barnesology

It would seem probable that Inter will soon be, if they are not already, on the phone and trying to take Mascherano off our hands. If they were to offer Cambiasso in part exchange as has been suggested, how much money would you think we should be asking for on top?

possible you could well be Rafa's skipper?, still I did think you'd have gone to Barca now Yaya's gone. Still, I digress. Thanks for last season, seriously!, when we were playing poorly you did up your game and you were a positive force in the team etc. You will realize a healthy profit which we desperately need to freshen the squad and sign someone to play up with Fernando. I'm sad to see you go but we'll meet again I'm sure. Hopefully next season you and rafa go to Old Triffid and end their European hopes for another year, that would be class. You can come down the road and have some drinks afterwards. Cya bud.

Cheers Masch, thanks for playing well foe us, only once completely losing it at Utd and being part of the team that went back and tore furgoid a new 4 goal hole. Have a good one in Italy. I know Inter's something of a special club for Argies, it's almost

That comment sums this site up...!, .... genuine optimism tainted with the cynicism of someone who's had too many broken promises, too much politicial infighting, piss take and heartfelt stress worrying about something he/she loves. Try and imagine how this site would have looked/sounded in 80's!!. I bet it would of been brilliant!!, but potentially, it could have been simply a back slapping tool, which is great, but the kind of strife the club has been through during the reign of Boss Hogg and his gimp has certainly brought about a tremendous about of debate and positive movement to get as much of the club owned by the fans as possible. There has, for me got to be some silver lining about what has happened since they have been around and an awakening of a whole generation of Liverpool fans to be far more engaged and ready not just to accept the decisions of what a handful of people with conflicting interests think is a good idea for the future profit margin. There was a chief exec of this club (I'm sure someone will remind me of his name in due course!) who, in one of our more illustrious periods said 'Liverpool football club exists to win trophys'. I can't wait to get back to feeling the club's heirarchy can put their hand on their heart and say that again. Lucky I'm not an old man I guess.

Roy has a track record of getting the best out of players, but those players have to have something about them, 11 capt's on the pitch an' all. I thank Cisse for not bottling his pen in Instanbul, like Anelka did for Chelski in the '08 final, but as a player he constantly annoyed me, did not convert enough chances to be considered a starter and whined when on the bench. I heard he'd slapped his wife around during an argument and thus I was happy when Rafa let him go. Through his rigid, 'let'd do it again' training techniques I'm happy, (well not actually happy!) with us signing a def player like Scharner for free. He will be drilled into the rigid passing routines that RH is so keen on and make a better player for it. One aspect of Fulham's game last season, certainly in the big Euro games they had, was their care for the ball in their back 6 players, GK thru DF to DM. As Spain, Germany, etc showed throughout the W.C, it's about keeping your overall percentage of possession high. If you don't let the other team have the ball, they have less chance of hurting you and at the same time, if the tempo is high, the players are well drilled and the passing good enough, you will eventually find the holes in any defence. Even if you allow Nigel De Jong a licence to kill.

I'd love to keep him too. But maybe he is the best of the 3 to go and help prevent the staleness you rightly refer to?

I can see Rafa wanting to freshen up Inters DM options. Cambiasso is the wrong side of 30, Muntari is set to return to England and I reckon Masch would be a good foil for Thiago Motta infront of thier back 4. After Yaya joined Citeh, Sergio Busquets is the only specialist DM Barca have, although they could clearly play Marques or Sergio in that posistion, but I'd say they want the best for each posistion they have open and with the range of central/attacking MF's they already have, signing Masch would make more sense to the teams balance.

