Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread

mike65

Laing O'Rourke say no stadium work until late 2009 at earliest.

http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/2008/09/10/61085/work-on-new-liverpool-fc-stadium-delayed-until-late-2009.html

Mike.

prendy

am i right in saying the club is paying 30m a year in interest on the stadium that were not building?

Karmafaerie

Tauren wrote: »

Have read liverpool have not named Hyppia in the CL squad - I know with Agger Skyrtel(sp) and Carragher he is down the pecking order and that his ommision is forced by the lack of youth products, but still...

It's because he's not English.
We need a certain number of English players, so the squad is full of youth team players who'll never play for the most part!

Karmafaerie

Steven Gerrard could return for Manchester United clash - Liverpool FC latest
Sep 10 2008 by Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

STEVEN GERRARD is set to hand Rafa Benitez a huge boost - by giving himself every chance of featuring against Manchester United on Saturday.

The Liverpool captain will return to full training in the next few days and should he come through that with no ill effects, his chances of facing United will increase dramatically.

It is less than two weeks since Gerrard underwent double groin surgery and as recently as last weekend, he was forced to reluctantly admit defeat in his battle to be fit for the visit of Liverpool’s biggest rivals.

But his rehabilitation programme has gone much better than expected since then and he is now fit enough to join in with his team mates as they prepare for their biggest Premier League game of the season so far.

Gerrard now stands a realistic chance of being involved in Saturday’s lunchtime showdown with the reigning champions, although the final decision as to whether or not he plays will rest with manager Rafa Benitez.

Benitez, though, remains cautious about Gerrard’s chances of figuring against Alex Ferguson’s side and will not risk him unless he is 100% convinced he has totally shaken off the after effects of two groin operations in the space of two days.

“You never know, he is still progressing,” said the Reds boss.

“The key is the fitness of the player – it makes a massive difference if he has confidence. That is the main thing for him.”

Privately, Benitez is delighted with Gerrard’s much faster than expected recovery and remains hopeful his skipper will be able to line up against United.

He has similar hopes for Fernando Torres who suffered a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s last league game against Aston Villa eleven days ago.

Torres was initially ruled out for up to three weeks after limping off at Villa Park but, like Gerrard, his recovery has been much quicker than originally anticipated and the Spanish striker is now also in with a shout of facing United.

Having not defeated United in the league in his time as Liverpool manager, Benitez will be keen to roll out his big guns for Saturday’s game but he insists he will only do so if he is totally convinced they are ready for what is likely to be a typically high octane encounter.

And even if he is forced to do without his star duo, the Reds boss insists he has enough quality in his squad to cope with their loss.

He added: “It is a difficult situation because both players are working very hard with the physios but we still do not know if they will be ready because they have not played for 10-15 days.

“But it is important to remember that we have enough quality in the squad whatever happens.

“Sometimes other players can give you more than the big names because they feel they have something to prove.

“Obviously, though, it would be better for us if Stevie and Fernando are available to play.”

If I had to choose, I'd pick Nando.

Karmafaerie

The only exerpt of Carra's book I've really liked so far is the Ataturk one.

AT half-time in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, Jamie Carragher found himself staring into the abyss.

AC Milan had just produced a spell-binding 45 minutes of football to leave Liverpool trailing by three goals to nil.

All hopes of winning a fifth European Cup had seemingly been extinguished as Carragher and his team-mates walked into the dressing room for Rafa Benitez’s half-time team talk.

Here, in an exclusive extract from Carra: My Autobiography, Carragher talks for the first time about what exactly went on during that mythical 15 minutes and how Benitez’s inspirational intervention helped change the course of football history.

PEOPLE ask what was going through my mind in those moments before half-time.

As I walked towards the dressing room, I was suffering from a depressing combination of despondency and humiliation.

I couldn't bear to lift my head up and glimpse the faces in the crowd, or the banners and red jerseys scattered around the Ataturk.

I looked towards the floor and saw nothing but endless dejection. My dreams had turned to dust.

