Liverpool FC Forum

[stmichael]

Good to see Torres deliberately discouraging any summer bids for him by being useless at the World Cup.

[dawson99]

well this thread worked for a bit until certain posters ruined, nice wwhile it lasted eh? And at least it is showing who the real trouble makers are..

Forget that it was one seasno where we came 7th, did you see the football that got us 7th? My left nut could manage the team and get a better response frmo the players, and my left nut would make betetr signings... lets move on, onwards and upwards. new manager, hopefulyl new attitude from the players, and Roy may surprise us all

also, lets see if the mods start carding people for calling Woy once he is unveiled as manager... very much doubt it as we know the culprits

[Fauxy]

Good to see Torres deliberately discouraging any summer bids for him by being useless at the World Cup.

Dirk is doing the complete opposite, he trying to impress the lads at Inter!

[maypaxvobiscum]

All i'm asking is realism . Rafa's gone it's the past . You've got to get your heads around the fact ,that we CANNOT compete for the forseable future . No matter who the manager is. The club is fecked from top to bottom ,from inside to out . When the players start to get sold .Don't blame the manager or the previuos manger . Lay the blame squarely where it belongs ,the owners and directors.

i agree with you there, it will be the thieves' fault. but what i cannot understand is why people are slanging off Roy (even before confirmation) when its a fact due to our precarious situation, we cannot compete. my issue with this whole saga is that the criticism and mocking Roy is receiving has been unfair (not from you).

as for player sales, Mascherano looks set to depart doesnt he? he isnt as valuable as Torres and Gerrard so it wouldn't leave such a big hole in the team though its a major loss nonetheless. hopefully Argentina win the WC which would mean the price of their captain would increase.

[Owzat]

Forget that it was one seasno where we came 7th, did you see the football that got us 7th? My left nut could manage the team and get a better response frmo the players, and my left nut would make betetr signings... lets move on, onwards and upwards. new manager, hopefulyl new attitude from the players, and Roy may surprise us all

Good point, except the intention.

The squad we have is better than seventh, yet a lot of people seem to be putting that down as the best we can hope for next season, whether because Rafa has left or because they reckon we'll sell the squad.

Let's wait and see on that front, even if we sell Torres, Gerrard, Reina, Agger and Mascherano doesn't mean we can't sign decent replacements on the cheap. Rafa failed in the bargain department the last few seasons, not necessarily bigtime failed, but he seemed intent on spending big and stopped focusing on decent quality at a good price. Instead he threw money at £17.5m and £7m full-backs who can't defend, a six month striker for £20.3m and an injury prone £20m midfielder who he didn't seem keen to play even when not injured.

So I think too many are using Rafa's signing approach and last season's finish, coupled with doom and gloom over who will be sold, to write us out of Europe let alone the top four. And I get called a pessimist!  What next? Relegation battle for 11/12? But then I suppose if some talk the bar down low enough, Woy is bound to clear it. What target? 50 points?!? No, let's make it 54 points since that is more than Fulham managed in their last two seasons. If he wins the Euro Disney league then he will be a legend, if he wins four away games in the Premiership then let's start comparing him to Sir Bill, Sir Bob and Sir Kenny. He's got more chance of being knighted, he isn't dead and he is English so red tape won't rule him out - and he did reach a Euro Disney final so he's clearly a fantastic manager...................... :rolleyes:

I hope rumours of a late contender aren't untrue, I hope the second rumour about who Woy wants to sign aren't either. Hangeland and VDV might be worth signing, but £15m might be enough to only get one of those two and I doubt it would get both. Murphy is too old, ditto Silva. Not so sure on Lippi, although he has won Serie A five times and as recently as 2002 and 2003 so has a better pedigree than Hodgson

Former Italy boss Marcello Lippi has emerged as an 11th-hour contender to take the Liverpool job - despite Fulham boss Hodgson being on the point of agreeing to take the Anfield hot seat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1....321.stm

Liverpool-bound Roy Hodgson wants to spend the £15m transfer budget he will be handed when he checks in as boss at Anfield on Gilberto Silva, Brede Hangeland, Rafael van der Vaart and Danny Murphy.

