Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

Mr Alan

Mr Alan wrote: »

interesting but strange insight into Rafas private life, radio interview with him and his mrs

http://www.radiocity.co.uk/article.asp?id=847486

this was on over in Liverpool tonight.

Rafa said something along the lines of how Liverpool is more than just a club, and hows its fans are more than just supporters-how that when things have gotten tough for him they have always been behind him and how they are part of his life now.

****ing love him.

he aint ever gonna walk away from us unless we want him to.

also said his mrs is a great cook as you can tell from the size of him!

legend.
he also said that when he came to us there was another PL club in for him....wonder who it was.

SantryRed

Mr Alan wrote: »

.
He also said that when he came to us there was another PL club in for him....wonder who it was.

Chelsea maybe?

sweetie

pesireland wrote: »

nice Riera compalation from youtube

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=h6EOyiuTr8Y

cheers. by god that music is ****e!

pesireland

sweetie wrote: »

cheers. by god that music is ****e!

you can sing it

mike65

Dang I forgot I'll check the repeat (or mp3).

Mike.

DeadSkin

Who shtole the Liverpool/'Boro match thread?

~Rebel~

DeadSkin wrote: »

Who shtole the Liverpool/'Boro match thread?

Me! and the Norway V Ireland thread is next!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns3M1Sj6x4o

Disclaimer; Person laughing in clip may not be me.

zing

mike65 wrote: »

Dang I forgot I'll check the repeat (or mp3).

Mike.

Here ya go
http://podcast.emapradio.com/citytalk/realrafa/city_2108rafa.mp3

joe123

Benitez and Parry held clear the air talks and everythings supposed to be hunky dory again....:rolleyes:

Rick Parry seems to be the worst man ever to have at handling transfers. When you look at some of the other clubs and the way they handle transfers liverpool are a complete joke.

Just hope now dumb and dumber cough up some cash so we can buy someone that can be assumed as an automatic starter and not another squad player.

Quaresma has been linked today and would love to see him. Hed be a gamble but bloody hell hes a better choice than kuyt on the wing.Joaquin linked with blackburn....another risk but if blackburn are in the hunt surely liverpool could have a look.

spanner_head

zing wrote: »

Here ya go
http://podcast.emapradio.com/citytalk/realrafa/city_2108rafa.mp3

Rafa loves Father Ted....legendary stuff.

Very good interview.

Dub13

Not sure if you lot are aware of this so I will post this here.This is the most single important cause out there at present it is absolute vital Anne Williams has enough funds to carry the court case to Europe. It doesn't matter how small the donation is but please please please donate to this. Anyone who does donate to this is carrying the message that us Liverpool Fans want Justice for 96 Redmen and we won't go away and we are showing a message that not only can we seek justice in a court but we can seek it from any corner of the planet. Get donating it doesn't matter how little every little helps.

2 Tickets To Man Utd Game for 5 euro....

....IF YOUR BID IS THE LOWEST UNIQUE BID.

Link to Thread.


One of the lads on Irishkop is donating 2 tickets for the game with all proceeds going directly to the Anne Williams Fund.
All the regulars know the rules for the auction.
Simply, you try and make the lowest bid that you think will not be duplicated by anybody else.
First auction on here was won by a bid of 2p and the next I think 27p.The lowest possible bid is 1p.
If you have any questions then pm any of the mods.
You can pm me with your bids and payment can be made via paypal or directly into Pams account by bank transfer or I will take cheques/postal orders,drafts etc.
€5 PER BID.YOU CAN BID AS OFTEN AS YOU WISH.
Please give generously to this worthy cause.

If you donate over €50 (10 bids) to the appeal and win the tickets then I will also throw in another 2 tickets of your choice to any other League home game this season as well free of charge.

Please donate to this worthy cause.For more info on the fight for justice please read the thread on Anne Williams. See thread for details of where all proceeds raised will be going.
http://84.51.233.73/forums/showthread.php?t=4030

All donations and entrants will be posted on www.irishkop.com.
Closing date 31/8/08.

