Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12 (End of March 2012 onwards)

colly10

ASOT wrote: »

And a gk coach

To me Reina doesn't look the same man this year so probably good news as well.
Looks like the owners don't tolerate extreme failure, I trust them to make the right decisions

jesus_thats_gre

Gbear wrote: »

One possibility with Kenny claiming ownership of the transfers is that while he picked the players (none of them a Jan Kromkamp, Antonio Nunez or Diouf) he explicitly said that it was Commolli who brought them in.

I would prefer 10 mistakes like Nunez and Kromkamp over a handful of seasons than 1/2 big mistake like Diouf and some others every few seasons.

Nunez and Kromcamp, while not good transfers, didn't have a particularly negative effect on anything related to the club - think we lost very very little on them financially also.

Jesus Wept

Disconcerting still if this plan had to be brought forward five days because the info was leaked, wtf tbh.

monkey9

Just give Rafa the amount of money Fenway have spent the past year and Rafa would have spent it better.

opr

5starpool wrote: »

Newcastle, not Chelsea. It's been tried on and off in UK football for years, never with any real success from what I can see. It has worked better in the continental model though.

I think the DOF role is really badly understood in England. The equivalent to a DOF in most continental clubs would be like Wenger/Ferguson in England. They control everything from the youth, transfers, negotiations to the way the first team plays.

The way you do this within the DOF structure is the DOF employs someone who they feel will play football in the way they want with the first team and they look after everything else. If you watched the video posted last night about Comolli explaining his role the other DOF in it from I think Hamburg explains that he sacks the first team coach because they've different ideas on how the game should be played. A DOF never has that power in England.

I think the way it can maybe be seen working best in England is currently at Newcastle. Pardew was brought in to play a certain style of football but I wonder how much influence he actually has on transfer and other stuff. Swansea have had someone similar in the background I just don't think they are calling them DOF's as a certain stigma seems to be attacked to the role in England. The idea is that like Swansea you keep employing managers with the same idea to build a club philosophy. The DOF is the guy with the long term role at the club not the first team manager.

At least this all seems to be my understanding of it. Obviously different clubs will have more rigid or less rigid structures with regards transfer involvement or any of the other areas within the club.

First problem we had is that instead of doing an exhaustive search of candidates and interviewing people who suited the clubs needs we employed a DOF in a way which should have never happened due to our owners being so new to the game. They reached out to Billy Beane for advice and he recommended his buddy Damien. Never should this have been the process by which a DOF was hired.

Secondly I just don't see how KD is ever going to work with a DOF. I can't see anyone dictating how he should play football. If we're ever going to get some continuity in our signings, youth system etc we need the first team to be working from the same page.

Opr

D'Agger

Gerty wrote: »

And some lad on twitter had said that he had turned down a shag in anticipation of the news.

Bet he is kicking himself now that silly f**k.

You should really be calling him a wanker tbf

ush

Morricone wrote: »

All well and good but Cruijff is a ridiculously frustrating, antaganistic and divisive character.

Aren't all cloggies like that. Kuyt being the exception that proves the rule.

Jesus Wept

ush wrote: »

Aren't all cloggies like that. Kuyt being the exception that proves the rule.

Not our Dirk.

kingshankly

I reckon the new dof is kess

ush

kingshankly wrote: »

I reckon the new dof is kess

Nah, Kess has the ear of FSG though.

opr

From Tony Barret.

"FSG has determined that Liverpool’s biggest weakness in the transfer market is a chronic failure to get value for money. Given that one of Comolli’s duties was to negotiate fees, the responsibility for this shortcoming was always going to fall on his shoulders.

The most vivid illustration of his negotiating tactics was provided by Derek Llambias, the Newcastle United chief executive, who was recorded detailing Comolli’s strategy during the talks that led to Carroll joining Liverpool for a £35 million fee.

Llambias told of how he was stunned when Liverpool made an initial offer of £30 million for the forward but still asked for a further £5 million with the full fee to be paid up front. Comolli agreed.

It is the inability to derive value, rather than the identity of the players signed, that has most irked FSG, hence its decision to dispense with Comolli and offer support to Dalglish. Comolli paid the price for paying over the odds, now it is up to Dalglish to find a way of getting more out of the players that were recruited at his request."

Opr

Washington Irving

Today/ yesterday (12th) is/ was Tom Werners birthday. John must have let him have free reign of the club for the day, it's the only logical explanation for todays ongoings

kevohmsford

If Johan Cruyff is going to be brought in the first player I want to see signed is Christian Eriksen from Ajax. The guy has serious talent.

