17 Apr 2023 12:13:42
So from Klopps mouth, it is the owners who are setting the budget, they are why we are backing Bellingham into a corner, all the work done to get him to want the move and the owners shaft us, as i said last month, they promised Klopp the funds, then backed out when they saw we needed more, poor. I hope they are forced out asap.

1.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 12:37:06
Just getting my popcorn for the triggered responses to this one.

2.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 12:43:57
The Clubs in a mess.

3.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 12:53:04
Do you have a link Lancaster?

4.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 12:54:15
Or is it a case that the budget the owners ‘set’ did cover the transfer of Bellingham when klopp said he was more than happy with the midfield we had.
However klopp now realises more of the squad needs a revamp and that budget needs to be spread over a few different positions now?

5.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:01:33
Yes but they are heroes who saved us thanks to the help of the John and Linda Foundation for Struggling Football CLubs. They built us a new stand using nothing but their own bare hands and pocket money. They also built us a brand new training ground that Axa definitely didn't contribute to, their name is only on their to raise awareness. No other Premier League club has a new training ground, this is completely unique to Woderfully Run Liverpool FC™. So on that basis it would be unfair for us to complain, Klopp usually gets everything he wants. Just like that time we were top of the league with no fit defenders, so they bought us two of the greatest centre-backs ever to grace the game: Ben Davies and Ozan Maldini.

6.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:20:28
I don’t he said that the owners set the budget. He said the “budget is the budget”.

7.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:22:55
His price has risen significantly amd ed002 makes a very good point. Klopp and liverpool have been warned, once again for tapping up, this time Bellingham’s father, pushing the price up. This is exactly what happened with VVD, the price was inflated, the club declared a written statement saying the interest in the player has ended and had to make a public apology to Southampton. The owners backed Klopp and he still got his man. I’m not saying this will happen again but maybe if Klopp had kept out of the ears of Bellingham’s father it might be a different situation.

8.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:22:59
The owners are setting the budget? Who would've thought the people that own the club, set the budget for how much their business spends. Mind blowing.

9.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:30:16
So Klopp said those exact words? how can you be surprised that the owners set some kind of budget?

10.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:49:04
Klopp said the owners decide what we can spend and then the people at the club decide how we spend it.

FSG are not the reason if we don't sign Bellingham. The reason will be that the squad is in such a sorry state that we need to sign multiple players and have nobody worth decent money we want to sell.

It'll be the decision of Klopp, Lijnders, Ward, Hunter and Fallows not to sign Bellingham. You're beyond help if you think John Henry has called up Klopp and told him he can't sign Bellingham.

11.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 13:54:07
Unless I’m mistaken, informally talking to a player’s agent over a potential move is within the rules. Liverpool/ Klopp are not allowed to speak to Bellingham directly but are allowed to ask his father if he’d be interested in joining the club. How Borussia Dortmund interpret that is up to them, but Klopp has done nothing wrong by trying to convince Bellingham’s father that Liverpool should be his next club.
Regarding the Bellingham situation, I believe Ed001 when he says that the recent media stories are simply stories. However, were they to be true the problem would 100% lie with the owners. The squad needs revamping and Bellingham is the ultimate player to begin that process. McAllister, Mount, Gallagher etc and all the other names mentioned don’t compare to the brilliance Bellingham would provide for the next 5-7 years. Further, if we don’t get Bellingham he’ll be off to one of the Manchester clubs, because he isn’t going to Real Madrid or PSG.
Pretending this is all Klopp’s fault (the general issue with midfield is 100% on Klopp and his staff, as well as those two clowns Edwards and Ward), is missing the overall point. The fans of FSG’s other franchises are very unhappy with the way their teams are being run, not just Liverpool fans.

{Ed077's Note - why would talking ng to Bellingham's father be within the rules. You stated yourself that talking to only the player's agents is OK. JB's father isn't a registered agent or a lawyer, so that wouldn't be within the rules. That is what I understand from reading Ed002's comments on the matter.

12.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:05:44
I'm going to take a stab here. I imagine FSG would have an annual review of the clubs finances in which they talk about and set strategic goals, both financial and non financial, including a summer transfer budget. This would likely be down at the top level and then someone like Mike Gordon/ Billy Hogan would then be trusted to work within that set budget, thus further delegating.
From memory, I think LFC have a transfer committee which would then be included in the conversation of targets and a summer plan, I would imagine Klopp would have some sort of say in this and so on. I very much doubt FSG would have any involvement in who the money is spent on or what positions, they hire experts and pay them very well to make those types of decisions.

If rumours are to be believed, Klopp has been given anything from, £50m to £300m to spend this summer. My point being, none of us have an actual clue how much there is to spend or set what budget, so i guess all we can do is wait and see what happens during the window before we get the pitchforks out.

13.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:15:25
On that, there seems to be a growing number of players father's being a bit too influential in their son's careers for my liking. Think Neymar was one of the first main examples but Haaland is another and now Bellingham. Hard to guage if they looking after their son's best interests or their own. Personally I think a few have seen the dollar signs.

14.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:25:25
Who else would you expect to set the spending budget, the groundsman?

15.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:38:49
From the way fsg have operated since taking us over I seem to remember that the money is their for the right type of players and profile and it’s never here you go Jurgen theirs 250 mill do you worst it’s more calculated than that and they have specific roles they want filling in the team and work within certain structure for the running of the club . So I don’t see it being a certain amount but given obviously their will be a max they can spend but I see it as if the right players are available and for the right kind of money and wage combined then we do business.

