Liverpool FC News/Gossip/Rumours Summer '15

Hollister11

He is on 120k at city and we're paying him more. I don't think it's right that he will be the top earner ahead of are captain.

POOL CLOSE IN ON MILNER

Liverpool are reportedly closing in on the signing of James Milner and could confirm his capture by the end of the week.

According to the Daily Telegraph, a verbal agreement has been reached between Milner’s representatives and Liverpool.

The midfielder is apparently keen to finalise the move, which will see him earn a significant pay rise from his deal at Manchester City.

Gbear

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

Suarez was viewed as trouble in England and we were the only team to risk signing him because of it. Not a bad payback for trouble, tbh. It may well be worth the risk again.

There's different kinds of trouble.

Being a **** on the pitch and generally a menace is one thing.

****ing up your squad harmony is quite another.

~Rebel~

Hollister11 wrote: »

He is on 120k at city and we're paying him more. I don't think it's right that he will be the top earner ahead of are captain.

Id say its a fairly common occurrence...captain is very often not the best player in the team.

I'd bet Neville was well down the wage list at Utd for instance, but was undoubtedly the correct Captain for the 5 years he served. It's a separate thing from playing ability - its someone who others look up to on a personal level, and who can inspire people around them with their effort and attitude.

Under the circumstances, coming on a free contract, Milner is always gonna be right at the top of the earners since he's saving us 20 odd million in fees.

Gbear

Agent Coulson wrote: »

We need a marquee signing to replace Gerrard.

I hope Milner isn't seen as that.

I don't think now is the time to go for a top quality midfielder.

We nee to invest too much elsewhere and the gains would be fairly marginal in comparison to having any sort of RB and more goalscorers.

IMO, that needs to be the finishing touch to the first 11 to allow us to duke it out with the best teams in Europe.

Until we get goals in the team we can't even enter into that conversation.

Agent Coulson

Doesn't Milner also want guarantees that he will play CM and not be shunted around all over the place.

~Rebel~

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Doesn't Milner also want guarantees that he will play CM and not be shunted around all over the place.

Thats a rumour we always hear about players, but i doubt its ever true. You can't guarantee someone's position all the time - id say it would be more a case of a manager talking to the player in the course of contract negotiations and talking about exactly where he sees the guy being in the team, what he adds, how we build around and support him etc.

Milner should be CM for us, but like Henderson and Gerrard, may end up playing other positions occasionally out of necessity.

rob316

You can be absolutely sure Rodgers is continuing as manager if milner is considering signing for Liverpool.

Can we put the sack Rodgers calls to rest now?

brevity

brevity wrote: »

........

What we should be doing, but due to our stupid transfer/wages policy we won't, is buying players that push Sturridge to 3 and Balotelli to 4. Instead we faff about with players that make up numbers and don't offer us anything.

Nice idea, not remotely practical to be fair though.

Vicxas

If we sign Milner this whole thread will be like a house full of excited puppies.

Pissing all over the floor

Hollister11

BLACK CATS KEEN ON COATES

Sunderland are reportedly keen to secure a permanent deal for defender Sebastian Coates.

According to the Sunderland Echo, his end-of-season displays have persuaded Sunderland to make a move to keep him at the Stadium of Light.

Liverpool are thought to be looking to offload Coates, who has a year left on his contract at Anfield, for a fraction of the £7m they paid, but a stumbling block to any deal could be his wages.

Talisman

dogbert27 wrote: »

Forlan actually proved himself afterwards with Atletico and Uruguay.

Ferguson hadn't a clue how to play Forlan, he only signed him for Man Utd to piss off Steve McClaren.

While he was assistant manager at Man Utd, McClaren advocated signing him. McClaren was being groomed to take over from Ferguson until he took a coaching role with England. At that point Ferguson decided he wasn't the man to replace him and made it clear that McClaren should find another club to manage. At the end of the season McClaren replaced one of Ferguson's favourites, Bryan Robson, as manager of Middlesbrough - a double betrayal. Then when Middlesbrough put together the deal to sign Forlan, Man Utd gazumped them. Ferguson never bothered to try to utilise him properly because he had van Nistelrooy and Solskjaer.

