Finally someone writes something critical about Alves. Anywhere I read about him fans ask for him to join us, but then it comes as no big suprise that it is you who says differently. I can’t hear his name anymore as he’s been mentioned way to often and way to long as a transfer target of ours. Is he really that good? I’ve never seen it.

Like you I cannot see Eto’o joining us. Today they said he would come at 40m. That won’t happen. Tevéz for 20m though he seems not to be just as prolific as Eto’o, but it is nice to see you mention Huntelaar, who’s hardly mentioned anywhere else. And that just might do the trick. I wouldn’t be too suprised if we ended up with both Huntelaar and Tevéz.

One player I am really not sure about is Milito. Is he really up to it for us? Like with Alves many of our supporters seem to praise him and would like him to come but is that because he’s connected with us every other day in the media? How do those fans know. I really am into football, but I have a life outside it too, so there is hardly the time to follow all the Spanish and other European League games. Do I have too much of an outside-of-football life so I just can’t see how good he is or are a few of us getting over-exited at the prospect of our beloved club signing jet the next final piece of the jigsaw?

Well, I am a bit pissed right now and do not know whether my point came across, but I hope so.
Anyway, keep up the good work.

Hi Ger

Like you I also believe we must confirm our signings before preseason begins to give us the opportunity for the best possible start to the season.

However, while your impatience is growing because you feel we just need four top class signings with proven quality who would be capable of walking straight into our first team, my impatience is growing over the lack of quality coming through our reserves & youth system. Rafa has signed many young kids with potential which we are not seeing develop into that potential. Some people argue the Chelsite and the Scumbags aren’t developing young players either, but I could not give a rats arse how they run things over there.

It’s very hard to follow the development of our youngsters over here in oz. I would love to here your opinion on the youth that rafa has signed during his reign at LFC. I would especially like to here your thoughts on Adam Hamill’s loan spell.

Let’s hope HK gets one more chance and can gives us aussies a little bit a pride back.

Marc

Gerry I notice there is a bucket load of dribble coming out of who knows where at the moment, it appears our totally backing owners are now conducting an independant review into Mr B previous dealings in the transfer market.
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Oops thats going to piss someone off.
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Regarding blowing the whole budget on Eto, he’s not that good. What happened to the boundless cash, 40 Millions is nothing, we’re being outspent by Waste Em.
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As far as Alaves, I’ve said before boundless energy can’t shoot for shit.
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Eto, is he any different to Cisse, yes we don’t own Eto, can’t think of anything else. Still Cisse scored 15 goals since January.
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As far as Dutch strikers go, Kuyt got about 10-11 this year, last year in Holland he scored about 500,000, will Huntlear be the same.
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Maybe we should change our stratergy and start looking at home, just because they play in spain doesn’t mean there world class.
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We have a world class striker in Crouch, plays for his country. He can’t get 11 minutes in the Cl Final, apparently not as good a Bolo. (world class means nothing if theres no heart).
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And don’t even start me on our youth system, win the youth FA twice and not one player through.
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Off all we have been hearing about I think Huntlear is a real possibility, while the others are grim.
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One last thing I want to mention, talk about Xabi going the other way in the Eto deal, if you look at the figures that puts Xabi Alonso at 15 million pounds, what the fuck are we doing up at head office, Darren Bents got 15 million on him. Malouda’s not anywhere near him and he’s got that price tag.

Like always gerry a good read mate!…

It’s difficult to see who we will be bringing during this window, and we have been link with everyman and his dog..Enough to have 5 first team squads, but seriously though who will come?

I have my thoughts and they are really that I feel we need 4 top drawer professionals that can come straight into the team and find their feet during preseason, well as best they can.

The names I feel we’ll be seeing wearing a liverbird on their chests come August are the following.

Quality wingman…Malouda seems to be the the target, but I fell it will be Simao:(12mil) Beacuse he can play both sides of the field which is better value and will give Rafa more possibilities…Nice to have both though (and still cost less than 1 over priced Alves and dare I say slightly over-rated too)

Foward role: Well we would all love to see Samual Et’o in the famous red shirt, but at 40mil I feel we may have to pass this time round.. (but I will be happy if we do table a bid, just to show our intend to bid for the big boys..even if it was not successful) So who will it be?

Teves? at 25mil seems more like the player it could well be, proven in the prem (be it a bit late on but…) or it may be the silent runner Huntelaar…Would not have a problem adapting to the prem (most dutch players don’t) and like you say Gerry his goal scoring record speaks for itself, and at somewhere between 12/15 million he’d be a good option…Maybe it will be both?

Finally there maybe some truth in the Milito rumours would be nice to add someone of his caliber to our ranks at the back…Having 4 quality centre backs is needed these days..

All of the above mentioned would be wonderful and any of them would be a start in the right direction…But we all know Rafa is hard to predict so i guessl time will tell where Rafa will spend the during this window and who will be helping on our way to number 19 in the next season or 2…

And thanks for your assistance this morning…and so quickly too…Had a late night or just sitting glued to your pc waiting for the first real news……lol

Hey Gaz, this independent audit into Rafa’s previous spending has been mentioned before, but when you look at the net figure after sales it’s about 43mil not bad really… and looking back the only player of any value that failed was Morientes, the other failures where just stop gaps and squad players most of which commanded no fee at all…

Oh and Gaz 14 goals for Kyut in his debut season is pretty good in my book…Lets us see what he bangs in next term with a full preseason behind him and having adapted to a new culture/game!

