Virgil Van Dijk

[YNWAViking]

Seems more and more unlikely that we will sign VVD and Keita this summer. The former because Southampton hates our guts, and the latter because RBS wants to keep Keita for another year - and will reject any offers for him.

 

Fucking shit.

[Sputnik1]

Having put a statement out on our own website shows that we clearly did tap the player up. We  apologised and backed off from the club and player and if any half assed kangaroo court was set up could find us guilty very quickly.

At least nothing is going to happen now they've decided not to look into it but it leaves us unlikely to sign one of Klopp's first choice players.

 

 

 

Go on

 

 

 

“Liverpool Football Club would like to put on record our regret over recent media speculation regarding Southampton Football Club and player transfers between the two clubs,” said the statement. “We apologise to the owner, board of directors and fans of Southampton for any misunderstanding regarding Virgil van Dijk. We respect Southampton’s position and can confirm we have ended any interest in the player.”

 

Where's the evidence? What did we escape? Where have we clearly admitted tapping up a player? Surely to do so would be fucking stupid and of course the Premier League ignoring such blindly obvious evidence would be  incredibly fucking stupid too and put themselves in a very difficult position.

 

We escaped nothing, there is and was no evidence of tapping up the player. Or at least no evidence that we admitted it or that Southampton where prepared to put forward. Maybe they have told us that if we come any closer they will put the evidence forward, however once again. What did we escape because with no evidence there can be no punishment as there isn't a case.

[Rick Sanchez C-137]

We should table a £50m bid and increment it by £1.16 each day and keep sending revised bids. Just to piss them off.

[Mark M]

Go on

 

 

 

 

Where's the evidence? What did we escape? Where have we clearly admitted tapping up a player? Surely to do so would be fucking stupid and of course the Premier League ignoring such blindly obvious evidence would be  incredibly fucking stupid to ignore it and put themselves in a very difficult position.

 

Southhampton reported us to the league for tapping up the player.

which we did as was reported on various news out lets at the time. VVD meeting Klopp favouring a move to us etc etc.

 

Our response at Southampton reporting us was to release a statement to apologise and back off from signing the player. 

We are hardly going to put in writing that we actually tapped him up but from the way we behaved we knew as a club we were in the wrong if an investigation were to take place. 

Do you not think we didn't tap the player up ?

[Sputnik1]

We should table a £50m bid and increment it by £1.16 each day and keep sending revised bids. Just to piss them off.

 

 

Drip feed the revised bids, like from a tap you mean? Or to put it another way Tap up the bids or tapping up if you will.

[Sputnik1]

Southhampton reported us to the league for tapping up the player.

which we did as was reported on various news out lets at the time. VVD meeting Klopp favouring a move to us etc etc.

 

Our response at Southampton reporting us was to release a statement to apologise and back off from signing the player. 

We are hardly going to put in writing that we actually tapped him up but from the way we behaved we knew as a club we were in the wrong if an investigation were to take place. 

Do you not think we didn't tap the player up ?

 

You're shifting now, clearly. No we didn't admit anything and hearsay isn't evidence. My point is 'what did we escape punishment' for? read.... I'll wait. 

 

If there's no evidence, what punishment did we escape? My argument isn't what Southampton, me, you or the media think we did or what any hearsay suggested. If there's no evidence then there's no punishment and we escaped nothing, except looking like dicks. 

 

OK maybe we escaped being charged with tapping up, but if there's no evidence why charge us with that? It's the media running the whole "Liverpool are guilty and nobody punished them' angle. When if you boil it down every single football team out there is guilty of tapping up and Southampton are just being pricks. I hope it bites them firmly on the arse.

 

Got it?

[JustTosh]

Seems more and more unlikely that we will sign VVD and Keita this summer. The former because Southampton hates our guts, and the latter because RBS wants to keep Keita for another year - and will reject any offers for him.

 

Fucking shit.

A lot of the people at Soton are understandably pissed off and say things like "we'll never sell to Liverpool" etc.

