Liverpool Snap Up Kewell!!

StickyMcGinty

Looks like we sealed a STG£7 mill deal for him, very wierd and clever way which we did it...

http://www.football365.com/Homegrounds/Liverpool/News/story_72206.shtml

very evil!!!

Hope its true though, i hear he will be unveiled on July 7th.
Now i've to decide who to get on the back a me jersey!! Finnan or Kewell??

cournioni

If that is true, which I very much doubt. Whats the bets on Houllier playing him in an anchor role or in the centre of the defence?

Wolf

They wont get him

p.pete

Ahhh, the vitriolic duo, Wolf and porNAPster - give it a few days and we will see who has been signed and who hasn't. Don't want want to create too much fiction, but there is a fair few Australian newspapers comenting on Kewell going to Liverpool - to counter this though, there is reports saying he may go to Milan and he would prefer a move abroad.

I'll give you decent odds on that "anchor role or in the centre of the defence" thing.

Waylander

I think any attacking player like Kewell or Duff would have to think long and hard before siging for a Gerard Houllier team. The man seems to be the kiss of death to attacking players. Even Owen is not as prolific as he used to be. What was he fourth or fifth in last seasons premiership scoring charts. heskey and Diouff are both ruined now too. Along with Bruno Cheyrou and Patrick Berger. Ah well at least Smicer is still there.

Kewell would be mad to go to Liverpool.

jonno

Well Waylander fortunately it won't be up to you where he goes.

I won't believe anything until his name is on the contract, still would prefer Duff though.

p.pete

Originally posted by Waylander
Even Owen is not as prolific as he used to be. What was he fourth or fifth in last seasons premiership scoring charts. heskey and Diouff are both ruined now too. Along with Bruno Cheyrou and Patrick Berger. Ah well at least Smicer is still there.

Kewell would be mad to go to Liverpool.

First of all Berger is not ruined, I think he will shine at Portsmouth. He has been very injury prone over the last few years thus we haven't seen him - if he gets a clear run this season he can do weel.

Cheyrou - I don't know too much about him, does anyone else. Very highly rated but I had never actually heard of him until a year ago. He kind of shot himself in the foot by saying the pace of the premiership scared him - that was like saying "close me down and tackle me, I'll crumble". Should do better this year.

Diouff it has been said many times started the season poorly (due to tiredness from WC or moving to a new league or whatever) but ended quite well. Watch this space (btw. before the WC how much about him did you know about him and if the answer is not that much how can you judge Houlliers influence on him).

Owen is still young and still prone to muscle injuries which the club are doing a good job of protecting imho. Each time he gets injured and comes back it takes him 5 or 6 games to reach any kind of form, despite this he still got a decent haul. Should have done better though. Also by his own admission defenders don't stand off him anymore like they did when he was 17 or 18. The kind of wtf reaction Bellamy is enjoying at the moment only lasts a few seasons. Can't really see how Houllier has ruined Owen but if you want to spell it out for me, feel free.

The Heskey situation is debateable - he was always over priced, possibly over-rated but having said that his development quite likely would have been better at a different club. Also GH has in the past expected things of him that he just wasn't capable of.

jonno

p.pete is right.

Berger only lost his spark because he was injured and never really got back into it. I think he will do well at Portsmouth like Dugarry has at Brum.

Diouf did take a long time to adapt but that's understandable. How long did Veron take to adapt at ManYoo or has he ever adapted. He's the biggest example of many players that have found it hard to adapt to premiership footie. Also Diouf had to adapt to playign on the right wing which is not his natural position plus he has only been there for a year. Cheryou is another example of someone that had a hard time of it in his first year especially when he was played out of position on the left wing. Anybody that saw him play against Lazio in the pre-season last summer would know that he is at his best when playing in the middle and going forward. I know you can't judge a player on one game but he is a player that is been critised far too often when the fact of the matter is he is been judged by his performances in matches that he played out of position in a team that was going through a bad spell. Give him a chance.

Risse is an attacking wing back. Was GH the kiss of death to him? Since he has arrived at Liverpool he has been consistantly good. He is close to being one of the best left backs in England apart from O' Shea and Cole. It has yet to be seen how good Finnan will be under GH.

