first

got the shirts – thanks gerry

if xabi levels can we still in the title? yes but it will be more difficult

can he be replaced if he leaves? yes, but it might change the way s rafa has us primed to play

what should be the asking price for him to leave? a fucking ton…in my opinion he was the pivotal player for our season last year (i watched roughly 90% of the matches, and I felt there was a scene of calm come hell or hull city when he was on the pitch)

What ever the outcome this silly season, i would not be surprised to see rafa bring in another young central midfielder to be developed with lucas)

NK u are so childish(and i’m a really bad loser lol)

Gerry good blog and glad it was about the alonso situation. The thing that i would hold against alonso is that should he leave he’ll be doing so when he knows how fantastic a chance we have of winning the league. Ok he’s the model pro but after five years great service and five attempts at gaining a premiership medal why walk away now after coming so far.
He is a proud intelligent and dignified player an surely when he looks around the other top four teams he can see they our at their weakest in years. Why cant he see one more final push at the best possible time will not only bring him one of footballs greatest honnours but also alot more interest from madrid next season should he want to go then.
Also as the prem is (at the minute) the strongest league in the world and rafa is a surgeon in europe he must be able to see he will also get another fantastic crack at the champions league furthermore enhancing his profile.
I for one will be gutted if he leaves,although i’ve always been over loyal to our players infact if i was pulling the strings GH would still be the boss and we’d still play with fowler and barnes in the side. Which however makes me realise should we lose him or mash for that matter i’d much rather they went and we kept rafa,because that man is a legend.

rr – sorry i’m a bad winner (just ask any manc supporter i met after the 4-1 massacre!

It gets a little boring saying it every time, but nonetheless – good blog Gerry.

I really appreciate the time and effort you are putting into this. Keep up the excellent work!

Anyways, the whole Alonso situation just shows what influence the media has on today’s game. They practically decide whether a player stays or goes.

Personally, I agree with what Fat Scouser wrote in one of his comments on the last blog about. I do think that Rafa is preparing for life without Alonso – he would love to keep him, but if a suitable offer occurs, then he’s forced to listen. As we don’t have the wealth of Arabic Blue Man Group or Abramovich, we cannot ignore the fact that LFC is more than a football club – we are also a business. And with that in mind, we cannot just reject an (as some of the papers report today (if they are to be trusted)) offer of around £35 million. For a club like us, that represents a huge amount of money and a chance of earning a seriously big profit on a player. That money could very easily be reinvested in another young talent such as Javi Martinez (again, according to the press) which could potentially turn into another fine piece of business as he’s release clause isn’t overwhelmingly high.

I’d love to see Alonso make a public statement saying that he will stay for as long as the manager wants him to stay, but I just cant see that happening, unfortunately…

Nice one Gerry as normal it would be a same if Alonso goes but as in the past no one player is bigger than the club, bit i think if Raffa wants to keep him as i think he does he will more than likely talk him into giving us one more year, then hopefully we win the title and if he really wants to go then let him go with the clubs plessing as he would go for a profit be a legend and owe us nothing, and he would be remember foundly by the fans.

Enjoy the shirts NK.
Gerry, timely Blog..I would hate to see ALonso go.
I admire the lad , he has tremenedous talent.
I think we would miss him in our midfield.
I agree with Roarin-Red.
Why leave now when we are on the verge of winning the Prem.
Rafa should tell both Masher and Alonso.
” Win us the League this Year, and you can go.”
Hold them to them to their contracts.
Like you pointed out Gerry, the players and their agents do not seem to think that they should honour their contracts. Anytime someone comes along and offers them a few quid more they want out of it.
The money in the game these days is destroying it.
I don’t know how the average Family can go to the match these days.

Yes Gerry, this is turning out to be one of the most confusing transfer sagas of all time. One of the strangest aspects of this long drawn-out yarn is that everybody seems to know Xabi is leaving but nobody who really matters has yet said anything concrete about his departure.

Well, to be accurate the Real Madrid people, Shit-On-A-Stick, Pellegrini and Butragueño (amongst others) have said they are interested in the player and this has been duely copied, printed and dramatised by Marca. This is then picked up and reiterated by the English press and not only the comics like Sun and Star but also so-called quality papers. They also confidently say the player wants out without ever saying how they know this. But anything concrete from Benitez, Xabi or his agent so far? Maybe this speculation will turn out to be true but I’m really wondering where these guys get the information from because the only thing that is sometimes said is a rather vague “sources close to the player”. Is that his wife, mother or what? For such a private person as is Xabi Alonso, a lot of people mseem to know a lot about him and his wishes.

Just a couple of months ago a quality paper printed this report Have things really changed so dramatically in that time? Hopefully, when all of this over we’ll get to learn the true facts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/may/14/xabi-alonso-liverpool-premier-league

I think its ‘goodbye Xabi and thanks for the memories lad’ to be honest Ger. His silence is deafening and speaks volumes. Add to that Barretts article yesterday stating that Xabi has all but put in a transfer request and all thats left is the getting-old-fast parade of -insert player here- around the Bernabeu. It is of the utmost importance though that we hose the bastards for as much as we possibly can though. 35mil and not cent less. Madrid have been taking the piss out of us a couple of times too many now at this stage. McManaman on a free (our fault, I know), Owen for 8mil and the biggest piss take of all; Nunez the opposite way. They must have had some laugh at that. Well, shoes on the other foot now motherfuckers and there aint no point asking on the phone ‘can I speak to Rick por favor?’!! I will be deeply disappointed if our worst fears are realised and the deal goes through but at least I know we wont get fucked on this one.
Stig Rafa was preparing for life without Alonso last Summer so I’m sure theres a contingency plan ready to be activated. As Derek Trotter would say, ‘everythings cushty mate!’

Super stuff Gerry.It goes without saying really that all LFC fans want him to stay.If rafa could strike a deal with him to stay on for another year it would be great.Alonso is a good pro and i wouldn’t worry if if was “convinced” to stay as if would give his all for the shirt other than his mind being in Madrid.He also will have to keep up his performance to cement his position in the spanish world cup team.I guess nobody will know whats going on until Xabi actually comes back from his hols but i guess we’ll all hang on to that hope that he’ll stay.Like i’ve said before whatever happens i trust Rafa will have a plan B.

Timmy I agree that it’d be nice if we could at least pull a little “ok, you can have him next year” deal with Real Madrid, they obviously don’t mind going for that malarkey on other deals. Something tells me that aint going to happen though.

FS – or anyone else – as mentioned other times, I’m going to be in the UK in mid-August. I’m dead, dead keen to get to the first home game of the season against Stoke on Wednesday 19th August. I thought I had tickets lined up through a mate but they appear to have fallen through. Can anyone help me out at all please? Ideally 2 tickets so my mate can come, but I’ll take what I can get. Australia to the UK is a long way to come and not see a game at Anfield! Will probably be my only chance all season.

I like Alonso but if someone is willing to offer us big money for him, then I guess if it can benefit us elsewhere, he’s gone.
.
I think he had a wonderful year but deep down I think he lacks some pace and that’s something I think we really need. If he stays I’ll be chuffed, if he goes I’ll be sad but in the end the team will move on and all will be a distant memory.
.
Andy enjoy the time over there. Hope you can get a ticket.
.
Now in regard to plan B, whether Rafa has one or not doesn’t really matter, what matters is that other than Alonso (even Alonso) most of our major stars are locked into long term contracts. We’re an on the up team and most clubs no it.

It will be difficult if Xabi goes, but if it’s going to happen I hope it can be sorted in the next week. Tell Real Madrid that have one week to put the deal together, if they can’t get it done than drop it.

This squad is so close and the last thing we need is for Rafa having to work the entire month of August trying to find his replacement. I’m sure Rafa has his targets, but it would be great if the squad was settled by the end of July.

For once it appears we may be able to get top dollar from Real Madrid. If they don’t meet our valuation, then tough shit. Simple enough. It’s not our fault that they overpaid for Ladyboy and Kaka. They set the market, they now have to deal with the ramifications of that. All that money spent, and they still haven’t addressed their back 4, which was their Achilles heal last season.

I will admit, I’m getting a bit impatient with this transfer window. Taking Xabi out of the equation, we still have a few needs to be addressed.

We need a 4th choice CB, unless Rafa plans on using one of the young kids.

Is Arbie staying or going? If he stays, then we’re set at both fullback positions since Arbie can play on either side. If he’s going, then we’re no better than we ended the season, with just Johnson, Degan, and Darby on the right. That seems as if it would still be leaving us pretty bare over there.

I also wouldn’t hold it out against Alonso even though I believe he DOES owe the Kop something. I’m treating these stories as usual journo hollowness. I also agree a word from Alonso or Masche would certainly not hurt.

That said, is there a win situation for RB? He never seems to get anything right. The media corps gave up on rotation, but have harped on and on about buying players at inflated fees (wonder if Real Madrid or MUFC also qualify), being cold towards his players (is there even a cold-o-meter?), lacking tactical nous (said with crossed fingers because LFC keep confounding such), etc.

In contrast, Wenger is always playing beautiful soccer, even when his team is totally out-Arsenaled twice by the Reds in the same season! No worries, WE’RE STILL THE REDS AND NO ONE ELSE EVER WILL!

I agree with Nigerian Kopite that losing Alonso doesn’t kill RB’s team. It just changes our style of play. The timing of such a departure would be a real kick in the nuts, esp. now that the team’s on the cusp of a PL win. It however doesn’t mean the Reds cannot do with transfer funds (thanks Messrs G & H!) or with a younger replacement. We’ll be fine.

That said, I can’t wait for Sunday because that’s when the Spanish/Argie/Italian players join up with the team, but also the continuation of pre-season and the league charge to come.

Bring on both Manc teams, AFC, CFC or any other you choose to name.

I’m not Walking Alone, ever, Alonso or not.

Superb day to fellow Kopites and thanks Gerry for this blog.

YN(Ever)WA!

Digger

Nunez….. I’d forgotten ’bout him…. That was a bit of a Mickey Mouse transfer – we were well and truly lubed up but still not prepared…

Anyways, I fully agree with you – let them stump up the money or piss off. I’m sure Alonso will not try to hold the club ransom as he’s got three years left on his contract. If his mind is set on a move away then there’s little point in keeping him though as a player with his mind elsewhere isn’t excatly what you would discribe as an asset.

Like I said before, I’d love to keep him but if he’s a wantaway he shouldn’t hang about till the tea’s gone cold. If he geniunly feels his motivation is gone at LFC then the least he can do is to let us know so we can get on with another plan asap.

Great blog as usual Gerry and yes in the circumstances I would also prefer to Keep Alonso, if he wanted to stay. Where I differ is that I still think we can win the Prem without him and don’t think we will automatically be weaker. In fact if we get the price Rafa is holding out for I think we might even be stronger. It could ste us back in terms of continuity and a settled team for the start of the season, but having only to slot one or two players with Johnson it wont have the same affect of having to slot and settled 4 or 5 so the disruption, yes there will be some, will be minimal and the benefits in the long run might be more beneficial. I wot go on because we did discus it in the last blog, the Alonso for Matinez and Silva or similar. That’s only if he wants to eave and I am still not 100% sure.

Well said Kinny in the last blog, I have retrained myself for quite sometime. LB you where making a point (even one as badly as you where making at the time ) and the arguments where heated but it was still a discussion at the end of the day not pathetic little one liners with no intelligence, thought or reason behind it.

Watch the entire game last night and it was a good first outing for the boys. Their legs where very heavy after all the training even Kuyt looked knackered and hardly ran, when compared to his usual effort. I tell you “My Little Pony” looked very good and the lad has great technical ability and could be an asset if he got his mind right about life in Liverpool, Germany it is not, it has life and soul, with a bit of disorganization thrown in, in the best English tradition. Nemeth made some great runs and got into some good positions but lacked a bit of sharpness. El Zhar looked sharp and hungry with lost of pace to burn. We where very shaky at the back with Carra and San Jose but that is to be expected seeing that it was the first time together with only Spearing to protect them. He did not play too badly in his first outing. Everybody did OK considering and Insua seems to have started where he left off last year.

The second half team (total change) was better for the first 20 to 30 minutes then ran out of steam. Skertal was a Monster at the back and him and Kelly shut everything down, it continued when Ayala came on for Kelly. Johnson was by far the most impressive player on show, playing at left back, he looked and oozed class. Pacheo’s control is very impressive for a 17 year old, he was a bit selfish and missed a few opportunities to put people away by trying to go alone but looks a very good prospect and should be a star of the future. Benny was Benny and seems to be very much settled, although he came in and out of the play due to mainly being tired I think.

Agreed FS Darby is functional if not spectacular, he came on for Degen, the one disappointment for me in the first half team and I have not changed my opinion of him as not quite being up to Liverpool standard. We need to keep Arbie for this year as both Darby and Degen cannot fill the void if we pick up injuries. Plessis had a decent game in the middle, solid if not spectacular and that great and spectacular and future star midfielder Lucas kept things moving nicely and had some great runs into the box. He looks, bigger and stronger for all the off season work.

All in all it was great to see the red jerseys again, even in a friendly relaxed atmosphere with everybody apart form Skertal pulling out of the 50/50 challenges. Very open game with not much consideration to defending, but it was a training exercise and should be looked at as such.

I will leave you with one though from the commentators over here, “will Rafa be upset that Liverpool did not win” enough said point made, morons.

Sorry for all the errors more hast less speed syndrome.

Great summary of the match Keith, just one thing I noticed was GJ playing left back (and doing quite well), but maybe a signal from Rafa to Arbie that just cos we bought a player for £18 doesn’t mean he will necessarily be only playing in your position. Have to say, i think GJ will make a big difference next year, be it at RB, LB or right of midfield, he has great pace, touch and is a very intelligent crosser of the ball, he actually looks up and decides where he wants to put it as opposed to just whipping it accross and hoping for a player to be there.

KeithSA on what channel did you watch the match? MNet SuperSport?

SNigeria K Supersport 3 unfortunately there is a station in Nigeria that has bought the football rights to the Prem, not sure if that is for preseason friendly, but SP 3 is screening the next friendly in Austria this week as well. I will be in Nigeria next week I think, send me a mail on [email protected]. With your details, it’s a quick trip so if not this time next. Yes that’s why it was so impressive Galway, Dossena and Aurelleo where unavailable so his first game and out of position (comfort zone) was very impressive and I agree he will be very important for us this season.

Well that’s it for this season a 0-0 draw with St Gallen a nothing team. Rafa should go now along with Lucas. We are crap, the mancs will wipe the floor with us and we should go for Mark Hughes who buys good players. I just hope we don’t slip out of the top 4. Glen Johnson obviously won’t add anything to the team he didn’t even score. Rafa doesn’t give youth a chance and his rotation of the whole team was ridiculous, I hope he realises it doesn’t work.

Am I Burgerman in disguise? Am I burgerman in disguise?

obviously you have to sing that last comment to the tune of “we’ll support you ever more”

Kenny Dalglish LFC Legend….

Where to start….? By the sound of it you are either a scum or a moron. And for that, I shan’t waste any more time on your braindead comment.

Either way – do us a favour: Please stand on a beach or a field holding a metal coat hanger as high as you can next time there’s a bit of thunder and lightning where you live.

Stig it’s a piss take mate of a certain individual that posts on the blog, Kenny is one of the stalwart of the blog.

However that does pose a question Kenny if Mark Hughes only wants to buy players that everybody else is interested in does that make him a better judge of talent than Rafa?

