Liverpool FC Forum

[LFC1990]

We currently sit in fourth and the final space for Champions league football.

We have a 2 point clearance of Everton and 3 of Tottenham.

If we were somehow to slip up from now until the end of the season and not get champions league football what would that mean to Liverpool football club.

It is 5 years since this club was last in the CL and with players already signing for clubs over us already would another year without europeans elite competition to not have the Name Liverpool Fc in it have a negative affect.

Would the current players look to jump ship if we was to miss out again?

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Suarez will be 28 midway through next season so if we don't get 4th I can see him almost certainly leaving.
Given the sums of money the likes of City, Chelsea, United and now even Arsenal are prepared to spend on one player if we don't get in there and try to break up the monopoly the CL places in this country will soon become a closed shop.
That's why I was absolutely flabbergasted that we didn't strengthen last month.
Without wanting to sound too melodramatic if we don't get in this year (and given the type of money our owners want to spend) it may be a long, long time before we get the opportunity to play in Europe's premier competition again.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

It will be a disaster if we don't manage to squeeze our way into the Champions League this season ,I believe the consequences would be dire,and
players that have given their all in the pursuit of such lofty dreams will seek pastures new.

I think the owners not being prepared to allocate the requisite funds for top players and their persistence in persevering with proffering low ball
figures for players that could have been recruited by stumping up the required amount of cash has left our potency on the field severely diluted.

I believe up to Jan Rodgers had done all he could ,he just needed the owners to make the money available in January to secure a couple of quality
additions to give a renewed zeal  and a massive boost to our Champions League push..... Yet again we were let down badly and the sense of
frustration will only grow and fester if we fail to make the top four this season.......And not just with the fans.

[killerp]

Rodgers will hit a brick wall with his development plan for the team if we don't make it. Quite simply it's do or die. We make it, we keep Suarez. We don't he is gone. We are more reliant on Suarez now than Gerrard in his prime years.

It's all about Suarez for me.

Also don't want to end up like spurs, have 100 million pounds worth of players who are struggling to adapt to the English game and have zero world class players.

It won't be like when Torres left for Chelsea, a Suarez departure will really be felt.

[babu]

[Ben Patrick]

Got to agree with all of the replies on this thread so far.
Not getting fourth this season would be disasterous.
Suarez would almost certainly be gone and although we would get decent money for him we would struggle to get the quality of player required to stay amongst the top sides.

This season for me represents our best opportunity. We only have the leave to concentrate on really with no europe. Next season if we fail to make the champions league we would almost certainly be in the europa. This squad as it is for me is nowhere near strong enough to battle on two fronts and invariably league form dips a bit if the squad is not good enough.
I expect United and Spurs to improve on how they have done this season and City Chelsea and Arsenal are all going to be strong.
It is a huge gamble we have made not strengthening in January.
Let's hope we can get over the line because if we dont I fear we will regret it for a long time.

[devaney]

Doesn't really bare thinking about. But just how many fans on here really expected us to be in the position that we currently find ourselves? The "where will we finish " poll summed up the extremely depressing expectations of most supporters and I'm pleased to say I don't include myself in the glass almost empty sector !! And now a lot of those same fans are moaning whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The owners and the manager have done some great work. Of course there is a lot more to do. Very easy to simply berate the owners and Ayres for the recent disappointments in the transfer market and I can fully understand the frustration. I said before the transfer window opened that if ever there was a time to take a massive financial risk it was in January. It didn't happen for whatever reason and we have what we have. We don't know the full story and conjecture doesn't work for me. The team during the last twenty minutes of both the Villa and West Brom matches didn't cover themselves in glory and it was four points wasted as far as I am concerned. A bit more luck against City and Chelsea and that could have been a minimum of two points. Injuries have also been truly against us. Luck hasn't been exactly on our side. I'm not sure City and Arsenal have suffered the same level of misfortune.

