Separate from valuation are the issues of potential and performance themselves. Carroll is a good player but not the sort you see any more at the pinnacle of club football. At a huge stretch he may resemble Christian Vieri one day. Big, powerful, quite dainty with his feet, etc. Not sure if he has Vieri’s footballing brain though. Henderson was also over-valued but is a different proposition altogether. He is showing signs of becoming a player of real substance: powerful, tactically sound, good distribution and with the capacity to take matters into his own hands. He’s only 22, so let him grow into a man first and then we can see is real worth. Borini has been terribly unlucky with injuries but you don’t get into a Euro final national squad by being a duff player. Downing was unlucky and then wretched last season but has become rather more effective this time round. Still not a world beater and definitely not worth 20m, but is far from useless. Compare him to Ashley Young, who went to The Scum at the same time (for 5m less). How has he fared? A few more goals and then nowt to write about.

The restructuring of contracts, the refusal to yield to agents’ demands, the purchase of very good players at decent prices (Sturridge, Coutinho), all suggest the club is being altogether more prudent now. So no more Coles, Aquilanis, etc. There will continue to be mistakes or things that don’t work out. Players may come to LFC and not like living in the Merseyside area. They may end up not liking the culture of the club. Their families might not settle in either. It’s amazing anything goes write with all the things that can go wrong. The important thing through all of this is that LFC seems to be heading into a more sensible and sustainable approach, which is key to restoring long-term stability as a foundation for success.