Liverpool F.c.

[StevieH]

it would jim in that i want the two lying, fraudulent wanke_rs out of the club as soon as possible, yeah. but financially we're looking at a miracle to improve things since we need a buyer who will wipe out the debt with their own cash and then inject more money into the club to fund the new stadium and improve the squad. there are only so many philanthropic multi-billionaires around.

[Jimjim]

Reportedly those rich Indians are sniffing about. Was a bit annoyed to read today that the Americans turned down an offer from the Kuwaiti investor in January to buy the club outright. I don't see what they are gaining by holding on to the club. It's as if they have something to prove to their own egos, and in the meanwhile the club is suffering.

[Devil]

Looks good but I don't know much about him.

More skill than Tevez and very creative on the ball.

Nice Lavezzi compilation of his skills at Napoli.

Looks like that's over was really hoping on Lavezzi coming here.

RAFA RESPONDS TO LAVEZZI RUMOURS

LFC TV

Rafa Benitez has dismissed reports Liverpool want to sign Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Speculation linking the Argentine with a move to Anfield has been fuelled by the player's agent over the last few days.

Benitez, though, is adamant no deal is in the pipeline.

"We never contacted Lavezzi and we have no intention of doing so," he said. "We want to put a stop to these rumours."

[StevieH]

he looks a good player but 20m seems a bit excessive for him. i'd rather keep that money and use it on david silva.

[Devil]

he looks a good player but 20m seems a bit excessive for him. i'd rather keep that money and use it on david silva.

Not to sure 20m is excessive for a player of his ability. Lately I cant work out the transfer prices anymore they seem to be ridiculous now. When I have watched Seria A and they show the Napoli games and highlights he looked special and never thought we would be linked to him as he is idolized by Napolites. (he's their Maradonna)

Lavezzi plays as a main and second striker and is really dangerous out wide (versatile striker) We need a striker that can play in any forward role. To give either Torres or Gerrad cover and rotate a bit more. Something Silva cant do from what I have seen of him but class non the less. Love both of them anyway but finacialy its not going to happen is it.

I still have a feeling we gonna sell Alonso (love the guy but) if we get an offer 35m I think he will have to be sold. Its the only way we gonna buy in more players.

[Devil]

That settles that, though you do wonder why he never came out and said that about Alonso. Maybe there is something in this then. Masch is priceless but obviously Alonso isn't? or maybe I reading into that wrong?

RAFA: MASCHERANO HAS NO PRICE

LFC TV

Rafa Benitez today dismissed speculation linking Javier Mascherano with a move away from Liverpool.

The Argentina international's agent was yesterday quoted as saying our No.20 would be prepared to talk to newly crowned European champions Barcelona.

However, Benitez is adamant Mascherano is not for sale at any price and insisted the 25-year-old is happy to stay at Anfield.

"Mascherano has no price," said the Liverpool boss.

"Barcelona could not afford to match his value to Liverpool Football Club.

"We do not want to sell and Javier is very happy here.

"I have spoken to Javier two or three times this summer – the last time was only last week – and he was very happy, very positive.

"He gave me the private number of his agent, Walter Tamer, and again the conversation was very positive and was all about football.

"Walter told me that two clubs with big, big names were asking after Mascherano – and I told him to forget it, that Javier was happy in Liverpool and he was not for sale.

"So I was surprised to see the agent's comments today.

"He has a long contract and any club can forget about bidding for him. They can offer £40m or even £50m, we don’t want to sell."

[sanmiguellight]

Seems Barca and Real are getting too big for their boots thinking they can click their fingers and get anyone they want.

[MSingh]

Just an observation, would Rafa not have the number of Mascherano's Agent anyway ???

[StevieH]

that knobber who has been talking to the press isn't even mascherano's agent.

[Devil]

LIVERPOOL FC OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Liverpool Football Club has today released the following statement.

"Despite repeated media speculation on the futures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, Liverpool has received no official approach or offer from any club regarding the players.

"Neither is for sale and furthermore Liverpool has no interest in the long list of Spanish based players being linked with a move to Anfield as part of any deal."

[Jimjim]

They should probably add, "Except for David Silva, in all honesty we'd probably like to have him."

But, official statements being what they are...

By the way, is Parry out now? Done working officially or will wait until end of this month? I haven't seen any replacement voted for nor announced.

Edited June 14, 2009 by Jimjim

[StevieH]

parry's almost gone. he's finishing his lawsuit against the daily mirror first i think before he goes. ian ayre will be taking on most of his responsibilities.

