Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

torresistheman

torresistheman wrote: »

Great stuff from Super-Dirk - like last season he's gonna be massive for us this year

He seems to be growing in confidence more and more every time I see him.

Best winger in England - Fhact !

NabyLadistheman

rarnes1 wrote: »

He seems to be growing in confidence more and more every time I see him.

Best winger in England - Fhact !

He's a real leader in the team now which is great. Could see all the players made for him after he set-up the fifth. His honesty & hard-working will be rewarded in spades

torresistheman

torresistheman wrote: »

He's a real leader in the team now which is great. Could see all the players made for him after he set-up the fifth. His honesty & hard-working will be rewarded in spades

When he first moved out to the right I thought Rafa had made a mistake but last season showed that he got it spot on.

Scores vital goals in big games too, his insticts as a striker meaning he gets into good goal scoring positions more often than not.

He will be key again this year.

Crash Bang Wall

Kirby wrote: »

I trust my dog to keep me safe from burglars. Thats good. But when he craps on the rug, I don't ignore it because of the other good things he does.

All the "open your eyes" "trust rafa" " In rafa we trust" stuff is fanboy hero worship and has no real place in a logical discussion....even one with fans.

Fair call. Nobody makes the right calls 100% of the time and criticism is a natural result

Kirby

The Kuyt stuff is true tho. He moved him out there for his hard work defensively and workrate, but hes becoming a proper class winger. He's not fast, but his delivery is good, he is unselfish and always looking to play people in. And his workrate is phenomenal. Great decision tbh.

el rabitos

http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=222&titulo=Liverpool:

A Liverpool source has revealed that there is a growing confidence that Xabi Alonso will be a Liverpool player next season...

Today, one of our readers asked: “Hi Guillem, a few days ago you said that within the next seven days or so we`d be closer to knowing if Xabi Alonso is leaving. We Liverpool fans are getting to the point where we just want to know either way."


The Liverpool fans are not the only ones who want this sorted quickly: Rafa Benitez is desperate to have this matter resolved as soon as possible in order to finalise the squad for next season without having to make any late adjustments to his preparations.

Overall, the situation remains much as it did before: Real Madrid must pay the €35 million that Liverpool are asking for Alonso, but the Spanish club insist that they will not increase their previous offer - and they must also now reduce their squad and sell before they can buy. Liverpool will not lower their asking price and Benitez is running out of patience - he may even place a week`s deadline on this deal as an ultimatum to Madrid.

However, there has been a positive change of mood in the Liverpool camp over the last few days and for those who want Xabi to stay, a more optimistic outlook. While it is always possible that Madrid may suddenly put the money on the table and meet Liverpool`s €35 million asking price, I can tell you that, in the last couple of days, a source close to Liverpool has told me " there is more chance of Xabi staying at Liverpool than there is of him going."

I explained on the site last Sunday that the meetings between Benitez and Alonso last week would be pivotal, and it is apparent that Real Madrid have been expecting Xabi to apply pressure on Liverpool to force through a move - perhaps even hoping he would make a public declaration of a desire to leave. That has not happened and - after speaking with Liverpool sources over the last few days - the feeling at Anfield is that Xabi Alonso will be a Liverpool player next season.

If Alonso does stay at Liverpool, the dynamic between player, manager and club will be interesting to observe. Regardless of how Alonso feels right now, I am sure that the prospect of representing Spain at next summer`s World Cup will help Benitez coax the best out of him.

a new development perhaps. would have been helpful to elaborate on why his source says its likely xabi is staying....

i'm all for rafa putting a deadline on this, his own head must be wrecked at this stage.

5starpool

The only deadline that matters is the end of the transfer window. Any others is purely for show only really.

Chardee MacDennis

agree completely, but it's good to hear the mood is picking up!

spockety

el rabitos wrote: »

http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=222&titulo=Liverpool:



a new development perhaps. would have been helpful to elaborate on why his source says its likely xabi is staying....

His source is probably Livertweet :P

Dcully

Good to see Dirk looking as dangerous as last season, Nemeth looks like hes a decent finisher.
The way he stroked his first goal was reminisant of Fowler passing the ball into the net.

Cyrus

Kirby wrote: »

The Kuyt stuff is true tho. He moved him out there for his hard work defensively and workrate, but hes becoming a proper class winger. He's not fast, but his delivery is good, he is unselfish and always looking to play people in. And his workrate is phenomenal. Great decision tbh.

interestingly, and someone can correct me on this if im wrong, but i think kuyt reached one of the fastest running speed during euro 2008, so maybe quicker than we think

daithijjj

el rabitos wrote: »

http://www.guillembalague.com/rumores_desp.php?id=222&titulo=Liverpool:



a new development perhaps. would have been helpful to elaborate on why his source says its likely xabi is staying....

i'm all for rafa putting a deadline on this, his own head must be wrecked at this stage.

