Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

swalsh

Yossi signs 2 year extension, just on ssn

swalsh

swalsh wrote: »

Yossi signs 2 year extension, just on ssn

great news. He will be an important player for us again this year.

Headshot

Benni one of my favourite players around

Hopefully he'll play more games down the centre

mike65

Good stuff, play him in the hole and stick Gerrard in the middle with whoever we have left come September.

With Benny getting a pay rise doesn't that put pressure on Rafa with respect of Masch, who is moderatly paid when compared to some in the squad?

MementoMori

Barnsley made an offer for Hammill - not surprising really as he supposedly got on well when on loan there. Doesn't sound like a massive offer though:o

I think that Wolves and Bolton were also reported as being interersted a while back.

REDS MAKE HAMMILL OFFER

Barnsley manager Simon Davey has revealed the Club have nade a bid for Liverpool winger Adam Hammill.

Simon told Barnsley World TV:"We have made an offer for Adam and were told that Liverpool wanted to have a look at him through pre-season. Our offer is still on the table but we cannot just wait around and we have to make sure we have other targets in mind if that answer is a negative one.

"On the other hand it is not going to blow our budget if we get the right answer on Adam two days before that start of the season".

http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10309~1714767,00.html

daithijjj

mike65 wrote: »

Good stuff, play him in the hole and stick Gerrard in the middle with whoever we have left come September.

With Benny getting a pay rise doesn't that put pressure on Rafa with respect of Masch, who is moderatly paid when compared to some in the squad?

In fairness to bennyoun, he took a pay cut to join us from west ham, he just wanted to play for the club more than hold out for cash. Desrerves every penny he gets imo.

Pyjamarama

MementoMori wrote: »

Barnsley made an offer for Hammill - not surprising really as he supposedly got on well when on loan there. Doesn't sound like a massive offer though:o

I think that Wolves and Bolton were also reported as being interersted a while back.



http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10309~1714767,00.html

I'm all for selling some of our younger players but i'd love us to stick buy back clauses on them. Not sure how feasible that is though.

Great news about Yossi resigning, he was superb in the second half of the season, started playing with his head up. Hopefully he'll continue that next season.

~Rebel~

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I'm all for selling some of our younger players but i'd love us to stick buy back clauses on them. Not sure how feasible that is though.

Great news about Yossi resigning, he was superb in the second half of the season, started playing with his head up. Hopefully he'll continue that next season.

He's resigned? awww i liked that guy, never would have seen him as a quitter

Pyjamarama

~Rebel~ wrote: »

He's resigned? awww i liked that guy, never would have seen him as a quitter

Grammar police ftw!!!

MementoMori

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I'm all for selling some of our younger players but i'd love us to stick buy back clauses on them. Not sure how feasible that is though.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some clauses in the sale of Anderson to Notts Forrrest. Considering the Swansea offer was £750k and then the reported price Forrest ended up being reported as £250k. Don't really have much to base this on but think it has to be a possibility.

On a related point we haven't done too badly on the selling side of things so far this summer. Made a profit on the sale of Leto, Hobbs, and Anderson. Fingers crossed this keeps up.

missingtime

Liverpool close in on starlet
Reds set to sign highly rated Danish younster accoring to reports

Liverpool are on the verge of singing Esbjerg youngster Nikolaj Kohlert on a three-year deal, according to reports in his native Denmark.

The 16-year-old is scheduled to discuss personal terms when he returns from holiday next week but neither club are willing to confirm the switch.

The Denmark Under-17 international underwent a trial at Anfield last month and impressed so much so that the Reds are anxious to get him tied down to a contract.

The midfielder is yet to make his debut for Esbjerg and should he sign for Liverpool he will continue his footballing education with the club's academy.

If Kohlert progresses as the club hope he will gain a place in the reserve team squad during next season.

Although usually deployed behind the strikers Kohlert proved while on trial that he is more than capable of playing as a central forward.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5417525,00.html

Fresh meat!

yahoo_moe

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I'm all for selling some of our younger players but i'd love us to stick buy back clauses on them. Not sure how feasible that is though.

I wouldn't imagine it's too nightmarish in most cases - pretty sure Arsenal make a habit of it where possible with players they think have a chance at a good future.

