John Henry should be told Liverpool need youth and experience

04 September 2012 05:00
His appeasement campaign ticked all the right boxes to ensure he calmed the disquiet after a traumatic weekend. The only problem was he found nowhere in his re-affirmation of Fenway Sports Group’s transfer policy to address the question every supporter wants answering.

Why did you allow Andy Carroll to go without being sure you would sign a replacement? At least in blaming others, there was an acknowledgement of FSG’s own errors. There was even the slightest hint of slaying a sacred cow when the signings of Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli - whose £110 million spree (and the lucrative pay-offs they received) have left a mental and fiscal wound on the Americans - were acknowledged as influencing the current shift.

Most fans will gleefully apply the blaming of ‘former regimes’ to Tom Hicks and George Gillett, even if targeting them is the equivalent of digging up a two-year-old corpse and giving into another burial. None of this was the central issue on Friday evening. There was a breakdown in the chain of command, the manager realising when it was too late that just because he wanted a player, agreed he was worth the asking price and had enough money to complete a deal, it did not necessarily mean he would get him. By any standard of boardroom interference, this was pretty exceptional at Anfield.

Source: telegraph