Scrotal -v- Anelka....

[Chewie]

hey...the spending ain't finished and who knows we may just add to our spending this transfer window..but who got the better deal today - us or Chelsea? It's just a question, not an accusation or hidden jab. However, wth Agger on the way back and their being relatively little difference between our defensive record and chelsea's and given that our need for a quality striker is almost as pressing as theirs (in fact more pressing perhaps even with Drogba being at the ANC)...which signing will offer more in the second half of this season? Which signing will push a team forward offering a different dimension that can possibly win games? Of course the fees are different but in a sense that reflects the difference each player can make in their own position...

 

I am hoping Scrotal is signing on the money earmarked for Heinze, that Masch will sign on the proceeds of Sissoko, but that we can still look to strengthen in the one area we need it most - creativity and potent attacking quality...

 

I think given our respective needs Chelsea have bought better for the second half of the season...though who's to say spending has finished for either parties. If it has however I can't help but think that these signings represent something of a difference in attitude towards the rest of the campaign....?

 

just wondering (this ain't a vehicle to start rafa bashing again...please!)

 

Chewie

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

Anelka's a c*** & he's no longer an option, thank f***.

 

Let's stop harping on about him.

 

He'll last 18-mo at Chelsea

[Guest Si]

Chelsea are above us in the league, have better players and have now bought a better player than 3 of our 4 strikers.

 

Clearly they have the better deal. if only we could make deals like that in the middle of January.

[stressederic]

Anelka's a c*** & he's no longer an option, thank f***.

 

Let's stop harping on about him.

 

He'll last 18-mo at Chelsea

 

I think that just about covers it really.

[alias75]

Its just another example of the financial difference between us and Chelsea or even Man Utd, Chelsea can spend just 5 million less than we spent on Torres in January for a striker that will be 2nd choice once Drogba's back.

 

Hopefully Skrtel is a good player and if thats the case we have the centre of our defence sorted for the next 5-6 years. If signing Anelka means Drogba's leaving then i think that makes Chelsea weaker, Anelka is a good player but he doesnt have physical presence that Drogba has if hes a replacement it makes Chelsea weaker.

[Chewie]

Anelka's a c*** & he's no longer an option, thank f***.

 

Let's stop harping on about him.

 

He'll last 18-mo at Chelsea

 

the point though is not about Anelka directly though it refers to him...its about teh difference in approach that's willing to buy a player who will improve the attacking threat of the side at a stage of teh season whena fresh injection of creativity may make a huge difference against the relatively minor potential improvement we might make given that its unlikely we'll improve significantly on what we have...

 

so its not necessarily about the personalities..its about the respective ambitions and priorities of both clubs....

[Toni]

anelka is proved quality premier league striker. he is always amongst the top scorers in the league. Anelka would have given our side more needed goals.

 

Skrotel- dont know anything abt him. still think the agger - carra is our first choice CB partnership, so in the short term anelka is the better deal.

 

In the long term we l see how both players adjust to life in their respective new clubs.

 

 

Me still hope we will sign a quality player with flair during this window.

[josemisuncle]

Regardless of whether it was the Heinze money or not, Rafa has said his business is done. Also looks like Momo will be loan first so we won't be getting $ in.

 

Chelsea definitely have the better deal no question about that ; but we still have the better striker. If only one other could step up to the plate and form a decent partnership it would make the world of difference. I'm getting to point of trying something drastic like throwing Nemeth in! What is there to lose?

[RafaShanks]

What a s**** and pointless thread.

[josemisuncle]

What a s**** and pointless thread.

What a s**** and pointless post.

[muleskinner]

Its just another example of the financial difference between us and Chelsea or even Man Utd, Chelsea can spend just 5 million less than we spent on Torres in January for a striker that will be 2nd choice once Drogba's back.

 

Hopefully Skrtel is a good player and if thats the case we have the centre of our defence sorted for the next 5-6 years. If signing Anelka means Drogba's leaving then i think that makes Chelsea weaker, Anelka is a good player but he doesnt have physical presence that Drogba has if hes a replacement it makes Chelsea weaker.

 

Drogba has stated he intends to leave in the summer hasn't he? He'll be Mourinho's first signing in Italy.

[carrafan]

As always, we are focussed on making s**** and pointless posts and threads here.

Edited January 11, 2008 by carrafan

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

This is the first time Anelka's had a decent scoring record in a major league. His overall goals:games ratio is little better than Crouchie's over their respective careers.

 

He'll upset the apple cart & for 15m, there are better players

[josemisuncle]

This is the first time Anelka's had a decent scoring record in a major league. His overall goals:games ratio is little better than Crouchie's over their respective careers.