Dickerty

missingtime wrote: »

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5417525,00.html

Fresh meat!

I just wish one of these guys would make a breakthrough. Nearly men in Warnock, Mellor, Otsemobor and Welsh, but really no-one since Stevie.

I know this is not the same as a local, but we have been signing 16 and 17 year olds for 4 or 5 years now, and still nothing. Hobbs, Anderson and Leto sold, Antwi, Huth, Roque and MacKay-Steven all released this year.

PiE

Eh... Darby? Spearing? Just handed new contracts. Not to mention Insua, Pacheco and Nemeth. Rafa's youth policy could only ever be expected to show any sort of benefits around now, it was always gonna take "4-5 years" for those original players to mature.

Signing teenagers isn't an exact science - if one from every thirty kids you sign makes the breakthrough, you'd consider that a success. Don't let the Rooneys of the world trick you into thinking players should be awesome by 18 or ditched.

Daemonic

It also seems Rafa is only getting the youth/reserves setup in terms of staff to his liking in the last year or 2 so it may take another few years before we see anything like regular progression from youth/reserves into the first team.

Dublin_Gunner

Daemonic wrote: »

It also seems Rafa is only getting the youth/reserves setup in terms of staff to his liking in the last year or 2 so it may take another few years before we see anything like regular progression from youth/reserves into the first team.

Although Liverpool's youth system can be criticised of not brining enough talent through in the past few years, I think its a common problem throughout the premiership.

What other top sides have really brought many youth players through in recent years?

I think its just the way its gone, you can buy in better players for relatively cheap, and nearly fund their cost by selling a few 'almost there' youth players.

Its a rare you get a player coming up from the ranks with the quality thats required for the top flight these days - unfortunately.

Glico Man

To be honest the only clubs that have had a good proportion of players come through to the first team in my opinion are Boro and Man City.

But look at both now.

Boro relegated and Man City bringing (trying to anyways) big money signings.

I would like to see some of the young lads like Pacheco, Bruna, Kacaniklic, Irwin and Nemeth make the breakthrough this season and the likes of Spearing, Plessis, Kelly and Darby getting a few games under their belts like Insua had done last season.

I've always been an advocate for the young lads on this thread mainly because I've gotten to see a lot of their games over the past 3 years.

In my opinion we have a hell of a lot of talented young players, but the trouble comes to whether they can actually make the grade when it comes to 1st team games. Quite a few of our past graduates, Mellor, Warnock etc played a few games and were shipped off because the manager thought they weren't good enough for the Liverpool 1st team.

Warnock is now performing excellently at Blackburn and Mellor is doing reasonably well at Preston.

Liverpool Academy say that their aim is to try and get the lads into the Liverpool 1st team but if they are not up to the grade then they prepare the players so that they can have a career at another club. This is where John Welsh, Otsemobor, Raven, Warnock and Mellor come into it. Not good enough for Liverpool but certainly good enough for someone else.

5starpool

I'm all for having young lads make a breakthrough - if they are good enough. I really don't think the club is in the postition of being able to give 5/6 lads a run in the team at some point, but I think a couple of them, such as Nemeth/Pacheco and maybe Darby/Spearing should be in the match squad with bench appearances now and then for games where they can be given a chance at appropriate times.

Hopefully we can get some sort of a league cup run together as well to give the fringe players a better chance too.

zing

Speaking of young players:

Dani Pacheco, Mikel San Jose and Danny Ayala, Krisztian Nemeth, Peter Gulacsi and Martin Kelly are currently all training with the 1st team and being offered the chance to show their worth in the pre season.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/07/07/rafa-benitez-launches-kop-idol-style-talent-search-liverpool-fc-latest-100252-24092750/

PiE

5starpool wrote: »

Hopefully we can get some sort of a league cup run together as well to give the fringe players a better chance too.

Agree with this. While I couldn't give a flying monkies about the League Cup, it would be good to see a decent strength line-up (i.e. with a few of Reina/Masch/Alonso/Carragher/Skrtel/Agger/Benayoun/Gerrard/Torres) with 3 or 4 of the youths spread through the team. Having the big players beside them should give them more confidence than lining up with other reserves and back-up players and hopefully give them a good run and plenty of experience.

elshambo

zing wrote: »

Speaking of young players:

Dani Pacheco, Mikel San Jose and Danny Ayala, Krisztian Nemeth, Peter Gulacsi and Martin Kelly are currently all training with the 1st team and being offered the chance to show their worth in the pre season.

