Liverpool FC Forum

[Ciggy]

We need a boss that knows what he is doing before we spend any money rafa does not have a clue.

what do you expect out of him?
he`s taken over a side who have spent the previous five years trying to achieve houlliers werner von braun like quest of launching a football into orbit.
at least rafa has got these players to get the sputnik...i mean ball on the deck and pass it around a bit.
as soon as he arrived one of the clubs best players bailed out and he had to suffer the indignity of travelling to englands hotel in the euro championships to try to convince the other star player, whom he did not know from adam, not to quit.
whilst trying to adjust to a foreign culture and settling his family he is soon faced with losing the clubs major £14m summer signing to injury for basically the whole season.
then the star player who begrudgingly commited himself to another year breaks his foot.
on top of this he gets the side playing well and after a period where we are playing possibly the best football in the league he loses the catalyst of this form, xavi alonso, to injury.
throw in to the mix some dodgy reff decisions and our city neighbours deciding to go on a run of results not seen at goodison park for 20 years and you could say he has had a lot on his plate.
but despite these setbacks he has taken us to a cup final, the knockout stages of the champions league and within reach of fourth place.
all this while keeping his dignity and without an excuse in sight.
it took alex ferguson six years and the wealth of the worlds biggest club to get success. i think rafa will do it in half the time, but you have got to give the fella a chance.

Hear hear well said fmkhgtrjhoilremfdslkmg

[Judge]

greedy so and so....

another well thought out piece of rubbish 

[stmichael]

Well. It's pretty f@cked up at the moment. Nothing is working right. Given that we are 4-8 on the football rich list you'd expect us to be a little better on the pitch. But being rich means nothing when you throw away all you money on garbage like Cheyrou and Diao. There will be a complete overhaul in the summer. At least 10 players will be asked to leave.

Leavers

Kirkland. A sad pathetic keeper. Always injured and his reflexes are sort of non existent.

Henchoz. Can do a decent job and I rate him above Hyypia. But he is still short of the quality needed if you want to win things.

Hyypia. No pace. Silly judgement and dreadful positioning. Poor passing and absolutely no creativity from the back. Good in the air, but so are most defenders.

Vignal. Can do an ok job in scotland. Services not required here. Riise and Traore will bust him up.

Diao. Plays like a hoe and looks like a pimp.

Cheyrou. A sad footballer. No skills, no strenght nothing.

Biscan. Slow. Could have been a good one with a pair of quick feet. Right now other midfielders just dance around his fat azz and he can't get near the ball.

Diouf. He knows how to play. But he is a joke and a disgrace to any team.

Mellor. Good finisher. Nothing more. Slow, abysmal technique, poor passing. He is very dedicated and always 100%, but since his skills are so poor its bye bye.

Must sort out

Kewell. Stay or go? It all depends on his final 10 games of the season.

Smicer. Perform NOW or leave.

Diarra. Get your ****** on the plane boy, or f@ck off.

Dudek. Better lock the door and throw away the key now son. Or get your chicken breast out of here

Gerrard. Make up your mind, NOW.

Undecided

Pellegrino. Give him a few more games to shine.
Nunez. Same goes for the lawyer. Showed improvement vs Chelsea
Josemi. Needs more time.

First team squad;
Carson
Dudek??
+ new goalie

Finnan
Carra
Traore
Josemi
Warnock
+ 3-4 new guys

Hamann
Gerrard
Alonso
Garcia
Nunez/Kewell
Riise
+ 3-4 new midfielders

Pongo
Baros
Cisse
Morientes

clueless. totally clueless.

Dudek - A keeper of great quality. Prone to the odd mistake, but all keepers have their day (just he has them twice as often). Tentative to leave his line, and worisome when he does.

Kirkland - Too brittle for a keeper. needs get fit and stay that way. I would seriously suggest he take up Yoga or something to improve his flexibility and plyability of his muscles. On his keeping he is certainly competent but his constant injuries have hampered his development. Still young and wortha gamble.

Carson - Lets wait and see what all our coaching staff have been crowing about.

Finnan - Consistent. Very much improved this season. Doesn't seem to get forward as much as he used to but can get forward and deliver good crosses into the box.

Josemi -  Concentration and positioning are a worry with this lad. Definitely 'hard' enough for the english game, but no where near fast enough in both foot and mind.

Carra - Player of the season. Delivery out of defense is much better when he is playing. Fills the gaps nicely and reads the play well.

Hyypia - To many long balls emminate from this guy. A pillar of strength in the air though. Speed, or lack of it, and age are starting to show him up. But will certainly be around for a season or two more yet.

