Liverpool FC Forum

[lakes10]

Gerrard has made his mind up: he'll leave next summer.

I've been following football a long time and you can see the signs when a player wants to go. Gerrard is only laying down the foundations of the move, by making him staying contingent on the club being immediately successful, of Moores staying etc.

Its a crying shame after all we went through last summer, and if this is Gerrard's way of of engineering a move out of the club, I'd prefer if he'd gone last summer.

do you think he will stay for the rest of this season ?? i hope so but i can not see it.
real madrid look like they might be going to put a bid in for him in Jan and look set to fight chelsea for him so at least we will get a good price for him.

[JBG]

Keegan, Souness and Rush leaving are bad examples and are not pertinent to the Gerrard situation.

Those three left when we were at the top (or extremely close to the top) and we had plenty of money for replacements.

We sold Keegan and then went out and broke the bank to buy Daglish.

Ian Rush was sold and then we bought Beardsley, Barnes and Rush as replacements. That would be the equivalent of selling Gerrard (Rush) for 30million and then spending 40million on Arjen Robben (Barnes), Juan Pablo Angell (Aldridge) and Rafeal Van der Vaart (Beardsley) in today's terms.

Keegan, Souness and Rush were all terrific players, but they were only one important cog in well oiled machines, whereas Gerrard would be like selling the engine, wheels and gearbox of a souped up Lada.

[Ciggy]

Benitez has asked him to stay, poor bloke first Owen p.issin off now Gerrard wantin out, feel sorry for him I really do.

Tom Rostance and agencies
Thursday December 9, 2004


Steven hits the chorus of "I will survive" with a flourish.
 
Rafael Benitez has told his ambitious skipper Steven Gerrard that he can achieve all of his dreams at Liverpool.
The Anfield manager understands fully Gerrard's dilemma as the England midfielder contemplates his future, and the need to be playing for a club who can compete among Europe's elite as well as be consistent challengers for the Premiership crown.

At 25, Gerrard feels he may not have time to wait for Liverpool's rebirth under Benitez to give him the chance to achieve his goals.

But, after his stunning match-winning performance against Olympiakos that sent Liverpool into the last 16 of the Champions League, Benitez insists Gerrard does not have to leave.

"Steven can win all he wants with us and we need him. He has seen that we have a good team and we can do more things in the future. But if we want to win more games, important games, we need Steven in the team.

"We need his strength, the strong mentality he has and his quality. I think he likes and wants the responsibility of leading this team.

"I understand him when he says, 'OK, I want to win things.'

"But I have said to him I want him to win those things with us, I believe he can win all he wants with us."

Liverpool fans would certainly echo Benitez's plea after witnessing Gerrard's part in an uplifting night at Anfield.

Gerrard said: "I am a fan as well and I think the supporters will agree with what I have said.

"The main point I have made is I want to be in a Liverpool side which challenges for the Champions League and the title all the time.
"That is where the club needs to be. I want to be winning things with Liverpool, not somewhere else. That is the most important thing.

Gerrard said that his faith did wander during the game: "We played well early on but then gave away a silly goal from a free-kick, and maybe we thought it was over.

"I would be a liar if I said it had not crossed my mind, I felt that to get three goals against a team who were spoiling the game and defending very well was a tough one.

"At half-time I did feel that we had a mountain to climb. But we have climbed that mountain and achieved a great result. Thank God for that strike at the end."

He added: "I know I put a lot of pressure on myself because of what I said, and I felt I needed a big performance, but I am not going to go around telling lies about how I feel."

Fellow midfield ace Xabi Alonso, however, insists Liverpool always had the belief they could pull off a Champions League miracle.

"It is difficult to score three in any second half of any match, so to achieve that is something very special," he said.

"We kept believing we could do it. Scoring quickly in that second half was important for us because it gave the supporters hope and they were very important for us as we continued to look for more goals.

Jamie Carragher believes the result will become a part of the club's history.

"The whole night was brilliant, it turned into one of the great European nights for the club, and there have been a lot of those," he said.

[JBG]

Gerrard has made his mind up: he'll leave next summer.

I've been following football a long time and you can see the signs when a player wants to go. Gerrard is only laying down the foundations of the move, by making him staying contingent on the club being immediately successful, of Moores staying etc.

Its a crying shame after all we went through last summer, and if this is Gerrard's way of of engineering a move out of the club, I'd prefer if he'd gone last summer.

do you think he will stay for the rest of this season ?? i hope so but i can not see it.
real madrid look like they might be going to put a bid in for him in Jan and look set to fight chelsea for him so at least we will get a good price for him.

The money has dried up for Madrid, relatively speaking, and we won't see anything like a 40million or even a 30million cash bid from them, and not at January, given that they are looking for reinforcements for the Champions League.

