A blueprint: Think small to think big (and why not Graham Potter & Ostersunds FK?)

[degsy]

A lot of people agree that we have to not only replace our manager, coaching staff and at least 1/3 of the players, but also revamp the culture, 'identity', business and development of the club. We seem to have lost our style, and have a romantic idea of 'the School of Science' or 'Nil Satis Nisi Optimum' as if they actually mean something. We also mistakenly talk of entitlement and 'what we deserve' , just because we are the 4th most successful team in history! (As if anyone remembers that any more). Sometimes, in the darkest days people even whispered how relegation might even be good for us!

For some balance, though, don't forget we are still a premier league club, still, on average. the 7th or 8th best team over the last 10 years, and still have a lot of potential. Our situation is not that bad, and engaging in a refresh or rebrand of the club from this relatively comfortable position is a great opportunity. I would like to see our club behave as if we really are in a crisis, or as if we have been relegated or financially ruined. The supporters' voices seem to be drowned out or ignored because of maybe media spin, or that we are not very sophisticated, influential or well-known, and the club and fans are often patronised.

Well if I could really tell the owners and leaders what to do (by the way, I still don't know really who is in charge!), I would say start from scratch, and fix every small detail in the club. Even the single social media post to the largest signing or ground renovation should follow a pattern and business plan.

- Company Culture - independent, 'authentic', local club
- Fans - real investment in the club, even consider fans ownership model
- Connection to the community and city - build on the success of EiTC, the city's cultural offering, and the city's development
- International appeal - use Howard, Pienaar, Cahill, Funes Mori, Tosun properly! Really engage with their popularity in their countries, but more importantly, tap into the 'tourist' or 'international fan' who is looking to support an 'authentic' 'real' EPL club, and not just jump on the Man City or Man U bandwagon. It's cool to support an 'offbeat' 'different' club.
- Playing Style. Let's be fair, we can't replicate Pepball, Barcajax or anything. I think that the closest style of football that will motivate and reflect the fans' wants are the high tempo, aggressive German style or something like it. We like silky, stylish football, but we also like aggression, tackles and fight. There should be room for both tough solid players and skilful lightweight players. Let that be the style of the academy and the first team
- Finance & business - like international appeal we should really promote everton properly, once we have it's culture sorted
- The staff in every area of the club should be part of the ambition, progress and development. I work in the culture industry in Liverpool, and I see all the time that the city is not ambitious enough internationally and doesn't do well in comparison to other cities. That's partly because Liverpool is caught between trying to stay small, local and independent, but also wants to improve its infrastructure, business and international appeal. We shouldn't fall into that trap - we can do both!

I thought the story of Ostersunds was really great, and something we can learn from. Its a little bit Moneyball, and also places importance on things that football clubs don't - culture. values, emotions, relationships and shared responsibilities. If we could attract these ideas, Graham Potter, or something like this, I think it's a good blue print for us to move forward

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41902664

 

[ClausThomsen]

- Company Culture - independent, 'authentic', local club
- Fans - real investment in the club, even consider fans ownership model

A model that might have some clout at a much smaller level but given the vast sums of money involved at PL level I doubt very much that a fan ownership model is a better alternative than a rich owner/shareholder looking to build genuine success surrounded by skilled experts in their field. We may not have that at the moment but it's surely better than looking at the framework of clubs that are one bad transfer away from a High Court winding up order.

- Connection to the community and city - build on the success of EiTC, the city's cultural offering, and the city's development

Already been done and this all seems a little buzzwordy with little actual content. What exactly does it mean?

- International appeal - use Howard, Pienaar, Cahill, Funes Mori, Tosun properly! Really engage with their popularity in their countries, but more importantly, tap into the 'tourist' or 'international fan' who is looking to support an 'authentic' 'real' EPL club, and not just jump on the Man City or Man U bandwagon. It's cool to support an 'offbeat' 'different' club.

Completely contradicting yourself here. Let's be authentic, real and offbeat (Whatever that means in actual real life terms) while going for the tourist crowd? And 3 of the 5 you mentioned using properly are actively employed elsewhere.

And are the Argentinian football fans desperately looking to see what Funes Mori is doing? Is he really going to divert support from Messi's Barcelona or Aguero at City?