Sasquatch76

opr wrote: »

From Tony Barret.

"FSG has determined that Liverpool’s biggest weakness in the transfer market is a chronic failure to get value for money. Given that one of Comolli’s duties was to negotiate fees, the responsibility for this shortcoming was always going to fall on his shoulders.

The most vivid illustration of his negotiating tactics was provided by Derek Llambias, the Newcastle United chief executive, who was recorded detailing Comolli’s strategy during the talks that led to Carroll joining Liverpool for a £35 million fee.

Llambias told of how he was stunned when Liverpool made an initial offer of £30 million for the forward but still asked for a further £5 million with the full fee to be paid up front. Comolli agreed.

It is the inability to derive value, rather than the identity of the players signed, that has most irked FSG, hence its decision to dispense with Comolli and offer support to Dalglish. Comolli paid the price for paying over the odds, now it is up to Dalglish to find a way of getting more out of the players that were recruited at his request."

Opr

That would seem to be fair enough on first reading. After all, we all pretty much lambasted the prices we were paying at the time. But it still raises a few questions for me...

If their problem is really only the fees paid for these recruits, does that mean they're willing to settle for league mediocrity? Because I'm sorry, but the current squad is nowhere near good enough to get CL football.

Also, they signed the cheques. Was Comolli the only one who had their ear as regards what they should be spending? Seems a bit naive for a group allegedly so shrewd.

Thirdly, if KK is absolved of any blame attached to the transfers full stop, does this public backing mean they're oblivious to his other failings this season? I bloody well hope not. Inflated transfer fees didn't cause the insipid, heartless football we occasionally played this year.

Meh, all rhetorical questions I just needed to write down before beddy-byes.

Ni ni

Jesus Wept

opr wrote: »

From Tony Barret.

"FSG has determined that Liverpool’s biggest weakness in the transfer market is a chronic failure to get value for money. Given that one of Comolli’s duties was to negotiate fees, the responsibility for this shortcoming was always going to fall on his shoulders.

The most vivid illustration of his negotiating tactics was provided by Derek Llambias, the Newcastle United chief executive, who was recorded detailing Comolli’s strategy during the talks that led to Carroll joining Liverpool for a £35 million fee.

Llambias told of how he was stunned when Liverpool made an initial offer of £30 million for the forward but still asked for a further £5 million with the full fee to be paid up front. Comolli agreed.

It is the inability to derive value, rather than the identity of the players signed, that has most irked FSG, hence its decision to dispense with Comolli and offer support to Dalglish. Comolli paid the price for paying over the odds, now it is up to Dalglish to find a way of getting more out of the players that were recruited at his request."

Opr

lol. Incredible scenes.

He had two modes it appears:

• Lowball: Offer 20% of asking price and refuse to budge until the other club actually consider you to be disrespectful and may refuse to deal with in future.
• Highball: Don't feel the other club out regarding price, just over 2x the players ball park worth but always be willing to go higher and pay in cash.

Come back Rick Parry (after your month holidays as soon as the transfer window opens), all is forgiven.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Sasquatch76 wrote: »

That would seem to be fair enough on first reading. After all, we all pretty much lambasted the prices we were paying at the time. But it still raises a few questions for me...

If their problem is really only the fees paid for these recruits, does that mean they're willing to settle for league mediocrity? Because I'm sorry, but the current squad is nowhere near good enough to get CL football.

Also, they signed the cheques. Was Comolli the only one who had their ear as regards what they should be spending? Seems a bit naive for a group allegedly so shrewd.

Thirdly, if KK is absolved of any blame attached to the transfers full stop, does this public backing mean they're oblivious to his other failings this season? I bloody well hope not. Inflated transfer fees didn't cause the insipid, heartless football we occasionally played this year.

Meh, all rhetorical questions I just needed to write down before beddy-byes.

Ni ni

ut I dont think FSG would know the players as well, being an Wmeican firm.

Less money spent would have meant more moeny for other players. In theory, anyway

Jesus Wept

Sasquatch76 wrote: »

That would seem to be fair enough on first reading. After all, we all pretty much lambasted the prices we were paying at the time. But it still raises a few questions for me...

If their problem is really only the fees paid for these recruits, does that mean they're willing to settle for league mediocrity? Because I'm sorry, but the current squad is nowhere near good enough to get CL football.

