Liverpool FC Forum

by **murphy0151** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:20 am

I found this article in one off the sunday papers.

Gerrard anger as Kop stall on contract talks..

By Paul Mccarthy

CHELSEA are ready to re-enter the race for Steven Gerrard after contract talks between him and Liverpool descended into farce.

Gerrard fears he is being forced out of Anfield by Rafa Benitez...and that has alerted Jose Mourinho to the possibility of taking the Liverpool captain to Stamford Bridge. Gerrard believes there is a propaganda campaign being orchestrated by Benitez to paint him as greedy after talks stalled this week.

And sources close to Gerrard are furious at stories linking him with Real Madrid which they feel have been fuelled by boss Benitez and Liverpool.

That has brought Chelsea back into the hunt for the £30m-rated midfielder, who turned them down at the 11th hour a year ago.

The Anfield skipper is angry that Didi Hamann had his future secured before Liverpool got round to opening talks with him.

He has made it clear he wants to stay at the club he supported as a child but now fears Benitez is planning without him.

A source close to Gerrard insisted: "Steve has never wanted to leave but he feels there is a campaign building up against him which is forcing him out.

"Benitez obviously has his plans but at the moment they don't appear to include Steve."

Real Madrid would go head-to-head with Chelsea for Gerrard's signature even though they landed Uruguayan Pablo Garcia this week. And a move to Madrid, where he could link up with pal Michael Owen, might appeal more to Gerrard than facing the anger of Reds fans if he switched to Chelsea.

-Liverpool will tomorrow complete the signing of Dutch midfielder Boudewijn Zenden, 28, on a free transfer from Middlesbrough.

If this is true, what would your reactions be to this big decision? I think there could be some truth in it. Just think about it a little bit, during the past few season's what has cropped up more than once on the run up too big games. The Gerrard to chelsea sega, thats got to have an effect on team morale. An the way Rafa conducts himself to the media during these times.

So if Gerrard was to leave, im I the only one who wont be to arrrrsed?

by **Igor Zidane** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:34 am

i heard a journalist say all ths a couple of weeks ago on five live, can't remember which one,but he more or less said that gerrard want'ed assurances about which position he would play in the team and rafa wont give him them ,basically he says that rafa thinks that xabi and stevie cannot play centre mid together and that rafa was swaying more to selling gerrard and using xabi as the midfield dynamo and building around him,i thought it was the usual :censored:

from journo's but after reading this thread me thinks theirs no smoke without fire

by **red37** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 10:53 am

im not too arsed if he goes either...
you play for a club you would die for and you play wherever the manager says you play...makes sense.
as long as he's skipper and wears the red shirt shouldnt that be enough for him???
ill stick my head out and say.. i think stevie on the pitch is a hindrance to xabi alonso's game...
ive often said weeks back that he doesnt seem arsed HIMSELF!!
in interviews/on the team bus/body language etc etc... all hypothetical really? he's just lifted old big ears as L.F.C captain hasnt he?

ffs it rains in madrid too ya' know!!

keep him...ill be happy
sell him....(right money) ill be happy end of

but whatever the scenario if he goes whoever replaces him MUST be here by C.L D-day for registration.

by **zarababe** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:01 am

Igor Zidane wrote:i heard a journalist say all ths a couple of weeks ago on five live, can't remember which one,but he more or less said that gerrard want'ed assurances about which position he would play in the team and rafa wont give him them ,basically he says that rafa thinks that xabi and stevie cannot play centre mid together and that rafa was swaying more to selling gerrard and using xabi as the midfield dynamo and building around him,i thought it was the usual from journo's but after reading this thread me thinks theirs no smoke without fire

I think that there will continue to be rumours until he signs on the dotted line..

let see what happens... BTW is Zenden any good

by **Igor Zidane** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:08 am

the only thing i dont likeabout zenden is his form is very erratic imo when hes good hes very good but when hes bad hes woeful ,but having said that hes coming on a free and hell bring good competition in for getting into the first team,i dont think its a step backwards

by **zarababe** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:10 am

glad to hear it.. don't know much about him

by **48-1119859832** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:27 am

Journalists want nothing more than to see a successful player at Liverpool leave, because lets face it most if not all tabliod newspapers are London based so they are naturally going favour Chelsea and Arsenal, this is just rife speculation and I don't believe it is true, but if it is then it shows how greedy and unloyal Steven Gerrard is because after the Champions League he basically promised he would sign " How can I leave after this" was one part of the quote. However I'm not too bothered if he leaves or not, if he leaves the fair enough at leastwe get a good price for him, if he stays that is even better because you can get a player that matches Gerrard's techincal ability, but you can't find to many influencial and motivational centre mids in this day in age. So we will basically be losing a the driving force in our team, but I'd much rather he packed his bags and left he wants to go, but I doubt he will go, he must see that we are going in the right direction surely. The least favourite team to win the Champions League won it, so he must be able to see where Liverpool football club are heading.

