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Stone Cold Stunner as Reds target Austin?

Liverpool have reportedly been in contact with the representatives of in demand QPR striker Charlie Austin.

 

The former Swindon Town and Burnley man is also said to be interesting Chelsea who are on the lookout for a back up frontman to replace the departing Didier Drogba, while Southampton, Newcastle and Aston Villa remain keen on the £15m rated poacher who bagged 18 goals in his debut Premier League campaign this year.

 

The link with Austin and the Reds has been around for a few months and initially it appeared to lack any real foundation. It’s gotten stronger recently and clearly it’s coming from somewhere. A lot of it seems to be coming out of the North East so perhaps QPR are trying to force the hand of Newcastle - who have made him their number one target this summer - by throwing Liverpool’s name into the mix?

 

Alternatively it might be the Reds allowing themselves to be linked with Austin to show their main target Christian Benteke that they have other options if he doesn’t try to get Villa to lower their asking price. Most likely it’s the player’s agent trying to drum up more interest, but unlikely as it initially seems, perhaps the Reds genuinely do want Austin? He would certainly be in keeping with the 'buy British' nature of this summer’s business to date.

 

While a move for Austin's former team-mate Danny Ings didn’t exactly set the pulses racing, there was solid logic behind it as Ings is young, out of contract (and available for a low fee) and his all action style seems a good fit for how Brendan Rodgers likes his strikers to play. Austin on the other hand ticks none of those boxes. He’s 26 years old next month, he won’t come cheap and while he is certainly a goalscorer, he’s a penalty box striker and would have to adapt his game considerably to lead the line for this Liverpool team.

 

Normally you could file this one away under “tabloid nonsense” but the way Liverpool have conducted their transfer business in recent years would a move for Austin actually be that surprising?

 

 

 

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zigackly

Not really because Benteke has scored goals for Villa consistently for three seasons now whereas Caroll did so for 4 months and Downing was never a prolific goalscorer or even someone you'd classify as a goalscorer at all.

 

I might not have expressed it very well but the point I was circling around is that it's very much about how a player fits into the system, the group dynamic and the increased levels of expectation as well as how many goals or assists they got playing in a totally different context.

 

I don't see either Austin or Ings or Benteke as being particularly suited to the way we play (whatever the fuck that is on a week to week basis), and whether they can step it up to the level we expect under the pressure they'll find here is a total unknown at this point.

 

I'd also say our track record in recent years for cherry picking the best players from lower finishing teams has been particularly fucking shite as well. 

 

I don't trust this stat-based way of looking at things. We need someone at the club who can spot genuine talent and also we need to be making better judgements on the mental strength of players we sign. We seem to stumble from overpriced flop to overpriced flop, and I might easily be wrong, but our business this summer so far seems to fit the pattern.

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Boss

I might not have expressed it very well but the point I was circling around is that it's very much about how a player fits into the system, the group dynamic and the increased levels of expectation as well as how many goals or assists they got playing in a totally different context.

 

I don't see either Austin or Ings or Benteke as being particularly suited to the way we play (whatever the fuck that is on a week to week basis), and whether they can step it up to the level we expect under the pressure they'll find here is a total unknown at this point.

 

I'd also say our track record in recent years for cherry picking the best players from lower finishing teams has been particularly fucking shite as well. 

 

I don't trust this stat-based way of looking at things. We need someone at the club who can spot genuine talent and also we need to be making better judgements on the mental strength of players we sign. We seem to stumble from overpriced flop to overpriced flop, and I might easily be wrong, but our business this summer so far seems to fit the pattern.

 

I agree with a lot of that and there's no argument to be made about most of our transfers from lower level clubs not working, but Henderson, Mignolet and Allen worked out okay. Not saying they are good enough for where we aspire to be but they have proved to be better deals than others like Markovic, Moreno, Balotelli, Aspas, Fabio Borini etc. Point is we have a similar level of success whether we buy from the premier league or from abroad.

 

The "fits the way we play" thing is overstated, Borini fits the way we play but he's crap. Lambert at Southampton fitted the way we played and he looks rubbish. A good player approaching their prime will succeed because they are simply a good player and thats the bottom line.

 

I think Austin is a one season wonder personally and watching him this season he hasn't impressed me, Ings is a decent player though. Benteke is the best player out of the bunch and regularly destroys teams almost single handedly. Lacazette won't come here, Tevez will be going back to Boca, Falcao's gone to Chelsea, Vietto will probably sign for Atletico, the mancs are meant to be in for Mandzukic, Dybala's gone to Juve, Kane won't move, Inter won't let go of Kovacic and Icardi in the same window, Higuain won't come here, who is realistically better than Benteke?

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aRdja

How very selective of you. I'd prefer to throw in Coutinho, Sakho, Can, Origi, Kovacic, Markovic, Ibe, but then you're very busy being a shithouse and I can see you've got no time to waste.