Standard for preseason

el rabitos

Daniel Agger admits he has a fight on his hands to play regular first-team football at Liverpool next season.
The Dane agreed a new deal earlier in the summer despite having to settle for 26 senior appearances last term.

Agger knows he will have to be on top form to increase this number in 2009-10, with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel proving to be one of the Barclays Premier League's meanest partnerships over the last 12 months.

Despite the rivalry, Agger is a keen admirer of Skrtel - and admits he was shocked at how good the Slovakian was after arriving from the Russian Premier League 18 months ago.

"Martin is a top, top player. I was surprised when he came just how good he was," Agger told LFC Magazine.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164959090707-0847.htm

i wonder if this will be the year that carra starts getting pushed and pressured a bit for his place in the starting line up.

i think on paper, agger and skrtle is the better pair, but i've seen very little for the pair to suggest they could replace carra's leadership and organisation from the back, in fact, reina too isnt the most vocal.

i think rafa will be looking for one of the lads to take charge back there before carra see's his game time cut back at all.

PiE

el rabitos wrote: »

i think rafa will be looking for one of the lads to take charge back there before we carra see's his game time cut back at all.

Big season for all 3 CB's - Carra needs to step it up from last season, it was probably his weakest over the last 5 years. Skrtel did great last season but will need to show he can keep it up while Agger needs to repay the faith shown in him. The competition can only be good for all three.

~Rebel~

el rabitos wrote: »

in fact, reina too isnt the most vocal.

I dont know about that, Reina always struck me as very vocal

kida

Dickerty wrote: »

I just wish one of these guys would make a breakthrough. Nearly men in Warnock, Mellor, Otsemobor and Welsh, but really no-one since Stevie.

I know this is not the same as a local, but we have been signing 16 and 17 year olds for 4 or 5 years now, and still nothing. Hobbs, Anderson and Leto sold, Antwi, Huth, Roque and MacKay-Steven all released this year.

How much have pool spent on young players yet to make it to first team?

PiE

kida wrote: »

How much have pool spent on young players yet to make it to first team?

About half a Nani.

Dublin_Gunner

kida wrote: »

How much have pool spent on young players yet to make it to first team?

Not as much as they made back selling them on

jesus_thats_gre

kida wrote: »

How much have pool spent on young players yet to make it to first team?

The Times published a complete list of every transfer that Rafa has made since he joined the club. The link was posted by Mr. Alan but I am ****ed if I can find it.

There has easily been 20 or 30 in the past few seasons, each costing varying amount but maybe averaging 1 or 2 hundred k each and generally between 15 and 17 years old IIRC..

jesus_thats_gre

PiE wrote: »

About half a Nani.

Very defensive

PiE

You've more patience than me ;O

NabyLadistheman

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

The Times published a complete list of every transfer that Rafa has made since he joined the club. The link was posted by Mr. Alan but I am ****ed if I can find it.

There has easily been 20 or 30 in the past few seasons, each costing varying amount but maybe averaging 1 or 2 hundred k each and generally between 15 and 17 years old IIRC..

Here ya go - originally post by Mr. Alan

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...ffset=0&page=1

NabyLadistheman

Mr Alan wrote: »

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article6506040.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

This one works!

Karmafaerie

Dickerty wrote: »

I just wish one of these guys would make a breakthrough. Nearly men in Warnock, Mellor, Otsemobor and Welsh, but really no-one since Stevie.

I know this is not the same as a local, but we have been signing 16 and 17 year olds for 4 or 5 years now, and still nothing. Hobbs, Anderson and Leto sold, Antwi, Huth, Roque and MacKay-Steven all released this year.

Warnock at Liverpool since 1998.
Mellor signed in 2002.
Otsemobor signed in 2002.
Welsh at the club since 1994, signed papers in 2002.


All these players were already here when our current manager came in and instigated his own youth policy, with his own new chief scout, Eduardo Macia.
Rafa's first youth signing was El Zhar, so all players before him, can't really be put on the new administration.
Rafa's finaly after getting the control he wanted over the youth set-up.
Now it's sink or swim time for him.
Since Rafa came, he had control over the scouting of new players, but no real say over their training.
Now hopefully, things will work out better.

