Liverpool F.c.

[carmine]

I am currently in Liverpool and everyone I speak to here who supports Liverpool are all completely depressed about their season and next season, although there is a lot of stinging criticism of Rafa, even though the owners are also despised.

News reports this morning suggest he is staying put for next season (as he greedily seeks to be sacked). That would be terrible news for the club if he doesn't move on. You now need a Hodgson or an O'Neill as you try to put this season behind you. As an Evertonian I would cheer if he stayed.

This is an interesting article: http://tvnz.co.nz/football-news/ten-reason...verpool-3531418

If you handed 20m to your manager for a major signing and he brought in a guy who was injured and unable to play for..how many games? ...and has been unable to get fully match fit all season would you be loathe to entrust him with any more?

Rafa has had a fairly rough ride but he and he alone made the decision to sign that huge money spinning contract to stay (cant feel too sorry for such a reward for failure can you, and he'll finish his tenure with a very large bank account) at Liverpool. A fair number of the players he has brought to Anfield are clearly not the calibre you would expect at this club. And yet still the excuses for him persist. Respect for the loyalty from the fans, but i think the club's problems are not only due to the owners but also a manager that has been found lacking and frankly looks pretty stupid

I'm well aware some on here will disagree but O'Neil would be a huge "step up" in management ability for them, as Rafa won't improve things without spending millions the club has'nt got so bring in a manager that does have the ability to achieve this with the squad you have.

[StevieH]

how many times do i have to post the same things in this thread by the way?

aquilani - we didn't pay £20m for him, yes he was a gamble but the manager was at the time working under the impression that he had a budget of £20m plus what he raised from sales to play with, a total of £65m give or take. so he planned to sign another top midfielder plus a top striker to take some of the weight off torres after he'd done the deals for johnson and aquilani. this money subsequently vanished amid repeated lies from the club's interim MD, the berk purslow.

rafa's new contract - don't see the relevance of this since he could have left the club and got a bigger salary at madrid or juventus.

and carmine, if you genuinely think that martin o'neill is 'a step up' from a manager who has won la liga twice in spain, who got liverpool to two european cup finals in three seasons and had a genuine title tilt last season - finishing with 86 points, the same as this season's champions and a record for second place - while making a profit in the transfer market? well then you sound like a clown who doesn't know what the hel_l he's talking about i'm afraid.

Edited May 11, 2010 by StevieH

[Jimjim]

Here, here, Stevie, more nonsense from the peanut gallery.

It was a pretty sad last game of the season. We could have got 6th (yes we were fighting for 6th!) and not had to play two more Europa qualifying matches. I think I read the first one will be on the 29th of July, coming at a time when some of the World Cup players will probably have just got back a week before like last year.

On the plus side, it should be against pretty easy opposition, at least it was at that stage last year for Fulham, I think it was he had to play that match.

It has been a depressing season, to say the least. I too hope like Reina a sale can come quickly. Saw two rumors about new owners just today, but who knows if it's just nonsense. Probably. I'm an optimist so hoping for the best in this situation.

Also, we should be getting Danny Wilson and Milan Jovanovic come in to the squad this summer. Riera will be gone, for sure. Not sure who else will leave but I could see Babel gone, also.

Sigh...

[carmine]

how many times do i have to post the same things in this thread by the way?

aquilani - we didn't pay £20m for him, yes he was a gamble but the manager was at the time working under the impress that he had a budget of £20m plus what he raised from sales to play with, a total of £65m give or take. so he planned to sign another top midfielder plus a top striker to take some of the weight off torres after he'd done the deals for johnson and aquilani. this money subsequently vanished.

rafa's new contract - don't see the relevance of this since he could have left the club and got a bigger salary at madrid or juventus.

and carmine, if you genuinely think that martin o'neill is 'a step up' from a manager who has won la liga twice in spain, who got liverpool to two european cup finals in three seasons and had a genuine title tilt last season - finishing with 86 points, the same as this season's champions and a record for second place - while making a profit in the transfer market? well then you sound like a clown who doesn't know what the hel_l he's talking about i'm afraid.

Have you checked the league table recently.

If you keep dwelling on the past there ain't much hope for the future is there.

And btw, if you are going to get arsey like in you last post, dont waste my time with a reply

[Jimjim]

Don't waste our time calling Rafa stupid and using cliches. Think you could do better? Right....Get on the phone to Liverpool now, perhaps they'll take you for the under-2's assistant to the assistant coach.

[Devil]

I am currently in Liverpool and everyone I speak to here who supports Liverpool are all completely depressed about their season and next season, although there is a lot of stinging criticism of Rafa, even though the owners are also despised.

News reports this morning suggest he is staying put for next season (as he greedily seeks to be sacked). That would be terrible news for the club if he doesn't move on. You now need a Hodgson or an O'Neill as you try to put this season behind you. As an Evertonian I would cheer if he stayed.

