First to comment

Hi Gerry, sorry to hear that you lost your job. Still, chin up mate, sometimes you have to take a backward step in life to be able to move forward. Good blog Gerry as always, I hope we don’t implode this coming season just as what happened the year after we came second under Houllier.
But I have faith in Rafa, he’s a much better manager than Houllier would ever have been and I trust that he would get the right players before pre-season starts. The Alonso situation is really concerning me, I hope Rafa offers him an improved contract to settle the issue once and for all. And along with Alonso, new deals also for Reina, Arbeloa, Masch and Carra.

Hi Gerry, am really sorry to hear that you have lost your job. I hope you find one ASAP but only if you want to work further. I kinda like your idea of giving your writing a thought.

I am happy that Rafa has come and quashed the rumors of Alonso going to Real for 22 mil. To cap it, i hope Alonso signs a deal in the next few days.

I donno if anybody knows it but does anybody know what our transfer cap this season? 15 mil… 20 mil? I don’t expect Rafa to sell many this time around. We already have a good squad. Just tweaking it with quality is required. So i guess only one or two will be added to the main squad with probably 2 leaving us.

Its probably too early to talk of players joining us but i guess we can take a guess at the players leaving us. Pennant will leave us. Voronin will. They might fetch 5 mill, both inclusive. If we buy Barry, Lucas might not get much chance in the first team so he might leave. If we buy a winger/2nd striker, Bennayoun might not get many games and he might leave. Can’t say what will happen to Babel.

spot on facts Gerry. LMAO.
Its now Rafa’s turn to knock off the Crow from his perch

YNWA

abhiram… dude, after the season Benny has had there is no way he is going anywhere. There are so many players who would leave ahead of him for sure. Babel wants to stay but I don’t see Rafa wanting him around much longer, Voronin and Pennant as you mentioned. Don’t know about Lucas as Gerrard has come out and spoken on his behalf. Frankly Lucas has not shown much to displace our 3 midfielders.
I’m really glad Dagger is staying and hope he and Skrtel form the defensive backbone for us next season.
I think if we get a quality left winger probably Riera will also go as he is too inconsistent.
Anyway, for me the main thing is for Alonso to stay. In my opinion there is nobody in football today who has the range of passing that Xabi has. No wonder Real and Arsenal and maybe even Chelsea (Ancelotti) are making noises about getting him.

Sorry to hear about the job Gerry – Keep your chin up – great reading as ever. I was delighted that Barcelona won last Wednesday.

I am still reflecting on an opportunity lost on LFC not winning the league, and with the news of the debt doubling I am not sure how much Rafa is going to have to improve the squad over the summer.

A few of our players are talking fantasy football at the moment with the players they would like to see brought in. It is nice to see players of the quality of Villa, Silva and Tevez linked with Liverpool, but you have to say its more realistic that Gordon Brown will win a landslide general election that LFC landing any one of those three.

I was not best pleased to see Owen linked with a move back in the summer. I still say he quit on us when Rafa first came in. We don’t need Owen, not even as a super sub. You need pace in The Premier League, and unfortunately for Owen his days of pace are well and truly over.

gerry sorry about losings your job, i empathies with you having recently lost mine. best of luck with your search.

anyway lads, since i’ve moved back home from Chicago after also be a meltdown victim. finally got my internet connection up and running so i figured i should rechristen my user ID to NigeriaKopite.

Watching the Barca game I kept wishing that we where the ones playing them in rome. it seemed all the manc players where out of there class. but fair play to Barca on a fantastic season. I have a lot of respect & admiration for the club as an organization, and it was fantastic to see fluid attacking football they played most of the season. (in the classico game they ozzed class).

enough on that, last time i checked this was kopblog not the barca admiration society or the manure hate club.

in terms of summer action, i hope nothing happens to our Spanish contingent on the confed cup. (might have to pop over for a few games now that i’m not an ocean away).

hopefully there are many pleasant surprises this summer. the first being we get rid of dumb and dumber. haven’t heard much on that front but i believe their deadline is fast approaching.

hope that the rumours around alonzo are nothing but rumours. as in all things only time will tell, but he was our most consistent player of the past campaign. and the way he controls the midfield is the spring board for most of our attacking play. Plus the fact is most times he is on the pitch the other team are a man down.

also i hope that babel dons’t leave and was only suffering from bad form last season. I don’t think he handled playing in the Olympics as well as masca.

i terms of wing players we are looking at, has anyone heard or seen anything about our very on Sebastián Leto. don’t know how well he did for Olympiakos, but hopefully a season in the cauldron of greek football will have done him some good.

other then itandje, pennat, and vornin i don’t know who is surplus to requirements as the team is currently constituted. any new additions could change that, but for know i can’t think of anyone on the first team i would want to leave without getting someone of equal or better caliber than.

i terms of additions hopefully someone from the youth team can step in or we can get a young quality CB. with the great sami leaving we are thin at the back, especially if someone gets a knock.

Also cover at RB and a supplemental attacking player to cover the worlds best two strikers torres & gerrard (imho he is no longer a midfield player and that suits him well). I might be in the minority but i wouldn’t mind getting our hands on tevez. fantastic player, has the mentality rafa looks for and playing in our red would wash the taint of the man.

only time will tell how our team will change over the summer, but in rafa we trust and can’t wait next season.

Gerry, sorry to hear about the Job.
I know the feeling, has happened to me a couple of times. I work for Chrysler in the States, so my job is still up in the air.

Great comments on the Champions league Final.
Especially the ones about Scholes,
what a little prick he really is.
Let’s hope that now he is leaving
Scum Palace.he won’t be as protected
and will get a few good kickings himself.

Great blog Gerry, sorry to hear about your job, but someone with your talent, won’t be down to long.
.
Jokes were funny, all very applicable. In regard to your Scholes joke, I do believe I heard some English commentator making an excuse for his lunge as his inability to tackle, what a load of shit.
.
It’s probably going to be a very interesting off season, for Us and Man U, but we’re closer and that’s whats important. really isn’t a lot or rumours coming out regarding LFC, more rumours about Ronny going to Spain. He might be a prick but he’s going to create a hole in their team if he leaves.

Has anyone got any information on the MO rumour, it seems to be running hot on other forums. I don’t know if it is true but it’s still a possibility.
.
My reasons for this are as follows.
.
I think he is probably the only class player we could get in his age bracket who is prepared to be backup to Torres.
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He still managed to get 10 in a canter for the toon.
.
He’s free so you don’t really lose anything by the gamble.
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I know we all dispise the way he left but football isn’t about sentiment, it’s about results. He scored as many goals as Robbie Keane who played for two teams.
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I’m just tossed between the sentiment and disgust lines. However I’m hearing numerous posters claiming they wouldn’t entertain Tevez because he wore a Manc Shirt, however if he won you the league would he have been a good buy.
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I’ll pose a question, if SG became available would Slur Alex and his cohorts look to secure him, I believe they would do anything they could to get him. We seem to be different than that, through principle, however if Rafa wants Tevez then so should we. Little bit of banter on this one.
.
Could the MO thing be happening.

Sorry to hear about the job Gerry. Credit crunch my arse. It’s a fucking recession. I hate all this phoney political speak. There’s nothing correct about it.

Politicians seem to think calling how many people died in a battle “Collateral Damage” is a bit more paletable but it doesn’t change the numbers of how many people they sent to their deaths.

Sorry if that seems a bit dramatic but the way these fuckers try to hide things with words and re-write history really annoys the shit out of me.

And talking of hypocrisy, nice blog…. The way the fucking media has kissed that man’s arse for 20 years and hid all his defecincies while he treats them like shite and hates them is truly mindboggling.

You can’t take it away from the nasty old bastard, he does what he does very well indeed. But what he does has very little to do with tactical knowledge.

I think you summed that up in the blog and I’ve had my go at the shitty arsed tramp a million times. So I won’t go on, but what I will say is – It’s like that old fairy tale and Rafa is like the little boy who eventually shouted… “That old man’s got no clothes on,” while everyone stood round admiring the old codger and pretending they didn’t see him for what he is.

For that reason, I want Rafa to keep attacking him at every opportunity. Like the kid in the fairy tale, if he keeps doing it long enough and load enough hopefully the other managers will stop sending their teams out against him already beaten before they hit the pitch.

Anyway fuck him. The writing’s on the wall for him, and it’s Rafa holding the chalk. So, here’s something about our own management. Don’t miss this, just stick the h on…
ttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article6401343.ece

It’s one of the best articles I’ve came across in a daily national for awhile. But why the fuck is anyone bothered about the rumours in shite newspapers? Has nothing been learnt.

@ldhawan
You are right. I share your sentiments to the T. But still, in Lucas’ case, competing with 4 international CMs is tougher than 3. Without Barry, he would get some games when one of our CM trio were injured. That will stop if Barry comes. So i feel Lucas might not stay. I really want Babel to stay for one more season with full proper pre-season this time and show his true potential.

I don’t think Riera will go this season. He will get a full pre-season to practice and get fit, learn the system and get better. The same case with Dossena. I feel we’ll get to see their full potential this season.

I forgot to add Itandge in the “out of the club for sure” list along with Pennant and Voronin. We might get a max 6 mil from these 3 sales.

i saw this item written by this arse-wipe of a hack, phil holland, on http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=650325&sec=uefachampionsleague&root=uefachampionsleague&cc=4716

“It was mature performance from Ronaldo whose only tantrum was a muted affair in the 36th minute – a mis-control and body check by Toure saw him abruptly pull-up from full pace and pull that pouty face we’ve all come to know and love.”

“to know and love”???!!!! wtf??!!!! that goes to show how biased the british media is towards the scum, even after barca chewed them a new asshole, the media still is in manu worship mode.

what utter disgrace.

btw gerry, sorry to hear about the loss of your job.

Yeah, saw that Soccernet article by Holland as well, Redneck. (Judging from your username, are you American, BTW? )

I was tempted to post it up for everyone to laugh at this Holland clown, but I thought it was just too pathetic to warrant a mention here.

Don’t worry about the job, Gerry. With talented writers like you that tell it like it is, chances of you getting re-employed are better than Ferguscum trying to find any other job should he be sacked. (Hence him resorting to all sorts of dirty tricks)

Hi Gerry, Sorry about losing the job at Kopblog. You have done well in your writings, so analytical, so articulate, so funny over the course of so many seasons, including this very blog. I am sure a man of your talent should be into another job soon enough. As they say, you can’t put a good man down. So good luck to you on that.

Regarding players to leave Anfield, I will include Babel who has failed to impress. Other players to leave have been mentioned: Pennant, Voronin, Degan.

Abhiram, sorry to disagree on Benayuon. I think we should definitely retain him. He was phenophenal for us especially in the second half of the season! Even Rafa mentions that Benayoun has improved tremendously.

Like all others I hope the rumours of Alonso leaving are just that: rumours. He is critical to our success next season.

FS, nice article about Sammy Lee in The Times. Thanks, mate!

Here’s another good article:

http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2009/05/how-good-is-fernando-torres.html

And yet another. Do not read the article before answering this question:

Q. Who is our most improved player last season?

Then only read this:

http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2009/05/end-of-season-review.html

Rafa puts out a clear statement that Alonso is staying at Anfield next season:

http://www.thisisanfield.com/topstory/2009/05/benitez-rubbishes-alonso-exit-claims/

Knight,
I too want Bennayoun to stay. I was just speculating that if we go and buy a 2nd striker cum winger like say, Silva, will Benny get any matches? This is the point at which he’ll contemplate leaving us and its surely not what i want.

I honestly don’t want anybody to leave us except Pennant, Itandge and Voronin.

We should give Degen one more season to show what he’s got and so should DOssesna. He might just turn out to be as good as Aurelio has been (although made of glass). He’ll be a good back-up anyways.

Abhiram, fair enough. I see your point. Agree that Silva and David Villa will be worth it.

If we need to sell to get Silva and Villa, then we can sell Babel, Reira, Dossena, Degan, Pennant, Voronin, Itanje, Lucas and yes, even Benayoun. We can certainly use our new younger players: Insua, Ngog, El Zhar, etc as back ups.

Cheers, mate!

I don’t think we should sell Benny at any cost. There are not alot of creative players with premier league experience so why get rid of one who has been so good for us?

As far as the ins and outs are concerened…
Pennant: gone on a free.
Intandje: should be booted out on his arse but I think he will try to hang on like he already has, sit on the bench and collect his wages.
It would be nice if we could just sack him, even nicer if we could get a few quid for him. But whatever happens he should be out the door.
Vronin: He could have actually turned into a decent bit of business for the club if we’d sold him for 4 million euros, but with this bloody recession we’ll be lucky to get a few ollies and a cat’s eye. Still should be shown the door though, money or not.