As for Michael Owen - he did have a dodgy start to the season but he said himself on top of being drained from the World Cup he also was doing alot of exercises himself especially weights to improve his overall body strength which did take away his sharpness and edge for a while. But he came back to his best at the end. If he was not prolific last season with 20 odd goals in the year I can't wait for him to come back to consistant form

So please try and back up your statements or opinions instead of just generalising

Waylander

Berger never got back into it because Houllier insisted on playing MUPPETS like Smicer ahead of him. I can forgive Diouff taking time to settle but when his manager keeps playing him out of position it is not exactly going to help this process. With your Cheyrou arguement you are actually backing up what I say. You have pretty much stated that the reason he has not worked out is because the manager keeps playing him out of position.

I was not having a go at the players, I was having a go at the manager. I do not think they will be a serious threat to United or Arsenal in the league, and in fact I think a gulf will start to open between Newcastle and Chelsea down to Liverpool.

You are right about Rjise, he has done great since going to Liverpool, but it is funny that he is not guarunteed to start a match if he is fit.

Pete I think you are right Berger will shine at Portsmouth. It is his Liverpool career that Houllier ruined, and if I was a Liverpool fan I would be annoyed that another good player got away.

Ronan|Raven

I will belive it when I see him sign the transfer papers. be a nice addition though as long as he isnt still looking for stupid wages. I think saying that Houllier ruined Bergers career is ever so slightly OTT. I was sad to see him leave as I still think he could have offered alot but he was injured for a large amount of time that Houllier was in charge so one cannot blame him in whole.

p.pete

A season or two ago in pre season training Berger was looking great - in terms of fitness and the way they were measuring it (recovery rates after training or something like that) he was miles ahead of everyone else. Just what you would be looking for someone in Bergers position - then he got injured, again.

As someone who has never really played that many games under GH you can't really be expecting him to be a natural choice for immediate selection as soon as he comes back from an injury.

Bannor

The Kewell deal is not done yet...

On a related bit of news: Blackburn have apparently dropped the asking price for Duff to £10M because they think that if Liverpool sign Kewell they'll never get money for him.

Superfurry

It is his Liverpool career that Houllier ruined, and if I was a Liverpool fan I would be annoyed that another good player got away.

Some people really just haven't a clue what they are talking about. Houllier saved Berger's Liverpool career. When he came in Berger was languishing on the bench and Roy Evans had put him up for sale after letting it be known that he had no future at the club. Houllier revitilised Berger's Anfield career and were it not for his loss of form after injury, he would still be wearing the red shirt. Incidently Berger was offered a new contract six months ago, but turned it down instead opting to leave on a Bosman.

StickyMcGinty

one things for sure, we wont get duffer anyway... not on last seasons performance anyhoo

but Kewell cant and wont move abroad - his missus is in Eastenders and she wont be flying in to do that!! hes stayin in england. watch this space, i hear next monday is when it'll be done

mike65

Originally posted by VinnyL


but Kewell cant and wont move abroad - his missus is in Eastenders and she wont be flying in to do that!! hes stayin in england. watch this space, i hear next monday is when it'll be done

She's in Emmerdale which is filmed ooop North another good reason to sign for Pool!

Mike.

yop

She lives in London I think mike, cannot honestly see him joining pool but weirder things could happen

p.pete

Originally posted by yop
She lives in London I think mike, cannot honestly see him joining pool but weirder things could happen

For example:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102490
That one belongs in humour for sure

Bannor

Kewell close to Leeds exit

The club that the Leeds board member and an agent have been feeding details to is Barcelona. Barca told them that they couldn't offer a better financial package!

From my source:

Barca have dropped out of the race to sign the player when they were told that LFC had offered the player 3 million Euros a year.

kdevitt

Its been reported that Kewell has been assigned nr 11 as his squad number... don't have a clue whether this is reliable info or not...

His wife lives just outside Leeds afaik - Emmerdale is filmed up there, and aparently she doesn't want to move.

p.pete

Originally posted by kdevitt
Its been reported that Kewell has been assigned nr 11 as his squad number... don't have a clue whether this is reliable info or not...

His wife lives just outside Leeds afaik - Emmerdale is filmed up there, and aparently she doesn't want to move.