Pelle - Slow, unfit, cant pass. And thats being nice. Has been woeful since coming to the club. All i can say is thank god we got him on a free AND only for 6 months.

Traore - Second most improved. Needs to work on his passing. But his ability to make a well timed last ditch tackle with those long long legs is very good. Gets down the left flank well too. Also scores some sublime OG's.

Riise - starting to show some trickery, great work rate. Not the fastest winger you could hope for but he bleeds for the club. Gives his all. Has proven this season that he is probably better in an attaking role.

Kewell - Go get surgey FFS! Come back get fit and play to your potential. Stop talking to the media and start worrying about your football! In my eyes the biggest waste of talent to come out of Australia at the moment.

Hamann - Slowing down, but still can be effective in breaking up the oppositions play. I don't think he is as effective as he was a season or two ago but he is still a vital part of our machine.

Alonso - Passing abilities to get excited about. Vision, creativity, work rate and a broken foot. A valuable asset for next season.

Biscan - Consistency could've made this guy a kop legend for the right reasons. I am interested to see what the rest of the season brings from him.

Garcia - Flair by the bucket loads and no one who knows how to use it playing along side him. A little slow to play out wide, a little soft for the middle. Lets hope he toughens up and his teammates start 'reading' what he is trying to do.

Nunez - Jury is out. Give him time. Everyone deserves atleast 12 months of playing time. So hold him until Dec and see what he does as unlike Josemi and Pelle, he shows glimpses of being ok, but that is all.

Cisse - A HUGE LOSS. Struggles to work with the head-down Baros but will work much better with Nando. Lets hope his busted leg doesn't take away some pace.

Baros - Personally i am sick of his inability to provide assists given the positions he can get into. Great talent but usually ends up to wide of the goal to score himself and then usually fails to deliver the 'killer' ball.

Nando - Class. Pure and simple. Great acquisition.

Pongo - We keep seeing glimpses of his best. Needs to build some physical strength to be a real quality striker if you ask me.

Mellor - If this guy was small and nimble he would be a star because he knows how to get into the poaching positions but is usually one or two paces shy of the mark. Would like to keep him for a year or two just to see how he develops.

Le Tallec - Lets get the attitude right and then start on the rest. Like pongo needs a bit of added upper body strength, but then they are still young.

Gerrard- World class ability but yet to display it regularly this season.

[Judge]

unfortunately i know fu'ck all

it shows, but its good that you admit it 

[The Mighty Liverpool]

An article in the Mirror.

Fuming Rafa is ready to flog moaning Milan

By Martin Lipton

 
MOANING Milan Baros will be shown the exit door by Rafael Benitez BEFORE he has the chance to walk out on the Liverpool boss.

Furious Baros lost it with Benitez after he was axed in favour of Harry Kewell for Sunday's Carling Cup Final defeat by Chelsea.

The Czech striker vowed that he would turn his back on Liverpool and quit the club at the end of the season.

But Benitez had decided before Baros's Cardiff strop that the top scorer at Euro 2004 would be the first casualty of a summer clear-out at Anfield.

The Spanish boss wants to build for the future around a core of just SIX players from his current squad.

Skipper Steven Gerrard, certain to be tempted by another offer from Chelsea in the summer, is one of them, alongside Jamie Carragher, Fernando Morientes, the injured Xabi Alonso plus Djibril Cisse and newly-signed goalkeeper Scott Carson. The rest of the squad will be allowed to leave if offers come in, including his other La Liga imports Luis Garcia, Antonio Nunez, Josemi and Mauricio Pellegrino.

And the rest of the major makeover of the Anfield changing room will see Benitez happy to wave goodbye to Kewell, Sami Hyypia, Didi Hamann and jittery Jerzy Dudek. Benitez's decision came in the wake of the Cardiff defeat, which left him desperately upset at the display of his team.

The former Valencia boss, frustrated that Gerrard did not play his customary driving game even before his late own goal, is determined to pull out all the stops to try and keep the England midfielder - even though selling his skipper would be the best way of raising cash for a summer spending spree.

Sources close to Benitez insisted that it was not his plan for the side to retreat into their defensive shell once John Arne Riise put the Reds ahead in the first minute. But the manner of that defeat, which Benitez accepted was deserved despite the stoic rearguard action led by the outstanding Carragher, has forced the Liverpool boss to consider drastic changes.

One insider said: "Rafael knows that he has to change more than he thought he did and Cardiff proved that to him. He was very down after the game.

