Martinez was a rubbish manager, demanding future five year plans, and FSG were living in a bubble were just a few of the comments I made which were probably made in haste.
After a week of stewing over things at Liverpool, permanently glued to Twitter to see what the likes of Paul Tomkins, Tony Evans, Tony Barrett, Simon Steers, The Anfield Wrap writers and general press are saying about Liverpool, I've come to a series of conclusions which make me feel a lot more secure about FSG.
After sacking Kenny Dalglish and Damien Comolli in recent months, we lack leadership and direction of where the club is going, however, what direction were we heading under the two? Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish had a serious "disconnect" to use a word used by Tom Werner and Comolli was the 1st to go. A great blog post by Balal Haider (@BalalHaider) puts forward a great debate as to how out of sync Comolli and Dalglish were, so I won't go into that too much. But FSG in the long term I think have made the right decision to remove both men from the managers positions. I hope in the future a role can be found in the club for the King.
So Fenway Sports Group if rumours and twitter posts are to be believed, are developing a new structure where everyone is pulling in the same direction and following the same philosophy. The role of Damien Comolli will be delegated to 2 or 3 men, in order allow for greater focus and success. The managers role will in essence be more of a head coach arrangement again with greater focus on just 1st team affairs. If this is the case, it is refreshing to see.
Having plundered millions into the club and it not achieving the success they desire, FSG have seemingly gone to great lengths to find out why it hasn't worked. Using the likes of David Dein and Brian Barwick, widely thought to be assisting FSG in the decisions they're making to me shows they want success.
The admiration of Ajax and Barcelona is clear, and with the likes of Louis Van Gaal and Txiki Begiristain in the running for a Sporting Director position. One a very successful manager, the other can claim some responsibility for the Barcelona domination in recent years in appointing Pep Guardiola. LFCtv's recent interview with John Barnes, which looked to have questions catered to answer a series of fan concerns. It all bodes well for the future.
What FSG have learnt, is that it's best to pick the manager who best fits the philosophy of the club, not the best manager! Hence the links with the likes of Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and Andre Villas-Boas.
I was sceptical of Martinez until I read an interview of his with the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16564747) which gives an insight into his personality. He seems a genuinely nice guy, who showed whatever the situation unwavering faith in his football philosophy. Brendan Rodgers seems to have made the switch from coach to manager, bar a spell at Reading, seamlessly. The way he followed on from Martinez's good work at Swansea and got them promoted and succeeded where Blackpool couldn't in playing great football and staying up. Andre Villas-Boas in Portugal has enjoyed great success. A great analysis by Kate Cohen (@Kate_LFC_SFC) shows just how he got Porto playing some great football and winning Leagues and Cups.
These managers have shown in short careers that they can get teams playing a great brand of football, and that can only mean FSG are looking for us to play attacking football.
Then there's the elephant in the room that is Rafa Benitez, whom many still have strong feelings about, so much so there's a website petitioning for FSG to chat to him!
Who knows, FSG may have engaged with Rafa, he is a font of football knowledge, and Liverpool are benefiting from some of the foundations he lay at the Academy. As I've mentioned FSG seem to be searching for a manager to fit into a philosophy, not the best manager, can Rafa fit into the system FSG are looking to implent, who knows? If he could fit into the system attempting to implemented by FSG then he could be a fine appointment. Rafa should never have been sacked when he was, but that will open a can of worms commenting on Hicks and Gillett, Christian Purslow etc...
To finish, we as fans should he very happy that Fenway Sports Group are looking to lay foundations for long term success. The difference between John W. Henry & Tom Werner and Tom & Jerry (sorry Tom Hicks and George Gillett) is stark and they should be praised. They may not be in full communication with us, but as Ian Ayre has said recently "It's only right to make announcements when you've got the right solutions." Hopefully they'll be in communication with the fans a lot very soon.
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