Even if you have tickets please donate something.If you don't want the Man Utd tickets and win the auction I will offer you 2 tickets to any other home PL game of your choosing this season.

Mr Alan

fair play Dub13.

heres a stream for the rafa/montse interview

http://www.citytalk.fm/Article.asp?id=847486&spid=

pesireland

joe123 wrote: »

Quaresma has been linked today and would love to see him. Hed be a gamble but bloody hell hes a better choice than kuyt on the wing.Joaquin linked with blackburn....another risk but if blackburn are in the hunt surely liverpool could have a look.

Surely they have to be worth a look, i'd love to see both players at liverpool tbh.

Mr Alan

Jaoquin couldnt get into a team who were dicing with relegation for a lot of last year-Everton and Blackburn are the only clubs seemingly interested in him. also he smokes like a trooper supposedly and his attitude is meant to stink.

prefer Milner tbh.

GBX

Just watching SSN, them interviewing Wenger, who said he is always "interested" in Barry and didnt rule out a move for him. Id be more than happy for them to get Barry and us keeping Alonso.

Karmafaerie

zAbbo wrote: »

In fairness Karmafaerie, you do seem to post quite a lot, and some of it does seem difficult to understand exactly what you are saying.

There are a few posters here, who post quality over quantity - like Tusky, , PiE, NekkidBibleMan & Redspider etc. - perhaps take a leaf from their book and you'll get less flack

Take a look at the top posters.

And nothing of what I posted today was in any way unclear, defamitory, or anything else.

Plus surely you see the irony of saying the Pie posts quality posts while mine are unclear, just after a post where Pie quotes me directly, and then when pulled on it claims that he wasn't talking to me?!
Real quality.

I'll also point out that he started all this with a completely unrelaed comment about Garreth Barry, in a discussion about Alonso's position in the Spanish national team.
Pure quality again.

Lets not get into Tuskys prevelance to snide insulting comments either shall we.

Although NBM and RS do tend to have a fairly high standard of posting, so I can't fault that.

I posted on topic on relevant points, and did not in anyway cause this argument today.
Which is why I have taken the matter up with GY.
I was insulted first and took offence.
Simple.

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Lets not get into Tuskys prevelance to snide insulting comments either shall we.

Only towards you my friend. And Boggles.

On topic - I think Rafa is playing a very interesting game off the pitch recently. Hes constantly reaffirming his commitment to the players and fans. Hes making it pretty much impossible for them to fire him. V.clever.

The timing of this very personal interview with him and his wife is definitely well thought out.

Karmafaerie

Tusky wrote: »

Only towards you my friend. And Boggles.

On topic - I think Rafa is playing a very interesting game off the pitch recently. Hes constantly reaffirming his commitment to the players and fans. Hes making it pretty much impossible for them to fire him. V.clever.

The timing of this very personal interview with him and his wife is definitely well thought out.

I wouldn't have it any other way old boy.;)

And yeah, Rafa is playing his cards very well.
The one thing that does worry me is Rafa's leaning towards Hicks.
it's clear that Rafa works closest with him, and it seems to be Rafa/Hicks vs Parry/Gillete.

The fans are behind Rafa, but they really aren't with Hicks.
Interesting dynamics.

Tusky

Karmafaerie wrote: »

I wouldn't have it any other way old boy.;)

And yeah, Rafa is playing his cards very well.
The one thing that does worry me is Rafa's leaning towards Hicks.
it's clear that Rafa works closest with him, and it seems to be Rafa/Hicks vs Parry/Gillete.

The fans are behind Rafa, but they really aren't with Hicks.
Interesting dynamics.

If Rafa is leaning towards Hicks, it must be because he is more forthcoming with transfer funds.

Boggles

Tusky wrote: »

On topic - I think Rafa is playing a very interesting game off the pitch recently. Hes constantly reaffirming his commitment to the players and fans. Hes making it pretty much impossible for them to fire him. V.clever.

The timing of this very personal interview with him and his wife is definitely well thought out.