Degan: don’t know what to do about him. Let’s face it he’s been spotted less than the invisible man. So, who knows, he could actually be worth keeping in the squad. But I’d say best get shut of him, could only see him getting another club on a free.

Then I suppose any of these will be let go if the price is right… Babel, Dossena, Riera, Aurellio, El Zhar, and yes, sadly even Bennayoun and Alonso.

Now don’t take that wrong. I don’t want either of them to go. In fact, out of that last lot, I’d only really want El Zhar and Babel to go. Simply because I think they’ll never live up to their initial promise and the money we could get for them would be used better than the players themselves.

Then I suppose there’s a few kids we could let go, but that won’t add much to Rafa’s budget. And it would be nice to see him have at least twice the usual budget this year. 40 million could make all the difference between coming 2nd and 1st.

I’d like to see that go on 2 top quality attacking/creative players. Which I suppose would still leave us struggling at RB with cover for Arby.

I gave that some thought the other day. This might sound mad, but I wondered if there’s any chance of turning Jay Spearing into a RB. I know. I know it sounds crazy. And I’m also sure if the management thought so, they’d be working on it now. But I looked at it this way… He’s only small, but he’s built like a Pit Bull. He’s got a great tackle on him. He’s also got a cracking engine. And he’s got nice touch, an eye for a pass and he can cross a ball.

So, I reckon he could get up and down that flank all day long, putting in plenty off tackles and blocks, but also supporting the attack, cutting inside playing decent football, or getting past a man, getting to the dead ball line and putting a decent cross in.

I’ll get my coat.

I would be very surprised if what you say happened FS. I don’t expect a major clean-out this time around. We will keep the squad the same as far as we can and when and if we find a better replacement for a position in the first team, the second and third choices for that position will be sold. If we get a quality RM/LM/2nd striker, we might sell Bennayoun, Babel or Riera and if we get a CM, Lucas or Alonso might have to be sold. Actually they themselves might want to go since, as i have told in previous posts, they would get very little chance to play.

Arbeloa has a younger replacement in Darby right? Why do you say Spearing could be converted to play RB? I mean, is it just a intuition?

FS, can Spearing defend though? Can he read the game from a defensive point of view, play the offside trap etc? Can he head the ball? You can imagine a striker going towards his side waiting for the cross field pass.
Is Stephen Darby not considered good enough? I have a feeling Rafa doesn’t trust many of the players in the youth ranks. Hence the mass cull of the coaching and technical staff at that level. Spearing and Darby are both 21 next season which isn’t THAT young. Both yet to make a league appearance.

Looks like the borrowers will be borrowing again. Yet another 6 month extension I’ve read. However this time they’ll have to put a significant portion of their own dough into the club. Apparently. Hence the selling off of all their other sports assets. Apparently. Looks like we’re stuck with them for now.

How much dough will Rafa get to spend on players? I’d assume Rafa knows and he seems calm so I shall also remain so. But your right FS, £40m on 2 or 3 quality players would be good.

Abhiram mate, read it again. I say exactly why I think Spearing could make a good right back. He’s probably a wee bit short, but that done Roberto Carlos, and hosts of other titch RB’s, no harm. I think the lad has all the attributes it takes to be good in that position. But I don’t think he’s got what it takes to ever become a Central midfielder for Liverpool.

As for clear out – I’m not advocating one. Read me post again. I said who I think should go… Intandje, Vronin and Pennant.

And then I said the players I could see Rafa letting go if the money was right or they didn’t want to stay. Big difference than suggesting a clear out mate.

I don’t think we need anyone at right mid. We’re covered there. We definetely need quality brought in at Left Mid and some cover for Torres and Arbie.

Rafa solves them positions and I reckon we can win it next season.

Missed your post LB. Yep. That’s the problem, like I said if the lad had the stuff for that position the coaching staff would be on it.

But can’t you just see that little terrier fucker charging up and down the right throwing in tackles and getting in crosses – as for defending crosses, I’m sure he’d be okay if he was facing our typical crosses and corners that come in at knee height but I suppose he would have a bit of a hard time against Crouch or and the likes of Shawn Wright Phillips.

Got to go. Later gators

FS, LB had long ago submitted the wish list to Rafa and offered himself on a free. Rafa will now be acing on that..

Knight, Rafa has not got back to me yet

LB, I am sure that is because he is negotiating with Valencia first to buy Silva and Villa. But those blighters are waiting for Ronaldo to be bought by Real Madrid’s Floritino Perez and then upping the price of these two players.

When you put it that way, it seems that we are talking the same thing here.

I hope we buy a player who can play LM and behind the striker role both and possibly throw in RM as well.

Although all you guys feel we need a RB, i feel we are pretty well covered there. We have Arbeloa (who is not first choice for Spain and hence will play less friendlies and competitions), Carragher, Degen (for how long can he remain injured. Law of averages state that he’ll now have a play a injury free season right?) and Darby to boot. So we are well covered in the RB slot. Since we are not cash rich, we should look to buy attacking first team players rather than defensive options who play 2nd or even 3rd choice with the limited cash inflow we have.

LB: If you are as big as you say you are I would play you for 4 games. Both games against the mancs and chavs. You would have 1 responsibility – Put Drogba and Ronaldo out of the game for the season.

There’s lots of full backs who are not the tallest although talking of Spearing that’s an understatement.

Kenny, I’d be happy to do that no problem – I’d just have to get near them first. The pace at which the PL games are played. I think my chest would explode after 4 mins.

As with all the lads, I am very sorry to hear about your job. Nothing is easy nowadays, when a great writer like you can lose a job, but then again, people with talent will never get left on the roadside.

FS, if our transfers were to proceed in line with your hypothesis, I think we will have to bring Martin Kelly back. I hear he is pretty quick as well for someone of his height. One thing that worries me about spearing is that he is a bit small. I would be worried if we have both insua and him in our back 4. Crosses over to the far side could become an issue. If the creative midfielder we get can play on the flanks (and he should), I also believe (and I said this before)that Kuyt would make a superb right back if needed. His understanding of the game, his defensive qualities, his crossing, are all up there with the best of full-backs. It might be a waste to use him there, but we are considering a hypothetical backup, and so that is my view.

My general view guys is that we need less square pegs in round holes going forward.

Thanks for the comments guys. But I think I noticed a misconception in some of the comments that I think I need to clarify.
My job was in purchasing, it’s an area I’ve worked in for about 15 years. Writing this blog and the occasional articles I’ve done for other sites is just a hobby of mine.
A few years ago I got pissed with some of the shite I was reading on other sites so I decided to write my own and in February 2005 I started writing Kopblog.
This is not my job, it’s my pleasure and I don’t, nor have I ever received any money for it. The few ads you see around the site pay for our running costs/hosting charges etc, every penny goes into this site and the main site. It is only in the last couple of years that we’ve actually started to bring in enough to cover these costs, before that we made up the difference out of our own pockets.
Anyway enough of this working class hero crap, I just wanted to clarify the situation and I’m off now to lay in the sun in my back garden and knock back a few Stella’s, I could grow to like this unemployment lark!

Yeah the Spearing thing was just a thought. And the more I think about it, the more I could see it working just not at Liverpool. In my opinion, he’s one of the kids that will never quite be good enough for us. Oh well, I’m sure he’s got a great future ahead of him whatever happens.

But Abriham, are you joking? RB is to my mind our most problematic position. Do you not remember the Boro game and what it done to our season?

As far as I’m concerned, we must get cover there or we could have a big problem there when next season gets into the coldest and busiest months.

I hate to put in names and rumours. There usually wrong, but this doesn’t come from the media… we are apparently intent on signing Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli for our left side. He can also play in the hole behind Torres and upfront on he’s todd.

I believe the approaches have been made, discussions are on going, but Liverpool are baulking at the price – rumored to be at least 25 million euros. Which I think is high no matter how talented the lad is. I haven’t seen him play, but I know a wee bit about him, and apparently he’s rated that highly at Napoli that they expect riots if he’s let go.

But fuck rumours….
Ancelotti has apparently signed a 3 year deal at Chavski. 3 years! HA! Can see Roman having to pay another load of compensation by this time next year then.

Well, in all truth, I suppose it could work out. But I’ve been reading a lot about Ancelotti lately and with what I know of the Chelsea primadonnas… well, let’s say, I’m hoping for another season of comic shenanigans and chaos at the Russian toyshop.

Oh Gerry, I was quite enjoying the wee misunderstanding. You aul spoil sport, bubble burster, you!

Sorry FS, but it’s yet more evidence that I am far too honest to be a journo!

FS, I think Lavezzi said the following regarding the link to Liverpool:

“Liverpool’s offer? I want to stay at Napoli,”
“I hope everything will be made clear but it depends on the club not on me.
“I reiterate that my wish is to remain at Napoli.”

My reckoning is that if the club could get lynched by the fans for selling him and the player doesn’t want to leave they will want top dollar!!

That’s why I never usually say anything on transfer rumours LB. But I got this one from a decent source weeks ago. And what with all the transfer gossip going on, I dropped it in. But as I’ve said a million times… I don’t really believe anything about new arrivals until they’re in Anfield posing in the shirt for the media.

That’s why I read the blog and not the papers, Gerry. But I was looking forward to the panic when some people started to think it might disappear.

Mind you what with the mancs and bluenoses results last week, I suppose I’ve had more than my share of fun for the summer. Hope I haven’t used it all up in the one week.

In the Boro game, FS, Darby, Degen and Arbeloa were injured. Carragher was too tired to play in RB and since it takes more than what it takes out of you to play CM, he shiied away from it. We had to play a make shift Skrtel to play at RB against Downing. Hence the bad result. This, i feel, is just a exception rather than the rule.

I have to reiterate that we did not lose the Premier league because we lost odd the game. We lost because of 10 odd f**king draws. We should not strengthen our strong point, i.e. the defence and look to strengthen our attack. And lets be honest, we cannot waste 10 – 15 mill on a RB and still go on to buy a good attacking option. Anything less, we’ll not get a player who’s better than Arbeloa and we can’t afford a costly 2nd choice.

Abhiram, I’m sure Rafa can find a good right back for less than £10m. I like Glen Johnson because I reckon he can play on the right wing as well. Which gives us more options should there be an injury to Kuyt or some other eventuality. Factor in the situation that Pompey still owe us some money for the Crouch transfer.

FS, the Lavezzi speculation does seem real to me. He seems the Rafa type. Watchng him play he has a similar style to Tevez and hopefully we get him before he costs a fortune. Seems Napoli want a fortune though.

Where’s Kinny? Nadal lost yesterday and Fed came back from 2 sets to love down

This rumour seems exciting though –

However, Juve’s left-back Paolo De Ceglie could be heading out the door after it was revealed that Liverpool have cast their eyes over the Italian youngster.

“Liverpool are seriously interested,” explained De Ceglie’s agent Carlo Pallavicino. “It all depends on Andrea Dossena and whether they will sell him. If they do then they would like to replace him with De Ceglie.”

I have seen De Ceglie play this season and he is v. good – also plays winger a few times – getting Dossena off will be fine for him!

w.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun01t.html

I’m honestly not taking a dig at you Abriham or anyone else, but some of the views in here amaze me at times. How can anyone honestly think we are okay at RB with Arbeloa, a man of glass and an untried kid?

If anything, it’s probably our weakest position on the pitch and it’s the one that could end up costing us big time again – just as it did this season on the couple of occasions Arbie was unable to play.

As for Arby no body mentioned upgrading the lad or spending over 10 million quid on a replacement. I think the lad’s had a tremendous season. In fact, he’s right up there as one of the players of the season for me and I think he will continue to improve. But I think it would be a huge rick not to at least get reliable – if not top class – cover for him.

FFS why do you think the thought of even seeing if Spearing could play there crossed me mind? Yep. It’s because I’m so concerned about that position.

As for the draws… of course I understand that they cost us. I also know some decent cover for Torres might have turned them into wins. I’m not being a twat Abriham, but I really don’t need reminding of the obvious.

But to me, in my opinion, out of the 3 positions that we most urgently need to strenghten – LM, Second Striker/Attacking Mid and RB – it’s RB that needs the most attention.

And yes, I do know the options we have in the other 2 positions and I do know what a disaster losing Torres or/and Gerrard for a long spell could be.

As for Lavvezi LB, I think, even if we are after him, the asking price would prove too much.

PS: as for Carra and what happened I don’t need reminding of the excuses. The fact is, the lad flat out refused to play there. And by doing that the lad sold us, the fans, the club, the team, Rafa, and Skrtel down the river.

I was and still am disgusted by that, and, mark my words, if any other player, other than Mr Liverpool, Carragold had done it, there would have been shit flying all over the place.