 

 

But the one making the final decision is the owner. No investors ever became filthy rich by taking hurt feelings into consideration. If Liverpool outbids Chelsea or whoever, it’s in his blood to take the best offer.

 

 

We’re not completely out of it. Don’t think he will be a Red though. Our owners won’t pay the price. Easy way out was: Apologize and withdraw = we don’t want to pay that silly price.

 

 

[Mark M]

You're shifting now, clearly. No we didn't admit anything and hearsay isn't evidence. My point is 'what did we escape punishment' for? read.... I'll wait. 

 

If there's no evidence, what punishment did we escape? My argument isn't what Southampton or the media think we did or what any hearsay suggested. If there's no evidence then there's no punishment and we escaped nothing, except looking like dicks. 

 

 

Got it?

 

Not shifting anything mate. Probably have to agree to disagree.

If we did nothing wrong and behaved in the correct manor trying to sign VVD there would have never in a million years have been an apology gone up in writing on our website. 

The evidence as I've already said could be easily found if there was an investigation done which thankfully there won't be.

[Sputnik1]

Not shifting anything mate. Probably have to agree to disagree.

If we did nothing wrong and behaved in the correct manor trying to sign VVD there would have never in a million years have been an apology gone up in writing on our website. 

The evidence as I've already said could be easily found if there was an investigation done which thankfully there won't be.

 

 

Maybe we are arguing about two different things, my point is the media announcing today we 'escaped punishment' instead of saying no evidence was found that we tapped up the player. 

 

It's all media bollocks of course, sensationalising something but it looks like we have dodged punishment for something we are guilty of when we are not. A fine point yes but an important one I think. 

[Dr Nowt]

Keita and Brandt to Bayern Summer 2018 are up there with Trump being filmed wanking on the White House Lawn, while smeared in his own filth, for you can take that to the bank surety level.

[Red House]

Push the boat out and sign VVD and Keita. Do everything we can to get those deals done, even if it means paying 140M pounds. It's absolute robbery, but the spine of the team is strengthened enormously with two leaders who can be here for years to come and help us compete at the top level. 

 

Add the Salah and Solanke fees and we've spent about 180M pounds. Hopefully we've enough for a left back, but if not, so be it. But let's say we spend 200M. 

 

What will we bring back in sales? Arguably half of that, depending on who goes. Easily 70M of it, and that's without losing anyone we don't expect to lose. 

 

This is the summer we see what we're made of. Klopp delivered top four with a thin squad. The only way the penny pinching of recent windows is acceptable is if we have been saving our money up for such a time as this, when, if we splurge big on the right players, we can have a paradigm shift and look to compete at the top level, rather than trying to hang onto the coat tails of the best teams year in year out. 

 

Come on Liverpool! Let's add to the good business so far with two top players through the spine of the team. 

 

I would echo that personally, even though sadly I cannot see it happening. Maybe a couple of years back, I would have been like most on here going on about how this is too much money, x is overpriced etc... But, this approach hasn't gotten us anywhere, and it is pretty obvious why it has not. As some have mentioned previously, we could maybe get a defender 80-85% as good as Van Dijk for half the price and let the latter head to Chelsea or City instead. While that may represent better value-for-money from a business perspective, from a pure footballing perspective our better value but inferior player would just leave us lagging further behind teams that are already ahead of us in the league.

 

Value for money is NOT the name of the game. Unfortunately, we've been spoon-fed the idea with such consistency that most of the fan-base seems to have bought it. It's about maximising your chances of success by building the best possible team not the best value for money one. While you can always outdo your odds every now and then, in the longer term the strongest teams will almost always prevail overall.