No ex players will be rejoining the club. They were let go for a reason one way or another and I don't think Roy would be into raking over old ground. This is his shift at the helm and he will want, like any manager, to put his seal on the team. If we are going to ditch 1 DF Mid and start playing another striker I'd say it's probable we'll be signing 2-3 strikers, with a view to sending Ngogo to West Brom. I'd like to see us keep Lucas, but has he got the range of passing to be able to sit infront of the back 4??, not sure about that. Palermo sporting director Walter Sabatini has confirmed the club would like to sign Lucas but denies making a six million euros bid for the former Gremio man. “We made a first offer to Liverpool for Lucas Pezzini (Leiva),” said Sabatini. “But I deny that we have offered six million euros. That is too much.” Cheeky f**ker, that's 1M less than we bought him for!!. Biggest issue regards signings is whether Roy keeps Stevie in an advanced role or drops him back, where I'd prefer to see him, to a deeper midfield posistion and let an attacker with younger legs do some of that defending from the front!. LB, LW, and 2 decent forwards seem our priority. Agree we need an extra CB but I don't see us having the money to get anyone worth mentioning here. The 15M Roy has in his hand will be enough for one of the forwards and whatever we get in for Masch will sort the rest. Be interesting to see how long Fabregas's patience lasts. I hope he pushes through his desire to go to Barca. Then Inter will be fave to sign Masch and with their treble winnings, they clearly have the most money to spend. Rafa said 50M wouldn't be enough for our little Argie, I hope so!, the extra 10-15M could, given our situation, make all the difference to our season.

Bit early to infer he's a bit of a c**t eh? I thought he looked good, tho I don't see him having enough to lead the line over a season in the Prem.

It does look like the groin on reflection. The bottom line is no club is gonna punt 50M+ on a player in his condition. Although it is not the severity of the injury that will be a deal breaker, just the regularity of such issues that keep him sidelined. Just hope he's back to near his best by Sept. 19th!!. The particularly thin silver lining is it does bolster RH's desire to get a quality striker in and gives the strikers we have a good chance to shine in Nando's absence.

Yep

Best moment of the W.Cup?, ask me tomorrow. Worst moment? Watching our beloved No.9 fall to the ground and cover his face with his hand in a way that only means bad news. He was clearly smiling at the end with the trophy in hand, but how many weeks potentially could he miss?. He wasn't faking it, the way he pulled up, to me the hamstring looks torn again Given that we're the only Prem club that spends 20M+ on an injured player!, is this not a blessing, in a 99.99999999% perfect disguise?.

The same could be said of FIFA officials. Or maybe just the unfortunate chap that got in his way when subbing for Ireland during the '94 World Cup. Still brings a smile to my face.

Man, Pennant's gone downhill since he left us eh

.......... although is depressingly similar to other Murdoch inspired jackanory journalism, with their famous 'insider source'! lol, whose desk in London is likely as far away from Anfield than this 'story' is away from the truth. We've got almost another 2 months of this tripe, while Nando sits on his a*** next to a pool saying 'MF I hope we sign Paul Scharner, he is the f**kin dizzle'.

Carra would be my shout too, it's no secret he wants management after he's finished playing, his experience and leadership is invaluble. Pepe certainly has the charisma and repect of the players. The outside shot I'd say could be Torres?, maybe as vice capt?. Not really sure he has quite the right qualities to be skipper, too much negative chat with the ref etc last season, he does command huge respect and his English is surely good enough now. It seemed that when he got the armband at A.Madrid it was in part to ensure he stayed at the club for as long as possible and I see us in our current state having pretty much the same dilemma. He'll certainly give LFC another season, even with the current projected spend in August, I'm pretty sure of that. By then we'll be owned by the Spectre organisation and have a Chief exec that looks like a Stasi officer, with a poison dagger in her shoe and employ the services of a metal toothed, giant assasin to collect outstanding transfer fees.