Rafa could win the noble peace prize, it is what happens on the pitch that matters. Liverpool fans have great expectations of winning the league, if Rafa doesn't deliver in the next couple of years he could do a 100 interviews with his wife it won't make any difference their will be alot shouting for his head.

zing

IMO Rafa is only aligning himself somewhat with Hicks in so far it suits his needs. Hicks may have been brought in originally as a supposed silent partner but it became clear very early on that he seemed to be calling more shots than Gillet. Rafa is just siding with the person he sees as being able to get things done here.

Also - I think it came out tha the whole Clinsmann thing was Gillet's idea so perhaps there is probably still some distrust towards Gillet.

I'm sure that just like the rest of us he'd love to see the back of the pair of them - in fact he's got more reason to want rid of them than us

Tusky

Boggles wrote: »

Rafa could win the noble peace prize, it is what happens on the pitch that matters. Liverpool fans have great expectations of winning the league, if Rafa doesn't deliver in the next couple of years he could do a 100 interviews with his wife it won't make any difference their will be alot shouting for his head.

Rafa hasnt won the league in his 4 years with Liverpool. We havent even challenged. The fans are as behind him today just much as the first day he took charge.

mike65

Brilliant interview, I reckon Montse would take down Gillett and Hicks on her own, being at Liverpool (and in Liverpool) seems to mean an awful lot to her. Her kids are Scousers now and even she has a trace of the accent at times.

Mike.

leninbenjamin

Tusky wrote: »

The fans are as behind him today as the first day he took charge.

have to say the opinions of the Liverpool fans i see here with regards Rafa are very different to those i know personally. quite a few of my Liverpool supporting mates would be glad to see Rafa leave, so i think i don't think your above statement is close to being correct.

Boggles

Tusky wrote: »

Rafa hasnt won the league in his 4 years with Liverpool. We havent even challenged. The fans are as behind him today as the first day he took charge.

Will the majority of the fans be still behind him if he is in the job 5 or 6 years and still hasn't delivered the league?. Will the Americans be as patient? they have known no success with Liverpool?

raven136

leninbenjamin wrote: »

have to say the opinions of the Liverpool fans i see here with regards Rafa are very different to those i know personally. quite a few of my Liverpool supporting mates would be glad to see Rafa leave, so i think i don't think your above statement is close to being correct.

its those liverpool supporters you know that are out of sync,take in a match and hear whats sang about rafa.The man has the fans completely behind him i reckon.

copacetic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

have to say the opinions of the Liverpool fans i see here with regards Rafa are very different to those i know personally. quite a few of my Liverpool supporting mates would be glad to see Rafa leave, so i think i don't think your above statement is close to being correct.

that's complete rubbish, most people on here would know 20 or 30 other fans none of which would have that opinion.

Boggles

copacetic wrote: »

that's complete rubbish, most people on here would know 20 or 30 other fans none of which would have that opinion.

Fans don't hire or fire the manager thou, see what happened Jose.

GBX

Rafa has the majority of support and will remain to do so for a while yet. There will be quite a few fans who are wishing him to go because he hasnt delivered the league. Like they have been patient for 19 years and until we win the league again, there is always gonna be a split whether he stays or goes. If he goes without delivering the league - sacked or not - he wont be considered a complete failure because of his cups success, but he will be there with Souness, Houllier, Evans as another who didnt win the league. And then the burden goes to the next manager until it happens.

el rabitos

most fans are smart enough to know that for the most part, rafa is doing the best job possible with the resources that have been made available to him over the past 4 years.

it would be a different case if he was working with the same resources available at utd or chelsea, but he hasnt had that and as long as theres progression on the field relative to the resources afforded to him the fans will be happy.

in a period where we havent been able to win the league, we've been able to pick up plenty of cups, and thats all you can really ask for. for what its worth, i'm confident our next league will be won under rafa.

Karmafaerie

Boggles wrote: »

Will the majority of the fans be still behind him if he is in the job 5 or 6 years and still hasn't delivered the league?. Will the Americans be as patient? they have known no success with Liverpool?

It took Ferguson 6 years to win a single trophy, now he's one of the most succesful managers in the history of the game.

eagle eye

raven136 wrote: »

its those liverpool supporters you know that are out of sync,take in a match and hear whats sang about rafa.The man has the fans completely behind him i reckon.