 

He'll upset the apple cart & for 15m, there are better players

I don't think he'll cause any trouble, he seems to have matured and is not an "apple cart upsetter" anymore

 

Who better for 15m? If there is someone, give Rafa and Parry a call, we need all the help we can get

[MFletcher]

Well, we have £6.5M to spend. Who do you suggest we buy for that money? Another Pennant? Because that's what you'll be getting at this stage of the season unless you cough up a hell of a lot more than we can afford.

 

I'm bemused that anyone seriously thinks that we shouldn't have been buying Skrtel this window. We've just seen how stretched we were at the back with Agger out. Sami isn't going to last after the summer. Rafa has been following the guy since he was 18, so he knows what he's buying.

 

But if you can suggest to me a striker/winger of world class ability - which is what we need - for £6.5M then go right ahead. Because that's what we'd be looking at in January as no-one is going to sell their best players unless a ridiculous offer comes in (such as £15M for a 28 year old who'll be second choice by February). They are on a different playing field.

 

Absolutely ridiculous thread.

[Chewie]

What a s**** and pointless thread.

 

 

As always, we are focussed on making s**** and pointless posts and threads here.

 

 

Well, we have £6.5M to spend. Who do you suggest we buy for that money? Another Pennant? Because that's what you'll be getting at this stage of the season unless you cough up a hell of a lot more than we can afford.

 

I'm bemused that anyone seriously thinks that we shouldn't have been buying Skrtel this window. We've just seen how stretched we were at the back with Agger out. Sami isn't going to last after the summer. Rafa has been following the guy since he was 18, so he knows what he's buying.

 

But if you can suggest to me a striker/winger of world class ability - which is what we need - for £6.5M then go right ahead. Because that's what we'd be looking at in January as no-one is going to sell their best players unless a ridiculous offer comes in (such as £15M for a 28 year old who'll be second choice by February). They are on a different playing field.

 

Absolutely ridiculous thread.

 

my apologies to all concerned...I was under the mistaken assumption that we are in a competitive league with Chelsea and that a comparison of transfer policies during a transfer window was of relevance to a Liverpool football forum, not to mention the clear oversight on my part in not realising that it doesn't matter if neither team is in dire need of improving their defence but both could do with investing in quality up front. In addition I promise to always remember that the money we earmark for a defender is exactly the level of money needed to purchase a world class striker/winger rather than appreciating this fact but wondering if that same money could be better invested as part of teh overall payment for said striker....

 

next time the transfer window opens and its time for questioning how we are utilising our funds, how our main rivals are utilising theirs and whether or not we are adding players to our team who will make a genuine difference to a perceived weakness I'll be sure to register my interest on the financial times forums...

 

Chewie

[Hightown Phil]

Hi, I just bought this banana, could you tell me if it's a better purchase than the bottle of water I got at the same time?

[Chewie]

Hi, I just bought this banana, could you tell me if it's a better purchase than the bottle of water I got at the same time?

 

well actually that will depend on your nutritional needs at the time of purchase. If your dehydrated I'ld go with the water...if your in need of short term energy injection I'ld stick with teh banana....

 

given that defensively neither Chelsea or ourselves are 'dehydrated' but we both need an injection of energy I'ld say at this moment in time its appropriate to question how the money is being directed....

[MFletcher]

my apologies to all concerned...I was under the mistaken assumption that we are in a competitive league with Chelsea and that a comparison of transfer policies during a transfer window was of relevance to a Liverpool football forum, not to mention the clear oversight on my part in not realising that it doesn't matter if neither team is in dire need of improving their defence but both could do with investing in quality up front. In addition I promise to always remember that the money we earmark for a defender is exactly the level of money needed to purchase a world class striker/winger rather than appreciating this fact but wondering if that same money could be better invested as part of teh overall payment for said striker....

 

next time the transfer window opens and its time for questioning how we are utilising our funds, how our main rivals are utilising theirs and whether or not we are adding players to our team who will make a genuine difference to a perceived weakness I'll be sure to register my interest on the financial times forums...

 

Chewie

 

But we don't have another £9M to tack on to the £6.5M we'd save from not signing Skrtel - thus making the whole point irrelevant. We'll have funds in the summer to buy better attacking players, but the whole discussion is pointless as we couldn't compete with Chelsea for Anelka's signing.

 

We have £6.5M to spend. We may sell Sissoko, but I suspect that money may well be earmarked for Mascherano. That means we'll still have around £7M only this window to try and find an attacking player who is better than what we currently have.