One reason I think for the delay in signings is that maybe Rafa’s major targets are in the spanish league which has not yet finished. No team would want to disrupt things by selling off a player before the season ends, especially if they are in a race for the title or champs league spot. I think after the season is over will we see alot more action. All the activity around the league has mostly involved young players, or players from other leagues so I don’t really think we are going too slow in the market. We have already signed, what 3 or 4 players already?? Just have a little patience fellas…

Hi Gerry, I agree with the positions you’ve selected but I would say we need five players. One for each wing, a centre back and two quality strikers. I’d prefer Villa over Eto’o. He looks a very hard working player, something Rafa seems to appreciate. If you look on youtube for David Villa v Daniel Alves, you’ll see a most excellent nutmeg on our alledged targetted fullback…and it’s not your standard nutmeg. It’s worth a view, some of that magic would be most welcome at Anfield.

With regards to transfer funds, haven’t the owners said that they will raise funds for the appropriate player as oppossed to given Rafa a limited budget to work with.

The only, half baked reason I can think off why we haven’t signed anyone is because the Spanish league isn’t finished, and no doubt that’s were the majority of our signings will come from.

Also agree with the lads here about the lack of youth team players making it into the first team. The Spanish national team hasn’t won a major tournemant as far as I know so I wouldn’t want to have a team full of foreigners like arsenal. A core base of english players, with the blend of foreign class gives our team the cutting edge. Without the youth players making into the team I’m struggling to see where Jamie and Steven’s replacements are coming from.

I’m still remaining optimistic but it may soon be harder to be so. For the last few seasons we’ve felt this is our year and we starting to think that again with the financial backing were supposed to have.

if they believe in Rafa as we do then please sign his targets, he only wants to bring glory back to Anfield as do we all.

In Rafa We Trust

Gerry, good blog mate and like you totally pissed off with the inertia the Reds are showing concerning the transfer market, just been reading Pederson’s comment on the side he hoped to play for other than Balckburn would be Liverpool, i think he’d be a great acquisition for us as he is a proven premier player. But we are all getting the same vibes from Anfield about transfers SAME SHIT DIFFERENT DAY.
theredman YNWA.

i agree that our areas needing players is: wing (maybe two), striker, and center half cover. i read today in several sources that rafa is willing to spend 40 million on eto’o. that would be incredibly foolish if you ask me.

my top choices would be torres, joaquin, milito (or someone comparable)…

i also think that it might be a better idea going for pedersen instead of malouda. in several interviews during the last few months, malouda has mentioned playing for other clubs, but he always mentioned arsenal and man u or real and others. not once did he mention liverpool, and i have a funny feeling that he might not have the best mentality for us. pedersen on the other hand would be a great acquisition i think. he would love playing for us, based on his comments, and he would cost a lot less than malouda i think. he is great at set pieces, and can play as a wing or a striker. he and kewell would be great options at the left side.

so my “4 signings to bring us the title” would be torres, milito, joaquin, and pedersen.

I had this comment on Huntelaar sent in by e-mail from Mike Harding, interesting…….

This Liverpool’s latest target. The Young Dutchman was the leading goalscorer in Holland last season and very instrumental in Ajax winning the Dutch Fa Cup. He is rated and valued at about 10 million pounds, but Ajax might let him go at about 8 million pound. He is very much in the mould of a Dennis Bergkamp type player and is keen on a move to the premiership. He is also a long time friend of Dirk Kuyt who has settled in quite nicely at Anfield.

Gerry, excellent read.
4 quality players sounds about riight..
I still fancy a move for Berbatov..
I would love to see him and Kuyt up front together.
But we probably have no chance of getting him away from Spurs..Failing him, Huntelaar sounds like a good player for us..
We must get a leftsided player this summer.
It’s one of our biggest weaknesses.
I am not sold on Alves , as has been said..bags of speed, but can’t hit a barn door.
Are Blackburn willing to sell Pederson..?
He certainly would fill our needs on the leftside
and he is Premier league proven
I would also love to see an offer for Wayne Bridge..
I think he would strengthen the leftside.
( not convinced Riise can do that job anymore)
If we are going to win the Prem why not go for proven Prem Players instead of buying players who
might not be able to handle the rigours of the English game?
I.e Morientes , Gonzales..
Ok. so my 4 Buys.
Berbatovor or Huntelaar ,Pederson, Bridge, Simao

Surprised to hear you are annoyed at our lack of transfer activity mate given that the transfer window is not open yet and many of our targets are still involved in competitive football.

Seville, for example, aren’t going to sell Alves til their season is over and we should not be interested until then either – say we agree a deal and he busts his leg in the last game of the season!

Yes the Mancs have secured 3 players – Hargreaves has been about 12 months in the making so hardly Fergie snapping him up. One of the others is linked to some dodgy 3rd party ownership so maybe the Mancs have been a bit too quick to dive into the market place.

The targets you mention are interesting. First off the wingers are desperately needed – starting with Alves I thought he looked poor last night and I am also put off by the likely asking price. Simao is the man for me – skipper for his club and a good player.

Not really seen enough of Silva or Malouda to have an opinion – so I will take your word for them.

I am also not sure if we need cover that desperately at the back and I cannot see Milito wanting to come as backup CB.If Hyppia is staying and we have Palletta (though I agree that he needs to develop) so you are reliant on the fitness of Carra (though he’d play with a broken leg) and Agger – another tough cookie too.

My concern is the forward it is so obvious we need, we often appear toothless up front and there have been numerous occassions this season where we could heve played well beyond 90 minutes without scoring.