FS, are you sure that Carra refused to play full-back that day?

I don’t get why Carra refused to play there. He’s done so many times and done a decent job. So why the refusal? And why didn’t Rafa tell him to fucking well play there or else? How come he played there against Spurs last week no problem?

When Ninja played RB at Boro no goals or crosses that led to goals came from
the right . Having said that i think RB is a place which does need strengthening
and Johnson would be a good addition but not a replacement.
LB I think Downing may have something to do with Carra’s refusal that day .
Gerry i thought you was a journalist ( no offence ) as you seem to have a
knack for this kind of thing.
PS Went to York this weekend me and my lad both wearing LFC shirts got a lot
of attention from other teams fans Birmingham fan (40 years season ticket )
laughing at Scum for CL defeat ,Ferguscum, bully, and we should have won
PL but for Refs.
Gang of Geordie’s “Magic on Wed night canna have them catching you lads
fooking Scum
Manc fan in his 50s” Fergies always been crap at tactics ” and “Torres best
striker in the world”
Barca fan “We beat that Scum for you” and something about Ladyboy which
made him laugh, and a few others who were laughing at them .
Basically most people hate them, why is that?
YNWA

As I said during a long rant to a colleague at work (i’m known to rant at scum fans) ABUs…anyone but united…there’s no Anyone But Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Rangers or Celtic, just ABU. Why is that? Why is ABU the best supported team in the world? He mumbled something about jealousy. Considering I didn’t want to lose my job in this recession I decided safest to walk away.
If I could cross all United fans off my phone and work place I would.

Is it true that some of the senior players have urged Rafa to bring back MO?
Personally, don’t think it is a good move….not sure whether MO will be contented spending most time on the bench…plus next year is world cup and I’m sure he’ll want more time on the field to get a crack into the national squad

Ok. I got your point FS. But if we do get a good player, will he be ready to play second fiddle to Arbeloa? Arbeloa is our utility player who can play RB, LB and CD like O’shit for the mancs. Rafa would know that he would have to give Arbeloa more games than the new RB or risk pissing him off and starts packing.

I remember us discussing, FS, LB, Aitch and timmytorres, that unilke Mancs who can pay 30 mill and 100,000 a week salary for a second choice striker, with three 20 mill midfielder on the bench, we cannot spend so much on our 2nd choice players. We have 1 or in some positions 2 players for each position. We have to supplement them with youngsters whenever required. I get your point on Spearing trying for the RB slot. It conforms to the general logic too, a youngster as the 3rd choice RB.

If Degen does not work out, then we’ll have to sell him and find a replacement. From the rumors, the name being linked with us, Johnson from Pompey, is a good prospect. He surely won’t come for less than 10 mil is my guess. If we buy Johnson, he’ll surely want to play otherwise he loses his England spot. Hence, my point as well as my worry, we should look more to look to good youngsters who can be handy replacements and play well when needed and who will not leave us for the lack of first team opportunities rather than a full fledged international.

To LB at #43, if you’re trying to wind me up, then you have failed miserably.

For I enjoy watching Federer just as much as Nadal, if Nadal can’t win it, then I want Federer to go on and win.

Still, shocking it is to see Nadal’s exit came so early in his favoured surface. Though I don’t expect him to be able to beat Bjorn Borg’s record of 4 Roland Garros in a row, I expected him to at least last until the quarters or semis, or even final.

Kinny, he’d already equaled the Bjorn Borg record of 4 grand slams last year right? I thought he’d go through all the way for the fifth. Him losing out in the second week is very surprising. I guess Soderling had a great game and Nadal, a poor game. Now, Federer all the way i guess.

abhiram, of course I know he already equalled Borg’s 4 Roland Garros in a role, this was his attempt to break that record and go for 5.

MEAOW

I just realized something about Glen Johnson. With Portsmouths new owners and serious money (probably more money than Liverpool) they will not need to sell and I think our chances of landing Johnson would be seriously damaged now. I think he would have made a huuuuge difference so that blows…

wonder how inflated prices gonna get with man city & possibly pompey ready to splash silly money?

Hi Gerry sorry to hear the news, anyway as an award winning writer it has to be better than purchasing and having read numerous books I could not think of a better author or more popular one than you. How about a title “Memoirs of a Kop Blogger” for starters. Once again great blog, been to busy to contribute but I do pop in from time to time to read the blog and comments.

Just a quick note I think Silva is out of our reach as Perez wants to take him to Real and I see we are linked to a 25 year old Brazilian striker Kleber I think his name is. I cannot wait for this silly season to end as all the rumors bore me to death. RB for me is a priority and how anyone can think other wise beats me. As for the draws it was not the strikers fault, we scored more than enough but the defense and the score draws that nailed us this season.

Keith, I agree I think Silva will be out of our price range now Perez has set his sights on him. It’s the wages and other personal terms Real Madrid offer players which seldom sees them turn the club down. Sadly we’re not going to be able to compete.

Kinny, I was totally shocked Nadal lost. I was expecting him to stroll through to the final. Looking forward to seeing Federer vs Monfils…. Should be good!

I was wondering where you was Keith. thought you must be away on business. But I understand exactly what you mean, this time of year drives me bonkers as far as footy is concerned.

I remember the days before the curse/blessing/hype of the Premiere, CL, Sly Sports and the likes, and the internet. You’d scan the back pages, toss them aside, without belieiving a word and have the odd chat about tansfers with mate’s in the boozer.

It was always called “Silly Season” for good reason, now it’s gone completely bonkers. The next few weeks will drive me mad… we will not only be lined to every Tom, Dick and Harry, we will be supposedly buying their wives and dogs too.

I understand football fans with little much else to fill their footy time like to disect it all, but I always prefered to ignore it. Drives me mad, but too each their own I suppose.

As for RB, as I said before, I don’t think we need to spend multi-millions on it but I do think we need to get some reliable cover in for Arbeloa or we could find ourselves with big problems there in the coming season.

What was the name of the little black full back that played for Man City and the Republic? Terry something. I can’t remember (Carling darling).

The Irish lads will remember him. Well, he’s the sort of fullback I could see Spearing becoming. But that was just me searching for an answer to that problem. I think we need to buy, but not buy big like Johnson…
1: He’s just signed a new contract at Pompey.
2: New owners probably won’t want to sell their best players.
3: It would take at least 10 million to get him.
4: He’s not that good a defender. He would learn. He’s only young. But his strentgh is in going forward.
5: He’s a bit of a prick. We’ve just got shut of Pennant (to them?) So, why bring another one back?

Nah, not for me. Thanks.

And yes, Carra did flatly refuse to play RB at Boro. Which left us with no choice to put Skrtel out there against Downing. The lad got roasted. Downing had his best game in seasons. And sorry to whoever said none of Downing’s moves/crosses etc, led directly to goals or us dropping 3 points. That’s completely wrong. The second goal came directly from a cross by him and he was the main reason we dropped all 3 points. We made him look like John Barnes that day. But fair play to Skrtle for volunteering to take him on.

I never said anything about Carra’s refusal at the time, and still wouldn’t have if this discussion hadn’t came up. But, well, let’s just put it this way… I’m still very disappointed by what Carra did that day.

As for everyone hating the mancs, wait a while. With a bit of luck, and loads of success, it will be us they’ll all be hating again. That’s how it was back when we was winning everything – everyone hating us and wanting them to knock us off the perch. Well, they haven’t quite done that yet, and I now doubt they will. But once we start gathering cups in May like the old days, we’ll be the villians again.

Like discussing transfers, hating the top team is just what footy fans do.

Here is something I picked up a while back, a complete summery of Rafa’s dealings in the transfer market. I think it is exceptional considering his budget and what he had to work with and how much we needed to improve. Not to mention the short time at his disposal when he arrived. Also who was forced on him. This is why I will sit back and let him work his magic in the Silly season and not get all jittery at every rumor and headline. I did say I would past it after the season ended, Enjoy!

Lets address the “expensive” part of the argument first:
£20-30+ million: 1 (1)
Torres
£10-20 million: 4 (3)
Mascherano, Keane, Babel, Alonso
£5-10 million: 14 (9)
Dossenna, Riera, Agger, Skrtel, Reina, Benayoun, Leiva, Kuyt, Pennant, Crouch, Bellamy, Sissoko, Morientes, Garcia
£0-5 million: 47 (36)
Degan, Cavelieri, Ngog, Plessis, Insua, Leto, Itandje, Voronin, Arbeloa, El Zhar, Aurelio, Palletta, Fowler, Kromkamp, Barragan, Nunez, Zenden, Gonzalez, Carson, Pellegrino, Josemi, Martin, Antwi, Hobbs, Miki Roque, Gulacsi, Anderson, Poloskei, Crowther, Hansen, Saric, Ayala, Weijl, Blanco, Flora, Mendy, Ajdarevic, Simon, Bouzanis, Nemeth, Pacheco, Palsson, Brouwer, Durán, Huth, Domínguez,
(Numbers in brackets are players still at the club)
It is easy to see that the majority of Rafa’s signings have been below the £10 million mark and nothing like the fabrication that he has bought mostly “expensive” signings.
Especially when you consider that 49 of his signings are still at the club and the selling on fee cannot yet be determined.
Here are some more comments and claims made about Rafael Benitez:
“He has bought 53 players for £190 million and sold 56 for £108 million, clearly a loss of £82 million proves he doesn’t have a clue in the transfer market.”
This is a full rundown of Rafael Benitez’ signings since he joined Liverpool in June 2004:
Players bought in by Benitez: 66
Players still at the club: 49
First Team: 18
Alonso, Reina, Agger, Aurélio, Kuyt, Arbeloa, Mascherano, Lucas, Torres, Itandje, Benayoun, Babel, Skrtel, Degen, Dossena, Cavalieri, Ngog, Riera.
Reserve Team: 22
El Zhar, Insúa, Palsson, Brouwer, Durán, Huth, Domínguez, Pacheco, Nemeth, Plessis, Hansen, Saric, Ayala, Weijl, Blanco, Flora, Mendy, Ajdarevic, Simon, Bouzanis, Crowther, Poloskei
Out on Loan: 9
Andriy Voronin, Jermaine Pennant, Sebastian Leto, David Martin, Godwin Antwi, Jack Hobbs, Miki Roque, Peter Gulacsi, Paul Anderson

A figure of 49 players bought by Rafa are still playing for the club with the majority (22) bought as youth players for the reserve team—with the idea for future revenue if they perform to their potential. It will also save the club a great deal of money if they turn out to be superstars worth a large transfer fee.
From that 49 figure, there are 18 still playing for the first team and contributing on a very large scale with the majority of them being priced by many as a greater figure than when the players were initially bought by Rafa.
From the nine players out on loan, only two are established players with the other seven being young reserve players gaining experience at other clubs—with the hope of either returning to Liverpool’s first team or making a profit to invest in future transfers.

Players Sold On by Benitez: 56
Players Bought By Other Managers and Sold on by Benitez: 39
Players bought and sold on by Rafa Benitez: 17
For me, this is the key point from which poorly informed debaters’ opinions collapse. Most propaganda articles or rival supporters will wildly claim that Rafa has sold 56 players and made little money in return.
They claim the “majority” of the 56 players the Liverpool manager has sold on have been at a loss and “proves” his failings in the transfer market. This is such a misleading statement to make that I really don’t know how people can still get away with it.
Benitez cannot be held accountable for selling a player at a loss when Benitez was not the one who identified the player as a target in the first place or sanctioned the over-inflated transfer fee.
You can only really judge him on the players he has bought and sold since he has been at the club and this brings the true figure down to just 17 players.

Profit: 7
Carson +2.25, Barragan +0.43, Sissoko +2.6, Crouch +4.0, Gonzalez +2.0, Bellamy +1.5, Nunez +0.5
Loss: 6
Garcia -2.0, Morientes -3.3, Palletta -0.8, Josemi (swapped for) Kromkamp -0.25, Idrizaj -0.19, Keane -3.0 (could be even less depending on contract triggers)
Even: 4
Pellegrino, Zenden, Fowler, Padelli (all four players were brought in and moved on for a free transfer)

So the true extent of Rafa’s failings in the transfer market is just six players from 17, coming with a loss of just under £10 million within four and a half years—the most expensive loss being just £3.3 million; nothing like the losses achieved by other established Premier League managers.
On the flip side the profit he has made is over 13 mill in total Rafa’s dealings in the transfer market has made us a profit.
Hopefully that one more media myth that’s been eradicated.
This does not take into account the profits of the players we have recently sold, Hobbs, Anderson etc.