Coutinho prob rested because of Copa America... You can swap Can in for Clyne, not sure that'd make the team any better. Milner is better than Markovic and Ibe, so I was being kind. So yeah, feel free to sub Sakho and Origi in..

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Anubis

The problem with our shot statistics from last season is that many of those shots were taken by players like Coutinho, Henderson, Gerrard, and Lucas from outside the area. So you would need to look at where Austin, Ings and Benteke's goals came from, and how many actual chances we created in those areas, for any meaningful comparison. Because I suspect you may find they are all more effective from inside the box rather than out of it.

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El Dangerous

If we're looking at stats and going down the root of 5 strikers then we might as well get in Bas Dost who will cost half of what Austin costs and will be easier to sell if all our other strikers take off and Sturridge is cured by Jebus.

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zigackly

I agree with a lot of that and there's no argument to be made about most of our transfers from lower level clubs not working, but Henderson, Mignolet and Allen worked out okay. Not saying they are good enough for where we aspire to be but they have proved to be better deals than others like Markovic, Moreno, Balotelli, Aspas, Fabio Borini etc. Point is we have a similar level of success whether we buy from the premier league or from abroad.

 

The "fits the way we play" thing is overstated, Borini fits the way we play but he's crap. Lambert at Southampton fitted the way we played and he looks rubbish. A good player approaching their prime will succeed because they are simply a good player and thats the bottom line.

 

I think Austin is a one season wonder personally and watching him this season he hasn't impressed me, Ings is a decent player though. Benteke is the best player out of the bunch and regularly destroys teams almost single handedly. Lacazette won't come here, Tevez will be going back to Boca, Falcao's gone to Chelsea, Vietto will probably sign for Atletico, the mancs are meant to be in for Mandzukic, Dybala's gone to Juve, Kane won't move, Inter won't let go of Kovacic and Icardi in the same window, Higuain won't come here, who is realistically better than Benteke?

 

I'd definitely be happier with Benteke than Austin, no question there. He's a much more versatile player, and could also lead the line as a lone striker, but he's still more of a target-man type of player than we've been used to playing with, and his best chances seem to come from the wings, whereas otherwise he's holding up the ball and waiting for runners from deep to join him in the box. Our best supplier of chances by a long way is Coutinho, and his passing game really suits a tricky striker with clever movement off the shoulder of a defender who can get onto a through ball splitting the defence, so we would have to adapt our approach play for Benteke in my opinion. I do think he could play with Sturridge in our system to an extent, but if Sturridge is injured again we need another like him, which Benteke doesn't appear to be.

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skend04

We are now making signings that Everton or Stoke would make. Really, what the fuck is going on? You would have to be a complete mentalist to pay £50/£60 to watch players of this ilk. But it does mean I can post this, would Charlie Austin do this to his boss? Oh hell no!

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magicrat

We failed to recruit a striker worthy of the name a year ago on the back of 2nd in the league and with the Suarez money burning a hole in our pocket . With no CL this time around and Gerrard gone why do people think it's going to change ? Charlie Austin is not my ideal choice either but a fit Sturridge aside he's better than the shite we have atm . Anyway it's far from clear we could get him anyway . Benteke the same . Alternative is taking a punt on some overseas kids Origi style or go for a journeyman like Tevez with too many miles on the clock and no desire other than to stuff his already bulging bank account further. We cane the club for having a fucking awful infrastructure but even with the likes of Ayre floundering about our ability to get the best players any longer has gone

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dennis tooth

We are signing english shit due to fsg soccerball upside potentials. Its all about financemen in footy and their hedge fund recruitment strategy, buy low sell high and english players offer the highest upside if it works out. Due to not having ffp the next possible cash cow for fsg is english quota rules meaning rich clubs with lots of foreigners will overpay. Plus the english tax. You can see where its wrong when we are looking just at the money. Whereas a brasilian for example can be useful on the pitch an englishman is potentially worth more.

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dennis tooth

Heres a list for all the mongs saying ings and austin will get us top 4.

 

Marcus stewart

Shane long

Andy johnson

Micheal ricketts

Dj campbell

Micheal bridges

Grant holt

Kurt nugent

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Tony Moanero

We failed to recruit a striker worthy of the name a year ago on the back of 2nd in the league and with the Suarez money burning a hole in our pocket . With no CL this time around and Gerrard gone why do people think it's going to change ? Charlie Austin is not my ideal choice either but a fit Sturridge aside he's better than the shite we have atm . Anyway it's far from clear we could get him anyway . Benteke the same . Alternative is taking a punt on some overseas kids Origi style or go for a journeyman like Tevez with too many miles on the clock and no desire other than to stuff his already bulging bank account further. We cane the club for having a fucking awful infrastructure but even with the likes of Ayre floundering about our ability to get the best players any longer has gone

Tevez is hardly a journeyman footballer.

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