Also, they signed the cheques. Was Comolli the only one who had their ear as regards what they should be spending? Seems a bit naive for a group allegedly so shrewd.

Thirdly, if KK is absolved of any blame attached to the transfers full stop, does this public backing mean they're oblivious to his other failings this season? I bloody well hope not. Inflated transfer fees didn't cause the insipid, heartless football we occasionally played this year.

Meh, all rhetorical questions I just needed to write down before beddy-byes.

Ni ni

I've read a few times that 'they signed the cheques', perhaps it's just a figure of speech but does anyone actually know who signs off on the transfers?

I mean, the Carroll deal was done in the last few hours, does John Henry give a final go ahead for transfers? Do they require his signature on the contracts?

If not, then they didn't sign the cheques, obviously they are in charge though and they are now wielding the axe because the people they entrusted with the power to do so were not up to it.

Knex*

I alluded to this earlier but was at work and on my phone so could not post it.

From the Guardian. The parts in bold would suggest that Comolli is indeed a bit of a conman, who boosted his own CV beyond the actual fachts.

To the staff who saw it at Tottenham Hotspur the CV that Damien Comolli attached to his job application form in 2005 was the subject of considerable mirth – and incredulity. The Frenchman swept into White Hart Lane as replacement for the outgoing sporting director, Frank Arnesen, on the back of a body of work that had supposedly helped to make Arsène Wenger the success story he became at Arsenal.

If Wenger would be indebted to players such as Thierry Henry and Robert Pires, then the manager's affection for Comolli, the club's European talent scout from 1996-2003, for ushering the legendary France internationals Wenger's way, together with a glut of other stars, would surely know no bounds.

"I let you write what you want about Comolli," Wenger said in November 2010, with scarcely concealed disgust. "He was a scout here and not a director of football. He worked under Steve Rowley [the chief scout]. That is it. Only one person decides who comes in here and that is me. Nobody else."

Comolli is never knowingly undersold, although his detractors at Tottenham, St Etienne and Liverpool, from whom he has now parted, would take issue with that on a less figurative level. It is his chutzpah, his ability to sell himself, that has helped propel him to positions of influence in English football. But as he digested his departure from the post of director of football strategy at Anfield, it was possible to see this attribute as having come before a fall – again.

The reaction to the news that Comolli would have to polish that CV and ping it around the market once more was polarised. The 39-year-old is a suave, multilingual university graduate, one of those guys who creates a good first impression and, of course, interviews well. He is fundamentally nice, a football-lover and someone with a ferocious dedication to his job.

Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, may not have seen eye-to-eye with him but he could never fault his work ethic. Comolli puts the hours in, regularly spending 12 or 13 in his office, studying matches and DVDs of players. It takes a toll on family life; how can it not? Herein lay the basis for his assertion that he was returning to France for "family reasons".

Comolli's friends lamented his failure to succeed at Anfield and they knew it was not for the want of trying. They wondered whether he had been cast as the scapegoat for the collective shortcomings of Dalglish, the technical staff and the squad.

Some of Comolli's friends have been made in high places, with Billy Beane, of Moneyball fame and a confidant of Liverpool's principal owner John W Henry, one. Comolli met Beane at a sports industry conference; Beane was impressed and, when the Fenway Sports Group took over at Anfield, he introduced Comolli to Henry. Comolli is adept at working a room, which is pretty important in his vocation. As an aside, Beane's "true hero", according to Arsenal's majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, is Wenger.

Comolli, though, has accumulated enemies or at least football people who have nothing good to say about him. They were shedding no tears over his demise at Liverpool. If he is treated with scorn by Wenger and others at Arsenal, then the same became true at Tottenham, where sources say the only discovery he made was the defender Benoît Assou-Ekotto.

Comolli likes to point out that on his three-year watch Tottenham signed success stories such as Dimitar Berbatov, Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Heurelho Gomes, not to mention Assou-Ekotto, although there were plenty of misses, too. His claim, however, that it was he who conceived the capture of Berbatov was one of a number to go down badly. Arnesen had done the legwork on that deal. At Arsenal only Gaël Clichy was a Comolli recommendation.

Martin Jol, who was the Tottenham manager when Comolli arrived, clashed with him over signings and Harry Redknapp told the chairman, Daniel Levy, that he would not come to Tottenham in October 2008 if he had to work under a sporting director. The manager caught the mood at the club over Comolli. "Yeah, he should take all the credit, for sure," Redknapp has said, sarcastically.

