Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread [mod warning #11145, #32140 (see OP)]

yom 1

Fair play to Rafa with yet another generous donation to a Merseyside charity.

As for Roy, if true its all a bit meh. Decent man and a decent manager who will most likely steady the ship if nothing else. I'll support him, as I'm sure most pool fans will, but I can completely understand the frustrations with him being appointed as it's such a drop in terms of managerial ability from Rafa.

As was said already, if these stories are true then there is no investor in the wings for the 15th July/this summer as they would not be appointing Roy or anyone for that matter before they took over. So the best we can hope for is that Roy can steady the ship and that we dont fall too far further behind everyone else while the yanks take their $$$. Until they get their $$$ we wont start gaining any ground back:(

mink_man

how ye laaaaaaaaads.....

Kess73

mink_man wrote: »

how ye laaaaaaaaads.....

Ahh the Mink is back.

rossie1977

mike65 wrote: »

You think? Its like crazy cult to my eyes. If you are not from Liverpool you are untrustworthy and no nothing of the club, if you have less than 1000 posts you are probably a stooge for Gillett and Hicks, if you suggest the manager just gone was not the best in the history of the game you are traduced and called a cvnt, if you express hope in the next manager (if he is English) you are traduced and called a cvnt. Any player who is might leave for professional reasons is also a cvnt as are all ex-players who pop up expressing a view not officially approved by a RAWK news-speak committee.

i don't contribute to that site or even rarely read it but can you blame the fans on that site, liverpool fc are dying a quick death, lets see since january they have appointed a chelsea season ticket holder as chairman who in turn got rid of the current manager. they are now looking to appoint a manager whose record compared to the previous one is horrible and they are paying some £16m to do so

the one guy whom the real liverpool fans would support 100% IF he got the job doesn't want the job (no surprise) despite the fact he is employed by the club at the minute. like mr alan said this appointment (if it does happen) is nothing more than a puppet appointment

joe123

Selling Yossi for 5 million is a horrible piece of business. One of our better players and hes the type of player that can unlock defences. One of the few players with a bit of skill in the squad at the minute.

What sense does it make? 5 million will get you nothing in terms of quality these days unless its one of those undiscovered gems which are few and far between.

jesus_thats_gre

joe123 wrote: »

Selling Yossi for 5 million is a horrible piece of business. One of our better players and hes the type of player that can unlock defences. One of the few players with a bit of skill in the squad at the minute.

What sense does it make? 5 million will get you nothing in terms of quality these days unless its one of those undiscovered gems which are few and far between.

I agree but when you consider that he is 30 and earns 75k a week, it sort of makes sense when you consider the current state of the club.

I am hoping that it means that they expect Pacheco to make the step up next season.

mike65

rossie1977 wrote: »

i don't contribute to that site or even rarely read it but can you blame the fans on that site

typical RAWK thread, about shirt sales

~Rebel~

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

I agree but when you consider that he is 30 and earns 75k a week, it sort of makes sense when you consider the current state of the club.

I am hoping that it means that they expect Pacheco to make the step up next season.

Or, Joe Cole on a free, give him Yossi's wages plus the 5 mill broken up over the length of the contract on top of the 75k a week. Should amount to a very tasty package, would leave us even and with a younger, superior player.

Please?

Melion

Anybody else worried that Rafa is going to come sniffing around our younger talent soon? The likes of Pacheco and LDV would suit the italian game a lot more than the english leagues.

mike65

Well it often happens (ask 'arry!), its a good idea to get them in the first team and playing quickly. If they feel they have a future then they might just want to stay rather than suggest a transfer would be nice at the first sniff of one. Anyway LFC has no money to import talent so they have to push it through the reserves really.

jesus_thats_gre

Melion wrote: »

Anybody else worried that Rafa is going to come sniffing around our younger talent soon? The likes of Pacheco and LDV would suit the italian game a lot more than the english leagues.

I have a nagging suspicion that you won't see LDV at Inter Milan.. Again

whatawaster

Didn't Roy try to buy LDV last summer? Maybe we'll see him in the first team this season. He's definitely got the ability.

wobblyknees

Everytie someone types LDV I think of cheap vans:

jesus_thats_gre

whatawaster wrote: »

Didn't Roy try to buy LDV last summer? Maybe we'll see him in the first team this season. He's definitely got the ability.

Aye, that he did alright. Would love to see him break into the first team squad.

~Rebel~

might see a return of buchtmann as well perhaps.

mike65

Clint Dempsey will be Torres understudy! :eek: has Liverpool ever had an outfield player from the States? Cannae think of one

fulhamfanincork

Roy doesn't like Dempsey as a player.