Guillem balague knows as much about rafas thoughts as anyone on this thread, fact.

Have a read of last summers blog about riera for example. 1 week before riera signed.....and i quote "riera is not a liverpool target, i believe he is a smokescreen for another target of rafa benitez".

Need i carry on....

elshambo

daithijjj wrote: »

Guillem balague knows as much about rafas thoughts as anyone on this thread, fact.

Have a read of last summers blog about riera for example. 1 week before riera signed.....and i quote "riera is not a liverpool target, i believe he is a smokescreen for another target of rafa benitez".

Need i carry on....

Balague is a spoofer and not a very good one, always has been, if he was Irish or English, no one would give him the time of day

There is a bit of the good old fashioned inverted English racism about how he gets into their media

"ooh he is foreign, he must know what he is on about":rolleyes:

blows a bit of smoke up their collective a*** and they love it,
as James Brown would have said, "Talking loud and saying nothing"

he is bound to get the odd story right, so could we all
I cant see why Irish people would fall for it though!?

mada999

only seen the second half against Singa poor but i have to say Pacheao (sp?) is looking like he's going to be a a great player...I'd like to see him start some Carling cup games along with Nemeth!

daithijjj

elshambo wrote: »

Balague is a spoofer and not a very good one, always has been, if he was Irish or English, no one would give him the time of day

There is a bit of the good old fashioned inverted English racism about how he gets into their media

"ooh he is foreign, he must know what he is on about":rolleyes:

blows a bit of smoke up their collective a*** and they love it,
as James Brown would have said, "Talking loud and saying nothing"

he is bound to get the odd story right, so could we all
I cant see why Irish people would fall for it though!?

It would be akin to eamonn dunphy working on english telly coz hes 'in' with roy keane. Mind you, eamo aint exactly 'groomed' for that.

el rabitos

daithijjj wrote: »

Guillem balague knows as much about rafas thoughts as anyone on this thread, fact.

Have a read of last summers blog about riera for example. 1 week before riera signed.....and i quote "riera is not a liverpool target, i believe he is a smokescreen for another target of rafa benitez".

Need i carry on....

you missed the "gossip" part of the threads name i see.

unclench, its a rumour, take them all with a pinch of salt.

balague is hit and miss, his site is worth checking out the odd time.

elshambo

daithijjj wrote: »

It would be akin to eamonn dunphy working on english telly coz hes 'in' with roy keane. Mind you, eamo aint exactly 'groomed' for that.

Na:) Balague is so bad he makes Eamo look like Arrigo Sacchi:D:rolleyes:

whatawaster

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8170699.stm

Liverpool Football Club - which owes two banks £350m - has renegotiated its debt with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are believed to have extended the £290m RBS debt for another year, but agreed to pay back £60m.

Negotiations between RBS, Wachovia and the owners have been prolonged, with fears the banks may call in the loans.

Latest accounts show Kop Holdings, the parent company of the Anfield club, lost £42.6m in the year to August 2008.

Annual figures showed that interest payments accounted for £36.5m of those losses.

New players

The club has continued to spend on new players as it looks to try and win the top prizes in the game, with Portsmouth defender Glen Johnson joining in a £17.5m move.

But the owners have failed to find the money to build the club's new stadium, with preliminary work on the Stanley Park venture halting during last season.

In June, Mr Gillett agreed to sell one of his major assets - his 80% stake in the NHL's Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team - in a deal which would ease financial pressures at the Premier League club.

Meanwhile Mr Hicks has been reportedly looking to sell off elements of his own sporting empire - which includes Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars.

Liverpool was put on the market last year with a reported asking price of about £500m, but no sale was finalised.

Not sure if this is good or bad news. I just don't know what to think anymore.

daithijjj

el rabitos wrote: »

you missed the "gossip" part of the threads name i see.

unclench, its a rumour, take them all with a pinch of salt.

balague is hit and miss, his site is worth checking out the odd time.

Sensitive much?

I didnt have a pop at you for posting it. I just happened to have a read of his blog from last summer where he declared the exact opposite of what actually happened days later.

mike65

G&H get their refinancing deal done.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/27/hicks-gillett-liverpool-debt-refinancing

Liverpool's American owners have concluded a deal to refinance the bank loan they took out to buy the club in 2007.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are not expected to issue a statement, but the deal is believed to be for another year and will involve them paying back £60m of the original debt.

Negotiations between the Royal Bank of Scotland, Wachovia and the owners have continued for months. There was a significant fear that the banks would call in the loan, while both Hicks and Gillett have searched for someone to take a minority stake in the club for around £100m to no avail.

But a source close to the owners has confirmed that the deal has now been concluded, and before last weekend's deadline for refinancing the package expired.