Also the Tramp must be a better judge, but crap closer and salesman because as soon as he is interested they go and sign for another club with indecent haste to get away from him.

and what about Mary Loo?

It will all be reveled on the next episode of soap!

Who remembers that TV sitcom the best piss take yet and the starter of careers, Billy Crystal, Benson and a host of others? Only the old farts like FS, Gerry and I will probably remember.

Yes it’s a slow day at the office.

Thanks Keith I’m proud to be referred to as a stalwart of the blog. Stig – Sorry mate it was a joke but I did like your put down.

Ok seriously, It looks like a lot of the youngsters are going to be put through their paces, Rafa wants to see if they’ll sink or swim. Frank Mcfarland said the other day that Rafa was waiting to meet all the youth players as they came back for pre-season training. He said all the youngsters were buzzing afterwards. Again shows what a great manager we have at the club. Jamie Carragher and Stevie also pop down a lot, that must be a great boost for the lads.

I’ve just read the blog and a few comments and I’ve been called away. So, I’ll catch up and comment later. But wanted to say this befoire going… Andy, first home game of the season is always a terrible scramble for tickets. So I can’t promise anything but I will try for you and your mate. But in all truth, that’s going to be hard.

I thought you was going to Spurs away? I will be at that. I will probably be at Anfield for Stoke an all. But Spurs away would be much easier to fix tickets for you.

Anyway, got to go. See you’s later

Personally i dont think Alonso will go to Madrid his “deafening silence” may be
down to the fact that he’s on his honeymoon and doesn’t want to annoy his
wife by talking about work ( got to keep her sweet ) .Besides which why would
he play for Franco’s boys after the atrocity’s carried out in his hometown by
Franco’s troops.
Add to that “shit on a stick” and This is Anfield “So what”, comments before we destroyed them 4-0, and the thought of sharing a changing room with Ladyboy
and the chance of a Prem league medal if he stays, will convince him to stay,
Mind you i didnt think Owen would sign for the Scum either ,goes to show what i know.
YNWA

PS Lurgan think i found BM on you tube check out the BM sign at 3.00 mins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqh9N-Mw5E
YNWA

Great blog Gerry and one that is close to the hearts of many/all fellow reds.

Personally I feel that Rafa would not be too disturbed to sell Alonso for top dollar. Nothing to back it up apart from heresay but that article in the echo seems to point that there is something afoot.

Also, of all the ‘core’ team members, only really Masch and Alonso have not had their contracts extended.

Masch is on a low wage by comparison with the others but by all reports (i.e. FS) he did get a 9 million handshake for joining the reds. Not bad getting ~3/4 of your future salary up front!

Why no contract extension talk for Alonso?

As always we shall just have to wait and see. Either way let’s hope for a speedy solution!

Very good rome77, but he didn’t look 6 ft 3 to me

BTW, KeithSA, you can change your avatar by going to the following link:

http://en.gravatar.com/site/login/%252Fsite%252Fsignup%252F

It seems that you cannot do anything within kopblog itself.

Fairenoughski to all incl KENNY DALGLISH LFC LEGEND and Keith. I’m the new boy in this forum -happy days now that everyones been introduced. No reason for apologies – I’m just happy you liked my slightly different view on the matter.

The media here in Denmark is raving on about Aggers injury – does anyone have idea for how long he’ll be out for…? They are suggesting up to 2-3 months more on the sidelines, but surely not again..?

Gerry i`m back in business.Seems i didn`t have a virus after all it was just some cookies and ardware i had in me laptop and a buddy of mine who`s in the know in all things I.T. cleared them for me.

I kept up with all comments and posted the odd one through my mobile phone.

Seen the match last night.It was your typical first pre-season game but i think Rafa was happy with the workout the players got.St Gallen have started their season so they ensured the guys had to work to a certain pace to make a good contest.

The youngsters in general equiped themselves well too.Glen johnson looked strong going forward and i think he`ll make a significant improvement to our squad.

Lurgan i think the reason the lads haven`t been offered new deals is because they`ve 3 years left on the current deals.

Bayo if yor reading this check yor mail.

my U is fooked lol

i hate the United so bloody much i now have a stong dislike to capital “U” – don’t like female sheep that much either! (i know i’m leaving myself open but hopefully someone will get the joke!

seems very quite on the xabi front. must be having one hell of a honeymoon. does anyone know where xabi is from in spain? are they anti franco? but you now have catholics, protistants, muslems and buddish playing for the other team in the old firm, so i wonder if that means anything.

hopefully xabi realizes he really dosn’t want to spend that much time around a ladyboy!

sorry about the spelling – just one of those nights, when as an african, i feel it’s my right to murder the English language!

SA Kopite & Keith will probably agree with me!

Ha get that NK.

Alonso is basque.To answer your question are they anti franco,well are you anti Mr fergson.Both people are ct from the same cloth.Both try to dictate establishments in horrible ways!

As you said i probably dosen`t make a whole lot of difference in this day and age.

Timmy, I know that Alonso has still 3 years left on this his contract but, for me, there is still something that does not quite add up.

Rafa was willing to sell Alonso last year as a make-weight in the Barry transfer. It all fell thru’ and Xabi, professional as ever, has had his best ever season in a LFC jersey.

What does he get ‘rewarded’ with. Nothing!

Even though there are a few other players, who are in similar situations, have been offered extended deals. Doesn’t make sense to me!

I hope he stays but I do have some doubts. Looking forward to bring proved wrong.

Glad you decided to talk about Xabi Gerry, but I don’t think there’s much more I can say on the lad/subject.

Most people in here seem to have come to this conclusion – they’d like him to stay, but if he’s going, let’s get it done as soon as possible and move on as best we can.

I can’t disagree with that.

Thanks for the report Keith. I tried to watch it but only had a really shitty stream that was all stop/start, much more stop than start.

But like you said yourself, it’s hard to judge from these friendlies. It’s probably the first time the lads have touched a ball since going back into training as this is the time for all the hard slog to regain full/match fitness.
Donal/Knight sorry to tell you the trip to Thailand finally died today. Sorry about that. I’ll explain later, but it’s getting late. So off to bed.

NK: sorry mate, but as a Scouser it’s my right, nay, duty, to murder the English language.

Night chaps.

nice post and i think a lot fo the fans agree with what has been said. If alonso is to go then it needs to be resolved quickly so that replacements can be thought of. I don’t know how much to believe from the press especially after alonso said not so long ago that he was looking forward to his 6th season at Liverpool. Either way it needs to be resolved and everything made clear

Stig, I’m afraid you may need to re-learn the art of sarcasm.

I thought it was obvious that KDLL was being cheeky and sarcastic, having a go at idiots like burgerman and all those Inggerlund “fans” going all ballistic with every perceived negative result, even when it’s a friendly.

Ok. I’ll try to find my old sarcasm textbooks from my Danish school and give my self a turbo course.

Like I said – I’m new and dont know the “when & why” yet. But I will try to pick it up asap!

Lurgan there are lots of reasons why Alonso hasn’t been offered a new contract. The first one being that it was only last summer that Rafa was willing to sell him. Another reason being that Rafa knows fully well Xabi would like to go back to Spain soon, so as he has 3 years remaining what’s the point offering him a new contract?

It makes perfect sense to me. Xabi will be off either this summer or next and this contract will be his last at the club.

David Maddock in the Mirror reckons Real are going to come back with a deal worth around £32m over the weekend. He says that Rafa might be willing to accept Sneijder or Negredo plus enough cash to wrap up the signing of David Silva for around £20m. It’s probably a load of bollacks but I found it interesting all the same.

LB if 30 million is the price then I can’t see how our club can knock that back. Good to see our players are in demand, that’s what makes you a challenging team. Not many offers coming in for Voronin. FFS even Downing got a gig and he’s crocked till December.

See Maddocks been in the forums again then LB.

Anyway, came into say, Sorry Donal and Knight. I won’t be making it after all. My mate finally told me he couldn’t make it yesterday. That’s alright. It was my decision to wait for him to try and organise it, and to be fair to him, back when we first started trying to sort it out he did say just go ahead and book. So, it’s only my own fault, but I could have strangled him yesterday.

When I first looked into going, I found a flight for 325 quid. I should have jumped on it then. By the time I went to book it yesterday, it had gone up to nearly 700 quid. There’s no way I could afford that. So sorry lads, the pint will have to wait awhile. Gutted, honestly gutted.

Gaz, how do you pass a medical when you are on crutches and your leg is in plaster?

That’s an excellent question FS. Maybe the medical only tested for swine flu….

I reckon MON’s got the old wine flu

Arsing about aside LB. There’s a rumour floating around that Real are prepared to offer both Snjieder and Negrado plus 20 odd million cash.

I don’t believe a word of it, in fact, if that came off I’d eat everyone’s hat nevermind me own. But, if Xabi does insist on going, I do see Rafa squeezing way more than he’s actually worth out of them. Then there’s other thing’s to consider…
He’ll be a year older next season.
He’ll have a year less on his contract.
He mightn’t play aswell this season as last.
Real mightn’t even want him next season and he might still want/demand to go back to Spain.

All or any of them things will only lower his value. In fact, right now his value is probably as high as it will ever get.

Then you have to consider this…
Maybe he isn’t in Rafa’s long term plans.
Maybe Rafa still actually wants to sell him.
Maybe Rafa doesn’t see his style fitting the type of attacking football Rafa wants to play this season.

And I do think Rafa intends to really go for the league this season with the type of football we seen at the end of last season.

And although I don’t want Xabi to go, maybe, considering all that and more, it might even be better if he did go now if he is going to go.

In fact, I think a lot of us are only so desperate to hang on to him because we fear what could happen without him.

Time to trust in Rafa, I think.

All valid things to consider FS. One point maybe worth considering regarding his likely value next season is the world cup. Say Xabi plays a starting role and Spain get to say the final with Xabi playing brilliant through the tournament. His value would go up even more.

If we could get Sneijder and Silva from the sale of Xabi then maybe we would be the better for it. Who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see.

One thing is key I think. Rafa told Barca to forget about masch – that £50m wouldn’t be enough. He hasn’t said such things about Xabi. That tells me as far as Rafa is concerned we can afford to lose Xabi if the price is right.

Yeah granted a good world cup would do him no harm, but I just can’t see the market being this mad again. But then who knows in this bloody mad game.

And I said it awhile back when you wasn’t about LB, I think Rafa is quite content to sell Xabi. I reckon he’s just squeezing what he can out of it now.

That’s not to say I think Xabi’s already gone. But I can see it being just a matter of how much now.

FS, maybe they watched the way he plays so suggest a broken foot wouldn’t impede his natural ability to make a middle table team.

LB, your last line in comment #51 was pretty much what I was trying to get at in my post last night.

In fact it seems more and more that selling Xabi is the key to any further spending by Rafa.

Lurgan, yeah I don’t think Rafa wants to do any spending until Xabi’s future is decided one way or the other.

Frankly, does anyone of you think that Real need Xabi?

With Wesley Sneijder who proved his worth in his first season, I don’t think any team would want to kick him out except for Real or maybe ManC.

They already have Fernando Gago, who’s quite similar to Xabi and plays the same role in the mid-field as him. He’s top class.

Lassana Diarra is another player who has been a new buy for them. He was average the last season but didn’t even get a good chance for a breakthrough.

Mahammadou Diarra is also sitting in their subs. Can even be compared to Essien. He’s purely class. Power, tackling, shooting. Can play any role, RB, LB,CB, CDM, CM.

Guti Hernandez is another who gives Real everything that Xabi can offer, but surely Perez cannot understand that.

Van der Vaart is another who we all know is top class and comes under the same category of Sneijder.

This is another one of Perez’s stupid moves thet is going to lead to his Galacticos’ demise.

I have to disagree KopKing. Real want more Spanish players and they want a midfielder to run the game like a quarter back. Alonso is the best at that. A lot better than Gago in my opinion. Gutti’s best days are behind him. M.Diara is not in Xabi’s class at all.

I can see Lass Diara and Xabi being an excellent combination. A bit like Masch and Xabi. Ahead of that they’d have Kaka and Ronaldo in wide positions and then Raul and Benzema up front. Looks good to me:

Cassilas
S.Ramos, Pepe, Abiol, Marcello
Xabi, Lass
Ronaldo, Raul, Kaka
Benzema

Not bad that.

People forget that the last Galaticos era got 2 CLs and 2 La Liga titles. The last 2 years it went pear shaped but it started off great.

A great blog, and without a doubt, the majority of us on here as well as on other blogs that I read want Xabi to stay – Lets hope he does however have to agree that if he does go, Rafa def needs to get as much out of the deal as possible.

Was delighted tobe able to see the run out the other night. this is the first time I’ve seen some of the young blood adn I must say, despite the tiredness and lack of quality in the box, i was really impressed, especially with Spearing, Darby, Martin and Pacheco

If Real offer Sneijder and 22 mill cash I would bite their hand off to take it. If Alonso wants to go and does not want to be part of our title winning season, it says a lot (again assuming all the reports are true) he must go because next year we will leave anyway, because he will be into his second last year and wont sign a new contract. If we get Silva on top of it we have come out way ahead and will be much better off. Don’t underestimate how good Sneijder is and he will be slotting into a settle team with Masch giving him a free attacking role. He will excel in this role. I really cannot be bothered with this will he or wont he anymore, get the best price we can and let him go. We need people who want to be at Anfield and want to be apart of History in the making, we can afford no distraction on our way to the title. I f he really wanted to stay he would have come out and said so by now, the same way the club and Rafa have come out and said that we do not wont to sell anybody. So bye bye Xabi and thanks for the memories.

Hey Keith, where in SA are you based?

LB, do you think that Alonso has a better chance of getting in the first team than Gago? They rate Gago as their best mid-field player. They have even given him their legendary No. 5 jersey.

Why have you only given your comments on Gago and M.Diarra? What about Sneijder and Van de Vaart?

It is likely that Sneijder will be staying at the Bernabeu this season. So, Alonso would have to compete with Gago, L.Diarra, Guti and Sneijder for the midfield position(cosidering V.d.V and M.Diarra as transferred to other clubs).

Read my comments properly! They don’t need him. As far as a Spanish player is concerned, they already have Ruben De La Red, who by far is considered as one of the best Spanish prospects in their league.

Sorry for going off topic for a while, but to lighten the mood a bit from the tireless speculation on Xabi-saga, here’s an interesting report concerning actor Samuel L Jackson.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N165069090716-1713.htm

My admiration for the guy has gone up a notch now.

I know he says he’s supported Liverpool for quite some time, but it’s always a joy to see celebrities like them walk the talk as well.

Rafa should consider using some of Jackson’s awesome quotes below when retorting obnoxious media hacks.

“I don’t remember asking you a goddamn thing!”

“If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions.”

And whenever Ferguscum “cracks up” and attempts one of his usual false accusation (refer to incident with Fat Fucking Sam)

“You got to cool that shit out.”

Other modified quotes would sound like this:

“May the Reds be with you” – Master Windu

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I just break your domination once and for all?” – After trashing the Scum 4-1 in Old Crapford.

And finally,

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! I have HAD IT with these MOTHERFUCKING SCUM in this MOTHERFUCKING LEAGUE!”

KopKing, I think Sneijder is a great player. But clearly they do not rate him that highly at Real. They rate Alonso as a better player for what they want to do next season. My assumption is that with the attacking flair that Ronaldo and Kaka provides they would like a player like Xabi to compliment that. Someone who stays deeper and can control the tempo of a match and intercept attacks from the opposition. They watched Gago, Sneijder, Guti, and the rest of their midfield get destroyed by Liverpool and Barcelona last season and in my opinion see Xabi as a superior player to what they already have in their central midfield.

De la Red doesn’t compare to Alonso. He’s 24 years old with 9 appearances for Real Madrid to his name. He’s played for Spain on 3 occasions. In short he’s a rookie and not ready to take Real to where they want to go.

Van der Vaart – isn’t he a winger? What’s he got to do with their desire for Alonso? He’s surplus to requirements in any case as they bought Kaka and Ronaldo. Chances are he’ll be sold along with most of the other Dutch players they have.

If/when they get Alonso he’ll be going straight into their first XI.

Johannesburg and you

The ******* cunt Barry has retorted to Rafa’s comments on him by saying that Liverpool are “frustrated” by not getting their hands on him even after following him for two seasons. He even said that ManC have a “better chance” than Liverpool of competing in the PL and in Europe.

Sound fella Samuel, wish he’d get a grip of that Steve Cohen fella and put one of his words in his ear.

Loads of people in Liverpool will tell you stories about him because they met him and had a drink with him. But instead of reapeating mad stories from Scouse drunks, I seen him say it myself on The Parkinsopn show. He was being interviewed by old Parkie, and was a asked a somewhat snotty question about the city. I can’t remember the actual question, but I’ll never forget Jackson’s response…

He went off on Parkie, asking why all English people hated Scousers and Liverpool. He got right on Parkie and said it was no better than racism. He said when he arrived in London and was on his way to Liverpool to film the 51st State, people warned him about going there and how awful the people were.

Made me laugh. Can you imagine Samuel L Jackson ever being scared. Well, he said he was shitting it before heading off to the badlands of Liverpool. Them bloody bigots in London had him thinking he ws heading into some god forsaken war-zone. To cut a long story short, he was pleasantly surprised with what he found. And he ended up drinking in the normal pubs with normal people, had a great time and fell in love witht he city and the people.

He actually went missing for a couple of days and was eventually found in some pub in Toxteth drinking with a load of the locals. He’d gone for a drink in Liverpool city centre ended up going back to a house party in Toxteth and staying on the ale with the people.

Since then I’ve heard him talking about LFC and Liverpool itself quite a few times. good lad Samuel. Another one is Mike Myers. He goes to Anfield when he can and is often on the ale in the Old Swan district and downtown. There’s a few of them.

They should fuck off and leave the tickets to the locals:)

KopKing, would you do a straight swap no cash involved just a straight swap – Alonso for any one of Dela Red, Gago, L.Diarra, Guti or Sneijder?

LB! Can’t you see what I am talking about? Real don’t
N – E – E – D Alonso, do they? I don’t care if Alonso gets his position in the first eleven in their lineup or not. I am saying that they don’t f****** need him in their squad. They have got enough players who can play in those positions.

While, Vaart is originally a central attacking mid-fielder. He used to play in that position for Ajax and HSV.

KK what do you expect Barry to say or do?
Rafa’s a great fella. He’s right I only came to city for money. They’ve got no chance of winning anything. Liverpool will piss the league with or without me.

Suggestion… grow a thicker skin or stop reading all this shite that you think you have to pass on in here. Not being nasty, just letting you know exactly what it is… shite.

LB: I only thought of Snejider as he was the only one I thought it would be worth us taking if we do end up having to do business with Franco’s boys. But the more I think about it, Sneijder might be just the player we need and far more use to us than Xabi if/when we play the sort of footy we finished the season with.

One down side to that, Xabi would be fantastic for Real, exactly what they need to pull the strings and provide the ammo.

If I were Perez, I would’t even consider bringing a central mid-fielder in the first place.

That question of yours is totally away from the argument we are having. Stop changing the topic, please!

KK, little tip… when in a hole it’s best to stop digging

Perez is like a 5-year-old kid who walks in to a cake shop and just wants everything. He has some outstanding midfielders at Madrid, as you guys have said, but still wants Xabi as well. I think he likes to try to prove to everyone that he can buy whoever he wants. What a prick!

Last season, Real were not lacking the capacity of goals. What they were lacking was a proper defence. They were scoring very well. Other teams who used to beat them was because they scored much more than Real could handle. That was because of their defence, not midfield. Which team would not make proper goal opportunities with their mid-field as Robben, Sneijder, Lass, Van der Vaart? Before their arrival to the Bernabeu, these players had a very good reputation in the market. They used to perform well in their old clubs.

You can expect this from Real next season if they get Alonso this summer: If he performs well, and the club loses the title, he’ll probably be kicked out of the team for sure. If he performs poorly, he will be kicked out anyway. See!! Their is no future at Real, unless you’re a high profile player like Ronaldo or Kaka!! As simple as that.

KK….obviously Real think they need Alonso. No point debating whether or not we in here think Real need him, is there.

If Hicks had brought us 2 of the best footballers in the world, and was still trying to recruit more all of us would be jumping for joy.

Behave.

KopKing, what is your definition of NEED? They have enough players in that position in their squad? To do what? Get beat 5-0 in the CL and 6-2 at home to Barca and win fuck all? Come of it mate. They have an idea, a strategy that they think will enable them to be the best team in the world. Clearly Alonso is an integral part of that idea.

And the point of my question was this: If you wouldn’t swap Alonso for any of those players it suggests he’s a better player – hence why Real want him. Whether it’s a need or a want who gives a f*ck. If you think a player will improve your team and you can afford him then you’ll try and buy him. A very simple concept no? It’s called upgrading.

Real’s midfield was roundly criticised last season especially when compared to Barca. This is why they want top drawer midfield players. Hence Ronaldo, Kaka and why they want Ribery and Alonso. They got humiliated last season so now Perez is trying to flex his muscles and send a message out to their own fans and the rest of the world that they mean business. Whether you agree with it or not surely you can understand the concept. If you can’t then there is no point in this discussion.

FS, I agree about Sneijder. Like I was trying to explain to KopKing I think he is a great player. However as Real have just bought 2 top class flair players they see Xabi as ideal to compliment that. Looking at our team though – our midfield has less flair and more industry, and if we’re going to be attacking more as Rafa alluded to in some of his comments I could see Sneijder fitting in well, very well.

Tell me R4L, what can Xabi offer that Real’s other mid-fielders cannot? Passing? They have Gago, Guti, Sneijder. Defending? Lassana Diarra, Mahammadou Diarra, Gago can do it better. Playmaking? Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Guti Gago, Lass can also do it. Goals? They score much more than him. Pace? We all know Xabi lacks it and these players are quite fast. Freekicks? Sneijder is one of the best freekick takers in thios business.

As I have said earlier as well. Xabi is very good for a slow game that is usually played in the PL. La Liga requires a player to be very fast. Even though Alonso’s Spanish, I doubt that he can adjust in Real’s play.

LB, just read my comment #74. your question’s answer there. Why Real got humiliated at the Bernabeu last season.

FS, regarding your last post: we’d be doing cartwheels in the street.

KK It’s not like me to agree with LB very often, but he told you way back in some other post why Xabi would be an excellent player for Real.

I can’t be arsed digging back to find it, but take a look yourself. In fact read through them all to find it, you might learn a thing or two.

As for Perez why the fuck would he be arsed about money? Real are backed by the Spanish government, and therefore every tax payer in Spain. I think it’s them, especially Basques like Xabi, that should be questioning this especially at a time when Spain is suffering huge unemployment.

@In fact, all european’s should be concerned because EU money is also going to Real. Like I’ve said amany times… football is a horrible shadey business.

But I can’t help but love LFC and therefore I want the best for it. So, if it means dealing with Real, so be it… take them the cleaners. How do we do that… exactly how Rafa is now – dangle what they want undr their noses and crack until they give us what we want.

I tend to think that would be as much money as we can get pluse Sniedjer. Because I think that lad would fit perfectly into the type of football we played last season – and the best of it being without Xabi.

I’m really not going on at you, but I want to tell you something… most of us come in here and other sites like it because we have decided to trust one another more than the hacks in the English media.

We havne’t done that without good reason. I reckon you’d be doing yourself a favour by distrusting them and their wafflings too.

Some well modified quotes in there Kinny! Good on Samuel. Kopking whats Barry on about? Rafa never said a thing about him. That verbal swipe at Barry was completely manufactured and printed simultaneously by every publication and football website in Britain. Never happened lol!

KK, you say that La Liga requires a player to be fast………… Er, hello, the Premier Leauge is renowned for being hard to get used to for……. Er, the pace of the English game! All the foriegners say it, even Fernando Torres said it when he first came and he’s no slouch is he?

Xabi Alonso’s game is not dependant on his pace because he’s just not that type of player. His game is centered on linking play through the middle of the park usually acheived through the accuracy of his passing. That’s his strength. That’s where he excels. That’s why we don’t want to lose him. That’s why we are all having this debate!

Well, you guys are after my arse as if my discussion is totally baseless. All I said was that Real don’t need Xabi in their squad. They have too many players who can fill that position and even play well in that. I have already made my point in my earlier comments that their players can give it all what Xabi can.

Of course, I understand that my arguments don’t mean anything to the club as the deal is being done by the mighty Spanish colossus, Perez. But this is a fan forum. I have kept and made my arguments here. It’s not that these are pointless. You all know that atleast at some extent I am right.

Like FS has said, I am not hurting anyone. I am making my points clear. I respect all of your views. Even I have to make myself clear which I am certainly trying to do.

Sorry Keith, work grabbed me

Cape Town, is home, but been away for three years. hope to be bakc soon though

KK, I realise you are not from England, so you shouldn’t be expected to realise just how bad the English press are. And I appologise if my remarks to you have seemed harsh. Believe me, they aren’t meant to be and if I was having a go at you there’d be no mistaking it.

But here’s a tip – take anything you read in the media, English or not, with a pinch of salt. They really don’t know any more than most fans. Unless given an actual exclusive with the management of the club, how could they?

Their job is simply to help sell more papers, and so increase their own earnings/marketability.

Having said that, there are certain reporters and papers you can give a bit more creedence to than the usual hacks.

There’s a paper here in England called The Sportinglife. I reckon that’s one of the more decent sources, but even then that’s only on certain matters. The reason why I feel you can trust them a bit more is they are not really a newspaper. They exist first and foremost as a racing form paper and guide to betting.

Take a look at this article…
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/liverpool/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/07/17/SOCCER_Liverpool_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=liverpool

There’s nothing earth shatteringly new in there. In fact, the first part is your usual shite that could be found in any comic never mind news paper. But look at the rest of it after the Gerrard interview. It’s balanced. There’s no hype. Yes, it’s speculation, but it’s nothing you wouldn’t find the more clued up fan saying.

They definetely have no hype in there, or made up qoutes. They simply state some of the more obvious factors – if not concrete fact.

I tried saying to you and a few other people last week that we would not know anything about the situation with Xabi until Sunday, when…
1: The team fly out to for the games in Thailand and Singapore.
2: When the agreement on sell on fees with Real Sociodad ran out this weekend.

Not rocket science. In fact, very easy to guess as long as you aren’t swayed or panicked by some hack.

You may well be offended by that. It’s up to you how you take it. I’m not really that bothered, and as I said if I really wanted to offend you there’d be no mistaking it.

Sorry Digger, didn’t notice your comment in between. I don’t know what’s going on with Barry to be frank. But surely, I was pissed when I read his shitty comments hitting at not only Rafa but also Liverpool. The slimy little a** acted too smart. He’s British, but maybe he still believes each and every word of these press jerks. Well, who cares? It’s his loss anyway. He thinks he’s going to conquer the world with ManC? Hard luck man!!

FS, you’re hell right! I am not British! But surely, as I think you should, try to understand that it is not about any British tabloids, as I have not even mentioned them in any of my comments(other than the last one). Well, where is all this coming from? I mean I have justified all my comments related to Xabi. It’s not a crime to make your comments! I believe you had a go at me for nothing. And even if you don’t give a s*** about it, I don’t care. The argument was simple and I thought that you would be able to understand that.

Is this the Real Madrid forum now?

Hah! That was a nice one, Lurgan!

Hmmm

FS, sorry to hear you can’t make it to the friendly in Thailand. It would have been a blast.

Anyway, I don’t know if you seen my comment in the other blog but I could not have made it either. Apparently I am on holidays with the family at the time. Would have been hard to swing that one with the wife!

Hopefully there will be a next time.

Word is that Xabi will seal his switch to RM in a £32m deal. No mention of player(s) plus cash.

Now, who should we buy?

since i’m nothing but a hater – I HATE REAL MADRID/FRANCO and everything else that is facist! (i.e. man u)

i also just ralised something – Gerry is there anyway that we skip for post 95 to 97? i think it would a nice little tribute by us kopbloggers!

Hi guys, first time poster been admiring your comments here for the last month and thought I would take the plunge from the sideline.

I hope this Mr Alonso situation gets resolved this weekend.

Anybody know where I can watch the Vienna game on a live stream?

KopKing, I keep thinking that you get the wrong end of the stick with peoples comments. Apart from my Real Madrid one

Anyway, I would advise you to read over what was written above, by all parties, on this subject and see what you think. I hope that this bit does not sound too condescending.

Kopking in a nutshell Alonso is better than all of those players you mentioned
that’s why they want him. As for their crap defence well if you have a great
midfield then less pressure will be put on said defence, as most games are won
or lost in midfield.
PS With a name like Kopking ( a little egotistical maybe) i presumed you was a
40 year veteran of the Kop.
But as they say presumption is the mother of all f*ck ups
YNWA

Kopking,

Just one question?Would you agree that Alonso is an upgrade on any of the midfielders Real have.Its a simple yes or no.

I for one would say yes.And i think most in here would agree.

What about the latest big move in europe?Ibrahimovic for Eto plus cash!

Makes me laugh that.

see Vidic did not travel with the manure squad. Must be injured

Fellas,

firstly great blog Gerry.
Havent been on here in a while, too flat out with work, but have managed to read the blogs in my limited spare time. Like Lurgan said, Is this a Madrid Forum?

Unlike originally planned my trip to thailand or singapore isnt going to eventuate, too damn crazy with work at the moment, and havent even had a moment till now to think about it.

On to Alonso and why he isnt offered a contract. Very logical really. If he is offered a contract, he will logically reject it, which will in turn cause the media and clubs to assume he wants to leave etc (potentially lowering his fee). But not offering a new contract, it doesnt suggest nor deny Alonso wanting to completely leave (makes Rafa’s bargaining easier).

One last note about the Madrid debate. Alonso will add another dimension to their game in attack and defence. They already have Kaka/Ronaldo etc who can dominate close to goal, now teams would have to compete with Alonso’s range of passing. In short, teams will be under pressure even if Xabi had the ball well behind the half way line (so he will need to be closed down, and this creates even more space for the others)

Ohh and FS i love the stat that Ronaldo and Tevez had contributed over 40% of goals over the past 2 seasons. On top of that (what some may ignore or not realise) is that Ronaldo created rediculous space for the other players (making them look better than they are).

Ronaldo would always have 1-2 defenders drawn to him and solely focused on him (especially when he had the ball) which created space and time for the other players.

Adiós Alonso
Bienvenido Villa

My point is, take whatever silly money Madrid are offering for Alonso, club it together with any money left in the kitty, and purchase David Villa from Valencia at all costs.

It could be the best thing to ever happen to us. As well as having a world class strikeforce, it will allow Gerrard to play midfield, his best and preferred position.

Welcome back our Midfield General.
When Zidane was asked if Gerrard was the best in the world? He said he might not get the attention of [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo but, yes, I think he just might be,” Zidane said. “If you don’t have a player like Steven Gerrard, who is the engine room, it can affect the whole team.