Madrid would probably offer a lowish cash bid based on a lump sum and a 4 or 5 year repayment plan. They'll also try to make up the balance of the deal with a squad member from their back catalogue or possibly one of the aging Galacticos.

Gerrard moving to Madrid would be the best of a bad lot for Liverpool fans as we won't have to see him week in, week out, performing for one of our Premiership rivals. If I was to hazard a guess, I'd imagine Madrid might be Gerrard's own preferred option. A Madrid deal would probably not be that attractive to the club, and Madrid will bid low and try and get him on the cheap. Madrid might try and tempt Benitez with a squad player or two as well, but I doubt Benitez would be interested in anybody other than Fran, Moirentez or Solari.

Chelsea would write us a cheque straight away, and would possibly go to a very high amount if a bidding war erupted. Financially the Chelsea deal would be the best option for the club and any transfer might also include a decent quality Chelsea squad player. From a football point of view it would be humiliating to sell Gerrard to Chelsea, who as recently as 10 years ago were minor mid table Premiership fry. It would also serve as a blow from a football point of view, as it would further strengthen one of our main rivals.

A third and very possible option, is Gerrard going to Man UTD. THIS IS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. Man UTD won't bid mega bucks, but they could out maneouvre us if Chelsea cool their interest and Madrid cannot get a package together. From every point of view, this would be a disaster and would be humiliating for the club and fans. Gerrard would be public enemy no. 1 on Merseyside and things could turn nasty. Again, I would not rule out Gerrard wearing a Scum shirt next year. Before people go on and say: "Gerrard would never betray us and sign for UTD and Liverpool would never sell him to UTD", I say: wake up, it could happen.

An outside final option would be Gerrard going to Arsenal, but I doubt that will happen.

[bigmick]

As I remember, when Rushie jumped ship we had already signed a readymade replacement in Aldridge. Might be an idea to casually start browsing around about now to see who is a potential replacement. Now I'm setting myself up for abuse here, I can sense Leon poised over his keyboard waiting to strike but heres a few suggestions. I'M NOT SAYING ANY OF THESE ARE AS GOOD AS GERRARD.
Scott Parker. Seen him play lots of times and I think he's a top player. Honest. I think he'd walk into Manures midfield right now for instance. Good box to box player. Not too many miles on the clock right now either. Almost certain to be offered as part of the deal if Chelski move for Gerrard.
Geremi. Once again a good player in my view. Good strong (ex Madrid I think) player. Him and Parker plus 35 million with the provisio that they pay the two contracts up to their conclusion might be a reasonable offer. I'd tell 'em to keep Geremi and stick Cuddicini in for the same terms. Now your talking Jose.
Damien Francis. Don't know lots about him, how old he is, where they got him from etc etc. Norwichs best player by a mile in my view. I know thats not saying much but I think he's going to be a really good player and would be a useful squad addition.
Rafa would probably buy somebody from overseas who I've never heard of but there you go. One things certain, if Stevie does go we'll have to buy somebody.

[The_Rock]

A third and very possible option, is Gerrard going to Man UTD. THIS IS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. Man UTD won't bid mega bucks, but they could out maneouvre us if Chelsea cool their interest and Madrid cannot get a package together. From every point of view, this would be a disaster and would be humiliating for the club and fans. Gerrard would be public enemy no. 1 on Merseyside and things could turn nasty. Again, I would not rule out Gerrard wearing a Scum shirt next year. Before people go on and say: "Gerrard would never betray us and sign for UTD and Liverpool would never sell him to UTD", I say: wake up, it could happen.

Dude JBG, that will not happen. Gerrard is a boyhood liverpool fan. He won't do that to us. Madrid is a top destination for him. But don't forget the italian clubs too. I can see him also going to chelsea. But to manure....never.

I mean ..... the blue sh** will win the premier league this season and the champions league the next before gerrard becomes a scum...........NEVER.

[Bruno Zidane!]

I cant believe some of the sh!te people write on this forum, since Gerrard first made his debut hes gave nothing but a 100% for us and the games against Arsenal and last night emphsised that. Gerrard in the 6 years hes been here has been truly amazing and its worrying to think were we would be without him, this is the hardest decision hes gonna have to make and it must be killing him, its clear as daylight he loves this football club as much as any supporter but when you can walk into any club in the world it must be tempting to think about the places you could be playing your home games in the future, id love to see him stay and give rafa next season cos i think were on the verge of something special, but if he was to go to another club, hes not a judas, hes not betrayed us, hes simply the most wanted footballer in world football and when the oppotunity of instant success comes knocking at the door its gonna be hard for him to stay at the club he loves simply because his heart is telling him to, but i know this for sure whether he stays or goes i know every minute of every match Gerrard has played hes giving a 100% all the time and thats good enough for me..................BUT PLEASE DONT GO STEVIE!