For their fans he will always be remembered for the goals he was gifted by Jerzy Dudek, but he scored a few important goals for them.

Charlie19

Vicxas wrote: »

If we sign Milner this whole thread will be like a house full of excited puppies.

Pissing all over the floor

That shows how poor our signings have been when we're getting excited by boring James Milner.

Granted he did release a cool video to show how boring he can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vjrgtLLlzQ

ricero

James milner for captain or hendo ?

Knex*

dogbert27 wrote: »

It might be in Rodgers favour that the owners are coming over here instead of him being "summoned" to Boston.

On the other hand it was bad PR the last time to drag Kenny over to the States to tell him he was no longer required.

I get the impression that Henry and FSG wouldn't really care with regards to PR surrounding a "summons" tbh

pmy.murphy

pmy.murphy wrote: »

Liverpool value Christian Benteke at around £20m and have no intention to activate his release clause of around £32m. [Echo]

Seems about right if you ask me. To pay 32 million for him in my opinion is an electric chair offense. 20 million Im not sure what to think. Would any of ye take him for that? Then again Im enclined to think that hes just another good player that wont suit the teams style

£32m is lunancy, £20m is still lots of cash, considering he has a £32m release clause & is rumoured to want CL ( :eek: ) I can't see him being signed.

I'm 100% in agreement re the bolded piece, fine player, couldn't see him making it at Anfield.

If Ings is a donedeal I think what might be a good factor is the quite likely low fee. It won't be a burden to carry, he can come in, do his thing and not be like Markovic with a big price tag on his head and the expectation that goes with it.

Personally with potentially quite a few EL games etc next year we need the likes of Ings and Origi, as well as AN Other.

Agent Coulson

Well I hope in this meeting tomorrow Rodgers is told to hire a defensive coach!

~Rebel~

Charlie19 wrote: »

That shows how poor our signings have been when we're getting excited by boring James Milner.

Granted he did release a cool video to show how boring he can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vjrgtLLlzQ

Thats pretty great to be fair.

Knex*

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Well I hope in this meeting tomorrow Rodgers is told to hire a defensive coach!

Defensive coach won't really be able to do anything if Rodgers doesn't change tactics though, tbh.

Plus, we has a record number of away cleans sheets last year when Rodgers realised we couldn't score for **** and changed things up. It's not like he can't coach defenders himself, I believe he can, but his tactics and the players we have in front of them just leave them far too exposed.

The constant scrutiny and lack of consistent lineups and tactics don't help either. Add in new players to all of that, plus our previous issues defensively last year, and its not surprising.

bradlente

Milner getting a big deal could be important to getting him in early over the rest,wouldn't see it as a big deal that he'd be the top paid player for now,hard working and he's not a bad professional for others to look up to if they also want to be high earners.

~Rebel~

Knex. wrote: »

Defensive coach won't really be able to do anything if Rodgers doesn't change tactics though, tbh.

Plus, we has a record number of away cleans sheets last year when Rodgers realised we couldn't score for **** and changed things up. It's not like he can't coach defenders himself, I believe he can, but his tactics and the players we have in front of them just leave them far too exposed.

The constant scrutiny and lack of consistent lineups and tactics don't help either. Add in new players to all of that, plus our previous issues defensively last year, and its not surprising.

Yeah, he seems like he holds himself back with his stubbornness. He's shown an ability to carry out nearly every aspect of the game, but its like he chooses to purposefully **** himself over every now and again. Systems, defense, player handling (Balotelli in particular)...he just makes the maddest decisions sometimes that look like they can't be anything other than just being awkward.