I wasn't thinking about the game any more. My thoughts were with my family and friends. I was so sorry.

Daft, seemingly trivial ideas scattered themselves across my mind, such as 'What will everyone at home be saying about this?'

The thought of going home a laughing stock disturbed me. It would have felt like the whole city, the whole country, even the whole world was taking the mickey out of us.

There was a sense of shame to go with my sorrow. The Liverpool fans had taken over the stadium and there was nothing we could do to make amends.

I almost began to regret reaching the final. All defeating Juve and Chelsea had achieved, it seemed, was to allow AC Milan to outclass us and possibly secure the greatest ever margin of victory in a European Cup final.

They'd beaten Barcelona and Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the 1994 and 1989 finals, and now I feared we'd create history for the wrong reasons, at the receiving end of a record defeat, by five or six. Keeping it at 3-0 and at the very least restoring some respectability was all that mattered to me now.

Nothing was said by the players as we returned to the dressing room. A mythical 15 minutes in the Liverpool legend was upon us, but it didn't feel that way.

The trickiest test in such circumstances is ensuring you don't give up.

It would have been easy for us to accept our ambitions were in tatters, that nine months of toil were going to end in catastrophe.

Mentally we were all over the place, but I knew it wasn't in my nature to accept this fate. No matter how bad it was, we were going to have to face up to our responsibilities.

Fortunately, there was at least one sane head in the room prepared to restore our battered spirits.

In that Ataturk dressing room Rafa Benitez cemented his place in Anfield folklore.

My admiration for his handling of the situation is unlimited. Rafa's conduct rarely changed, regardless of the circumstances. His calm demeanour was never required more than now.

Privately, he must have felt the same as us. He too couldn't have failed to think about his family, or what the people of Spain would be making of his side's battering.

Here he was, still struggling with his English, trying to instruct us to achieve the impossible.

“Good luck,” I thought to myself.

He showed few signs of emotion as he explained his changes, but the speed with which he made a series of tactical switches showed how sharp he still was.

First, he told Traore to get into the shower. That was the polite code for telling a player he's being subbed.

Djibril Cisse was told he'd be coming on to play on the right side and was already getting kitted out.

As Djimi removed his shirt, an argument was brewing between Steve Finnan and our physio Dave Galley. Finnan had damaged a groin and Dave told Rafa he thought he should be subbed.

Finn was distraught and pleaded to stay on. Rafa wouldn't budge.

“We've only two subs left because we've already lost Kewell with an injury,” he explained. “I can't afford to make two now, and if you stay on I've lost my last sub.”

Traore was told to put his kit back on.

Then, as if struck by a moment of clarity, Benitez made an abrupt decision.

“Hamann will replace Finnan and we'll play 3-5-2,” he explained, displaying an assured conviction in his voice which, temporarily at least, gave me confidence.

“Pirlo is running the game from midfield, so I want Luis and Stevie to play around him and outnumber them in the middle so he can't pass the ball.”

The swiftness of this decision confirmed to me he may have considered this formation earlier. The same set-up had worked in Turin, although that had been a purely defensive strategy.

“OK,” part of me was thinking, “forty-five minutes too late, but we got there in the end.” Given the circumstances, it was still a brave move.

With both Cisse and Hamann now preparing to come on, there was only one problem.

“Rafa, I think we've 12 players out there now.”

Djibril would have to wait a while longer for his introduction.

When we emerged from our desolate dressing room, I wasn't encouraged by the look of steely determination on the face of Maldini as he led his side back out.

There were claims after the match of premature celebrations in the Milan camp at half-time.

I was upset on their behalf by that pack of lies. Traore gave an interview after the game suggesting the Italians were cocky at 3-0, but I think he was naive in his answers and it was twirled into a fairy story by the newspapers.

It simply didn't happen. Milan were far too professional for that. There was no way their captain, with all his experience, was going to allow anyone in his dressing room to take victory for granted.

