Commence Meltdown

[Cardie]

I don't understand why anybody thinks it's bullshit. Rafa demanded money and swift action. He hasn't had either so far.

 

If he's going to do a runner why is he spending, or being allowed to spend, what little money we supposedly have?

[Dirk]

If he's going to do a runner why is he spending, or being allowed to spend, what little money we supposedly have?

 

You mean how Parry allowed Houllier to sign Cisse despite the fact that they had strong reservations about whether to sustain his tenure?

[Cardie]

You mean how Parry allowed Houllier to sign Cisse despite the fact that they had strong reservations about whether to sustain his tenure?

 

Houllier who left a year later and hadn't threatened to walk out you mean?

[kop]

 

Now a Reds source has told daily financial newspaper CityAM that Benitez has real concerns about the future ambitions of the club.

 

"If Gillett and Hicks cannot give Rafa a budget in which a sensible assault on the title, then Rafa will not hang around for long," he said.

 

"It simply doesn't look like Liverpool are competing in the transfer market and Rafa would definitely position than he is right now."

 

We used to laugh at reports like this one. "a red source...." - give me a break. They've read TLW that's what they have. I'll be the first one to speak out when/if this "crisis" is confirmed, but until then I'll continue to laugh at the "red sources" quoted all over the place.

[Seemann]

I don't understand why anybody thinks it's bullshit. Rafa demanded money and swift action. He hasn't had either so far.

 

That might be, but Rafa also said that he wanted to buy at the right price. Maybe that´s why the 2 players that was ready to sign after Athens never did? If Rafa values Malouda at £10 m. then he won´t pay £17 m.

 

IF Rafa is frustrated then it might be course of clubs holding us for ransome instead of him not having the financial support by the americans?

 

If he does meet Malouda´s pricetag at £17 m. then what will he have to pay for a top striker? We´re not West Ham!

 

We haven´t missed out on any of our proposed targets (yet).

 

I won´t worry before Rafa makes another statement like in Athens.

[Dirk]

Houllier who left a year later and hadn't threatened to walk out you mean?

 

Erm, the idea is that Rafa "might" leave not that he is, therefore Rafa is going to carry on with his job, performing his duties doing what he has been doing, planning for the future with LFC until he definitely makes a decision. Might and will are two different words. It's quite conceivable that he might leave, in fact, I suspect he will but at the moment he seemingly doesn't know either way what his budget will be so why would he suddenly stop doing what he's been doing for the past three years, before he has a definitive answer?

[Seemann]

If he's going to do a runner why is he spending, or being allowed to spend, what little money we supposedly have?

 

Yes, it makes no sense at all.

[Red Nick]

Just read the echo website we offered £10 million for Bent last week - seems there is money to be spent, throughout all this takeover/lack of cash/rafa quits stuff the only thing that springs to mind is you never heard all this tripe years ago!

 

Now I dont believe we put in an offer for Bent but even if we take the article at face value, why are we offering 10m for a striker that is going to be sold for at least 15m.

 

It will all come out in the next few weeks exactly what has been going on and I still believe all the problems are being caused by the lack of leadership from the joint owners

[BRANDS]

Now I dont believe we put in an offer for Bent but even if we take the article at face value, why are we offering 10m for a striker that is going to be sold for at least 15m.

It will all come out in the next few weeks exactly what has been going on and I still believe all the problems are being caused by the lack of leadership from the joint owners

 

Are we not offering a value we think he's worth - similar to what happened with Alves last year ?

[crouchaholic]

I know its the mail, I know its saying we've lost out on Bent, when it seems like were stil bidding, but hey, lets add to the collective optimsim round here ;

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=462173&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow

 

Benitez could quit Liverpool over lack of transfer funds

Last updated at 11:30am on 15th June 2007

 

Rafael Benitez could quit as Liverpool manager after becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of spending power at Anfield.

 

The Spaniard warned the club's new owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, he needed a £100m transfer kitty to overhaul his squad and turn them into Premier League title contenders.

 

And he set his sights on making two major signings over £10m immediately after losing to AC Milan in the Champions League final.

 

But the American tycoons are reported to be at loggerheads over the transfer budget.

 

The first signs of conflict came after Liverpool pulled out of the £17m race to sign Charlton and England striker Darren Bent.

 

Then the Reds made a £1m bid for West Ham winger Yossi Benayoun, which the Hammers described as an "insult".

 

Now a Reds source has told daily financial newspaper CityAM that Benitez has real concerns about the future ambitions of the club.

 

"If Gillett and Hicks cannot give Rafa a budget in which a sensible assault on the title, then Rafa will not hang around for long," he said.

 

"It simply doesn't look like Liverpool are competing in the transfer market and Rafa would definitely position than he is right now."

 

What the heck does this mean?

[Red Nick]

Are we not offering a value we think he's worth - similar to what happened with Alves last year ?

 

If we bid for him it does seem a similar approach that failed and doesnt work.

 

Apparently Rafa has just put on his favourite all time CD

[kop]

What the heck does this mean?

 

It's summer. Not only don't they have sources for their quotes, they've even let the proof readers go on holliday.

[sh#t waffle]

move along, nothing to see here

[Red Nick]

move along, nothing to see here

 

He is the cunt of cunts thats for sure.

 

Does he really think thats going to pacify the anxious fan

 

Not even a mention of were working on our new target etc etc

[BRANDS]

If we bid for him it does seem a similar approach that failed and doesnt work.

 

Apparently Rafa has just put on his favourite all time CD

 

What...love on the rocks ?

[Red Nick]

[/b]

 

What...love on the rocks ?