Let's get behind the team like never before. Forget about what might have been and work towards what could be achieved.The past has gone !! 

COME ON YOU REDS !!!

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

Doesn't really bare thinking about. But just how many fans on here really expected us to be in the position that we currently find ourselves? The "where will we finish " poll summed up the extremely depressing expectations of most supporters and I'm pleased to say I don't include myself in the glass almost empty sector !! And now a lot of those same fans are moaning whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The owners and the manager have done some great work. Of course there is a lot more to do. Very easy to simply berate the owners and Ayres for the recent disappointments in the transfer market and I can fully understand the frustration. I said before the transfer window opened that if ever there was a time to take a massive financial risk it was in January. It didn't happen for whatever reason and we have what we have. We don't know the full story and conjecture doesn't work for me. The team during the last twenty minutes of both the Villa and West Brom matches didn't cover themselves in glory and it was four points wasted as far as I am concerned. A bit more luck against City and Chelsea and that could have been a minimum of two points. Injuries have also been truly against us. Luck hasn't been exactly on our side. I'm not sure City and Arsenal have suffered the same level of misfortune.

Let's get behind the team like never before. Forget about what might have been and work towards what could be achieved.The past has gone !! 

COME ON YOU REDS !!!

The past has gone ,that statement is irrefutable ,but it still remains a bit of a bugbear why it was revisited twice.....Surely the owners were competent
enough to ensure it didn't happen again 

[Ben Patrick]

Devaney I think everyone will be getting behind the team and the majority would have taken where we are now if asked at the start of the season.

But in respect of the owners and this transfer window you have got to agree we have made a huge gamble in not strengthening ?
You have confirmed that we have been unlucky with injuries to key players this season and it has showed the limitations of the squad.
None of us know what went on exactly during the January window but what we do know is that the club tied up several lucrative commercial sponsorship deals.
For me that looks like that is what we were focusing on the majority of January and then right at the end we appear to try and rush a very complicated bit of business.
The moment it was apparant that Salah wasnt coming we should have been doing all we could to get the next player that we wanted. Not waiting until 2-3 days before the window closes.

We may just get away with it, but for me the club have acted like amateurs with all this and it could come back to bite us.

[devaney]

Ben/RBG - On face value we have looked absolutely useless in the transfer market if you simply consider that we have failed to get the players we went after. That is undeniable. Unfortunately though regardless of who does the negotiations I don't see the situation changing until we can be regarded as regular title challengers and top four finishers. Players and clubs are greedy. Link that with agents who are simply after the best deal and we have a problem. I'm not totally convinced that our rumoured low ball tactics are the reason we are failing. If we had offered £16m for Salah on the 1st January would we have got him? I'm not sure. I think they would have banked the offer and waited to see if a bigger club showed interest. That is me being a realist and I think that is the situation we have been in when we go after players with massive potential. Nothing has changed over the last few years. Instead of berating the people with difficult jobs I actually prefer to give them credit for some of their successes. Suarez £22m was certainly one of them. Torres sold for £50m was another. Coutinho and Sturridge of a total of £20m was brilliant business. Increasing our global brand. Negotiating several huge sponsorship deals. And lets not forget a balance sheet that doesn't have the debt of a small country. Top the glasses up lads and cast your mind back a few years and consider our position then.

[Stu the Red]

Suarez will be 28 midway through next season so if we don't get 4th I can see him almost certainly leaving.
Given the sums of money the likes of City, Chelsea, United and now even Arsenal are prepared to spend on one player if we don't get in there and try to break up the monopoly the CL places in this country will soon become a closed shop.
That's why I was absolutely flabbergasted that we didn't strengthen last month.
Without wanting to sound too melodramatic if we don't get in this year (and given the type of money our owners want to spend) it may be a long, long time before we get the opportunity to play in Europe's premier competition again.

Absolutely nail on head.

[jacdaniel]

It means we will have missed a great chance to get back into the CL and take our club forward.
United and Spurs haven't been this weak for years and this is our chance to take advantage. 