Nothing I saw suggested Milan were already popping champagne. I have too much respect for them even to suggest it.

Even if they did, privately, believe they had both hands on the cup, who could blame them?

As I headed back into the arena, I was sure Milan were going to win, so were the forty thousand Scousers in Istanbul, so why shouldn't they have believed it?

I could hear “You'll Never Walk Alone” in the distance, and as I exited the tunnel it grew louder. It wasn't the usual version of our anthem, though.

There are different moments when The Kop summons Gerry Marsden's classic. Before every home game it's a deafening rallying cry, as if to inspire us to perform and frighten our opponents into submission.

If we're winning in the closing stages of a huge match, it will be sung again, this time in celebration.

But there are other occasions the words of the song have greater meaning, and at half-time in Istanbul the fans were singing it in sympathy more than belief.

There was a slow, sad sound to it, almost as if it was being sung as a hymn. The fans were certainly praying on our behalf.

To me, it was the supporters' way of saying, “We're still proud of what you've done, we're still with you, so don't let your heads drop.”

There was probably a hint of a warning in there too, as the walk back to my position felt like a guilt trip: “Don't let us down any more than you already have.”

Our coach Alex Miller's final instructions at half time were for us to “score a goal for those fans”.

That was the mindset we had. Get one and pride might be restored.

Fair play to Rafa, and the rest of the boys.

The Rooster

prendy wrote: »

am i right in saying the club is paying 30m a year in interest on the stadium that were not building?

Nope, thats the interest on the monies borrowed to pay Moores and the other previous shareholders for their shares. United pay £80m annual interest.