Yes I’d like to see Eto’o and Tevez and if our yankie owners are going to back the manager like they said when they took over well here is their opportuntity to prove their money is where their mouths are. I was not pleased when DIC fell through as they had the funds to take us all the way – have Gillett and Hicks the cash to get the players we need? Papertalk is generally worth ignoring but the consensus in Fleet Street is we have £30-£35m, well that has slipped from the £50m that was being bandied about when they took over.

Oh my 4 – Eto’o, Tevez, Simao and Pederson.

“There are players we are interested in and Simao is one. But we have made no contact with Benfica. A swap with Cisse could be a possibility.”- Rick Parry

“Liverpool have not approached Lyon,” said Malouda.

I have always had doubts over the way Rick Parry does his job. We have in the past failed to capitalise on our history and market LFC. At this point of time, we seem to be falling behind in the transfer market. If Mr Benny says we need to act instead of talk, talk, talk..where’s the action?

Players I would love to see in the Red of Liverpool.

Tevez – I’d settle for Owen at 9 million with a pay cut and a mention that HE wants back.

Quaresma and Simao… p/ss when we get quality wingers, it is a must that we put in the final ball. No more excuses for the strikers.

I believe we need to concentrate on the wingers and strikers. We can survive this season with the current centre backs. If at all there is urgency. An added quality centre back would NOT be surplus but a thoughtful and wise plan. However, IMO we are not having problems here.

Focus on where we need to badly improve.

I think Pedersen would be a quality move he is already adapted to the Premiership and i think he would be a quality player in what is a weak area for us. Malouda is a quality player from what I have seen of him, but that is in the French league he needs time to adapt and its a gamble at the price we may have to pay for him.

Eto’o is a legend at Barcelona and I highly doubt there will be any problems with him adapting to the Premiership given the amount of effort he puts into the game and how well he reads it. He even watches videos of the defenders he is playing against in the next game to try and pick out their weakness’ for him to exploit them! I think a player of his quality will be worth every penny no matter how much it cuts into the budget!

Mosray I wasn’t having a go at rafa, I was just mentioning a fact, which is there is some tension at Liverpool at the moment, otherwise we wouldn’t need the endless meetings.
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In relation to his transfer dealings, he has had some shockers but shipped them out, of the ones you mentioned. Morientes was and still is a great player. His forte is heading a ball. Then and now we still don’t have wingers who can cross the ball and give players like him opportunities.
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I don’t believe Kuyt got 14 in the league but I’m prepared to stand corrected. Kuyt had a wonderful season with the Reds, I just don’t think he’s a prolific striker. It is good however to hear he’s a personal friend of Huntlear.
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Lastly I understand about the Spanish season not being over, but is that the only league who has world class players. The English one’s over and we had 3 teams in the CL semi-finals.

Kuyt 14 goals,12 Prem 1Fa cup 1 Champions League
Not bad for his first season.
I think if we could get him a strike partner
who he could feed off.we might see even more out of him next season, what do you Fellas think?

Although I agree in some parts with the article, I’ve some opinion of my own. Our back four and defence is excellent. And the talk of getting a 4th defender is also good. But I don’t believe Milito will accept being a back up defender in our squad and neither will the promising Agger. So what we need is a back up defender who is not very high profile and can help us in difficult situations (like in the case of a injury or when we give our players a rest. So I would like us to get a center back from the premiership( I thought Distin would have been a good addition but he’s gone now….).

Talking about the wingers, I agree that we need two world class wingers (if not at least one even if we have to spend half our transfer budget). Malauda is a good choice. Also Simao. But doesn’t Simao play on the left more ofthen then not(If he plays on the right thats great). But I’ll prefer one of those two in the left and Vicente(of Valencia) in the right. Yes, I know he has had a very indifferent season with Valencia this year but he has that spark that I think will come good for us(And his value may have gone down a little as well). Danny Alves is too expensive to consider.

Talking about forwards, I’ve heard rumours that we might look for two forwards. For me that’s out of question. I’ll better save the money for the next season than buy two forwards when I know that we have talent up front even now. I’ll say one world class forward and that would be DAVID VILLA, even if we would have to give a ransom for him. He is worth every penny. Not only his finishing but also his dead ball skills and his overall contibution in terms of assists and so…(And I hope it’ll turn out to be a lot better than the signing of Fernado Morientes). Eto’o for me will only disturb the harmony of the club. Tevez will be good but I’ll prefer Villa. Huntelaar, I don’t believe is what you call a world class striker(even though he might be one in the future). He for me is a promising player. But we don’t need that coz we surely don’t wanna wait few more seasons for the title. Yes, he’s done well in the Dutch League, but the same can be said of Kuyt when he was there last season(I don’t doubt Kuyt’s credentials but he is not the world class striker that he will take us to another level on himself. Kuyt’ll be very vital to our club though). So Huntelaar for me will be a last resort signing.

Even in our squad I think there are a couple of players who can still improve. Pennant has to do well. Garcia has to get consistent. Arbeloa showed glimpses that he can aid in our quest for silverware. I expect to get more from these.

So, all in all I’ll say spend 90% of your budget on a world class striker and a winger(preferebly left footed). And the rest 10% on a backup centre back.
I would like to see one more high profiled winger in the side(this one on the right) but maybe our transfer kitty will not be that big enough. I still feel JP will not let us down…

Redscouse, I just don’t know how we can really expect much more out of a player who runs himself ragged week in week out. His forte is his link up play, combined with his tenacious attitude towards forward type defending. That then doesn’t really allow him to get in the forward positions required to get bucket loads of goals. Never said he wasn’t fantastic, just think he lacks a couple of things prolific strikers do. One is he’s very unselfish, prolific strikers are the other way. Two he’s an excellent worker of the ball, prolific strikers tend to leave that aspect out of the game when not on the ball, most only genuinely use anything going forward with the ball, aka Cisse, Owen. Both no noted for tracking back.
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No intention of selling him, very valuable team player. However his return for the year is probably what Raffa wants from an attacking midfielder.

