chelsea and Real are aware that Liverpool’s precarious financial situation allows the opportunity to acquire their players at knockdown prices. There were suggestions last night that the London club’s initial offer could be as low as £25 million.

 

Hodgson, 62, who took Fulham to the Europa League final last season, will be consulted over any decision to sell, but can expect to receive only a small proportion of any money raised.

 

Liverpool are expected to have to pay Fulham about £2 million in compensation for the services of Hodgson, who would also have been a candidate to become the next England manager should the Football Association decide to part company with Fabio Capello.

 

The Italian said yesterday that the FA wanted two weeks to think about his position, but by then Hodgson will be installed at Anfield.

 

Liverpool needed to act quickly because only Sammy Lee remains from Rafael Benítez’s coaching staff. Benítez left Anfield on June 3 by mutual agreement with a £6 million payoff.

 

Hodgson can expect a muted reception from the fans, especially since his appointment will raise questions about the future of Kenny Dalglish.

 

The former manager and club icon was charged by Christian Purslow, the managing director, with finding a successor to Benítez. After assessing the candidates, the Scot put himself forward for the job, despite a longstanding friendship with Hodgson.

 

Internal politics may be the least of Hodgson’s problems at Anfield, however. Despite Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, the co-owners, putting Liverpool up for sale in April, there is no buyer on the horizon. The club owe £351 million in loans, mainly to Royal Bank of Scotland, which is irritated with the Americans’ inability to sell.

 

Martin Broughton was brought in as chairman to oversee the sale, but Hicks’s asking price of £600-£800 million has caused a number of potential investors to walk away.

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/premierleague/article2578501.ece

[Montse]

That has to be the most depressing article I have ever read!

[Boca]

What a thoroughly depressing article that is.

 

Edit - obviously Montse is similarly depressed but quicker in expressing it :-)

Edited June 29, 2010 by Boca

[Bogman]

Getting a better manager than Woy chubby Hodgson, to start with.

[Montse]

Lol great minds n all that Boca!

[David Hodgson]

.............................................................Reina

 

Johnson................. Carragher...................Cahill..................Agger

 

 

Silva ........................Gerrard...............Mascherano ..............Turan

 

..............................................Torres.......................Forlan

 

 

Subs :

Aquilani, Kelly, Lucas. Jovanovic, Maxi, Kryiagos, Insua

[Flight]

Just musing about what potential new owners would see as the minimum investment required in the playing squad to give us a half decent crack at the title, given the existing squad as a base to work from.

 

In rough terms I think it's the 4 players Torres spoke of us needing. They might be a Cahill, a Turan, a Silva and say Forlan. They'd set us back, what, about £73m ? Most of that could be funded by selling the deadwood and the players these new men would replace. Sell kuyt, Babel, Yossi, Riera, Skrtel, agog, El Zahr, Plessis, Degen and Spearing and we'd raise about £50m.

 

The net spend required simply wouldn't be that great.

 

If you're trolling the forums Christian, think on. Just turn that alleged £15m netto into £23m and you can have that CL place back.

 

 

We can't afford to reduce the size of the squad any further. For every piece of 'deadwood' we sell we need to bring in another player at least as good as them.

[Swipe]

Tony Evans this morning says that Woy is in and sorting out deals for Gerrard and Torres is priority one.

 

Hodgson is uninspiring but if we lose those two as well...

Edited June 29, 2010 by Swipe

[Epic Swindle]

Hard to say really. If we can find a player as influential as Alonso was, and a couple of shrewd purchases elsewhere, there's no reason why the current squad couldn't challenge. That's if our main players stay and stay fit all season obviously. To go on and dominate the league for the next 10 years we'll need one of those shady multi billionaire types.

[Stevie H]

£150m cash plus a new stadium.

[David Hodgson]

We can't afford to reduce the size of the squad any further. For every piece of 'deadwood' we sell we need to bring in another player at least as good as them.

 

I'm also factoring in properly promoting the likes of Kelly, Pacheco and Shelvey, and maybe an Amoo or a della Valle. None of these lads can contribute less to a season than (going from the beginning of last term) :

 

Dossena, Riera, Voronin, Spearing, Plessis, El Zahr, Degen, and even bloody Ngog. These lads made up numbers in the squad, but little else.

[richwilks]

I know it's all doom and gloom at the moment but realistically it wouldn't take a lot to get us back challenging.

 

Obviously we need to keep Gerrard and Torres but the players we do have are top quality players just coming off the back of a poor season.

