takanohana

Rumours of Kaka via the Guardian now. Haha I'd put my house on that not happening. Happy to be proved wrong though - he could do a nice turn off the bench

Bout time. Thanks Dave http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/luis-suarez-transfer-dave-whelan-2149079

I'm not sure it is. What happens with Suarez is clearly going to be crucial. We need to move forward next season, get in or at least closer to C League. If we lose Suarez or don't adequately replace, we're in danger of falling further behind N London.

How we handle the Suarez thing this summer will tell us a lot about how capable the senior team and FSG are, and what we've learnt from last summer. I'm assuming he's going to go now but we surely want a deal to be done earlyish in the window and at the right price so that we have time to get in the replacements we want. If we don't do that we're in danger of standing still next season.

I hope this is coming to a conclusion now for the sake of my job. Hitting refresh every 12 seconds for 2 weeks impacts on productivity somewhat.

Guardian going with it now too. Saying no LVG http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/30/liverpool-brendan-rodgers-swansea-city

Bloody 'ell, that's p*ssed on my clean slate excitement

Good article. Convinced me to change my mind again... Although after singing Rodger's praises all the way through, at the end the writer says his first choice would be AVB...

I'm happy to give FSG the benefit of the doubt on this process, till they've appointed who they want. But looking back to the Ayre comments and recent speculation, I have a nagging concern that they may be trying to implement a structure that is overly complex, has too many cooks and could end up being seen as a sort of management of footballing matters by committee. Only basis for this at the moment is Ayre saying the Comolli job will be split into 'two or three positions' - it may not be as bad as it sounds. But it suggests what could be a major change in terms of the role of the manager - not just having to work with a DoF but others too, in an area where the manager might previously have had complete control. If something like this is being proposed, it could scare off those we want as well as those we don't.

Is correct

Don't think there's much chance of him coming (if for no other reason than he seems to feel a bit burnt out for now), but I'd have mixed feelings about Guardiola. Very successful at Barcelona, v good connections and 'pulling power' for a level of player that we might otherwise struggle to attract this year On the other hand, has only managed at Barca, with enormous resources and the pick of practically any player in world football he wanted. V different to taking over at a club going through a tough time, on much more limited resources, in a different league.

This will reignite the sanctimonius commentariat spouting from their imagined moral high ground. They wanted their moment of contrition today, a handshake which would have given them the opportunity to cast Evra as a magnanimous victim prepared to forgive the nasty little Uruguayan. I'm glad they didn't get it. If Suarez considers himself innocent and unfairly tarnished by Evra's accusations he is quite justified in saying no, I'm not going to go through the PR hand-shaking charade. It's a statement of conviction in his own position and version of what happened with Evra.

Yeh, I never took to Houghton. Pratting about indecisively and losing the ball are what I remember him for. Suspect that's a bit unfair, and that he just suffered in comparison to the rest of the forward line. Still my dislike of him is too irrational and deep-seated to shift now.

Hmm, yes I try to forget about Houghton...

and a certain Mr Aldridge...

I understand what you're saying but you don't always know in advance who's going to be s**t. Many people were v happy to see Cole joining (myself included). It hasn't worked out and so now we're hacked off about the wages he's on and the fact that we may not be able to get other players in till we offload him. Lesson from that seems to be to be careful about contracting large wages to players who are getting on or are past their prime. Bellamy may turn out to be as successful as Cole. I don't reckon he will, but seems reasonable for fans to think we maybe shouldn't contract £Xm in wages on an older player who's been out of the Prem a while.

Indeed. If supporters are interested in transfers, it's reasonable to have an opinion on the transfer fee and wages/contract length. There's a finite amount of money in the pot, so spending a lot on a player in terms of fee or wages is likely to affect who else we can get now or in the future. That said, will be happy to see Bellamy back and don't reckon the current regime will go overboard with contract length for a 32 year old.

Downing would be a great signing for us, can't understand why some are sceptical. Consistently performs well, gets crosses in (perfect for Carroll as has been said), creates and scores goals, requires no adapting to the english league, and is probably entering his prime. I'd have had him before Young if it had been an option, as Young I think is more streaky and likes to come inside more. Clearly a tricky, pacier type of winger would be welcome also, but that's a higher risk signing and should come afterwards if and when funds allow.

Reina Nicol Hansen Lawrenson Kennedy (A) Gerrard Souness Beardsley Dalglish Barnes Rush

Gary Gillespie - tough job coming in towards end of Hansen/Lawrenson era.

Souness to Sampdoria.

Gerrard Cole Johnson

Think that's what pepe was asking...