The owners have reduced the £290m they owed to £230m, with £60m being repaid, half immediately.

edit: doh beaten to it.

Dossena deal, its a bit of a mingy offer, but Rafa might well sell I'd say.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/27/andrea-dossena-lliverpool-napoli

Karmafaerie

daithijjj wrote: »

Sensitive much?

I didnt have a pop at you for posting it. I just happened to have a read of his blog from last summer where he declared the exact opposite of what actually happened days later.

He didn't declare.

He thought.

Karmafaerie

mike65 wrote: »

Dossena deal, its a bit of a mingy offer, but Rafa might well sell I'd say.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/27/andrea-dossena-lliverpool-napoli

That article is a load of crap.

Suddenly we payed £8.6 mill for Dossena, not the £7 mill we actually paid, and Napoli have offered £4.3 mill, with bonuses
We paid £5.5 mill with bonuses IIRC

Love how they make out that we're selling at a loss of £4 mill, as apposed to the acctual loss of about £0.5 mill.

daithijjj

Karmafaerie wrote: »

He didn't declare.

He thought.

Captain pedantic swoops in.

Karmafaerie

daithijjj wrote: »

Captain pedantic swoops in.

Sorry, can't hear you over watching Dirk's masterclass on the wing yestrday.

stevoslice

in fairness to xabi, of those 2 "bad" seasons he had, 2007-2008 was severely disrupted with injury, broke his foot twice if i recall. and never really got up to the pace of the league for the rest of the season. this was unfortunate for both liverpool and xabi.

i wouldn't say he had a poor season, as this implies he was playing below himself, he started that season fairly brightly, and after two broken metatarsals he could be forgiven for easing himself back into the game (especially seeing as euro 2008 was just around the corner).

daithijjj

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Sorry, can't hear you over watching Dirk's masterclass on the wing yestrday.

1/10

elshambo

daithijjj wrote: »

1/10

your being kind!:rolleyes:

hearing with his eyes?
what strange sorcery is this?

daithijjj

thebhoy wrote: »

in fairness to xabi, of those 2 "bad" seasons he had, 2007-2008 was severely disrupted with injury, broke his foot twice if i recall. and never really got up to the pace of the league for the rest of the season. this was unfortunate for both liverpool and xabi.

i wouldn't say he had a poor season, as this implies he was playing below himself, he started that season fairly brightly, and after two broken metatarsals he could be forgiven for easing himself back into the game (especially seeing as euro 2008 was just around the corner).

Yes, totally agree. Alonso has a right peg that shoots perfect arrows but when he had those injuries it takes a while to get back up to same high standards of his passing.

Karmafaerie

elshambo wrote: »

your being kind!:rolleyes:

hearing with his eyes?
what strange sorcery is this?

Look up popular culture under "Sorry, I can't hear you"

Then come back to me.

woodyg

Cyrus wrote: »

interestingly, and someone can correct me on this if im wrong, but i think kuyt reached one of the fastest running speed during euro 2008, so maybe quicker than we think

1. Ivica Olic, Croatia – 31,76 km/h
2. Robin Van Persie, Holland – 31,53 km/h
3. Dmitry Torbinski, Russia, – 31,32 km/h
4. Yuri Zirkov, Russia – 31,32 km/h
5. Nihat Kahveci, Turkey – 31,11 km/h
6. Vasilis Torisidis, Greece – 31,11 km/h
7. Arjen Roben, Holland – 30,89 km/h
8. Michael Ballack, Germany – 30,88 km/h
9. Miroslav Klose, Germany – 30,86 km/h
10. Nuno Gomes, Portugal – 30,81 km/h

source
http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&q=fastest+recorded+player+at+euro+2008&meta=&aq=f&oq=

Dirk wasn't even top 10! the Diggler ain't a race horse he's more of a Budweiser delivery horse :pac: the man's a work machine legend who has matured on the right in to a threat.

As for Xabi, Fat Frank had a lot to do with him not having the best of 2nd seasons. he did well to just get back to play in Istanbul and then took time to get back to top speed.

stevoslice

never thought ballack was that quick tbh!

whatawaster

thebhoy wrote: »

never thought ballack was that quick tbh!

tailwind i reckon

copacetic

whatawaster wrote: »

tailwind i reckon

tailwind, downhill and he reached that speed running after the ref, not the ball.

HashSlinging

whatawaster wrote: »

tailwind i reckon

Letting wind more like.

Morzadec

Didn't know Van Persie was that quick either

missingtime

There's doins a transpirin'

Police on Merseyside were investigating today after a live hand grenade was found on a garden wall at the home of the football legend Kenny Dalglish.

The device was discovered last night as police searched the area around Mr Dalglish's home in Birkdale after the arrest of two men in a case unconnected to the former Liverpool player-manager.