With a starting 11 of: Pepe Reina, Emiliano Insua, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson, Albert Reira, Javier Mascherano, Dirk Kuyt, David Villa, Fernando Torres.

With a squad of: Agger, Aurelio, Arbeloa, Lucas, Babel, Benayoun, Voronin, Ngog, El Zhar to keep the first team honest.

It`s enough to give Fergie, Ancellotti, Wenger and any other pretenders to the crown, i.e Sparky, sleepless nights.

With the front two playing off each other in a partnership already established at international level, with their compatriot Reira supplying ball from the left. Gerrard attacking through the centre safe in the knowledge that Mascherano has his back. Deadly Dirk cutting inside playing quick ball to feet, Johnson overlapping on the right with deep crosses.

The thought has me drooling already!!!!

FS, just saw your post on missing Bangkok. It’s OK. Will catch up next time. Still no news from Donal though. Donal mate, you coming?

Akka, I have to agree, that is a great stat Fatty provided. I have used it in multiple debates with my manc mates recently and as lately as tonight! Im outside having a smoke now (intermission in a monster debate btwn me and a couple of mancs, goddamn smoking ban), said I’d check in to Kopblog. Anyway, its Friday night, away back inside for me, hopefully Xabi situation will reach its (inevitable?) conclusion this wknd, good night and good luck lads…

What is the latest with The Borrowers and the loan they have to repay? Haven’t seen anything for a while. Isn’t it up for renewal at the end of the month? Any news on a buyer?

I hope Xabi stays but if it is not to be, I hope Rafa can get as much as he can from the bank of madrid. 20 million and Sneijder, followed by Silva sounds pretty good business to me.

From what you guys are saying it should be all sorted before the trip to the Far East. Here’s hoping.

I have just finished reading the Robbie Fowler autobiography. Robbie is straight to the point with no holds bared and it is a cracking read.

I have been living in NZ since 1994, so I obviously missed most of Robbie’s career (i.e. going to the match) but I was able to appreciate his great goal scoring talents from afar on TV.

He was a real character and has a great passion for LFC. His comments about St Michael going to manure were typical of the man.

I am looking forward to see how Robbie goes in the (Australian) A League this season. He scored a penalty in a 2-1 friendly defeat to Wolves midweek. Some reporter in the Daily Mail was calling him Blobbie Fowler … cheeky bastard!

In July 2008, prior to the start of the 2008/9 season, I was one of the rare fellas asking that we should sell Alonso when Rafa wanted to buy Barry. I argues then that he was mostly injured and when fit was rarely the same person who nhelped us with the CL in 2005. Today, after Alonso became one of our top players, I want him to stay. Hopefully he does. Hopefully I get to see him play in Bangkok on 21 July.
But more and more, the news are getting stronger that he will go, because the whole Management team in Real Madrid, backed by Perez’s money, wants him. Even at Stg35 million (or about Stg32 million as some have mentioned) that Rafa had insisted they should pay.
However, if they pay Stg22 million plus thrown in Sneider for Alonso, then I think we should take it. With that money , we can buy a Silva or another English player, Ashley Young.
Between the two, Young I prefer Young because he brings a fast winger on the left and complements GJ who performs the same on the right. Both Young and johnson can also score goals. Both are English, have Premiership experience already, are still young and adds to the English numbers needed for the CL games. In contrast, Silva needs to get used to the premiership. This may be a breeze as Torres found or difficult. We do not know yet. But score goals Silva certainly can. I do not mind Silva or Young. But clearly between the two, I prefer Young. And I think a Sneider + Silva or Sneider + Young is better than Alonso alone. Thus, although I prefer Alonso to stay, if this offer were to come up and we get Sneider + Stg22 million, I will just grab it. No two ways or sentiments about it.

Good thread this and I go along with LB’s opinion in p64. The point is RM are getting rid of their midfield because in the key games like Barça and ourselves they were overrun. I watched a lot of their games and I can tell you they were fortunate to ride out so comfortably in second place( lucky goals, late winners, ref assistance et al).

The only player I would take from RM is Robben. He’s cut down on his cheating and diving since he left Chelski and attacking teams down the flanks is what we lacked last season to break down those stubborn defences at Anfield, ultimately costing us the league. But a midfield player for Xabi + cash? No thanks.

Now getting Silva from Alonso’s sale is another question. Absolutely class player up to our standards. Of course that still leaves Rafa work to do on the midfield but we will at least have substituted quality with quality.

P.S. See the mancs have bottled out of a trip to Australia to replace their Indonesia tour. They’d certainly get a good game down under to show up how much Ladyboy and Tevez will be missed.

This report may be a load of bullshit though it’s coming from a reasonably good source I think. How good is Aquilini? Any experts on il calcio here?

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jul18g.html

vinotinto i thought you would be the resident expert on calcio

No NK I drink Rioja not Cianti!

Guys you have to compare apples to apples as well as to what players a team needs. To say Alonso is better than Sneijder is such a vast misleading and sweeping statement. Yes he might be what Real need to get their team to gel and bring all their attacking players into play by sitting and dictating the play. However without Masch to cover and do all the hard yards will he be as affective? Time will tell, I think Real need him more than we do and will end up paying what Rafa wants. Of the 5 years he was with us he had 2 very good season and 3 very average seasons. Was this down to us being unsettled and still trying to gel as a team after Rafa ripped it apart after Istanbul? A Sneijder type midfilder could in fact make more of an impact in the Prem with team playing 10 men behind the ball and might be just what we need to take that final step up. He will, after all, becoming into a very strong and stable team, unlike Real who are a collection of Super Stars all more important, in their own minds, than the next player. A fast Xabi or Ineista type midfielder could take us to a different level with their speed of foot and attacking flair. Yes we might miss that controlled pass master dictating the pace of the game, however that is more critical in the CL than the Prem as Man U found out and the Spanish National team seem to play fine without Alonso in the midfield, who’s big weakness is his speed and running with the ball, a Jan Molby he is not, he could do both even though he was not the fastest player and score goals. I am of the opinion if we do get 32 mill and we get a Sneijder and a Silva type player we will defiantly be stronger than if we kept Alonso. So if he wants to go we should move him on as quickly as possible and bring in players that want to be here. After all he will be gone next year anyway. I am sure Rafa has worked all this out, identified who he wants to bring in that will make us stronger whether it be Matinez, Sniejder, Aqualano, van der Vaart Turan or even Young. I also think if Rafa thought he needed Alonso for one more year to win the Prem he would have said no to any deal. If he sanctions it, it is because he thinks we will be better of getting two quality players for one who he will lose next year anyway. Do I think we will be worse of in terms of challenging for the Prem without Alonso? No, not if we get two quality replacements, our chances could actually improve against the more stubborn sides and that’s where we lost it last year.

Well said Keith. I agree that if RM parts with Stg32 million, we can certainly buy two good players. It can be part exchange for Sneider + Stg22 million. I think Rafa can settle for that as the cash can buy some quality players, hence Silva or young comes into the equation. One of the problems of challenging on all fronts is said to be our lack of depth. If Alonso can be sold at a high evough price, then he will be bale to bring two quality players to replace Alonso. These two are going to be more value and adds depth to the squad than Alonso alone, no matter how good he is. The two can be Sneider + Silva or better still, Silva + Young. Gerrard had said he hopes LFC to make it a triple this coming season. Well, why not when we have more strong players and the added depth?

In the past 3 seasons, Silva has played 89 league games and scored 13 goals, in Europe his record is 22 and 6.He missed half of last season through injury.Would he score 10 league goals a season?.

knight from stevie’s lips to God’s ears (you know he is a saint). i can’t imagine the high we all would be on if come next May the prem title, FA cup, CL are added to the ol’ trophy case.

what does that oft seen flag read? “Let us dream”! well may st steven of anfield’s be realities!

the speculations seems to be that xabi won’t be joinning the reds. if it does happen no reason to cry over spilt milk. i trust rafa and the new boot room will have us ready to challenge and win on multiple fronts!

knight you might be right, this might be a case of scarificing one quality player for two that provide more depth to the squad for our next campaign.

ola Vinotinto, hopefully in May we are celebrating with Rioja, Cianti,cava, palm wine, cerves, grapa, ouzo, stella and many other nectar of the gods!

Don’t worry Burgerman, Rafa will know everything there is to know about David Silva. If he thinks he has what it takes to improve our attacking options, in a system that Rafa has outlined then he will do all he can to get him on board.

Reports suggest that LFC are now making a strong move to sign Silva and if this proves to be the case then that is because Rafa wants him and is confident he will improve the attacking aspect of the team.

Xabi to sign for RM for £32m by Wednesday. I’ll be glad when this whole saga is over.

Sorry guys, I don’t know anything about the Roma guy we have been linked with.

owen just scored the winner 4 man u in their first friendly. 84mins 3-2 scum victory…… off for a we game of golf just have one more mickey owen picture to rip up first. we judas cunt!!

NK, aprt from Rafa who wants Silva, Torres have also come out asking Rafa to sign up for both Villa and Silva. Of course we know Villa is out of our financial reach but Silva is certainly a prospect.

Bugerman, players scoring depends also on hiow well they are fed the balls. Now that we have GJ on the right and Dossena/Aurelio/Insua on the left to feed balls into the center, the chances with our current Liverepool squad are much better. Perhaps they were lacking those in Valencia, hence lesser number of goals then?

For beers, I prefer the Belgiun Leffe or Irish Kilkenny to Stella anytime…

i personally go for my local “Star Lager Beer” or other tropical lagers. also like my Dos Equis XX, estrella galicia, spaten & peroni. fantastic stuff!

when i’m at war with the world (or at peace for that matter) nothing beats whiskey (scotches or jack daniels!)

Stella is too sweet but it seems to be the weapon of choice for most of our fellow bloggers (at least ol man gerry)

Leffe is a superb Lager…………. Stop it guys, I’m at work and have absolutely no chance of having a drink at the moment!

Steve, at work on a Saturday?

Tony Barrett’s wonderful article in the Echo about Mascherano…
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/07/18/javier-mascherano-to-face-rapid-vienna-for-liverpool-fc-100252-24182189/

Yes, I’m afraid so Knight. I work shifts and that includes weekends sometimes. I have a 7am start tomorrow!

Waah. Were city are you at?

Steve the red nice to see you like belgian beer have you tried brugge zot like leffebut a little stronger suggest you try, maybe not at work its strong

Thanks for the tip Jim. I am off to France for a holiday next Thursday, and that is where I first tried Leffe, so I shall certainly keep a look out for Brugge Zot, and any other Belgian/French lagers that may be worth a try.

I work at Heathrow airport Knight.

Steve, where are you at in France next week? I am on hols next week as well?

Lurgan, I am actually travelling through France en route to Spain. My wife is Spanish and we make this journey every summer.

The main cities/towns we will pass through in France will be Abbeville, Rouen, Chartres, Tours, Angouleme, Bordeaux and Biarritz before heading over the border into Spain.

Where are you going in France?

Good question steve

Will check with the wife and get back to you.

Steve the red zot is flemmish means crazy so when you have had a few you know you have had them. my friend is flemish belggie and he introduced me to duval, leffe, zot, and many more
which i forget now, only place i have been able to find brugge zot is in the brugge area as it is a local brew.
He took me to a bar where they do over 100 different beers hope you find some in france if not, try to find some of their dark beers some are excelent.

Steve, Oh working at Heathrow. No wonder you sometimes work weekends as well.

FS – sorry this was my first chance to get back in here, have been away on family business. Thanks for trying to get the tickets, it’d sure as hell make my day. I figured it would be tough for the first home game, but hoped the fact it is on a Wednesday night might work in my favour and make it slightly easier. I assume you won’t know whether you can help me out until a bit later, like after they go on general sale?

As for the Spurs game – I will 100% definitely be in London and my lovely little lady friend there works for some sports promo company, so she says she will be getting me a ticket to join her at the game, but it’ll be in the home end which is a pity. But that ticket isn’t confirmed yet either so I’ll have to keep on my toes.

Jim, sounds like this Zot is on par with Carlsberg Special brew or something like that. Jesus, with all the driving I’ve got to do I’ll have to seek something a tad milder.

There are some very nice lagers available on the continent, as you say, so I know I won’t be disappointed even if I have to settle for a midler version. I will remember the name “Zot” though and if I go to Belgium again (quite possible) I will try it if I find it!

Does anyone know of a site that’ll show tonights game…?

Xabi has joined up with the squad in Austria for training.

http://www.thisisanfield.com/news/2009/07/alonso-joins-up-with-reds-squad/

This will hopefully quash Real Madrid/Perez’s and the Scum-loving media’s delusions once and for all. C’mon, Xabi, do the right thing, stay. Even if it’s for one more season. Collect a Premier League medal at least before you go.

Kinny, Thanks for the lead. Good to know Alonso is likely to stay at Anfield. Hope to see him and cheer for him in Bangkok. With him and Masch around and just Glen Johnson as addition to the first team plus Voronin coming back,I think that should be enough quality and fire power to win the PL , CL and maybe even another cup. YNWA.

Alonso must have read Gerry’s articles and our comments. He knows Rafa and us fans need him and want him. His mind is now made up. Thus the answer to the title of Gerry’s blog is: Nope, Alonso is not coming or going. He is staying.

Well, I hope that’s right and Xabi does decide to stay. I think we’ve got the best midfield of all the contenders, but in all truth I’d sort of come to terms with Xabi leaving. I was getting a bit excited about bringing in a more attacking type of player but I supose it’s better to go into the season with a settled squad and we won’t have to wait for a player to fit in and get used to our style of play.

So, let’s hope it’s true but I don’t think we should take that for granted just because Xabi has joined up with the other players. It should all become clear this week. The agreement with Sociodad runs out today and no doubt Rafa and Xabi will have words on the tour. So, I’m not taking it for granted until it’s confirmed by the club.

Anyway, I’mk coming to quite like the idea of a more attacking player being let loose against the likes of Stoke and all the other bus parkers.

Tell you what though, if the thought of Xabi leaving has induced all this panic, imagine when it comes time for Steven Gerrard to hang up his boots.

Ooops, que panic stations.

Totally agreed FS lad.

Ive come to the realisation that Xabi would leave and kinda got excited about the potential additions (Sneijder and Silva). I know all rumours, but just made for interesting thinking. Dont get me wrong, Xabi is one of my favourite players at the club, but if he had wanted to leave, Rafa would have pushed for substantial compensation.

A £20m bid for Ashley Young…….hmmm, now there’s a thought!

Very interesting Steve, considering it looks like Xabi is staying. To be honest i think our Rafa is being cheeky. I think he is focusing on Silva but putting Young as a front.

What? Stevie G is leaving! You started it FS

Steve, I will be in Lyon on Wednesday and then in the Alpes d’Huez until Sunday. After this I will be in Bandol, near Marseille for the rest. It seems that you are taking a more westerly route and will be tough to sync up. Let me know what you think anyway!

BTW, to all the burgulars out there, I will be leaving a starved rottweiler in the house!

You could well be right Akka, especially considering he would probably land Silva for less dosh.

Lurgan, love the Rottweiler line, nice one.

We have to keep to the west side of the country on our travels as we cross the border and into the Basque country. My wife is from Santander, Cantabria, which is the next region along the north coast. About 60 miles further in from Bilbao.

Your planned excursion sounds good, hope you have a great time.

LFC Online has just announced we are linked with Silva as a buy following the sale of Alonso.Oh well…back to Gerry’s article..is he coming or going? Frankly either way is OK. I too am prepared mentally for him to go, especially if Rafa squeezes top dollar from RM for him.