- Playing Style. Let's be fair, we can't replicate Pepball, Barcajax or anything. I think that the closest style of football that will motivate and reflect the fans' wants are the high tempo, aggressive German style or something like it. We like silky, stylish football, but we also like aggression, tackles and fight. There should be room for both tough solid players and skilful lightweight players. Let that be the style of the academy and the first team

Nothing here that hasn't been bandied around for years by many people. Executing it is the problem, not coming up with the loose idea.

- Finance & business - like international appeal we should really promote everton properly, once we have it's culture sorted

Not sure what this means. Is there currently a major fault that can identified in the clubs promoting of itself? You can have the greatest promotional campaign ever but if the product (football) is gash then there will be problems. Stay in the PL, get the big money, play decent football and win things on a fairly regular basis - that's how you promote a club.

- The staff in every area of the club should be part of the ambition, progress and development. I work in the culture industry in Liverpool, and I see all the time that the city is not ambitious enough internationally and doesn't do well in comparison to other cities. That's partly because Liverpool is caught between trying to stay small, local and independent, but also wants to improve its infrastructure, business and international appeal. We shouldn't fall into that trap - we can do both!

Genuine question because I fear I've become an old man but what is the "Culture Industry"?

And not every member of staff needs to be some blindingly driven obsessive totally buying into every decision made. Long as people can do what they're paid to do and do it to a good standard then that's generally OK. There are a few roles where exceptional drive and commitment go a long way but unclogging the cig butts out of the bogs after matchday or changing the lightbulbs just requires competence.

 

[SerenityNigh]

A lot of people agree that we have to not only replace our manager, coaching staff and at least 1/3 of the players, but also revamp the culture, 'identity', business and development of the club. We seem to have lost our style, and have a romantic idea of 'the School of Science' or 'Nil Satis Nisi Optimum' as if they actually mean something. We also mistakenly talk of entitlement and 'what we deserve' , just because we are the 4th most successful team in history! (As if anyone remembers that any more). Sometimes, in the darkest days people even whispered how relegation might even be good for us!

For some balance, though, don't forget we are still a premier league club, still, on average. the 7th or 8th best team over the last 10 years, and still have a lot of potential. Our situation is not that bad, and engaging in a refresh or rebrand of the club from this relatively comfortable position is a great opportunity. I would like to see our club behave as if we really are in a crisis, or as if we have been relegated or financially ruined. The supporters' voices seem to be drowned out or ignored because of maybe media spin, or that we are not very sophisticated, influential or well-known, and the club and fans are often patronised.

Well if I could really tell the owners and leaders what to do (by the way, I still don't know really who is in charge!), I would say start from scratch, and fix every small detail in the club. Even the single social media post to the largest signing or ground renovation should follow a pattern and business plan.

- Company Culture - independent, 'authentic', local club
- Fans - real investment in the club, even consider fans ownership model
- Connection to the community and city - build on the success of EiTC, the city's cultural offering, and the city's development
- International appeal - use Howard, Pienaar, Cahill, Funes Mori, Tosun properly! Really engage with their popularity in their countries, but more importantly, tap into the 'tourist' or 'international fan' who is looking to support an 'authentic' 'real' EPL club, and not just jump on the Man City or Man U bandwagon. It's cool to support an 'offbeat' 'different' club.
- Playing Style. Let's be fair, we can't replicate Pepball, Barcajax or anything. I think that the closest style of football that will motivate and reflect the fans' wants are the high tempo, aggressive German style or something like it. We like silky, stylish football, but we also like aggression, tackles and fight. There should be room for both tough solid players and skilful lightweight players. Let that be the style of the academy and the first team
- Finance & business - like international appeal we should really promote everton properly, once we have it's culture sorted
- The staff in every area of the club should be part of the ambition, progress and development. I work in the culture industry in Liverpool, and I see all the time that the city is not ambitious enough internationally and doesn't do well in comparison to other cities. That's partly because Liverpool is caught between trying to stay small, local and independent, but also wants to improve its infrastructure, business and international appeal. We shouldn't fall into that trap - we can do both!

I thought the story of Ostersunds was really great, and something we can learn from. Its a little bit Moneyball, and also places importance on things that football clubs don't - culture. values, emotions, relationships and shared responsibilities. If we could attract these ideas, Graham Potter, or something like this, I think it's a good blue print for us to move forward

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41902664

I'm sorry we missed you at our last meeting, we'll be sure to send out an invitation for the next organized event!

 

[Goat]

Replacing 1/3 of our players would be madness imo.

Bruce we could sell 1/3 of our current players and not even miss a single 1.