I'm telling you, Hangeland, Scwazer and maybe Hughes as cover are good enough for Liverpol.

mink_man

mike65 wrote: »

Clint Dempsey will be Torres understudy! :eek: has Liverpool ever had an outfield player from the States? Cannae think of one

jamie carragher looked like he played for USA a few games ago if that counts?

mink_man

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

Roy doesn't like Dempsey as a player.

I'm telling you, Hangeland, Scwazer and maybe Hughes as cover are good enough for Liverpol.

hughes? well if thats the standard of player liverpool want to buy then gluk....

fulhamfanincork

mink_man wrote: »

hughes? well if thats the standard of player liverpool want to buy then gluk....

Roy has transformed Hughes. He was very very average but Roy has turned him into a very good sweeper. He'd be very good cover, better than Kyriagokas

ilovelamp2000

wobblyknees wrote: »

How about Deloitte's Annual Review of Football Finance? Does that hold any weight?



Here's another way to find out who had the highest wage bills:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/chelsea/5436621/Chelsea-the-Premier-Leagues-biggest-spenders-with-172m-wage-bill.html



I for one am not 'banging on' about restrictions. I prefer to focus in on the facts. Such as none of the top wage bills decreased. In fact the United and Chelsea wage bills usually increased twice as much as Liverpools according to the same Deloitte reports.



Yes we do, a quick search online and you'll find accurate references to reports such as the Deloitte review or others, like the Guardian offering information based on end of year accounts.



Forget defending Benitez based on a wage bill as he's no longer manager. Think about the fact the club has conistently spent less, net than the top teams in the league on transfer fees, and as per the attached reports, wages. There is no argument whatsoever that higher transfer fees and wages lead to higher league positions and trophies. Leeds and Portsmouth are classic examples of this. Also, you seem to forget that United were the highest spending team on players and wages for 10 years and more, and also that as soon as Chelsea decided to outspend United on players and wages, they won the league. Coincidence? No, is it possible for an outstanding manager to over achieve? Of course it is, but this would be the exception.



What's clear to me is, even with Torres missing large chunks of the season, the team underperformed for one year. Even Gerard Houllier was given 2 - 3 years to turn things around.



So let me get this straight, on one hand you are questioning the quality of journalism, but on the other hand you are making throwaway comments like this? Mascherano himself has admitted his head was turned by Barcelona last year. Was this the fault of Benitez or did he in fact work hard to keep him at the club?



I asked the question as you talked about signing the best young players around. To me benitez had made it quite clear this was his strategy yet had found it difficult to attract the best young English players due to high transfer fees and wages. Was he lying?



Are you saying the wage bill as it stands is at a manageable level? If that's the case, did Benitez not do a good job and if so, what were Rafa's complaints about exactly?



The reason clubs have to trim wage bills is due to the fact that wages cannot go above a % of turnover. This points to the fact that Chelsea, Aston Villa and Man City have all spent a HUGE amount of money on wages in recent times. I will say though, that many clubs across europe have creative accountants in place making sure they keep below these limits.

I don't know why people feel the need to argue the silliest things just because I've posted.

Deloitte and the newspapers get their figures from the annual accounts. The annual accounts usually come out a year after the period they relate to. No club has published accounts for the 09/10 season so we can't have knowledge of the exact wage bills of teams for the season just past.


During Benitez's time at LFC the club spent more (net) on transfers than everyone in the league bar Man City and Chelsea.

A recent study on transfer spending showed it played only a small part in determining who won leagues - mainly because most transfer spending is poorly spent.

Again another study showed wage bills have a correlation with league position, however when you look at the study you can see that the teams that have good managers can outperform their wage bill consistently.

Man City have yet to spend more than us on wages. Same goes for Villa. Only three other teams have ever reported wage bills of 100m or more.

None of the above explains why we finished seventh.

Kess73

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

Roy has transformed Hughes. He was very very average but Roy has turned him into a very good sweeper. He'd be very good cover, better than Kyriagokas

Soto was very good for Liverpool when he played last season. For a guy bought to be the fourth choice centre back he was consistently better than at least two of the players ahead of him in the pecking order.

fulhamfanincork

~Rebel~ wrote: »

might see a return of buchtmann as well perhaps.

He's going back to Germany apparently.

fulhamfanincork

Kess73 wrote: »

Soto was very good for Liverpool when he played last season. For a guy bought to be the fourth choice centre back he was consistently better than at least two of the players ahead of him in the pecking order.

