Liverpool Signings and General Rumours Thread

astrofool

Could take Aurelio a while to gel at the back (esp. with Rafa's tactics), its only now that Evra is coming good for Utd, yet a player like Heinze slotted right in. Finnan didn't really come good till Josemi pushed him (maybe if u'd kept Traore, he'd have come good with the competition from Aurelio )

RE*AC*TOR

Well two days left - till thursday's deadline, any more twists to come?

Wouldn't be any harm to shed some of the dead weight about the place. In that I include Pongolle (who i think some delusional people still fancy).

I honestly can't see any more transfers in though. It has been by all accounts a very productive summer in the transfer market. Finally getting a permit for Gonzalez, picking up two premiership stars in Bellamy and Pennant (with the Bellamy deal being particularly bargain-alicious). Possibly most impressive though, the landing of long-term target Dirk Kuyt. I think he'll add a lot to our game. From first impressions he seems to be clever, hard workign and powerful.

The most disspointing aspect has been the failure to break a deal on Daniel Alves. With the arrival of Pennant, I think we signalled an end to our interest. However, rumours are abound that a last minute deal before the deadline might be possible. I find it hard to believe, competition on the right hand side is already tough. Pennant/Finnan/Kromkamp/Alves/Gerrard(sometimes)/Garcia(sometimes)

Either way, if nothing happens before the deadline, I will go away satisfied with a summer of good business.

Zapp Brannigan

I think getting alves in before the deadline would be a brilliant move, but I can't see where we'd get the money from? Unless we rob PSV and Lyon for Kromkamp and Pongolle respectively.

p.pete

We've already gambled and spent the money from qualifying for the CL, unless they're really cheap I don't see us signing anyone...

eirebhoy

Probably just wild speculation but Kronkamp is linked with Celtic today:
http://www.etims.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1639&Itemid=39

zAbbo

Where's the Liverpool Chat and Rumours thread? (http://pie.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=267855)

From the Beeb - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/5298080.stm

Liverpool are poised to sign Blackburn's Australian defender Lucas Neill after making a £2m bid.

The 28-year-old will be on his way to Anfield before the transfer window closes after turning down a lucrative new contract at Ewood Park.

Neill was a star of Australia's World Cup campaign and has only one year remaining on his current deal.

If, as expected, the deal goes through, Blackburn are ready to move for Manchester City's Danny Mills.

Neill was sent off in Blackburn's opening day defeat at Portsmouth.

The player's agent Peter Harrison said recently: "They have made an offer which Lucas has declined - he is not going to be signing a new contract at Blackburn.

"He has enjoyed his time there, he loves the club and the fans, he just feels it is time for a change."

mike65

The best thread on the interweb is offline as the admins cull mega-threads to ease the strain on the servers.

Anyway I was wondering if some cover would be bought in late on. It makes some sence.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Boffins-name-Neill-as-No-1-Socceroo/2006/08/30/1156816964113.html

Mike.

Dr Galen

not coming back then? or in a smaller form?

anyways Neill is a decent player alright, i dunno if he's starting 11 every game but a good squad player. Saying that, Aurelio hasn't looked too hot, so while he adjusts to the EPL, Neill does provide some stability

leeroybrown

The rumour threads will have disappeared as part of a temporary problem debugging step:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054984226

Dub13

Kromkamp could be leavening now.

5starpool

I'm sure Carragher will be happy to see him after their meeting a couple of years ago.

mike65

Ah well they'll just have to get over it. Like Ronaldo and Rooney! Like Keane and Quinn

Mike.

RE*AC*TOR

I like stories.

~Rebel~

I Like Rice.


Obviously off topic here, but since no proper thread at the mo may as well put it here instead of startin a new one (sure they can be merged after or something to real Transfer thread)

Pool takin a look at yet another potential future superstar, apparently the best youth prospect to come from Finland ever!! So that makes the best Israeli prospect (Idrisaj[sp]) the best Chilien prospect (Gonzalez) potentially the best Greek prospect (Lazarus Charistopolopolopolousikos), Rafa really goin all out for future stars which is great to see!

This kids 14 and has already been with Inter, but didnt settle in Italy so back home now. Names Lauri Dalla Valle, thats a future superstars name if ever i saw one, up there with Lazarus!

