Liverpool FC Owner John Henry has defended the club’s transfer policy in an open letter to supporters, insisting that the club will not be taking “expensive, short-term quick fixes” despite its underwhelming start to the season (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 9/3). Henry wrote: "I am as disappointed as anyone connected with Liverpool Football Club that we were unable to add further to our strike force in this summer transfer window. ... The transfer policy was not about cutting costs. It was - and will be in the future - about getting maximum value for what is spent so that we can build quality and depth. We are avowed proponents of UEFA's Financial Fair Play agenda that was this week reiterated by Mr Platini - something we heartily applaud. ... We will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield" (Liverpool FC). In London, Andy Hunter wrote that Fenway Sports Group has received its "most hostile criticism" when they failed to acquire a striker despite Manager Brendan Rodgers' decision to loan Andy Carroll to EPL club West Ham United just the night before. Rodgers "had hoped to replace the striker" with Clint Dempsey, who ended up going to EPL club Tottenham for £6M ($9.5M) "because FSG would not offer more than £4M ($6.4M)." In Henry's letter he wrote: "Our ambitions do not lie in cementing a mid-table place with expensive, short-term quick fixes that will only contribute for a couple of years." The comment "reflects the rift that has developed" between Henry and Rodgers in recent days. However, Henry has described Rodgers as a "talented young manager, and we have valued highly his judgement about the make-up of the squad" (GUARDIAN, 9/3).