IMO we need to sell about 20 of our current first team squad, sure it will mean they play like strangers, but that wouldnt be a new thing.

37 first team players we currently have on our books.

 

[Frang]

Bruce we could sell 1/3 of our current players and not even miss a single 1.

IMO we need to sell about 20 of our current first team squad, sure it will mean they play like strangers, but that wouldnt be a new thing.

37 first team players we currently have on our books.

its not like this current lot have gelled and they have had 50 odd games togeteher.

 

[Goat]

its not like this current lot have gelled and they have had 50 odd games togeteher.

People are scared cos we spunked 300m up a wall, I get that, we signed loads of players the last few years and it hasnt helped, but we have also had 3 managers this season. We need stability, so lets hit the reset button, sack and sell everybody, then stabilise the club.

 

[Frang]

People are scared cos we spunked 300m up a wall, I get that, we signed loads of players the last few years and it hasnt helped, but we have also had 3 managers this season. We need stability, so lets hit the reset button, sack and sell everybody, then stabilise the club.

I'm all for that. cant see it happening. not this off season, way too much going on world cup n that

 

[Goat]

I'm all for that. cant see it happening. not this off season, way too much going on world cup n that

If we get a new broom in, called Marcel, I would hope he sees that only a complete clear out will help us this summer, world cup or not, we have a very bloated squad, people need punting as a matter of urgency.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Bruce we could sell 1/3 of our current players and not even miss a single 1.

IMO we need to sell about 20 of our current first team squad, sure it will mean they play like strangers, but that wouldnt be a new thing.

37 first team players we currently have on our books.

I've no qualms with moving on a lot of players in the summer, but would rather we simply trimmed the squad than replaced them. I wouldn't be surprised to see 10-15 players leaving in the summer, as we have that many that haven't contributed a single minute to the campaign this year, but I think it would be madness to see 10-15 players coming into the squad.

 

[orly]

Which 1/3 of Ashley Williams should we replace?

 

[Goat]

I've no qualms with moving on a lot of players in the summer, but would rather we simply trimmed the squad than replaced them. I wouldn't be surprised to see 10-15 players leaving in the summer, as we have that many that haven't contributed a single minute to the campaign this year, but I think it would be madness to see 10-15 players coming into the squad.

The squad really needs trimming that we can agree on.

As I said in my thread, any signings we make must really be of the highest quality, no punts in the dark, we should also avoid "potential", I mean its ok getting potential on top of the quality, if any bulk is needed, but the whole squad is a bloated mess, I do agree that if we sell 15, we certainly do not need 15 new players.

In my ideal world, we sell 20 players and buy 5.

 

[Bungle]

Which 1/3 of Ashley Williams should we replace?

His face and tits

 

[orly]

His face and tits

Not a lot left to recommend after that.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The squad really needs trimming that we can agree on.

As I said in my thread, any signings we make must really be of the highest quality, no punts in the dark, we should also avoid "potential", I mean its ok getting potential on top of the quality, if any bulk is needed, but the whole squad is a bloated mess, I do agree that if we sell 15, we certainly do not need 15 new players.

In my ideal world, we sell 20 players and buy 5.

We could lose Stek, Garbutt, Pennington, Grant, Henen, Tarashaj, Browning, Galloway, Besic, Charsley, Byrne, Dyson and Mathis without the first team noticing in the slightest. That's 13 players who have all had first team football somewhere in their careers, are over 21 and need to be playing regularly but aren't going to be anywhere near ours next season, and it still leaves roughly 30 players with senior experience in the squad, leaving ample room to move on the likes of Williams, Martina, Niasse, potentially the likes of Rooney and McCarthy. That's not mentioning guys like Klaasen and Sandro who have had torrid seasons, or guys like Schneiderlin who have underperformed. For me, it's only this latter group that we should be looking to replace, with the rest simply moved on. Get the squad down to 25 from the 40 or so we have now.

 

[bol-uk]

100% the lot over the park will be using Salah to market their club tat in Egypt. I'd be amazed if they didn't play a friendly there pre season and take advantage. In 10 years a generation of kids there will be adults buying into Liverpool.

We had Landon Freaking Donovan playing for us who is considered one of the USAs best players. Their player of the year trophy is named after him FFS and we couldn't even take advantage of that!!

OP is right, everything from the ground up needs to be revamped. As Buddy Kane once said "In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times."

Tim Cahill too.