Is that no.11 for Pool? that would be cool but I think we could still be days (or longer) away from finding out.

Apparently his agent said "At this stage I can confirm there are five clubs in the mix chasing Harry's signature - AC Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United," .

Tis quite possible that Barcelona may have dropped out due to personal terms. Arsenal won't go as far as 7mil (more speculation). Man U seem likely to get Ronaldinho.

This leave Pool and Milan presuming all the deductions above are sound and well informed. There is a few things that we have over Milan.
1/ were nearer to the set of Emerdale (oh joy:rolleyes: )
2/ less of a culture barrier (although some people would enjoy moving to Milan, Liverpool is afterall a sh1thole)
3/ maybe he grew up watching english football and has always been a pool fan (does anyone know who he supported as a kid?), dream move and all that.

kdevitt

Yep - nr 11 for Liverpool, Kewell is a lifelong Liverpool supporter - there are a few videos of him playing as a kid in the grey Candy jersey...

He was also offered to us along with Nigel Martyn earlier in the season, but we didn't want another keeper... he was allegedly quoted as saying he'd play at left back just to play for liverpool - then a day or two later, after there'd been a rumour that he refused to play out on the wing anymore for leeds, an official quote was released saying he was happy to play in any position for the team.

It could still all go pear shaped like Bowyer last season though, but from what I've heard, he is definitely ours... (fingers crossed)

I've also heard whispers of Heskey moving to a certain team managed by Mr Souness as part of a swap deal for DD...

Could all be BS, but you never know...

p.pete

Either Duff or Kewell would be fantastic, I'm sure we all have personal opinions as to which would be better.

Possible lineup (can't wait for this to be slaughtered)

Owen Baros

Duff/Kewell Hamman Gerrard Djiouf

Risse Hyppia Henchoz Finnan

Dudek


Maybe not league winning but there is potential.

Bannor

Real may have thrown a spanner in the works for Man Utd's bid for Ronaldinho. They've told his agent that if he's willing to wait a year at PSG then they'll come and get him. The fall out of this is that Canal Plus are willing to invest more money in PSG for the coming season in anticipation of a likely bidding war for the player. Ronaldinho is determined to leave the club this summer but the sticking point is Man Utd agreeing a fee with PSG and Canal Plus.


As for Heskey... he has received the dreaded vote of confidence.

"I've spoken to Gerard Houllier and he's assured me on my future at the club".

Westerveld received similar assurances days before he was ousted and replaced by Dudek and Kirkland.

kdevitt

Yeah - Lyon made a 6m bid for Heskey, and Houllier said the price was 11m... point being that once they put that price on his head hes definitely up for sale

I heard that Charlton made a bid of 1.5 million for him a few weeks ago!!:p

Thanx 4 The Fish

Is Baros not going on loan next year to Real Zaragozza ? Heard a whisper that a loan deal will be hammered out in the not too distant future.

kdevitt

There are rumours alright that Baros isn't too happy - he just split with his girlfriend, and his two best mates at Anfield won't be there at the start of next season - Berger and Smicer (rumours that Smicer will be joing Berger at Portsmouth)

Apart from that, and as a result of his two best friends being both Czech, his grasp of English isn't as good as it should be aparently.
I don't think he'll be leaving though - not on a loan deal anyway. Although when Cisse arrives he could make way...

p.pete

It would be crazy to loan out Baros - sell him if they are going to sell him but I hope not.

He was our second best striker last season with hardly any starts. There was a few rumours going around though.

I say take the 1.5mil for Heskey and cut our losses.

jonno

I agree with p.pete that Baros should not be loaned out. Sell him and replace him if anything but loaning out is just a waste on such a good player. So either cash in or keep him.

If GH has any sense at all, Heskey will be leaving this summer. I thought the writing was on the cards at the end of the season when he was finally dropped in favour of Baros. Don't know what to believe but Heskey is not consistantly good enough to play for Liverpool. He is probably one of the poorest strikers we have had when you think of the likes of Fowler, Anelka, Owen, Baros, Daglish, Rush etc. I don't like knocking the lad as he has put in good performances but he has showed his frailities this year and he should leave. There's a few rumours going around on lfconline.com that the Cisse deal could still be alive. I hope that is true as I would prefer him to Eto'o and he i a good playmaker too.