This is an interesting article: http://tvnz.co.nz/football-news/ten-reason...verpool-3531418

If you handed 20m to your manager for a major signing and he brought in a guy who was injured and unable to play for..how many games? ...and has been unable to get fully match fit all season would you be loathe to entrust him with any more?

Rafa has had a fairly rough ride but he and he alone made the decision to sign that huge money spinning contract to stay (cant feel too sorry for such a reward for failure can you, and he'll finish his tenure with a very large bank account) at Liverpool. A fair number of the players he has brought to Anfield are clearly not the calibre you would expect at this club. And yet still the excuses for him persist. Respect for the loyalty from the fans, but i think the club's problems are not only due to the owners but also a manager that has been found lacking and frankly looks pretty stupid

I'm well aware some on here will disagree but O'Neil would be a huge "step up" in management ability for them, as Rafa won't improve things without spending millions the club has'nt got so bring in a manager that does have the ability to achieve this with the squad you have.

oh dear

[carmine]

Don't waste our time calling Rafa stupid and using cliches. Think you could do better? Right....Get on the phone to Liverpool now, perhaps they'll take you for the under-2's assistant to the assistant coach.

Such a intelligently written post. Bravo mate. The jobs yours.

Thanks for the "debate", but i doubt i'll bother again

[StevieH]

how many times do i have to post the same things in this thread by the way?

aquilani - we didn't pay £20m for him, yes he was a gamble but the manager was at the time working under the impress that he had a budget of £20m plus what he raised from sales to play with, a total of £65m give or take. so he planned to sign another top midfielder plus a top striker to take some of the weight off torres after he'd done the deals for johnson and aquilani. this money subsequently vanished.

rafa's new contract - don't see the relevance of this since he could have left the club and got a bigger salary at madrid or juventus.

and carmine, if you genuinely think that martin o'neill is 'a step up' from a manager who has won la liga twice in spain, who got liverpool to two european cup finals in three seasons and had a genuine title tilt last season - finishing with 86 points, the same as this season's champions and a record for second place - while making a profit in the transfer market? well then you sound like a clown who doesn't know what the hel_l he's talking about i'm afraid.

Have you checked the league table recently.

If you keep dwelling on the past there ain't much hope for the future is there.

And btw, if you are going to get arsey like in you last post, dont waste my time with a reply

sorry, wasn't meant to sound personal at you alone - am just fed up of hearing crap cliches tossed at the manager lately.

the league table doesn't lie but the league table also doesn't reveal that liverpool have made a £31m profit in the last two summers' transfer dealings while spurs, for example, have spent £54m net. which is not to mention man city's spending. so in investment terms we're about par, showing what a job the manager and players did last season by finishing second. an incredible achievement in the circumstances.

our problems are far, far larger than the league table and the manager we have in charge right now - who don't forget is so crap and clueless that real madrid and juventus have both clamoured after him to go there while if/when mourinho goes to madrid this summer inter milan will also be knocking on benitez's door.

we just had to give the league assurances that we will be able to fulfil our fixtures next season as a going concern - this is how much of a mess we are in. rafa benitez is a long way down the list of the problems at liverpool right now.

Edited May 11, 2010 by StevieH

[carmine]

how many times do i have to post the same things in this thread by the way?

aquilani - we didn't pay £20m for him, yes he was a gamble but the manager was at the time working under the impress that he had a budget of £20m plus what he raised from sales to play with, a total of £65m give or take. so he planned to sign another top midfielder plus a top striker to take some of the weight off torres after he'd done the deals for johnson and aquilani. this money subsequently vanished.

rafa's new contract - don't see the relevance of this since he could have left the club and got a bigger salary at madrid or juventus.

and carmine, if you genuinely think that martin o'neill is 'a step up' from a manager who has won la liga twice in spain, who got liverpool to two european cup finals in three seasons and had a genuine title tilt last season - finishing with 86 points, the same as this season's champions and a record for second place - while making a profit in the transfer market? well then you sound like a clown who doesn't know what the hel_l he's talking about i'm afraid.

Have you checked the league table recently.

If you keep dwelling on the past there ain't much hope for the future is there.

And btw, if you are going to get arsey like in you last post, dont waste my time with a reply

sorry, wasn't meant to sound personal at you alone - am just fed up of hearing crap cliches tossed at the manager lately.

the league table doesn't lie but the league table also doesn't reveal that liverpool have made a £31m profit in the last two summers' transfer dealings while spurs, for example, have spent £54m net. which is not to mention man city's spending. so in investment terms we're about par, showing what a job the manager and players did last season by finishing second. an incredible achievement in the circumstances.

our problems are far, far larger than the league table and the manager we have in charge right now - who don't forget is so crap and clueless that real madrid and juventus have both clamoured after him to go there while if/when mourinho goes to madrid this summer inter milan will also be knocking on benitez's door.

we just had to give the league assurances that we will be able to fulfil our fixtures next season as a going concern - this is how much of a mess we are in. rafa benitez is a long way down the list of the problems at liverpool right now.