Whenever people talk about the youth set-up, I refer them back to this interview from Macia.
It's a long read, but if you've never read it before, definately worth it.

RAFA'S BOOTROOM: EDUARDO MACIA
Paul Hassall 24 July 2008

In the latest in our series of in-depth chats with members of Rafael Benitez's Melwood staff we spoke to chief scout Eduardo Macia about life at Liverpool.


Whether he's scouring Europe for the next big thing or casting a keen eye over the latest South American superstar, Eduardo Macia knows exactly what he wants when it comes to signing the right player for Liverpool.

In an in-depth interview with Liverpoolfc.tv he talks openly about his success with Rafael Benitez at Valencia, how he came to join the Reds and how he is playing his part in trying to secure a golden future for the club.

Eduardo, you've been at the club since 2006 as Chief Scout. How did you come to join Liverpool?

Well, Rafa was trying to procure me every day. I met him through Valencia and then he asked me to come here. Rafa said I need a chief scout to head up our global scouting network. He wanted to build up the system. That's not to say I wasn't happy where I was. I was very happy in Valencia. It was a good life that I really enjoyed. So coming here was a big decision. If I hadn't been happy in Spain then it would have been an easy choice to come to England. But it wasn't easy, although I do think I made the right choice. Along with the decision to get married this was the biggest choice I've ever had to make in my life. My dad was a fan of Liverpool and he told me all about Dalglish, Hansen and Phil Thompson. In Spain before the Premier League started we'd get one English game on TV every month and it was nearly always Liverpool. So for me the club had a mythical quality about it. Now to be working for this club and with these people makes me feel like I'm very lucky. People tell me that all the time.

What about your time at Valencia. You were very successful there...

We won the league with a fantastic team. There were a lot of young players involved like Marchena, Baraja, Vicente, Angulo, Albelda... From that Rafa knew I could help him build a strong squad. We won two league titles in Spain and the UEFA Cup in the space of three years. That was despite the fact that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Deportivo and Atletico all had more money than us. But we were working with the idea of combining all the older players such as Carboni, Anglomar, Luque with the up and coming players. With those guys we knew we had a foundation to build a great team.

What about your future with Liverpool?

Now we are building for the future here. We've brought in a lot of young players in the last few years. Guys who are 16, 17, 18 years old and they all have the mentality we want. That's why they won the reserve league last season. We know they can still improve as players, but they have the right mentality. Guys like Nemeth, San Jose, Bruna, Spearing, Darby, Insua, Gulacsi... Now we are hoping to add more players to that quality. It's a young side, in Spain it would be described as a B team. The idea is to provide first team players for the future so that when they are 20, 21, 22 they are ready for the Premier League. Another type of player we are bringing in is someone like Lucas Leiva who was one of the best young players in Brazil and then there's Ryan Babel. Both of them are in their early 20s and are players for the future. On the next level it's Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger. They are still young, but have lots of experience and can go straight into the first team and should be here for many years. The idea is that in the future we will be bringing through enough players for the first team that the manager might only need to buy one or two players every summer. He won't need to go out and sign four or five. Steven Gerrard, Carra, Sami Hyypia and Finnan are all fantastic veterans. And we've tried to add to that with guys like Kuyt, Alonso, Reina and tried to unite the team. It's not possible to spend £200m to win the Premier League. We can't do that so we have another way. Now Rafa is happy with the young players we have and wants to continue improving the senior squad.

You talk about looking for players with the right mentality. Do you feel the Liverpool squad have the same winning mentality as the Valencia team you were involved with?