It wasn’t long ago we where lauded by fellow peers in the game as a model of how to run a football club .

That doesn’t change the players commitment and form do though .

16.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:46:04
This isn’t a triggered response…. but yours is. You’ve taken how Klopp has described their model of working for years and twisted to suit your own vindictive vendetta against the owners.

Perhaps if Edwards, Ward and Klopp didn’t build such a bloated, injury prone squad that then fell off a cliff due to poor squad management and tactics, then the size of the rebuild wouldn’t have been seen as so great.

You’re being the child who is having a sad life because you’re not getting you’re Ferrari for Christmas.

17.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 15:06:42
Well yeah obviously.
I’m pretty sure that’s how most football clubs are run.

18.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 15:19:28
OP, I propose you watch the whole presser esP th embargoed version to get full context. Nothing Klopp said was out of the ordinary. Everyone knows that it is club ownership and CFO's, DOF's and all that who set the budget based on various varables and forecasts. It's what clubs do. No news broken there so not sure why you are acting as if the owners did something NOBODY has ever heard before.

We were never going to sign Jude cos BVB did NOT want to sell and if they were, they were asking too much money for him cos they did NOT want to sell him which is normal. Ed02 said Dortmund were asking too much to begin with BUT go ahead and blame the owners for what is common in football. 'Hope your protests goes on well and safely.

19.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 15:25:06
I see it as collective failure/ success.

It's time the owners think seriously about whether they can sustain the ambitions of the football club given the shifting financial models eg state-ownership, multi-club ownership, future TV/ media prospects and global sports business prospects.

Likewise, the club (Hogan/ Gordon/ new SD/ Klopp) needs to decide on whether it's sporting ambitions, resources and recruitment strategy align with one another.

Thirdly, Klopp (and his coaching team) needs to decide on how he wants to play and be willing to make the compromises/ decisions needed to achieve that.

If FSG hang around for the next decade, then they should seriously be considering the multi-club model to derisk our currently failing recruitment strategy. Yes it is a type of cheating but quite frankly, football business writes its own rules.

If Klopp hangs around, he needs to make sure he has a good and balanced set of experts around him.

{Ed001's Note - the multi-club model has always been the plan.}

20.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 15:35:36
It is the only way Liverpool can compete, Ed.

I saw that they had expressed interest in a stake at Corinthians but that didn't work out when R9 won out.

21.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:10:16
Ed077 in this day and age you can identity as anything. So perhaps Bellingham’s dad Identified as his agent and Klopp identified as Pep Guardiola so technically Man City were tapping him up.

I hope they get the book thrown at them/ they for this.

{Ed077's Note - ?? in that case, I'm identifying myself as Jurgen Klopp and declaring interest and an imminent bid for Harry Maguire?

22.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:17:29
Ed077 - If that were true then yes, Klopp would have overstepped. As far as I know, Bellingham’s father is his representative but again, I could be wrong.

{Ed077's Note - there is a registered agent working on the Bellingham transfer.

23.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 14:46:10
That's correct, Ed077. Bellingham's father is not registered as his agent and hence, talking to him would amount to tapping up.

24.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 15:52:40
Good and balanced post, FPF. Fully agree with what you have written. There has been multiple levels of failures that has led us to where we are now.

But personally, I think most of the blame has to be on Edwards and Ward. For supposedly being on a "sell to buy" model, we and have let a sizeable number of players leave on frees, players that could have been sold earlier regardless of how much they brought in. That, to me, is indicative of how incompetent Edwards and Ward were.

25.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 16:31:30
Dracred, I see what you are saying and top post to FPF, for sure. The so called "sell to buy" model is a red herring, IMO cos many clubs do this. Now some clubs do it far more than others like LFC cos the revenue streams are not equal while others like Dortmund do it BUT sell to make huge profits as we have seen with Sancho and surely with Jude.

My beef (as is yours) lies mainly with Edwards/ Ward and Klopp. The squad management (which FSG have nothing to do with) has been dreadful and it took a long time to see it's adverse effects and we are seeing that now. The poor/ incompetent decisions of keeping players and trusting them too much (Klopp) and giving them big contracts on big wages to squad players (Edwards/ Ward) that made it tough for us to move. And even when the chance to let a few go, we priced Ox out of a move, kept Naby when a loan offer came along and did not sell Matip and keep his wages to promote Phillips, IMO. That's incompetence and unforced errors, not "sell to buy" cos we ain't even selling these to buy others. We're just keeping them for reasons NOBODY else can explain.

And to top it all, you can add the weird signing of Arthur (who Klopp did NOT even want) who's ONLY contribution is to celebrate with Pep at City when they scored against us on the touchline. That is NOT about "sell to buy". That is about poor planning over time that leads to bad decisions that have hamstrung us this season in part. Just my opinion, bro.

26.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 17:00:11
Edwards has gone, ward is going so just Klopp to get out then for this mess.

Looking forward to seeing you at the next game protesting Klopp out. I hope it goes well and safely.

27.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 17:27:42
Collective success/ failure comment landed then :)

28.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 17:28:08
Still don't think I'll ever understand why Julian Ward wasted half of deadline negotiating an overpriced buy option we were never going to activate. Must have just done it for a laugh.

29.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 20:23:54
Buy to sell is a red herring because we literally suck at it.

30.) 17 Apr 2023
17 Apr 2023 20:28:56
I doubt they'll be forced out they didn't become billionaires by bowing to the crowd. They're here for the foreseeable future we will just have to get on with supporting the team.