Mr Alan

Milner would be a great signing

Should definitely be making a move for Cech too

ricero

Milner, ings and clyne in would be a good start to the window. If we can get in a quality goal scorer and an other centre mid and keep hold of sterling it would be a great window.

Would love a marque name signing though. It would give not only the fans but the whole club a lift I feel.

Agent Coulson

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Yeah, he seems like he holds himself back with his stubbornness. He's shown an ability to carry out nearly every aspect of the game, but its like he chooses to purposefully **** himself over every now and again. Systems, defense, player handling (Balotelli in particular)...he just makes the maddest decisions sometimes that look like they can't be anything other than just being awkward.

3 seasons of stubbornness or signs that he isn't that good at the job.

It's conceding goals that will cost him his job in the long run we are conceding 1.3 goals a game or something that over his 3 seasons as manager thats not good enough.

pmy.murphy

ricero wrote: »

Milner and clyne in would be a good start to the window. If we can get in a quality goal scorer and an other centre mid and keep hold of sterling it would be a great window.

Would love a marque name signing though. It would give not only the fans but the whole club a lift I feel.

FYP:D

Charlie19

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Thats pretty great to be fair.

Yeah its not bad, It was posted in the humor thread at Christmas.

I like people that can take the piss out of themselves.

shamrock55

Things must be bad if people are excited at signing james fcuking milner

DVDM93

I was reading through the few pages of all the Milner talk and I was genuinely happy, I think he would be a great signing and I'd be happy to have him.

Then someone mentioned Benteke and 32 million after several posts regarding mainly Milner and I got kinda p1sssd off tbh. I thought I was on the fence about Benteke until now but I guess my sub conscience has decided it for me without me even meaning to make a decision on it or planning to think about it. Weird the way the mind works like that sometimes.

tl;dr - I'm talking ****e again and Benteke can fcuk off, especially at that price.

viper006

shamrock55 wrote: »

Things must be bad if people are excited at signing james fcuking milner

An upgrade to our midfield with an established player who isn't driven by money and experience of playing at the highest level. I'm well happy with him and people turning their nose up at the signing need to seriously wake up and realise for a free transfer its a great bit of business

5starpool

Whether I want to see them or not, I'm not believing any of these signing stories until I see them lean on something at Melwood.

OwaynOTT

DVDM93 wrote: »

I love white pudding, black too but not as much. As for Xmas pudding, I don't like it.

Which one is he?

I dunno, either rice pudding or sticky toffee pudding.

And I agree on Christmas pudding, it's certainly no oxford lunch.

shamrock55

viper006 wrote: »

An upgrade to our midfield with an established player who isn't driven by money and experience of playing at the highest level. I'm well happy with him and people turning their nose up at the signing need to seriously wake up and realise for a free transfer its a great bit of business

I dont think he is much of an upgrade tbh, would we be after him if he was being sold for 20mill or so i dont think we would, i think because he is free is the only reason we are interested and that tells me all i need to know

Charlie19

shamrock55 wrote: »

I dont think he is much of an upgrade tbh, would we be after him if he was being sold for 20mill or so i dont think we would, i think because he is free is the only reason we are interested and that tells me all i need to know

If the Milner signing comes to pass, then that would see less game time for Allen. It would also gives us a decent option for replacing Henderson if injured or suspended.

I can easily get behind this transfer.

Henderson & Milner would be a great CM partnership imo, they are both versatile, quite physical, hard working, capable with the ball. The signing would allow coutinho 100% reign to be a nr 10 with confidence in what's behind him.

A solid CM also will benefit the defence, quite likely allowing a back 4 and also thus facilitating playing two forwards
Markovic, Ibe and maybe sterling than playing their favoured wing roles.
Win win win

monkey9

Bloody chuffed with the Milner signing. Good start to the window

shamrock55

Some on here are very easily pleased

duffman13

shamrock55 wrote: »

Some on here are very easily pleased

Milner is a solid player. He's played about 30 games a season for City and a lot of the City fans are really disappointed to see him go. He's versatile and a very good footballer. Is he going to replace Gerrard? No but he is a damn sight better than Joe Allen, he offers versatility and experience.