This group of players we have now is one of the best I've seen during my time here. I think it's better than the squad we had at Valencia when we won the league and UEFA Cup in 2004. That was nearly five years ago now and the level of football has gone up since then. The game has progressed a lot in such a short space of time. That's what we've got to keep doing, improving. If you're not then you're going backwards. Even when you win something you've still got to try and become better by bringing in more quality. For example, Lucas Leiva says give me the ball, even if I make a mistake I'm not afraid to take responsibility in big games. That's the mentality we require; strong players who can think for themselves and don't need to be told what to do. They are clever guys who can make their own decisions on the pitch and help you win games. Mentality of the player is the most important thing. There are probably a million players with quality in the world. That's not enough. I don't want someone who is fantastic in September and November. I want someone who is fantastic all year round. If you want to be a successful team you need players who can still be at their best when it comes to the end of the season and the big games arrive almost every few days. It's not a matter of quality. You can improve a player's fitness, technique and make them tactically better. What you can't do is give them the mentality. You can be a fantastic player at a lower level team but if you want to come here then you've got to be a winner. When you play for a big club, particularly in the Premier League, everyone else will be doing their utmost to beat you every weekend. You've got to be able to deal with that and produce 100 per cent every week.

Can you explain to us how your scouting network works?

We have scouts located all over the world. They live in the country that they cover. That's the way we like it to be. If you are based in England and just travel over to watch the player you don't get the full picture. It's easy to see if a player is performing well or not. We want to know everything about the player, not just how he performs. For example, Lucas Leiva, our scout watched him and asked lots of different people about him. Then we spent two weeks in Brazil watching him training as well as playing. From that we hope to be certain about a player. Of course you can still make a mistake but this method reduces the chances. Sometimes even when you know everything you can still get it wrong. There are lots of factors to consider, such as language, wife or girlfriend not settling in a new country. You can still get it wrong, but we hope to make the least number of mistakes. And it's not only a system we use when signing first team players, we also use it for bringing in younger lads. If you are 17 or 23 it doesn't matter. If your family is not okay or your mentality isn't right then it won't work. So we spend a lot of time gathering lots of info on possible signings.

What qualities do you look for in your scouts?

They've got to be totally professional. The scouts who work for us are not friends of mine. I never work with friends. We use guys who have worked for big clubs like Real Madrid or been a sporting director in Italy and been at the biggest club in Brazil. They are all very experienced, strong people. They don't say maybe, they give definite answers on players. They are usually the best scouts in each country. I think the best scouts should find you the best players. Being discreet is very important. Nobody can know who you are. I try to stay out of the spotlight because it's more beneficial if people don't recognise my face. I don't like to be in the newspaper. If they know you then they will be able to know what player you are looking at. You are working for your club, nobody else so it's important not to show other clubs what you're doing. You will have Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter, Milan, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Lyon all chasing the same players. They are all powerful clubs with a lot of money so you have to make sure everything you do is secret. The scouts can't be telling anyone they work for the club. So if your scouts can stay discreet it helps.

Would you say scouting is something of an art form?

No. Football is not a science, therefore scouting can't be either. It's all about decisions and relationships. One and one doesn't always add up to two in football. What you think will work doesn't always and vice versa. For example Ryan Babel's impact in the Arsenal Champions League game. 44,000 people in Anfield and they all have different ideas about what to do after Arsenal score. We're going out of the competition and then Rafa sends on Ryan Babel. Within seconds he's won a penalty and then he scores a goal. That is something that's beyond your control. So a scout can never be 100 per cent sure that a player will go on to be a success in the first team. But you've got to find players who have all the requirements to do that.

How many times will you watch a player before deciding whether he is the right man for Liverpool?

Sometimes five times, sometimes ten. Sometimes twice and you are sure because you already know everything about him. Normally we watch them five, six or maybe seven times - and it's not just me. At the end, when you hand the report to Rafa you have to be certain. I have to convince Rafa that this player is right for Liverpool. He is the most difficult one to convince. You have to believe in the player's capabilities. If Rafa isn't sure and you're not convinced yourself then the player will never be signed. When you are starting out it's a long process. Sometimes it's more difficult to find younger players rather than senior guys. When they are 16, 17 years of age they play less games. So making a decision with the scout, working with Rafa, and then finalising the move with Rick Parry is a very long process. When you are watching the unveiling press conference everyone is very happy. You are relaxed at that stage. That is a fantastic feeling. People are very happy when the player signs. They say: 'yes, we've signed a new player,' but behind the scenes it's a difficult process.

How does your family cope with your job. I assume your job involves very long hours...

