Liverpool FC Forum

[aCe']

can you tackle billy ?

[aCe']

yea....rafa is shrewd and all..butttttt....to be honest... if we cant get kuyt (or any other striker ) for the price rafa finds right... i'd rather we take a risk and pay that extra 3 or 4 mill like any other descent club would do ! not that rafa is being cheap or anything ..i know he's just trying to get his point out to the other clubs but... thats how it goes nowadays ! if ur a big club, and are interested in a quality player... ur expected to pay way more than the player's realistic value ! I for one, dont rate Kuyt for SHyt ! but he seems like a good buy since he's scored 20 goals in the past 4 seasons for his club so.... yea... what the hell ! bring him on ! We desperately need a striker that can net goals (billy: all respect to fowler but he aint one to do so next season) ! so.... if its not kuyt....i dunno who's out there who is quality/can score and costs less than 10 mill ? ???!

[Billy_5_Times]

can you tackle billy ?

Yes I can tackle, I'm bloody good at it to.

[SouthCoastShankly]

the best case of rafa not having his pants pulled down in the transfere market is OWEN

a player we needed at the time and wanted by the squad the board and the manager but not for twice the price we let him go for, no matter what rafa will do what is best for the team, no player is to big even steve g knows that as rafa was prepared to let him go and had sorted xabi and momo to lessen the blow

imo kyte didn't impress in the world cup and at 6 million would be a risk but 14 mill is way to much

Rafa only did what any half decent manager would do. Owen would be a Liverpool player now if Newcastle hadn't chipped in a ridiculous bid for him, Rafa wouldn't meet the offer and rightly so.

Rafa in general has changed the team for the better, although I think his prowess in the trasfer market early on was naive. Ok he has made some quality signings:- Alonso, Sissoko, Crouch, Garcia, Reina. But lets not forget the mistakes: Pelegrino, Josemi, Morientes, Nunez. I think the mistakes Rafa has made he has learnt from.

English football is a unique playing field where players who would succeed in any other country of the world fall flat on their faces, not even the most successful manager in the world can learn that without trial and error. I think Rafas signings this season show a more experienced understanding of what is required in the english league.

[66-1112520797]

Do we buy players because of their reputation rather than their ability?

It's not just Liverpool who do this. Practically every side in the world pays over the odds for players, but Liverpool, espeially under GH, seemed to do a bit too much. Cisse 14 million, Heskey 11 million and Diouf for 10 million. All of who didn't perform the way their price tag needed. Also we had Morientes for 6 mill, which because of his reputation looked good buisness but proved it wasn't, especially when we only got 3 million back in for him.

Is it going to be the same with Bellamy and Pennant? Is 6 mill for both of them to much? By what I have seen it looks as if we have got 2 bargains but it's hard to make a real judgement in pre-season. I heard that Feyernoord aren't willing to sell Kuyt for anything less than 14 million, and despite his record more than  14 million is a lot for an unproven player in the Premiership. If we have the 14 million I would rather spend it on players who have proven they can hack it and score in England. Ashton and Robbie Keane would both be good buys for us.

At the time we bought Heskey 11m, Diouf 10m and Cisse 14m Gerard Houllier was in charge. Yes he did pay way over the odds and as it turned out he payed too much for Cheryou and Diao. Inevitably this led to his sacking.

Now because of the money spent before him Rafa has tighter purse strings I'd imagine, plus its his way of doing business to be shrewd. With this current Liverpool era I dont understand where your coming from, by asking do we pay big on reputations. Crouch, Bellamy and Pennant only had reputations of being tall and lanky. A no necked mouthy g.it who has pace and could score the odd goal. Pennant who hasa rep for D&D doing bird and supplying decent crosse while wearing an electronic tag. Not really what you'd call desirable reps are they ?

But compared to the millions spent on Diouf, Heskey and Cisse .Bellamy Pennant and Crouch are all better footballers and all were a lot cheaper than Houlliers three. Add a five mill steel for Sissoko and the more pricey but worth EVERY penny Alonso I wouldnt say Rafa buys on rep, far from it. Morientes turned out to be a boo boo, but if he'd of set the prem alight we'd all be saying what a bargain. He didnt though he failed but at a cost of six million, compare that to 14m on Cisse. TBH I think anyone would of thought Nando at 6m would of been a v good price.