Keith we obviously dident score enough in those draws mate lol! Read all the comments on the RB debate lads, interesting stuff. The one thing I noticed is that Darby seems to be pretty much discounted as a contender. Is the feeling at Anfield that he’s not gonna make it? Is it the generally accepted notion hes not gonna cut the mustard? Any ideas FS as you would have an ear closer to the situation than many of us? Would love to see the lad come through and save us a fortune like Insua.

Terry Phelan

Arbeloa drifts out of position too often and picked up 11 yellows last season.Sell Degen and Arb, bring in a quality right back who can double up on the right wing.Gerry, have you thought about advertising your website in the LFC mag and in The Kop Mag-the more hits the site receives, the more you can charge potential advertisers.There are millions of Reds fans accessible via the web.

Keith, nice interesting stats. Takes a while to go through and digest though…

Hi Gerry, sorry to hear that you lost your job. Hopefully something comes up soon for you! You have a great blog going and may it grow from strength to strength!
Just a comment on this ABUS VS ALIS… ITS 2 TEAMS , Anyone But United AND Anti Liverpool

I think DEGAN needs to go as well. i mean the guy didn’t even make last euro squad for swiss! we were in for dani alves and lost out big time by not signing him!
We need a quality right back who has attacking capabilities someone who is similar to dani alves, Phillip Lahm and maicon.
If we were to strengthen our midfield what about a player like Bastian Schweinsteiger if silva is out priced?

Barry is in talks with Man City, Villa have confirmed. I thought he wanted to leave Villa to get CL football? Lol.

Hi Gerry, just got around to reading the blog and it was excellent. A lot of truth in what you say and, like you, I thought we would have done barca. BTW, really enjoyed the end-piece, ripping the shit out the mancs.

Like all of the guys, I am sorry to hear about you losing your job. Hopefully it is only a temporary thing – chin up and all the best!

LB, I just read that as well. At a guess I would say that Villa are resigned to losing him and are trying to jack up the price a bit i.e. the talks with Citeh.

Will be interesting to see what they have to say though!

PS I am usually totally wrong in my guesses!

Of course RB is our weakest position… Glenn Johnson would be an obvious player for Rafa to target. Apart from his English heritage he’d offer a good contrast to Arbeloa’s defensive nature on top of having EPL experience… But point taken about his attitude and unavailbility now though… I don’t know who Rafa could target to fill this position, Barca beat us to Alves, Chavs to Bosingwa… I’m sure there’s a few RB’s in his list of 95 players that’ll be attacking…

Schweinsteiger is one of my favorites, however he’s definately not the typical Benetez type of player for my mind… Would german players fit into our team anyway???? I’m not so sure… It’s not like Ballack plays anything like he does for the Chavs as he does for the Germans…

For me Barry would be the first and almost most critical signings as Alonso’s/Mash’s absence really hurt at times last year, dare say more than Gerrard or Torres…

RB and Back up striker are a hell of alot easier to complete, whether they’re youngsters or players on the wane, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re done fairly late in the transfer window….

You could be right Lurgan…

Nice one Keith. I will sit and read your post properly later on tonight when I have time to digest it all. I’ve got me grandaughter on her way any moment, and I’ll get no chance once she is here.

That’s the lad, Corky…. Terry Phelan. Not quite absolute top shelf, but he was a class little full back that lad. I could see Jay Spearing maturing into the same type of player if given the chance.

But I suppose that’s neither here nor there.

As for Darby Digger, what I know about him is, he’s sort of like Steve Finnan. Nothing spectacular, but very very reliable. And most people I have spoke to, with good knowledge of the kids, seem to think he has every chance of eventually making it at the club. But personally, I wouldn’t like to rely on him this season. It seems a bit too early for my liking.

As for getting shut of Arbeloa, it would be sheer madness. He’s one of Rafa’s best bargain signings. Since over coming his home sickness (How quick we forget) the lad has came on leaps and bounds. He’s forced his way into the best international team/squad in the world. He’s made the position at the club his own. He’s the only tired and tested right back we’ve got. He’s now happy and you can see the joy he has of playing for the club. (I swear he will break someone’s neck, the way he lashes himself into the celebration whenever we score). To top it off, he’s got bollacks – even standing up to Carra nevermind the opposition. But I tell you what, instead of finding back up for him, lash him and start again…. the mind boggles.

My point exactly Digger.

First of, Darby is not considered even a contender for the RB slot and secondly, Degen has been discarded by many even before he’s been given an opportunity to prove himself. I feel Darby must be given his chance. Degen’s come on a free and his salary is very less (relatively), so why not give the lad a chance this season? Yeah i know he’s made of glass and all but still he might just be another Aurelio in the making. All he has to do is be a good 2nd choice RB. Thats 2nd and 3rd choice RB for you.

And coming to buying another good RB, why do we need to? We can’t play 2 RB in a game. If i can just take an example, If we do buy Johnson (a good attacking option), we’ll have to play one of the two, Arbeloa or Johnson. Knowing that Johnson is not as good at defending than Arbeloa, Arby will obviously be the first choice for Rafa. Now, if we are a goal down or chasing a game, I don’t see Rafa changing RB for RB to gain a upper hand in attack. If we are buying a RB in the eventuality of injury to Arbeloa, its not worth buying a back-up, when we already have 2.

I know I’ll get slagged for this but I just want to put out what I feel.

Arbeloa has been our most improved player. Easily amongst our top 5 performers last season. The only thing missing in his game in my opinion is crossing. He likes to play square passes along the ground 90% of the time when in a good position to cross. And in the times when he does cross it, it usually gets headed out by the first defender. Other than that I have no complaints.

A very good article. Long read though

ohyoubeauty.blogspot.com/

Abhiram, you’re not getting slagged and you’re entitled to say what you think. But I think you are wrong in this case mate. Mark my words mate, it’s essential that we get decent cover in for Arbeloa. If we go into the next leauge/CL campaign without getting that decent cover for him – it will, in my opinion, end up costing us big time.

Darby can/should be used in at least the Carling, and probably the FA, Cup. But he can’t be rilied on to fill Arbie’s boots for critical CL/Prem games. It would be madness.

Degan should be got off the wage bill. Nevermind that he’s so injury prone, he’s not good enough. I’ve seen his reserve performances and believe me… he’s no Aurellio.

By the way, I can’t see what the problem is in spending 5 or 6 million on decent cover for something so critical. We are not talking about the need to spend multi-millions on the likes of Alves.

barry is such a loser if he goes to man city…its hilarious really. its true that we will really need him if we lose alonso, though.

YNWA

Thanks FS. Thats good to hear, I’m glad the lad is still in contention and likely to get a shot in the cups this yr. Personally, and with that in mind, I wouldent be as concerned with RB as say LM or a good back up striker. Its not like Arbies injury prone and we have the youngster as back up or even Carra in a pinch. And who knows, Degen may rise from the treatment table like Lazarus yet! Anyway thanks for the inside scoop FS and btw Ger the best of luck in your job search mate.

Anyone read Paul Jones’ season review on the main site lads? Pretty good read I thought, very fair and objective analysis of the season methinks.

Rumour mill latest:

Liverpool transfer target Gareth Barry has opened talk with Manchester City about a proposed move to Eastlands, it was revealed today.

It’s understood that City have had an offer for Barry accepted and are now offering the Aston Villa captain a big wage increase to entice him.

An Aston Villa spokesman announced, “Aston Villa can confirm today that Gareth Barry is in talks with Manchester City.”

But Barry has stated that his main reason for leaving Villa Park would be to play Champions League football, something Liverpool can offer that City can’t.

Meanwhile Argentine striker Ezequiel Lavezzi – who has been linked with a move to Anfield this summer has strongly hinted that the time has come for him to leave Napoli.

Lavezzi wrote an open letter to the fans of Napoli explaining that although he wants to stay at the Serie A club, club officials have treated him badly in recent contract negotiations.

Manchester Utd are also said to be interested in 24-year-old Lavezzi, who has an estimated value off around £12million.

His agent, Alejandro Mazzoni, told Sky Italia, “There is a very real offer from a team who are playing in the Champions League and where he would earn much more than here.”

And Reds winger Yossi Benayoun has revealed that there have been inquiries made into his availability since the end of the season.

Benayoun flourished in the second half of the season for the Reds, scoring vital goals on their pursuit of the Premier League title. But the Israeli international admitted that competition for first team places at Anfield could force him to reassess his situation.

He said, “At the moment, I am a Liverpool player, and unless something surprising happens, I will remain one. But after such a good season, I have had some offers from England and Spain.

“You have to give that some consideration, so there will probably be some discussions with Liverpool.

“I have had a great two years at Anfield and enjoyed every minute. I have long since accepted that, with one or two notable exceptions, there is no such thing as an automatic choice at Liverpool.”

Digger, Paul Jones is not holding back with his opinion on Babel is he!? Bloody hell. I think he’s gone a bit over the top with that one. I’ll paste it in here:

Flop of the year:

Philip Degen should win hands down, but I don’t think anyone really expected anything in the first place. Albert Riera promised much to begin with, but delivered very little. Lucas has his detractors, but has played a vital role in wins at Old Trafford and other big games, and it would be very harsh to award him this one. There is one player however that receives 98% of the votes from the Kopites around me; Ryan Babel.

A young man with the world at his feet. He reminds me of a cross between Stan Collymore and Thierry Henry, yet has the attitude of Harry Enfield’s Kevin the Teenager, only worse. He could be one of the best players of all time, seriously, but he just can’t be arsed. It’s as simple as that. He’s got everything you’d want from an attacking footballer, but lacks an ounce of desire and fight. Anything over a couple of million this summer will do very nicely, but I’d even consider selling him for half a twix and a can of Dr.Pepper. A massive waste of talent that will never be realised.

I tell you, football nowadays drives me nuts. And I know I must drive you some/many/most/all of you lads nuts when I moan about it. But you have to remember I got my schooling in a different era. Ask any aul arse how we conducted our business in the days of John Smith and Peter Robinson and I swear they will get a tear in their eye.

At the risk of sounding like Max Bygraves (Who?), here’s a little story…

Kevin Keegan went to Hamburg straight after our first European cup win in 1977. As you can well imagine the fans were devestated. Imagine winning the League after all these years and Torres and Gerrard leaving before the cheering had even stopped. I can’t describe how shocked and miserable kopites were about it.

None of us had an idea what was about to happen – no Sky, no internet, no hype, just worried conversations in the pub, work, at home, on the bus. Anywhere and everywhere there was more than one Red, it was like a wake but without the beer and laughs.

Little did we know, Bob Paisley, Peter Robinson and John Smith, the chairman and club secretary, had it in hand. The 3 men got on an ordinary train from Liverpool Lime Street to Glasgow, went to Celtic Park and within half an hour, quietly and signed probably our greatest ever player without a soul knowing. Not the media. Not us.

Kenny was bought for a then record transfer fee of £444,000. When the geat man had put pen to paper and a few pictures had been taken, the Celtic board invited the Liverpool men to tour the ground and have a drink. Bob Paisley smiled and graciously declined a drink, saying they didn’t mean to be rude but they had to get a train back to Liverpool that night. But on the sly he whispered to Kenny…. “Quick son, grab your coat and let’s get out of here before they realise what they have done.”

The first any of us mugs knew about it was when the pictures and headlines appeared the next day in the Liverpool Echo.

That’s the way business should be done. That was the Liverpool way. And I think that’s the way Rafa is trying to conduct business again.

FS, good thing we were able to break British record signings in those days then.

We never spent a penny we got the money from KK sale, and he’d cost us £65,000 from Scunthorpe. Believe me LB, things were different

PS… LB “good thing we were able to break British record signings in those days then.”

Is that all you get from that story?

I tell you what I got from that story FS; instead of Smith and Robinson we’ve got Hicks and Gillette! Not fair to compare Rafa and Bob. Not fair to compare anyone to Bob really is it?! Anyway, that was football then Fatty, its a different world now mate. One populated by agents, lackies, and every sort of parasite. Its nice to reminisce and certainly nice for us young uns to hear stories like that but for better or worse, (most likely worse) those days are done.

Wasn’t comparing Rafa and Bob. But I do think rafa is trying his best to get us back on track as far as conducting business is concerened.

And “Mostly likely!” Digger mate, it was a million times removed from this shit we see today and multi-millions better.

It was done quietly, with no fuss, by ordinary men of genius who wanted no fame for themselves. Who arrived to sign the world’s greatest footballer of the time in a bloody taxi!

And yes, it was the Liverpool Way. It was the yardstick by which all others were measured but few could match or follow. As for H&G, don’t start me. I’ve made a pledge with meself to say fuck all about them until it’s necessary. There’s no point in just rattling over how much they are hated, etc.

