Should Ian Ayre come under scrutiny after Liverpool's poor transfer window?

The transfer window has come and gone with no new arrivals at Anfield, but should the lack of fresh blood bring the position of managing director Ian Ayre under scrutiny?

The January transfer window saw Mohammed Salah, a long-term target for the Reds move to Chelsea as the Reds refused to meet the asking price set out by FC Basel,  with a move for Yevhen Konoplyanka deteriorating on deadline day.

Its become a familar story at Anfield as of recent, with the Liverpool also missing out on other targets such as Diego Costa, Willian, Clint Demsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all alluding the Reds in recent season. 

To make things worse for Liverpool, a number of these targets ended up at rival clubs, with Willian and Salah both now plying their trade at Chelsea whilst the failed bid to bring Dempsey to Anfield saw him head to Tottenham Hotspur. 

Some highly respected Liverpool fans have suggested Liverpool's continued frustration in the transfer market should bring Ian Ayre under scrutiny, but for me that's a shortsighted view. 

Ayre was appointed managing director in the March of the 2010/11 season, moving up from commercial director and replacing Christian Purslow. 

In that season the club revenues totaled  £183.6 million, with £77.4 million of that coming from commercial deals, £65.3 million from broadcasting rights and £45.3 million from match day. 

Liverpool's commercial revenue for that year was higher than that of Inter Milan, Chelsea and Arsenal, all of whom finished above them in terms of total revenue and all had Champions League football that season, unlike Liverpool. 

In the 2011/12 season Liverpool's revenues rose again under Ayre's stewardship, rising to £188.7 million despite the Reds still not featuring in the Champions League. 

Liverpool's main revenues once again came from the area in which Ayre has the most expertise, commercial, with the club generating £80.2 million from commercial activities. Broadcasting revenue for the year was down to £63.3 million whilst match day revenues increased to £45.2 million. 

Commercial revenues were again higher than those of Arsenal, AC Milan and Chelsea, all of whom were in the Champions League, whilst Manchester City's commercial revenue was only bolstered by lucrative deals with Abu Dhabi based partners. 

The trend continues into the latest financial reports from Deloitte, covering 2012/13, with Liverpool generating £206.2 million, with commercial revenue again making a huge jump up to £97.7 million, accounting for 47% of the Reds total revenues (up from 42% the previous two seasons). 

Commercial revenue was the main driver in the Reds revenue growth, with match day revenues (£44.6m) and broadcast revenues £63.9 million, only seeing minor increases. 

Chelsea, Arsenal, Juventus, AC Milan and Dortmund all had higher total revenues and were Champions League participants, yet Liverpool earned more commercial revenue than all of them, whilst City and PSG, another two clubs higher in-terms of total revenue, both only had higher commercial revenues due to their deals with Middle Eastern sponsorship partners close to their owners.

The lesson to be learned? Ian Ayre has done a good job of keeping Liverpool financially competitive despite their absence from the Champions League, with the improved financial performance undoubtedly helping with securing the key signings Liverpool have made in recent seasons. 

Does this completely absolve Ian Ayre of blame? Far from it. Liverpool need to be doing a better job of securing their key targets, especially when failed deals lead to players heading to rival clubs, jeopardising the Reds Champions League chances. 

There's a desperate need for a Chief Executive Officer at Anfield who can take charge of some of the many elements of running the football club which Ian Ayre is currently trying to juggle. Then, and only then, will Liverpool start to see an improvement in their transfer market dealings.