beejay

Split a*** Could be too graphic for some

A Hutton - Neither hit nor miss. Playing regularly now but probably not worth what they paid G Bale - Massive HIT G Dos Santos Decent player but perhaps not suited to the Premiership. Could still develop into a good player at another club Y Kaboul HIT. Plays regularly and a solid defender A T Again a very talented player who is starting to prove himself and he could become a star. Jury's out. K Prince Boateng Given he is playing for Milan now and had an excellent World Cup he has to be in the HIT category L Modrić - A big HIT B Assou-Ekotto, Don't like him much, but he is 1st choice and for the price they paid, he has to represent a HIT H Gomes - Shaky start but has been very good for 18 months now, a definite HIT D Bentley - Over-rated and Spurs were mugged on the price - MISS V Ćorluka - Good player but after injury can't get back in the side. Neither hit nor miss D Berbatov - Massive HIT, they tripled their price when sold R Pavlyuchenko - Very good player in my opinion but it hasn't worked out for him in the Premiership. Spurs will probably get their money back though so not a miss R Rocha - Crap MISS Gilberto - Who? MISS G Ghaly Some talent but a head case, MISS D Zokora - Made a profit on his sale and doing well now so scrapes into the HIT camp Mido - MISS P Stalteri - Shocking player MISS Y Lee Who? MISS G Rasiak - Found his level which is nowhere near the Premiership MISS C Sanchez Never heard of him C Gunter - Same as Rasiak MISS I've marked that as 8 Hits, 10 Misses and 5 Jury's Out. It's not perfect but I suspect Commoli would be showing a very healthy profit on that investment.

Walcott cost about £12m all-in I think. Bale was about £10m. I heard a piece about Conor Wyckham on the radio from a local reporter a few weeks back. The indications were that he would go to Spurs and the reporter was saying he is a great talent destined to go right to the top. He is a natural apparently, one of these kids who is brilliant at all sports and is also a nice, intelligent lad. Very athletic, 2 footed and good in the air. At that time, he was returning from injury and Keane was easing him back into the side but his appearances as a sub had transformed a couple of games so Keane was under pressure to play him more often. Sometimes a young player will emerge and everyone knows they will make it - Walcott, Bale & Ramsey were all in that category and I remember seeing Stevie G coming on as a sub and immediately lighting up the place. We are starting to see some quality in our young kids and it will be great news if we do compete to bring in the best young talent.

You're right, but at least there's some optimism coming out of his interviews and it offers some balance, faced with the banal, anti-Liverpool negative s**** spewing out of Hodgson's trap on a daily basis. Once we have a manager we can all get behind, it would be wise for DC to work away in the background but for now, the thought that we have a dynamic, innovative DoF with a plan is a real positive.

Some really positive stuff there - except the bits about Hodgson. It's still sounding as though we will give him time, lots of it and frankly, it makes no odds who we sign - while he is the manager picking the side, coaching and deciding the tactics we are on a slow train to nowhere. I'm starting to despair. The only lingering hope is that the new chief exec will be the catalyst for a change of manager. If the new appointee starts off by saying he has every respect for the manager and looks forward to working with him then that's it, we are completely f***ed

Where would he play when we have Gerrard, Cole & Pacheco who are all preferred in the link striker role? Unless we are bringing in Rikjard to transform us into a total football Barca-style team?

Avram Grant managed a team to a Champions League Final. Tony Barton won the European Cup as Villa manager. Both of them were sacked the following year. Hodgson's record shows he is a decent manager, but he is out of his depth with us - that is beyond doubt by now surely?

Pacheco

OK, let's cut NESV some slack and believe that they do have a plan which they are working feverishly on behind the scenes. So, by 31st August 2011 when the summer transfer window has closed and the new season has started what should we realistically expect them to have implemented. My list is: New Chief Exec New Hon Life President : Kenny Dalglish Director of Football : Damien Comolli New Manager New Ass Manager 1st Team Coach : Sammy Lee New Goalie Coach Fitness/Medical Teams : As Existing Academy & Reserve Coaches : As existing Scouts : New structure appointed by DoF Stadium : Announcement made on preferred choice & timetable for construction Supporter Representation : Announcement on formal consultation procedure with SOS 1st Team New Left Back(s) New Centreback(s) New Holding Midfielder New Left Winger New Striker(s) Retention of Reina, Johnson, Gerrard, Meireles, Torres & Pacheco Youth Team Couple of top prospects signed & the best of the current youth side eg Suso promoted to the 1st team squad That's not too much to expect is it? Some of that list should be happening sooner rather than later, but certainly by no later than that end date. Dalglish's appointment IMO should extend to membership of the inner sanctum that decides on transfers and the Academy, not just in an ambassadorial role. The 1st team ins and outs are the minimum. For example, personally I would want Agger to stay as a nailed-on starter above any of the other current centrebacks, but it is to be accepted that a new manager may take a different view because of injury record etc. Similarly, I want Carra & Lucas in the squad but not necessarily as 1st choice. I would like to see Konchesky, Poulsen & Jovanovic sold but again, a new manager may decide to keep them in the squad if he can get more out of them, while others such as Babel, Skretl, Kyrgiakos, Cole, Maxi, Kuyt & Ngog are decent in my opinion in differing degrees but the manager could sell if he can identify better replacements and needs funds. If all that happens (and obviously if the new personnel are fit for purpose), I will be happy to accept the car crash that this season, like last, is heading towards and that NESV are sincere in their commitment to turn us into winners.

