Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

zing

Looks like Neill has chosen money and a regulation scrap over LFC. Although that's prob not being entirely fair to him - he prob reckoned he's a better chance of more regular first team football at West Ham (and if he's getting a better package, etc.. - wonder has he an opt out clause should they go down ?)

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?HLID=442378&CPID=8&title=Neill+agrees+Hammers+deal&lid=&channel=Premiership&f=rss&clid=5

Be interesting to see who Rafa turns his attention to next but Roberto Ayala's name has cropped up a few times as an alternative to Neill. Has Rafa gone off spanish players and opted for argentinians instead ?

Dub13

Hi all,

I want to let you all know that IrishKop.com are starting to run trips to LFC games (non profit),we have had enough of the travel agents riping football fans off so we decided to do something about it.

Our first game is going to be the Sheffield Utd game on Feb 24th,the price is €160.For this you will get....

Details irish ferries out 08.00
arr 11.20 holyhead met by coach straight to anfield (stanley park)arriv no later than 2pm.

match ticket where available.

luxury apartment one night stay - leeds street (block booked for us)(has all mod cons tea and coffee ect is supplied also towels ect - easy reach of anfield and town 10 mins walk city centre,

return next day coach at apartments
leave approx 10.30am
to holyhead for 14.10 sailing
arrive dublin 17.25

Questions asked already why slow ferry , cause its 100per reliableand comfort also the fast ferry's often get cancelled due to bad weather.

You can leave you overnight gear on the bus very safe and collect after the match.

Partners and guests can travel with us, if they dont want to go to match thats ok
the no 17 bus goes back into town goodbye goodluck c u later

can you go to hotel instead - yes (price will be reduced - make your own plans)
can you just use the bus - first come first served

price is based on 4 sharing in 2 bedroomed apartments
price will be increased for less sharing - or perhaps you can share with other members not a problem if you want to leave that with me, its only one night - i am sure you'll cope.

RE*AC*TOR

any idea how many places?

Xavi6

The Rooster wrote:

Are you sure Stead played for Sunderland this season?

Yup. And he scored.....

http://www.safc.com/match/?page_id=10214&fixture=2686176

Thanx 4 The Fish

The Rooster wrote:

I dont remember Rossi playing for Man United this season.

Rossi played two friendlies for united. The rule that Liverpool would be in breach of only states that the player can not have played in Official game, since there is an appointed official at the game (in the form of refs and linesmen) there is a case for saying that he will have played for three teams in the time window specified. The rule mentions nothing about loan or transfers or any of the other things that are mentioned on this thread. Is all on the FIFA.com website in the association rules if anybody wanted to know what it actually said as opposed to what it might say.

As for Mascherano, meh, if we get him we get him, if not, I think we'll be alright.

Dub13

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

any idea how many places?

We have a 30 seater bus booked.

spockety

Excellent stuff.. how many more matches are you going to try get to this season?

And what's the story on Match Tickets, are you able to arrange them easily enough, or do people have to try and sort out their own?

Dub13

This is the first trip so we will have to see how things go but we are planning on doing regular trips,we will have to see what the demand is like.As I said we are not making anything from this we just had to try and do something to combat the rip off travel agents.I thing the price is good and fair,some agents charge this for a day trip.

We can arrange tickets and the 160 price includes tickets,some lads will have there own tickets as a lot of members of IrishKop go to a lot of games.

If anybody is interested check out the site or PM me.

Chardee MacDennis

warnock pretty much gone to blackburn in a 1.5m pound deal. not too bad money wise. need to get this mascherano deal done(ie a decision made so we can concentrate on other targets) as i havent heard any speculation on any more players and we do need to strengthen especially, at RB.

redspider

Call_me_al wrote:

warnock pretty much gone to blackburn in a 1.5m pound deal. not too bad money wise. need to get this mascherano deal done(ie a decision made so we can concentrate on other targets) as i havent heard any speculation on any more players and we do need to strengthen especially, at RB.

At LB, I think we woud need to strengthen if Warnock is going. We all know that Riise is not a true Left Back per se, and neither is Aurelio. Both have assets when going forward however. I would have preferred to have got in a good left back first and have him tested BEFORE selling on Warnock.

Redspider

DaBreno

SSN reports DArren Potter has joined Wolves for £250k.

mike65

That rising to half a million if Wolves win Champions League! Well if they get promoted I think.

Mike.

