NESV Brings in Damien Comolli to Assist Roy Hodgson at Liverpool; new Director of Sports Strategy
Liverpool’s owner, John W. Henry, has revealed that he would bring in Damien Comolli as the director of football strategy. Apparently Roy Hodgson has no problems with this step, which would see his role reduced in terms of transfer
deals.
NESV (New England Sports Ventures) has a daunting task ahead of them. Henry pointed out some of the areas that require immediate attention at the club. Liverpool needs depth in their squad, and the stadium needs to be expanded
as well. The Liverpool owner suggested that the club does not need extra financial burdens. The stadium expansion or relocation to Stanley Park would require borrowing from a bank. Therefore, the club would only bring in new faces only if it does not create
extra financial problems.
In this strategy discussed by John W. Henry, the role of Damien Comolli becomes very important. As a director of football strategy, Comolli would be the one responsible for bringing in players at Liverpool. This means that Roy
Hodgson’s role would be reduced as the Liverpool manager. Hodgson will now have less liberty in finalizing his transfer targets. The final approval would lie with Comolli, who is apparently an expert in these matters.
Comolli would be an important part of John W. Henry’s strategy, as Liverpool seems certain in signing new players. Comolli has the credentials that led Henry to make his choice. The Frenchman has been working in the English Premier
League for a very long time as a scout and coach. In 1996, the Frenchman joined Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, helping the manager pick out young talented players. He stayed at Arsenal for seven seasons, and he is credited with a lot of important signings during
this time. Among these players the important ones include Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Gael Clichy.
In 2005, Comolli joined Tottenham Hotspur, another London based club in the Premier League. In this setup, Comolli was given a role of director of football, looking after the scouting, academy, medical and secretariat of the club.
Generally, he is considered as the one responsible for bringing in quality players to Tottenham. Also, he is also given credit of developing the youth system at Tottenham, signing young players like Gareth Bale, Kevin Prince Boateng, Alan Hutton and Younes
Kaboul. The recent success of Tottenham in the English Premier League can be credited largely to the efforts of Comolli.
New England Sports Ventures is also known for controlling its finances. Their model is already running successfully in the shape of Boston Red Sox, a baseball team in the US. At Boston, NESV adopted a strategy of buying young talent
and developing them into world class players. Their strategy for Liverpool seems to be the same as Red Sox, which is one of the reasons for signing Comolli.
Apparently, Hodgson was unaware of this decision and he was informed only a couple of days before signing Comolli. However, he seemed to agree with his owners, but at this point there was little that he could do. As a sign of reassurance,
Henry told the press that the purpose of signing was to provide help to Hodgson, rather than finding a replacement. He also said that both the men were ready to work side by side in the January transfer window.
Roy Hodgson is on thin ice right now. If he makes another mistake, he would definitely be replaced by the owners. Thus, this seems to be a precautionary step taken by NESV. Also, in the past Liverpool has made some poor decisions
regarding transfers, including Alberto Aquilani and Lucas Leiva. Therefore, Henry is taking no risks and is bringing in personnel he can really trust. In the current condition of Liverpool (currently ranked 13th in the Premier League table), this
is only a natural and rational reaction.
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