See the newser on Ayre’s hire here.
USA Today Network Tennessee dropped the scoop this morning that former Liverpool Managing Director Ian Ayre will be the Chief Executive of the club when the MLS era arrives.
Ayre was hired at Liverpool near the end of the 2010-11 season, and at the conclusion of the following year added the “Sporting Director” title, making him the CEO of all club operations, where he’d previously been primarily focused on business. Per USATNT, he’ll function in both sides for Nashville SC:
“I will manage all aspects of the team,” he said. “The business side and the soccer side. And that involves everything. You want to bring everything under one person.”
There is mention that he’ll hire a General Manager for the club to focus more on the technical aspects – hiring a coach and staff, building a roster, etc.
Ayre announced toward the end of the 2015-16 season that he’d be stepping down from Liverpool – of his own choice, no sacking here, at least officially – at the conclusion of the following year, and he departed a bit early. Halfway through that year, he was named Premier League Executive of the Year.
The early departure was to head to 1860 Munich in February 2017, but the team struggled (notably: no transfer window, meaning an executive’s impact was… minimal? Non-existent?) and he left the position in May when the side was relegated to the third tier in Germany – and probably couldn’t afford him anymore.
He spent the past year out of soccer, and it’s unclear exactly when his gig with Nashville SC begins. Hopefully it’s enough time to recharge his batteries without making his skills a little rusty.
Resume
Liverpool had plenty of success under Ayre:
They finished sixth in the year he arrived (before he had a chance to make an impact), went out in the third round of both the League and FA Cups, and fell in the Round of 16 of the Europa Cup. Brendan Rogers In Ayre’s first full year at the helm, they dropped to eighth in the Premiership, but won the League Cup and were runners-up in the FA Cup. At the end of the year, he sacked the managed he inherited, Kenny Dalglish.
He made a manager hire of Brendan Rogers, whom he plucked from Swansea City. The Reds improved to seventh in the League the following year, but went out in the Round of 32 in Europa, and fell in the fourth round of both domestic cups.
2013-14 was the first truly good season under Ayre (except inasmuch as any season without silverware cannot be considered a success at a club like Liverpool). The team finished second in the league, guaranteeing UEFA Champions League participation for the following season – the first participation since two seasons before Ayre took over. The side did struggle in domestic cup play, with a fifth-round exit in the FA Cup and a third-round exit in the League Cup.
The European competition didn’t work out so well for Liverpool the following year (they went out in the group stage of Champions League, and were knocked out immediately in the resulting entry into Europa League), and they slid to sixth in the EPL. Again, they took a small step forward in domestic cup play – finishing with a pair of semifinal exits – to make up for sliding in other areas.
Early in the 2015-16 season, Rogers (whom Ayre had signed to a four-year contract extension in the 2014 offseason) got the axe, while former Borussia Dortmund Manager Jurgen Klopp – available after stepping back from BVB at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season in Germany – took the Liverpool gig over. Again Liverpool struggled, finishing eighth place in the Premiership, and exiting fourth-round in the FA Cup. They were runners-up in the League Cup and Europa Cup.
In Ayre’s final (partial) season in charge Merseyside, Liverpool finished fourth in the Prem, went out in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and were semi-finalists in the League Cup. (For what it’s worth, there was some controversy over who was in charge of transfers, and if you ask Liverpool fans, disagreement on that front with Klopp is part of what led to Ayre’s departure).
Reputation
Given that he was in charge of just maintaining (not improving) Liverpool’s on-pitch results when he was with the club, there’s strike one against him from the Kop perspective: a guy’s job is to do better than the previous one, or win some sort of hardware at the very least. He didn’t do that.
Hiking ticket prices under Ayre’s direction also led to Liverpool’s first-ever fan walkout. For what it’s worth, Liverpool led 2-0 at the time of the walkout, and went on to give up two goals in 13 minutes (plus stoppage) to draw. The hiking of ticket prices is nonetheless something that should draw trepidation from NSC fans – especially given some of the snafus already in the USL days, with misleading advertising to obscure Ticketmaster fees drawing major ire for the first Nissan game – with the price points floated by the club’s early surveys already in the eye-popping range. The Liverpool walkout did lead to a reversal of the ticket hike, so at the very least there’s a willingness to walk back mistakes.
A lack of ability to sign big transfers constantly hovered over Ayre’s head, with plenty of talk about whether he should be sacked (albeit in the less journalistically rigorous corners of the British press) resulting from that. You can look art LFC’s transfer history under Ayre – focus on the 2011-12 arrivals/departures through the 2015-16 arrivals/departures – on Transfermarkt.
Takeaways? Liverpool bought more than it sold each year under Ayre, though there’s something to be said for doing that without improving the squad’s finish in domestic or European competitions in a significant way. Big signings include Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutihno (12-13), Mamadou Sakho (13-14), and Robert Firmino (15-16). Big sales include Andy Carroll (13-14 – and as a West Ham fan, let me point out that getting £17.5 for Carroll was good business for Liverpool), Luis Suarez (14-15), and Raheem Sterling (15-16). You can read into the success/failure of these decisions and the business on their own.
At his next stop, Ayre’s quick departure from 1860 Munich was in part due to clashes with ownership (or the board that represents ownership, at least), so there’s a chance this guy isn’t super-easy to get along with.
Verdict
At its core, this hire is a statement of intent for Nashville SC to be ambitious. An MLS team does not hire a Premier League executive without trying to send the message “we’re going to spend, and we’re going to win.” The specifics of Ayre’s resume are relevant, of course, but to me, less so than the statement it makes to hire him.
Based on his experience and history… I’d hope his involvement on the technical side and decision-making personnel-wise is more limited than his involvement in negotiating the contracts, etc. Hopefully he gets nowhere near the “HERE’S HOW MUCH THE TICKETS COST” room. Raise more money directly from the fans who support you so you can spend it unwisely is not going to make a ton of friend.
That said, does anyone doubt that Nashville is going to be in the second tier of MLS club spending in pursuit of wins? Atlanta, Toronto, and LA Galaxy have shown the willingness to spend on transfers (and to the extent they can under the salary cap, wages) to build their teams. It seems Nashville is more than willing to insert itself into the next tier – with the likes of Portland, LAFC, and NYCFC, potentially among others depending on the given year – in order to build its team. Without a ton of talent in the area to build primarily through the academy, that’s a good build method if you want to win.
Clearly, Nashville wants to win.
Club and Country 