I'm quietly confidant July could be a busy month for GH. He promised at the start of the summer that 3 or 4 players capable of going into the first team would be brought in this summer. So far we have one and one in the pipeline. He better deliver.

Bannor

Originally posted by Thanx 4 The Fish
Is Baros not going on loan next year to Real Zaragozza ? Heard a whisper that a loan deal will be hammered out in the not too distant future.

The Baros story first appeared in the Spanish newspaper Marca, it's a pro Real Madrid paper so it was very unusual. The story got picked up from there by the likes of Planetfootball but there has been no follow up to it. Haven't been able to find out where the story came from.

p.pete

Originally posted by jonno
Don't know what to believe but Heskey is not consistantly good enough to play for Liverpool. He is probably one of the poorest strikers we have had when you think of the likes of Fowler, Anelka, Owen, Baros, Daglish, Rush etc.

Nigel Clough - he was one of my favourites. Did anyone see him in a preseason match against Shelbourne a few years ago, his name in the lineup was greeted by laughter and the performance matched.

I heard somewhere that Eto'o is half owned by Madrid, quite possible if he used to be part of the club but you wouldn't think it from the way he talks about wanting to proove them wrong.

jonno

Ya I was at Tolka for that match and couldn't believe that Clough was playing. Have a few pictures of him on the ball actually . Maybe Heskey was his replacement at the pool as a dud striker:p

p.pete

A more complete account of a lot of the quotes that are going around from Bernie Mandic here:

Leeds Today

Waylander

Some people really just haven't a clue what they are talking about. Houllier saved Berger's Liverpool career.

Couldn't agree more, some people seem to go round with their heads up their ars*s. If that is what you consider saving someones career, leaving him in the reserves for the duration of his contract, and playing awful players ahead of him when he is fit, playing strikers out of position in his position when he is fit, then I hope he save a few more careers this season. I speak as a united fan and would derive pleasure form seeing Owen play even worse this season, Hyppia go another stage down the line to mediocrity after a fairly average season last year. You are right of course Houllier is a great manager. That is why Liverpool are playing in the UEFA cup this season. I may be wrong here, but is the only season they qualified for the Cl the one that Thommo was the manager for half of. And you managed to sound like Berger was snubbing Houllierby not signing a poor contract six months ago. Wake up and smell the coffee Superfurry.

p.pete

Originally posted by Waylander
I may be wrong here, but is the only season they qualified for the Cl the one that Thommo was the manager for half of.

Yep, your wrong. Thommo was managing them while they were actually in the CL afaik

Thanx 4 The Fish

Originally posted by Waylander
I may be wrong here, but is the only season they qualified for the Cl the one that Thommo was the manager for half of.

There is no maybe about it. You are definitely wrong.

kdevitt

A deal had been made by Roy Evans to sell Berger - when Houllier took sole control of the club he convinced Berger to stay. Houllier got good performances out of Berger, who is a fairly mediocre player at the end of the day... Berger became a lazy showboater, remind you of any argentinian Utd players?, who has no place at the club, holding onto his Bosman so he could make a bit more cash for himself.

Hyppia may have had an average season, but he'd walk into Utds team even on his worst day - as would St Michael. And as mentioned above, Thommo managed them in the CL two seasons ago, Houllier last season...

kdevitt

Waylander

"... Berger became a lazy showboater, remind you of any argentinian Utd players?, who has no place at the club, holding onto his Bosman so he could make a bit more cash for himself.

Hyppia may have had an average season, but he'd walk into Utds team even on his worst day - as would St Michael. And as mentioned above, Thommo managed them in the CL two seasons ago, Houllier last season... "

I disagree with your opinion of Berger there. I think you are being very harsh. He is a good player and will work well at Portsmouth. I do not think he was waiting for a golden handshake Bosman either, I would imagine that he did not want to play for Houllier anymore. Quite understandable to my mind. As regards United, they had the best defensive record in the premiership last season so suggesting that any player would simply walk in to their back four, mparticularly one as average as Hyppia was last season is ridiculous. Michael Owen on form probably would walk onto Uniteds team.