Link; http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=413089&CPID=8&clid=14&lid=&title=Reds+to+trial+Finn+starlet

seabee

~Rebel~ wrote:

.....So that makes the best Israeli prospect (Idrisaj)

I think you mean Idrizaj. He's from austria and plays as left winger or striker (when they're stuck). According to this forum rafa has a few youngsters on trial/nearly signed including a moroccan (El Zhar), a danish keeper (Hansen), Mattone awang (no idea who he is), an O'Connor lad from cork who plays in midfield, a couple of lads from poland and he's after some hugarian prospect too.
The deal for lazarus isn't sorted out yet - his club are holding our for more money (even though he has a €100,000 release clause, but liverpool are not supposed to know this).

The Rooster

Lemlin, if you're around, whats your opinion on Lucas Neill?

Villain

Lucas Neil, wow thats a shock, the famous Pool leg breaker!!

He's a good defender but surely he will only be cover for Finnan?

p.pete

The Rooster wrote:

Lemlin, if you're around, whats your opinion on Lucas Neill?

Never thought I'd hear anyone say that...

wonder has my post count been slashed with the removal of the rumours thread

eirebhoy

irish1 wrote:

He's a good defender but surely he will only be cover for Finnan?

He can play across the defence so good to have. Blackburn rejected the offer though according to SSN about 15 minutes ago.

Villain

Yea but they have Aurelo (SP?) Risse, Warnock,Kromkamp and Finnan already??

p.pete

irish1 wrote:

He's a good defender but surely he will only be cover for Finnan?

Fair enough if Kromkamp goes to PSV...

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/0100news/tm_objectid=17648944%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=reds%2dclose%2din%2don%2dneill-name_page.html

ciaran76

Liverpool going for the biggest squad in the Prem. if they keep buying like this.

mike65

Tis off, Blackburn won't let him go. (Cue upped offer).

Mike.

~Rebel~

seabee wrote:

I think you mean Idrizaj. He's from austria and plays as left winger or striker (when they're stuck).

Aye himself, wasn't totally sure of his nationality but todays been a particularly lazy work day for me so just went with first thought. From the reports on the reserves games he seems to be hit and miss, great in some games and a bit absent in others.. Still young though. Of course Agger and Paletta can be added into that "coveted young players" category too. Looking at the reserves and youth teams, as well as the ages of some of the first teamers, im delighted with Rafa's building for the future. Could see his influence stayin on long after he's gone.

On Lucas Neil, would be a good signing as general back cover, which is always handy. Can play at either full back position which is particularly usefull at the moment, and as we know from the world cup is solid enough at CB too (except for the penalty challenge in the Italy game).

DaBreno

Composed Dutch international out, Aussie hatchetman in. Along with Bellamy, it Rafa seems to be building a club of players you wouldnt want to meet down a dark alley. (When does Vinny Jones take over as goalkeeping coach?)

The Salif Diao talk has gone quiet too. Is there any football team out there that will take him?

jesus_thats_gre

It makes sense for Liverpool to sign another right back.. Lets face it, Kromkamp is not worth much hat at all..

Across the back they would have:

Finnan/Neil

---

Hypia/Agger

---

Carragher/Paletta

---

Risse/Aurellio

RE*AC*TOR

I dunno. Carragher can cover right back as well.

mike65

Spurs want Zenden for the left wing.

Mike.

p.pete

mike65 wrote:

Spurs want Zenden for the left wing.

Mike.

It's also rumoured that Spurs want Kewell but haven't put in an offer - possibly all a load of smoke...

p.pete

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I dunno. Carragher can cover right back as well.

And left back also, he's a rubbish fullback though IMHO.

RE*AC*TOR

I'd prefer we sold Kewell rather than Zenden.

Bounty Hunter

blackburn have rejected an official bid from Liverpool for Neil.

As far as Spurs goes, the biggest fan of theirs that i know told me yesterday that fearing they may not be able to capture downing they have started to look elsewhere inc. liverpool where they would consider either a loan move for Zenden or try and get Kewell relativley cheap come January.

DaBreno

mike65 wrote:

Spurs want Zenden for the left wing.

Mike.

I love you Martin Jol !

redspider

I dont think Neil would add anything much to the squad. If Kromkamp is being sold, that will be another Rafa 'experiment' gone wrong. Neil does seem to be a better player than Kromkamp, and probably a better defender than Aurelio, but he is an important part of the Blackburn set-up so it doesnt make sense for them to sell him, it would seem. Unless his 'unsettled' situation is incurable.

Redspider

ps: bring back the Liverpool thread pleez ....

Villain

Question now is how much are the Pool willing to offer?