I don't agree with this and I don't agree with the other guy either. I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I think most fans believe that the performance this season will make their minds up. At least most that I know are that way inclined, they all say he is a good manager but they are getting impatient. I think its hard to stay behind him without challenging seriously for the League.
I'm not a fan by the way, just my 2 cents on the matter.

Boggles

Karmafaerie wrote: »

It took Ferguson 6 years to win a single trophy, now he's one of the most succesful managers in the history of the game.

True and he was very nearly out the door, what a mistake that would have been.

The patience is not there anymore thou, managers in a job longer than 5 years is a rariety.

el rabitos wrote: »

it would be a different case if he was working with the same resources available at utd or chelsea, but he hasnt had that and as long as theres progression on the field relative to the resources afforded to him the fans will be happy.

I don't think the lack of resources excuse will wash much longer TBH. He has made 4 or 5 pretty big signings with another 15m + player to come in by the end of the season. Arsenal never had the same resources as the likes of Spurs or even West Ham but success flowed for them.

Right now the majority of Liverpool fans are happy with Rafa, I bet that support will dwindle thou in 10 months if there is no major success on the pitch.

Karmafaerie

Boggles wrote: »

True and he was very nearly out the door, what a mistake that would have been.

The patience is not there anymore thou, managers in a job longer than 5 years is a rariety.

True.
Which is a shame IMO.

Managers like Alex, Rafa, and Arsene think years in advance.
Success takes time to build, and most clubs can only think in the here and now these days.

I think that Rafas CL title and final have strengthened his position immeasurably though.

Liverpool had waited for a CL victory even longer that a prem one, and his success there is one hell of a foundation.

If he can genuinely push, for a title this season, I reckon he'll have no problems.

Boggles

Karmafaerie wrote: »

True.
Which is a shame IMO.

Managers like Alex, Rafa, and Arsene think years in advance.
Success takes time to build, and most clubs can only think in the here and now these days.

I think that Rafas CL title and final have strengthened his position immeasurably though.

Liverpool had waited for a CL victory even longer that a prem one, and his success there is one hell of a foundation.

If he can genuinely push, for a title this season, I reckon he'll have no problems.

I honestly think without the FA cup win the support would not be there for him, Houlier may never have won the CL but he did deliver more silverware, the fans turned on him in the space of a few months.

leninbenjamin

copacetic wrote: »

that's complete rubbish

how the f*ck would you know what the people i know think?

copacetic

leninbenjamin wrote: »

how the f*ck would you know what the people i know think?

I didn't say I did, you appeared to be speaking for liverpool fans in general.

Tusky said the fans are behind rafa and you said:

i don't think your above statement is close to being correct.

I was just pointing out that most people here are probably much more in tune with what Liverpool fans think than you may be.

Karmafaerie

Boggles wrote: »

I honestly think without the FA cup win the support would not be there for him, Houlier may never have won the CL but he did deliver more silverware, the fans turned on him in the space of a few months.

I think that Houlier got a very bad deal to be honest.He progressed in every full season he had with us!

Under him we came 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 5th (He had the heart attack and was missing for half the season), 4th.

Progression in every full season.

Karmafaerie

Ryan Babel claims he is ready to take the Barclays Premier League by storm in his second year in England.
The 21-year-old notched up an impressive tally of 10 goals in 49 appearances for the Reds last season despite having to adapt to a new position in a foreign country.

Now back from the Olympics after helping Holland reach the quarter-finals, he is determined to raise his game still further as Liverpool bid to win a first Premier League crown.

"I'm just focusing now on getting my fitness levels back up to 100 per cent," said Babel, who missed Euro 2008 with an ankle injury.

"After that, we will see what players the manager brings in during the transfer market and what my role in the team could be.

"But this will be my second season at Liverpool, and hopefully I can take my game to the next level."

Babel, whose 49 appearances included 15 league starts, could go back into the first-team squad for this weekend's clash with Middlesbrough.

That's what I wanna hear.
Back with plenty of confidence!:D

leninbenjamin

copacetic wrote: »

I didn't say I did, you appeared to be speaking for liverpool fans in general.