The Rooster

AFAIK Carlsberg's sponsorship contract with Liverpool ends this season. I remember there being a lot of speculation that it would not be renewed for next season. Anyone know if this was sorted one way or the other - who will be sponsor next year?

zing

Fairly predictable really - the only question for me was which of Crouch, Kuyt & Bellamy would start.

Reina, Finnan, Agger, Carragher, Riise, Aurelio, Gerrard, Alonso, Pennant, Crouch, Kuyt.

Subs - Dudek, Bellamy, Hyypia, Gonzalez, Fowler.

Good to see Gonzalez has made recovered a lot quicker than expected.

Quietly confident about the game & certainly looking forward to it

mike65

Team

Liverpool -

---

Reina
Finnan--Agger--Carra-Riise
Pennant-Gerrard-Alonso-Aurelio,

---

Crouch, Kuyt

Subs - Dudek, Bellamy, Hyypia, Gonzalez, Fowler.

Mike.

zing

The Rooster wrote:

AFAIK Carlsberg's sponsorship contract with Liverpool ends this season. I remember there being a lot of speculation that it would not be renewed for next season. Anyone know if this was sorted one way or the other - who will be sponsor next year?

IIRC it was a 2 year renewal last time which would mean it is up for renewal at the end of this season. Hasn't been any real speculation as to who the new sponsor may be but I'd imagine that will wait until after the takeover of the club.

sweetie

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/6282817.stm

Obviously he's confident in his abilities!

mike65

60k a week? I hope they go down! Greedy b'astard.

Mike.

Daemonic

I for one am happy he joined West Ham. Didn't particularly rate him before and reading the comments on the bbc I'm glad we won't be shelling out 30k plus a week on an average player

Malice

I suppose on one hand, Neill realised he was simply going to be cover across the back line and didn't want to just sit on the bench waiting for someone to get injured which is fair enough.
But then he comes out and says he was a boyhood Liverpool fan and it was a very hard decision to make? Would he not have liked the chance to test himself and the highest level with one of the best teams in Europe at his physical peak? He could have been lining out against Barcelona at the Nou Camp instead he'll get Carrow Road and Molineux next season when West Ham go down.
Then of course the small matter of his weekly paycheck comes into the equation which leaves me with no sympathy for him. Let him enjoy looking at his bank balance when he retires as he certainly won't have any medals!

Dr. Nick

Here's a wierd stat:

Previous 16 games at this stage last season:
W12 D2 L2
This Season:
W11 D2 L3

mike65

Now if we can finish like last season and get a few points off Utd and Arsenal it'll be a very decent season after all (and there was me reckoning Liverpool were not going to get a top 4 spot about 10-15 pages back).

Mike.

el rabitos

yeah it was looking pretty grim after that premiership defeat to arsenal a few months back, i thought that was a major stumbling block myself.

its clear what needs to be done to win the league, and i always felt that if man u and pool could hit the ground running this season they could push chelsea, the only problem is united hit the ground running and we were just plain awfull as soon as it came to away games.

hopefully the good premiership form can continue anyway, i'd be happy to take 3rd, make the signings needed for next season and then win the premiership next year (i'm serious btw)

kinaldo

Nothing has really changed with Liverpool imo. Formidable at home, erratic at best away from home.

(not including cups)

zing

kinaldo wrote:

Nothing has really changed with Liverpool imo. Formidable at home, erratic at best away from home.

(not including cups)

Away form hasn't been the best but since the Wigan game their confidence on the road seems to have increased somewhat. In terms of away games they've a relatively easy run in now (only 2 top 10 teams iirc) so hopefully they'll be able to pick up the majority of available points. And as long as they keep up their home form then they should be in a decent position come the end of the season. Whether they finish 2nd, 3rd, 4th or wherever is a long way off and dependent on other teams slipping up, etc.. so there really is no point in speculating about it at this stage.

Rafa is well known for saying he's just thinking about the next game rather than table position and he's right - all you can do is worry about each game as they come along..

Malice

el rabitos wrote:

hopefully the good premiership form can continue anyway, i'd be happy to take 3rd, make the signings needed for next season and then win the premiership next year

If only it was that simple! Hopefully Pennant and Gonzales can settle into the team more and as a result minimise the number of signings that Liverpool will have to make to properly challenge the top two.

mike65

I think a quiet transfer summer would be a good thing, but that'll only happen if the current newbies have convinced Rafa they have settled well and can't be bettered for the price (I don't see a spending spree, when DIC take over).

Mike.