Aside from who we actually end up with , does anyone else see the problem with our “not scoring enough goals ” down to our continual changing of personnel ? i understand rafa is in a class of his own when tactically planning the downfall of european teams in one off games but when in comes to bread and butter do we sometimes overplay our hand with this rotation system. i can add no great knowledge or wisdom to support my thinking other than to say if you look at the teams who have been very succesful in the premier league over the past decade or so, NO such system exists. of course individuals will be rested from time to time in light of a crucial C/L game or something but that could be a player positioned anywhwere on the field not just up front.
The teams who have done well, arse, united, and chelski have identified AND fielded the strongest attacking options week in week out. i mean over the years its probably been fair to say the other big 3 clubs have had stronger squads than ours but yet week in week out we have seen van nistelroy, drogba rooney henry all start just about every game being played even fa cups likewise in spain and italy the top clubs have their gun strikers and PLAY them.
How many times have we seen henry or drogba score vital goals in dying minutes of games to steal the points for their respective teams and they do it cos they are the best their club has, and they are on the pitch, its almost like we have not quite identified our best strike options and im wondering why…..if we are to go after and secure a world class striker lets use him in the way every other title winning team uses theres …play him… it might seem a little contradictary but i do acknowledge the thinking behind rotation but sad to say when your with a team who creates more chances than any other in its league yet does not convert them then maybe its just down to the simple fact that we do not have our best man for the job on the field at the right time

kopdoc, I was under the impression that Vicente was a left winger. It’s usually Joaquin who plays on the right wing for Valencia. That said, I would love to seehim play on OUR left wing, he’s got the talent and attitude to do well anywhere.

I agree that the wait is becoming worryiong. Even if not buying, we should at least be making contact with the clubs, agents or players to see where we stand should we decide that the player is for us. On the evidence so far that is not happening and its this that worries me most. As Idhawan says, it could simply be that our league finishes before the others – namely Spain. I certainly hope so.

On the transfer speculation/

Tevez
Classy, energetic, young and crucially proven in the Premiership. But Im worried that he’s another 2nd striker – not an out and out finisher in the Rush, Fowler, Owen mould. He’d have to be at the expense of one of the current crop, who in my opinion are all also 2nd strikers. And thats been our big problem. Tevez for Bellamy would be perfect.

David Silva
Energetic and skillfull, but I fear too lightweight for the Premiership. He’d cost a

I agree that the wait is becoming worrying. Even if not buying, we should at least be making contact with the clubs, agents or players to see where we stand should we decide that the player is for us. On the evidence so far that is not happening and its this that worries me most. As Idhawan says, it could simply be that our league finishes before the others – namely Spain. I certainly hope so.

On the transfer speculation:

Tevez
Classy, energetic, young and crucially he’s proven in the Premiership. As a 2nd striker – not an out and out finisher in the Rush, Fowler, Owen mould – I’d love to see him at the club, but he’d have to be at the expense of one of the current crop, who in my opinion are all also 2nd strikers. Great support work and a decent amount of goals, but not clinical enough. Tevez for Bellamy would be perfect, but I think that still leaves room for a goal machine.

Eto’o
In my humble opinion he’s quite simply one of the best strikers in the world – if not the best. Just look at how Barça struggled without him, whilst being relatively untroubled without Ronaldinho and/or Messi. He has a temperament that is sometimes directed in the wrong way, but when a club is run in the way that Barça is, its not surprising. Otherwise all that energy and anger is channelled into being a great forward. Sign him up!!!

Villa
Just slightly behind Eto’o in my list of favourites, but misses out on being a touch more lightweight than Samuel. Certainly wouldnt argue if we bought him though and am quite sure he’d score as easily in England as he does in Spain.

Torres
3rd in the list of strikers, but is a natural goal scorer who has done it for club and country from a young age. Doesn’t play for a big club and has often carried the team on his own, but the fact that he adapted so well to international football makes me think he’d still do the business with the added pressure of being at a top club.

Hunterlaar
A great record, but that’s in Holland. Rafa and the club are at a point where we need to be sure that we make a decent run of things in the Premiership and so I think he’d be too big a risk. Like most others, Ive never heard of the guy. And that in itself would worry me.

Simao
Had a quiet season and, like Owen, should have dug his heels in for a move when we were in for him. May have missed the boat, but would be a welcome addition as a natural left winger who can easily switch flanks and crucially, can also score goals.

Malouda
I only know that he had a great World Cup and was Player of The Year in France, so he cant be bad. A host of other clubs have mentioned him too and he seems to be itching for a move just about anywhere. If he’s as good as the brief times Ive seen him, he’d be a welcome addition. He may not be falling over himself to joing us in particular, but at least he’s honest. Not another of the “Ive supported the club my whole life” brigade, who then join someone else for more money.

Pederson
Living abroad (Barcelona) I dont see too much of the guy, but you all seem convinced.

Silva
Energetic and skillful, but I fear too lightweight for the Premiership. He’d cost a hatful, but I really dont see that he’s worth the risk. He’ll run all day, but I think it’d be into brick walls in England.

Alves
Full of running and does have a habit of scoring some cracking goals, including from set pieces. But when you shoot from 30 yards at around 20 times a game its not surprising that the odd one will go in. He also plays predominantly on the right where in my opinion Finnan is a must and Pennant has shown that he’s worth perservering with. Not for me.