Wanted

"But he had already decided that Baros was not what he wanted for next season.

"Morientes is the leader of the line and Rafa wants someone who can work with him. He doesn't think Baros plays for the team."

The problem for Benitez is a lack of cash to complete the task.

That might make him reluctantly accept letting Gerrard go when Chelsea or Real Madrid do come calling in the summer - and if the skipper makes it clear he wants to go.

Personally I can't see Benitez getting rid of all his players except 6. Would you really want to get rid of Riise? And would he really get rid of Nunez and Garcia after 1 season at Liverpool?
If it's true he sounds like a ruthless manager and that is what we need.

[jonnymac1979]

We need a boss that knows what he is doing before we spend any money rafa does not have a clue.

what do you expect out of him?
he`s taken over a side who have spent the previous five years trying to achieve houlliers werner von braun like quest of launching a football into orbit.
at least rafa has got these players to get the sputnik...i mean ball on the deck and pass it around a bit.
as soon as he arrived one of the clubs best players bailed out and he had to suffer the indignity of travelling to englands hotel in the euro championships to try to convince the other star player, whom he did not know from adam, not to quit.
whilst trying to adjust to a foreign culture and settling his family he is soon faced with losing the clubs major £14m summer signing to injury for basically the whole season.
then the star player who begrudgingly commited himself to another year breaks his foot.
on top of this he gets the side playing well and after a period where we are playing possibly the best football in the league he loses the catalyst of this form, xavi alonso, to injury.
throw in to the mix some dodgy reff decisions and our city neighbours deciding to go on a run of results not seen at goodison park for 20 years and you could say he has had a lot on his plate.
but despite these setbacks he has taken us to a cup final, the knockout stages of the champions league and within reach of fourth place.
all this while keeping his dignity and without an excuse in sight.
it took alex ferguson six years and the wealth of the worlds biggest club to get success. i think rafa will do it in half the time, but you have got to give the fella a chance.

Top post mate.

[Stan Laurel]

How many year that Baros got contract left?

Because I heard he got one more year left, is that true?

If he doesn't sign a new contract, then we should sell him this summer, because we cannot afford to make another mistake like we did with Owen and McMoneybag.

[crazyhorse]

Baros is out of contract after next season i think. To be honest i have never really rated him in reality as a top quality centre forward capable of banging in 30 goals a season. He has never been prolific for us and is reknown for his tendancy to get his head down - this is not always something that is cured by experience - i also think he is a bit lightweight and a bit injury prone.

[Iceman69]

Definately gone come June/ July should be:

1.Gerrard 35 Million (Im sick of all the talk..JUST F**K off Stevie if you want out! will buy us 2/3 quality players and pay off some debt) better players previous have left. Dalglish, BArnes Beardsley, Aldo, Rush, Keegan, Owen, Souness, Heighway, Mcmahon.....do you want me to go on!

2. Kewell 3 Million (performs in only two good games a season, then non existent, gets pushed off ball easy and EPL is too physical for him)

3. Diouf 2m (cut our losses with the talentless african)

4. Hypia (far too slow now for the EPL, he aint gonna get quicker, good tackler but we can find better)

5. Smicer..50p (Don't ask)

6. Biscan 1million (1 Million for Biscan!)

7. Traore (Whatever you can get)

8. BAros 5 million (good striker but has head down all the time, and is one dimensional. has many weaknesses. misses many chances)

9.Mellor Price-neg. (now in 20's and still not a first team regular, so thus is likely to not make the grade.)

10. half the reserves......Potter, Warnock, etc....not got what it takes..

Michael Owen and Stevie G were breaking through at the age of 16/17. these reserves are over 20! not got what it takes.

[crazyhorse]

10. half the reserves......Potter, Warnock, etc....not got what it takes..

Michael Owen and Stevie G were breaking through at the age of 16/17. these reserves are over 20! not got what it takes

Agree with that. If they are not good enough to start breaking through at 22 --23 they need to go and let the younger lads come through.

[Dalglish]

Starting from the back line , Kirkland may have had an injury too far and looks like he's leaving. Dudek may go instead of him but Liverpool have a habit of holding onto kepers so expect either Kirky or Dudek to stay. Personally i'd love to see Cuddicini or Niemi at LFC but i expect a Spanish keeper to join us in the summer.


Pelegrino - Bye bye , far too slow for the prem.

Hyppia - Should stay as he still has much to offer. Maybe another season out of him at this level.

Carra -Need you ask !! STAY !

