Toon Saint

Ralph is a snake-oil salesmen greasing us up for a bloody good rogering.

WHO IS TO BLAME JEFF? WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE SUMMER OF *****RY?

Is this part of their f*cking nicey-nice core values - getting all sentimental and granting players their 'dream' moves? You are ripping apart the heart and soul of the team you ridiculously inept f*cks.

Ralph is a snake oil salesman, quite simply.

Not sure why people are saying good for Lambert. It is f*cking terrible for us! He is an absolute legend here and he will be but an obscure footnote in Liverpool's history. £9m can buy a decent replacement and is decent business on the face of it, but it can't replace sentiment and the emotional attachment the fans have with him. With J-Rod injured and Lambert potentially off, who the bleeding f*ck are we going to play up-front? Sorry but absolutely staggered by this.

Yes aware there could well be legal issues, but they never released any form of statement confirming that they had released the pair. The first I heard of it being acknowledged by the club was in Krueger's interview yesterday.

Completely agree.

You sure? Every one of your posts seems to contain some sort of abuse. Hate to encounter you when you are angry. Feel free to reduce what I've said about Reed as 'blubbing', you obviously haven't understood the point being made.

Unbelievable. This guy wades in without properly engaging or offering his own opinion, but still deriding it as 'poor analysis'. What we have both said is pretty mild (what are the legitimate checks on Reed's power over footballing matters and staff recruitment?) but it seems to be a bit too much for some to handle.

I believe it will be his decision on managerial appointments. That is different to 'every single decision' at the club.

Probably, but not the point I was making.

What and continually resorting to insults makes you sound intelligent? You need to calm down a bit.

Yes I agree with most of this, and refreshing to get someone's actual opinion on the matter and not just some sniping from the sidelines. I've always said Reed has done an excellent job and I would definitely put a lot more trust in him to make the decision than RK. I'd hope that those checks that you describe between RK and LR are enforced - however, you could question whether RK has any legitimate authority to disagree with Reed if he was insitent on a particular appointment. From his interviews so far Ralph seems happy just to defer to Reed on footballing matters - openly labelling himself 'just the hockey guy' - so I don't know how any theoretical checks will actually work in practice. It is quite unprecedented for a DoF to have quite so much power at one club though, even if he has earned that trust. The Dodd/Williams sackings and the manner in which they were brushed under the carpet, does indicate that the levels of accountability and transparency are not quite what we were promised with the board re-structuring either.

1) Has Cortese been previously portrayed as an autocrat? 2) Was accountability a big part in KL's reasoning for restructuring the board? 3) Was there a statement released about Dodd and Williams? 4) Did Ralph defer to Reed when talking about potential managers in the Echo interview? Yes, I'm making it all up.

Perhaps no less qualified, but Cortese had the luxury of bedding himself in when we were very much out of the public spotlight. It is fair to say that Krueger will be dealing with a lot more issues than Cortese would have encountered in his first season in League 1 just because of the frenzied nature of the Premier League and all the attendant media speculation and pressures. Cortese had a lot more time and space to set out his vision and gradually progress the club. Ralph is in at the deep end and needs to learn fast.

Top post. This is about the organization of power at St. Mary's and not a criticism of Reed. Cortese was often depicted as the autocrat, but now we have someone in Reed who has almost complete control over footballing matters. The very reason for the board re-structuring was meant to allow for increased accountability - but when it comes to decisions like firing Dodd and Williams or hiring a new manager, who currently has the authority and footballing knowledge to legitmately challenge him? There was not even a statement about the sackings which really flies in the face of the openness and transparency initially promised by the board. It seems as if he was free to fire them without justifying his actions (which perhaps were sound reasons), and then the issue was pretty much brushed under the carpet and only tacitly acknowledged by Krueger in his recent interview. The fact that Krueger just deferred to Reed when discussing potential managerial candidates in the Echo indicates that it really is the decision of one man. Let's just hope it is a good one!

Exactly this.

There is a big difference between drawing on somebody's football knowledge to assist with an appointment, and actually entrusting that one person with executive power over the decision. Clearly Cortese took advice from Reed before making a decision, but now Reed would seem to have complete autonomy over Krueger. Bit like Baldini appointing a manager at Spurs without Levy's input.

Not doubting the aptitude of Reed at all - clearly done an excellent job. The worry I have is that he has almost complete jurisdiction over contract negotiations, player transfers, and managerial appointments. That seems like an awful lot of power for one individual when the re-structuring of the board was meant to ensure more accountability at senior level.

Exactly and I thought the whole re-structuring of the board was about ensuring more accountability at senior levels. Seems like all the executive power at club, on football matters at least, has just been channeled into the hands of Les Reed.

The Daily Echo interview left me wincing a few times and I really wish he would stop calling a football match 'the product'. That answer to the question about when we began searching for a new manager was pretty dire. First admitting that he is still learning about the role of chairman. Second that he didn't really know that the scouting network were out looking at managers until recently. Doesn't exactly convey the impression that he is on top of things. This took the biscuit though:

Beat me to it!

Two of his sons are already involved at boardroom level at Utd (co-Chairman I believe) so I don't think it will affect them too much in terms of the running of the club. Sad news though.

Ralph seemed a bit rattled by the question about Spurs dictating to the club and seemed to stumble over his words for a while. His reasons for delaying contract negotiations until end of season were pretty unconvincing as well - not sure he even believed himself when trying to justify it. Was also unimpressed by the 'hockey guy' comment in relation to the responsibility for appointing managers. If KL's desire was to make the board more accountable then it does seem strange just how much power now resides with Les Reed. Apart from that, it was a much better interview than those before. Nice to hear him mentioning Europe as an ambition and even some positive talk of incoming transfers. Let's hope he backs his words up with some action.