The RACE TO a 19th League Title www.paultomkins.com REDA NEW BASTIORACEN PAUL TOMKINS “Maybe sometimes you don’t need as long to start challenging as it has taken us. But when the other teams are so strong it becomes much R 1 more difficult. You can try to move fast, but if they go as fast as you, ED you have to go faster. R “Coming to a club that needs a lot of work is a massive difference ACE to arriving at a club without too many changes to make. From my time here, Chelsea and United already had big squads with top-class players. They have both spent big money since and improved a lot. A N “We could not spend that kind of money, but look at the level of the EW squad now compared to five years ago. We have had to work hard B RED RACE rebuilding the whole squad. ASTIO “It’s not just a case of saying, ‘Oh, Liverpool should win because they A NEW BASTION are spending.’ The other clubs are spending too but had better squads from the beginning. That is why if we are to reduce the gap we have to N do things almost perfectly. P PAUL TOMKINS AUL “We have learned together what it means to stay close to the top of the table from the beginning to the end. I am sure that will help us in the future.” TOMKI FACT PACK RAFA BENITEZ N ©Paul Tomkins 2009 S “My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility” Bill Shankly Red Race cover.indd 1 6/7/09 11:35:05 www.paultomkins.com 2 v1.01 RED RACEN Act A NEWT BASTIOOMKINS PAUL ACT P Red Race: A New Bastion, which was released in July 2009 (click IntroductionThis PDF to is designed Redas an accompaniment Race to my book F link for more details). This document provides a home for additional analysis, and in particular, the full statistical breakdown of some of the issues discussed –– held over from the manuscript in order that the book itself not become too bogged down in numbers (as it is not a ‘stats’ book). full sense of the numbers, both the book and the PDF should be read in conjunction. However, the figures used herein To make may be of interest to those who have not read the book; all the same, it should be noted that explanations absent from this document may appear in the printed tome. By all means draw your own conclusions, but my conclusions are in the book. The book was written from the perspective of a Liverpool fan, although I have tried to be as fair to other clubs as possible, in order to give the project full integrity. For example, there is both praise and criticism of men like Alex Ferguson and David Moyes. The aim of the book was not to paint Rafa Benítez in a flawless light, as all men make mistakes, but to show how other managers are treated very differently to the Spaniard even when they utilise the same methods; for some reason a lot of unfair perceptions cloud people’s judgement of the Liverpool manager, and the facts herein counter many of those mistaken views. The RACE TO a While its content is copyrighted, this PDF, which also contains a couple of sample chapters, is free to be shared. 19th League Title New versions of this document may appear in the future, to rectify any mistakes (should there be any) and to assess the changes made at clubs since the publication of Red Race: A New Bastion. e. The book can be bought by clicking on the link in the first paragraph, and a review by David Gill (great-nephew of Bill ©Paul Tomkins 2009 Shankly) can be read by clicking her “Maybe sometimes you don’t need as long to start challenging as it ED R has taken us. But when the other teams are so strong it becomes much R more difficult. You can try to move fast, but if they go as fast as you, you have to go faster. A NEW B “Coming to a club that needs a lot of work is a massive difference ACE to arriving at a club without too many changes to make. From my time here, Chelsea and United already had big squads with top-class players. They have both spent big money since and improved a lot. “We could not spend that kind of money, but look at the level of the squad now compared to five years ago. We have had to work hard RED RACE rebuilding the whole squad. ASTIO “It’s not just a case of saying, ‘Oh, Liverpool should win because they A NEW BASTION are spending.’ The other clubs are spending too but had better squads P from the beginning. That is why if we are to reduce the gap we have to N do things almost perfectly. PAUL TOMKINS NS TOMKI AUL “We have learned together what it means to stay close to the top of the table from the beginning to the end. I am sure that will help us in the future.” RAFA BENITEZ “My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility” Bill Shankly Red Race cover.indd 1 6/7/09 11:35:05 www.paultomkins.com REDA NEW BASTIORACEN PAUL TOMKINS 3 Important Note on transfer fees I believe that the transfer figures used in the Red Race project to be more than 95% correct; most will be 100%, as when quoted by both the buying and selling clubs, and I’d suggest a 10% tolerance where fees are estimated (given that even estimates will be based on other people’s educated guesses and ‘insider info’.) All fees have been researched from reliable sources, but the cloud of confusion and obfuscation that some clubs like to create around their dealings, either when trying to make themselves look richer than they actually are, or when falsely playing the pauper, cannot be totally eradicated. Even given the tolerance of a few percent in terms of accuracy, the analysis used in this book gives a very good indication of the financial power of clubs during the Premiership era. As the book is primarily concerned with the wherewithal needed to win the Premiership, most of the figures look only at the ‘big four’ or other clubs who challenged for the title between 1992 and 2009, with particular focus on the past decade. ©Paul Tomkins 2009 www.paultomkins.com REDA NEW BASTIORACEN PAUL TOMKINS 4 acknowledgements Many thanks to Roy Henderson, Jonathan Rist, Akif Butt and Stuart Dale for their contribution to the extensive analysis contained within the Red Race project. 1 Thank you also to www.lfchistory.net for additional statistical info. © Paul Tomkins 2009 1 All rights reserved. The moral right of the author has been asserted. ©Paul Tomkins 2009 www.paultomkins.com REDA NEW BASTIORACEN PAUL TOMKINS 5 Introduction (From Red Race) The best points haul for 21 years (86, which would have been enough to win seven of the previous 16 league titles); a thoroughly convincing double over Manchester United; a better goal difference and a greater number of goals scored than any other team; and a The RACE TO a 19th League Title club record 13 away wins. And still only 2nd place, with a points total that has never been bettered by any runner-up in a 38-game season, and the lowest number “Maybe sometimes you don’t need as long to start challenging as it has taken us. But when the other teams are so strong it becomes much R more difficult. You can try to move fast, but if they go as fast as you, ED you have to go faster. R of defeats for any team that didn’t win the league in its 121-year history. “Coming to a club that needs a lot of work is a massive difference ACE to arriving at a club without too many changes to make. From my time here, Chelsea and United already had big squads with top-class players. They have both spent big money since and improved a lot. A N “We could not spend that kind of money, but look at the level of the EW So close –– but no cigar, and, alas, no champagne. squad now compared to five years ago. We have had to work hard B RED RACE rebuilding the whole squad. ASTIO “It’s not just a case of saying, ‘Oh, Liverpool should win because they A NEW BASTION are spending.’ The other clubs are spending too but had better squads from the beginning. That is why if we are to reduce the gap we have to N do things almost perfectly. P PAUL TOMKINS AUL “We have learned together what it means to stay close to the top of the table from the beginning to the end. I am sure that will help us in the future.” TOMKI Can’t Buy Me Leagues? RAFA BENITEZ N S Can’t buy me love, sang Liverpool’s most famous sons, in reference to the one thing supposedly untainted by the filthy lucre. (They also sang about semolina pilchards scaling Parisian landmarks, although that’s more suited to a book about drug abuse in sport than financial “My idea was to build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility” doping.) Bill Shankly But does money buy you league titles? More than ever before, financial power seems to be at the root of any assault on the English league championship.