I saw him twice, maybe three times last year and I thought he was crap but I'll take your word for it.

K-9

fulhamfanincork wrote: »

I saw him twice, maybe three times last year and I thought he was crap but I'll take your word for it.

First couple of games pre Christmas, yes but then, so was everybody else. After that, he settled in nicely. Big reason we stopped leaking goals.

emc2

I've realise now why we have been so poor at defending corners this season, Alonso had headed clear every corner and free-kick that has gone near the spanish box tonight.

wobblyknees

Rosco1982 wrote: »

I don't know why people feel the need to argue the silliest things just because I've posted.

I didn't reply because you posted, I replied because of the points you made. Is this not allowed?

Rosco1982 wrote: »

Deloitte and the newspapers get their figures from the annual accounts. The annual accounts usually come out a year after the period they relate to. No club has published accounts for the 09/10 season so we can't have knowledge of the exact wage bills of teams for the season just past.

But there are figures for the last few years for every club. In those figures, Liverpool consistently spent less on wages than Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. Are you suggesting that in 12 months this has changed? I would argue it has, as Man City have in recent times, thrown money at players like Barry to choose Man City over Liverpool.

Rosco1982 wrote: »

During Benitez's time at LFC the club spent more (net) on transfers than everyone in the league bar Man City and Chelsea.

Do you have any proof to back this up? Don't forget, during Benitez's time at Liverpool, United sold Ronaldo for £80m which would skew their numbers in a big way.

Rosco1982 wrote: »

A recent study on transfer spending showed it played only a small part in determining who won leagues - mainly because most transfer spending is poorly spent.

If transfer spending only plays a small part, why is it that Chelsea, Barca, Inter, Blackburn and Madrid, for example, all spend big to win leagues? i do agree that, in hindsight, transfer fees can be spent poorly. Do you have a link to this study?

Rosco1982 wrote: »

Again another study showed wage bills have a correlation with league position, however when you look at the study you can see that the teams that have good managers can outperform their wage bill consistently.

So, apart from the fact I agree that certain managers can over achieve, you would agree that wage bills do have a link with league position? Do you have a link to this study?

Rosco1982 wrote: »

Man City have yet to spend more than us on wages. Same goes for Villa. Only three other teams have ever reported wage bills of 100m or more.

Man City, up to recently had not spent more on wages. Recently, Man City have managed to convince players like Barry, Adebayor, Tevez, Lescott and Robinho to join, without cl football. This would tell any sane person they are throwing money at their players. Proof of this would be that in the last two years they have spent almost as much on transfers as they had done since the pl began!

Rosco1982 wrote: »

None of the above explains why we finished seventh.

But it does explain why 4th, 5th or 6th in the league really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, paricularly when you lose your top goalscorer through injury and you have to sell more players to buy cover!

Neberkenezer

i like hodgson but it looks like the board are looking for a yes man ... pellegrini would have cost nothing to bring in ,in regards of compensation and would command more respect in the dressing room with the effort its gonna take to convince players to stay.

i expect all our top players to be sold if hodgson takes over.i truly believe all these rumours about takeovers is a ploy by the top dogs to create a smokescreen and before we know it mascherano,stevie and fernando will be out the gap.

worrying times indeed.

mike65

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Fromvert

mike65 wrote: »

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I wonder how many of your posts actually have content worth reading.

Mr Alan

i'll be 100% behind Roy if he gets the job and does what he thinks is best for the club.

mike65

Fromvert wrote: »

I wonder how many of your posts actually have content worth reading.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Plenty, we didn't need to see the usual stuff rehashed for the billionth time on this thread.

redout

So Torres looks like he could be banjaxed if Spain keep playing him.

My guess is that he has been rushed back and possibly playing with injections.

Anyone else got any thoughts ?

mike65

He was moving incredibly poorly by the time he got subbed. Injections is speculation though. Did Del Bosque think he could play him back into fitness while looking to win the World Cup? Even with all the talent on field playing with "10 men" is not clever. Hopefully that'll be the end of his involvment. Forcing the issue could set him back.

Mister men

redout wrote: »

So Torres looks like he could be banjaxed if Spain keep playing him.

My guess is that he has been rushed back and possibly playing with injections.

Anyone else got any thoughts ?

More than likely correct. Silly Spain playing him either way because he's of no use to them injured on the pitch. He's been at walking pace all through this tournament.

redout

mike65 wrote: »

He was moving incredibly poorly by the time he got subbed. Injections is speculation though. Did Del Bosque think he could play him back into fitness while looking to win the World Cup? Even with all the talent on field playing with "10 men" is not clever. Hopefully that'll be the end of his involvment. Forcing the issue could set him back.