Milito
Unsure if he’d come to the club to be playing second fiddle to Carra and Agger. Would be great if he did though. Solid and can also distribute well.

Having said all that, Rafa’s shown himself to be a great manager, so I’ll be happy with whoever he chooses to bring in. I’d be delighted to see anyone who I don’t rate coming to Anfield and proving me horribly wrong. Let’s hope that this year he actually gets the cash to by his No 1 targets.

As always – In Rafa We Trust

YNWA

Good blog Gerry, mate. But with Sammi staying, I think we can probably tweak by without the centre half. Don’t get me wrong, I agree we could do with cover there but I think all the money Rafa is, or isn’t, going to get should be spent on our weakest areas… yep, wings and forwards. And I don’t think it’s time to panic just yet, as there’s enough players available to fill them spots. But, as always, it’s a question of money. Ever since Istanbull, as soon as we show interest in a player (Simao last year, Malouda this) then the price is almost doubled immeadiately. Mind you, we can’t really cry foul play on that one anymore – 12 fuckin million quid for toss-pot Bellamy, indeed. So, maybe bidding our time isn’t such a bad thing. Don’t get me wrong, I wish Rafa had already conducted all his business for next season. But if we hold on we may just get the players we want at a proper price. And how many times in the past has Rafa said he won’t be held to ransom by other clubs when trying to buy players. So, if we start unloading the deadwood – KEWELL!, Cisse, Bellamy, etc – Rafa will have a few more bob to play with. And what with Manc Ure already taken the plunge, and the rubbles drying up a bit at Chavski, we could come out of this laughing last.
As for youth players coming through, I heard a rumour Gary McAllister is going to be given the academy job. I would love that to happen, as I think Macca was not only a great player but a proper decent fella an all. So, I reckon he would be a great guide for the kids both on and off the pitch. But I can’t see this happening as when Rafa sacked Heighway, it was to give himself tighter control over the kids.
Oh well, we shall see.
But keep the faith Lads.
YNWA

Gazman, you make some very good points about Kuyt.maybe ten or twelve goals a season is all we
will get out of him. but as a second striker that wouldn’t be too bad, if we could get another striker who is an out and out striker..I just watched France
and Anelka scored a cracker. we should have kept him, hate to see him go to the Scum..
Fat Scouser, Gary Mc would be great for the Academy , I heard he wants to get back into Prem Football ?

Yeah it would be great, but I wouldn’t hold me breath on that one Scouse.
Anyway, I popped back in to say, I’ve just read that Rafa is about to bust the bank for Eto. It could be just paper talk, but it was in the Sportinglife and they usually don’t talk shite. And they reckon Rafa is going to get all his money, from sales and the club, and throw the lot at Barca for Eto.
Don’t know if I think that’s a good thing but we’ll see.
YNWA

thedreco,
I’m sorry. I mean’t to say Joaquin but I wrote Vicente. I was talkin abt Joaquin though. I wouldn’t want Vicente though coz someday we might be called Valencia Abroad……………..

Here is a thought lads, apparently Arsenal want 20 million pounds for Henry, wow that could cause a major stir in the premiership. Him and maybe Anelka/Owen, thirty million pounds 2 class strikers, already playing in the league.
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Cat among the pidgeon stuff I reckon.
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If you look at who most premiership defenders would want to avoid, I reckon Henry would be number 1.
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Ps if we buy Eto, we’re going to need someone else while he away at the African nations cup, 6 whole, long, arduous weeks.

Henry would be a Fanatastic but at 20 mil
That’s a good point about Et’o, can we afford to see him to go africa for six weeks, at the beggining of the season when we need to have a really good run then.
Also what if he gets injured out there and we lose him for even longer 32 mil , big risk if you ask me.
Still not sure about Owen though, I feel he left us
in the Lurch…

that should read Fantastic buy at 20 mil,
Time for bed I think..

Right lads,
Heres my 2pence worth
5 players to win the title:
Saviola -( on the cheap at the moment)
Simao – Quaserma – Pedersen
Burdisso from Inter Milan
These combined might equal the total cost for Etoo (Or not)
Then we could also invest in Huntlaar

Just my 2 pence worth lads
but there is other options than spending 35 mill on one lad that will miss 6 weeks for the african nations cup and could also get injured………then were really fucked!
Over and Out

Anyone get the impression theres abit of a dressing room split? Carra and stevie seem to have been backed by gillet and hicks and have got the shits with the players speaking in spanish in the change rooms and rafa always looking to spain for transfers by all accounts. from what ive heard, the change room is quite divided about this. reckon you could see an almighty bust up in the next week or so.

Great blog and is keeping the football flag flying for me in the off season as Im missing it already. I hoped we would maybe look at some British targets as Im getting a bit fed up with all these european names being thrown about. There all good players and I know the transfer market in England is through the roof but it would be good to see the likes of Micah Richards, Spurs Lennon or maybe even Dean Ashton getting a mention.

Jury’s out on Owen and not to keen on the way big money numbers fly about with him. As for the foreign buys I think Torres sounds like a good buy and Huntlear seems to on the cards.

If we could get him I think Henry would slide in perfectly but don’t think would he move to another British club for the right price.

With all these big money buys I’d bring Scott Carson back to Anfield and give Anderson a go on the wing next season only heard good things about him.

Apologies for moving off subject Gerry but just read the Uefa fan report stating LFC fans are worst in Europe?!?!!?! is it me or have the Uefa ass!*!es got it in Liverpool as per usual after already deciding Milan would win the cup by a dodgy ref and an Italian arm? (Sorry thought I was over it!) Im sure theyll be a blog on this as after reading it, I still can’t believe they put the blame solely on the red fans for Athens. Someone needs to have a word with Mr Platini and Mr Galliard and get them to stop counting the money LFC helped them earn this year!