Technical directors have not thrived in English football, where experienced managers such as Wenger, Dalglish and Redknapp demand control over team affairs. The curiosity, as Comolli may reflect post-Liverpool, is what happens when signings fail to justify the outlay and expectations.

citytillidie

murpho999 wrote: »

Don't normally care about back pages but tomorrows Mirror is interesting.

Stop reading the mirror over the Suarez and Racist back page

Jesus Wept

I watched the video of him last night, first time I had seen him talk beyond a couple of sentences, wasn't impressed. The other guy made more sense.

Reading the above, the fact this guy was ever employed by the club is of serious concern.

opr

Frank Abagnale junior

Opr

Jesus Wept

Wenger has been a hero in the transfer market, aside from an unwillingness at times to actually spend funds available to him if. Make him our DOF.

ush

opr wrote: »

Frank Abagnale junior

Opr

Abagnale wrote false cheques. Comolli's cheques were all too real.

Jayob10

Andy Carroll wrote: »

lol. Incredible scenes.

He had two modes it appears:

• Lowball: Offer 20% of asking price and refuse to budge until the other club actually consider you to be disrespectful and may refuse to deal with in future.
• Highball: Don't feel the other club out regarding price, just over 2x the players ball park worth but always be willing to go higher and pay in cash.

Come back Rick Parry (after your month holidays as soon as the transfer window opens), all is forgiven.

To be honest I don't see their major gripe, saying the targets were fine but that we paid too much is a bit rich.

Everyone knows we overspent on Carroll.

In relation to Downing or Henderson, neither player was really for sale. If the price tag was not met, then we would not have signed either of them. You can have all the negotiating skill in the world but if a club sets a price tag and refuses to budge then you either meet the price or you miss out.

I'm not a Comolli fan, but its obvious he is being made the scapegoat. Its catch 22, if he squabbled with Sunderland or Villa over the difference in bids and missed out, then he would be lambasted for missing out on Kennys key targets.
The price tags would not have been an issue if these players were ultimately any good. And we all know that Kenny chose these players.

With the benefit of hindsight FSG are looking back on their investment they feel Comolli made poor deals. But all he did was secure Kennys primary targets. Seems he was damned if he did and would have been damned if he didn't.

It seems that Kenny is operating in a win win situation. Sign a player and if he is great then he will get the plaudits. Spend big money on a flop and he let the DOF be the fall guy for not bidding too high.

The next step is for FSG to conduct a stringent review of how the current manager has spectacularly failed to get the best out of his signings.

Heads should roll over that, but these guys have the political nous about them to know that publicly reprimanding the legend that is Dalglish would be a calamity upon their tenure thus far.

Jesus Wept

It's hard to know how the conversations went but if what you alluded to is true, then it is a problem in itself, perhaps the 'key targets' list was very limited.

Kenny is a completely different character to our last manager, Benitez (I am ignoring Roy's tenure), I believe Rafa would have had a list of players who could do the job and not been as focused on exact players as I personally suspect Kenny was.

As for players not been for sale, most players are not for sale but they still go, once it's known that a club/clubs are interested that would appeal to them (a step up), most clubs don't put up a big fight and keep a want away player.

Strongbow10

Jayob10 wrote: »

To be honest I don't see their major gripe, saying the targets were fine but that we paid too much is a bit rich.

Everyone knows we overspent on Carroll.

In relation to Downing or Henderson, neither player was really for sale. If the price tag was not met, then we would not have signed either of them. You can have all the negotiating skill in the world but if a club sets a price tag and refuses to budge then you either meet the price or you miss out.

I'm not a Comolli fan, but its obvious he is being made the scapegoat. Its catch 22, if he squabbled with Sunderland or Villa over the difference in bids and missed out, then he would be lambasted for missing out on Kennys key targets.
The price tags would not have been an issue if these players were ultimately any good. And we all know that Kenny chose these players.

With the benefit of hindsight FSG are looking back on their investment they feel Comolli made poor deals. But all he did was secure Kennys primary targets. Seems he was damned if he did and would have been damned if he didn't.

It seems that Kenny is operating in a win win situation. Sign a player and if he is great then he will get the plaudits. Spend big money on a flop and he let the DOF be the fall guy for not bidding too high.

The next step is for FSG to conduct a stringent review of how the current manager has spectacularly failed to get the best out of his signings.

Heads should roll over that, but these guys have the political nous about them to know that publicly reprimanding the legend that is Dalglish would be a calamity upon their tenure thus far.

Here here.