 

Bat Out Of Hell

[Cardie]

Does he really think thats going to pacify the anxious fan

 

 

You wouldn't have believed him whatever he said so is their really a point?

 

Far better to concentrate on what has actually happened (and what supporters seem eager to ignore) than what is yet to happen.

[crouchaholic]

It's summer. Not only don't they have sources for their quotes, they've even let the proof readers go on holliday.

 

No, I think that was what The Red Source actually said! :thumbup:

[Strontium]

why are we offering 10m for a striker that is going to be sold for at least 15m

 

It's our "way out" policy. We make a big bid that falls substantially short of the asking price in the knowledge that it'll be rejected, but to the outsider it still looks like we have money to spend.

 

It's the Liverpool equivalent of Everton's "failed his medical".

 

Someone oughta tell Tom & George that when Rafa said he needed 100 million to overhaul the squad, he was talking about pounds and not excuses.

[Bellflower]

I'm as twitchy as everyone else BUT

Kenny signed only a few days before The Shield.

Sit tight.........................

[Guest davelfc]

It's been a highly satisfying couple of weeks for everyone at Anfield with the news that Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Pepe Reina and Xabi Alonso have all signed new deals.

 

Liverpool managers have always talked about the importance of the spine of the team and Rafael Benitez is delighted that his number one goalkeeper, a highly influential centre-back, his inspirational captain and a key member of the midfield engine room have demonstrated their support for what we are striving to achieve at Anfield.

 

These are the players Rafa wanted to get signed and in the case of Xabi, it has ended ongoing speculation about his future at Anfield.

 

This is a very big contract for Xabi. He is 25 now and has committed himself to the club for another five years. This was a really important decision for him because it means he will now be playing at the peak of his career at Anfield. It's fantastic that he is staying because we have had a year of speculation regarding a possible return to Spain. There were reports a year ago linking him with Real Madrid and it's always unsettling when the newspapers continue to carry stories about a possible move.

 

Of course, we have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare the way for a new deal for Xabi, as we have with the other players.

 

All four signings are a signal of our determination to build powerfully for next season. Of course, the news that broke first concerned Stevie and Carra and that set the stage for the announcements about the others.

 

All in all, I am personally delighted that these important contract negotiations have now been concluded. We can now move onto the next challenge as we strive to take our squad from strength to strength.

 

Another exciting message coming out of Anfield this week related to our revised new stadium plans. All will be revealed in a visual sense in a few weeks time, but the architects have achieved a huge amount in a short space of time.

 

I'm sure you will find the plans very exciting. The challenge we set was to produce something that was unique to Liverpool and I believe this has been achieved. We are still talking about the summer of 2010 for completion.

 

Still not seen UEFA report

 

We have still not seen the much-vaunted report produced by UEFA in which they suggested our fans were the worst behaved in Europe. We have trawled through every game over the last four years and studied reports provided by UEFA and the FA during this period. We were extremely surprised, to say the least, at the suggestion that there might be 25 instances of bad behaviour by our fans. What we did find were many instances of UEFA being positive about Liverpool FC and our fan base.

 

I reflect on occasions like the visit of Juventus to Anfield in April, 2005 when Michel Platini himself was part of a friendship ceremony on the pitch before our Champions League quarter-final. Our fans presented a flag through Platini and Phil Neal that was carried to the Juve end. This was a night when we produced a special matchday programme under the banner: "The hand of friendship."

 

We also handed out a four-page publication, translated into Italian, that carried a personal message from Ian Rush who played for both clubs. Platini, now the UEFA president, was quoted as saying how impressed he had been with our fans that night.

 

We have had other massive Champions League occasions here like Chelsea twice and Barcelona when UEFA expressed satisfaction at the organisation and the colour and passion of the supporters.

 

To be fair to Platini, he has since come out and said: "Liverpool fans are not the worst behaved and that's official!"

 

However, it has all left a bad taste and that is why we were encouraged with the stance of Minister of Sport Richard Caborn who we had a dialogue with before and after his meeting with UEFA. We appreciate the fact that he took the trouble to contact the club, unlike UEFA’s director of communications William Gallard who we have never spoken to.

 

To repeat, we have still not seen the report and I made the point to the Sports Minister that we were unimpressed with the way details had been trailed in the media last weekend.

 

Gallard has half retracted the contents, talking instead about minor incidents. We would still love to see that report.

 

At the same time, we need to reflect on those people who behaved badly in Athens at the expense of their fellow supporters. We really feel for those Liverpool fans who had genuine tickets and still didn't get in.

 

To his credit, Dick Caborn is now focusing on the way ahead and the lessons that must be learned.

 

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/NG156169070615-1207.htm

 

 

Excuse me if I don't cut my wrists just yet eh?

[Ged B]

^ ^ ^

Well there you go then. Good old trustworthy Rick say's everythings going to be o.k, thats laid my fears at ease anyway.

I feel so much better.

[Guest davelfc]

^ ^ ^

Well there you go then. Good old trustworthy Rick say's everythings going to be o.k, thats laid my fears at ease anyway.

I feel so much better.

 

 

Compared to some rubbish in a tabliod? yeah!

[Ged B]

Compared to some rubbish in a tabliod? yeah!

 

Or from a reporter who apparently speaks to Benitez everyday?

But if you would rather believe an article on the official website, written by a proven liar, then go right ahead.

[Guest davelfc]

Or from a reporter who apparently speaks to Benitez everyday?

But if you would rather believe an article on the official website, written by a proven liar, then go right ahead.

 

I will use my own judgement and will until I see or hear anything that convinces me otherwise believe the article on the official website.

 

If you want to trust tabloids that never lie then go right ahead.