[JC_81]

I am starting to come to terms with the likely appointment of Hodgson as manager, although I was never entirely happy with the notion.

The story in the papers about a 15 mil kitty to sign Hangelaand, Gilberto Silva, VDV and Murphy seems a bit far fetched though.

Agree with Owzat that 15 mil might only get one of VDV or Hangelaand never mind the other two.

Personally I think any one of them would improve the squad, even though clearly we aren't shopping for top bracket players this summer.  Give me Murphy or Silva in midfield any day ahead of Lucas, while I think Hangelaand and VDV easily improve our starting XI.

If Hodgson can succeed where Rafa failed, in bringing in decent bargains, then he might do better than some people think.  Whoever he brings in though, the key to immediate success is holding the current squad together.  That's his biggest challenge by far.

[stmichael]

Liverpool-bound Roy Hodgson wants to spend the £15m transfer budget he will be handed when he checks in as boss at Anfield on Gilberto Silva, Brede Hangeland, Rafael van der Vaart and Danny Murphy.

Danny Murphy was on the radio this morning saying that he couldn't see a return to Liverpool as he was happy at Fulham (he's the Captain there) and would like to assume a coaching role there in a couple of years. Gilberto has still got some quality but how old is he now? His legs of gone.

I'd be happy with the other two though. VDV is quality and Hangeland remind me a lot of Sami Hyypia. We should also be looking at Man City as I can see there being a firesale there.

[Owzat]

Liverpool-bound Roy Hodgson wants to spend the £15m transfer budget he will be handed when he checks in as boss at Anfield on Gilberto Silva, Brede Hangeland, Rafael van der Vaart and Danny Murphy.

Danny Murphy was on the radio this morning saying that he couldn't see a return to Liverpool as he was happy at Fulham (he's the Captain there) and would like to assume a coaching role there in a couple of years. Gilberto has still got some quality but how old is he now? His legs of gone.

I'd be happy with the other two though. VDV is quality and Hangeland remind me a lot of Sami Hyypia. We should also be looking at Man City as I can see there being a firesale there.

I've no objection to VDV or Hangelaand, think £15m for the four is optimistic/naive but may be the muppet journo not Woy.

While you never quite know what you'll get or how they will adapt, I still prefer shopping abroad. Rafa's best buys from Spain/Europe................?

Torres (Atl. Madrid)
Mascherano (foreign/independent owner)
Reina (Villareal)
Alonso (Real Sociedad)
Kuyt (Feyenoord)
Agger (Brondby)

Not the best six players that were bought from 08/09?!?

[SouthCoastShankly]

Liverpool-bound Roy Hodgson wants to spend the £15m transfer budget he will be handed when he checks in as boss at Anfield on Gilberto Silva, Brede Hangeland, Rafael van der Vaart and Danny Murphy.

Danny Murphy was on the radio this morning saying that he couldn't see a return to Liverpool as he was happy at Fulham (he's the Captain there) and would like to assume a coaching role there in a couple of years. Gilberto has still got some quality but how old is he now? His legs of gone.

I'd be happy with the other two though. VDV is quality and Hangeland remind me a lot of Sami Hyypia. We should also be looking at Man City as I can see there being a firesale there.

I've no objection to VDV or Hangelaand, think £15m for the four is optimistic/naive but may be the muppet journo not Woy.

While you never quite know what you'll get or how they will adapt, I still prefer shopping abroad. Rafa's best buys from Spain/Europe................?

Torres (Atl. Madrid)
Mascherano (foreign/independent owner)
Reina (Villareal)
Alonso (Real Sociedad)
Kuyt (Feyenoord)
Agger (Brondby)

Not the best six players that were bought from 08/09?!?