The part in bold is quite correct in the main. £20 million and £16 million on Downing and Henderson respectively represents the "English Premium". Neither were really attainable for anything less.
Offering less money would have resulted in neither bid being accepted.

If these are the calibre of players that are KD's first choice targets then thats damning in itself

Hannibal

monkey9 wrote: »

Just give Rafa the amount of money Fenway have spent the past year and Rafa would have spent it better.

That's a good point and it's something I've thought a lot about. Thinking of the bargain players Rafa bought us like Alonso £10.7m, Kuyt £9m, Crouch £7m, Skrtel £6.5m, Garcia £6m, Bellamy £6m, Reina £6m, Agger £5.8m, Sissoko £5.5m, Benayoun £5m, Lucas £5m, Arbeloa £2.5m. Looking at these deals makes you wonder would he have spent the vast sums on Henderson, Carroll, Downing and Adam, I personally doubt it and think instead that Rafa would have went for the likes of Mata, Llorente, Martinez, Jovetic.

What's also notable about the players Rafa bought is that they had sell on value like Alonso £30m, Crouch £11m, Sissoko £8.2m, Bellamy £7.5m, Benayoun £6m, Garcia £4m, Arbeloa £3.5m. All these were sold for a combined £70.2m while only initially costing £42.7m, big profits were also made on Mascherano and Torres who were sold after Rafa's exit. This is what will strangle Dalglish is that if Carroll, Henderson, Downing etc were to reach their full maximum potential even then we would be lucky to recoup our initial outlay and/or justify their pricetags

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Nunez and Kromcamp, while not good transfers, didn't have a particularly negative effect on anything related to the club - think we lost very very little on them financially also.

Nunez was a makeweight in the Michael Owen deal and was sold a year later for £2m
Kromkamp was bought in a straight swap for Josemi, we in turn sold Kromkamp for £2m and then bought Arbeloa a few months later in the same position for £2.5m. This is an example of player trading in one position and basically swapping players for similar amounts while ending up with a better player than you started out with.

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

It it were Van Gaal, I would love to be in the same room as the midfield when the annoucement is made, because they would be ****ting themselves.

I presume your referring to the poor technical quality in our midfield?

Sasquatch76

Andy Carroll wrote: »

I've read a few times that 'they signed the cheques', perhaps it's just a figure of speech but does anyone actually know who signs off on the transfers?

I mean, the Carroll deal was done in the last few hours, does John Henry give a final go ahead for transfers? Do they require his signature on the contracts?

If not, then they didn't sign the cheques, obviously they are in charge though and they are now wielding the axe because the people they entrusted with the power to do so were not up to it.

Yeah, just meant it as a figure of speech. But still, someone high up in FSG has to give prior approval of the amounts being spent, both on fees and wages etc.

Fuhrer

Would be an odd move for Van Gaal to move upstairs

Sir Gallagher

Sasquatch76 wrote: »

Yeah, just meant it as a figure of speech. But still, someone high up in FSG has to give prior approval of the amounts being spent, both on fees and wages etc.

For all they knew Carroll was the next Messi. Makes me sick they were willing to sign off and that amount of money and the best Kenny and Damo could conjour up was Carroll, Downing and Henderson.

I can only imagine what they were thinking watching us this season.

KeithAFC

eldwaro wrote: »

when exactly did this DOF position become so fecking important?

think the first one i heard of was dennis wise at chelsea

It isn't important. All it is is a scape goat for the manager to blame. The manager will use it as a way to cover his back. Produce rubbish results and the fans will wonder why. Then the DOF is pointed out. Bingo, sack him. Then appoint a new one and hope the results improve. It is a nonsense.

monkey9

KeithAFC wrote: »

It isn't important. All it is is a scape goat for the manager to blame. The manager will use it as a way to cover his back. Produce rubbish results and the fans will wonder why. Then the DOF is pointed out. Bingo, sack him. Then appoint a new one and hope the results improve. It is a nonsense.

In this case though, Kenny has made it quite clear he was the one who had the final say on signings and is sad to see him go so there's no blame being distributed for a sh!t season.

Leiva

Personally I think there is a bit of character assassination going on when it comes to Comolli.

One story you hear of him making ridiculous over the top initial bids for players.

Another story you hear he nearly ruined the Suarez deal over being tight and nitpicking over money .