by **kazza** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 11:47 am

FRESH DOUBTS OVER GERRARD
Team Talk

Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool contract talks have reportedly hit crisis point with the Anfield skipper 'very tempted' to join Real Madrid.

Champions League glory against AC Milan just over a month ago seemed to have persuaded Gerrard that his long-term future lay on Merseyside.

Kop bosses held another round of talks on Friday, but according to the tabloid they hit their lowest point yet.

Club officials now fear Gerrard could now see his future in Spain with Real, who are believed to be prepared to offer a staggering pay packet of £150,000 per week.

The Bernabeu outfit have offered £20m plus Argentine central defender Walter Samuel in a bid to make Liverpool part with their most prized asset.

But boss Rafa Benitez slammed that deal as "unacceptable".

Real have also said Luis Figo can join Liverpool on a free transfer if he can agree terms with the Anfield club.

*****************

I sure hope we do not get the Real run-around again and get another Nunez. 35-40 million CASH period. No F*cking player deal (unless it is Zedan)

by **rafasredmen** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:03 pm

I wonder how much of this is smokescreen from agents etc going to the media.
1 If Gerrard wants to go best choice is to blame manager.
2.He's in a better bargining postion by leaving his options open.

I think though that if this is the case he and his agents are playing a very dodgy game as i can see that Rafa won't put up with this for much longer due to stabilty at the club etc.
What do you all think?

by **48-1119859832** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:20 pm

Benitez will not tolerate being bossed about by any player and any player regardless who they are will be out that door, he is pre-pared to talk and if that fails you get sold happened to Owen last season, couldn't agree terms and he sold him.

by **woof woof !** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:33 pm

zarababe wrote:I think that there will continue to be rumours until he signs on the dotted line..

A few weeks ago Gerrard was openly stating he wants to stay , LFC were saying they want him to stay , SO WHAT EXACTLEY IS THE PROBLEM ? Obviously there is one and I'm not confident it will be resolved .
Admittedly if Gerrard goes we would end up with a stack of cash but it doesn't automatically follow that "great" players will be queing up to sign for us . Personally I'll be gutted if he leaves .

by **AussieKopite** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:46 pm

Gerrard has an inspirational effect on the team when he's playing. Rafa would have to be balmy to get rid of him.

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 12:56 pm

it is a slightly worrying development but it just could be manouvering by the club or players agent whilst trying to negotiate a deal, the talks are on remember. maybe gerrards people want an extra few quid or something and the club is stalling so they phone up a few journo mates to print a story and get the outraged fans to force the club to keep gerrard at all costs.
i`m pretty confident gerrard is staying, rafa knows players like him dont grow on tree`s and after our champions league windfall its not like we are totally skint.
i put it down to the politics of signing a contract.

by **murphy0151** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:13 pm

52299818 wrote:Gerrard has an inspirational effect on the team when he's playing. Rafa would have to be balmy to get rid of him.

Rafa is a stats manager, being that hes probably looked at the stats with Gerrard and stats with out him. I hear that we won more points when Gerrard wasnt in the team.

Its a nap where going to get ripped off if he does go. Probably end up getting 20 million and a framed picture off there great defender Heirrro, I think it will be a bum deal but if the picture is signed different story. :Oo:

by **AussieKopite** » Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:20 pm

murphy0151 wrote:
52299818 wrote:Gerrard has an inspirational effect on the team when he's playing. Rafa would have to be balmy to get rid of him.

Rafa is a stats manager, being that hes probably looked at the stats with Gerrard and stats with out him. I hear that we won more points when Gerrard wasnt in the team.

Its a nap where going to get ripped off if he does go. Probably end up getting 20 million and a framed picture off there great defender Heirrro, I think it will be a bum deal but if the picture is signed different story.

Does anyone have any hard data on Gerrard's effect. Or even soft data for that matter.

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