Daemonic

mike65 wrote:

I think a quiet transfer summer would be a good thing, but that'll only happen if the current newbies have convinced Rafa they have settled well and can't be bettered for the price (I don't see a spending spree, when DIC take over).

Mike.

Couldn't agree more, last thing we need is another slow start to a season while new players get settled. 1 or 2 new signings of first team standard would be ideal.

The Rooster

Agree too. I want no more than 3 new signings between now and the beginning of next season. Otherwise we'll be into the very same scenario as this and last season. New players take a while to settle into Rafa's system, Rafa takes a while to decide on his best team, and in the meantime we've dropped enough points to knock us out of the title race.

Stky10

Another youth team signing

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=443063&CPID=8&clid=14&lid=3&title=Reds+move+for+Ajax+starlet&channel=&

No idea which position he plays.

I saw Adam Hammill play for Dunfermline against Rangers on Setanta. He came on at half time and played pretty well. I've heard before he was considered a bit lightweight, so I was expecting a Richie Partridge like figure, but he seemed strong enough and well able to compete as well as showing some good touches.

EDIT: Seems Sky got his name wrong, and he's a tall striker [ http://forums.thisisanfield.com/viewtopic.php?t=17144 ]

~Rebel~

Agree wholeheartedly. He's got a decent squad in place, from now on his tactic in the transfer market should be quality over quantity. Only need 2 or 3 top class players to make that extra step up.

Hopefully Gonzalez gets a nice bit of game time so Rafa can assess if he'll make it in the prem. Im still very optimistic about him.

jesus_thats_gre

mike65 wrote:

I think a quiet transfer summer would be a good thing, but that'll only happen if the current newbies have convinced Rafa they have settled well and can't be bettered for the price (I don't see a spending spree, when DIC take over).

Mike.

Agree completely..

~Rebel~

another potential youth signing. Looks like Rafa is really stepping up the building of the reserve team after how some of the backup's did against Arsenal.

Link; http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=443063&CPID=8&clid=14&lid=&title=Reds+move+for+Ajax+starlet

Reds move for Ajax starlet

Liverpool are reportedly ready to raid Ajax for youngster Jordy Brouwe.

The Reds are believed to have agreed a deal to bring the Holland Under 19 international to Anfield.

Brouwe has come through the ranks at Ajax's famed academy and he has caught the eye of Liverpool scouts with some impressive performances for club and country.

Ajax technical director Martin van Geel claimed he was surprised by Liverpool's interest as they were unsure if Brouwe was good enough to make the breakthrough at the Amsterdam ArenA.

"We didn't have the complete conviction that he was ready for it," Van Geel told AD Sportwereld

"Internally we have talked about Jordy a lot.

"That doubt stayed after Liverpool expressed their interest.

"I say that without bitterness, because I wish Jordy all the success at Liverpool."

Dont like the sound of the Ajax staff themselves not being sure if he'd make it there, not exactly fitting of the Ajax Starlet tagline..i guess Rafa see's something in him anyway so fingers crossed.

el rabitos

as ive said, i think about 3 or 4signings are needed

right back - either someone as cover, thus not expencive, or a quality younger right back that can push finnan hard for his place.

left back - not as badly needed as another right back as riise and aurelio can play in the position, however a proper defencive minded left back would be an asset, any signing might render aurelio or riise surplus to requirements though if kewell and gonzalez both stay.

left midfield - this position being filled depends on how rafa is seeing things at the moment, weather or not he thinks kewell has any future at the club and if he thinks gonzalez is good enough or still has the potential to make it in the premiership.

striker - personally i still dont feel as though we have a striker that will score around 20 a season. i think kuyt is a great player, but i think he would be better as the second striker. kuyt works very hard for the team, but in doing so he tends to play a bit too deep imo.

essentially i think what is a must is a right back, be it cover or someone to fight finnan for the posstion, the left back, left midfield and striker positions are really at rafa's discretion as to where he see's the squads ability. but those are the positions that stand out to me that need a quality player. if we only bought 1 top class right back in the summer i wouldnt be too dissapointed

any suggestions as to who (if anyone) should be sold?

mike65

Warnock is going it looks like. Not sure I'd sell anyone else as the kids are not going to see first-team action bar early league cup action.

Mike.

~Rebel~

el rabitos wrote:

left back - not as badly needed as another right back as riise and aurelio can play in the position, however a proper defencive minded left back would be an asset, any signing might render aurelio or riise surplus to requirements though if kewell and gonzalez both stay.