When Liverpool start building a stadium the interest costs will rise significantly.
~~~~~~~~

The Kevin Kilbane appreciation thread got me thinking about someone who'd make a great right back - Dirk Kuyt

Mr Alan

thats acually crossed my mind before

Boom_Bap

I'm sure it's crossed Rafa's mind too:)

Karmafaerie

Dirk for president!!!

zing

The Rooster wrote: »

Nope, thats the interest on the monies borrowed to pay Moores and the other previous shareholders for their shares. United pay £80m annual interest.

It also includes the money set aside to commence stadium work and for players - something like 60m for each iirc. Basically the 30m is the interest on the refinance deal G&H took out last year (or was it this year ? - can't remember at this stage). That refinance deal includes the original loans to buy the club + the money they borrowed for commencing the stadium + player purchases.

slingerz

really hope robbie gets on the scoresheet against utd at the weekend he needs a goal and the winner v united is set up perfectly for him

Malice

slingerz wrote: »

really hope robbie gets on the scoresheet against utd at the weekend he needs a goal and the winner v united is set up perfectly for him

I'd settle for him getting the first in a 2:0 victory .

The Rooster

zing wrote: »

It also includes the money set aside to commence stadium work and for players - something like 60m for each iirc. Basically the 30m is the interest on the refinance deal G&H took out last year (or was it this year ? - can't remember at this stage). That refinance deal includes the original loans to buy the club + the money they borrowed for commencing the stadium + player purchases.

Don't think so. You don't pay interest on money you haven't borrowed yet. Perhaps we've spent a few million on plans, proposals etc, but out of the £30m annual interest we currently pay, I would think no more than £0.5m relates to the stadium.

Now unless the papers are all wrong when they say we are currently paying £30m per year in interest, and we'll only have an interest expense that high when we drawdown the money to build the stadium. But I don't think thats the case, I think when we do build the stadium our debt levels and interest levels will get closer to the mancs levels - though unlikely to get as high as the £80m annual interest they pay.

mayordenis

or 3 in a 4 nil?

missingtime

Is anyone else kinda hoping Gerrard isn't fit for the utd match?

I think Torres will be ok but I'd love to see how the team plays without Gerrard. Especially now that keane is there.

Mr Alan

Keane should be so geared up for this game,i think it'll be a big test for him. Between being a "fan" and Ferguson slagging him in the press the other day he has no excuse not to be dying for it.

Mr Alan

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/11/liverpool-takeover-sheikh-mohammed-ditches-dic-to-make-solo-bid-for-club-115875-20732281/

Sheikh Mohammed will step up his bid to buy Liverpool by using his own money to invest in the club.

The oil-rich Arab leader of Dubai has ditched DIC - the investment arm of his government - as the buy-out company he will use if he gets the chance to purchase the Anfield club from Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Instead, he will dip into his own wealth to get his hands on the Premier League outfit, with insiders suggesting that will allow him to invest far more money into Liverpool.

DIC's charter states the government company must "maximise long-term shareholder value", which in effect means it should turn over a big profit as soon as possible.

But the current financial climate wouldn't allow that with Liverpool, and instead the Arab billionaire is ready to sink his own money into the club to build a new stadium and invest heavily in the team.

Sheikh Mohammed wants to rival the Abu Dhabi owners of Manchester City, and now sees Liverpool less in terms of a pure investment. But despite being among the wealthiest men in the world, he still refuses to pay over the odds to the Americans.

The Mirror understands that Hicks and Gillett are prepared to sell, but only at £300million above the Arab's valuation of around £450million.

Sheikh Mohammed's advisors though, feel that the Americans are in deep trouble because of the global credit crunch, and will be forced to sell unless there is a swift economic upturn.

prendy

nice story.. bad source!


would love if this was true.

Dub13

Anybody going to the March on Saturday or if you happen to be in Liverpool don't forget about the Spirit Of Shankly March,there will be loads (50 plus) from Irish Kop at the march.

The Rooster

Mr Alan wrote: »

Keane should be so geared up for this game,i think it'll be a big test for him. Between being a "fan" and Ferguson slagging him in the press the other day he has no excuse not to be dying for it.

And equally, if he's dropped to the bench for this one, it will feel like a huge kick in the nads.

Mr Alan

true enough, cant see him being dropped though tbh

slingerz

Mr Alan wrote: »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2008/09/11/liverpool-takeover-sheikh-mohammed-ditches-dic-to-make-solo-bid-for-club-115875-20732281/

Sheikh Mohammed will step up his bid to buy Liverpool by using his own money to invest in the club.