That no problem, mate.

[sharecropper]

as an evertonian you know nothing about the ins and outs of being a large and successful club

No but we know plenty about "small" ones and mid-table dogfights so feel free to sound me out next season.

Someone (Carmine?) earlier said O'Neil would be a managerial step-up for Liverpool after Benitez, and he is right. Money won't be available for big name transfers from the present owners, and probably not entrusted to Rafa if it were, so you need someone who can work with a small budget and a half decent squad, and not some blustering nincompoop.

[longstebe]

Whats this about some Asian dude keeping tight lipped over the sale of the club?

Anyone heard?

Also got me thinking about some of our players not being able to rest once again. Torres has been at it non stop for the last 2yrs and it's gonna

be 3 after the world cup, 2008 Euro then the 2009 confed cup. Great!!!!

[StevieH]

Whats this about some Asian dude keeping tight lipped over the sale of the club?

Anyone heard?

Also got me thinking about some of our players not being able to rest once again. Torres has been at it non stop for the last 2yrs and it's gonna

be 3 after the world cup, 2008 Euro then the 2009 confed cup. Great!!!!

there are a few people being linked to buying the club at the minute, but we're in a portsmouth position - we're going to have all sorts of chancers linked to buying us because we're for sale and it bigs up people's reputations being linked to owning a club like us.

torres doesn't just need a rest, he needs an operation and then a rest.

[sharecropper]

torres doesn't just need a rest, he needs an operation and then a rest.

Reading this week's press it sounds like it's serious and he's going to undergo a transplant - to Chelsea!

[Jimjim]

Don't waste our time calling Rafa stupid and using cliches. Think you could do better? Right....Get on the phone to Liverpool now, perhaps they'll take you for the under-2's assistant to the assistant coach.

Such a intelligently written post. Bravo mate. The jobs yours.

Thanks for the "debate", but i doubt i'll bother again

Do you know how arrogant you sound? You give a short 3 sentences telling StevieH not to bother if he's going to be arsey and expect a well researched essay in return? Yikes, a bit full of yourself. Yes, please don't bother with a response if you're going to be "arsey."

Mines the kind of response deserved by your post. But I bow in deference to your far superior ego, oops, I mean intelligence.

StevieH had it covered pretty well so I really had nothing to add, as it was all spot on. Sorry, in general just get a little bleary eyed with all the "Rafa's stupid" type posts often in here that never take in to account the actual facts but just cliches about him and the poster thinking their point of view is clearly superior to any Liverpool fan with biased views who can't think clearly about anything to do with the club.

Kind of like the cliche you offered about dwelling on the past. So, lets just forget about it as I hope to God you just gave a knee-jerk post and it's a misunderstanding. I was merely responding to the tone of your 3 sentence post. Sorry I got an F, for goodness' sake.

Edited June 1, 2010 by Jimjim

[carmine]

Don't waste our time calling Rafa stupid and using cliches. Think you could do better? Right....Get on the phone to Liverpool now, perhaps they'll take you for the under-2's assistant to the assistant coach.

Such a intelligently written post. Bravo mate. The jobs yours.

Thanks for the "debate", but i doubt i'll bother again

Was the kind of response deserved by your post. But I bow in deference to your far superior ego, oops, I mean intelligence.

Whatever

[Jimjim]

Ha ha, nice response.

Let's just forget about it, shall we?

Well, Carmine, in all honesty, let's hear your opinions on Liverpool's ownership problem. Do you see it being approved any time soon? I really have no idea but things are depressing at the moment...

[carmine]

Ha ha, nice response.

Let's just forget about it, shall we?

Well, Carmine, in all honesty, let's hear your opinions on Liverpool's ownership problem. Do you see it being approved any time soon? I really have no idea but things are depressing at the moment...

I think the club and the fans deserve better and i hope it gets sorted out as soon as possible. More questions should be put to the man who set up the Hicks/Gillet takeover.

I hope these two part company with Liverpool as soon as possible but unfortunately i can't see that happening until they've had their pound of flesh.

[Jimjim]

If reports are true, they are holding out for far too much, as if they've actually done anything but put us in huge debt.

[StevieH]

hicks' most recent interview with tame journalists at sky sports made me want to commit violent acts on the bastard. his hypocrisy is quite amazing.

there's some great artwork doing the rounds of the web though:

[sharecropper]

Excellent illustration, but more pertinent would have been Rafa standing there saying "sixteen million or the bird gets it".