Finnon - Stay

Ostember OR Josemi some have asked . I can't believe Josemi with the worst disciplinary record in the Prem is preferred over Jon Ostember who let down no one last season with several solid performances.

Traore is the blue eyed boy it would seem with Benitez but still gives me the jitters, I fully expect him to stay although I'm still to be convinced of his quality at this level.

[Dalglish]

Midfield :

Gerrard will be leaving in my opinion . If Chelsea stump up 30 Million and a couple of players (Cuddicini and Scott Parker spring to mind) then that may soften the blow but its a big pair of boots to fill but as Everton found out when losing Rooney it can motivate the whole team.

Smicer - See ya !

Biscan - A constant perplexity to me why many fans have this fascination with him on the basis he never smiles :rock: He's far too inconsistent and 2ood performances a season don't hide the fact he is average at best - Sell

Hamann - Persuade thsi player to stay at all costs for at least one more season, the most under rated player we have

Alonso - STAY ! World Class Midfielder

Garcia - Stay

Nunez - Undecided, wnat to see more of last Sundays performances to be convinced he can cut it at this level.

Kewell - The Enigma wrapped up in a mystery ! If we receive a substantial bid then I say sell.

Warnock - Stay , solid left sided player who can play ina  variety of positions .

Rise - STAY

Potter - Stay

Welsh - Suspect he isn;t up to the grade but happy to let him have another season to prove himself.

Le Tellac -Stay

Daio , Diouff, Cheyrou - See Ya !

[115-1073096938]

Well. It's pretty f@cked up at the moment. Nothing is working right. Given that we are 4-8 on the football rich list you'd expect us to be a little better on the pitch. But being rich means nothing when you throw away all you money on garbage like Cheyrou and Diao. There will be a complete overhaul in the summer. At least 10 players will be asked to leave.

Leavers

Kirkland. A sad pathetic keeper. Always injured and his reflexes are sort of non existent.

Henchoz. Can do a decent job and I rate him above Hyypia. But he is still short of the quality needed if you want to win things.

Hyypia. No pace. Silly judgement and dreadful positioning. Poor passing and absolutely no creativity from the back. Good in the air, but so are most defenders.

Vignal. Can do an ok job in scotland. Services not required here. Riise and Traore will bust him up.

Diao. Plays like a hoe and looks like a pimp.

Cheyrou. A sad footballer. No skills, no strenght nothing.

Biscan. Slow. Could have been a good one with a pair of quick feet. Right now other midfielders just dance around his fat azz and he can't get near the ball.

Diouf. He knows how to play. But he is a joke and a disgrace to any team.

Mellor. Good finisher. Nothing more. Slow, abysmal technique, poor passing. He is very dedicated and always 100%, but since his skills are so poor its bye bye.

Must sort out

Kewell. Stay or go? It all depends on his final 10 games of the season.

Smicer. Perform NOW or leave.

Diarra. Get your ****** on the plane boy, or f@ck off.

Dudek. Better lock the door and throw away the key now son. Or get your chicken breast out of here

Gerrard. Make up your mind, NOW.

Undecided

Pellegrino. Give him a few more games to shine.
Nunez. Same goes for the lawyer. Showed improvement vs Chelsea
Josemi. Needs more time.

First team squad;
Carson
Dudek??
+ new goalie

Finnan
Carra
Traore
Josemi
Warnock
+ 3-4 new guys

Hamann
Gerrard
Alonso
Garcia
Nunez/Kewell
Riise
+ 3-4 new midfielders

Pongo
Baros
Cisse
Morientes

clueless. totally clueless.

Dudek - A keeper of great quality. Prone to the odd mistake, but all keepers have their day (just he has them twice as often). Tentative to leave his line, and worisome when he does.

Kirkland - Too brittle for a keeper. needs get fit and stay that way. I would seriously suggest he take up Yoga or something to improve his flexibility and plyability of his muscles. On his keeping he is certainly competent but his constant injuries have hampered his development. Still young and wortha gamble.

Carson - Lets wait and see what all our coaching staff have been crowing about.

Finnan - Consistent. Very much improved this season. Doesn't seem to get forward as much as he used to but can get forward and deliver good crosses into the box.

Josemi -  Concentration and positioning are a worry with this lad. Definitely 'hard' enough for the english game, but no where near fast enough in both foot and mind.

Carra - Player of the season. Delivery out of defense is much better when he is playing. Fills the gaps nicely and reads the play well.

Hyypia - To many long balls emminate from this guy. A pillar of strength in the air though. Speed, or lack of it, and age are starting to show him up. But will certainly be around for a season or two more yet.