The oil-rich Arab leader of Dubai has ditched DIC - the investment arm of his government - as the buy-out company he will use if he gets the chance to purchase the Anfield club from Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Instead, he will dip into his own wealth to get his hands on the Premier League outfit, with insiders suggesting that will allow him to invest far more money into Liverpool.

DIC's charter states the government company must "maximise long-term shareholder value", which in effect means it should turn over a big profit as soon as possible.

But the current financial climate wouldn't allow that with Liverpool, and instead the Arab billionaire is ready to sink his own money into the club to build a new stadium and invest heavily in the team.

Sheikh Mohammed wants to rival the Abu Dhabi owners of Manchester City, and now sees Liverpool less in terms of a pure investment. But despite being among the wealthiest men in the world, he still refuses to pay over the odds to the Americans.

The Mirror understands that Hicks and Gillett are prepared to sell, but only at £300million above the Arab's valuation of around £450million.

Sheikh Mohammed's advisors though, feel that the Americans are in deep trouble because of the global credit crunch, and will be forced to sell unless there is a swift economic upturn.

how we should pray he gets control

mike65

Gillett will be at the game apparently! Hopefully with the Sheikh at his side.

Mike

whatawaster

what exactly did Ferguson say about Keane? Can't find it anywhere.

prendy

in Gerrard and torres absence i think

---

keane

---

riera---kuyt

---

babel

has to be the starting front 4 with kuyt and babel interchanging.

monkey9

whatawaster wrote: »

what exactly did Ferguson say about Keane? Can't find it anywhere.

He was surprised that Liverpool paid so much money for him. That's pretty much it.

whatawaster

monkey9 wrote: »

He was surprised that Liverpool paid so much money for him. That's pretty much it.

Oh. I'm surprised United paid 50% more for a player who over the last two seasons has not really outshone Keane (who, as well as scoring lots of goals did all the work that Berbatov was unwilling to do.)

Team for Saturday (worst case scenario - no Gerrard or Torres

---

Reina

---

Arbeloa

---

Carragher

---

Skrtel

---

Dossena

---

Alonso

---

Mascherano

---

---

Kuyt

---

Keane

---

Riera

---

---

Babel

---

If just Torres is fit, he slots in for Babel
If just Gerrard is fit, he slots in for Babel, with Keane up top. No chance of Kuyt being dropped for a big game.
If both are fit, Torres in for Babel and Gerrard for Kuyt/Riera. Kuyt, personally, but Rafa would probably leave out Riera.

The Rooster

If both Torres and Gerrard are fit, this will be the team (from midfield up)

---

Alonso

---

Mascherano

---

---

Kuyt

---

Gerrard

---

An Other

---

---

Torres

---

AnOther being one of Riera, Babel or Benayoun. Keane will not play IMO, unless Gerrard (or Torres) is injured.

Assuming everyone fit, if I was picking the team, I'd go 4-4-2 and play midfield up as:

Gerrard - Alonso - Mascherano - Riera
Torres - Keane

Boggles

whatawaster wrote: »

Oh. I'm surprised United paid 50% more for a player who over the last two seasons has not really outshone Keane (who, as well as scoring lots of goals did all the work that Berbatov was unwilling to do.)

Jesus doesn't get more stupid than that. Both of them had a great partnership at Spurs, they have moved on to seperate clubs, leave it at that.

Mr Alan

Boggles wrote: »

Both of them had a great partnership at Spurs, they have moved on to seperate clubs, leave it at that.

emmm, you should probably talk to Mr Ferguson in that case

Boggles

Mr Alan wrote: »

emmm, you should probably talk to Mr Ferguson in that case

He was asked his opinion. I think even alot of Liverpool supporters are starting to ask themselves the same question.

Personally I want to see Robbie doing well (not this weekend thou).

ibh

Boggles wrote: »

He was asked his opinion. I think even alot of Liverpool supporters are starting to ask themselves the same question.

Personally I want to see Robbie doing well (not this weekend thou).

I think he should have done what most managers would, and said "it's none of my fcuking business what Liverpool pay for Robbie Keane. We weren't after him." That would be the end of the story.

I don't think a lot of Pool supporters are thinking that. I think the media (tabloids mostly) are starting to suggest that and you are mistaking that for what the real fans think.

Sometimes takes time to settle into a team especially one that is playing below par.

whatawaster

Boggles wrote: »

Jesus doesn't get more stupid than that. Both of them had a great partnership at Spurs, they have moved on to seperate clubs, leave it at that.

I was simply retaliating to Mr Ferguson's nonsense. On the last two year's evidence, if Berbatov is worth 30m, surely Keane should be too?
I'm certainly not worried about what we paid for Keane, and anybody would find it hard to score goals the way we have been playing. But again, i'm not unduly worried. We have precisely two of these patches every season (last year it was around September and the Marseille game, when we were playing even worse than we are now, and again after Christmas). This season, i'm hopeful that we've weathered our first storm very well, and will now start performing like we did in the second half of last season.

gixerfixer