I was just pointing out that most people here are probably much more in tune with what Liverpool fans think that you seem to be.

fair enough. but i tend to believe what i see in real life more than i would in an internet forum, and what i see are guys who know as much anyone here, and would consider themselves to be as loyal fans as anyone here, and they harbour doubts about Rafa. even if they are something of a minorit, i personally consider them to be as representative of Pool fans in general as those here, even if you don't. hence i don't think Tusky's statement was accurate.

on a slightly different note, about the fans unending love for Rafa; It seems to me that Rafa is the common entity around which fans rally in their war with Hicks and Gillet; the issues with Rafa being the common concern through which fans vent their frustrations. Personally i think if the American's weren't there, that fans would be much less likely to align with Rafa and that we'd start to see much more vocal criticisms of Rafa. Not that i think all would mind, but i wouldn't be surprised if there were something of a split. what do the Pool fans here think?

Karmafaerie

leninbenjamin wrote: »

on a slightly different note, about the fans unending love for Rafa; It seems to me that Rafa is the common entity around which fans rally in their war with Hicks and Gillet; the issues with Rafa being the common concern through which fans vent their frustrations. Personally i think if the American's weren't there, that fans would be much less likely to align with Rafa and that we'd start to see much more vocal criticisms of Rafa. Not that i think all would mind, but i wouldn't be surprised if there were something of a split. what do the Pool fans here think?

Well you could also argue that if the Americans weren't there, and DIC or somebody else was, then Rafa would have had more success, as he wouldn't have had all the backroom politics, and blocking of his transfer requests.

It's worth noting that last year, the first G & H year, was the first time under Rafa that Liverpool didn't chalenge for anything!

leninbenjamin

Karmafaerie wrote: »

Well you could also argue that if the Americans weren't there, and DIC or somebody else was, then Rafa would have had more success, as he wouldn't have had all the backroom politics, and blocking of his transfer requests.

I suppose that's the case, but even the footballing criticisms that one might level at Pool have been frankly the same since Rafa has taken over imo.

Karmafaerie wrote: »

It's worth noting that last year, the first G & H year, was the first time under Rafa that Liverpool didn't chalenge for anything!

I actually didn't realise that. but to counter that, i think it's interesting to note that at Valencia where Rafa had most success, he never bought the players. i find it interesting that Pool, despite promising him control initially would being to renage on that promise as time passed.

Karmafaerie

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I suppose that's the case, but even the footballing criticisms that one might level at Pool have been frankly the same since Rafa has taken over imo.

The enemy of mine enemy I suppose.

There's also the fact that most of them have been if not disproven, but at least watered down.
The three favorites have always been, zonal marking, rotation, and playing strikers out wide.

Well the zonal marking stoped being an issue when we had the best defence in the league (last season wasn't great obviously, but I do blame the loss of Agger for a lot of that.)

The rotation factor has died down seeing as it was pointed out that we are no where near the top of the list of squad rotation, and were behing Chelsea and Utd, and equal with Arsenal IIRC.
With the exception of the usual lazy pundits and journos who make calims without checkingg the facts, that's died a bit

And with Kuyt prospering on the wing, it's hard to fault Rafa for that right now.

I suppose all that's left is the idea that Liverpool are a cup team so to speak.
That we can't challenge for a league.
It's still up in the air if Rafa can correct that.

leninbenjamin wrote:

I actually didn't realise that. but to counter that, i think it's interesting to note that at Valencia where Rafa had most success, he never bought the players. i find it interesting that Pool, despite promising him control initially would being to renage on that promise as time passed.

I know, it only just came to me as I posted it!
coincidental I know, but maybe with some hint of truth.

As for Rafa, yeah, it's never good to break promises.
No manager in football has total control over transfers, but I'm sure that Rafa was told he'd be well respected in that dept when he signed, cause of the problems in Valencia.

leninbenjamin

Karmafaerie wrote: »

There's also the fact that most of them have been if not disproven, but at least watered down.
The three favorites have always been, zonal marking, rotation, and playing strikers out wide.