Id say the buyback clause on Barragan at depor is still in Rafa's mind. He seems to be doing well enough there, so hopefully he can realise his potential in the next year and we'll get him back for half a million. It can be excercised both after next season and the season after.

In the meantime we still definately need some cover though but i could see rafa leaving it to an aging defender, (29ish), rather then getting a long term replacement for Finnan.

All this goes out the window if Danial Alves becomes a possibility again though. Would be a great signing.

As for the other positions im happy enough with the current situation in that nowhere else has an urgent stamp on it meaning we can wait for the right players to improve the side instead of gambling on an unknown. One creative top class attacking winger would be fantastic though. Again Alves could be the solution here.

el rabitos

mike65 wrote:

Warnock is going it looks like. Not sure I'd sell anyone else as the kids are not going to see first-team action bar early league cup action.

Mike.

i'd add dudek and probably carson to the list, dudek because he needs to be playing at his age and carson because he's too good to be on the bench, unfortunatly i think he'll want out.

Chardee MacDennis

Gillet back in for liverpool, bidding £16m more than DIC. Have always prefered Gillet than the Saudi's - he seems like a man who really loves his sports... but who knows.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_1861663,00.html

zing

Call_me_al wrote:

Gillet back in for liverpool, bidding £16m more than DIC. Have always prefered Gillet than the Saudi's - he seems like a man who really loves his sports... but who knows.

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_1861663,00.html

He's also said to prefer the groundshare option but as you say ... who knows.

Either way it's going to delay the take over further - not that that matters too much as there's no way it would have been completed in Jan anyway. Unfort though it also means a delay to the new stadium

Chardee MacDennis

£10m bid in for Bale from an unnamed club, that couldn't be us surely?

redzerdrog

I think it would be a great move for him and for liverpool.

Chardee MacDennis

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_1864139,00.html

lol - kewell wants to be back for barca - he'll declare himself fit and come off after 20 mins...

wonder what plans rafa has for him?

also:

Lenny Campbell, 63, aka Dr Fun, finally lost his long battle against cancer at the weekend.

RIP - YNWA

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N154768070122-1141.htm

Chucky the tree

Call_me_al wrote:

£10m bid in for Bale from an unnamed club, that couldn't be us surely?

I hope not, i'd say it more likely West Ham.

Chardee MacDennis

makes sense i suppose!

Warnock's gone

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N154774070122-1619.htm

mike65

Cal me Al, DIC are NOT Saudis and would be annoyed to be misaken I suspect!

Dudek I forgot about him, yep ship him out and get Carson back and make him feel wanted.

Mike.

Chardee MacDennis

mike65 wrote:

Cal me Al, DIC are NOT Saudis and would be annoyed to be misaken I suspect!

good point....

The Rooster

Interesting hearing Lucas Neill's side of the story yesterday. He said he was a lifelong Liverpool fan, with posters of Dalglish, Souness etc in his room. He was really expecting an offer from Liverpool as soon as the transfer window opened. He waited... and waited..... in the meantime West Ham came in and offered him a good deal, and were mad keen to sign him - Curbishley and the new owner waxing lyrical about the future of the club and how they wanted him to be a key element of it. Evenutally Liverpool came in with an offer, but it all seemed lukewarm. He never even got to speak with Benitez (which it seems is all it would have taken to get him on board). So he chose West Ham.

Personally I'm a little disappointed, but not overly. Its good to have one or two guys with his type of attitude in the team, but he is prone to the odd bad error. I think he would have improved the team and could have played as full back on either side or in a three man centre back formation - but there are better guys out there.

All reports suggest that Liverpool are not one of the parties chasing Bale. I wonder are Liverpool after a full back in this transfer window after all? - I thought when Warnock was sold depsite not getting Neill that we must have our eye on someone else, but perhaps Warnock was simply considered surplus to current requirements...

mike65

I guess Rafa had second thoughts and if he ain't in for Bale either then maybe he has a name tied up already and is simply biding his time. He has a poker-face!

Mike.

Chardee MacDennis

Daniel Alves?!? coz that would be amazing!

who knows what rafa's plans are, obviously he's happy at the moment with Auriello and Riise at lb since warnocks gone. Auriello i think is settling at this stage and is doing ok, still needs a little bit more work on getting back when an attack breaks down but looks promising for the rest of the season. Well, at least till Gonzalez is back...

mike65

Gonzo is back! Well he was on the bench against Chelsea.

Mike.