Jivin Turkey

redspider wrote:

If Kromkamp is being sold, that will be another Rafa 'experiment' gone wrong.

Please explain this one to me.

For a start swapping Kronkamp for Josemi was a shrewd piece of business by RB and nothing like an experiment. Josemi was a player RB rated but who didn't settle for reasons other than his perforamces on the pitch. He was signed for £2M so that was hardly a big risk.

In selling him we received Kronkamp, who has hardly set the world alight, not that that would be too easy playing second fiddle to Steve Finnan, but Kronkamp could easily be sold if Liverpool wanted for in excess of £2M.

~Rebel~

All in all its a good last day situation to be heading into. Looking at a player it'd be a bonus to sign, but no great loss if we dont, as opposed to last year praying for a quality CB and top class Winger. Could easily see either Kewell or Zenden leaving (more likely kewell id say though, is he injured at the moment or something, hasn't featured in any games i dont think..). Zenden is the better option to hang onto with his versatility.

Pongolle and Diao are being linked with Recreativo de Huelva
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0...name_page.html
and Mellor has just joined Preston on a 3 year deal
http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=413141&CPID=10&clid=14&lid=&title=Mellor+makes+Preston+move
so thats a fair amount of dead weight gone, even tho im sad to see the backs of Mellor and Pongolle. Wouldn't have any chances this year with the new strikeforce though.

p.pete

~Rebel~ wrote:

so thats a fair amount of dead weight gone, even tho im sad to see the backs of Mellor and Pongolle. Wouldn't have any chances this year with the new strikeforce though.

I don't think the Pongolle move, should it go through, is permanent. Hopefully Diao more than anyone is out - his wages are quite high apparently. What did he ever do to deserve high wages, and don't give me that 2002 WC lark, we had it arranged before that...

Tusky

Offload Kewell rather than Zenden ? Yea must be mad. I know Zenden can cover for CM but I dont rate him at all. I also rate Kewell above Gonzalez.

redspider

Jivin Turkey wrote:

Please explain this one to me.

For a start swapping Kronkamp for Josemi was a shrewd piece of business by RB and nothing like an experiment. Josemi was a player RB rated but who didn't settle for reasons other than his perforamces on the pitch. He was signed for £2M so that was hardly a big risk.

In selling him we received Kronkamp, who has hardly set the world alight, not that that would be too easy playing second fiddle to Steve Finnan, but Kronkamp could easily be sold if Liverpool wanted for in excess of £2M.

okay, Kromkamp hasnt gone badly wrong, but he has proved not be successful and whilst ok as a bench player, since he can play RB and RM, that is about all, just a bench player. The signing of Jose Miguel whateverhissurname didnt help Finnan at all and upset his performances and unsettled him. You may remember there was talk of Steve moving. The same when Kromkamp was signed, it was a signal to Steve that he was not no.1.

As a strategy, I think it is good to have competition for places, and we need coverage, but if Rafa signs a player and then off-loads him within 1 or 2 seasons, for me anyway that is a failure of a signing. Rafa has had as many misses if not more than successes, and if Kromkamp goes I would rate that as a failure. Not a major one as it didnt cost us anything as did the faux pas with Pellegrino, but still a failure nonetheless.

> Josemi was a player RB rated but who didn't settle for reasons other than his perforamces on the pitch

I think lots of people would be more than willing to argue that point with you. Josemi didnt do it on the pitch, plain and simple. His failure on the pitch was why he didnt settle, imo.

Redspider

ps: Kromkamp is spelt with an emmm, kro-m...

jesus_thats_gre

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I dunno. Carragher can cover right back as well.

You know right well that Rafa wants 2 players for every position as a minimum. It provides cover during injuries but also allows him to rotate the starting 11 reguarly without having to move players around or change his system.

redspider

Its a pity that Mellor didnt work out, he seemed to do alright when on and didnt seem to get a decent run of games to build up any consistency. I also liked the fact that you knew with him where he wanted to play and that was up-front. Perhaps just not good enough for the top level but a good player all the same and all we can do is wish him well at his new club, and lets hope our selling of him doesnt come back to haunt us.

Redspider

RE*AC*TOR

Kewell is injury prone and an under-performer, even at his best last season he was hardly a match-winner. He'll probably take two months of competitive football to return to some form of fitness. I think Gonzalez offers a lot more.