They must not need to sell if they can put 800m on the price tag, as it will take a long time/forever to sell at that price with all the turbulence.

Best you can hope for is a stabilising season and a Europa place (and I'm not being snide, as we will struggle more than you no doubt).

[bkkjames]

Looks like the fat little waiter is on his way out according to all the reports today from the UK.

Who will be his replacement?

[StevieH]

don't care. whoever it is won't be in his quality and experience bracket. club is fuc_ked. tom, george and their snide lackey purslow win. bye bye LFC.

[bkkjames]

don't care. whoever it is won't be in his quality and experience bracket. club is fuc_ked. tom, george and their snide lackey purslow win. bye bye LFC.

I dont know Stevie, could be the new owners (whoever they are) want to appoint their own man. Let's wait and see.

[StevieH]

there are no new owners james, don't believe the <deleted> that purslow is leaking to the media, we are nowhere near a buyer. hicks is holding out for £800m, which is ludicrous, and the banks are letting him because they're making a fortune off the crippling interest payments in the meantime which are paid by the club, not by hicks or gillett.

there is no silver lining here.

[NADTATIDA1]

[bkkjames]

there are no new owners james, don't believe the <deleted> that purslow is leaking to the media, we are nowhere near a buyer. hicks is holding out for £800m, which is ludicrous, and the banks are letting him because they're making a fortune off the crippling interest payments in the meantime which are paid by the club, not by hicks or gillett.

there is no silver lining here.

Maybe our Red Knights can put in a bid for 1 billion to the Hick and Razorman. We will use you as a feeder team.

[StevieH]

there are no new owners james, don't believe the <deleted> that purslow is leaking to the media, we are nowhere near a buyer. hicks is holding out for £800m, which is ludicrous, and the banks are letting him because they're making a fortune off the crippling interest payments in the meantime which are paid by the club, not by hicks or gillett.

there is no silver lining here.

Maybe our Red Knights can put in a bid for 1 billion to the Hick and Razorman. We will use you as a feeder team.

hilarious lad.

[Jockstar]

Benitez to leave Liverpool with £3m pay-off?

By Soccernet staff

June 2, 2010

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Reports are suggesting that Rafael Benitez's tenure in charge of Liverpool is about to come to an end with the two parties agreeing on an initial pay-off of £3 million.

GettyImages

Inter are said to be interested in Benitez

Benitez's future has come under intense scrutiny following a dismal season for Liverpool which saw them slump from second place in 2008-09 to seventh place. They only qualified for Europe next season due to Portsmouth being ineligible to take their place in the Europa League.

The contract which Benitez signed 12 months ago stipulated that he would be due £16 million should Liverpool choose to dispose of his services. That is a fee that Liverpool could not afford in their current financial position, but it now appears Benitez and bosses at Liverpool have been in talks to reach a mutually agreeable settlement.

Inter Milan could be a possible destination for Benitez after Fabio Capello chose to commit his future to England. Benitez has been suggested as a possible replacement for Jose Mourinho, who has taken over at Real Madrid.

Liverpool have refused to make any comment, though it is thought his sacking could be confirmed on Thursday morning after talks with chairman Martin Broughton have been concluded.

And Benitez's agent was also tight-lipped, with Manuel Garcia Quilon saying: "We don't know anything more than what's being said. We're not saying anything.''

[Jockstar]

REAL WANT GERRARD

Reina pleads with Gerrard to snub Real Madrid

By Soccernet staff

June 2, 2010

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Jose Reina is expecting Real Madrid to make an offer for Steven Gerrard but hopes his Liverpool team-mate will spurn the chance to join Jose Mourinho's side.

GettyImages

Steven Gerrard had a disappointing season for Liverpool

Gerrard is believed to be one of Mourinho's leading transfer targets following his arrival at the Bernabeu and he recently said of the midfielder and his England colleague Frank Lampard that "both are two great players and always give everything."

Reina anticipates that Real will firm up their interest in a player who has seen his future dragged into the spotlight following Liverpool's failure to secure Champions League football for next season, but is praying they do not prise him from Anfield.

"I hope Gerrard doesn't bring anything to Real Madrid and that he stays a long time at Liverpool, that he is with us for the rest of his career." Reina said.

"I understand that something will happen, that Real Madrid's interest in Gerrard will become manifest because Mourinho knows him very well and he is a footballer who can play in any team in the world.

"He is part of the elite, among the ten best in the world because he is a very complete footballer. Let's hope they don't take him away."

[Penkoprod]

This is a good start if it comes to pass (looks like there's some substance in it, though) But there is a lot more work to be done, apart from just sacking an average manager, before the club can be turned round.

Starting with scouting staff, coaching staff, and playing staff. Pity messrs Hicks and Gillett will need MUCH more than 3 million quid to shift them !!!!

Penkoprod