Reds linked with Silva
By Al Campbell

Saturday, 18th July 2009
Liverpool have again been linked with David Silva.
The Reds are rumoured to be ready to bring the Valencia winger to Anfield once they sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. The money raised from the Alonso sale will fund the bid for Silva.

Latest from “This is Anfield”:

Balague on Alonso: “Next 24 hours are pivitol”
from This Is Anfield: Liverpool FC Fan Site by Max Munton

Spanish football pundit Guillem Balague says Rafa Benitez and Xabi Alonso will hold crunch talks face to face today and tomorrow as the pair meet each other for the first time since the end of last season.

Alonso has returned to training with the Liverpool squad and is set to watch tonight’s pre-season friendly away at Rapid Vienna from the stands.

Balague says Benitez will aim to convince Alonso not leave for Real Madrid and the next few hours could prove “pivotal” in the Spanish international midfielder’s future at Anfield.

Posting on his official blog, Balague said, “This summer’s Xabi Alonso transfer saga will soon reach its conclusion.

“Real Madrid will be eagerly anticipating the outcome of Xabi Alonso`s meeting with Rafa Benitez today: the first time that the Liverpool coach and midfielder have met in person since the end of last season.

“Alonso has spoken with Benitez on numerous occasions in recent weeks, but today presents the player with an opportunity to convince his manager, face to face, to allow him to fulfil his ambition of signing for Real Madrid.

“The mood and outcome of these talks are pivotal: Real Madrid know their latest bid of €27 million falls short of Liverpool`s lowest valuation and, at this moment in time, the Spanish club are not prepared to increase their offer.”

Balague continued to state that he believes a decision on Alonso’s future will be reached in the next 24 hours.

He added, “Dependant upon the outcome of these discussions between Benitez and Alonso, and a degree of compromise on the part of both clubs, we could be talking about the deal being on or off within the next 24 hours. Either way, I would be bold enough to suggest that all will be resolved, either way, within the next week.”

Rumours this weekend have suggested that Alonso will commit to the Reds for one more season before making his move back to La Liga.

Well back when the shit was flying thick and fast in the media, we all wanted LFC to act well, like LFC. And now that we are keeping schtum we’re getting all panicky over every silly rumour and even searching around for them.

Don’t take that as a bollicking. I’m just as bad. But I’m made up Rafa is saying nothing and I don’t think anyone outside the chosen few know what he is up to. Hopefully, it will all become clear in the next week or so.

Other than that, I’m just looking forward to the kick off. And Andy – I put in the call for tickets. Me mate reckons he will have 5 for that game, but they will probably all be claimed. The first home game is always murder. Like ourselves everyone else is turkeying for the footy. But I’ll let you know if anything happens. Soirry I can’t be of more help than that but I won’t even be going to that game meself.

There’s a pub facing the Tottenham ground called The White Hart. I’ll be in there before the Spuds game. You won’t be able to miss us if you fancy a pint, 4 big fat, loud mouthed, facially challenged lumps.

More of the same shit and basically, stealing a line from the famous Italian Director Bertoluchi (sorry for the spelling just being lazy) to his lighting Director, you think I know nothing? Let me tell you I know fuck nothing. That my friends are the entire media’s combined knowledge of the Alonso debate. From what I have gleamed, Real will not put up the money for Alonso, who in fact wants to go. Rafa will not budge, I agree wholeheartedly, until they do so Alonso will stay for another year or Real will have to increase their offer. They pay 70 for wanker another 60 for Kaka, 30 for a youngster and wont cough up for Alonso because he won’t sell enough shirts…. Go fuck yourselves. Alonso is supposedly trying to get Rafa to play nice, well stuff that for a laugh, make them pay or shut up and honor your contract. I still think, if Alonso pushes it, Real will cough up and if he wants to go that might be the best situation for us. However saying that I think we are in a win, win situation whatever the outcome is. If Alonso stays we will be very settled and strong with Johnson as the addition if he goes we could end up being stronger, yet maybe slightly unsettled to start with.

Exactly Keith, none of them have a clue.

How weird is this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spis76uV8ao&feature=popular

Thanks again FS… my mate has dropped out now so I’m just looking for 1 ticket for the Stoke game, for myself. It looks to be the only Anfield game I can make this year, which is 1 more than last year given I live 20,000km away!

Either way, I’ll definitely try and catch your ugly mug in The White Hart before the Spurs game… could be a good laugh, me walking round the pub asking around “are you Fat Scouser?”, am sure I’ll get some top shelf replies to that!

I think it is fairly funny, a basically full strength, ManU side not full of youngsters, yet the press have more of a go at us for drawing. Then there is that power house side with 100 attacking options and they get beaten 2-0 by Orlando Pirates who only managed to finish 5th over here. I think a good bet for the season will be if Mark Hughes does not get into the CL position will he survive as manager? I still think it will be a long shot for them to finish 4th even with all the players they have bought. It is going to take them time to settle and gel as a team. Cannot wait for the season to start I think it will be a very interesting one with plenty of surprises. Will be watching tonight and I am looking forward to seeing the youngsters again and seeing who steps up to be counted.

1 should be easier Andy. When are you geting here? I’ll get my phone number to you so you can ring me. If you come to the pub before the game, you will meet up with the lad who will be getting you a ticket. He’s a good lad, and he’ll probably sort it for you. I’m forever harrishing him for tickets but he never gets pissed off about it.

Keith, I reckon Hughes will be gone by Christmas if the results don’t go there way. I’m getting a kick out of it to be honest. City have put up a monster poster of Tevez in Manchester city center saying, Welcome To Manchester. Hasn’t gone down to well with the neighbours.

As for the friendlies, they don’t really count for much. But like yourself, I’m looking forward to seeing the kids and Johnson get another run out. Pacheco seems to have filled out a bit since I last seen him. I hope it’s enough to get him a few games in the coming campaign.

FS I get to Europe on Aug 7th, but won’t get to the UK til around Thurs 13th Aug, Fri 14th at the latest. I’ll be in London over that weekend and will then hop a train up to Liverpool if I can get a ticket for the Wednesday game. If you want to email me your number, I’ll give you a buzz before the Spurs game – [email protected] – much appreciated mate.

I’m confident we’ll be top 2 again this season, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the other spots after that though. I don’t think Hughes is a good enough manager to get the best out of City, they’ll still leak too many goals I think, but no team looks a clear favourite for 4th given Arsenal’s shabby form for much of last season. I know it’s a long shot, but what odds on City finishing above United?? I can’t see it happening, but that would be hilarious.

Real Madrid! Que te den! (Get stuffed). You want Alonso, you pay. No pay, no get, comprende? Shit- on-a-stick and his cohorts thought they could use the player’s pressures to get a cheapy. No way. I agree with KSA, we’re in a win-win situation now, big player stays or big cash comes to Anfield.

But what a carry-on with this transfer saga. Everyone is copying everyone else’s speculation, contradicting each other several times on the same day even. They would all like to consider themselves some kind of Nostradamus but in the end most of their predictions will fail as did those of Nostradamus who made so many forecasts that a few of them were bound to be right but most were doomed!

What would really make my day and my summer is for Rafa to keep Xabi AND make a major signing more, a winger say Silva or Young. Apparently we don’t have the budget but frankly I don’t see that Rafa’s net spending this summer is very significant. If the RBS has so much faith in our financial situation what’s 20 mil more to a club on the verge of glory!!

No I agree FS about preseason, but I did laugh when I saw the result of the Man city game, especially with all the Strikers they have bought. Also in comparison to our game, Man U did play one of their strongest line ups which was also amusing to see them struggle. It means nothing but helps to take the piss out of their supporters.

I tell you what is also amusing me is the news that Rafa is making a shock bid for Young. MON must be having an apoplexy. The prat must be spewing. If I was Rafa I would just call him to tell him his ideas again just to wind him up.

Well, just watched the friendly. Pretty much what you’d expect… ring rusty and lots of mistakes caused by that and too many players not playing very often together.

2 things struck me, one good, one bad.
Good: Pacheco, mark me words, that kid is the future and he’s going to be immense.
Bad: Babel.

I never make judgements from friendlies. You really can’t tell from them, but I just can’t understand Babel. He seemed completely uninterested. For awhile I couldn’t even tell where he was supposed to be playing. I knew like, but it would be hard to tell if you didn’t.

HE seemed to just wander about the pitch aimlesslly. He left Insua (Who didn’t play well) constantly exposed. HE never tracked back. He never held his position when he should have. He didn’t run into the middle when he should have. He just seemed to stroll round expecting the ball to come to him, and then he didn’t really seem arsed when he got it.

Normally, I wouldn’t even bother mentioning it, but it’s a bit concerning from a player who should be really trying to force his way into the team. The attitude just seemed completely wrong. I hope it was just a bad shift. We all have them. But it was the effort, or the lack of it.

Don’t want to kneejerk over one meaningless friendly but I think the lad really needs to roll his sleeves up and put in some hard graft.

Actually he could have learnt a lesson from El Zhar there. I’m sure Rafa would have been pleased by his attitude and work rate. I just hope Babel sometime realises it’s alright having the talent, but a bit of sweat doesn’t hurt. He might even find his form gets better if he puts in the graft.

Anyway, as I said, not the greatest of games to judge by.

Just watched the first half of the friendly. Can somebody please tell me what Plessis has to offer exactly? I know he young blah blah but even young players show some signs of what’s to come. Rafa has let quite a few youngsters move on yet this guy is still in the team which means he sees something in him. What is it though? He’s slow, skinny, average passing at best. He reminds me of a much slower Sissoko. Spearing on the other hand could grow into something special I think. A better Danny Murphy perhaps. Didn’t see much from Nemeth in either match.

Bit harsh there mate. You have to consider what the game is and what it’s about. Once again, due to the over-hyping of football, it’ll get blown out of all proportion. It used to be no one even knew who we was playing at this time of the season. Then normally you found out by finding out they’d been beaten by some team from the Danish tenth division.

Believe me, this will have no bearing whatsoever on the football you’ll see next season and the players won’t even look like the same people. Roundabout the Atleti game at Anfield is when we should start seeing something close to our proper team and football.

I know I had a little go at Babel, but it was only for his attitude and I hope it was just an off night. The lad really does have to start getting stuck in though. We all know Rafa loves a grafter, so Babel’s doing himself no favours with that sort of performance. He reminded me of Pennant in the reserves, and he never kicked a ball again for LFC. I’d hate to see Babel let his career just fade away. But like I said, no player should be judged on these friendly games.

Mind you, I reserve the right to say Pacheco’s going to be great. The lad oozes class, and here’s me own over the top statement… If he keeps developing and maturing the way he has up to now, he will go onto become an absolute legend at LFC. I honestly think he’s that good, and it’s really up to him how far he goes now.

Anyway, made up for Shamrock Rovers. That should be a good pay day for them and a great laugh for the supporters. And really gutted for the aul fella, but made up Pepe’s dad pipped him to the open.

Spot on FS, but I must say the older members of the squad look knackered and they must be working their socks off in training. It’s really only the youngsters that seem to be coping at the moment in terms of fitness and energy, but I suppose that is par for the course, two week back from the Hols. I can’t disagree more with you Idhawan, Nemeth makes some great runs and gets into some great positions and that shows the class of the youngster. His distribution is also good. He missed a sitter; but was in the right position. With Gerrard strolling through the game and Plessis in the middle he did not have any service to speak of and even Vorinon was anonymous. For me Degen is a clear weakness and I think it is imperative that we keep Arbie. El Zhar looks sharp and he could have a good season this year and Pacheo has to make the first team squad for this season and even at this age can be introduces slowly to gain experience. I am very impressed with him. Rapid came to play and got really stuck in and was a good baptism of fire for the youngsters. Another one who I think has a very promising future is Ngog. He has a good touch and is technically very good. The score line was irrelevant and Benny and Kuyt should have scored and made the assist in Kuyt’s case as well as Nemeth missing a sitter. However with all the heavy fitness work they are doing at the moment it is understandable, so it has to be judged within that context. I just want to add I thought Ayala looked good and seems to be the best of the youngsters at Centre back for the moment, which has surprised me because I thought San Jose would have stepped up more. Early days yet, early days and it is going to be interesting to see who steps up when we get closer to the start of the season and Rafa starts to ease off on the heavy work.

Keith, I remember this time last year when Tottenham were winning friendlies by 6 and 7 goals. As usual, the media went right over the top. They couldn’t stop raving about a team that could still batter teams after losing it’s main strike force.

They went on and on about them, and called Ramos
everything from a genius to the new messiah. We all know what happened as soon as the season started.

Another defeat for us or City… doom gloom, first boss to be sacked.
Another win for United and a goal for Owen… fuck, I don’t even want to think about the crap they’ll invent for that.

So meself, I’m gonna watch all the friendlies if I can and enjoy them for what they are… the lads having a kick about.

and it drags on and on and on and on…

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/20/xabi-alonso-real-madrid-liverpool

From last night’s Vienna Rapids game:

Likes: Very pleased to see the youngsters given a chance to play, win or lose. It’s for their experience and good to have a chance to look at them. Spearing, El Zhar, Pacheco, even Nemeth and Ayala all impressed me. Despite three goalies being played, there was no sign of Intanje. I hope he goes. Not deterred by this loss.
Dislikes: Plessis. And the lack of coordination among the players. Can’t string an attacking sequence together. More coordination work needed.

Will watch closely when I go to in Bangkok tomorrow. I have tickets for the training session on Tue 21 Jul and the game on Wed 22 Jul.Should be fun, win or lose.

Great fun they are an all Knight. I’m still gutted I won’t be there. Like I said, the pre-season friendlies aren’t much use for judging players and their form, but they are great fun to go on.

They sort of remind me of the old days when the players were more accesible. But seeing what just happened to Man U’s hotel, I don’t think that will last much longer. So enjoy it while you can and try to get some pictures with the players. They’re usually very approachable on these tours.

As for that article Arthur, I’ll tell you how much research went into it and how much that reporter knows… Nevermind meeting up on the plane out to the East, all the Spanish lads were on the bench last night.

And rather happy they looked too. Did anyone see Riera and Torres fighting for the bit of bread? Hilarious.

I didn’t see much of Xabi, just a couple of glimpses. But the net is full of pictures of him looking rather miserable sat on the bench. How carefully do you think they had to pick through all the pictures of him to find them ones? And what’s the odds we won’t see any of him laughing and happy?

I reckon when they get to Thailand, Rafa and Xabi will sit in private and iron things out and we’ll find out what’s happening when they get back to Europe. And maybe even then, there’ll be no announcement if Xabi decides to stay.

Oh well, nothing we can do about it either way.

Didn’t see the match and I didn’t even know it was on.

However from the comments being made I am becoming worried about about a couple of players i.e. Babel & Plessis.

If Babel is looking disinterested, either he is thick as pig-shite or does not give a toss. Even Stevie wonder on a fast horse (stole that one from you FS) can see that this is his make-or-break season and if he cannot be arsed, then we should get shot of him sharpish. A bit harsh you may think but that’s the way I see it.

For Plessis, he impressed me immensely on his debut against the Arse and I thought that we had a Pat Viera on our hands. He just seems to have lost his way somewhat. Hopefully he can turn it around but will have to wait and see.

Sorry for concentrating on the negatives but I had a shit weekend.

BTW, IMHO, if Watson had won The Open it would have been right up there with the single biggest sporting achievement of all time. He already has five of them, so that would have eased the pain somewhat. Not as bad as that Van de Velde bloke – still gives the shivers. I blame the caddy for that one!