In fact, fuck it. Stick the H on an give yourselves a good laugh….
ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1189719/Blooming-lovely-Cristiano-Ronaldo-does-summer-chic-pink-flower-matching-cap.html?ITO=1490

FS, what you said about Dalglish will never happen again in our history. Things have changed so much that, its almost inconceivable. I can understand if we get a defender like this ( viz. Hyypia, Agger etc) but getting a striker or a winger in this scenario is almost impossible.

Even a 10 year old spectackled kid will be known through out the footballing world if he scores 10 goals. Strikers and wingers will be scouted right from the age of 11 or 12. Late bloomers are never given a chance. We were just plain lucky that we had it all going our way back then right from the manager to the owner. Too bad i was not even born then .

Keith… massive fuckin Kudos for #62.

That must have taken a while to stop and think, “hang on a minute there’s something wrong with those figures” (that Slysports etc bandy about as “the truth”) “what’s the real deal here?” and then proceed to research all that.
A Big Thank You, and it really does put things into perspective…. er… well it would if…

We weren’t living in a world of 10 second soundbytes… so is it any wonder that only one person commented on it (though FS promised to read it later… and I’m sure will provide a thought out analysis) while everyone else just continued to play fantasy football?

Bloody typical… Hey, Rafa should buy Messi, Kaka and Henry!

Keith: Very very interesting figures. Again as FS says I’m an aul arse not in years(i’m 36) but in schooling. Taken to the game from around 3 yrs of age and educated by me Da and older brother(10 yrs) and I’ve this chat with me bro many times about the misconceptions and downright lies over Rafa and his spending, transfer mistakes etc. Rafa is treated disgracefully by the media and other managers.

LB/Digger: I’ve heard that story before that FS told. Err what don’t you understand? (it’s not right to compare Rafa with Bob) He wasn’t comparing but what the story tells is how things should be done and thankfully we have a manager who thinks the same. In fact he’s building a lasting foundation. Why did he want control over the Academy? because he was power mad? er no because he wants it revamped. Look who he’s brought in as backroom staff. As regards breaking the transfer record, we sold KK for £500,000 I think we broke even. We were never the richest club LB Everton had more dough than us and the mancs always spent big. The big 5 used to be Liverpool, manure, Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal.

KeithSA, when did you find time to research on that #62 post of yours? I suppose thats the reason why you said you’ve been busy to post here. Awesome work Sir .

Aitch, come on! Keith’s post is very long and informative to be understood and commented upon in one go. I guess there many of us who are still digesting it .

Here’s my 2 penny’s worth:
I feel success can be weighted only with the number of trophies won. It can never be attributed to the amount of money spent. Take the era of Paisley. He will surely have spent some amount of money to add to the already good squad he inherited from Shankley. But whenever we speak about him, its always how many trophies he won, how beautiful our football was and how strong and invincible we were and never will we ever discuss how much money did he spend in his 9 seasons at the helm. How much did he did indeed spent in immaterial when compared to the success he brought to the club. In the same way, Fungusface will be remembered for helping Mancs to touch our perch and not how many millions he spent in doing that. So, all the shit the media is throwing at the Gaffer will soon be as immaterial as the S*n, Rafa starts winning us games and trophies. A few years from now, they will be speaking of how beautiful our football is and how many trophies we have won with Rafa at the helm. For now, let them crib about us in any and all ways possible. We we do kick their asses, it will be all the more sweeter.

Nah, FS I was being cheeky. I’ve got a report to submit at work. Will respond later tonight.

Jeez FS, how funny are those pics of Winker?
Can there really be any question of his preferred proclivities?

What’s with the “male companion” ribbing his abs?

Fox Sports Channel over here in the States used to run an ad for the Premier League in which there was a clip of Rooney and Ronnie.

Basically they were sat next to each other in a studio that was decked to look like a changing room, sort of facing each other at a 3/4 angle.
Rooney has a little strand of hair hanging out of place, down his forhead and Winker reaches over and ever so delicately brushes it away with his head cocked ever so slightly to one side and the biggest GAYEST grin you’ve ever fuckin seen.

I swear the first time I saw it, I sat bolt upright and actually said out loud “What the Fuck?”
I couldn’t believe he’d just done that.

The second time I saw it I was still amazed, but I actually noticed Rooney’s reaction.
I hadn’t caught it the first time, but Rooney’s face goes beet red (hmm… not sure how I noticed that since his face always looks that way?) and he flashes CR the sort of look that said “you MuthaF***ker!”
You just know the minute the cameras stopped rolling he was either gonna tear his fuckin head off… or… I dunno, maybe make him his prison bitch! (it is Rooney after all???)

They’ve stopped showing it this season, but it really used to amaze/apall/amuze me in equal measure, everytime I saw it.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m not homophobic, I think Homo sapiens and Lebanese should be left to their own devices… (bit of Benny Hill there for the older lads) …but if a teammate had ever done that to me, they’d have been discharged from the ER with a prosthetic arm the next day.

Keith – top marks on the stats post – time and time again I hear and see figures slung around by people who do not do their research (Eamon Dunphy etc…). I’ve already read a similar post that I asked FS for some months back. It’s good to get the real stuff.

Sorry to hear about the Job Gerry. I too am living in this sinking submarine called Ireland. All too common I’m afraid … But maybe it’s time to be creative and go with the writing.

I had had an idea which I was going to suggest to you anyway, particularly now as the really stupid season is upon us, maybe you might think about having “guest” bloggers do a slot. I’m thinking about some of the lads who practically do it anyway and also some of the guys (and girls ?) who may be living far off in wherever, Africa, Asia, the States, South America other countries in Europe. Just to get a taste of what they are about, a world local flavour .. whatever.
This is not to replace you Gerry as I think you write a very clear, funny, incisive and wide-ranging blog which brings some great debate as well as some other stuff !!!
It could be a bit of fun and also widen what essentially is a world-wide Liverpool supporters forum/blog. Just a thought.

So one mystery is now solved – we will not be buying Barry, ever. I guess Rafa said no!

On the flip side, surely this means that Alonso is now staying .

Told you LB, I couldn’t pick my fuckin’ nose.

abhir, no offense mate, but what’s to absorb?

It was basic plus and minus arithmetic… not like it was fuckin calculus or intro to Astro-Physics!

What is missing from Keith’s figures though, is the human element that FS often tries in vein to convey in here.

Many of Rafa’s so called failed buys, were never intended to be anything other than a short term fix. Regardless of their “success” or “failure” they’d have been moved on.

Excerpt from SG’s (rather tedious) biography:
One of the first things Rafa did when he signed, was to get on a plane to go have a chat with SG, Owen and Carra, who were away on England duty. SG’s mum was on the flight as was Houllier and Ged introduced Rafa to SG’s mum.
The first words out of his mouth after “nice to meet you” were…
“Does Steven like money?”

The press were widely rumoring SG’s departure and several teams had fielded bids for him that summer.
The purpose of that question was to determine if SG had the right mentality for what Rafa wanted to accomplish.

This summer Rafa will not be targeting:
big spectacular names…
proven Internationals…
other team’s cast-offs…

He will be targeting players with the right MENTALITY who will FIT into the current squad… and that is what Shanks and Paisley used to do.

To quote Bob from the Team of the Decade DVD:
“We’ve bought you, or we’ve got you however we’ve got you, because we like what you do. Now go out there and do it”

Barry gone to ManCity. It will put even greater pressure on us to keep Alonso. Boon in disguise.

Well written article:
http://www.thisisanfield.com/columnists/2009/06/why-losing-out-on-tevez-is-no-bad-thing/

I’m never gonna leave this office am I?

Kenny, we broke a few transfer records didn’t we? Dalglish, Beardsley, Saunders, Collymore…. We could compete financially with anyone in Britain prior to the Premier League introduction.

My cheeky one-liner to FS is meant to highlight that ok, we sold Keegan and I can only imagine how that went down at the time. I’d guess it might be on the same level of when we sold Ian Rush. We sold those players and were able to break British transfer records to bring in their replacements.
If we sold Gerrard now would we be in a position to break the British transfer record for his replacement? The worry to a lot of us is that if we sold Alonso for £25m we wouldn’t be able to bring in a player anywhere near as good as Xabi. We wouldn’t be able to go to a club and say “we’re the best in Britain, we’ll match any offer you could get elsewhere – come to us”. Whereas maybe we could say that to Kenny Dalglish and Celtic when we signed him.

As for the media hype etc. It’s the age we live in and I don’t really see any point in moaning about it. Football is pop culture. There is huge demand for the information. The players are superstars and as a result media outlets are under pressure to tell us about them. If a football journo based in Merseyside goes back to his newspaper with no transfer speculation I’m sure his editor is gonna want to know why. Imagine being a music/entertainment journo in the 60s/70s and not having any bullshit about Elvis or the Beatles. Football aint the working class man’s sport to call his own anymore. 6 year old girls in China know about Gerrard. I’m sure they didn’t know about Dalglish in 1977. I’m aware you all know this but I’m just stressing the point.

31st January most football fans are glued to Sky Sports news anxious to see if their club will buy a player. I bet every Liverpool fan with Sky Sports was glued to the Hicks piece where he was sat in his living room with the big LFC mug. Then after lapping it up we moan that it’s not the Liverpool way.

I like transfer speculation. I only find it annoying when one of our best players is linked to another club. Or when we are linked to a shite player. Other than that I enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously. It’d be boring if the entire summer went by and we were not linked with one single player. Don’t you think? I appreciate Rafa wants to do his business quietly and I don’t expect anything different but that doesn’t stop me trawling through various websites desperate to see who we’re linked with next.

Has Barry defo signed for man city? Boon in disguise? What does that mean? Am I being thick?

FS was spot on about the right back position. Arbie has been excellent this season but if he gets a bad injury next season we will be done for. I don’t wan to rely on Degan and Darby, or Carra or Skyrtl in that position. Makes me break out in a sweat just thinking about it.

I don’t know who we should sign but I know a man who does.

LB: I refer you to my previous comment, we were never the richest club. I never said we were skint either. Lou macari went to the mancs because they offered him more money for example. We often attracted players because we were the best not because we paid the most money in wages.

I like all the transfer speculation but what I don’t like is LFC conducting it’s business in an unbuisness like way. The media will continue to speculate so what, but the only thing coming out of LFC will be what Rafa wants to leak to the press and that’s how I like it. As long as the speculation doesn’t come from us and Rafa carries on doing his business quietly and efficiently that’s fine by me.

Thanks abhiram (comment 100), nice of you to say so.

With regards to Fergie, it’s definitely going to be interesting to see how he repsonds next season to losing to Barca, he’s not had a set back like that after such a build up in a while (if at all). So could be the chance for Rafa, Arsene – and now Carlo – to pounce!

Kenny I understood it fine mate. I was merely pointing out that those days are gone and it is impossible to conduct business in that manner in todays world. I was also dryly observing the difference btwn the 2 in charge then and now. I think its safe to say we’d swap dumb and dumber for Smith and Robinson given half a chance. I also gave Bob and Rafa the respect due both by NOT comparing them as it would be unfair. I think you dident understand my post Kenny! Anyway….

Digger, I agree with you with to a point i.e. in the constant media glare it is more difficult to conduct our business in the Liverpool way.

But who are we looking to buy? Tell me please! For me I don’t have a clue e.g. my shoe-in for this summer has just signed for the citeh!!! Rafa had the option (so I hear) but turned him down.

Finally, IMHO, no-one was comparing (Sir) Bob and Rafa. It was just the manner in which Liverpool have and are now performing their business was being compared.

Real Madrid just signed Kaka. A bid for Alonso is next according to Guillem Balague….

Kaka – €65m fee. €9m a year in wages. Wow!

65 mil is too much for any player, especially considering his name. Kaka translates to ‘shite’ in French. Not marketing material

Question. Can any of you guess why Zidane is nicknamed Zizou and not zizi? Dougle, your not included

Good thing Kaka isn’t French

By the way Lurgan, Kaka’s merchandising etc will pay back the transfer fee. When they bought Beckham they got £15m just to play a pre-season game in Asia.

Was Zizi a ballet dancer and Zidane dont want to come across as a sissy?

Sorry to paste speculative stories onto the blog but thought some of might find it interesting:

Guillem Balague on Xabi Alonso

Following an article I published on the site yesterday, related to Florentino Perez` summer transfer plans at Real Madrid, I sense there are a few areas that may need clarifying when it comes to Xabi Alonso`s situation at Liverpool…

The future of Xabi Alonso is all over the back pages again today and this story seems to be changing by the day – it is no surprise: with the new president of Real Madrid aiming to get his summer spending spree underway as quickly as possible and with Xabi Alonso high on his list of priorities that the situation is so fluid.