 

I could understand the transfer fees being a concern if these would put us in a precarious financial situation, but that's clearly not the case. We haven't spent a penny for three windows, the tv money has risen considerably, we could raise a fair bit from sales and by all accounts there is clearly money to be spent. Similarly, I could understand the reticence towards the fees if they were eating up the budget towards other positions, but again there is little evidence of that happening. Earlier reports all suggested that we had the money to get all of Keita, VVD, Salah and a left-back in, not one at the expense of the other. While it would have been nice to get a new striker, that does not seem to be part of our plans unless it's Mbappe which we have little chance of getting anyway. Otherwise, we would have already been in for the likes of Aubameyang, Lacazette or Andre Silva. So, considering the money available, I see no reason why we are so keen to make the same mistake again of settling for cheaper but inferior alternatives instead of getting the best option available. Keita and Van Dijk could be exactly what we need to take us to the next level of establishing us as regular CL contenders if not more. Settling for better value-for-money but inferior players will just leave us in the same position as in the last decade, a club ingrained in the uncertainty of whether we will be making the CL season in season out. It is not just about much you improve, it is about how much you improve relative to others.

[TheHowieLama]

Isnt Lovren 80% as good as Van Dijk?

[lifetime fan]

Isnt Lovren 80% as good as Van Dijk?

Lovren hasn't been 20% as good as the Lovren we thought we were buying.

[joe_fishfish]

That's a great post Rev but I still reckon there's other players who can provide what van Dijk would, at like half or less of the price.

[JustTosh]

Keita and Brandt to Bayern Summer 2018 are up there with Trump being filmed wanking on the White House Lawn, while smeared in his own filth, for you can take that to the bank surety level.

Both quite likely to happen i agree.

[Baresi]

I don't understand why people are arsed how much £ we sign a player for.  It's not like anything not spent comes back to the fans in any way, shape or form.  We'll still see extortionate prices for shitty teams we draw in the cups and season tickets are never coming down.  So fuck it, just pay the cash and get the best players available and on the field for us, rather than watching others teams pay it and having these boss players playing against us. 

[Cardie]

I don't understand why people are arsed how much £ we sign a player for. It's not like anything not spent comes back to the fans in any way, shape or form. We'll still see extortionate prices for shitty teams we draw in the cups and season tickets are never coming down. So fuck it, just pay the cash and get the best players available and on the field for us, rather than watching others teams pay it and having these boss players playing against us.

Ever wondered why tickets are getting more and more expensive?

[Baresi]

Ever wondered why tickets are getting more and more expensive?

They've been getting more expensive for years and how many times have we splashed big?  As I said, we don't get any benefit and they even tried to put them up without us buying good players.  I'd rather it be spent on the field than on a yacht. 

[YNWAViking]

Lovren 2x^2 = VVD.

[Red House]

Lovren 2x^2 = VVD.

 

So, around 7% of Van Dijk then. Sounds about right.

[YNWAViking]

Something like that.

[Cardie]

They've been getting more expensive for years and how many times have we splashed big? As I said, we don't get any benefit and they even tried to put them up without us buying good players. I'd rather it be spent on the field than on a yacht.

As has the cost of transfers and wages.

 

It shouldn't stop us spending but it should make us more aware of the frivelous type of spending being advocated on here at the moment especially on the back of the false idea that we're sitting on vast reserves of cash.

 

We're not talking an extra million to make it happen we're talking tens of millions over multiple players for players that have proven very little at the top level on a consistent basis and, frankly, don't warrant that level of spending.

[an tha]

Are we the 8th richest club in the world or something like that?

 

Where do we rank on money spent on our squad in time Klopp has been with us....honest question I don't know answer.

[Cardie]

Are we the 8th richest club in the world or something like that?

 

Where do we rank on money spent on our squad in time Klopp has been with us....honest question I don't know answer.

Differs depending on the source as they count different things but most have us in the top 10.

 

Means the square root of fuck all mind.

 

On pure spend i'd be suprised if we weren't around the same though it's hard to pin down exact figures.

[El Dangerous]

Ever wondered why tickets are getting more and more expensive?

Because the demand is ever increasing and the EPL is a full of fat greedy cunts. Bundesliga manage reasonable ticket prices whilst competing in the transfer market.