Pelle - Slow, unfit, cant pass. And thats being nice. Has been woeful since coming to the club. All i can say is thank god we got him on a free AND only for 6 months.

Traore - Second most improved. Needs to work on his passing. But his ability to make a well timed last ditch tackle with those long long legs is very good. Gets down the left flank well too. Also scores some sublime OG's.

Riise - starting to show some trickery, great work rate. Not the fastest winger you could hope for but he bleeds for the club. Gives his all. Has proven this season that he is probably better in an attaking role.

Kewell - Go get surgey FFS! Come back get fit and play to your potential. Stop talking to the media and start worrying about your football! In my eyes the biggest waste of talent to come out of Australia at the moment.

Hamann - Slowing down, but still can be effective in breaking up the oppositions play. I don't think he is as effective as he was a season or two ago but he is still a vital part of our machine.

Alonso - Passing abilities to get excited about. Vision, creativity, work rate and a broken foot. A valuable asset for next season.

Biscan - Consistency could've made this guy a kop legend for the right reasons. I am interested to see what the rest of the season brings from him.

Garcia - Flair by the bucket loads and no one who knows how to use it playing along side him. A little slow to play out wide, a little soft for the middle. Lets hope he toughens up and his teammates start 'reading' what he is trying to do.

Nunez - Jury is out. Give him time. Everyone deserves atleast 12 months of playing time. So hold him until Dec and see what he does as unlike Josemi and Pelle, he shows glimpses of being ok, but that is all.

Cisse - A HUGE LOSS. Struggles to work with the head-down Baros but will work much better with Nando. Lets hope his busted leg doesn't take away some pace.

Baros - Personally i am sick of his inability to provide assists given the positions he can get into. Great talent but usually ends up to wide of the goal to score himself and then usually fails to deliver the 'killer' ball.

Nando - Class. Pure and simple. Great acquisition.

Pongo - We keep seeing glimpses of his best. Needs to build some physical strength to be a real quality striker if you ask me.

Mellor - If this guy was small and nimble he would be a star because he knows how to get into the poaching positions but is usually one or two paces shy of the mark. Would like to keep him for a year or two just to see how he develops.

Le Tallec - Lets get the attitude right and then start on the rest. Like pongo needs a bit of added upper body strength, but then they are still young.

Gerrard- World class ability but yet to display it regularly this season.

Haha, clueless st mick? Thats generous!! lol. I've been saying for over a year how much of a numpty this one really is.

I think theres ability within the squad.

But the ones i'd let go would suprise one or two people i think.

[banana]

Well. It's pretty f@cked up at the moment. Nothing is working right. Given that we are 4-8 on the football rich list you'd expect us to be a little better on the pitch. But being rich means nothing when you throw away all you money on garbage like Cheyrou and Diao. There will be a complete overhaul in the summer. At least 10 players will be asked to leave.

Leavers

Kirkland. A sad pathetic keeper. Always injured and his reflexes are sort of non existent.

Henchoz. Can do a decent job and I rate him above Hyypia. But he is still short of the quality needed if you want to win things.

Hyypia. No pace. Silly judgement and dreadful positioning. Poor passing and absolutely no creativity from the back. Good in the air, but so are most defenders.

Vignal. Can do an ok job in scotland. Services not required here. Riise and Traore will bust him up.

Diao. Plays like a hoe and looks like a pimp.

Cheyrou. A sad footballer. No skills, no strenght nothing.

Biscan. Slow. Could have been a good one with a pair of quick feet. Right now other midfielders just dance around his fat azz and he can't get near the ball.

Diouf. He knows how to play. But he is a joke and a disgrace to any team.

Mellor. Good finisher. Nothing more. Slow, abysmal technique, poor passing. He is very dedicated and always 100%, but since his skills are so poor its bye bye.

Must sort out

Kewell. Stay or go? It all depends on his final 10 games of the season.

Smicer. Perform NOW or leave.

Diarra. Get your ****** on the plane boy, or f@ck off.

Dudek. Better lock the door and throw away the key now son. Or get your chicken breast out of here

Gerrard. Make up your mind, NOW.

Undecided

Pellegrino. Give him a few more games to shine.
Nunez. Same goes for the lawyer. Showed improvement vs Chelsea
Josemi. Needs more time.

First team squad;
Carson
Dudek??
+ new goalie

Finnan
Carra
Traore
Josemi
Warnock
+ 3-4 new guys

Hamann
Gerrard
Alonso
Garcia
Nunez/Kewell
Riise
+ 3-4 new midfielders

Pongo
Baros
Cisse
Morientes

clueless. totally clueless.