Dont feed the troll. I dont think Liverpool supporters are questioning the amount paid for Robbie. ferguson stirring the pot again. I really dont think anybody takes any notice of his silly little digs at other clubs anymore. For a man who is without doubt the best manager in England the last 20 years he really lets himself down with some of the rubbish he talks:rolleyes:

Boggles

whatawaster wrote: »

On the last two year's evidence, if Berbatov is worth 30m, surely Keane should be too?

On the last 2 years evidence Berbatov has a far superior end product than Keane, they are 2 different type players, Berbatov being the rarer of the breed thus the premium is higher.

Look at it this way if the prices were reversed and Keane was bought for 30m there would be alot more eyebrows raised.

gixerfixer wrote: »

Dont feed the troll.

Careful friend, I think that stupidity was made a bannable offence.

gixerfixer

Boggles wrote: »

On the last 2 years evidence Berbatov has a far superior end product than Keane, they are 2 different type players, Berbatov being the rarer of the breed thus the premium is higher.

Look at it this way if the prices were reversed and Keane was bought for 30m there would be alot more eyebrows raised.



Careful friend, I think that stupidity was made a bannable offence.

You be careful.We aint friends and you know where the reporting button is dont you by now boogles

Mitch Connor

whatawaster wrote: »

Oh. I'm surprised United paid 50% more for a player who over the last two seasons has not really outshone Keane (who, as well as scoring lots of goals did all the work that Berbatov was unwilling to do.)

Robbie Keane gives an illusion of work - runs around waving his arms, but he doesn't actually do much. Also, Berbatov scored as many, but assisted far more goals than Keane.

Mr Alan

those extra assists are obviouly why he cost about 11m more.

The point remains Ferguson should keep his mouth (as your own sig says) shut on wat he deems a fair value on a player that has nothing to do with him.

especially when he has paid more than 10m more for a player who has a seriously bad attitude and a few more assists.

already a thread for this ****e anyway.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055349296&page=4&highlight=Keane+Berbatov

missingtime

Ferguson is just playing the game. He's been doing this for years.

Lets just hope Keane makes him regret opening his mouth.

In the same way Drogba did to Rafa.

Unearthly

missingtime wrote: »

Ferguson is just playing the game. He's been doing this for years.

.

Exactly, I just hope Keane and Benitez fell for it just like some in here have but I doubt it

noodler

That is absolute bull****.

Look up the stats on who made more assists over the last two seasons. It is Keane.

~Rebel~

noodler wrote: »

That is absolute bull****.

Look up the stats on who made more assists over the last two seasons. It is Keane.

Over the past 2 seasons, in the league, Berbatov got 22assists. Keane got 10.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=7832&cc=5739 - Keane
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=12724&cc=5739 - Berbatov

leninbenjamin

Mr Alan wrote: »

The point remains Ferguson should keep his mouth (as your own sig says) shut on wat he deems a fair value on a player that has nothing to do with him.

lol, if yours is the response across the board then he should open it more often. you're succumbing to his mind games, alan.

joe123

I would just luv it,just luv it if we beat them

noodler

*Holds hands up*. Still last season in total it was 13 for Berb and 8 for Keane. Comparable at least

Pyjamarama

Dunno if this has been posted but Carra really is going down in my estimation with this book...

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_4133832,00.html

Talk about pot calling the kettle black. I say drop him. We have Mart and Agger so it's not like we'd be biting off our noses or anything.

noodler

Id say lets not drop him, and shut up.

Boom_Bap

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Dunno if this has been posted but Carra really is going down in my estimation with this book...

http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_4133832,00.html

Talk about pot calling the kettle black. I say drop him. We have Mart and Agger so it's not like we'd be biting off our noses or anything.

He is speaking/writing openly and honestly about what has happened at the club. It's more refreshing to hear this than the usual fabricated news coming from hacks in the press.

He is a human after all and has carte blanche to what the heck he wants.....just like we do when we tippidy tap our opinions on our keyboards and hit the old submit reply button.

Pyjamarama

The club don't pay our wages though. And a healthy wage he gets paid at that.

My problem here is that he's lambasting Rafa and the board for talking about things in public and then he goes and brings it all back into the public eye by putting it in his autobiography. Do we not have enough issues to be dealing with at the moment without this rubbish.

If anyone in the "real world" did this then they'd likely be fired. I like every other pool fan love/loved Carra but this book is so retarded it's not even funny. I know it's being beaten to death on here but there is a reason for it.

Karmafaerie

Carra should know better.
He's shown a lot of naivity throughtout the whole affair.

His heart's in the right place, but he should have more sense.