I wouldn't consider those to necessarily be faults, more Rafa's style. what i consider to be the main problem is the lack of creativity in the side.

eagle eye

Karmafaerie wrote: »

The enemy of mine enemy I suppose.
Well the zonal marking stoped being an issue when we had the best defence in the league (last season wasn't great obviously, but I do blame the loss of Agger for a lot of that.)

I think this is a very important point. I remember United a couple of seasons ago losing a couple of players, the defence for eight matches in a row consisted of Phil Neville, O'Shea, Silvestre and Gary Neville. In that eight games I don't think they conceded a goal. I think to be so dependent on one or two players in any position is a big problem.
This I believe is the main reason over the last couple of years why United and Chelsea have been at the top.

Jesus Wept

zing wrote: »

Here ya go
http://podcast.emapradio.com/citytalk/realrafa/city_2108rafa.mp3

lol. Rafa's wife had a real scouse accent when she said 'Calm down!'

Also when she said 'Realllly welcome'

Karmafaerie

eagle eye wrote: »

I think this is a very important point. I remember United a couple of seasons ago losing a couple of players, the defence for eight matches in a row consisted of Phil Neville, O'Shea, Silvestre and Gary Neville. In that eight games I don't think they conceded a goal. I think to be so dependent on one or two players in any position is a big problem.
This I believe is the main reason over the last couple of years why United and Chelsea have been at the top.

True, but I nobody can honestly say that if Utd lost The River or the Metalic Serbian Rapist (Rio and Vidic incase you haven't seen the article!:P) for all bar a few weeks of the season, that it wouldn't effect them.
Agger was gone for just short of the whole season after all.
And it's not as if Liverpools defence was suddenly terrible, just not as good, especially from set pieces.
Pepe Riena did manage to get the golden gloves again sure.

And it's all well and good to say that your team has to be self reliant, but don't lets be honest really.
If Utd or Liverpool had lost either Ronaldo or Torres for the whole season last year, do you honestly think either team would have ended where they did?

Every team has star players after all.

Dub13

I no this is short notice but we just got a few more tickets,if any of you lot want to go to the Boro game tomorrow I can get you a day trip all in for 120 euro,thats a great price boat,coach and Match ticket.Need to finalize this asap.

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

Fans don't hire or fire the manager thou, see what happened Jose.

They can certainly save a manager though. see the pro-rafa march last season when it emerged that G&H were about to fire him. Subsequently both Americans individually came out and said they were 100% with Rafa in order to try and win the support over who were/and to a lesser extent still are, making their life difficult in regards to being in Liverpool. Hicks even in an election style statement talked about how if he was able to buy Gillette out the first thing he would do is give Rafa a new contract!

comparing any club to Chelsea is a little silly, they operate on a totally different wave-lenght to any other club with the possible exception of Real Madrid.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

fair enough. but i tend to believe what i see in real life more than i would in an internet forum, and what i see are guys who know as much anyone here, and would consider themselves to be as loyal fans as anyone here, and they harbour doubts about Rafa. even if they are something of a minorit, i personally consider them to be as representative of Pool fans in general as those here, even if you don't. hence i don't think Tusky's statement was accurate.

Thats not what you said, i am one of Rafas most vocal supporters on here and I have "doubts" about him, but you actually said you had friends who would be glad to see the back of him-big difference.

as for believing wat you see in real life, do you conveniently forget the match-going reds who sing his name every week? sometimes for 5mins straight at matches? or the few thousand ones who turned up with only hours notices when it emerged his job was in threat? or the ones who have banners carrying his face on the Kop week in week out?

The fans want Rafa to stay. Virtually all the fans. Some have doubts, but I would go so far as to say he virtually has the 100% support of the fans.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I suppose that's the case, but even the footballing criticisms that one might level at Pool have been frankly the same since Rafa has taken over imo.

frankly, that is absolute ****e. we are on a different footballing planet since the last dark days of Houlliers reign. While sometimes occassionally putting in some dire performances, sometimes we are downright excellent.

pesireland

Reports have us linked with Wigans Paliccos again today