I think maybe the bad signings and a few home truths from David Dein over the past few days might have been the final nail in his coffin (the other 8nails got driven in for every goal Pepiss Cisse scored in recent weeks:P )

But it begs the question if true then who hired him in the first place ? And what references did they go by ?

monkey9

Leiva wrote: »

Personally I think there is a bit of character assassination going on when it comes to David Comolli.

One story you hear of him making ridiculous over the top initial bids for players.

Another story you hear he nearly ruined the Suarez deal over being tight and nitpicking over money .

I think maybe the bad signings and a few home truths from David Dein over the past few days might have been the final nail in his coffin (the other 8nails got driven in for every goal Pepiss Cisse scored in recent weeks:P )

But it begs the question if true then who hired him in the first place ? And what references did they go by ?

I wouldn't quite agree with the character assassination. There's been question marks over his appointment from the very beginning!!

KeithAFC

monkey9 wrote: »

In this case though, Kenny has made it quite clear he was the one who had the final say on signings and is sad to see him go so there's no blame being distributed for a sh!t season.

Well then sack Kenny Dalglish. If he doesn't win the cup, he deserves the sack. Sure the Carling cup win was fantastic on the day and is a cup but really, the amount of money on Henderson, Carroll and so on, you would think things would be a bit better in terms of the league.

gosplan

So Comolli's out not because of the type of players that were brought in but rather how much they cost.

Makes sense to me - everyone in the world of football said Carroll and Downing were way overpriced.

I don't think they're bad players or anything but I don't think hey were worth that much and in Carroll's case (who I'm willing to bet will still be amazing someday), I think costing 35 million is something that's actually weighed him down a bit.

gosplan

KeithAFC wrote: »

Well then sack Kenny Dalglish. If he doesn't win the cup, he deserves the sack. Sure the Carling cup win was fantastic on the day and is a cup but really, the amount of money on Henderson, Carroll and so on, you would think things would be a bit better in terms of the league.

The point I'm getting from this thread is that the signings are Kenny's work but the amount was Comolli.

Sure David Dein would have got you Carroll in exchange for Voronin and Kyrgiakos. (I'm only part kidding there, that man was amazing at striking deals)

LuckyLloyd

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

Makes me sick they were willing to sign off and that amount of money and the best Kenny and Damo could conjour up was Carroll, Downing and Henderson.

I can only imagine what they were thinking watching us this season.

When you put it like that :mad:

niallo27

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

For all they knew Carroll was the next Messi. Makes me sick they were willing to sign off and that amount of money and the best Kenny and Damo could conjour up was Carroll, Downing and Henderson.

I can only imagine what they were thinking watching us this season.

I take your point but it was a lot easier to sign off on chelsea's money rather than their own.

In fairness I'd say we were in for other players but they chose another club, eg Jones.

amiable

Reports this morning Liverpool have signed Hector Herrera and he will arrive in the summer from Pachuca. 22 year old left footed winger.


Also rumours that negotiations with Valencia are taking place over Banega.

Rekop dog

Not a hope Banega goes to Liverpool. None

batm!ke

^^Why do you say that? (I'm not being sarky!)

paddy kerins

amiable wrote: »

Reports this morning Liverpool have signed Hector Herrera and he will arrive in the summer from Pachuca. 22 year old left footed winger.


Also rumours that negotiations with Valencia are taking place over Banega.

Please don't bring up rumours about these players. It makes me all the more sadder when they don't join

Rekop dog

Because he's absolute quality and he wouldn't take a backward step in his career to play for a team who aren't in the cl when he's already at a team who will be. If he wanted to leave he'd get far more attractive offers(both in footballing terms and financially) than Liverpool could offer him in any case.

Jesus Wept

amiable wrote: »

Also rumours that negotiations with Valencia are taking place over Banega.

Wiki wrote:

On 19 February 2012, however, he prolonged an existing spell on the sidelines - he had recently returned from a knee injury - after he was run over by his own car.

Sounds like he'd fit right in with the rest of our clever players.

doc_17

rarnes1 wrote: »

In fairness I'd say we were in for other players but they chose another club, eg Jones.

Think Ashley Young was another.

D'Agger

amiable wrote: »

Reports this morning Liverpool have signed Hector Herrera and he will arrive in the summer from Pachuca. 22 year old left footed winger.

TBF it's rumoured that we're interested in him on Goal.com so I'd take that with a mountain of salt

5starpool

Also, if we are going to appoint a new dof soon, why would we be negotiating for players now? Makes no sense.

Leiva

Can someone please tell me Cryuff's track record as DOF , and any known success in this position?

Cause I'm struggling here .