January 2014 Transfer Thread

[Kevin D]

There is a tide in the affairs of men

Which, taken at the flood, leads onto fortune.

[Dr. J]

Wenger:

 

 

. Mata, 25, has fallen out of favour at Chelsea this season but Wenger is still amazed he could be allowed to join a rival. Asked if he was surprised, Wenger said: "Yes I am because Juan Mata is a great player and they sell a great player to a direct opponent."

 

He sold RVP to the mancs, but that's, well, different. Maybe he thought they weren't a 'direct' opponent.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I will be beyond happy if they are bringing in a DM under the radar.

 

But chances are, no. At least based on the sources I know, they are not doing so.

We may not bring one in, but that's not the same as failing to target one.

 

We've always got people at games and things can escalate quickly at the end of window, so I'm willing to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

[Horus]

£11m is going to be the fee for Salah. A 21yr old who was our top target, so he obviously fits the brief.

 

The player almost becomes irrelevant to the pattern of our dealings.

[Evil_Ways]

If we were getting close to a deal for around £8m, and Chelsea come in with 16, it's just fucking mental and we are fucking right to go away. Anyone who thinks differently is a god damn idiot in my book. What id find surprising though is if Salah wanted that move, at Chelsea he might make the bench and start the odd game.

[ngogswilly]

I will be beyond happy if they are bringing in a DM under the radar.

 

But chances are, no. At least based on the sources I know, they are not doing so.

I think targeting isn't the problem. I reckon we're probably keeping tabs on a selection of good midfielders. 

 

Its not being willing or able to pay that is the problem. 

[Fi!]

I'm willing to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

This is kind of the truth for all fans during a transfer period. Nobody really wants the worst to come, non matter how prepared you are though.

[Evil_Ways]

I think targeting isn't the problem. I reckon we're probably keeping tabs on a selection of good midfielders. 

 

Its not being willing or able to pay that is the problem. 

The money is going somewhere, im not all that clued up, but we are not hugely in debt like under cancer and aids, we constantly read about new and better sponsorship deals being signed, Warrior, Donuts, Chevrolet and what not. We are also receiving record money from the TV deal.

[Horus]

If we were getting close to a deal for around £8m, and Chelsea come in with 16, it's just fucking mental and we are fucking right to go away. Anyone who thinks differently is a god damn idiot in my book. What id find surprising though is if Salah wanted that move, at Chelsea he might make the bench and start the odd game.

They didn't.

[Jairzinho]

So then we surely have to start paying for 'sure things'. Like Mata, and Bale, and [insert name of player who we can't afford and won't join us]. It's not going to happen, so we've got to take a risk, go with somebody on the bench/in a shit league/ and use different ways of getting ahead, like buying a 40m player for 12m.

 

 

 

 

I'd not call 100% difference quibbling. That's a massive difference. Chelsea have, reportedly, come in and doubled our offer. What can we do? Match it? Fine. Chelsea go to 20m? Match it? At what point do we stop and say... no, we can get better for that money. That's how we'll improve and catch those who can throw money around.

 

 

 

 

No it doesn't mean that at all. Buying players for good value - like Sturridge, for example - doesn't mean we're left with a disjointed, unbalanced squad. Throwing money at the likes of Carroll and Downing, then fucking them off and having to rebuild it what has left us with a disjointed squad. That's going to take time to fix. Like it or not. I don't like it, nobody is being asked to like it, but that's what it's going to take.

 

I fundamentally think not spending too much on players who aren't worth it is a sound, intelligent long term plan.

 

 

When we were first at Christmas, I thought we we doing okay as a club. I still think we're doing okay as a club now that we've played two of the top sides - the richest two - in the country and we're fourth. That represents great improvement to me. We're not finished, of course. There's a fuck load to do, but this is what profession looks like - imperfect. Once you've reached your destination it's not progression anymore.

 

There are quite a few players who's ability falls somewhere between Aspas and Bale, as you're well aware.

 

I'm not talking about the price having doubled now. That's the whole point, this transfer should never have got to the 23rd of January. Do you think he'd have cost £16m two weeks ago? Three weeks ago?

 

No idea what Downing/Carroll have to do with what I said. In fact your whole response has no relevance to what I said there. I'm talking about signing a player because he's "value" even if we have other positions that are far more pressing. Targeting a forward and then signing three centrebacks, etc.

 

When we were first at Christmas it was nice, but not reflective of where were actually going to finish the season. So, largely irrelevant. Let's see where we are after 38 league games.

[ngogswilly]

Apparently theres an insider on RAWK whos been keeping all the lock happy mods informed about the Salah deal and hes about to post info about whats gone wrong etc... 