I never stop. Even at the weekends I am still going to watch a game on a Saturday and Sunday. It could be an U17 or U19 UEFA tournament. Or during the season I might be attending a Champions League game on Tuesday and Wednesday and then a UEFA Cup game on a Thursday. It's a special job that you have to love a lot. If you don't then it would become impossible. I don't see much of my family, although they are very happy here. When my wife and young twins went to Spain recently she said it was too hot. That shows how accustomed they've become to life here. Another problem is the language. I try to teach them Spanish and also the dialect from my home town. While they're obviously learning English now. It gets very confusing at times. When they started saying: 'ta' for thank you I didn't know what they were talking about because I'd never heard of it! But I love this job and I'm proud to work for the club; it's a price worth paying.

What does an average day at Melwood involve for you?

We start with a breakfast meeting when we talk about everything that has to be done. I have to organise the scouting team. Some days I chat with Rafa and update him on different players. It's not a typical office routine. It varies from day to day. Scouting is not set every day. You are working looking for players and everything can change quickly. For example you might plan to watch an U18 game but if the player you are checking on doesn't feature then you can't work. It means you always need a plan b and sometimes even a plan c. You have to be flexible.

jesus_thats_gre

kida wrote: »

How much have pool spent on young players yet to make it to first team?

This is the complete list I think - from the times list (missing the signing of El Zhar for some reason):

2006:

In:

Scott Carson (Leeds United, £750,000);
Antonio Barragan (Seville, £240,000);
Besian Idrizaj (Linzer ASK, £190,000);
Jack Hobbs (Lincoln City, £150,000);
Godwin Antwi (Real Zaragoza, nominal);
Ramon Calliste (Manchester United, free),
Miki Roque (Llieda, nominal).

Out:

Antonio Barragan (Deportivo La Coruna, £680,000);
Ramon Calliste (Scunthorpe United, free);

2007:

In:

S Leto (Lanus, £1.85m);
Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao, £270,000);
Krisztian Nemeth (MTK, £100,000);
Dani Pacheco (Barcelona, £100,000);
Alexander Kacaniklic (Helsingborgs, £75,000);
Emiliano Insua (Boca Juniors, £1.3m);
Charles Itandje (Lens, free);
Damien Plessis (Lyons, free);
Mikail Alexandrov (CSKA Sofia, nominal);
Jordy Brouwer (Ajax, nominal);
Gerardo Bruna (Real Madrid, nominal);
Ryan Crowther (Stockport County, nominal);
Francisco Manuel Duran (Malaga, nominal);
Ronald Huth (Tacuary FC, nominal);
Gary Mackay Steven (Ross County, nominal);
Nikolay Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, nominal);
Marvin Pourie (Borussia Dortmund, nominal);
Andras Simon (MTK Hungaria, nominal);
Danielle Padelli (Sampdoria, loan).

Out:

Daniele Padelli (Sampdoria, end of loan).

2008:

In:

David Ngog (Paris St Germain, £1.5m);
Alex Cooper (Ross County, £100,000);
Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, free);
Lauri Dalla Valle (Jippo, nominal);
Vitor Flora (Botafogo, nominal);
Peter Gulacsi (MTK Hungaria, nominal);
Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, nominal);
Nikola Saric (Herfolge, nominal);
Vincent Lucas Weijl (AZ Alkmaar, nominal).

Out:

Scott Carson (West Bromwich Albion, £3.75m);
Besian Idrazaj (Wacker Tirol, free);
San Jose Dominguez (released);
Miki Roque (released); James Smith (released).

2009:

In:

n/a

Out:

S Leto (£3m);

Daemonic

5starpool wrote: »

Hopefully we can get some sort of a league cup run together as well to give the fringe players a better chance too.

A league cup run would be nice but with 7 subs on the bench I'd really love to see one of the young players on the bench each week. If the game is close or injuries take up a couple of subs they won't get on but it would mean some good experience from the games they did get a runout in.
A GK and 5 other first teamers is plenty to cover most eventualities so 'sacrificing' one subs spot should be possible.