[bkkjames]

stuck this in the wrong thread,

so how do you rate 18-19 million pounds for a RB named Johnson? Good?

[StevieH]

depends how it breaks down. portsmouth still owe us 7m for crouch which not many people have mentioned and if it was in a few installments then i'd live with it. i rate him and he's an improvement on what we have already, so he costs what he costs. the market is fuc_ked anyway this summer thanks to madrid, chelsea and city.

edit: but i still think that johnson will go to chelsea as it goes.

Edited June 16, 2009 by StevieH

[MSingh]

Johnson will be a great addition to your Team & Squad, hel_l of a lot of money though for a Right Back but you'v got to be in it, to win it..

[Devil]

Johnson will be a great addition to your Team & Squad, hel_l of a lot of money though for a Right Back but you'v got to be in it, to win it..

I think Johnson will be an excellent buy he's not only become a solid defender now since he has matured but he's now a really good attacking wing back somthing we miss on the right. This deal seems right to me, especially as Stevie H mentioned money is owed on Crouch so a good bit of business.

Although I cant see us holding on to Arbeloa if we sign Johnson, especially if Madrid are offering 7-8 Mil cash.

[StevieH]

latest seems to be that the 17m figure is papers bigging it up. deal supposedly breaks down as 5m cash + 7m for crouch + 5m in add-ons. a decent enough deal if so. i probably agree about arbeloa dev, be a shame to lose him as i like him but if madrid or whoever else did offer 8m or so we'd probably have it.

[MSingh]

latest seems to be that the 17m figure is papers bigging it up. deal supposedly breaks down as 5m cash + 7m for crouch + 5m in add-ons. a decent enough deal if so. i probably agree about arbeloa dev, be a shame to lose him as i like him but if madrid or whoever else did offer 8m or so we'd probably have it.

So that's a Grand Total of 17m if he does well for you & acheives x amount of Games & win Trophies etc & including the Crouch money that's owed ??

Poxy Papers, who needs them..

Edited June 17, 2009 by MSingh

[StevieH]

yeah, most importantly for us that would mean only 5m out of our actual cash budget this summer. which if we have 20m new (albeit borrowed) money + the 16m or so we got back for robbie point-and-moan keane + whatever we can bring in from selling the likes of dossena, voronin, (hopefully) babel and a few of the kids then we shouldn't be too badly off budget-wise.

[MSingh]

yeah, most importantly for us that would mean only 5m out of our actual cash budget this summer. which if we have 20m new (albeit borrowed) money + the 16m or so we got back for robbie point-and-moan keane + whatever we can bring in from selling the likes of dossena, voronin, (hopefully) babel and a few of the kids then we shouldn't be too badly off budget-wise.

Of course Mate, only ribbing..

He will be a very good Signing, without a shadow of a doubt & i'm a big Johnson Fan..

[StevieH]

don't worry about it man, i'm just a little bit surprised myself as it goes. we appear to have a bit more money than we thought and don't, unlike what the daily mail and other rags have been assuring us, necessarily need to sell a big player to bring a couple in. alonso and mascherano stay, we bring in johnson, another decent wide player and a forward who can step in for torres and we're looking good. first season in ages we just need tweaking rather than major surgery.

[Jimjim]

Johnson would be a good addition it appears, thought that's just hearsay for me. I can't say I watched Portsmouth that much last season. Who knows, most of the time the papers say he's going to one team and the next day he's at another. However, I just read in the Echo that Johson is a done deal. First big signing of the summer, a positive move.

Unfortunately I think this will send the highly rated Degen out of Liverpool (tongue in cheek). Probably be a free transfer for him to go back to some club in Switzerland, Andorra, Faroe Islands or wherever he played before.

Dossena has handed in his transfer request, and due to the fact we already have two quality left backs, I think he's gone. Will get some good money for him, too. Will probably sell Voronin as it's said his wife doesn't want to win in England. Could be the other odd sale of fringe and reserves such as Intandje (think he settled that one back in April for sure) El Zhar or Plessis, etc. Babel I think will stay, but you never know. I thought Lucas might go of Barry came, but obviously and thankfully that didn't happen. Add a player like Silva and another striker, and I'd say the summer transfer season is done, aside from some loan deals for reserve players most likely and quite likely some buying of young talent for reserves or even first team action (that Eden Hazard fella is getting a lot of attention from many big clubs, I hear, I'll hazard a guess he'll end up with Dame Alex as he's at a similar stage of development as Ronaldo when he ended up there and possibly as good a talent).

edit: I guess the Johson deal isn't quite done, but it appears very likely. Evidently since he's on holiday and so is Rafa, this is the delay.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Jimjim