Zenden is versatile and needs a run to show his best form. Whereas Kewell has gotten ample time to show his talents for Liverpool, Zenden was really only getting into his stride before being injured last year.

jesus_thats_gre

redspider wrote:

As a strategy, I think it is good to have competition for places, and we need coverage, but if Rafa signs a player and then off-loads him within 1 or 2 seasons, for me anyway that is a failure of a signing. Rafa has had as many misses if not more than successes, and if Kromkamp goes I would rate that as a failure. Not a major one as it didnt cost us anything as did the faux pas with Pellegrino, but still a failure nonetheless

You are being foolish in persisting with this argument to be honest. He has bought a number of players that have not worked out, true. You are ignoring the fact that the majority of these players were bought as cover and for relatively low figures. They cost the club very little while helping Rafa cope with injuries the early days of his tenure.

Considering that Rafa has been very successfuly so far in general and has made some very good buys, I would prefer to focus on the fact that he is more than aware of when, and not to proud, to admit that his signings have not worked out.

Would you prefer to GH in place again and spend a 7/8 milllion a pop on players that have proven to be so bad that we still cannot get rid of them 4 year later? I think you need to get some perspective. The likes of of Josemi and Kromkamp have been and will probably be sold at a price that compares very favourtively to what we paid for them. Even if they were failures on the pitch, at least they are not complete failures from a business perspective.. In recent years it has been rare to be able to say that about LFC.

RE*AC*TOR

Kromkamp I felt was decent in right midfield. Not as strong a defender as I would hope, but may have developed if given a run in the team. I don't think he's been a failure.
Josemi was a failure - yes. Pellegrino was brought in as much to help some of the youger players along as much as anything else. He was never a long-term prospect - not a failure. Morientes was a failure. Nunez was a failure.

GuanYin

Don't rate Neil at all and I find the link a strange one. I wonder is the Chimbonda saga dead in the water.

DaBreno

One thing I will say about Rafas signings that dont work out is that he is quick to see that fact and offload to them to another club. Houllier persisted with his failings long after their departure was overdue. Rafa doesnt hang around. A possible exception being Traore, I presume he was kept until the Budget allowed for another Left back.
His "flops" arent expensive either - whenever he has splashed the cash, say £5mil +, they turn out to be at the very least useful.

RE*AC*TOR

DaBreno wrote:

whenever he has splashed the cash, say £5mil +, they turn out to be at the very least useful.

Morientes cost £6.3M. He was crap, plain and simple.

~Rebel~

Pongolle's move to recreativo is official now anyway, its a 1 year loan. Here's hoping this time he can take full advantage of it and prove his worth to Rafa.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=413155&CPID=23&clid=14&lid=&title=Recreativo+move+for+Pongolle

As a backup, i've actually been happy out with Kromkamp. Considering he came in a straight swap for a complete flop he was a guaranteed immediate improvement. Apparently he hasn't settled too well with language and social life, and i know he's been under pressure from the Dutch national team to move on for first team football. All in all, i have no real problems with his half season at Pool. He's not good enough to displace Finnan with any regularity which obviously hinders his development, which in turn makes it even harder to break into the team but i've never had a case of the "djimi's" (being terrified anytime the ball went near him for fear of what he might do) and we'll almost certainly get a profit on him so IMO not a flop. I would nearly say rafa would be happy to keep him as cover if he were happy to stay.

Nunez was no real risk as he was just thrown into the Owen deal. Rafa tried to get Juan instead but they just said Nunez - take it or leave it. Shipped out as soon as possible so again no real loss.

Pellegrino - Flop, but again at least a cheap one. Still cant understand why he got his game as much as he did though. Guess Sami must have been feeling the strain of playing every game.

Morientes - a total flop, but in fairness who could have predicted that! I was delighted to see him sign. England (or pool) just didnt suit him, im sure he'll be great again at Valencia (already 2 goals in 2 games back in spain).

Funnily enough in the 38minutes i've seen of Kuyt for liverpool, he looks very close to what i was expecting a fully fit and firing Morientes to look like!

DaBreno

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Morientes cost £6.3M. He was crap, plain and simple.

Theres always one. Crap is a harsh word to describe him, he was a far better footballer than Cisse. His goal rate was disappointing but he offered more than a brutal striker. At least we didnt keep flogging a dead horse.

~Rebel~ wrote:

Morientes - a total flop, but in fairness who could have predicted that! I was delighted to see him sign. England (or pool) just didnt suit him, im sure he'll be great again at Valencia (already 2 goals in 2 games back in spain).

aye, scored I believe in their Champions league qualifier win.