YNWA

I know I’m hogging the blog but somethings amiss at Anfield. I’ve mentioned before about the frosty reception between the manager and chairman at the CL final. Just my thought.
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Then there was the comments by Mr B, who is very conservative to say the least, at time appearing to be almost flatlining regardless of results. Never up never down just carries on about his business.
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Next there is the incessant meeting with Parry, chairman and just about everyone from groundstaff up.
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No there is the constant quietness regarding transfers, combined with targets disapearing at a constant rate.
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Always on the horizon is Real Madrid, scouser team mates wanting Owen, and an issue with Spanish speaking.
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All these things are making me re-adjust my ruffie leave the club list.
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My ruffie pick was Alonso, but now I’m beginning to think it will be Rafa who’s first out the door, I think LFC is about to lose it’s manager, and let me be the first to say, it’s going to be a disaster.
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I ‘ve critised Mr B several times but I still believe he is the best manager in the world.
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Hope this is all shit but something is going on, thats why things are so quiet.
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Fuck I hope it all works out, but when upset a person who is almost unflappable, then you really are not doing enough to keep him.

To use a tired old cliche “Calm Down!”

Rafa is on holiday. He’s going nowhere. Stevie and Carra are about to put pen to paper and Rafa has made it plain long ago that the only language spoken in the changing room is English, including between non-English players.

Hicks and Gillett arent stupid enough to force out the boss after such a short time, even if they were stung by his comments. And you may all remember that they all met about a week ago, which ended with Rafa being statisfied enough to go off on his hols.

No need for panic.

YNWA

while it does seem that nothing is going on, i’m going to try and remain as positive about our transfers for this summer as possible. only time will tell as to how things are going right now, but i think everyone knows that the media is definitely not helping matters, linking us with every player in the world, as well as linking the same people with other clubs, making it seem as though we are going to lose out.

certainly, it seems we are having trouble capturing malouda, and it now seems that alves is beyond reach, as well as possibly milito…but in reality, no one really knows and the press is just printing stories.

there is definitely great difficulty in not reading the press and getting caught up in what is “supposedly” going on with regards to our targets…but until we have concrete evidence, i’m going to try and do my best to remain positive, and have faith in us getting the players we want.

as always, YNWA

Alright Lads. Could be just more newspaper bollacks, but these reports are from Spanish and Italian newspapers. They’re probably even worse than the bollacks we have here. But their news makes it look like we will be missing out on 2 of Rafa’s targets… Milito looking like a done deal with Juventus and Alves closing in on signing for Real Madrid.
I hope it’s all bollacks. Not so much for missing out on them two, but adding fuel to Rafa’s fire.
Oh well, we’ll see
YNWA

fat scouser, i read that news as well. while it could very well be a bunch of horse s***, i think there might some truth in this particular piece of journalism. i think that alves was already lost, honestly, since last year he seemed excited to come…now it seems he’d rather go elsewhere…we really screwed ourselves not offering another 2 mill last year (big mistake). also, as some others have said, it was sort of unlikely that milito would have come to provide cover for us. he really is a top class player, and if he were to come, he would want to be playing nearly every game.

made up to see gerrard and carra sign on…now it’s time to see some quality new faces arrive.

YNWA

spot on again gerry, 4 signings would definatly bring us closer to no.19. I don’t disagree with ur idea that we need another central defender. i mean that although i will agree that paletta is a long way off from being ready for a full prem season but don’t forget that we do have a few very good central defenders coming through the ranks in the shape Godwin Antwi and Jack hobbs which should be given an opportunity to prove themselves and spending 13 million on a central defender would seem very odd. Apart from that i agree with many of ur choices on who we should bring in. great blog gerry bring on the next one.

Re Alves the following was publish in the Echo which suggests its no big loss. Eto’o it is then!

Liverpool’s joint chief scout Eduardo Macia has told the Spanish media that filling the right side berth Alves prowls for cub and country is not a priority for Benitez.

“We’ve dropped our interest,” said Macia. “Instead of him we signed Jermaine Pennant and okay, so he’s a winger, but Alves plays very high up the pitch. We’ve also got Alvaro Arbeloa who can play in that position. In football you can never say never but at the moment we’re not interested.”

Simpleman, that’s true. I also read that report in the Echo. But my point was/is, how long can we keep pissing Rafa off?
I already stated I don’t think the boss is ready to walk if we don’t act, and that I reckon it’s not time to panic over making any signings just yet. We’ve already made 5, and I’m sure we will make more. But can we keep fuckin the Gaffa about?

spanish papers say we offered 60 million euros for eto’o. christ i hope we havent offered that much…or anything at all for him for that matter.

yeah- i heard figures saying 40 million pounds…completely outrageous. it must be bollocks, as rafa would never be that foolish…but he does do some unexpected things, i must admit. you have to think, though, that with 40 million, you could probably get torres and teves. hmm…

well hopefully we’ll have a top man by week’s end. i’m trying to be as patient as i can.

YNWA

Re: Alves – I agree, I really can’t see him coming, both coz we don’t really need him and coz his price will skyrocket with the competition. Not to mention, I get the feeling he’ll go to whoever offers him the biggest pay packet.

For me, Simao is a much better option given his flexibility to play on either wing, and as far as I’ve heard, we’re the main interested party there. What I want to know is why Parry is going public saying “Yes we are interested but we haven’t made contact with the club.” First question there is – WHY THE FUCK NOT?? Parry really shits me. Get the fucking phone book out and call Benfica. Ask them if we can have Simao. What are you waiting for, Benfica to call us and say “Hey we’ve heard you want our captain and best player, sounds good, here you go!!”.