This headline just caught my attention!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/8138265.stm

Kimbot

Lads, sorry for asking but have been in hospital since friday with no internet, only home so has anything happened with LFC since then regarding transfers etc??

event

aaronh007 wrote: »

To be honest the only clubs that have had a good proportion of players come through to the first team in my opinion are Boro and Man City.

west ham and everton have both brought through kids recently. to a different extent arsenal have as well, though some of theirs have been bought at a younger age.

a lot of big clubs cant afford the time needed to bring a youth player though these days, you need everyone to be top quality if you are to challenge. only really happens when the player is exceptional at 17/18

Kess73

jonny24ie wrote: »

Lads, sorry for asking but have been in hospital since friday with no internet, only home so has anything happened with LFC since then regarding transfers etc??

Villa, Sneijder, and Titus Bramble signed. Carragher was caught cross dressing, and Rafa went down to the Lobster pot* to complain about the battered sausages and had some eggs thrown at him by Agger and Skrtel as he walked along Lime street.

















Nah nothing new really, Johnson is still the only major signing, and the Dalglish coming back had been highlighted about a month or two ago, but was made official last week.








* For Limerick folk I am talking about the Lobster Pot on Ranelagh Street, not the one on Henry Street in Limerick

mike65

jonny24ie wrote: »

Lads, sorry for asking but have been in hospital since friday with no internet, only home so has anything happened with LFC since then regarding transfers etc??

Hope you have a strong heart

daosulli

Kess73 wrote: »

Villa, Sneijder, and Titus Bramble signed. Carragher was caught cross dressing, and Rafa went down to the Lobster pot* to complain about the battered sausages and had some eggs thrown at him by Agger and Skrtel as he walked along Lime street.

And there was a fierce bidding war for Darius Vassell, between LFC & Ankaragucu ( Yea I know . . WHO!!! )
But they got their man . . and look how happy they are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DujjfantPR0

kida

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

This is the complete list I think - from the times list (missing the signing of El Zhar for some reason):

2006:

In:

Scott Carson (Leeds United, £750,000);
Antonio Barragan (Seville, £240,000);
Besian Idrizaj (Linzer ASK, £190,000);
Jack Hobbs (Lincoln City, £150,000);
Godwin Antwi (Real Zaragoza, nominal);
Ramon Calliste (Manchester United, free),
Miki Roque (Llieda, nominal).

Out:

Antonio Barragan (Deportivo La Coruna, £680,000);
Ramon Calliste (Scunthorpe United, free);

2007:

In:

S Leto (Lanus, £1.85m);
Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao, £270,000);
Krisztian Nemeth (MTK, £100,000);
Dani Pacheco (Barcelona, £100,000);
Alexander Kacaniklic (Helsingborgs, £75,000);
Emiliano Insua (Boca Juniors, £1.3m);
Charles Itandje (Lens, free);
Damien Plessis (Lyons, free);
Mikail Alexandrov (CSKA Sofia, nominal);
Jordy Brouwer (Ajax, nominal);
Gerardo Bruna (Real Madrid, nominal);
Ryan Crowther (Stockport County, nominal);
Francisco Manuel Duran (Malaga, nominal);
Ronald Huth (Tacuary FC, nominal);
Gary Mackay Steven (Ross County, nominal);
Nikolay Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, nominal);
Marvin Pourie (Borussia Dortmund, nominal);
Andras Simon (MTK Hungaria, nominal);
Danielle Padelli (Sampdoria, loan).

Out:

Daniele Padelli (Sampdoria, end of loan).

2008:

In:

David Ngog (Paris St Germain, £1.5m);
Alex Cooper (Ross County, £100,000);
Philipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund, free);
Lauri Dalla Valle (Jippo, nominal);
Vitor Flora (Botafogo, nominal);
Peter Gulacsi (MTK Hungaria, nominal);
Emmanuel Mendy (Murcia Deportivo, nominal);
Nikola Saric (Herfolge, nominal);
Vincent Lucas Weijl (AZ Alkmaar, nominal).

Out:

Scott Carson (West Bromwich Albion, £3.75m);
Besian Idrazaj (Wacker Tirol, free);
San Jose Dominguez (released);
Miki Roque (released); James Smith (released).

2009:

In:

n/a

Out:

S Leto (£3m);

How much is nominal? 50K?

what would guys of this level be earning?

missingtime

Liverpool beat Arsenal to sign 18-year-old France starlet Chris Mavinga from Paris St Germain


Liverpool have reportedly signed promising France Under 18 international Chris Mavinga.