 

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=304864.1360

[Dr. J]

It's less the fee than the wages. City, Chelsea and, to a lesser extent, the mancs and Arsenal, pay much higher wages than we do these days.

[thompsonsnose]

Just buy a farking midfielder already.

Who is leading who here?

Is Rodgers telling the board he can handle it or are FSG not prepared to cough.

Who should we direct our ire at?

[Marcas]

Whether or not Salah is what we need at the minute I don't know, but it's pretty sad that we seem to screw about for an eternity trying to get deals done only for Chavs/Spurs/Dortmund etc to step in at the last minute and tie everything up in an hour or so. It does make you wonder WTF our guys are doing. Yeah, I know other clubs have more dough then we do, but when I think of the money we pissed away on Aspas, Llori, Alberto, to name but a few, it kinda fucks me off. I guess the common denominator on those three was that no one else wanted them...makes you think, when was the last time we signed a quality (and I mean real quality) player who genuinely had other options? Suarez? Maybe, but I don't recall a queue of clubs beating Ajax's door down. Here's hoping our 'Committee' have a giant rabbit ready to pull from the hat, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Saucepan]

Re: Numero Veinticinco, post #2781

 

 

YOU, you're very good you... Yes you are!

[Rotpeter]

Rodgers just confirmed Johnson will be out for a bit with a bad ankle and one or two other issues. Even though he's played shite of late, surely this makes signing a full-back even more urgent? While I'm happy for Flanno to play, Enrique is injured, Kelly doesn't seem up to it and Cissokho is chronic.

Playing shit being one of them, no doubt.

[Evil_Ways]

Well fuck Salah and move for Shaqiri on loan, but more importantly a defensive midfielder.

[Jairzinho]

Dont talk sense.

 

Fucking hell isn't it oobvious to everybody that transfers are all about leverage and risk. If he is your ONLY target then of course you pay 16m. If he's not then move onto the next Fucking target, considering they are valuing him double what you are.

 

The last thing you should do is leave your self high and dry...again and again.

 

But I guess it just happens right. Nobody's fault. Transfers are conducted by God's and fairys who decide our fate. If only we had prayed harder that Chelsea hadn't come in. God bless you Ian.

 

Haha, out of rep, mate. Spot on.

 

He's costing £16m because we fucked about for weeks.

 

"£11m?"

 

*Pulls smug face* "How about 10, 999, 999?"

 

"Fuck off"

 

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

There are quite a few players who's ability falls somewhere between Aspas and Bale, as you're well aware.

There absolutely are. Unfortunately, that remit is narrowed by the two important factors I mentioned above: CL exclusion and price. So that takes away much of what's beneath Bale. It's a sliding scale. We can pay lots for okay players who'll join us but aren't wanted by the top clubs, which is a big risk as we've seen (and why I mentioned, and find relevant, the signings of Carroll and Downing) or we can look for players who are either on the verge of being top quality, and pay a reasonable sum for them to mitigate the risk, and/or look for players who are under-utilised, like Sturridge, Coutinho and Sakho. I favour the last two. Either way, we don't have the option to go out and get the top players. So it's a punt. The risk factor just changes.

[Rotpeter]

Nobody does hyperbole quite like a Liverpool supporter during a transfer window.

= that * Internet

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

He's costing 16m because they wanted 16m. At least according to the likes of JP.

[Kevin D]

Is he not one of the many people who Is responsible for our transfer business?

 

Was he not spotted with Salahs representatives on Dec 9th?

 

Who else is accountable?

 

I said he has to take some of the blame. So does everybody else who Is a part of this ridiculous strategy.

 

7 days to go. Good luck with finding value for money now. Yknow...when its obvious you are in dire need of players as you keep going on about only having 15 players in the squad.

 

This is Liverpool football club. We don't believe in accountability. 

[Jairzinho]

There absolutely are. Unfortunately, that remit is narrowed by the two important factors I mentioned above: CL exclusion and price. So that takes away much of what's beneath Bale. It's a sliding scale. We can pay lots for okay players who'll join us but aren't wanted by the top clubs, which is a big risk as we've seen (and why I mentioned, and find relevant, the signings of Carroll and Downing) or we can look for players who are either on the verge of being top quality, and pay a reasonable sum for them to mitigate the risk, and/or look for players who are under-utilised, like Sturridge, Coutinho and Sakho. I favour the last two. Either way, we don't have the option to go out and get the top players. So it's a punt. The risk factor just changes.

 

Do you think we could attract Konoplyanka and Fernando to the club?

[Harry Squatter]

We should just break the bank for Messi, he'd crawl over broken glass dipped in aids infected dogs hit to play for us.

[Gnasher]

Glen Johnson out "indefinitely"

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool-defender-glen-johnson-out-indefinitely-reveals-brendan-rodgers-9080823.html