Re: central defender – would be great to have Milito but agree that he won’t be up for playing second fiddle. I don’t think we need a world-class signing there; I still have great faith in Sami as our first cover, let’s just buy another Agger or a good Paletta to be safe, no need to break the bank on this one.

Re: Malouda – let’s not forget that Lyon were typical stubborn French bastards when Chelski got Essien, insisting they pay through the roof for him. So, don’t expect a quick resolution on this one, it already looks like they’re doing the same thing to us with this 17 million garbage…. someone should remind them that the French league is SHITHOUSE and that Lyon would be lucky to make the top 6 (or even in the Premiership.

Re: Eto’o … if money is no object, fuck it, buy him – I do recall either Gillette or Hicks saying “there is no budget, it all depends on the player”. So forget the money for now – I want whoever Rafa wants. If he thinks Eto’o can do the job, great, buy him…. if not, buy someone else. Simple!

PS That is meant to say Lyon wouldn’t make the top 6 or 8 in the Premiership… but cool now I know that an 8 + ) =

Andy, i think they are a little better than 6-8th placed teams in the EPL. lets not forget they have been a pretty formidable force in europe the past few years. Unlike everton, Bolton and reading who were 6th, 7th and 8th in EPL this year.

I understand the let’s not panic issue Turkish Red, but lets just think back to the CL Final, Rafa said he had two bids on the table ready to go, he didn’t say two bids on the table ready to go when I get back from holidays.
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Now regarding targets, does anyone in their right mind believe a meticulous, articulate person such as Mr B would not have chosen his targets, weeks, months ago. Do we honestly believe he’s going to turn up at work next week and say, so who are we going to go after.
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Speculation or not it’s worrying.

LFC needs

-a deadball speacialists. Let kewell/pennant/garcia play the hole behind the striker to win the side-piece.

-Get decent striker(s) (whoever they are… i don’t fucking care because it won’t be any use if don’t get decent supply on the pitch)

-Give the central midfielders/centrebacks to smoke some pots (a lot of it perhaps) to hold their composure – LOL

side-piece should be set-piece. my bad

Aussie-kopfan, I may have been exaggerating, but only a little bit. One of the reasons Lyon are a force in Europe is because they’ve got it so easy in the French league, they are streaks ahead by the halfway point of the season. Of course they’ve earnt that lead by being the best team by a mile… no one knows if they could sustain the same level if they were tested week in week out…. but anyway at the end of the day I don’t think that makes Malouda worth 17 mill or made Essien worth 25 mill!

I haven’t seen much talk of Anelka here – mainly coz apparently he wants to go to the Mancs – but would anyone else take him back? I’d be happy to see us sign him. Apparently Bolton want Cisse – I’d happily offload Cisse for Anelka. He doesn’t need to be our “gun” striker – but he’s more than handy and pretty much proven in the Premiership… with some new creative forces on the wings and Gerrard attacking from midfield, I could see Anelka being a real hit if he was given the chance.

Fat Scouser, I agree whole heartedly about not pissing Rafa off as I mentioned in the past. I was hoping that the fact he isn’t a target now Rafa isn’t pissed off about it. I’m a huge Rafa fan and sometimes follow him blindly because I believe in him so. He makes mistakes because he his human like the rest of us. If Rafa left us I feel it would hurt move than when Robbie left the first time. I think it would be more catastrophic for the club.

aussie_kopfan I agree more with Andy on Lyon. Just cos they are a good cup side doesn’t mean they would do well in the PL. We made the final and were still 21 or so points behind in third place, with not such a great gap over the teams below us.

For me the worst thing we could do is bring Owen back. Professionally he probably is all Rafa wants, works hard, and very professional, but he left the family to better his career…by sitting on a bench when he could have won a CL medal if he gave Rafa a chance..and now he’s a Newcastle. What possessed him to go there? Wounds run very deep with Owen.

What about signing Beckham for the right?? LOL

Well, bit of good news this morning. Hicks has called Gailard a clown and told him to shut his grid. Nice one, Tom. Just hope it doesn’t bring us any grief. But the better news is, he also told us to expect a major signing this week.
As for Bedkham, I wouldn’t give that tattooed lady the right to breath nevermind our right wing.
YNWA

lads,

Beckham, that’s quite funny, actually. Unlike most of Reds fans (and I might get slated for this) but I think he was and still is a really good player. However, he is not the type we need (as if anyone is taking this seriously…)

Since Alves seems out of the picture, how the hell can’t we get Simao?? It seems that no other team really seem that intent on signing him; he is there for the taking. If our board or someone within the high ranks said that our right side is not a priority, he must be an idiot. No one on our wings is half as decent as someone like Simao; we need the sparkling winger for god’s sake. Anyone can see that.

As Andy says, and as I have written previously, it might piss us off, but price should now no longer be the issue on deciding whether to buy the very top players. 60 million sounds too much, but 40 million for Eto’o.. well if Shevchenko cost roughly 30 million (am I wrong??), then I personally feel that it is within acceptable limits nowadays. Of course, if we can get Torres for much cheaper than that, then there is no doubt who we should be buying.

Concerning the centre-backs, I actually think German players are at a relatively bargain price now. Plus, I think they can adapt to the EPL pretty quickly. Any ideas?

