With Liverpool off to its worst start to a season in 50 years, owner John Henry wrote an open letter to fans Monday acknowledging having made mistakes during his first two years running the club.
But Henry defended the Fenway Sports Group's cautious approach to the summer transfer window, despite a 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday leaving Liverpool with just one point after three matches of the Premier League season.
Striker Andy Carroll was sent on loan to West Ham less than two years after being bought for a British record 35 million pounds (then $56 million), and new manager Brendan Rodgers is frustrated about the failure to replace him with American forward Clint Dempsey, who instead left Fulham for Tottenham on Friday.
''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, but that was not through any lack of desire or effort on the part of all of those involved,'' Henry wrote to fans in a letter posted on the club website.
''They pushed hard in the final days of the transfer window on a number of forward targets and it is unfortunate that on this occasion we were unable to conclude acceptable deals to bring those targets in.''
Henry rescued Liverpool from the brink of financial collapse in October 2010 when heavily indebted owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. were forced to sell the club, which won the last of its 18 English titles in 1990 and finished eighth in the league last season.
''We are still in the process of reversing the errors of previous regimes. It will not happen overnight,'' Henry said. ''It has been compounded by our own mistakes in a difficult first two years of ownership. It has been a harsh education, but make no mistake, the club is healthier today than when we took over ... we will never place this club in the precarious position that we found it in when we took over at Anfield.
''This club should never again run up debts that threaten its existence.''
Henry, however, insisted the prudent transfer strategy ''was not about cutting costs,'' but about ensuring the club complies with UEFA's new Financial Fair Play regulations designed to stop clubs overspending.
''The transfer window may not have been perfect but we are not just looking at the next 16 weeks until we can buy again: we are looking at the next 16 years and beyond,'' Henry said. ''These are the first steps in restoring one of the world's great clubs to its proper status.''
Quick fixes are not the solution, Henry said, adding that he prefers to develop young talent rather than buy expensive players.
''We will not mortgage the future with risky spending,'' said Henry, whose group also owns baseball's Boston Red Sox.
''We will build and grow from within, buy prudently and cleverly and never again waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages,'' he added.