I have been under the impression that, if a deal is struck, then things will move very quickly. After all, that would suit all parties concerned: Liverpool needs the money early to allow them to go on and sign other players; Xabi will be looking for a new challenge after 5 years at the club and will have his situation sorted early on in the summer; Real will get the midfielder they want and can move on to other targets. And now that it is out in the open that Gareth Barry is in talks with Manchester City, it made sense that Liverpool would want to know where they stand as quickly as possible to avoid missing out on someone who we know was a target.

However, the situation is becoming complicated – which is why I stressed yesterday that there is much work to be done and things will be resolved swiftly only if and when a deal is agreed.

Partly because of how unpopular the transfer would be in Liverpool, it is all getting very political. I suspect that before Liverpool will let Xabi go, the club wants him to come out and publicly express a desire to move.

You`ve all been emailing me telling me that you don`t want Xabi to leave and asking why would Rafa want to sell him – but it`s a very different story if Xabi says he wants to go isn`t it – and even the most ardent Liverpool fan might accept that, after 5 years excellent service to the club and life in England – Xabi could be tempted by an opportunity to return home and play for the biggest club in his native country. Xabi is certainly not being driven out of the club as some emails and on site comments seem to suggest.

There is a second condition for the transfer to take place. Real Madrid will have to place a huge €40 – €50 million offer on the table in a very high profile way: but that`s highly unlikely and we are far more likely to see a game of cat and mouse as Real Madrid try and negotiate the best possible deal for themselves; it has been reported that the Madrid offer could be a player plus cash deal; but no contact has taken place and Liverpool don`t want either of the players mentioned, Negredo or Heinze, at this stage.

So perhaps, if the parties involved had played this transfer in a different way, it may have taken place already. But now nobody can predict what might happen
I believe that if Xabi Alonso is sold it will be for cash: as Rafa Benitez will want as much money as possible to bolster his transfer kitty, enabling him to sign the players that he has identified as a priority – and not just those who are offered on a plate.

Which bring us onto another topic that we have been getting lots if emails about: criticisms of Rafa`s potential targets should Alonso be sold. I will say this – have faith in the manager and trust his judgment. Remember the criticism when Liverpool signed the unknown Skrtel? And how many people complained that Benitez didn`t need Agger because he already had Hyppia…

I think we just need to look at Rafa`s reaction to questions about Xabi`s future to know that, if Real Madrid want to sign Alonso, it is going to take an awful lot of money and a great deal of persuasion – and a plea from the player as well. Madrid will be working hard from now on to try and get things moving quickly – which may still happen – but we may find that no agreement is reached: in which case, Xabi stays. And if he does, well look at what happened with Gerrard a couple of years ago: it looked as if he might be going…and look at him now…

LB… surely that has to be only rumor?
There hasn’t been a single rumor linking Kaka with a move to Real Madrid… then bang… its done and dusted before anyone gets wind of it.
That’d be the coup of the century wouldn’t it?
… (even at those outrageously ridiculous numbers!)

Super stuff Gerry,sorry to hear your bad news bud,hopefully something will pop up for you.

Is that comfirmed LB,it only says on sly sports news thats its reports coming out of spain.Now they say the chavs are trying to hyjack Kaka.

C`mon we all chip in and hyjack the chavs and real

Timmy I reckon its a done deal but its not been confirmed yet as not to piss off the Milan fans. Chelsea hijacking the move is bullshit I reckon.

Aitch, there has been lots of speculation on Kaka going to Real. Guillem said it would be confirmed by Thursday or Friday. He’s pretty accurate with transfer reports involving Spanish clubs.

Here comes the kiss of death…

I also see it as a done deal as Perez usually gets his man. A bit worried about Xabi now!

Also, no talk about the ladyboy now. Maybe his shorts are too tight!

Lurgan now you’ve sad that Kaka will probably sign for Bolton.

Ladyboy’s shorts are indeed rather wedge. Like a 1980s style tennis shorts.

Perez did say he`ll deliver Kaka.He wants to start a new generation of Galactico`s.

With Barry signing for Citea,you would think the Alonso rumours would slightly dry up since the media reckoned that it was Rafa`s “obsession with Gareth Barry” that would eventually see Alonso out the gap.

How naive of me!

Timmy, I know where you are coming from but Perez carries a lot of weight and has commitments for a huge loan from the Spanish banks, who will not dare to goes against him, political wise.

If they can get Kaka, surely there is a chance that they can get at Xabi, being Basque or not.

As I said before, I am usually wrong in these matters. As LB quoted, they will probably be playing for Bolton this year. You heard it hear first!!!

No takers for the Zizi, Zizou question?

i cant believe that barry signed for city. they arent even in any form of europe whatsoever…not to mention they are going to have a backlog of midfield players even before they go on a huge transfer spree this summer.

he’s nothing but a money hound. how can you justify going to the club that has no european football when you claimed to only want to leave villa for champions league football? all this talk of wanting to come to a champions league team. hilarious. my respect for him has gone way down. city isn’t even going to break into the top four next year either. may he rot at the middle of the table till his playing days are done.

Alec, maybe we did take up the option to sign him?

Alec,

I think Barry signed for Citea basically because they were the only club who have made a serious inquiry/bid for him.He`s obviously looking at the world cup here,he`ll be guaranteed a starting place in the holding role every week plus a bumper pay rise.

I honestly think if Rafa wanted Barry he was his.So i won`t hold it against him that he`s not at anfield,Rafa didn`t want him this time,thats not Barry`s fault.

I’d reckon Mark Hughes convinced Barry that the club are going places. That coupled with a fat salary did the trick. I also get the impression that we didn’t really go in for him with any conviction. Barry fancied a change of club and made the switch.

I believe Rafa can find better options for that kind of money. Xabi cost £10m remember.

According to the Guardian Barry will be getting £100k a week. I guess that did the trick

Well, I’m off to bed now, but I’ve just read through all the comments since I was last in this afternoon except Keith’s analysis of Rafa’s spending. I’ve only just finished work and I’m knackered. So, I couldn’t do it justice now, and I’ll digest it in the morning with me cup of tea and a ciggie.

As for all the other comments, there’s one or two things I’d like to clear up…
By telling that old story all I was doing was telling how it used to be, and said that I’m glad we’ve now got a boss that is trying to do things quickly and quitely in that manner.

And yes, despite all the hype and media bollacks, I think it’s still possible to go about our business in that manner – or, The Liverpool Way.

I’m not daft, I know how things have changed since then. But I can’t see why people think it’s impossible to keep things quiet and get them down quickly and cheaply as possible…

Hasn’t this Barry nonsense taught us anything?
Didn’t the Silva business teach us anything?
Didn’t the Parry battle and his sacking teach anything to anyone?

Those three examples alone, could show a blindman on a fast horse that all the transfer speculation regarding LFC is just that… pure speculation!

I’ve been saying it in here for weeks… the media has very little to fill it’s pages and air time now. So, every lazy media hack, pundit and knobhead is now sat in the alehouse, drinking enough to float a small battle ship, (on expenses of course) and is either trawling through internet fan sites looking for something to fill their blank space or even more lazily just making up stories.

But also, like I said way back in the comments, too each their own… I’m not trying to be a smartarse. far from it. I’m just saying – Me I basically ignore all the hype and shite but I understand why others enjoy it and discussing it.

It’s what most footy fans do. And it’s harmless fun, but you can make yourself look a bit of an arse if you actually believe any of it.

To prove it, back to me point…
Barry a nailed on certainty and still Rafa’s main target according to the media. HA! Enough said.

Silva – who of us knew we had even made an approach for him? And what happened as soon as we found out…
Rafa pulled the plug on it and went fucking bonkers on those who leaked it. And think back, he didn’t only kick off on the mole at Valencia, he also kicked of on Bellague right after that LB.

Mind you, he’s kicked off on Bellague a few times now so I don’t think he gets Rafa’s confidence anymore.

But back to Parry…. FFS Rafa played the ultimate gamble, and risked his own job, in getting shut of him just so he could conduct transfer dealings secretly and seal them quickly.

So yeah, enjoy the silly season. It’s a laugh if nothing else. But believe any of it and, well…. let’s just say that’s up to yourself.

LB… Rafa rejected Barry so like any cheap whore he dropped his knickers to the first person who waved a few quid at him… typical footballer

Totally get your point FS. I might have dropped my knickers at those wages though

I see Barry has proven to be just another Football
Mercenary..I thought he only wanted to play for a
Team who could give him Champions League Football?
I guess the money is much more important.

Let’s hope we keep holf of Alonso now.
He’s twice the player Barry ever would be.

Nice data on the transfers, keith. Unfortunately, the mainstream media will not post that.

I think that was the Paul Tomkins data was it not??

Kaka for 56 million is CRAZY. A total waste. He can’t even defend, he can only attack. Imagine what Gerrard would cost. But Perez is a businessman. He only buys players who can sell shirts (i.e. Beckham), so the valuation has that in mind. I think Madrid will be able to recoup the money through merchandise in a relatively short period of time.

I find the barry transfer comical. No doubt about it, rafa dumped him. Better city than stay at Villa was barry’s code.

RE: The Owen debate

Does anyone here think we should re-sign him?

Cons:
1) He walked out on us.

2) High wages.

3) Injury prone.

4) Poor form.

5) Not as quick as he was.

6) Not a bench warmer.

Pros:
1) Should be available fer free or minimal transfer fee.

2) Proven striker with plenty of experience.

3) Should be motivated to prove himself in world cup year.

4) He & his family would be happy to relocate to merseyside.

5) Will help fulfil English quota in upcoming uefa/epl regulations.

What do the esteemed pundits here at Kopblog think?

Puchong Red, I am still loathing him for leaving us. Rafa should take him only if he come as a free and accepts a salary cut to the tune of 30 to 40k per week and pay as you play basis. Then only should he be considered for the second striker role.

There are many others who are much better than Owen and with much lesser ego. One player who will accept that he’ll play second fiddle to Torres and play in about 30 games a year, with about 10 starts should be our ideal choice.

Owen – not a chance. He’s finished.

Just got up, put the radio on, made a cup of tea, sat down to read Keith’s post, had to say this first…
Talk Sport, the biggest (And shitest) sports radio station in this country, with it’s biggest listened to show, The Alan Brazil (Ex-Manc Striker) breakfast show opened up with this…
“Barry snubs Rafa and chooses City over Liverpool, and, what with Alonso leaving, does this mean Liverpool’s title challenge is finished?”

I kid you not, that was the opening premise to the show and people are now invited to phone in the show with their “verdicts” on Rafa and Liverpool’s chances next season.

What the fuck.

The radio has now been tuned back to the station me missus likes and won’t be put back until the season starts (if ever) and the same for Sly Sports “News.”

I swear it just keeps getting worse. In fact, if you don’t see me in the blog for awhile it’s because I can’t stand anymore of this complete and utter bollacks.

How long before Simon Cowell is invited to judge the potential signings, give his verdict on them and then the public vote on who wins a place at what club. It’s a complete and utter fucking farce.

Lurgankop : Zizi would mean dick in french voila pourquoi

Supposedly Barry joined Citeh because ‘they were going in the right direction’. Well if qualifying for the europa cup (whatever that is!) is the right direction, then I can understand his logic.

So you see LB, it has nothing to do with the 100K per week

Well done Kopper, zizi is slang for dick. So it would not have been the best nickname for a national sporting legend.

I don’t have time to read all the comments, but here is just a quick little “I told you so” (just a little though) from when I said people should get online and vote for Alonso for some things.

Xabi Alonso has spoken of his pride after fans on Liverpoolfc.tv voted him man of the match seven times this season – second only to Steven Gerrard.
The Spanish playmaker may have missed out when annual gongs were dished out by the football writers and PFA, but Liverpool supporters recognise how good he has been.

“That’s a nice tribute from the fans,” said Alonso. “In most of our games, we often have a lot of contenders for man of the match.

“Normally it is the more spectacular attacking or goalscoring players who get the awards and so it is nice for me to be recognised and receive that treatment from the fans as well.

“This means it has been a complete season for me. I have felt good and feel I have been playing well too.”

Well, finally got chance to read Keith’s post….

I found the ending – “Hopefully that’s one more media myth that’s been eradicated” – well, I’ll just say… overly optimistic.

Keith, as far as this country’s footy media is concerned, whether it’s to slate Rafa or kiss The Tramp’s arse, they will never stop telling their lies nevermind creating myths.

The sad thing about it is, a lot of our own “Fans” would prefer to listen to the shite the media spouts rather than listen to what Rafa says or – god forbid – take a bit of time do a little research and make their own mind up.