Steve, it’s a pity we can’t meet up. Maybe next time mate. Your trip doesn’t sound too shabby either. Make sure you enjoy yourself.

FS, ya sure will miss you. Donal and his Missus are going there. The bigwigs from Liverppol Supporters Club Malaysia have flown up today to Bangkok. And they now suddenly realises they do not have enough “away LFC shirts” and the huge LFC banner for Rafa to sign. So yours truly have to take 6 “away shirts” for them and also the huge LFC Banner up to Bangkok. My trolley bag contains so many Red shorts I can actually set up shop at the infamous Patpong “Red Light district” Road in Bangkok.

What do you lads think of this one? I found it on another forum (using Talksport as the source).

Xabi to Madrid for 23 million Euros
Negrado included in the deal
Sneijder to join us on 24 month loan deal with an option to purchase (his contract with Real Madrid runs through 2013)

That would give us two quality players plus 20 million sterling for Rafa (to add to whatever kitty he still has) to bring in one more player.

It sounds too good to be true, but I would jump all over this one.

Looks like Mikey Owen bagged another goal today. Two in two. Go figure?

lvcjmac, I’ll grab that too with both my hands. Sneider + Negrado + Stg 20 million for Alonso. The Stg 20 million will fund Silva. Three for the price of one. Boy that should strengthen our depth and add Silva to the left wing. Gosh. Maybe rafa should still resist and RM may just add Ruud van Nistelrooy to this equation. Let’s get him to score against the Mancs. Ha!

Knight mate look at the source… Talk Shite. They don’t even bother to trawl the forums. They just say whatever they feel like, but I’ve never known them to get one right.

To be honest, it’s not bad for a bit of entertainment. Some of the shows can be quite funny at times. But you’d be better off taking notice to Mystic Meg, Uri Geller or Nostradamus.

Don’t know if you’ve ever tried listening to it. It’s available on the web. Try listening to Mike Parry. He’s a absolute clown, but in all fairness to him that’s exactly what he sets out to be. Which is fine until you realise he’s one of the head honchos and in charge of content. And let’s face it… if some of your leading expert pundits are fellas like Stan Collymoore. Well, that about say’s it all for me.

Of coure it’s not a fair assessment of a player during the pre season matches but my question still stands. What exactly is Plessis’ strength on the pitch? I’m not trying to diss the guy but rather asking to see somebody else’s perspective coz I just don’t see much to his game. Any Plessis fans out there willing to shed some light on the subject? For example we have Babel with bags of pace, decent dribbling and can score but maybe his attitude (I don’t know really) or the system we play doesn’t suit his style. Dunno but at least we know what he has to offer.

Will Gerrard miss the entire Far East tour due to his court case? If so will that have a negative impact on his fitness and energy levels for the start of the season?

Idahawan, I think Plessis is neat and tidy on the ball. Reads the game well and passes it well. Trouble is he seems to require a lot of time on the ball to do anything constructive. He won’t get that kind of time in the EPL. It makes sense to me that the one game he shined in was a match against Arsenal where both sides rested first team midfield players. There wasn’t a lot riding on the result. In other matches he’s played away from home against teams fighting for their prem lives and he’s been found wanting….

LB: the sarcasm doesn’t suit you, and you know quite well, they could give Gerrard six months in the jug and he’d come out and play as if he hadn’t missed a moment.

As for Plessis, he’s still only 21. He’ll either make it or make the club a few quid. In fact, that’s going to happen with quite a few of them over the next couple of seasons. Either way the club wins, so I’m not that bothered.

One superstar, a couple of decent first teamers and a couple of squad players and Rafa’s youth search will have been well worth it. And I’d say we’ve got at least that amount in the reserves, and even more in the youth squad.

FS, Keith, I have managed to see the highlights of the R. Vienna game and anything of note that we created going forward, a certain Pacheco was involved in.

I know TV highlights can be misleading, so can either of you give a critique of his performance.

Cheers.

Lurgan it’s not so much last night’s game or anyother one game I’ve seen him. The lad’s just got some of the best feet I’ve seen on a Liverpool player in ages. The lad’s just class on the ball. His close control would make Albert look clumsy, and he’s one of them players that have you expecting something special every time he recieves the ball.

He’s still very young and, although he looks like he’s beefed up a bit, he’s still only sleight. So, I don’t think we’ll see Rafa rushing him and taking any chances.

I don’t want to compare him to any players. I hate that new Zidane, new Gerrard, new Mjeir melarkey. But he does remind me of Dalglish in some respects. He doesn’t look very pacey, but he’s no slouch. And all the great LFC players were taught the first couple of yards are in the head. He’s also extremely hard to mark and get the ball off him when he’s in possesion.

He’s got the Dalglish fat arse on him and sheilds the ball in a similar manner. He also has that way of loosing his markers and finding space. He’s got good vision, can pick out a pass, short or long. And he’s got a decent shot on him, though he always seems to go for placement over power but he can belt them too.

About the only thing I haven’t seen him do is head the ball, but I’ve seen some small fellas with great heads on them and I’m sure a player of that quality could nut them when needed.

I don’t think I’ve seen enough of him realy, but I reackon I’ve seen enough to know the lad is proper class. You can just tell, and I haven’t been as excited about a young lad coming through the ranks since Gerrard.

Honest mate, barring some huge upheavel, this kid is going to be mega.

Good stuff FS. Hope he works out like you say. Gotta give him time I guess.

FS, thanks for that.

One thing I would say is that although he may not be the quickest he has a burst of acceleration that can do most defenders. Coupled with the first few yards are in the head, fat arse and quick turn/pivot, then he is a nightmare for even the best defender.

Also, I like the way the bounces off defenders. Does not take them on at their own game.

On top of this, his first touch is exceptional, that even a seasoned international would be proud of it.

As you know, composure in front of goal is always the last thing to come, so I have no worries there.

Injury free, he can go up several levels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbaa2oTazMU&NR=1

We can always dream. No?

Does anyone know how Shamrock Rovers did against Real Madrid?

There’s a precursor for a European Superleague if ever there was one!

Shamrock R. 0 – 1 Real M.

K. Benzema @ 87 mins

That’s probably a dream too far mate, but he’s good.

Had a bad weekend FS.

Was just cheering myself up by watching some classic LFC, Maradonna, and Cruyff.

Yes I am that sad!

Seems like Babel is actually getting his head down and doing a bit of graft.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=662007&cc=5739

For all of you having a go at Babbel, Rafa has come out and said he is pleased with what he has seen. We have to remember we are seeing the players after they have been through a full training session. If you take Benny and Kuyt in the match against Rapid in all honesty they were crap, but we know what they can do. When you are doing heavy anaerobic work you will be slow and your legs heavy so take that into context. Only when they begin to do speed work and starts sharpening up work will we see the fluidity and sharpness come back. Also take into account these youngsters are coming into a make shift team that has not really played together. They will perform better coming into the senior side when they are the only ones coming in as they will be slotting into a settled side.

As for Pacheco he reminds me more of a Maradonna type player and do not underestimate his speed because I think he is quite quick, especially off the mark which is the most important aspect in creating space for yourself. I would like to see him in the Carling cup and the early rounds of the FA cup, I think he is more than ready to be slowly introduced. Also don’t forget Nemeth and Ngog because I also think they have a very bright future at LFC. Then your first team members of Spearing, Kelly ect and I can see a very bright future for LFC. What we are also forgetting is the other youngsters of Bruno (very, very highly rated, the same as Pacheco) Eccelston, Dalle Valle, Amoo, Ince and many more that we should see coming through in the next five years and as FS has said if they do not make it into the first team squad we will still make money on them when we sell them on to fund more youngsters into our youth set-up. So Plessis might not be lighting up the game just yet but he is still young and still learning. The more successful in terms of making it into our first team squad the more youngsters will want to come to the academy and then the whole thing is self propelling and self sustaining. Even the ones that don’t make it like Anderson, Hobbs and Walsh are good advertising as they have gone on to become professional footballers else where.

Keith, I don’t know if that comment was aimed at me but I was not having a go at Babel.

As I said, I did not see the match but some of the comments mentioned that he looked disinterested. I was concerned at this since this is a very important year for the lad. I am more than happy that Rafa has stated that he now has the right mentality because I think he has all the tools to become a very important player for us and he needed to get his head right.

Regarding Plessis, I just thought that he would come on quicker than he has, especially after his debut performance. Actually LB might have knocked the nail on the head regarding the time that he was given in that match. He’s still young and has time to learn. I haven’t given up hope on him by any stretch.

Funny that you should make the Pacheco/Maradonna comparison because after watching the Vienna highlights I was thinking the same – hence the link in my previous post.

The spurts of speed and breezing past defenders like they were not there. Brilliant. Hopefully he can stay injury free and we will have a superstar on our hands.

Keith, obviously Rafa can’t just come out and say… “I made a mistake. Babel’s not as good as I thought he was. But if he can prove me wrong, he’s got a future at LFC. If not, I’m afraid it’s tatty bye, Ryan.”

But I think that’s exactly the position Babel’s now in.

We all keep waiting for this potential to come good, but I’m starting to fear with Ryan, it’s a case of what you see is what you get.

I’m not basing this on the strength of one performance in a no account friendly. I’ve been thinking this for quite some time. But, I admit, I am only stating it on one fact…

Nevermind all the arguments like “He needs a run of games.” “He’s needs to play up top.” “He needs to play on the right.”

Or any of the other arguments we see in regard of Babel. Just ask yourself this… If we are going to win the league and then go on from there to dominate football again, is Babel the type of quality to help us achieve this?

I don’t think he is. And I reckon he has a season to prove that wrong. If not, I can see Rafa looking for his replacement – in his none stop search of constantly upgrading LFC’s squad/team.

The latest statement by Rafa smacks of boosting a player who’s confidence is a bit low, if not gone completely, but I really hope it works.

I want all players who pull on the shirt to succeed. But, having said that, if they aren’t good enough they have to go, and no matter how good they are when/if we are able to upgrade a player – no matter who – then we should do it.

I know that’s a case of stating the obvious. But I think Babel is defintely in line to be one of the first to be upgraded when Rafa tweaks the squad and tries to bring in that bit of title winning quality.

As for Pacheco, you’re right he has the low center of gravity and sort of frame that gives him explosive pace. His type of game doesn’t need long distance pace. He’s also the type of player who’s awareness gains him the first few yards over most defenders. So speed, or lack of it, isn’t going to be of any concern for this lad.

But like I said in an earlier post, he’s no slouch anyway. He can shift. But anyway, speed merchants are two a penny nowadays, his sort of vision and technique are priceless.

That’s why you will not see Rafa risk him in any way. He knows he’s got a gem and, I’m sure, he will devlop it at exactly the right rate.

To be honest, when I thought Vronin wasn’t going to be sold, I was a bit pissed off. I thought his presence will hold back Pacheco, N’gog and Nemeth. But having thought about it a bit more, I think it could be a very good thing for the youngsters.

Of course that depends on Vronin accepting he’s a bit part player and will only feature in the less important cup games. I wouldn’t want him for anything else. But as an experienced old hand, he could be a very useful foil for the youngsters.

RE: Bun fight on the bench at Vienna

What does that say about our catering that Torres & Reira were squabbling over a scrap of dough?

In truth, that was the most entertaining segment of the entire game . . .

ps: Ace blog as usual, Gerry.

I agree with FS. Feels weird us 2 agreeing with each other. But it’s surely last chance saloon for Babel this season. I think Babel knows it too and maybe is the reason he’s put is head down this preseason. I don’t think Rafa would say he has the right mentality now if he didn’t recognise a change in attitude/application in training.

Can’t really judge the effort by players in early pre season games. If Kuyt looks knackered then you know they ain’t fit yet.

Fellas, for those who havent seen it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP1bCjoq4uQ

Spot on FS and no Lurgan it was not a go at you. I also have my doubts about Babel but the preseason friendly’s are not the games to judge him by because of all the hard fitness work they are putting in. There are going to be bad passes and a lack of control because of heavy legs. Also the energy levels are not going to be there just yet. I do think he has the potential, but his desire and determination is what I question and lack a few have said this is going to be make or break for him this season.

LB it is not because they are not fit it is because they are training in the morning to build up strength and stamina before they play in the evening. The off season is where the heavy work is done before you can get to the skill and speed work to sharpen up before the start of the season. This is the base and platform that the rest of the season is built on, that is why people like Riera and the guys who went to the Olympics dropped off in performance last year because they did not do the conditioning work in the off season. You do not loose fitness in a month at their age and condition. It is the hard work that is taking its toll, while they build up more strength and stamina.

This isn’t the best analogy, but it’s the best one I can think of… it’s like a boxer preparing for a big fight. The road work comes first. It builds up the stamina and staying power. Then the bag work starts, to knock the rust off, hone the skills and get them back up to their peak. Then it’s on to sparring. The sparring partners are gradually increased in skill and class. It’s obviously done to get used to fighting top class opponents again.

But as a fighter moves through them gears he doesn’t drop one and just concentrate on the next stage: i.e. road and bag work still gets done when sparring has started.

We’re in that stage now – facing sparring partners, but still working hard in the gym and on the road.

Can’t disagree with any of that. Spot on, in fact.

BTW, from the highlights there was a few tackles flying in, especially on Stevie G. I also seen Spearing getting stuck in.

The last thing we need is to get injuries to key personnel in a nothing match. Was it a bad tempered affair?

excellent analogy,mickey!I can see Rafa now shouting at Babel “Get up Ryan,i didn’t hea no bell…GET GET UP COS RAFA LUVS YA”

Didn’t see the vienna game.I’m currently on hols in Kerry so didn’t get a chance to see will catch up when i get home.BTW steven gerrard is in court today.Apparently,he has a career in pro boxing after if retires in 2013!

Nah it was a pretty tame afair mate. But I like Timmy’s idea of letting them all knock fuck out of each other. Would be a laugh that.

Mind you, I see the fat, angry, baldy, ugly, Scouse man has been at it again. No not me you cheeky bastards. I believe Rooney launched himself into a terrible tackle on one of the Malaysian team, could have easily done really serious damage to the kid.

And The Tramp’s take on that was much as Timmy described.

Regarding Voronin. I watched him in both games and thought he had some excellent touches. I think he has the ability to play in the hole behind the striker when Gerrard isn’t playing in that position. He has a soft touch and his one touch passing is also very good, plus he is quite creative from some of the touches he had on the ball. I think he could do the job for us given the chance.

Rafa criticised Parry for acting slowly in the transfer market. I thought that there would have been 2 more signings by now, including a striker.Will Voronin score more goals than Owen next season?.Rafa should give Madrid 2 days to cough up the £35 million, otherwise no deal.

Yeah Keith, that’s what I meant without wanting to get into it too technically. I’m a qualified fitness instructor and used to hit the weights hard myself. I can’t imagine playing a game of football after a weights workout. But then I never trained for any specific elite pro sport.

I realise that the strength work such as weights etc has to be done in the off season. I find it incredible the players have to play football matches and do weights on the same day. It’s only my opinion but I don’t think football players get a long enough OFF-season.

I wonder if Gerrard will be going to the Melwood weight room from the court house?

Talking of boxing FS, according to the prosecutor Stevie lost total control and let go a number of well aimed uppercuts and straight rights in that Southport bar…. With the style and grace of sugar ray leonard (I added that bit). I’m at home miserable with the flu but that did give me my first chuckle of the day.

