[The Athletic] Inside FSG's Time at Liverpool; A Thread.

[The Athletic] FSG's Ownership

1. When Henry bought the Red Sox in 2002, he faced the challenge of maintaining a competitive team while solving a stadium issue; where the finance in theory would feed back to the playing budget & allow commercial operation to flourish, w/ all proceeds going back into the team.

2. Bob Allison, a historian at Suffolk University in Boston, believes baseball defines how a Bostonian feels more than anything else. The Red Sox regularly had outstanding players but rarely had outstanding teams, last winning a championship in 1918.

3. Before Henry, “the owners gave the impression they were content to have them come close. Henry didn’t stick his chest out and promise too much, which previous owners and managers had done,” Allison remembered. “He was very thoughtful and deliberate.’”

4. The first major strategic hire was Theo Epstein as the youngest GM in baseball. In 2004, the Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. People on the outside and inside said the same thing: Henry surrounded himself w/ the smartest people, and let them do their job.

5. Joe Januszewski, a Liverpool fan who worked for FSG, had always seen the potential in UK football, a sport decades behind American baseball in terms of business practice. Henry knew of this for years, but it was not until Hicks/Gillett's failed ownership that made a move.

6. In 2010 during a Red Sox game in Toronto, Larry Lucchino, the president of the Red Sox, called Joe and said, "I’ve got Werner & Henry. Be brief but tell them what’s going on at LFC and why it’s a good opportunity.” 66 days later, Henry and Werner were new owners of LFC.

7. Mike Gordon became a partner w/ Henry's sports group in 2001 after failing to buy the Red Sox himself. He became a 2nd majority shareholder in 2013, reduced his interest in his own investment firm and became responsible at Liverpool.

8. One of his first tasks was find a solution to the club's transfer committee. Gordon saw in Edwards what Larry Lucchino once saw in Theo Epstein who became the Red Sox GM @ 28: a young unknown who was willing to say what he thought and backed his arguments up w/ data.

9. The relationship between Gordon and Edwards stood firm despite fierce criticism of LFC's subsequent transfer activity in 2014 & 2015. Though Rodgers was sacked and Edwards’ role became a public debate, Gordon never questioned wether he was up to the job.

10. Gordon was the one who called Klopp’s agent, inviting them to NYC. Rodgers had gone along w/ Edwards' decisions, and if he disagreed he would only complain later. Gordon needed to know if Klopp & Edwards could work together & have constructive debate & less revisionism.

11. “Speaking your mind and disagreeing at Liverpool isn’t just allowed,” Gordon told Klopp, who offered a pregnant pause and raised an eyebrow, in Manhattan. “It is required.”

10. The strategy at first was focused on restoring the team’s position at the peak. Gordon uses a climbing analogy, knowing that if a climber tries to reach the summit in one day he’ll quickly run out of energy and oxygen.

11. From 2011-14, LFC could not attract top established players. Gordon believed bringing in one of these players was a misplaced strategy. He had learned from the Rangers under Hicks, who signed Rodriguez to a record deal but could not afford the talent needed to surround him.

12. They could attract top prospects, and Gordon knew that if they only signed young players in the future they’d never scale the mountain’s peak. His job was to constantly reassess where the project was, knowing there would be different players required as the club progressed.

13. In the summer of 2018, Liverpool were finally ready to make a leap under Klopp, who surprised FSG not only w/ his democracy but also his intelligence as an executive - realising the financial implications of his every move.

14. It was soon thought amongst LFC's owners that had Klopp not been a football manager, he could be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company in the US. Though he was emotionally perceptive, he also had a very high IQ. He had a keen interest in the structure of the club and how it operated

15. FSG were happy to remain at Melwood, but Klopp pushed for the change in site to Kirkby. Klopp prioritised this over spending £50 million on a new signing. He was building in the interests of club’s long-term future.

16. It is significant that Steve Lansdown, the owner of Bristol City, is wealthier than Henry. So is Mike Ashley. In terms of resources, FSG as owners are now somewhere between 6th/7th in the PL standings, behind Fosun, the group that runs Wolverhampton Wanderers.

17. It had never been Henry’s intention to splurge vast sums of his own money or that of FSG’s in attempting to make Liverpool great again. He believed in Financial Fair Play and has always operated on a system of profit and loss, trying to establish balances.

18. In 8 full seasons under Henry, LFC have a net spend of about £400k on each point earned in the PL which equates an average finish of fourth. In the same period, Manchester City have spent nearly £1.16 million, finishing second on average.

19. The starkest comparison is w/ Man Utd, who have a net spend of £1.24m per point. United’s commercial pull is greater and provides some mitigation. It also reminds of the commercial challenge at LFC, where they have been trying to catch up to United for 25+ years.

20. Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke is getting the best value per points (£390k/point) out of all American owners, but is not seeing on-field success. FSG are getting it right more than the other Americans like NFL owner Shahid Khan, whose time at Fulham includes 2 relegations

21. Like the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Liverpool remained at Anfield. There may have been much excitement about the new stand but FSG’s credibility suffered from a mass stadium walk-out in 2016 when a new pricing structure was revealed and the most expensive ticket would cost £77.

22. Ian Ayre, the club’s then chief executive worked tirelessly behind the scenes on the new stand and though he felt strongly against new ticket prices he did not argue his case forcefully enough and ended up defending them on cameras, and his warning came across like a threat.

23. There are still issues for Henry to resolve on Merseyside. Perceptions around FSG’s intentions linger. Last summer, it was revealed that the club had tried to trademark the name ‘Liverpool’.

24. Though officials claimed it was an atempt to prevent the rise of counterfeit merchandise and give LFC greater controls on the revenues back into the team, ambiguity on the form raised concerns for small businesses and other institutions which rely on the city’s title