[Big Niall]

thanks Ice man, I haven't laughed so much. Can't believe you thought I was serious when I said buy back Danny Murphy for £10m as a replacement.

Manu, F me, I hadn't thought of that. Possible allthough players never really move between the two (11th commandment). But if Alan Smith boyhood leeds fan, hero of the crowd, badge kisser can do it so can Gerrard. Roy Keane is coming to the end and he'd be a natural replacement.

He'd be in the biggest club in the world (sickening but true) and a side who knows how to win trophies.

Nightmare.

[The_Rock]

thanks Ice man, I haven't laughed so much. Can't believe you thought I was serious when I said buy back Danny Murphy for £10m as a replacement.

Manu, F me, I hadn't thought of that. Possible allthough players never really move between the two (11th commandment). But if Alan Smith boyhood leeds fan, hero of the crowd, badge kisser can do it so can Gerrard. Roy Keane is coming to the end and he'd be a natural replacement.

He'd be in the biggest club in the world (sickening but true) and a side who knows how to win trophies.

Nightmare.

Leeds are not liverpool. It will not happen. I will bare my a$$ and post it here as my avatar if that happens.

[livfan05]

Last night's champions league clash was a game to go down in history.
Liverpool started off with a magnificent performance from the Kop strike force as the Czech forward headed home a thought to be start to their ladder that was to be climbed , but was disallowed by the referee.
20 minutes on Rivaldo showed his strength by making a break from the half way line which left Samii Hyypia no choice but to bring him down.As we've seen when Rivaldo played for Barcelona his free-kicks are to be noticed of as he curled so many into the net.He done the same last night.
The half time whistle blew.It looked like Liverpool had to try harder to bring the Olimpiakos crowd to tears.
The next half kicked off with Liverpool again showing excellent performance , skill and commitment.
Finally Sinama Pongolle taped one home to bring a smile back on to the crowds faces.
Steven Gerrard powered another goal home only again to be disallowed by the referee.
78MIN:Czech striker Milan Baros was substituted for Neil Mellor.Mellor scored the winner last week against Arsenal , the question was could he do it again?.
The answer was yes in the 81 minute he fired one home to give Liverpool the hope for just one more goal.
Time had passed by and it only left a couple of minutes left.The Greek crowd had their hands to their faces hoping their wouldnt be a goal that would force them out the Champions league into the UEFA Cup.
The ball bounced down to Steven Gerrard which left him to strike the ball with power into the corner of the goal.He ran straight the the Liverpool supporters with the team to finish the game off with excitment.
The final whistle blew and it was Liverpool's dream come true.
                              Mark Edney

[The_Rock]

Great commentary for your 1st post. 

[JBG]

I love Gerrard as much as anybody, but his comments the day before the game were out of order.

Its fair enough if he puts pressure on his team mates to perform, but stating that the club progressing through the group stages of this seasons champions league as a minimum requirement to him staying is not on. It was petulant and unfair on the club, who are under enough pressure as it is.

[JBG]

A third and very possible option, is Gerrard going to Man UTD. THIS IS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY. Man UTD won't bid mega bucks, but they could out maneouvre us if Chelsea cool their interest and Madrid cannot get a package together. From every point of view, this would be a disaster and would be humiliating for the club and fans. Gerrard would be public enemy no. 1 on Merseyside and things could turn nasty. Again, I would not rule out Gerrard wearing a Scum shirt next year. Before people go on and say: "Gerrard would never betray us and sign for UTD and Liverpool would never sell him to UTD", I say: wake up, it could happen.

Dude JBG, that will not happen. Gerrard is a boyhood liverpool fan. He won't do that to us. Madrid is a top destination for him. But don't forget the italian clubs too. I can see him also going to chelsea. But to manure....never.

I mean ..... the blue sh** will win the premier league this season and the champions league the next before gerrard becomes a scum...........NEVER.

Club loyalty does not matter anymore. If Liverpool struggle this season and Man UTD are the only club to put a decent offer on the table, then Gerrard would join Man UTD.

If Sol Campbell left Spurs for Arsenal and Alan Smith joined UTD from Leeds then it is entirely possible, especially given that Alex Ferguson has gone on record as stating he'd love to sign Gerrard.

[115-1073096938]

Gerrard was an Everton fan as a kid. He only started supporting Liverpool when he joined Liverpool's academy.

Hence the reason his cousin Anthony Gerrard wore a t-shirt under his top when playing for Everton under 19's that said... I'm a true blue Steven...

SO GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!!!!

[JBG]

Many of the players who have come through the ranks at Liverpool are actually childhood Everton fans.