Mister men wrote: »

More than likely correct. Silly Spain playing him either way because he's of no use to them injured on the pitch. He's been at walking pace all through this tournament.

From a Pool point of view this is obviously not good.

If that injury he had surgery on aint fully healed and he aggravates it more he surely could do so permanent damage.

The ITV comms mentioned that he had two surgeries in the last 4 months of the season and that aint something any player should take lightly young or not.

Helix

mike65 wrote: »

He was moving incredibly poorly by the time he got subbed

looks fairly nimble here in fairness

wobblyknees

Helix wrote: »

looks fairly nimble here in fairness

His right foot clearly catches his left, what's your problem?

Edit: Haha, if you look at it over and over again, the Chile player has obviously run behind him, Torres Right foot catches his right knee and then flicks off his left foot.

Kess73

Helix wrote: »

looks fairly nimble here in fairness

It just looks worse everytime I see it. I cringed at the time he did it, and the replays showed it to be an even worse dive.

I can only assume that when he clipped his own leg, he thought it was the other guy and decided to cheat.

Disgusting to see tbh.

Helix

wobblyknees wrote: »

His right foot clearly catches his left, what's your problem?

the fact that he goes down like he was shot in the back of the head

Eire-Dearg

Fromvert wrote: »

I wonder how many of your posts actually have content worth reading.

10.8%

Kess73

wobblyknees wrote: »

His right foot clearly catches his left, what's your problem?

Sorry but the way he was still on the ground as if he was badly injured as Iniesta scored the goal, and then sprang up to celebrate the goal once he saw that Spain had scored was sickening.

wobblyknees

Helix wrote: »

the fact that he goes down like he was shot in the back of the head

Watch the clip again and come back and apologise.

wobblyknees

Kess73 wrote: »

Sorry but the way he was still on the ground as if he was badly injured as Iniesta scored the goal, and then sprang up to celebrate the goal once he saw that Spain had scored was sickening.

Ok, I was only joking tbh, but if you are serious, this is a bit of an over-reaction. He was (unintentionally) caught by the chile player. He made the most of it, but certainly didn't drown any puppies either.

Helix

wobblyknees wrote: »

Watch the clip again and come back and apologise.

ive watched it countless times, and each time is more embarrassing for torres than the last one. although your attempted explaination is even worse

wobblyknees

Helix wrote: »

ive watched it countless times, and each time is more embarrassing for torres than the last one. although your attempted explaination is even worse

It's not an attempted explanation, the fact is he was caught, albeit unintentionally, by the Chile player. How is this 'embarrassing for torres'?

Kess73

wobblyknees wrote: »

Ok, I was only joking tbh, but if you are serious, this is a bit of an over-reaction. He was (unintentionally) caught by the chile player. He made the most of it, but certainly didn't drown any puppies either.

If it was Ronaldo that did that, I would be slagging him off over it and calling him a cheat.

He was not caught enough by the other player to bring him down, he hit his own leg and made a big dramatic dive out of it which ended up getting a player sent off in the wrong.

I hate that kind of cheating in football, and hate it even more when it is being done by a player from the team I support.

Going by the rules of the game, he deserved a card for it and not the lad from Chile.

Jazzy

oh fernando


Im very iffy about roy. its gonna be a wait and see thing for me i think

wobblyknees

Kess73 wrote: »

If it was Ronaldo that did that, I would be slagging him off over it and calling him a cheat.

He was not caught enough by the other player to bring him down, he hit his own leg and made a big dramatic dive out of it which ended up getting a player sent off in the wrong.

I hate that kind of cheating in football, and hate it even more when it is being done by a player from the team I support.

Going by the rules of the game, he deserved a card for it and not the lad from Chile.

You'd be slagging Ronaldo because he has form. Torres doesn't. He was caught enough to go down on the move. To put it into context, in rugby, one of the most effective tackles is a little flick on one foot causing the player on the move to trip over their own feet. That's exactly what happened here.

Kess73

wobblyknees wrote: »

You'd be slagging Ronaldo because he has form. Torres doesn't. He was caught enough to go down on the move. To put it into context, in rugby, one of the most effective tackles is a little flick on one foot causing the player on the move to trip over their own feet. That's exactly what happened here.

Ok I will ask you two questions. Did the player from Chile deserve the yellow card which caused him to get sent off? Did he foul Torres?