 

We've got the backbone of a top team....

 

Reina - Best keeper in the league

 

Johnson - Top right back

 

Carragher and Agger - two top defenders

 

Maxi - Really added to our attacking play after signing and he's got goals in him

 

Masch - best defensive midfielder in the country

 

Aquilani - if he can stay fit he'll be a top player

 

Gerrard - Poor season last year but I think that'll change this year

 

Torres - best striker in the world.

 

 

If we can add to those players by bringing in a top left back, a top winger and top quality cover for Torres then why can't we be challenging.

 

We can raise money through the sales of fringe players like Babel (£8m), Cavilieri (£2m) and Riera (£6m) to help fund the moves, we've got Jovanavic coming in who can play on the wing and offer a partner upfront for Torres if a change of formation is required.

 

 

Something like this isn't far off a title challenging squad in my eyes...

 

 

---------------Reina

 

Johnson - Carra - Agger - ???

 

--------Masch - Aquilani

 

---Maxi - Gerrard - Jovanavic

 

--------------Torres

 

...and you still have the likes of Kuyt, Benayoun, Insua, Kelly, Skrtel, Pacheco, Lucas etc as cover.

 

The key part this summer is keeping the core players like Masch, Torres and Gerrard and making sure that we bring in 3 quality players, specifically a top left back and cover for Torres (maybe someone like Klose could do a covering job).

[David Hodgson]

£150m cash plus a new stadium.

 

I think £150m gross spend and we'd be installed as title favourites, near as dammit.

 

To spend that kind of dough, inherently involves some serious squad trimming to make way for all ya new superstars. There's no way that kind of net spend would be required.

[torn]

.............................................................Reina

 

Johnson................. Carragher...................Cahill..................Agger

 

 

Silva ........................Gerrard...............Mascherano ..............Turan

 

..............................................Torres.......................Forlan

 

 

Subs :

Aquilani, Kelly, Lucas. Jovanovic, Maxi, Kryiagos, Insua

Easy, this management lark, eh?

[Dan]

Will Jovanovic sign on 1st July? Assuming that he's still coming like.

[David Hodgson]

Easy, this management lark, eh?

 

It really is, isn't it.

 

Now, what's your point ? Do you literally think I'm suggesting these changes could be simply effected or that these are exactly the right names ? I'm drawing some broad strokes here to try and look at what the real cost on the ticket is of resurrecting LFC. I thought it worthy of a discussion.

[Boca]

.............................................................Reina

 

Johnson................. Carragher...................Cahill..................Agger

 

 

Silva ........................Gerrard...............Mascherano ..............Turan

 

..............................................Torres.......................Forlan

 

 

Subs :

Aquilani, Kelly, Lucas. Jovanovic, Maxi, Kryiagos, Insua

 

 

That looks great but (and it's ridiculous that we have to revisit this over and over again) all evidence points to the fact that regardless of sales there will be no money to spend.

[Epic Swindle]

If we play to anything like our potential we still should be beating most teams in the league and that means imposing ourselves on them and not approaching every game like we're playing one of the top 4. If Woy comes in and adopts a similar strategy which doesn't produce results he could become even more unpopular very quickly.

[Stevie H]

I think £150m gross spend and we'd be installed as title favourites, near as dammit.

 

To spend that kind of dough, inherently involves some serious squad trimming to make way for all ya new superstars. There's no way that kind of net spend would be required.

 

why would we? man city haven't been and won't be next season.

 

and squad trimming is not the way to won titles. squad depth, is.

[David Hodgson]

why would we? man city haven't been and won't be next season.

 

and squad trimming is not the way to won titles. squad depth, is.

 

I'm following Mourinho's maxim of needing a squad of 23 to win the title. 2 players for every position and one for good luck.

[aka Dus]

If we are talking about what the new owners have to invest in the team, I think it's £XXX

 

My point is, if you are interested in owning a super club and have the cash to lay down c.£500-700 million, I think you operate in a way different than if you were buying any other company. The maxim that football is like any other business is assumed to be very untrue in my reasoning.

 

I think the billionaire football club grandee would spend what the market assumes it would take.

 

The proviso is, the new owner might not be a super rich ego tripper but another LBO serpent or a Steve Morgan type trying to go up in the world. In that scenario, they won't have the cash themselves and we remain at square one. At that point the discussion becomes banal and we have to start considering alternative ownership strategies and try rebuild the club through a measure of fan ownership etc.