Either that or ya can have Delph for 20 million instead

Techniques07

shamrock55 wrote: »

Some on here are very easily pleased

Some on here are just never happy.

mosstin

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Well I hope in this meeting tomorrow Rodgers is told to hire a defensive coach!

Oh, and sign Reus.

Caovyn Lineah

shamrock55 wrote: »

Some on here are very easily pleased

Name a better signing available for that fee.

DaveSuarez

shamrock55 wrote: »

Some on here are very easily pleased

Milner is pretty much better than every single player in our squad.

JohnDaniels

Charlie19 wrote: »

If the Milner signing comes to pass, then that would see less game time for Allen. It would also gives us a decent option for replacing Henderson if injured or suspended.

I can easily get behind this transfer.

If Milner signs for us then he is a starter. The only way we beat other clubs to his signature is if we give him some guarantees about playing time.

Charlie19

JohnDaniels wrote: »

If Milner signs for us then he is a starter. The only way we beat other clubs to his signature is if we give him some guarantees about playing time.

He'll definitely be a starter alright now that Stevie has moved on but there is also a possibility he could be honoured to play for a club(Institution) like Liverpool.

Lets hope he signs:)

Talisman

shamrock55 wrote: »

Some on here are very easily pleased

Signing Milner has to mean a lesser role for Joe Allen, unless fitting him into the team is going to be Brendan's new pet project ... :eek:

pmy.murphy

Talisman wrote: »

Signing Milner has to mean a lesser role for Joe Allen, unless fitting him into the team is going to be Brendan's new pet project ... :eek:

Hopefully the former

JohnDaniels

Charlie19 wrote: »

He'll definitely be a starter alright now that Stevie has moved on but there is also a possibility he could be honoured to play for a club(Institution) like Liverpool.

Lets hope he signs:)

I've no problem with him being a starter. I just thought you meant he will be used as a utility player. In our current position Milner is at the very high end of what we can hope to bring into midfield, with no CL football to offer it is something of a miracle to get him.

~Rebel~

DaveSuarez wrote: »

Milner is pretty much better than every single player in our squad.

Yup, probably becomes joint 2nd most important player for us on current form - joint 3rd (with henderson) if Sterling picks up his game again. Coutinho obviously most important.

I think having Milner there will really help Coutinho too. The difference in mobility between this year's Gerrard and Milner is night and day - more players making more runs and giving more options can only be a good thing all round. Milner's a little underrated going forward I think, but he can cause a lot of damage.

I'd still like us to let Allen go, and bring in a proper defensive midfielder like Kondogbia to really give us a well balance centre midfield of options, and then a top quality centre forward. Get those 3 deals sorted, and we'll be looking a lot stronger with the first team. Spend the rest of the time on a challenging keeper (Cech ideally) and maybe full back options.

JohnDaniels

~Rebel~ wrote: »

Im not too sure about Bascombe's influence/information anymore. As a side note, is it just me, or is there always a touch of nastiness to his voice?

He is an awful journalists. One of the ones that stuck the knife deepest into Rafa towards the end. He did a famous hatchet piece towards the end that was full of bile with little to none of the objectional views that were needed at the time. Tabloid, sensationalist, nasty and anything to sell a a paper is the way all his pieces come off.

MightyMandarin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Milner

That first line....

Some of our fans just need a slap

bradlente

Mad that Allen's nearly had 100 games for yiz now,about time he kicked on.Doubt he'd go for much more than half of what was paid for him though

Hollister11

I sat if we sold Allen (I don't want us to he is a good player) we would get our money back. There's plenty of mid table teams like West Ham, Stoke, palace who would pay 15m for him.
Sure we got that for Carroll