We take 4th and we get CL, we're attractive to top players, we make lots of money, Suarez stays and there is an opportunity to kick on as a club.  Not to mention the chance to create despair amongst the Mancs. 

If we fail, Suarez leaves, we're not as attractive to top players, we make much less money and we'll have to try again next year. 


January was well and truly baffling though!  We have a young team and a young manager playing some brilliant football and doing really well in the league for the first time in years and instead of improving the squad we done nothing.

[supersub]

Suarez will be 28 midway through next season so if we don't get 4th I can see him almost certainly leaving.
Given the sums of money the likes of City, Chelsea, United and now even Arsenal are prepared to spend on one player if we don't get in there and try to break up the monopoly the CL places in this country will soon become a closed shop.
That's why I was absolutely flabbergasted that we didn't strengthen last month.
Without wanting to sound too melodramatic if we don't get in this year (and given the type of money our owners want to spend) it may be a long, long time before we get the opportunity to play in Europe's premier competition again.

Absolutely nail on head.

second that

[woof woof !]

Doesn't really bare thinking about. But just how many fans on here really expected us to be in the position that we currently find ourselves? The "where will we finish " poll summed up the extremely depressing expectations of most supporters and I'm pleased to say I don't include myself in the glass almost empty sector !! And now a lot of those same fans are moaning whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Personally along with some other optimists I expected us to finish in the top four this season, but then again I always expect that at the start of every season 

Given that we were top of the league at xmas and with a bit of strengthening in the Jan transfer window the opportunity for us to be nailed on certainties for a CL place was there for the taking. It's no surprise that some, myself included, are more than disappointed that  we failed to grasp that opportunity. We've allowed a gap to develop between ourselves and the top three clubs, one I doubt we can bridge, and fourth place is the very best we can now hope for. I say "hope"as with Everton and Tottenham breathing down our necks and Man U not yet completely gone it's now far from being the certainty it looked to be just a couple of weeks ago.

The Suarez issue,i.e. his desire to play in the Champions League, is HUGE, if he goes I wouldn't be surprised if the other top talents in the club, Sturridge, Coutinho and the born again Sterling began to re-assess their footballing futures.

Failure to secure a CL place this season will be a disaster for the club, one that imo could take us years to recover from 

On a brighter note  , it's not over yet ! if we do clinch a CL spot and come the summer we get some significant investment to bring in some quality players anything is possible

YNWA 

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Woof is spot on, the likes of sturridge, coutinho and sterling wont hang around here for long if it looks like the top 4 is a closed shop. Not so long ago during the darkest days of houlliers tenure (when it looked like we were finished as a top club) even home grown talents like Owen and Gerrard were looking to bale out.
Top players want to play in the CL, if 4 other clubs are spending £40m on one player and we are hesitating about spending a quarter of that then it doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to see how that's going to play out in the long term.
This season could be one of the most pivotal in our modern history. If the owners aren't prepared to spend the type of money top clubs do these days out of their own pockets then we need that CL money desperately.
We are clinging onto our top club status (a status we have enjoyed for half a century) by our fingernails. Football is moving on into the era of the super-rich and we are on the verge of being left behind just as the once invincible giants of yesteryear like Preston, Wolves and Huddersfield once were.
Btw everyone seems to be worrying about Suarez leaving but if you read the message boards of every other prem club Brendan is getting a lot of praise for the style he has got us playing, even United fans use him as a stick to beat Moyes with saying you don't need huge funds to play good footy, I'm sure Brendan is ambitious himself and if a club with the resources to compete with the top clubs comes along then I'm sure he'd be tempted, especially if he's expected to turn water into wine by FSG.
If you don't show ambition as a club then other clubs that do will come along and take your best assets wether they be players, managers, coaches or whatever, in football the law of the jungle applies and with this transfer policy of ours this once proud old lion is getting left behind.