Are you boys telling me that it is pure coincidence that no attacking player at Liverpool with the possible exception of their FULLBACK Rjise, is at the top of his game. It is definitely not Houlliers fault. I do not understand how you can say that.

As regards the champions legue comment I admitted I may be wrong when I said it and my error was pointed out so you can all relax on that front.

kdevitt

sorry mate! Berger is on record as saying he wanted to sit out his contract - he wasn't arsed playing for the last few months of his contract - which made it all the more strange that Houllier brought him on in the last game of the season!

Blanc, Silvestre, Ferdinand, Brown - all have played at centre back for Utd this season, and none of them are as capable as Hyypia imho...

Waylander

None of them would compare with the Hyppia of 2001, but last season he was a shadow of that player. Blanc is the only player you mentioned that he would have benched . The other three were regulars in uniteds defence last season and as I say it was the meanest defence in the premiership. In fact I think you are being particularly harsh on Silvestre, who over the last two seasons is one of the most improved players around over the last couple of seasons.

kdevitt

Silvestre has pace and thats about it as fair as I'm concerned - but I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Chances are that Hyypia won't be with Liverpool too much longer anyway!!

p.pete

Originally posted by kdevitt
Chances are that Hyypia won't be with Liverpool too much longer anyway!!

Say it aint so:mad:

The united defence certainly surprised me last season - apart from Blanc nearing pasture there is very good strength and depth in the united defence.

I think liverpools defence compares well in strength but not in depth. Hyypia struggled without Henchoz and the quality replacements were not there. Will be better this season with Finnan, particularly if Carragher proves good cover in the centre. Liverpool had the 3rd best defence last season which is a big step backward from previous seasons.

kdevitt

Aparently Hyypia has gotten too big for his boots - part of the reason behind last seasons poor performances by all accounts.

Last season was a freak season though, there were so many personal issues affecting some of our key players that we should be very thankful we managed a UEFA spot... not nice playing football when someone is trying to kill you...

Either way - as far as I know Houllier has lined up some suitable replacements for Hyypia, although personally I'd hate to see him leave.

byte

From The Observer:

Lyon target Emile Heskey says he's won't be forced out of Anfield despite growing Liverpool interest in Harry Kewell and Patrick Kluivert. 'I don't feel under threat - it's just speculation. You know, I was often unlucky last season.'

Kluivert's available for just £1.2m after Barca triggered a get-out clause - but Gérard Houllier faces big competition from Arsenal.

According to Sunday Mirror, LFC have apparently made a £3m offer for Steed Malbranque but Fulham want £4m for him.

I find it hard to believe that Kluivert is available for only £1.2m

kdevitt

Yeah - its the bargain of the century!!! barca won't pay Kluiverts pay rise and bonuses, so it enables his getout clause for 1.2M...wages would be huge, but I definitely think Liverpool should snap him up if they can...

He's already said that he doesnt think Utd style of play would suit him', but that he thinks he'd fit in at Arsenal...

Spud

im not sure where he wil go but when he goes he will not go to liverpool

50Cent

no1 knows. We still have till august for the transfers to happen...

kdevitt

im not sure where he wil go but when he goes he will not go to liverpool

Kluivert will go to whoever is willing to pay the wages he wants, its as simple as that... if thats Liverpool then so be it... don't think its likely myself..

Although there does seem to be a common misconception that Liverpool dont have too much money to spend this close season... theres plenty of cash there,and no shareholders to answer to...

Wolf

I bet Liverpool end with basicaly no one AND even if they do get one of the afromentioned player they will flop


(im grumpy go away)

kdevitt

hehe - you smell

p.pete

Originally posted by Wolf
I bet Liverpool end with basicaly no one AND even if they do get one of the afromentioned player they will flop


(im grumpy go away)

Flop? in a Veron kind of way?

There is rumours that Kewells wife was seen house shopping in Southport - where most Merseyside footballers live. Pure speculation but I reckon we should know within a week or so whether wolf is wrong with his first bet.

Saying they will flop will take longer to find out, it's always a risk - that's football. We could spend 30million on a midfielder and then end up ignoring them for some youth player, who knows.