YNWA

Gerry, Hyde is spot on about centre-backs, everbody ( and quite rightly ) is talking about wingers left and right and Et’o or Torres up front but if an injury occurs to Agger and Sammi at round about the same time what then?, i think the back need’s as much strengthening as the front and wings so i hope the Milito deal is still ongoing.
Cant wait to see the signing next week that the yanks have promised.
theredman YNWA.

yeah good point lads, Lyon arent really tested week in and week out. And yeah the rest of the french league is pants. point taken.

Just read that Hicks said the New Stadium plans are finished,and that the Kop is the focal point of the new stadium. They will be showing it to the Council later this month, then we get too see it…

Way to go Mr. Tom. We need someone up there to knock that clown’s head… and MR Rick Parry always seems a little too slow to react.

“But the supporters just need to be patient because we are talking to Rafa often and (chief executive) Rick Parry is in charge of getting the contracts negotiated. … So, how is negotiations going?… Has Mr Rick Parry actually contacted the players Mr Benny has listed as his targets?… I have a feeling he only chooses the players he can afford or thinks we can afford… we should at least try and ask and work from there.

As for cover for Centre backs,, yes in deed I have agreed this would be a good and wise plan to have but not a priority to improve the quality we have on the team. We do have an urgency to IMPROVE the wings and attacking options… cause we have a problem scoring.

I do believe Kewell will come good as well as Pennant but what I am afrid of is that IF we do not secure a quality pure RIGHT winger who will perform for us…. we’ll suffer seeing Stevie G pushed out right for YET another year… a year in which he is AT HIS PEAK!

The other puzzling event that has effectively spoiled my mood for the day is that our great hero Carra… might be overlooked again in the England camp.

The reasoning for this is beyond reasoning.

My heart goes out to Carra… How can England be so blind to this collossal of a defender is beyond me. I do hope he gets over it as soon as he steps back to Anfield where he is much more appreciated.

Ok lads, Gerry is obviously on holidays and good luck to him, he’s had a hectic year.
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Well last blog I said Henry was available for around 20 million pounds and I thought he is a bargain.
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Well rumours are running rampant, I need clarification from you scouse lads.
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Someone called Century FM is claiming Henry is a Melwood as we speak having a medical. Rumours are running rampant over here. Is there such a thing as Century FM. Apparently he’s been searching for a home on Mersyside.
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Might be something in this might be all shit, worth a discussion at the very least.

I’d love to see Henry at Anfield, for me he’s been the worlds best striker for a number of years. Even though he’s 29 he still has a lot to offer.

..not just that Gerrard seems to play well with him. He’s already set him up on goal twice for England and Liverpool

supposedly the deal for henry is 20 mill, and if that is true, and they would sell him to us for that, i think the decision is easy. while he has had some injury trouble, i think that with pako and rafas training and a fresh challenge, he will be back to his best, and in good condition. we all know what he can do, there is no time to wait in his adaptation to the premiership (although he will have to get used to playing with us as opposed to arsenal), but he and gerrard together would be frightening. not to mention if we could wrap up another class attacking wing player or two. with the addition on henry at only 20 (since we are talking about eto’o at 40 supposedly), we might even be tempted to go for another striker, like torres, which i would love to see.

still, our spending does not seem to be that high if everything goes through that is supposedly going through. current reports suggest Sissoko to Juve for ~10, and Bellamy to somewhere for around 12, but i’ll bet he goes for 9…so that right there frees up roughly 20 million, which would cover henry. as much as i like sissoko and his hard work and his potential, i would be definitely willing to let he and bellamy go for henry.

with that deal in mind, we still havent spent any money of the americans, which is supposedly limitless depending on the player. henry would solve the striker situation pretty much, so we would have lots of money to throw at a center half and two wingers…

still, i wont get ahead of myself…the likeliness of henry coming to liverpool is very very slight in my opinion, so i think the targets still remain the same as before…torres, villa, eto’o, etc.

YNWA

WHERE’S GERRY?

As for Henry, him, his wife and his dog have been spotted in Liverpool sitting on the back of the Liver Birds waiting for them to fly off and the world to come to an end.

P.S…
Get well soon Tommy
YNWA

Malouda I just don’t rate to be honest. I watched him during the WC last year and I’m not sure that he has the accuracy in his crossing. Alot of his balls don’t hit the mark and while he can beat players he does get caught on the ball alot.

My two cents: Its plainly obvious that we need cover at centre back and we need three new wingers and a superstar striker. We’ll never get players of the calibre to win titles if we don’t start buying soon

Sorry guy’s got called away for a few days but back now and raring to go. I had a couple of blogs ready to go but as I missed all the fun with UEFA while I was gone, I want to throw in my two cents worth on the issue next.
(“Worst club in Europe!”, Fat Scouser it was your fault, what did you get up to over there man?)

PS, hope you like the new header, its not quite finished yet but its better then the last piece of shit we had up there.

Satyr:
I am in full agreement , mate. What does Carra have to do to get a game, when the likes of Brown
and King are gettting picked ahead of him
McClaren is a ****ing Donkey.
I hope England don’t qualify, and he gets sacked…
Henry on the back of the Liverbird..I love it…

Surley henry to anfield has to be bollocks…especially for half the price of eto’o. What would worry me though IF (big if) we did sign him, is that wenger has an uncanny knack for offloading players at the right time, when they are past their best and no one else realises. Still cant see it happening. cant see henry moving to another EPL side, its not like he has any unfinished business in the premiership, he’s one every trophy and every award. surley a move to spain with more challenges will be what he does.

Aussie Kopfan…. it’s just been reported that Henry has gone to Barca. It’s not all done and dusted but he’s on he’s way for a reported… 16 million quid.
Past his prime or not – and considering Bent’s price is 17 mill – well, 16 fuckin million seems like robbery to me.