Sadly, it’s the nature of football, the media, footy fans, and even life in general nowadays. And nothing will stop it. In fact, it will only get worse. And if you think it’s bad now mate, wait until we actually win a league title again and the next wave of bandwagon jumpers climb aboard.

Fuck me, that’s to horrible to even contemplate. Back to the point…
I have my own criteria for judging Rafa’s transfer dealings. I’ll say them in a minute. But first, it’s strange to see it all broken down into a list of individual players.

Some of them I’ve never even heard of myself. Good job we’ve got a world full of experts like Jamie Redknapp, Angry Gay, Streve Cohen, Steve McMoan and Eamon – Shit for brains, vodka for breakfast – Dunphy, to put it all into proper perspective for us idiots, eh?

All I can say is… thank fuck I got no education, so had to use me brains instead.

And me own criteria on Rafa’s transfer dealings only really takes 3 things into account…
1: Money out.
2: Money in.
3: Whether the player was a success or not.

Well, I can’t remember the actual figures off the top of me head, but they’re easily dug up. And when you take into account Rafa’s transfer outlay and recouping of money, he’s actually spent a ridiculously low amount in building this squad and the sucess they’ve achieved.

Also, due to TV/CL/Merchandise/Apperance money from the success he’s brought us, the man has turned us from a club that, under Houllier, leaked money like a sieve that had been blasted with a shotgun into a profit making vehicle. Not bad for a Fat Spanish Waiter.

But other factors also need to be taken into consideration, especially…
The state of the team/squad he inherited, and the need to buy players as temporary stop gaps and keep us performing until long term targets could be located, afforded and then purchased.

For instance – Baros to Morientes then Crouch and finally Torres. And Striker’s the easiest position on the pitch to use as an example.

But seeing it’s been discussed a lot lately, just look at the personel we’ve had to use at RB, and, after constantly upgrading, we’re still not fully covered.

The simple amongst us – fans and pundits/hacks/journos – would cite players like Josemi and Kromkamp as a reason why Rafa is so bad in the transfer market. They’d say that was absolute proof of how he’s wasted money on donkey after donkey instead of just buying quality in the first place.

And I’ve seen that often used in here, nevermind the media. What bollax. And it beggars my belief when our own “Fans” believe the media and use their predjudice and bias as a stick to beat Rafa with.

Taking that one position into account the fact is… Rafa tried to buy quality, Alves, and was denied the money. So, he had to slowly upgrade it as players/funds became available. And he’s now got us to the point where we have a previously unknown bargain buy of a player that is amongst the best RB’s in the league.

And remember this upgrading was taking place all over the pitch at the same time, while we also had other clubs grabbing our top targets because of Parry’s dithering.

How many of Rafa’s targets ended up at other clubs because of that… there’s a load, but I’ll just use Berbatov and Evra as the examples, as they’re the first that spring to mind.

And then, even worse than Parry’s dithering making our targets public knowledge, we had Mourhino purposely swiping targets like Duff and SWP away from us – not because he needed them. In fact, he had little intention of ever using them. He just knew that, even though they weren’t the top players he wanted, they were cheaper alternative pieces that Rafa needed to assemble his jigsaw.

God only knows where we could have been by now if Rafa hadn’t had to face this sort of shite from both inside and outside the club.

In fact, it’s bloody amazing what this man has achieved while being virtually hamstrung from inside the club and attacked constantly on the outside by the media, other clubs and the cunts that are the League Manager’s Association – AKA The Tramp’s Arse Kissing Club.

I accept the media is lazy and has no shame. They exist for only one reason – selling their product. And I’m amazed to think people still think the media is actually there to report and tell the truth. But I find it very sad when our own fans prefer to jump on the media bandwagon rather than show a bit of faith in a man who has probably saved this club from falling into a complete shambles.

VIVA LA RAFALUTION!

And I think that’s about the last of me until there’s something better than media speculation and character assination to discuss.

Lads, I’ve come across another comical fungus line:

As a result of Iniesta’s stoppage time goal, Barcelona clinched the second spot in the Champions league final, but Ferguson admits he would have preferred to come up against his London rivals.

“Chelsea would have presented the more straight forward challenge,” he added. “One we’ve learnt how to deal with over the past year or two.

“The way Barcelona operate their midfield makes it very difficult to get the ball off them. But with the right tactics, their game is containable.”

Err, why didn’t you use the right tactics then, you fat git!?

Hillarious.

Hyde, I liked Barca’s tactics. Don’t let the other team have the ball.

LB, mate would you like a tic for NZ v Scotland followed bt WI v Aus at the Oval this Saturday? I’ll give you my details if you are interested.

Bhav, of course mate!! What’s your email?

FS, nobody with an IQ in double digits listens to TalkShite.Wright,Collymore,Irani, all dumber than stupid.Guillembalague.com wrote a good piece re Alonso yesterday.

Glad about the Barry saga ending in our favour, I never thought he was good enough for us, this year or last. I always thought he was slightly above average. However I didn’t really take much noticed of his integrity, well that’s amounted to shit. I would only leave Villa for Cl football.
.
He should be ashamed of himself, and Citeh must be fucking donkers. I say sell them Voronin for 15 million. I would dread to think what the Villa fans think of him now.
.
I still like Alonso but I’m not telling Rafa. Maybe someone up stairs in the Anfield bowels could see right through old Barry last season.
.
Ps this Levesi fellow should fuck off too, wrong attitude, play for free you lazy twat, your earning far to much already. 7 goals in a whole season. Ha laugh.

LB – send me a text on 07799784536 with yours. thanks!

Digger: No you didn’t understand my comment lol.

I’m chuffed Barry has gone to city. That tells me Alonso is staying, but what do I know?

FS: I’m happy to let Rafa do his business and then unveil his signings to the press. In fact it’ll be like getting a load of pressies or 1 or 2 pressies anyways.

Barry is a good player but not one we need in my humble opinion not if it meant selling Alonso.

sorry gaz, but i cant agree with you concerning lavezzi. i have seen the lad play many times and i have a good mate from naples that agrees- lavezzi is the real deal. a top quality player, and young. he is not a goal scorer…he is a playmaker, attacker, a la iniesta. i would love to see him come to liverpool.

Quick question…was Dossena the first Italian to play for us or the first Italian international? Were there no Italians not good enough for Italy? Phil Babbio? Torben Picnicchio? Sean Dundeenio?

Gianluca Festa

Played for Boro not us. Dossena was first Italian to play for us.

Grazie LB

Istvan koerzmio played for us. An outstanding start was made, a lovely curling free kick around the wall, unfortunately that was it, he went rapidly downhill and kept on going until he reached the earth’s core stopping for a cup of tea in hell.

Something very interesting (and perhaps a bit scary?) from Andy Proudfoot in the Liverpool Daily Post:

ODGERS BERNDTSON. No, not our latest prospective left-back currently wallowing in the Norwegian Tippeligaen (Premier League to you and me).
Nor is it the latest ‘meat’ pie to find its way onto the menu of the Reds Bar in the Lower Centenary.

In fact, these are the firm of ‘head-hunters’ who have been appointed to find our new chief executive. Hopefully they will be able to find a better one than that currently sitting on Rick Parry’s shoulders.

But in case you’re thinking of surfing straight to their website and filling in the on-line application form a word of warning: unless you’ve recently engineered the trebling of Coca-Cola sales worldwide, or negotiated a lasting peace between North and South Korea, you won’t even understand the job description.
For here is the biggest indication yet as to what our co-owners see as the priorities of the new head honcho; and the size of the victory won by Rafael Benitez in his recent contract wrangling over responsibility for playing matters.

The Job Overview starts off well enough; describing our ‘iconic’ club and listing our venerable trophy haul. But the tone is set before the paragraph is out, claiming that the club is in a “unique position to leverage its brand”.

Uh-oh. With increasing trepidation we venture down into Responsibilities and Duties. Items 1-3 seem reasonable enough: working relations, leadership, that sort of stuff. But No. 4 comes steaming in like a Tommy Smith tackle.

Spelling out clear accountability for developing income streams from a wide range of commercial activities, the objective we’re told is “monetising an internationally disbursed fan base”. So that’s it: we’re to be monetised, in a dastardly plot worthy of Doctor Who. Dollar, Yen, Baht or Venusian Zargons, take your pick – but monetised you shall be Doctor.

No. 5 lays it on the line, just in case you’ve missed it: you’re to understand “growing, developing and leveraging the value of a global entertainment brand”.

And you thought we were a Football Club! If you fancied working closely with the Manager on transfer strategy, player negotiations etc, forget it; for Item No. 7 lays out your duties as “ensuring that he has the necessary resources and support to achieve outstanding results” – in other words keep your nose out, because Rafa is King.

Yes, this job description has the whiff of Tapas about it all right, and you can bet your last Zargon that Rafa will have scrutinised its contents like a DVD of South American left-wingers.

Press on, and you kind of get used to the repetitive language peppering the Responsibilities and Duties and the Candidate Profile. Leveraging this…globalising that… world-class S&M experience (that’s sales and marketing, so Max Mosley need not apply).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for maximising our commercial income; we’ve fallen behind our beloved neighbours from the other end of the East Lancs mainly because of our failure to capitalise on such opportunities.

But isn’t there something missing here? Hang on, what’s this? Buried at Item 8 in the Candidate Profile: “Empathy with the values and heritage of Liverpool Football Club and a love for the game and all that it stands for would be advantageous”. Advantageous? Surely you mean bleeding essential?

Now I’m not saying you have to be a raving Red to do this job; I’m not a Geordie after all.

But understanding our heritage and the special bond between club and fans is surely worth more than a throwaway line near the end of the job description don’t you think?

Fail to get that, and all the corporate sponsorship in the world won’t save you from becoming Odgers’ Bodge.

I read that earlier Aitch. Prepare to be monetised.

I think we should draft a job description for decent custodians of the club.

FS, Is Fat Scouser the Fat Spanish Waiter in disguise? Brilliantly done, Senor Rafa!

Michaelthomasmademecry, to my knowlwdge, Dossena is the first Italian I’nl to play for us – but not the first Italian. Didn’t we have an on-loan goalie play on the last day of the season two seasons ago.

Andy enjoyed your comments in #137
Alonso is pure class to me, both on and off the field.
I wish more Footballers had his class.

Alec, Lavezzi is using our name to make cash out of his current employer. He is plying his trade in the 3rd or 4th best league in Europe, he is not considered good enough to start or squad for his country, his goal scoring rate is less than reasonable, he has had numerous problems with coaches and he is claiming the club are disrespectful towards him. Wow he’s someone I’d like to spend 20 million on. He is a hard working headless chicken type runner. Very much a Tevez type player without the name. 20 million is big bucks. Silva leaves him for dead in the ability and class stakes, he’s only slightly valued at more.
.
How long would he last under Rafa’s regime.

Spent ten mins there looking through various sites and we’re linked with the following…Silva, Distin, Tuncay, Kleber, Lavezzi, Owen and Zhirkov.

No quotes from Liverpool FC on any of the pages. Although I did read a very well balanced and non biased article on how great Fergie is because he gives his kids a chance whereas RB doestn’t…the headline of the article is, and I kid you not…If Benitez started with Darby and Spearing they would now be on open top buses.

gaz

i’m not sure where you are getting your information on him, but it seems to be drastically different to mine. i have seen the boy play and he can play. he is not a head case, as you seem to think…he’s been getting linked to us for a while and the press keep asking him about it. he has single handedly led napoli through the season. he shined at the olympics for napoli and has also played for his country a few times…and remember this is argentina, a country that has attacking options of messi, tevez, diego milito, riquelme (till just recently), aguero, cambiasso, and maxi rodriguez. lavezzi will definitely be in their world cup squad. remember, the boy is playing for napoli right now. he is going to go to a big club very soon. juve were very interested supposedly till they spent a fortune on diego (similar position).

as i mentioned before, he’s not a scoring type striker…he is a playmaker like aimar. trouble with coaches? dont know anything about that. regarding the club being disrespectful, its true that is not ideal behavior, but i’m sure he’s getting “coached” by his agent – as all players these days are – not to mention he realizes he could be earning 3x his current wages elsewhere and napoli are not willing to pay him more. he is far more skilled than tevez…not necessarily a better player, but a different type of player. i never said i’d like to pay 20 million for him, and i’m sure rafa won’t either. i think 12-15 is fair though. who knows how much valencia will sell silva for? they could want 30 million…look at whats going on around the world -

ribery 80 million, kaka 80 million, tevez 25-30 million, barry 12 million with 1 yr left on contract?!

yes valencia is in dire straits, but they aren’t going to part with silva for a paltry sum.

if we could pip lavezzi for 12-15, i think it would be a great deal.