The Liverpool Echo reported that a local businessman had told police that there were two men outside his front gates. The man has already had his house shot at and business premises firebombed, it said.

The men were arrested nearby on suspicion of witness intimidation, after which the search began and the hand grenade was found on the wall of Mr Dalglish's house in Selworthy Road.



A Merseyside Police spokeswoman said: “The device was removed and made safe and is currently undergoing forensic examination.

“The road remains cordoned off at its junction with Sandringham Road and high-visibility patrols have been stepped up in the area to reassure the public.

“Detectives believe this incident is linked to a series of other recent incidents in this area and not to the owner of the property where the device was found.”

It is not known if anybody was at the Dalglish home when the alarm was raised at around 10.15pm.

Mr Dalglish, now 58, joined Liverpool as a striker in 1977 after a prolific spell at Celtic. He went on to score 172 goals for the club in 515 appearances, many of them as player-manager from 1985 to 1990. During his time at the club he won three European Cups and six league titles.

It was announced earlier this month that he had resumed his Anfield career with a senior role at Liverpool’s Academy. Mr Dalglish was returning to the UK today after joining the club on its tour of the Far East.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6729050.ece

stevoslice

Morzadec wrote: »

Didn't know Van Persie was that quick either

Must have been clocked on his way to the physio.

mink_man

no way!!! :pac:
there must be quicker players then that!!

Mental Mickey

What's the story with the tickets for this match against Bohs?? When are they onsale?

Fromvert

With Barca reported to have blown €45 million (this fee is what I'v seen reported, how true I don't know), Etoo and Hleb on loan for Ibra does anybody think they could afford Masch who would cost them €35m - €40m.
I don't anyway.

mike65

Last I heard their sporting director had indicated they had pretty much given up on the idea.

Karmafaerie

Barca had £35,000,000 to spend this year.
They said that at the start of the summer.
That's now gone, though far from "blown" IMO.

Masch is staying put. :pac:

NukaCola

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Masch is staying put. :pac:

Xabi too.....(fingers crossed)

Glico Man

Hopefully both will.

But until that blasted transfer window closes, anything can happen...

(crosses fingers) C'mon Villa and Silva

The Frayed Ends

I really can't see Xabi staying. But I came to terms with what if he left weeks ago so if he is going to go I hope its sorted soon so we can get the money and bring an adequate replacement in. Its dragged on too long now.
Il be very happy if Masch stays as to me he would be harder to replace then Xabi.
Hopefully we can get Silva in shortly and if we do get Sneijder in as part of the Xabi deal plus 22mil that would be a great bit of business. The Sneijder talk has calmed down a lot recently so Il happily accept Xabi leaving for the 32 Million being thrown around

Karmafaerie

The Frayed Ends wrote: »

I really can't see Xabi staying. But I came to terms with what if he left weeks ago so if he is going to go I hope its sorted soon so we can get the money and bring an adequate replacement in. Its dragged on too long now.
Il be very happy if Masch stays as to me he would be harder to replace then Xabi.
Hopefully we can get Silva in shortly and if we do get Sneijder in as part of the Xabi deal plus 22mil that would be a great bit of business. The Sneijder talk has calmed down a lot recently so Il happily accept Xabi leaving for the 32 Million being thrown around

I believe the rumour, was £22,000,000 plus Nrgredo, with Sneijder on loan for a year with first option to buy next year (like we had with Masch).

It was all just rumours though, and it looks like it was fantasy with what's being leaked from both camps.

K-9

The Frayed Ends wrote: »

I really can't see Xabi staying. But I came to terms with what if he left weeks ago so if he is going to go I hope its sorted soon so we can get the money and bring an adequate replacement in. Its dragged on too long now.
Il be very happy if Masch stays as to me he would be harder to replace then Xabi.
Hopefully we can get Silva in shortly and if we do get Sneijder in as part of the Xabi deal plus 22mil that would be a great bit of business. The Sneijder talk has calmed down a lot recently so Il happily accept Xabi leaving for the 32 Million being thrown around

The longer this goes on, the more likely Alonso is to stay. This isn't going to be dragged on like last year because of Rafa's new contract.

Karmafaerie

starbelgrade

Any truth in the rumours of Ferguson selling Owen back to the pool for a fiver?!

The Frayed Ends

Karmafaerie wrote: »

I believe the rumour, was £22,000,000 plus Nrgredo, with Sneijder on loan for a year with first option to buy next year (like we had with Masch).

It was all just rumours though, and it looks like it was fantasy with what's being leaked from both camps.

That deal I would have found hard to believe but then the Ibra/Eto'o thing happened. Negredo showed his worth last season for Almeria hed be a good signing and a great back up to Torres. Hes young too.
But still its a rumour so it wont be happening :pac:

If Xabi goes I see it as a straight cash deal. No matter how much I want Negredo and Sneijder :pac: