15 Years of FSG

Yes it really has been 15 years since they took charge of the club. It was dark times when they took over, we had accepted one American owner for another kind. Those days were the lowest Liverpool FC had experienced in terms of their existence. Players were just signed that no one really wanted when you compare them against our then rivals, and a manager in Roy Hodgeson who through no fault of his own was really not liked by the fanbase...he was just more England than ... Liverpool - if you understand what I mean.

Throughout FSG's tenure - I have heard many a disgruntled Liverpool supporter dissatisfied at their ownership and running of the club - but it was mainly due to the lack of transfer activity. Howevever, a closer exmaination of the heart will suggest that actually they have been one of the best owners of a football club that any team could have. When they took over Liverpool, it was like a dying giant, but within 9 years they had made it into one of the strongest teams in world football through 'organic' growth off the field, and smart decisions on the field. More importantly their recruitment strategy has been sound from the top level directorate positions to the players they have bought in their time in charge. The bad decisions that they have made that infuriated fans can really be reduced to just two incidents. The first was to try and claim the 'Liverpool' brand - big mistake, and the second being their invovlement with other clubs in the hope of setting up an exclusive European Super-Leauge. These were badly advised decisions, which they apologised and withdrew from. So in both instances you cannot fault them for not listenting to the fans.

Liverpool are not a club that change their managers on a whim like Chelsea, Real Madrid, and the Manchester United's of this world; but a closer exmaination of FSG will show that they expect their managers to achieve a certain level of success given any investment in players, and are quick to react when they can see progress is not being made. They did not hesitate to remove Kenny Dalglish after giving him £100M to spend on players after shortly taking, and that after Kenny got Liverpool to two cup finals, and won the league cup. Then there was Brendan Rodgers, despite his 'nearly' season - they quickly noticed that he was not the answer in the season that followed. Even with Klopp, there were moments in the 2022/23 season, they could see that the team was running out of steam, and perhaps pressure was placed on Klopp that led to him making the announcement that his last season would be 2023/24, after all he had failed to get into the Champions League positions in the previous season.

The off field improvements in the new training center, expansion of the stadium, new sponsorship deals - have really made Liverpool into a club that can compete financially now with the other big hitters in domestic and European football - they have magnified the clubs worth to be 10 times more than the price they paid for it. The early statistical recruitment strategy in buying players who were not rated as highly by others and turned out to be world class under Klopp's direction has shown to be a sucessful model for many clubs now - think Brighton, Brentford, and Bournmouth, - it was MoneyBall at its best. It was a policy of minimum expendenture for maximum output that worked so well for them under Klopp, the purchases in the last year of Klopp of a net spend of £100M on four midfielders eventually led to the title in 2024/2025. They are patient, and methodical; Liverpool won every trophy going under Klopp and they may do the same under Arne Slot.

They were of course critisized for not buying in certain instances because they could not get thier number one target or no player that suited their need was available on the market (so they would say). However, I think the issue was more internal - under Klopp one would get the impression that he was too close to the players and would not entertain selling some of his players who were part of the success to refresh the squad - this may be the reason why FSG were not recruiting when fans were crying out for new signings. Personally I feel that the fault of this should be with Klopp, but FSG should have been more ruthless in those moments and demanded that certain players whose shelf-life had expired should be moved on rather than wait for the collapse to happen on the field, which it did in 2022/23. The player sales over the course of their tenure has shown that for the majority of the cases they will not be taken for a ride by any club and get the price they think is right, for now Real Madrid might think they have the upper hand over Liverpool - but honestly I think FSG are probably more than happy that they (Real Madrid) are taking players that are not performing consisently at the club (they are kind of finding that out now with Trent arn't they ?).

On a personal level I was worried when news came out a couple of seasons ago that they were willing to sell the club at a certain price, as I think they have demonstrated that they know how to run a sports club effectively given minimal resources to start with. I worry about foriegn owners - especially those who use their own companies to create 'smoke-and-mirrors' sponsorship deals (yes Man City - am looking at you), or dodgy hedge fund owners who may want to own a football club for other non-obvious reasons that defy logic (yes Chelsea), or owners that want some political gain from owning a premiership club (yes Newcastle - I am looking at you). I think it has taken time but FSG understand the gold-mine they have the privelage of owning in Liverpool FC, and particularly what it means to the local people of Liverpool and its world-wide support. I hope they stay, and stick with the club, and if ever they feel like they need a cash injection - I hope they maintain overall control of the club because they know how to run a sports club. I actually have learnt a lot from watching them run this club - the logical decisions like not spending a billion on creating a new stadium that will fit in an extra 10,000 fans when you can spend far less expanding the current one and at the same time maintain its historical link to the club. Not spending on transfers on useless players that won't fit and actually taking a risk on the manager's ability to get the maximum out of his existing players and youth like they did under Klopp paid off - they are gamblers in that sense who like to roll the dice. It is not sensible to always try and spend your way out of trouble if it leads to bigger issues later down the line as some clubs have found out (yes Aston Villa).

Yes I like them, and there is something cool and decisive about the way they run this club. I remember a Kopish show where Drifty described them as 'gangsters' due to their ruthlessness in the transfer market and how they watch every penny (and also the way John Henry remarked when he said "what are they smoking.." when Arsenal tried to lure Luis Suarez away) - and you know what ? - that is the best type of owner a club like us need to have because ultimately we want to be that destination that can compete with Real Mardid in a legal way that does not comprimise the integrity of the clubs finances. As Cal from Kopish once said shamelessly - "FSG For Life".