The defender, who had also been watched by Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi, moved to Anfield from Paris Saint-Germain on a three-year deal, according to France Football.

The 18-year-old follows in the footsteps of striker David Ngog, who joined Liverpool from PSG for £1.5million last summer.

He can play at centre-back or full-back and is seen as one of the country's brightest prospects.

Nice little acquisition here.

missingtime

jonny24ie wrote: »

Lads, sorry for asking but have been in hospital since friday with no internet, only home so has anything happened with LFC since then regarding transfers etc??

I cant believe no one asked how you are. tut tut tut.

Hope all is well

el rabitos

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5419004,00.html

"Xabi Alonso is a priority if he fits into our budget, and this doesn't seem the case. We are very far from the figures that Liverpool have set out," Valdano was quoted as telling Spanish radio station Onda Madrid.
Private details

Valdano added on Cadena Ser: "Liverpool have taken up a difficult stance over Xabi Alonso. I don't like to talk about the private details of negotiations.

"We are studying many alternatives. We want someone who can channel the play and there aren't many like that in the world."

"After the great players who have arrived, we aren't in a hurry," he said.

"(We want) two signings, maximum three. That's the number with which the team will be able to cover all eventualities.

"With the arrival of Benzema, we are not going to sign (Valencia striker David) Villa. We are happy to have got the Frenchman. He is 21, powerful, and is enthusiastic and eager."

not sure if these quotes have been posted yet, but interesting none the less.

seems as though rafa is definitely playing hard ball with them and seems reluctant to sell.

i'd imagine, given the ideas that perez has outlined as far as financing the deals of kaka and ronaldo, he see's these as deals that pay for themselves, through shirt sales and whatever else.

alonso it could be argued wont sell as many shirts and isnt quite as marketable as those two, so they're probably looking to pay a more realistic (whatever that is) fee for relatively normal players, such as xabi.

spockety

Normal players like Xabi? He's not even a normal player based on the quotes above.

"We want someone who can channel the play and there aren't many like that in the world".

This does not tally with "We are very far from the figures that Liverpool have set out". Why the hell would Liverpool set out figures that do anything other than reflect the fact that Xabi Alonso is an incredibly rare commodity?

This is great news.

PHB

Madrid are nuts though, you can't discount that. But Perez does seem to think Ronaldo will make his money back, so I guess the max you'd see for a normal player is circa 30 mill.

I think the thing about the transfer is that Real are waiting for Alonso to force the issue. They are hoping he's unhappy enough to make the transfer happen at a lower price.

jesus_thats_gre

kida wrote: »

How much is nominal? 50K?

what would guys of this level be earning?

50k sounds reasonable but I am not really in a position to say...

I am guessing that they might be on 1k a week in wages but again, nothing but a guess.


I did read somewhere recently that it costs a club 10k a year before wages to bring a youth player through their youth/reserves set up.

spockety

PHB wrote: »

Madrid are nuts though, you can't discount that. But Perez does seem to think Ronaldo will make his money back, so I guess the max you'd see for a normal player is circa 30 mill.

I think the thing about the transfer is that Real are waiting for Alonso to force the issue. They are hoping he's unhappy enough to make the transfer happen at a lower price.

If he didn't have another 3 years to run on his contract then you'd surmise that Liverpool could be backed into a corner on it. But he has a long term deal and Rafa can play all the hardball he wants if he actually wants to keep him (and all the indications are he does). Xabi won't put in a transfer request, and I'd even argue he'd be happy enough to continue playing at Liverpool from the sounds of things.

el rabitos

spockety wrote: »

Normal players like Xabi? He's not even a normal player based on the quotes above.

"We want someone who can channel the play and there aren't many like that in the world".

This does not tally with "We are very far from the figures that Liverpool have set out". Why the hell would Liverpool set out figures that do anything other than reflect the fact that Xabi Alonso is an incredibly rare commodity?

This is great news.

i said "relatively normal".

he's an excellent player etc etc, but he's not exactly regarded as a superstar in world football or a shirt selling machine like we all know ronaldo and kaka will be for them.

real clearly think they'll make a good chunk of their cash back on kaka and ronaldo, its the model perez has built his galactico eras.

so i dont see them forking out the 30 plus million rafa seems to be pushing for before he considers selling