Insua should defo be kept, but i must admit I worry that his legs are never going to be long enough. Right wingers are notoriously quick players and on a number of occasions last season, notably against Valencia, he looked horribly short of pace. But he's a hard worker, has got a reasonable left foot and will develop further. I would love one of the young crop of strikers to step up and save us some money, but it was Rafa's biggest mistake not to have adequate cover for Nando and I think between 10-15m should be earmarked for this purpose. I pray Roy is a fan of Pacheco, although he will still be used primarily as a substitute. I wonder whether it would be better for us to loan him out, heard a rumour about Neil Lennon/Celtic being interested. It's not good in the short term, rather see him in a red shirt, but it would give him much needed game time over a season in a league that would suit his talents. Selling Riera, Degen, Babel should raise almost enough for a bid for Ashley Young. We'll of course have to pay a tad more alla Glen Johnson, but Young is English, has good pace, understands the Prem and thus will hit the ground running. This is the only real argument that for me makes the signing of a player like Scharner acceptable. He played 38 times for Wigan last year, has approx 150 Prem games under his belt and I think on a free he would be a good addition to the squad. His passing has been questioned in some quarters, but then the way our back 4 passed the ball last season was 'orrible so he should fit right in. I remember when the news broke about signing Kyrgiakos. It depressed me a great deal, but the lad got his head down, worked hard in training, did his best when he came on and I warmed to him, despite his striken oil rig pace. There are Championship clubs with an eye on a cheaper option, (notably Leeds) that players like Spearing, Darby and Plessis should get valuable experience with over a season long loan. I'd love to know Roy's intial thoughts about what he think needs addressing, who of our young players can make the grade and how his list of potential targets has developed since chatting with Macia and his new back room staff.

Getting Scharner on a free would be a great bit of business for us. He can play in a variety of posistions, seen him play CB, RB and CM for Wigan. I reckon with better players around him and greater expectations/european football he'll step up and become an excellent addition to the squad. It will certainly allow us to focus funds on other areas, although I would still like us to find the money for Simon Kjær.

lol and you were awake all the way home!

F**k the game??. I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here. The original point I was making was based on rating the football credentials of some LMA commitee members. I can't stand Fat Sam, rudolph and the no names etc, but there are some guys on that committe that have done a great deal for football and I don't think such sweeping statements are necessary. I wasn't aware of Clough's odious and ill informed comments about Hillsborough, which I guess makes me a c*** aswell!, c'est la vie, I'm sorry if I've really offended anyone here. He (Clough) was a deeply flawed character to say the least, but in making my point I was referencing his considerable acheivements in building successful teams and understanding what it takes to win the league/european cup. I have made a bet, hoping more than anything that life takes a really strange 'well I never' twist and I can laugh my ass off. But I'm not holding my breath. I know the odds aren't great!!. In one respect I am a bookies dream I guess. In that the bets I make are impulsive, based on gut feeling about a game, player or situation. Having said that, I only make 1-2 bets a year and have never bet more than 30 quid, so I doubt I'm helping too many betting industry execs to an early retirement. The first bet I made on Liverpool was a £10 first scorer on Michael Thomas in the '92 FA Cup final. The most money I ever won left a bad taste in the mouth, in that I laid money on a team I can't stand, Sunderland winning the Championship after hearing the scourge of the prawn sandwich had been appointed manager. They had lost their first 4 games of the season and the odds were pretty good, well better than 14-1 anyway!. I'll get my coat.....

That's the kind of comment I'd expect from someone who has no respect or knowledge of the game. Shame on you.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Broughton said it is an auction. Best bid wins by a certain date. He also said the club did not need to sell the clubs best players to service the debt (unless, like Beni, they wanted to and had requested a move away). Broughton is overseeing the process and I see no reason to doubt his professional reputation, on the basis of the 'orrible c**** who employed him.

Agreed ther're a few names on that leave a lot to be desired!!, but I think it's scandalous you're labelling guys like Lawrie McMenemy and Frank Clark as 'managerial c**** and nonentities'. Does your assessment also include the past officers of the association? if so, just to confirm, were Bobby Robson and Brian Clough c**** or nonentities?.

Yep I cant argue regards the duration of a season v 90 mins!, but I'd say with Hodgson winning the LMA Manager of the Year Award indicates his fellow professionals rate very very highly. In what position on a list of top European managers list I'm not sure?