Dudek - A keeper of great quality. Prone to the odd mistake, but all keepers have their day (just he has them twice as often). Tentative to leave his line, and worisome when he does.

Kirkland - Too brittle for a keeper. needs get fit and stay that way. I would seriously suggest he take up Yoga or something to improve his flexibility and plyability of his muscles. On his keeping he is certainly competent but his constant injuries have hampered his development. Still young and wortha gamble.

Carson - Lets wait and see what all our coaching staff have been crowing about.

Finnan - Consistent. Very much improved this season. Doesn't seem to get forward as much as he used to but can get forward and deliver good crosses into the box.

Josemi -  Concentration and positioning are a worry with this lad. Definitely 'hard' enough for the english game, but no where near fast enough in both foot and mind.

Carra - Player of the season. Delivery out of defense is much better when he is playing. Fills the gaps nicely and reads the play well.

Hyypia - To many long balls emminate from this guy. A pillar of strength in the air though. Speed, or lack of it, and age are starting to show him up. But will certainly be around for a season or two more yet.

Pelle - Slow, unfit, cant pass. And thats being nice. Has been woeful since coming to the club. All i can say is thank god we got him on a free AND only for 6 months.

Traore - Second most improved. Needs to work on his passing. But his ability to make a well timed last ditch tackle with those long long legs is very good. Gets down the left flank well too. Also scores some sublime OG's.

Riise - starting to show some trickery, great work rate. Not the fastest winger you could hope for but he bleeds for the club. Gives his all. Has proven this season that he is probably better in an attaking role.

Kewell - Go get surgey FFS! Come back get fit and play to your potential. Stop talking to the media and start worrying about your football! In my eyes the biggest waste of talent to come out of Australia at the moment.

Hamann - Slowing down, but still can be effective in breaking up the oppositions play. I don't think he is as effective as he was a season or two ago but he is still a vital part of our machine.

Alonso - Passing abilities to get excited about. Vision, creativity, work rate and a broken foot. A valuable asset for next season.

Biscan - Consistency could've made this guy a kop legend for the right reasons. I am interested to see what the rest of the season brings from him.

Garcia - Flair by the bucket loads and no one who knows how to use it playing along side him. A little slow to play out wide, a little soft for the middle. Lets hope he toughens up and his teammates start 'reading' what he is trying to do.

Nunez - Jury is out. Give him time. Everyone deserves atleast 12 months of playing time. So hold him until Dec and see what he does as unlike Josemi and Pelle, he shows glimpses of being ok, but that is all.

Cisse - A HUGE LOSS. Struggles to work with the head-down Baros but will work much better with Nando. Lets hope his busted leg doesn't take away some pace.

Baros - Personally i am sick of his inability to provide assists given the positions he can get into. Great talent but usually ends up to wide of the goal to score himself and then usually fails to deliver the 'killer' ball.

Nando - Class. Pure and simple. Great acquisition.

Pongo - We keep seeing glimpses of his best. Needs to build some physical strength to be a real quality striker if you ask me.

Mellor - If this guy was small and nimble he would be a star because he knows how to get into the poaching positions but is usually one or two paces shy of the mark. Would like to keep him for a year or two just to see how he develops.

Le Tallec - Lets get the attitude right and then start on the rest. Like pongo needs a bit of added upper body strength, but then they are still young.

Gerrard- World class ability but yet to display it regularly this season.

Haha, clueless st mick? Thats generous!! lol. I've been saying for over a year how much of a numpty this one really is.

I think theres ability within the squad.

But the ones i'd let go would suprise one or two people i think.

You can talk. But you can't hide from the facts. We are far, far behind Arsenal, Man U and Chelsea. We need a complete overhaul to even dream of competing with the BIG THREE. That is what they are called. The big three. Where are we if I may ask? Still playin' Hyypia while them field Ferdinand, Campbell and Gallas. Playin' Biscan when they play Scholes, Makelele or Gilberto Silva. My oh my. They have world champions and world beaters in every positions. And what about us? Playing Biscunt and Hyypia will get us nowhere.

[woof woof !]

No ones disputing your assertion that we need more quality in the squad Bananna , I'll pass the idea on to Rafa ,I'm sure he'll nip down the shops and buy the 6 - 8 players that you reckon we need for our defence and midfield .
Oop's make that 7-9 new players ,forgot we need another goalie as well .