[The Vulcan]

LIVERPOOL FIXTURES

August

15 Tottenham (A)

19 Stoke (H)

22 Aston Villa (H)

29 Bolton (A)

September

12 Burnley (H)

19 West Ham (A)

26 Hull (H)

October

3 Chelsea (A)

17 Sunderland (A)

24 Man Utd (H)

31 Fulham (A)

November

7 Birmingham (H)

21 Man City (H)

28 Everton (A)

December

5 Blackburn (A)

12 Arsenal (H)

16 Wigan (H)

19 Portsmouth (A)

26 Wolverhampton (H)

28 Aston Villa (A)

January

9 Tottenham (H)

16 Stoke (A)

26 Wolverhampton (A)

30 Bolton (H)

February

6 Everton (H)

9 Arsenal (A)

20 Man City (A)

27 Blackburn (H)

March

6 Wigan (A)

13 Portsmouth (H)

20 Man Utd (A)

27 Sunderland (H)

April

3 Birmingham (A)

10 Fulham (H)

17 West Ham (H)

24 Burnley (A)

May

1 Chelsea (H)

9 Hull (A)

[Jimjim]

Is there any easy fixture in the Premiership anymore? A lot of the "easy" fixtures are where we lost the title last year, really. Did better against the others in the top 4 comparatively. I think Spurs away certainly not a great opening fixture, but lets hope they are starting out like last season, ha ha, though not likely. Funny that will be two straight against the same club in the league. Anyway, probably the toughest thing about the fixture list is because of the World Cup there's less time between matches on the whole and for Liverpool specifically for the six opening Champions League matches either an away game or a tough matchup with Chelsea, Man U or Arsenal follows from what I can remember reading. Other than that, still have to play 38 matches against all the other clubs, just like anyone else.

Well, it's silly season, isn't it? I think there's no way in hel_l Masch will leave though that doesn't stop rags from saying his wife hates living in England and he will settle for a move to Spain to make her happy. Whatever his family life, he loves playing for Liverpool, and there's no way he's leaving.

As for Alonso, I still do worry. Best player last season besides Gerrard, no doubt. Well, only time will tell, no use worrying about rumors in the papers. I think in two weeks we'll have a much better picture, however.

[EastSaxCol]

Whatever happened to scousemouse ?

[LeungKen]

Whatever happened to scousemouse ?

Rumour has that he's "seen the light" and will soon re-appear as mancmouse......

I'm out of here

....very quickly

[EastSaxCol]

Rumour has that he's "seen the light" and will soon re-appear as mancmouse......

Or might that be a surreymouse then ?

[Jockstar]

Whatever happened to scousemouse ?

I saw him when i was over in December. He had personal problems and his circumstances had changed. I will try and get a hold of him.

[mrbojangles]

we appear to have a bit more money than we thought and don't, unlike what the daily mail and other rags have been assuring us,

From BBC sports:-

Liverpool owner agrees NHL sale

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett is to sell one of his major US assets in a deal which could ease financial pressures at the Premier League club.

He is selling his stake in the NHL's Montreal Canadiens in a deal reported to be worth at least $550m (£332.9m).

Mr Gillett, and fellow Liverpool owner Tom Hicks, have until 24 July to repay £350m they owe to RBS and Wachovia.

Latest accounts show Kop Holdings, the parent company of the Anfield club, lost £42.6m in the year to August 2008.

Interest payments on loans accounted for £36.5m of Kop's losses.

Mr Gillett put the Canadiens up for sale earlier this year, and the deal includes his 80% stake in the team, the Bell Centre arena, and the Gillett Entertainment Group.

They are being bought by brewing giants, the Molson family, who already own the remaining 20% share.

Mr Hicks has also been looking to sell off elements of his own sporting empire - which include Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars.

The pair bought Liverpool in February 2007 and since then have squabbled with each other, alienated some fans, failed to progress with a promised new stadium, and seen potential sales of the club fall away.

There have been many questions surrounding the future of the £350m loans, after the repayment deadline was extended for six months this January.

Liverpool were put on the market last year with a reported asking price of about £500m, but no sale was finalised.

[Jared]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_5394826,00.html

What do you think guys? Ive been reading for weeks on various rumour sites that weve secretly been taken over by DIC or someone connected to them. Romour is that its being kept secret until Rafa has agreed prices for his targets. Moores has just resigned as honerary chairman, Rafa and all the top players have signed long term deals recently. The Americans need to refinance and have been looking for investment for a long time, looks like theyve both sold a 30% stake each.