My uncle used to be an amateur boxer. He’d have to go on a 5 mile road run, then circuit training and after that pad work, and then maybe sparring. I tried it once and almost threw up during the circuit training. I said ‘fuck this’.

Burgerman have you said anything that isnt a criticism of Rafa?

I agree LB, not enough time off, especially when there is Tournaments in the off season as well. It all about money these days and that’s why you need big squads to cope with the demands because guaranteed they will pick up injuries due to the demands.

LB I was a 400m hurdler and very fit and was roped into a water polo match, I think I lasted 5 minutes then hung onto the side trying not to puke in the water; I have never been so buggered in my entire life. Different fitness for different sports and it is amazing how big a difference it makes. I also remember coming back from Varsity, athletics fit and played an Old Boys game of Rugby against my old school. I could hardly walk the next day, I was stiff in places I never knew I had muscles.

Thanks Lurgan, you too mate.

Keith, 400m hurdles is impressive. I’m surprised the rugby had you blowing out of your rear end. I’ve never played rugby but it looks like hell. Water polo looks like a piece of cake – maybe I’d get a surprise if I tried it going by your experience. But that boxing training experience was something else. I could hardly get out of the car when I got home.

Talking of needing a big squad and injuries. Nasri has just been ruled out for 3 months due to a broken leg. Benny is out with an ankle injury but I don’t know if it’s serious or not. I’m praying we don’t get anything serious. I remember years ago Alan Shearer did his knee ligaments first pre season game for Newcastle. How gutted were they?

Pre-season is indeed a grueling time for the players thus the lack of sharpness in the first couple of games.Ultimately matches will give the players match fitness.Their touch will improve game by game and as FS said by the time we play athleti at Anfield ye should be near enough match fitness.

Is it just me, or is this one of the most tedious, frustrating non event of a pre-season in years. I share Burgerman’s frustration – I fully believed we’d have all our transfer business taken care of a lot quicker than in previous years but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Of course once quality arrives it doesn’t really matter when it arrives – but it would be nice to put an end to all this Sneider/Silva/Villa/ Insert Name here speculation

Pound to a penny our friend Knight was at this…
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N165137090721-1110.htm

Arthur, Rafa acted immeadiately when he bought Johnson. What now blame him for Real’s shenanigans?

PS… I think that’s Micheal Owen’s brouchure Dirk is holding when him and Kenny are cracking up

Real’s shenanigans aside – Benny has mentioned that he has the cash to buy another big player and lets face it – Alonso or not we do need a Silva-esque player in case (heaven forbid) Torres & Gerrard endure the same inury blighted season again. Because lets face it – there are serious doubts that Ngog (maybe a season too soon), Voronin and Babel are good enough.

oh an PS – I think / fear Owen will be a fantastic signing for the Scum – Lord Taggart has already said he views Owen as an impact sub – playing every 10 days or so. That may actually keep Owen quite fit and injury free. I hate the red-nosed drunkard but he does make some seriously shrewd signings…

Wrong Arthur, Rafa said no such thing. He said we can maybe buy one more player without selling. He mentioned nothing of “big” players. What should he go out and buy this “big” player with? Peanuts or monopoly money?

LB: No will mess with Stevie G now. The speed and skill of a professional boxer? The guy must have been a mess and what are they doing him for? Affray – what a giggle.

Owen? he’s a goalscorer IF he gets the chance, I wouldn’t want to be him relying on the likes of Nani and Anderton, jung si park, fletcher,

Kenny – apologies – perhaps Rafa didnt say a big player – but he did say “a” player..

As for Owen we’ll agree to disagree – but I think he’ll get a lot of important late goals for Utd

If you track Rafa’s comments through the window he has said, after buying Johnson, we have the money for one more player. but after that he then said, we don’t need anymore big money signings. And the last thing he said was we mightn’t even buy one.

As for the Tramp and his shrewd signings, he’s already tried to make 2 more after saying his business is done.

This time of season is like a game of poker. They are all sitting there, holding their cards to their chests, trying to give nothing away, staring each other out and trying to out bluff one another. It’s called close season. It drives everyone mad.

But I can’t see why any of this means…
“Rafa criticised Parry for acting slowly in the transfer market. I thought that there would have been 2 more signings by now, including a striker.Will Voronin score more goals than Owen next season?.Rafa should give Madrid 2 days to cough up the £35 million, otherwise no deal.”

Unless of course you have an agenda and all that fits it neatly.

FFS the man’s job is hard enough. He’s took 5 years to get us to this stage. During that time he’s been constantly undermined from inside the club and out. He’s not only got rid of an inept chief executive. He’s fought battle after battle on our behalf. And considering everything he has had to fight, it’s unbelievable how far he has brought us. And now that he has got us to the verge of taking the big step into title winners, along comes that arrogant bastard of a club Real Madrid, and others, trying to snatch our players and set us back.

But fuck taking any of that into consideration, why not just demand some household names. In fact, why even bother with next season. Maybe if we sulk for long enough they might just give us the trophy and do away with the need to be crafty and outmanouvere our much more powerful and rich opponents.

I really hate to use these as a source, but seeing I can’t find it anywhere else, and it’s from Rafa’s last interview on the subject…
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_5425472,00.html

But there again, why pay any attention to the horse’s mouth when we can pull pure bullshit out of our own arses.

Hang on FS – Real Madrid, (cunts tho they may be) are entitled to flaunt their financial muscle in the same way they have done in the past when they wanted Owen from us and Ronaldo from Utd. I don’t think you can say “trying to snatch our players and set us back” – I mean what did we do last year with Barry & Keane? But you’re right tho – pre-season is like one big dull game of poker

With regard to getting fit and staying fit and lasting the season we’ll see now how things go for the Arsenal having to pre-qualify for Europe. You can only stretch chewing gum so far … if you know what I mean.
It is a concern, i imagine, to rafa and he backroom staff that the spanish contingent will not have had a summer off in three with the World Cup coming as well.
I am convinced that was why Torres was sort of semi-crocked all last season, Mascher was hot & cold as well.
Meaningless friendlies, meaningless competitions (Confed) ,even meaningless World Cup and Euro qualifiers (for me there should be some sort of automatic qualification for the best teams)… No wonder the best players get wrecked. But then again it’s cash cow syndrome eh. Everyone wants their pound of flesh.

Agreed. It’s a little different when the boots on the other foot. But I think there’s a difference in the way we tried to pry away Barry and how they act as a matter of course.

But that’s not me point… the thing is, what is Rafa supposed to do right now? He’s in Thailand. He’s probably trying to talk both Masch and Xabi into staying.

So at this moment, it would be foolish of Rafa to show his hand while there’s so many things that can happen.

AS for Owen, I’ve said all along he will score goals. If I remember rightly when Digger first asked that, I said I’d think about 12 to 15 at least this season.

Which, if stays injury free and gets them, would be a good return. But that amount of scrambled poacher’s type of goals, certainly won’t compensate for the amount both Ronaldo and Tevez scored. And having a goal hanging poacher in the ranks certainly won’t compensate for what they’ve lost or do much for them as a team.

In fact, I hope Micheal gets to play week in week out and bags 20 goals. It’ll do exactly what he’s set out to do – enhance his chances of playing for England again, especially in a world cup. But I can’t see it doing much for the mancs and their hopes of number 19.

On a slightly different note – I’m assuming the worst case scenario for Stevie G is that he get’s a suspended sentence? No jail time I mean…that’s all we’d fuckin need

get a grip boys, it’s only a malaysian side that owen has scored against. i’m from malaysia and we are hardly world-beaters, not even the neighbourhood bully mind you. we used to boss other countries in this region, but lately we have lost to minnows like burma. just to put things in perspective.

As I understand it, Stevie is being charged with affray, which is a lesser charge than assault.

If you read the BBC’s take on it, the prosecution Lawyer is claiming that Gerrard layed into the guy with several upper cuts that were more in keeping with a professional Boxer than a professional Footballer.

My guess is that Stevie will get a very heavy fine and at worst a suspended jail sentence. Not a nice thing to have hanging over your head but this thing has dragged on so long now, they are hardly likely to send our captain home with a slapped wrist and just a verbal warning about his future conduct!

You beat me to it FS, will score as much as Wanker and Teves combined, because that what he has to do just to get them level with last season. It’s one thing scoring against the sides they are playing preseason and another against Stoke, Blackburn and the likes with tackles flying in and missing the balls on purpose, just to catch the man to remind him of where he is. Do we reckon Sir Michael will enjoy playing against Skertal, with Masch biting his arm pits? Time will tell, yes he will score goals, he is after all a supreme poacher, but how many is he going to create and make like the FA cup final against Arsenal? How many burst of speed will be see, how many players will he take on and beat? Time will tell but for my money he is not the Owen of yesteryear.

I see you are not taking your own advice FS I thought you where not going to comment on the Hulks moronic ranting’s? I think it is an even bet that Alonso will stay or that Real meat the asking price. That’s has delayed Rafa’s approach for another player, not that I think it is critical and not that I think we need one, our squad is looking quite good as we speak. However if Alonso goes the type of player Rafa will bring in will be different than if Alonso stays for another year. A youngster to mature and gain experience as apposed to a mature established midfielder. So all this speculation must play a role in putting things on hold or keeping things close to your chest to see what our needs might be.

Here’s the link to the CCTV footage where Stevie ‘totally lost it’ and assaulted the ‘business man’.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/5879909/Liverpool-footballer-Steven-Gerrard-totally-lost-it-during-bar-row-court-hears.html

If people got sent to jail for that, then every Saturday night the city streets would be very quiet. As always, make your own minds up!

Lurgan, I saw one straight right but can’t tell who delivered the blow. Looks like some other uppercut punches were thrown but the pictures are not conclusive. Can’t tell who threw them.

As the other guys who were with Stevie have pleaded guilty I reckon they’ll carry the can and Gerrard will walk.

Alright lads… been mad, mental busy as fuck, and while I do try to pop in regular-like, to read up on what’s bgeing said, I’ve resisted commenting much, since they’d be nothing more than useless Burgerbombs, and those that know me, know my comments are usually more alike manifestos than quick comments.
(I can hear the groans now, “Oh no, not another Aitch diatribe?”)

But I’ve just watched that CCTV clip and its laughable. How the fuck can you tell who’s doing what to whom on that?
You can see when they are leaving, that one of SG’s mates is wearing the same pale blue sweater, as SG, so surely that could cast doubt on eyewitness account, let alone that Oscar winning Cinematography Evidence???
(see Steve, I don’t hate him )

You also have to love the constant characterization of Stevie as the scallie scouser, whereas the DJ is “the businessman” like he was some innocent 3-piece-suit wearing accountant who was minding his own business and assaulted for no reason!
This is the kind of shit FS is always talking about.

Anyway, just needed to get that out there. I’m off.

Aitch, agree 100%. Here’s the link from the 1st of Jan ’09.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1102512/First-picture-DJ-assaulted-Steven-Gerrard-Liverpool-star-heads-training.html

Note the DJ tag which has now mysteriously disappeared.

If I was ‘assaulted’ like he was and looked like that the day after, I would be happy as fuck. The guy got a smack on the jaw and fuck all else.

Also, now he’s a fuckin’ ‘business man’! Just a small change that, trust me, turns a lot of peoples heads and gives a totally different complexion on the story:

DJ = who gives a fuck and probably deserved it

to

Business man = respectable guy who would do nothing wrong and SURELY it was SG who was the aggressor.

If ye get jail for that then I should have been in jail several times!!!!

Pile of journo wankers the whole lot of them. Just slightly behind marketing people. Listen to the master, if you don’t believe me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

Bollox, just posted and it has went missing.

Can’t be arsed writing it again.

Gerry, or the powers that be, do you know what happened. BTW, some foul language was used!

Anyway, here’s an original article on our ‘DJ’ friend the day after. Very good looks for a guy who has just got a doing!

ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1102512/First-picture-DJ-assaulted-Steven-Gerrard-Liverpool-star-heads-training.html

Aitch, the ‘businessman’ references are a classic. It’s prosecutor rhetoric so I expect when it’s time for the defense to give their case the language might change in Steven’s favour. It’s the part about the “succession of uppercut punches delivered with the speed and style of a professional boxer” that is the ultimate pisstake.

I wonder if there are any manc or Eventon fans in the jury……

Just seen the clip of SG fuck me my misses has dug me harder when i give her some lip. This so call businessman is a tart. some said hes a manc supporter is this right, if so he needs a good dig

the sad thing about the case the media have portrayed this as a single assault from steven.the ordinary clown on the street will see it like this.The proscaution’s take has only been heard and even when the defence speaks the media will still spin this as a GBH !

I know LB, but it ain’t just the QC.

The day after the incident almost every newspaper was referring to this pillock as a nothing more than a DJ.

Two days after the incident, and in all subsequent news articles I’ve read, he became a businessman.

He’s a fuckin DJ for fucks sake!

These articles also characterize the event as though SG had been out on the piss with a bunch of scallie mates.
When in actual fact, he’d been having dinner in that club with a few people, Kenny and Marina Dalglish amongst them. In fact KK and the wife had left less than an hour prior to the incident.

But that’s the press for ya!

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=662244&sec=transfers&cc=4716

Real Madrid, either you put up and name a price for Xabi (whether he wants to go or not or whether Rafa would accept your bid is another matter), or you SHUT THE FUCK UP. If you don’t have enough money, that’s your fucking problem, not ours.

Seriously, just what do they think this is? Shopping for grocery in a wet market? Rafa is no butcher who can haggle prices with you just like that, but he can be a ruthless butcher on the football pitch, as demonstrated by Liverpool’s 4-0 mauling of Read Madrid in Anfield.

Exactly Timmy and that’s what my missing post was about. No matter what the outcome of this trial, it will be how the famous footballer Stevie G got off with the GBH of a businessman. Ridiculous!

I would guess that nearly everyone in here has slapped some prick for being a dick sometime in our past.

Nough said.

That’s the affray, my fuck this is pathetic I have seen more violence on the Rugby field. The police obviously have nothing better to do over there. This is a case of lets see how much we can embarrass Gerrard. How the prosecution can continue with this nonsense is beyond me. It should be a slap on the wrist and a warning for the people who have admitted it, case closed. Somebody should take that Manc supporter and show him the difference between a slap and a real working over. My wife hits harder, shit my 11 year old son takes a better punch. If it wasn’t Gerrard it would have been buried long ago.

Aitch, did I ever say that you hate Stevie G?

Surely not. I would imagine that a man of your knowledge fully understands Stevie’s value to the team and anyone who understands this and loves LFC could not possibly hate Stevie!

I agree that any jury should decide that video evidence in this case is “inconclusive” and Stevie cannot be charged for an offence where it cannot be proven that he is the guilty party. As LB says, others involved would no doubt be willing to take the rap if necessary. Only problem being that they have all pleaded “Not guilty” to anything thus far.

Just saw the footage myself – if that’s all the “evidence” they have – I can’t really see the DJ having much of a case to be honest. Anyway, at least Stevie G can’t get injured during all this malarky

Thought I was watching one of them “Candid camera” joke on the public shows, you know where they have a hidden camera, pull a stunt and make Johnny Public look like a Knobhead. We’ve got one over here called “You’ve Been Framed.”

Should turn up on there soon. They can show it with all the film of the grandad’s making a gobshite of themselves at the weddings and that.

Punched like a boxer? My god Steven. I’d hate you as my only back up in a club full of Mancs. Good job there was 6 of them. That big fat blonde tart would have minced him if he’d been on his todd.

And what’s with the Grandad sweaters? He’s always got one on. I reckon his Mam must do his shopping for him at Aul Fellas Our Us.