I think you missed -

Arbeloa
Luis Garcia

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

I think in our present state we  need to establish an assured defence ,one that will provide stability for the whole team ,lets not forget that Hodgson is also a staunch  advocate for zonal marking as was Benitez ,so the emphasis will be on a strong  midfield and playing on the counter attack ... Hodgsons main priority in this respect is utilising Johnson as a winger and usurping him at right back for a more solid reliable player this in my opinion is a must we simply cant afford any weak links in our defence

[metalhead]

I think in our present state we  need to establish an assured defence ,one that will provide stability for the whole team ,lets not forget that Hodgson is also a staunch  advocate for zonal marking as was Benitez ,so the emphasis will be on a strong  midfield and playing on the counter attack ... Hodgsons main priority in this respect is utilising Johnson as a winger and usurping him at right back for a more solid reliable player this in my opinion is a must we simply cant afford any weak links in our defence

I would look into Hangeland, very good defender, not as composed as Hyypia was, but he looks like a commanding center back to me, great in the air, likes to tackle and hold the line well. He would also be suitable to our zonal marking formation as he usually wins the first headers. If we can put in a 10m - 12m pound on him we can get him.

Definitely would improve our starting 11

[rocky29]

Good post mate. The way things are I think Gerrard will leave, I think we'll end up having to take low 20's for him (I think he is worth more than that) and I think the new manager will be given around 10-15 million quid to spend of the fee. I think there is a decent chance Torres will be sold as well, for a fee of between 45-65 million. I think the manager will be given 15-20 million quid of that money to spend. Masherano will be sold too, for a fee of around 20 million quid, and the manager will get around half of that money.

So that leaves us in a very precarious position, and almost certainly any players who are sold will not be replaced like for like. Given that, we are going to need to develop and improve some of the players we already have, as well as buying shrewdly if we are to improve on last seasons finishing position. Players such as Aquilani who have been bitterly disappointing are worth sticking with, simply because if we do sell him we won't get the money to reinvest.

We need a manager who can motivate and gel players into a unit which is greater than their parts. I think Martin O'Neill is that man, and I thin the lack of transfer budget would be get overable for an ambitious manager as he could look ahead to the promised land of new ownership.

The club needs to pull together, the fans need to back the new manager whoever he is, and we need to hope in our hearts that we can remain a big club until the mess is sorted out. We aren't going to win the Premiership next season, the new manager's job is to get us towards some sort of competitiveness, and even that won't be easy under these circumstances.

My first choice would be Martin O'Neill. Roy Hodgson would do a decent job too I think, it isn't a FACT but then again neither is saying he isn't good enough. Rijjkyard woul do well, so would Hiddink, but I'm fully prepared to accept and back somebody who comes in from abroad who I've never heard of. I've done it before and I'll do it again.

Final point as it's bound to get asked. Why get rid of Benitez then? Because quite simply he isn't the type of manager we needed. He wasn't buying shrewdly, he wasn't motivating the team into a unit which was greater than the sum of it's parts. Not a dif at the man or the manager, just my opinion.

We'd better all get used to the likes of Dirk Kuyt being a bit of a hero too. For the first time in a long time I'm glad we've got him. Battlers like him are exactly what we need right now. The fans need to get behind any new manager and sharpish, even when we lose a few.

what a load of tripe! Martin oneill good motivator. Ye rite? Hes always squabbling behind the scenes. Plus why was aquilani bitterly dissapointing. Look at the stats. The only reason he didnt play was cos of rafa and when he did  play him he played him  in the wrong position. Plus u like dirk kuyt. I think kuyt would make a better right back than striker!

[Owzat]

I think you missed -

Arbeloa
Luis Garcia

I didn't, I left them out on the grounds that those are arguable cases, although in Arbeloa's case I believe I typed his name in and then deleted it. Luis Garcia was mister frustrating himself, Arbeloa went through spells of nightmare defending and while he was steady eddie, but he was never that great or do you think Rafa would have sold him and (over)paid £17.5m for another full-back who can't defend?!?!

[In and Out]

Arbeloa was underated and Rafa sold him because the player himself wanted a move back home, he couldn't have been that much of a nightmare if Madrid were looking at him.