 

No team will sell their best attacking players to us during January. This means we'll have to wait until the summer. In contrast, it is easier to buy defenders for reasonable fees in January. The likes of Vidic, Evra, Agger and Arbeloa have all moved in January for under £7M. We can't compete with Chelsea for £15M signatures in the window - that would be our second highest ever transfer fee. We'll have to wait until the summer to do such business.

[Chewie]

But we don't have another £9M to tack on to the £6.5M we'd save from not signing Skrtel - thus making the whole point irrelevant. We'll have funds in the summer to buy better attacking players, but the whole discussion is pointless as we couldn't compete with Chelsea for Anelka's signing.

 

We have £6.5M to spend. We may sell Sissoko, but I suspect that money may well be earmarked for Mascherano. That means we'll still have around £7M only this window to try and find an attacking player who is better than what we currently have.

 

No team will sell their best attacking players to us during January. This means we'll have to wait until the summer. In contrast, it is easier to buy defenders for reasonable fees in January. The likes of Vidic, Evra, Agger and Arbeloa have all moved in January for under £7M. We can't compete with Chelsea for £15M signatures in the window - that would be our second highest ever transfer fee. We'll have to wait until the summer to do such business.

 

I genuinely don't deny the logic of much of what you've posted...but Skrtel's value isn't going to increase much come the summer, and who's to say we are totally capped at 6.5 million, especially if that was the money earmarked for Heinz last summer. What if United go after that guy Huntelaar for 12 million...can we not compete with that even now or why will the funds only become available in the summer...

 

January is a tricky time to buy, there's no doubt about that...but to my mind Chelsea had just added to their strength in winning games for the second half of the season...we've increased our squad and the difference might just be crucial in how both teams fare from here on in...if the extra 9 million is going to be available in the summer then why not now given that a failure to succeed in the second half of the season could have very costly consequences?

 

Chewie

[Clay Davis]

Hi, I just bought this banana, could you tell me if it's a better purchase than the bottle of water I got at the same time?

 

 

well actually that will depend on your nutritional needs at the time of purchase. If your dehydrated I'ld go with the water...if your in need of short term energy injection I'ld stick with teh banana....

 

given that defensively neither Chelsea or ourselves are 'dehydrated' but we both need an injection of energy I'ld say at this moment in time its appropriate to question how the money is being directed....

 

had off!!!

[Clay Davis]

although i do think its irrelevant, they needed a striker, we needed a defender.

 

we both got what we needed.

[MFletcher]

I genuinely don't deny the logic of much of what you've posted...but Skrtel's value isn't going to increase much come the summer, and who's to say we are totally capped at 6.5 million, especially if that was the money earmarked for Heinz last summer. What if United go after that guy Huntelaar for 12 million...can we not compete with that even now or why will the funds only become available in the summer...

 

January is a tricky time to buy, there's no doubt about that...but to my mind Chelsea had just added to their strength in winning games for the second half of the season...we've increased our squad and the difference might just be crucial in how both teams fare from here on in...if the extra 9 million is going to be available in the summer then why not now given that a failure to succeed in the second half of the season could have very costly consequences?

 

Chewie

 

We don't have an extra £9M because of cash flow requirements, the fact that we won't get next season's TV money installment, prize money etc. etc. until AFTER the season finishes. That means that most people are getting by in January with their unspent money from the summer, maybe with a couple of extra million from various cup runs.

 

Chelsea are a different story because their owner simply injects cash into the club to fund new players. We can't do that. Hence the £6.5M we spent on Skrtel was the remainder of our transfer budget from the summer. We might sell Sissoko this window, but that will fund Mascherano no doubt.

 

We needed a defender. Rafa tried to get one in August and failed. He's got one in January.

 

Really, you can't even compare us to the likes of Chelsea. They have £15M to throw at a 28 year old to give them a forward line that cost almost £70M and must be collecting about 300K a week in wages between them.

Edited January 11, 2008 by MFletcher

[Falconhoof]

although i do think its irrelevant, they needed a striker, we needed a defender.

 

we both got what we needed.

 

you don't think we need another striker and a winger ?

I don't care about Chelsea and Anelka but I do care that our team has obvious handicaps.

If the transfer window closes with just a defender coming in then we've failed to gain a bit of ground on the superior squads of our rivals.

[MFletcher]

you don't think we need another striker and a winger ?

I don't care about Chelsea and Anelka but I do care that our team has obvious handicaps.

If the transfer window closes with just a defender coming in then we've failed to gain a bit of ground on the superior squads of our rivals.

 

We don't have the cash available to sign players that are good enough for those positions. We could sell players, but the one's we'll want to replace them likely play for teams in the Champions League. They'll be unwilling to sell half way through the season, meaning an extortionate fee would need to be offered.

 

It is sensible to leave all such "big money" transfers until the summer.