Christian Purslow

[omariqy]

I trust him to drive the club forward commercially but I don’t trust his footballing decisions at all. 

[Awol]

13 minutes ago, omariqy said:

I trust him to drive the club forward commercially but I don’t trust his footballing decisions at all. 

Good shout, that. I think he probably drove the Ings signing (a bad call imo), but while Deano was just thrilled to be here Gerrard is a different character. Purslow is less likely to try and impose himself on footballing decisions now. 

[nick76]

9 minutes ago, Awol said:

Good shout, that. I think he probably drove the Ings signing (a bad call imo), but while Deano was just thrilled to be here Gerrard is a different character. Purslow is less likely to try and impose himself on footballing decisions now. 

I bet Purslow will just as involved in football decisions as before given some of inferences Gerrard has said including “if it was up to me” re the Coutinho deal. The money involved upfront and ongoing in transfers there is no way a CEO will be less involved anyway especially if we are now going to be stepping up in quality and ongoing fees or salaries.

[El-Reacho]

18 minutes ago, Awol said:

Good shout, that. I think he probably drove the Ings signing (a bad call imo), but while Deano was just thrilled to be here Gerrard is a different character. Purslow is less likely to try and impose himself on footballing decisions now. 

Purslow and Lange have to be involved in footballing decisions as it's their job to represent the owners' best interests. If they give full authority to Gerrard and we have another O'Neill type scenario they'll be blamed and probably shown the door.

[Awol]

17 minutes ago, El-Reacho said:

Purslow and Lange have to be involved in footballing decisions as it's their job to represent the owners' best interests. If they give full authority to Gerrard and we have another O'Neill type scenario they'll be blamed and probably shown the door.

I’m not suggesting Gerrard has a free hand, I’m suggesting Purslow will probably be less likely to try and impose his judgement about a new player’s suitability on Gerrard. I think he did that with Deano and the Ings signing because it made little footballing sense given Dean’s relationship with Watkins and the 4231 system we played.

The commercial decision of whether or not to complete a transaction will obviously stay with the CEO, whoever is manager.

[OutByEaster?]

Where does the idea that Purslow decided to sign Ings come from?

Are there interviews where it's hinted at or anything?

In so far as I am aware (and the person who told me really, really should know) Gerrard and Lange talk about positions where they'd like to strengthen, they draw up a shortlist of players in those positions and then Purslow negotiates the deals from the shortlists - Purslow doesn't sit down and draw up the shortlists with them.

 

[VillaParkAvenue]

12 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said:

Where does the idea that Purslow decided to sign Ings come from?

Are there interviews where it's hinted at or anything?

In so far as I am aware (and the person who told me really, really should know) Gerrard and Lange talk about positions where they'd like to strengthen, they draw up a shortlist of players in those positions and then Purslow negotiates the deals from the shortlists - Purslow doesn't sit down and draw up the shortlists with them.

 

I really don’t know, could be people guessing because Purslow allegedly likes big names (not that Ings is such a big name … but still).

What you describe is probably how transfer decisions are suppose to be made (although I would think Purslow has a say as well, even if he doesn’t search for candidates). But the formal structure is one thing and reality is sometimes another. People with strong opinions are more influential than others, decisions are sometimes made before the formal meeting is held, and so on.

[Woody1000]

6 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I really don’t know, could be people guessing because Purslow allegedly likes big names (not that Ings is such a big name … but still).

What you describe is probably how transfer decisions are suppose to be made (although I would think Purslow has a say as well, even if he doesn’t search for candidates). But the formal structure is one thing and reality is sometimes another. People with strong opinions are more influential than others, decisions are sometimes made before the formal meeting is held, and so on.

So OBE has basically said that he was told by someone obviously connected with the club that Purslow isn’t involved in that stage, but you’ve decided that it’s not the case?

[VillaParkAvenue]

Just now, Woody1000 said:

So OBE has basically said that he was told by someone obviously connected with the club that Purslow isn’t involved in that stage, but you’ve decided that it’s not the case?

If that’s what he said I’ll believe it, it just sounds odd to me if the ceo don’t have any input about the signings except for granting the money and negotiating the deals.

[Villaphan04]

13 hours ago, nick76 said:

I’m good with Purslow generally just surprised he took such a massive risk in a key decision at this pivotal point for the club.  Fair play if it does pay off down the line but such a risk.

I mean sacking Dean was going to be a massive risk anyways, and whoever he would've hired would've been one as well. 

[briny_ear]

2 hours ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I really don’t know, could be people guessing because Purslow allegedly likes big names (not that Ings is such a big name … but still).