Today proves again that we have the bones of a decent side. It also showed that we have some wasters in the team and the squad and we have a manager who is progressively instilling a losing mentality into the club. We were superior to Spurs for much of the game but they found a way to win while we found a way to lose. It's the difference between the stage we are at with a loser manager compared to Spurs who have a manager who breeds confidence in his players. NESV have thrown away the opportunity to make something of this season. It's too late now. For a bunch of guys who say again and again that it's all about winning and then retain the services of a serial loser as their key manager is a sick joke. Hodgson should have been sacked for a multitude of reasons but buying Konchesky as 1st choice left back is grounds for instant dismissal on its own.

Michael Laudrup's Mallorca had another great result, beating Sevilla on their own ground. They have drawn against Barca & Real Madrid and won in Valencia as well.

I'd rather send him out with a few painkillers than let Poulsen play instead

I don't think the fans want to shout "Hodgson Out" stuff, the Dalglish chants are an acceptable way of getting the message over.

You have to question the owners' judgement. What more evidence do they want before getting off their asses and doing something? If they allow Hodgson to stay until the end of the season we will lose at the least Agger, Johnson, Reina & Torres, no European football and no platform for any new manager. We can't afford to wait another 2 or 3 months until some hotshot CEO arrives before taking the decision that is so f***ing obvious to 95% of all our fanbase.

Statement will be about no escape clause and we won't sell, not that player is happy methinks

Let's see if Agger's injury clears up just in time for January

If the rumours are true, it's hardly surprising he wants to go. There's loads on other forums about the problems in the dressing room between Hodgson's men - mainly the English fraternity - and the rest. If you believe them Agger is already on gardening leave pending a January transfer and Insua & Aquilani were shown the door so that Hodgson could bed in their replacements as his eyes & ears in the dressing room. Lucas was another to get the treatment to force him out, but he stayed and is back in the side from necessity as results were so bad. Pepe wanting to leave demonstrates how bad things have become. No way is he an agitator, if he is disillusioned it will be for genuine reasons it won't be for money or even naked ambition now we have new owners.

They bought the club on Friday 15th October. The quote was "within 28 days" which means midnight tomorrow.

Depressing isn't it. NESV/Commoli must surely be running their own statty assessments of the current playing staff to arrive at the same conclusion as the rest of us - it's the manager(s) more than the players who are at fault

Reina, Johnson, Agger, Cole, Lucas, Meireles, Gerrard, Torres, Pacheco, Babel I'm sure a really good attack-minded, motivational manager could build a beast of a side with that skill-base. As someone said yesterday, Xavi would be lost in our team we would make him look sh*te.

Someone said that Hodgson indulged in some "comfort" signings in the summer - players he knew about, who he thought could be relied on and would know his systems. Costly mistake because neither Konchesky nor Poulson are of the standard to play for Liverpool. Konchesky has been worse than I thought, weak in the air, hardly ever makes a fair tackle and panics too easily. Not seen him make too many overlaps either so I don't know what his crossing is like. Insua was way, way overplayed last season, lost confidence and was shot to pieces by the end of the season. But Konchesky has shown little improvement and it will be harder to dump him than a young lad on low wages like Insua. We need a new left back for next season.

Kelly pulled up with severe cramp after about 70 mins and had to keep stretching to see out the whole game. Might take more than a few days to recover, so if Kyrgiakos is back he may slot straight in with Carra at right back.

NESV have a real quandary here. For all the talk about long term planning, we have Gerrard over the weekend arguing the case for a quick fix and although much of it is paper talk, if we don't make the Champions League for a 2nd consecutive season we run the risk of losing Reina & Torres and will find it that much more difficult to attract the best players. That said, there is not the potential for value-for-money in January although we will have a budget for a change, maybe as much as £25m plus any money from sales. For me, it would be worth bringing in a season-turning signing rather than trying to fill in the gaps in the squad. Our top priority is a striker and Fernando Llorente for £20 odd million would be good business. Class player, age 25, hungry & ambitious and a different type of striker to anyone on our books. If not, then Ashley Young who creates & scores goals and is probably available.

That's 4 wins on the bounce and Roy has already told us we won't win 7 out of 9 so looks like we are f***ed now

Someone posted an analysis of Hodgson's tactics at Fulham and it was exactly as you state. The fullbacks tuck into the middle and this allows the opposition to put in crosses which in theory are easy to defend. However, it depends on having centrebacks who are strong in the air and until the Greek came into the side, we were weak in this department. Skretl has improved at attacking the ball and I would guess the coaches have been working on him, but he still fails to clear the ball from the danger zone too often. I bet Comolli is checking out Cahill right now