Tip to Stevie… stay home, or learn to throw a proper dig, you big tart.

I’d give him 6 months for impersonating a woman – one that can’t fight.

Oh well, I suppose it will give the hacks some better headlines than… LFC Doomed. All Players Leave in Mass Exodus. Can’t beat The Dog and Duck of Vienna.

FS, don’t you have one of those Grandad jumpers?

LB,I think the lyrics to the gerrard song will need slight adjusting..”big and fookin hard” he certainly ain’t !

I’ve got 2 LB. I’m gonna get me bird to unravel them and make Steven a year’s worth.

Timmy…
Stevie G’s from Huyton
Stevie G’s a red
Play his fuckin music
Or he’ll punch your fuckin head

just got stung £90 for a trip to liverpool then find my passport is expired(10yrs already)thats another £77,then i log on here to see mash has started his fucking slabbering. If theres any truth in this what so ever i hope we never sign another argentinian again. fuck these greedy bastard footballers. FUCK THEM!!!!

anyone know what time the match is on today and is it live on LFC TV ?

Roaring Red what has Masch said? I read a non-story about his agent saying that he is tired of life in Liverpool and his wife hasn’t got a permanent visa. Sounds like a nonsense to me that.

Timmy its on 4pm on LFC TV

LB, is it still free on LFC TV?

Cheers LB.FS,Good verse but i don’t know if i couldn’t sing that one with a straight face

Rafa has to put a stop to all this transfer nonsense.Set a £40 mill price tag on Alonso and Masher and set a deadline for Friday regarding bids.Arsenal have endured this nonsense in recent years and look @ how much they have declined.Rafa should announce on Saturday that the club won’t be involved in the transfer market until next summer.Sorted.

Burgerman,you wasted working in a chippy mate.You should apply for a job as Rafa’s PR officer.

Have you got Rafa’s e mail address?.Will it pay as much as a chemical engineer?.Timmy T , my Irish friends tell me that you are entering the Rose of Tralee, any truth in this?.Got your tickets for next week?.

burgerman,

as a chemical engineer, do you have the right experience/knowledge/qualifications/etc. to be Rafa’s PR officer/advisor?

Ya mate,as it happens i’m in tralee at the moment but i’m not entering the contest unfortunately.The old contest could do with a bit of a giggle.I lost my figure long ago mate too many burgers and all that,you know what i mean.Anyway you should consider a career change pal,those chemicals are doing something silly to that brain of yours.

Ya mate,as it happens i’m in tralee at the moment but i’m not entering the contest unfortunately.The old contest could do with a bit of a giggle.I lost my figure long ago mate too many burgers and all that,you know what i mean.Anyway you should consider a career change pal,those chemicals are doing something silly to that brain of yours

Posted twice! Sorry lads,just a silly old Irishman!

Speaking of out of shape Irishmen did anyone manage to get a ticket to the friendly in Dunmanway in August? I have sourced a ticket. Anyone coming this way at all ? I was gonna have a few bevvies and burgers afterwards in my place for anyone who wants.

Just back from a good training session,and found my new liverpool training top(which i couldn’t get in ireland)has arrived funny the difference a few hours makes.

Your right LB he hasn’t said anything himself its just the fact i’m reading it on this site an was in shitty form put my back up. I will like i say be fumming if there is any truth in it. An reguardless i think this season more than ever i realised just how greedy players have become……. i’m taking out loans to pay my accountant an they’ve mattress made of money!!

I dunno LB, I’m inclined to agree with Roarin Red on this one. Masch i.e his agent, should take a leaf out of Xabis book and shut the fuck up. All Summer long he’s courted Barca with his various ‘they’re the greatest team in the world’ comments (I’m paraphrasing) and now this? Again? If its his agent speaking independently of Masch instead of for him, which I highly doubt, then fair enough, a statement today repudiating your agent will do fine Javier. Otherwise take a leaf from Xabi and SHUT THE FUCK UP!

Mash could easily tell his agent to keep schtum.He employs his agent so i think he’d have some authority over him.I’m sure Rafa will pull him up on it anyway.Dougle i didn’t manage to get a ticket bud i was on nights when they went on sale and TBH i didn’t really push the boat out to get one mainly because its only the kids playing.Having said that should a ticket opportunity present itself i’d snap it up and would love to join you for a bevvie and a burger as long as your flying burgerman over to russell up a couple of his famous chemical whoppers !

Lads, the match is kicking off now i.e. 2:30 UK time.

Goal babel

I hate finding myself worrying about transfers that may or may not happen, about media stories that may or may not have any basis, blah blah blah…

But, it’s hard not to find it pretty obvious that Alonso and Masch are both being unsettled by all this tapping up from RM and Barca. It’s one thing to put nice high price tags on both of them, and/or refuse to sell – but what is the one thing Rafa has always said he wants to see in a player? Passion to play for the Reds.

Xabi and Masch have had their heads turned, how does Rafa turn their heads back? He can ask them to be loyal, he can refuse to sell, etc… but that will still leave us with 2 very important players who may not enter our season 100% focused on the job at hand, ie throwing everything into winning #19.

Amazing how my standards for this off-season are going down every week… ie at the start of it all I hoped we got cover at right-back, a 2nd striker, and a skilful game-breaker who could play anywhere in attack. Now I might just be happy with signing GJ and not losing anyone else!

Like I said… I hate worrying about rumours, but fuck it’d be a lot nicer to be hearing some positive rumours about the gun signings we are about to make, rather than all this negative stuff.

here the streaming link if anyone wants to watch the rest of the game

http://www.justin.tv/punxeliminatorias/old#mychat

Won’t ruin it for anyone who wants to watch it later, but a couple of things…
Skrtel injured. No word on how bad, but it was one of them ones when nothing seems to happen and they just pull up. So I reckon it’s probably a hamstring.
Something we could definetely do without.

El Zhar injured himself. Looks like he jarred his knee cap out of whack – this is what happens when you try a ridiculous over head kick when you should just nut the bloody thing or even let it go.
Silly boy.

Lastly…
Fucking gutted I wasn’t there. This will not happen again. It looked great fun and I bet our lads had a right aul laugh.

Andy, realistically Masch isn’t going anywhere. Rafa isn’t selling him and Barca haven’t got the money to buy him. He or his agent can say what they want come September 1st he’ll be a red.

Few other points of note:

Masch was diving in all over the joint and would have got sent off in a typical league match. He seemed well up for it for whatever reason.

Torres looked sharp when he came on.

LB, I agree, I can’t see Rafa letting Masch go. The gut feeling (and perhaps general consensus) is that he would let Alonso go for the right price. But my point was, you can put a red shirt on someone, but if they don’t want to be there anymore then how well will they play? I know they are all professionals and paid to do a job, etc etc… but even a well paid professional may not perform as well if they are wishing they were somewhere else.

Of course I hope it doesn’t happen, I’m just pointing out that it might. You could possibly look at Ronaldo as an example. Clearly the best player in the world one season, then the next season when we wished he was in Madrid, not really up to the same standard.

Lurgan, after a bit I realised I kept shouting at the telly “Stay on your fucking feet you divvy!”

Was he on a mission to prove something? Whatever it was, it was bloody ridiculous.

But just noticed Andy’s post… HA! Andy, you are catching on. I’ve had me share of bollickings in here for being negative, but I’m glad to see you, and some others, are starting to see it. I don’t just have a moan for a moan’s sake.

Hopefully the ones who bloolock me when I say – “I’m sick of this game, all that surrounds it, and all the people in it” – will see I have a point.

I can’t help but love LFC. It’s been in me life longer than anything else that I love. Not just saying that to be dramatic. The things that were there before it, Mam, Dad, Grandparents, Aunty’s Uncles have all gone. And Wife, Kids, Mates all arrived after it. So, it really is the longest standing love in me life. So, I suppose I’m stuck with it.

But since the late/mid 80′s I’ve become more and more disheartened with football itself, and even a little bit with the club. I can’t be arsed going on about all that’s wrong right now. I no doubt will sometime soon. But for now, all I want to say is… The actions of footballers nowadays doesn’t shock or surprise me one bit until someone like Torres comes along.

And you know what mate, it’s only going to get worse. But enough said, rant saved for future reference.

Andy, here’s a dying breed….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igVbyufw908

Hi guys, I have stumbled on this article and would like to share it with you.

Rafa and trusting him

One of my many faults as a football fan and as a person is that I am quite insular. I am rarely open to new ideas and like tradition. I think a lot of things that have happened in the past. If only I had done this different, that different, crossed paths at different times, been in that same place but at another time.

If.

Equally, I remember good times and sometimes my mind gets stuck in a time warp, afraid to move on and embrace change. All these feelings apply to me as a person, in life, love and as a Liverpool supporter.

When a spectacled middle-aged Spanish man walked into our club 5 years ago I knew nothing about him as a manager or as a man. I knew a bit about his teams and how he liked to set them up but nothing about Rafael Benitez the man.

The Michael Owen sale, if we are all honest, plunged us supporters straight into an instant dilemma. We had to decide via our gut instinct if in front of us was a man who was on a power mission, to blow away all the old Liverpool and rule with an iron fist. Or to decide if he was another Christian Gross in the making, full of fancy ideas of how football clubs should be run. Suit-dressed men sat in executive boxes with mobile phone in hand while a posse of coaches sit on the bench and…er coach…while he just picks the team.

Or had we another Arsene Wenger in the making? Except a Spanish version – would Melwood become a Spanish colony full of wonder kids, plucked from the academies of Barca and Real Madrid? Was he here for the long haul or was this just a stepping-stone? A foothold in a new country? Did he know Liverpool? The place and the people as well as the club and its history?

We did not know the answer to these questions in July 2004. But we trusted the gaffer as he broke up the cliques that he disapproved of in the dressing room.

Fast forward 5 years, and although we have been proved right with our gut instincts that we can trust this man, I want to ask some of these questions again.

Rafa the autocrat? It’s never been a nice word to associate with and it instantly leans towards the notion of a power freak but if push comes to shove then yes I think Rafa is an autocrat. He has moulded the dynamics and leads of communication of the club in such a way that the final word is now with Rafa. He can decide what is best for this club and we can all either trust him or not.

Rafa the stubborn man? Yes he is this too. If someone upsets him he will not forget in a hurry. He will not put arms around players or build up their ego. He will be hard on players, sometime even cruel. This will separate those with balls from those without. Take it or leave it.

Rafa the manipulator? When the infamous tirade at Mr Alex Ferguson was happening in front of our eyes, those of us who had witnessed Ferguson’s ramblings for too long, nodded in appreciation in the way that Rafa was prepared to stand up (and look a bit silly in the process) to this bully. Rafa laid down markers that day that will stand this club in good stead for the next few years. Already we can see how much Mr Alex Ferguson has lost all concept of reality. Rafa will also use the reputation of other teams/players and will play down/under-estimate our own potential in other cases where mind games are needed in this modern day.

I will end this rather mixed up post by quoting what other, respected and knowledgeable, people think about Rafa Benitez the man as well as the manager. Xabi Alonso could do worse than listen to these people and remember that it was Rafa who trusted his talent all those years ago. Now is time to return that trust.

“Rather than being arrogant, which he certainly isn’t, this manager of ours is driven, learned, astute, educated and his attention to detail is fantastic.”

“I was sitting right behind Rafa and I can guarantee that it was in no way trying to disrespect their bench, we had the set-pieces up on the board before the game and he’d told Xabi Alonso to do a certain free-kick. Xabi did the opposite but we managed to score from it, so he was basically saying ‘don’t listen to me, do your own thing’. Rafa’s the type of manager to focus on his team. He’s not the type who’d get involved with another manager while the game’s going on, or disrespect anyone, he’s just so focussed on making sure the team plays well.”

These are quotes from Sammy Lee and Steven Gerrard respectively and say it all. For the record I would trust these two with LFC in their hands more than anyone, bar one. Rafa Benitez.

He has altered the way I look at our matches now. We are worthy to be called great again and he is unselfishly laying foundations for our future all the time. We play great football, he is a master technician and he loves this club and city.

I would trust him with my life.

FS, it’s ironic that this is the link that appears after the Carra one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VScd7fLitaE&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Watched the friendly today.Good workout for the lads overall.Again result not the best but thats of little significance at this stage.Torres looks like he’s raging to get the proper stuff started.Even though if was on for only ten minutes he was everywhere.

FS, let’s hope Carra is getting into a few ears over there – Alonso has been around long enough to even understand what Carra is saying now too. Masch, perhaps not, but I think Rafa has put the “not for sale” sign up on him anyway.

Normally in the off-season I just pop online every few days to check if we’ve signed anyone new, or look like signing anyone new. Just to keep an eye on things. Sadly I have to admit that in the last 2 or 3 weeks, I have been logging on every day purely to see whether we’ve sold Xabi yet or not. I shouldn’t be so caught up in it, but he’s one of my favourite players to watch and I almost feel the inevitable coming. Of course, the bastards in the press know that people like me exist in their thousands, so they keep recycling garbage stories and quotes to get my attention.

What shits me is that neither Masch or Xabi should even know that they are being chased by Barca and RM. The whole “tapping up” thing is way out of control, I don’t think anyone even pretends it is a rule that will be policed anymore.

Don’t worry Andy, I reckon he’s had loads to say but here’s the civil bit that got to the papers…
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/premiership/liverpool/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/07/22/SOCCER_Liverpool_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=liverpool

It’s getting late now and I’m still busy, but tomorrow. I’m going to put a few links in here. Wish it was something nice, but it’s all do with that knobhead Steve Cohen in the states.

The NY City branch of the supporters club have been having murder with him for ages. They want some help with this.

I’ve promised to get it round a few sites and get some help with it. They were very good with the kig boycott Alex started on here. So, it would be good to return the favour. Also, I don’t know how much any of you know about this Steve Cohen fella but he’s a wrong un and needs stopping.

See you’s later.

PS: just seen enhanced cctv footage. I take it back. Stevie lamps him with 3 decent shots.

That cohen is the lowest of the low FS.not much better than that rat mc kenzie.

any link to that enhanced footage FS?

Awwww, FS and here I was about to suggest new lyrics for the Stevie G chant…

Steve Gerrard, Gerrard,
we thought he was hard, dead hard,
but he hits like an Essex tart,
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard.

…or… in light of the Grandad sweaters…

Steve Gerrard, Gerrard,
we thought he was hard, dead hard,
packs less punch than me Grandad’s farts,
Steve Gerrard, Gerrard,

Just came into say, I’m dead busy but will be back as soon as I can with the thing I want to post on this clown Steve Cohen.

I need a bit more time to do that though, so as I say, I will do it later tonight when things calm down a bit.

But while in here, I just noticed and read the post by Ron The Red.

Nice one Ron. I have been trying to say this for 5 years now. My mind hasn’t changed, but maybe it’s a good time to remind everyone… whatever happens with Masch and Xabi, Hicks and Gillette, and everything else to do with LFC, good or bad, there will be one constant… and he will be doing his absolute best for the club, the team, the players and therefore us.

I am blessed enough to remember the last man who stormed into Anfield to blow away the cobwebs and drag us into the modern age/day/football.

And the only difference I cans see between the 2 is, Shankly done it mainly on instinct. That’s not to say he wasn’t clever. He most certainly was, but he also had the great gift of just somehow knowing what to do and how to get the people on his side.

Rafa might not be as eleqouent or entertaining as the other great man, but the results are the same… LFC being dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming into the modern world and football. And I am so glad we have him and in him I trust implicitly.

IRWT