What you describe is probably how transfer decisions are suppose to be made (although I would think Purslow has a say as well, even if he doesn’t search for candidates). But the formal structure is one thing and reality is sometimes another. People with strong opinions are more influential than others, decisions are sometimes made before the formal meeting is held, and so on.

You’re not wrong there - Ings is one of the shortest surnames it’s possible to have. 

[briny_ear]

16 minutes ago, Villaphan04 said:

I mean sacking Dean was going to be a massive risk anyways, and whoever he would've hired would've been one as well. 

I tend to think the bigger mistake was allowing Smith to go on so long when he was obviously underperforming with the post-Grealish squad. That in part has helped create the slightly unsatisfactory position we are in now.

Was that Purslow’s call? Don’t know, but if so I hope he’s learnt his lesson.

[Condimentalist]

9 hours ago, briny_ear said:

I tend to think the bigger mistake was allowing Smith to go on so long when he was obviously underperforming with the post-Grealish squad. That in part has helped create the slightly unsatisfactory position we are in now.

Was that Purslow’s call? Don’t know, but if so I hope he’s learnt his lesson.

Yeah you're right, he should have sacked him after we finished on 55 points in our second season back in the Prem, seven points off Europe. That would have been great leadership. 

Or maybe after signing a load of unfit players late in the window, having no preseason and selling the best player a week before the season, give him the boot soon after that yeah? 

That's basically what happened and as a result we have the Gerrard experiment which so far isn't convincing, despite now having a full squad, plenty of training opportunities, several breaks in the season, and a transfer window.

Big summer for Purslow and Stevie ahead to make us look back on that call as the right one. Here's hoping. 

[Awol]

13 hours ago, OutByEaster? said:

Where does the idea that Purslow decided to sign Ings come from?

Are there interviews where it's hinted at or anything?

In so far as I am aware (and the person who told me really, really should know) Gerrard and Lange talk about positions where they'd like to strengthen, they draw up a shortlist of players in those positions and then Purslow negotiates the deals from the shortlists - Purslow doesn't sit down and draw up the shortlists with them.

 

No, it was just a gut feeling based on the observation that signing him didn’t make sense from Deano’s perspective - especially when that money could have gone on a good DM instead (and probably kept Deano in his job).

Your info that Gerrard and Lange are driving recruitment now is exactly what I’d expect. 

[The Fun Factory]

Easily our best ceo/secretary since Steve Stride.

[Dale]

12 hours ago, briny_ear said:

I tend to think the bigger mistake was allowing Smith to go on so long when he was obviously underperforming with the post-Grealish squad. That in part has helped create the slightly unsatisfactory position we are in now.

Was that Purslow’s call? Don’t know, but if so I hope he’s learnt his lesson.

I don't think that's really the lesson learned here. 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Dale

[villa4europe]

13 hours ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

If that’s what he said I’ll believe it, it just sounds odd to me if the ceo don’t have any input about the signings except for granting the money and negotiating the deals.

Why? 

That's what we have a manager / sporting director / chief scout for

And I would doubt it works the other way either, if Gerrard and Lange ask him to buy someone Purslow won't be saying no mate I've seen him he's shit, you employ these guys and pay them a lot of money to do their job, a good ceo will let them do that job

I definitley believe that it's feasible purslow got the call to say ings is available and interested and he brought the name to the table but the due diligence of running it past the scouts, past lange, past the data analysts, past Smith would still exist 

Same as for all the noise about Gerrard wanting more input I still think the process will exist, he may put more names forward but lange will still check them out sporting wise and purslow will check them out financial wise, it won't be Gerrard bypassing anyone 

[VillaParkAvenue]

I may still be a little suspicious after those old reports about Purslow’s years as ceo at Liverpool, when it was reported Purslow was making himself very involved in transfers while Benitez first and Hodgson later tried to keep him out. Much of what was written then probably wasn’t very fair or truthful.

[Zatman]

7 minutes ago, VillaParkAvenue said:

I may still be a little suspicious after those old reports about Purslow’s years as ceo at Liverpool, when it was reported Purslow was making himself very involved in transfers while Benitez first and Hodgson later tried to keep him out. Much of what was written then probably wasn’t very fair or truthful.

apparently he signed Joe Cole for Liverpool and Hodgson didnt know much about it

[VillaParkAvenue]

5 minutes ago, Zatman said:

apparently he signed Joe Cole for Liverpool and Hodgson didnt know much about it

Yeah, and similar reports.

"Roy Hodgson has revealed Christian Purslow, Liverpool's former managing director, handed him a list of players to sell in the summer and believes the team's recent improvement stems from his decision to ignore the businessman's advice."

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/dec/11/roy-hodgson-liverpool-nesv