Alec…saw this comment from a Napoli fan and thought I would post it…

“i am a nap fan and maybe i’ll rather explain you how the situation is. Lavezzi asked a new contract last december when napoli was 4th in our championship, and nap promised to renew it. Then, napoli got 13pt in 19 matches and ended 12th, so the society doesn’t want to give him more money. He wants a new contract or he will go, so he’s talking about liverpool offer, but maybe it? isn’t even true: his agent said the offer from liverpool came by sms: is that believable?”

Liverpool being ultra-secretive if they’re doing deals by text now!

Either that, or it’s still Prick Permy Parry still doing the deals!

Alec in the 12 million odd bracket no worries but a large scale bid for a largely unheard off player in PL terms is to much.
.
Look and Huntlear in Spain couldn’t even get a run but was touted as spectacular in his own league. If we’re prepared to pay that for Levezzi why don’t we spend it on someone like Walcott or Young.

The UI has changed. First look, the page seems bloated. Have to get used to it.

interesting article. i wonder why we haven’t handed our accounts in yet?

ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jun/02/premier-league-clubs-debt

Some of the transfers rumours are making me laugh. One that tickled me is that we’re gonna offer Voronin and £15m to Valencia for David Silva. Haha.

Re: 164

Why does the page seem bloated? It’s exactly the same width as before just without the left sidebar which wasn’t required.

Hi gents, this is Matt. As you can see, Max and I (mostly Max cos he’s smarter than me) have been busy tweaking the Kopblog design. We hope you like the improvements.

You will notice some users have ‘gravatars’ displayed beside their comments now (Eg. the image of Torres next to mine here). To sign up for your gravatar visit http://en.gravatar.com/site/signup/

It’s very simple, just associate it with the email address you use on here. Hopefully make user’s comments stand out more and give the site a nice feel.

Feedback welcome…

What sucks is some of our main targets are getting snatched from right under our noses! First Barry, now Chelsea want to spend 17million on a player they sold a few years ago for 4 million!! How does Liverpool compete with this madness?!! If we do go ahead and win the league it will be even sweeter knowing we did it despite competing with moneybags all around us…

Hi lads
just checking me gravatar
nice one

one paper said today Liverpool in for Middelsborough FLOP Tuncay

Didn’t know he was a FLOP

Over and out

I agree, Tuncay is no flop. In the forums I marked him as the only player from a relegated team id be happy for us to sign. He could do a job as a squad player in a somewhat Luis Garcia type role.

trying out the gravatar…

trying again…

hahaha, hilarious…look at this story

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=652537&sec=europe&cc=5901

looks like rafa’s smokescreens are working again…pranjic looks to be signing for bayern, says sly sports

trying out the gravatar…

Why aint it working?

testing….

here goes…..

Does the email address you use have to correspond with the email addressed used when registering on kopblog?

Yes, you can change your email registered here at http://www.thisisanfield.com/kopblog/wp-admin/profile.php

LB: stop wasting Kop blog time and space lol. I was going to put my image on but the boss walked in right in the middle.

Testing

We should have created a special testing post for all the gravatar comments! haha. Glad you like it lads.

Looks like mine is sorted.

Also looks like we’ve put in a £2m bid for Sylvain Distan.

#167

Its probably that the comments used to start from the left and now it has been padded with a image.

LB……from memory last night it said the image would take 15mins to appear…your image is showing on all your posts. Away back to bed.

testing

testing…

Let me try now

I like what you’ve done with the place.

I might as well join in the fun…

how do i feckin do this?

yes i`m done ha

Very good effort Matt and Max.

Congrats and thanks!

Here’s some interesting annual wages data that I fell upon, if you can actually do that.

The figures below without brackets are for the 07/08 season and the 06/07 season.

Chelsea – £172.1m (£132.9m)
Manchester Utd – £121.1m (£92.3m)
Arsenal – £101.3m (£89.7m)
Liverpool – £90.4m (£77.6m)
Newcastle Utd – £74.6m (£56.7m)

Considering that Keane came and went pretty quickly, I would not expect this figure to be much different for this season. Although you could probably state the same for the rest of the teams above.

Anyhow, it shows you what a good job Rafa is doing in running a tight ship, in relative terms, and getting quality for Money. FFS, look at Newcastle. What’s that all about?

In wages terms we are defo punching about our weight.

BTW, can you guess who was sixth in that list for the 07/08 season?

Time to see if my image works.

Lurgankop was it Spurs?

Nope Kenny, they came in at 8th.

BTW, I would have went for them as well.

Nice post there FS: n0.138? The thing that occured to me was that the transfer speculation thus far has been all about PAST targets and quite possibly players that are angling for a payrise….. I feel that you’ve hit upon the crux of the whole Rafulation FS- THE MEDIA HAS NO IDEA WHO RAFA WANTS (and thank fuckin god to that!).

Rafa DOES NOT need to buy more English players this year, so why all the fuss over Johnson when there’s probably a player kicking a ball around that’s a mear FRACTION of the cost???

To be honest I’m glad that things seem to be kept in house these days. Of course I could be wrong as Rafa has yet to sign or sell anybody. But at the very least the media have been clutching at straws wondering who the bloody hell Rafa’s looking at/negotiating for and I’m loving it!…

Viva la Rafulation!!!!!

Anyone seen the news about the club’s debt etc?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/06/04/revealed-how-liverpool-fc-owners-saddled-club-with-42-6m-debts-100252-23793340/

Site does look alot better guys, well done!

Hard to miss it LB, especially when its on BBC’s front page of their sports section….

where is my image?

What’s going on!

hope my picture comes up

test

Had a look at that LB doesnt look promising for the Yanks does it, though
they’ll probably get the extension and get through another tranfer window
on a shoestring budget .
150 million to spend at Real and we’ll get 20 plus sales
Chavs will spend 60 to stop us buying players.
Scum will spend 60
Man City even more
Portsmouth who knows
PS Lurgan was it Man City at 6
YNWA

Lurgan….think it’ll be a mid table team spending silly money last year so I’ll punt for West Ham or Portsmouth…

Does it really matter what other teams are doing? If it was all about the $$$ then ManC would be tops, but they’re far from it… I seem to remember (in this forum) the fear and trepidation of the the emerging super team (ManC). Fact of the matter is that they could spend 100mill GBP and they’d probably be very lucky to break into the Europa league… They are absolute rubbish, so why worry about who they waste their money on? 12mill for a player in their last year of their contract= absolute stupidity…

We could always use more money, but it’s how you spend it is what really matters. We need a RB, attacking midfeilder and another striker. We probably only need 1 of those three to be a match winner, the other two only have to be decent cover. In all honesty we don’t need the 200mill GBP that Real feel that they need, so why worry about it guys?

Gerrard and Torres are our 40mill GBP players, we’re lucky we’vee got two of them. Alonso and Mash are easily 20mill along with a host of 10-15mill rated players= Reina,Kuyt, Babel, Benny onion, Arbie, DAgger, Ninja Skirt, Carra…

We don’t need to spend an absolute fortune… Maybe a David Silva (or someone of a similar ilk) and a couple of solid internationals would surely neer complete the squad.

What I am interested in is when we’re going to start making a splash in the transfer market, we’re stone quiet so far and it’s anyone’s guess if Rafa is fighting for some funds or is finishing of some minor details of his targets. Mum’s the word out of Anfeild HQ and I truely think that no-one but the parties concerned really has any idea…
Even Ballague is ambiguious if you ask me about the whole Xabi saga. He’s only stating the obvious, Perez needs more top class Spanish players and desparatley needs a decent holding midfeilder, add in the public statemnts. And of course everyone has a price, so what really has he said that’s a true insight as to whats happening at Anfeild HQ? Nothing would be my answer and hopefully the old days have returned where we’re not to know about any dirty laundry…

Rafa wants swift transfers to be carried out this window. So far he’s re-organising/ed his back-room staff, and has been extending contracts of our core team members. Seems like hes working to one big process, ticking off his prioties one by one along the way…

Viva La Rafulation!!!

Pity one of our targets have gone. Barry took the money route.

Knght, I’m actually quite happy Barry is not in LFC for the reasons below:

1) He’s too near 30 and hence has only a few good years left
2) Alonso’s much better player, and is younger too. Even Lucas, IMHO, can be better if given another year or two
3) He went to MC for $$$, which now in hindsight, makes me relieved that we didn’t get a mercenary. I certainly don’t want another Lucas Neil

If you look at our wishlist Silva,Villa,Johnson,Barry,you’ll notice all of the above
clubs will be chasing them with more money, So yes it does matter what they
spend that why we need to keep quiet about targets so they dont hijack the
deal.
I rekon we can get one World class player and a couple of unknows and we’ll
be ready .Whereas after what we did to those teams this season they will need
to spend big.
YNWA

Not a financial expert so bear with me…if the Borrowers default and can no longer support the club will we be hit with a points deduction like Leeds, Southampton etc? Southampton went down basically because their owners went bust 2 weeks before the end of the season….no point trying in the last 2 games after losing those ten points

Seriously worrying the news bout the club’s debt.

Fer fook’s sake, how do we fooking get rid of these two yankee cunts?

When are these Clowns going to sell the Club and get out of the way?

testing 123

Great job with site guys.Love it.
Liverpool made a record turnover. If only those twats did put some of their money in the club, we would have been able to financially out muscle our rivals on signings.

Well done MTMMC, it was Portsmouth with 54.68m quid.

I am not a financial expert either but I don’t think that defaulting on the loan will put us in the same situation as Southampton etc.

I think that it will mean that both parties will sit down to discuss/alter the terms and conditions of the loan so LFC/Kop can make the payments. If both parties cannot come to an agreement, then we are in the a situation like Southampton, I think.

However, the flip side of this would be that the yanks would probably have to sell the club to service the debt, which is what we all want.

Never a dull moment for a red fan eh.

Watching slysports news this morning. They had the journo from the Mirror spewing sensationalism about Liverpool having to abandon our Spring targets and now go for much more modest targets. As if the financial figures would be a new revelation to the people who run the club. About half an hour later they get an expert accountant to give her view. She said it’s not very alarming, LFC generate a healthy cash flow, turned over record profit and there is always room for manoeuvre with the banks when dealing with a healthy asset. When asked about likelihood on spending on players she said the owners are likely to spend because the club represent their most profitable asset. Quite a contrast of opinion. So who do you believe? The journo or the accountant?

My belief is that they will get yet another refinancing package from the bank. I’ve read that they’ll have to put more of their own money in this time which is why there has been talk of them selling off their other assets – or stakes in those other assets.

So we seem to be stuck with them for the foreseeable future.

I just want to see if my photo ocf FS and myself came out

Did not work what are you supposed to do once you have selected an image?

Keith, make sure the email you use in the gavatar is teh same email you sued when you registered on here.

I did lets test again

Last time

I did change it LB but it went back to the old one, so here goes again

Dossena said: “I have talked to Rafa Benitez. He is a wonderful person and has understood my problem.

“He told me that if they receive an offer that satisfies both the club and me, he will facilitate my transfer.

“I would run to Juve. They showed interest in me last year, but then Liverpool stepped in and wrapped things up in less than an hour.

“In England they play continuously and the hardest training session does not last more than 40 minutes, but I need to train longer.

“Now I truly hope to join Juve and start a new life.”

LOL, looking good Keith and FS

Lads, I have got me hands on the full accounts report for Kop Football (Holdings) Limited i.e. LFC.

Just very quickly browsed thru’ it and this popped out to me on the last page:

“Since the year end, acquisitions to the playing staff have occurred for total transfer fees of 7 million pounds. The Club has sold Steve Finnan and Robbie Keane for total guaranteed fees of 12.8 million pounds”

Not sure what other nice titbits of info it has but if anyone is interested in having it, let me know.

I had a quick look at the account as well, looks live the amount due to the banks on 24/07 is £245m

I will need to have a look over them at the Weekend before I will comment further.

All i can say is, the owner’s loss has undone all the good work in terms of profit by the Football club.

Whats happening on the transfer front? We dont seem to be in the race for any high profile stars.

Is the Distin story true? At 2m it will not be a bad deal specially after Hyppia leaving. If Dossena indeed leaves, Distin can take his role too.

Chelsea have still not landed any major names but surely they will be stronger. How rich is this Perez? He seems to have unlimited amount of money.

Christ, this site has certainly taken on a posh new look! Congrats to all responsible.

Who knows what to think about the clubs spiralling debt. A good excuse for the owners to give Rafa fuck all to spend, perhaps?

Guys – very important click on the following link! Add the ‘H’.

ttp://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/RBS-and-MPs-_-No-to-Refinancing.html

Lugankop, nice info. Thanks.

Nice new look. I am trying to put up my pic taken with Roy Evans.