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| Jurgen Klopp (C) with Liverpool FC CEO Ian Ayre (L) and joint owner Tom Werner (R) |
JOHN W HENRY'S gut reaction when the idea of buying Liverpool was first put to him was to look away.
"I thought, 'Oh-oh, we have enough headaches',” said Henry, who already owned baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, when he was handed a Merrill Lynch and Rothschild sale document on an internal flight in America.
“It seemed like a lot of work.”
Three managerial appointments, one director of football, £395m spent on incoming transfers and one trophy later: little that has transpired since would seem to challenge Henry’s initial opinion.
It is five years today since he became Liverpool’s principal owner and Fenway Sports Group (named New England Sports Ventures back in 2010) ended the ruinous regime of fellow Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
That the sale had to be ratified later in the High Court, amid accusations of an “epic swindle” from the out-going owners, serves to illustrate how Liverpool teetered on the brink.
Any judgement on FSG’s tenure - an anniversary which has been overshadowed completely by the appointment of Jurgen Klopp - needs to remember how the club was staring at oblivion until Henry changed his mind and decided to add another “franchise” to his sporting portfolio after all.
FSG arrived as saviours, though that their ownership currently stands at a crossroads speaks volumes.
Luring Klopp to Merseyside must become the visionary decision they have so far struggled to get right if they are to regain that standing.
“We have obviously had some great moments in these five years and came very close to winning the league two years ago,” said chairman Tom Werner, who was at Henry’s side when Liverpool was bought for £300m, last week.
“Nobody is satisfied today with our position.
“When we look at the timeline, I think we have made some improvements. Until we win more trophies we won’t be satisfied.
“We came into this situation with great ambition and I would rather focus on the future.”
That events during that “timeline” have proved so fluctuating is, in part, due to FSG’s own muddled thinking even allowing for the reality they have had to undertake a steep learning curve.
The Main Stand expansion project, on schedule to be ready for the start of next season, reflects clarity of thought and has provided a solution to the long-running issue of what to do with Anfield.
Unravelling the conundrums on the pitch is proving more problematic.
The departure of Roy Hodgson, whom FSG inherited as manager, was inevitable and a lack of alternatives made Kenny Dalglish a sound, and popular, interim appointment.
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| John W Henry, owner of Liverpool FC |
In between, Damien Comolli, Liverpool’s first Director of Football, joined following a recommendation by revered baseball figure Billy Beane.
Yet by the summer of 2012 both Comolli and Dalglish, who had been given a permanent, three year contract in the meantime, had departed, heralding the start of the sort of scrutiny FSG do not like.
Indeed, if the arrival of Klopp has unified supporters, then decision to hand Brendan Rodgers £70m-plus to spend this summer, and then sack him after eight league games, poses further questions about whether the strategy is put together by design or default.
Comolli’s exit came following discontent at the club’s dealings in the transfer market, a theme that continues to define FSG.
They have sanctioned spending to the tune of £394,200,000, recouping £265,150,000m, but have only Dalglish’s League Cup success of 2012 to show for it.
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| Jurgen Klopp agreed a three-year deal with the Reds last week |
Results have not been as good as in the final five years of David Moores’ reign when, between 2002-2007, Liverpool won the Champions League, European Super Cup, League Cup and FA Cup.
If FSG feel short-changed, then a policy of targeting potential, rather than proven talent, has undermined efforts to fulfil Henry’s 2010 boast that; “We are here to win.”
Silverware is the reason Liverpool exists for its lifeblood, the supporters.
For American owners who will make a profit on their investment when the time comes to sell, whether that is in 12-months, two years or longer, it is merely preferable despite the rhetoric.
To paraphrase one of Klopp’s stand-out quotes from his press conference last Friday, it is not how you arrive at a club but how you leave it.
As they mark five years in charge, FSG will be acutely aware of that.
FENWAY SPORTS GROUP INS AND OUTS
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| Luis Suarez was FSG's first signing |
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