Post by Macmoish on Nov 8, 2010 8:15:58 GMT
The Guardian
Liverpool's new guns ride warily into townJohn W Henry and Tom Werner are sizing up an unfamiliar fight at Liverpool
Owen Gibson The Observer, Sunday 7 November 2010
Liverpool's new American owners have likened English football to the "wild west" in terms of the power of players and their agents. John W Henry, Liverpool's principal owner, and Tom Werner, who is due to take over as club chairman, said it had been a "culture shock" to realise the extent to which players held sway over their clubs, even while under contract.
In the US, where Henry's New England Sports Ventures has taken the Boston Red Sox to two World Series titles, Henry said players were generally held to their contracts and clubs were in control. In the post-Bosman world of European football, however, players and their agents tend to hold sway.
"It's a culture shock, there's no doubt about it. It's like the wild west," said Henry, who implied there was more certainty in US sport. "It's a completely different system here from what we're used to. If a player has a contract in the US, they fulfil the contract. Over here, it seems players have much more say so."
Werner, the well-respected US media executive who will take over from Martin Broughton as chairman, said the next pressing task for the club was to install a new chief executive to replace Christian Purslow. Dismissing speculation that potential candidates had already been approached, he said the club would not restrict the search to English football. "We want to have a wide net. But in a perfect world we'd also have someone who understands the importance of Liverpool and the connection to fans in Liverpool."
He said the search was at a "very early" stage. Werner and Henry met headhunters on Friday to begin the process of drawing up a shortlist. The pair said they were looking to overhaul the structure of the football side of the club, beginning with the appointment of the former Tottenham Hotspur director of football Damien Comolli.
Werner said the club would be looking to make a series of appointments on the football and commercial sides of the business as they sought to rebuild and grow revenues globally. Manchester United have boosted commercial revenue around the world by targeting global sponsors in a range of new categories and Liverpool are expected to follow suit. Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has also revamped the club's commercial operation in a bid to boost revenues.
"Our mantra has been to under promise and over deliver. When we came into Boston we were given a short window. We understand the impatience of fans, but our intention is to build a great club from the foundation up," Werner said. "Our intention is to find the very best people. It would be crazy to promise too much too soon, but I hope our track record is a guide that we are successful operators."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/07/liverpool-new-owners
Liverpool's new guns ride warily into townJohn W Henry and Tom Werner are sizing up an unfamiliar fight at Liverpool
Owen Gibson The Observer, Sunday 7 November 2010
Liverpool's new American owners have likened English football to the "wild west" in terms of the power of players and their agents. John W Henry, Liverpool's principal owner, and Tom Werner, who is due to take over as club chairman, said it had been a "culture shock" to realise the extent to which players held sway over their clubs, even while under contract.
In the US, where Henry's New England Sports Ventures has taken the Boston Red Sox to two World Series titles, Henry said players were generally held to their contracts and clubs were in control. In the post-Bosman world of European football, however, players and their agents tend to hold sway.
"It's a culture shock, there's no doubt about it. It's like the wild west," said Henry, who implied there was more certainty in US sport. "It's a completely different system here from what we're used to. If a player has a contract in the US, they fulfil the contract. Over here, it seems players have much more say so."
Werner, the well-respected US media executive who will take over from Martin Broughton as chairman, said the next pressing task for the club was to install a new chief executive to replace Christian Purslow. Dismissing speculation that potential candidates had already been approached, he said the club would not restrict the search to English football. "We want to have a wide net. But in a perfect world we'd also have someone who understands the importance of Liverpool and the connection to fans in Liverpool."
He said the search was at a "very early" stage. Werner and Henry met headhunters on Friday to begin the process of drawing up a shortlist. The pair said they were looking to overhaul the structure of the football side of the club, beginning with the appointment of the former Tottenham Hotspur director of football Damien Comolli.
Werner said the club would be looking to make a series of appointments on the football and commercial sides of the business as they sought to rebuild and grow revenues globally. Manchester United have boosted commercial revenue around the world by targeting global sponsors in a range of new categories and Liverpool are expected to follow suit. Arsenal's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has also revamped the club's commercial operation in a bid to boost revenues.
"Our mantra has been to under promise and over deliver. When we came into Boston we were given a short window. We understand the impatience of fans, but our intention is to build a great club from the foundation up," Werner said. "Our intention is to find the very best people. It would be crazy to promise too much too soon, but I hope our track record is a guide that we are successful operators."
www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/nov/07/liverpool-new-owners