Rafas spending?

[Rashid]

Knock yourself out. Don't forget to mention:

 

a) How much experience they have of English football, and

b) The likelihood of them coming under here under our present owners. (Just to repeat, that's our present owners. You know, the ones we actually have. Not the ones we don't).

 

And spare me Riijkard and Hiddink, because neither of them are going to come here.

 

Would you say "experience they have of English football" is a pre-requisite to winning the title here? Is that essential? Like did Wenger and Mourinho have it before they came?

 

As for your second point, this is Liverpool FC, we won't have problems attracting managers.

[Moschops II]

Would you say "experience they have of English football" is a pre-requisite to winning the title here? Is that essential? Like did Wenger and Mourinho have it before they came?

 

As for your second point, this is Liverpool FC, we won't have problems attracting managers.

 

I'd say experience of English football is one of the few genuine yardsticks you can use to assess whether a manager's going to be a success here. Benitez arrived having won the UEFA Cup and two La Ligas in the space of three years. If he's now turned out to be a failure, how can achievements in other countries be used as any reliable measure?

 

As for my second point, no, we won't have problems attracting managers. Klinsmann evidently thought better of it, but there's plenty more fish in the sea, I suppose.

 

Are we going to get the list now?

[RedKnight]

I'd like to see Harry Redknapp at the club. Bring a bit of *makes chopping gesture with hands* to the club. Know worra I mean?

[Dropkick]

Experience is overrated. Won leagues without experience

 

Wenger

Benitez

Rijkaard

Weh

Mourinho

Trapattoni

Capello

[Rashid]

Are we going to get the list now?

 

Managers who have won the league in less than 4 years at their clubs. (alsdo in recent times)

 

Rijkaard, Ancellotti, Wenger, Mourinho, Dalglish, Capello, Lippi, Hiddink, Mancini, etc.

 

Some have even done wonders on a shoe string at smaller clubs like Juande Ramos and Mourinho.

 

Some are available some aren't.

[El_Ménco]

Where's Rafa on the list?

[Moschops II]

Managers who have won the league in less than 4 years at their clubs. (alsdo in recent times)

 

Rijkaard, Ancellotti, Wenger, Mourinho, Dalglish, Capello, Lippi, Hiddink, Mancini, etc.

 

Some have even done wonders on a shoe string at smaller clubs like Juande Ramos and Mourinho.

 

Some are available some aren't.

 

Rijkaard's not coming. Wenger's not coming. Mourinho's not coming. Capello's not coming. Hiddink's not coming. Mancini's not coming.

 

By my reckoning that leaves Lippi (who I think has stated has no plans to return to football), Ancellotti (currently 10th in Serie A), and Kenny.

 

So those are your three candidates? Better get the word to Tom and Rick then, eh?

[Rashid]

Rijkaard's not coming. Wenger's not coming. Mourinho's not coming. Capello's not coming. Hiddink's not coming. Mancini's not coming.

 

By my reckoning that leaves Lippi (who I think has stated has no plans to return to football), Ancellotti (currently 10th in Serie A), and Kenny.

 

So those are your three candidates? Better get the word to Tom and Rick then, eh?

 

I think Rijkaard and Hiddink are realistic contenders... as is Mourinho but I don't want him and his digusting long ball game anywhere near us.

[Moschops II]

Where's Rafa on the list?

 

He doesn't count.

[Rashid]

He doesn't count.

 

He does count and he has had a decent chance at it too.

[Red Mist]

Managers who have won the league in less than 4 years at their clubs. (alsdo in recent times)

 

Rijkaard, Ancellotti, Wenger, Mourinho, Dalglish, Capello, Lippi, Hiddink, Mancini, etc.

 

Some have even done wonders on a shoe string at smaller clubs like Juande Ramos and Mourinho.

 

Some are available some aren't.

Wenger's the only decent example here. The rest all were successful in a short space of time because they either had an amazing set of players to work with, or had spent shitloads to achieve their success. Or both, in most of those cases.

[Moschops II]

I think Rijkaard and Hiddink are realistic contenders... as is Mourinho but I don't want him and his digusting long ball game anywhere near us.

 

Why would any of them come and work for Hicks?

[Rashid]

Why would any of them come and work for Hicks?

 

I can totally see your point but this is Liverpool FC mate, not some tin pot club.

[Dropkick]

We shouldnt worry about people who dont want to come here we should take a bet on some one like Madrid are taking a bet on Schuster and Bayern on Klinsi. It worked for Rijkaard, Benitez, Mourinho, Wenger..

[Moschops II]

I can totally see your point but this is Liverpool FC mate, not some tin pot club.

 

Good managers are going to want to go where they're likely to be successful. If I was Guus Hiddink and I got a call asking if I'd be interested in going to a club with £30 million a year debt payments to meet, to work for an owner who publicly told the media he'd laid the ground for the last manager's replacement while he was still in the job... I think I'd wait for the next one, thanks all the same.

 

No manager worth their salt is going to go somewhere purely on the basis of a club's (now very heavily tarnished) past reputation. Leeds were champions of England more recently than us; is Hiddink likely to turn up there?

[TheDrowningMan]

 

Fergie has spent less NET than Rafa over the past 4 years.

 

Ferguson had a far better team already, which counts for a lot. And I presume you're not incorrectly including Cisse's purchase in that figure. And, of course, the 18 years he'd spent (including 7 relatively barren ones) fashioning the club in his image didn't hurt.

 

Wenger is the only one with a cheaper side than Rafa, and he hasn't won a top tier trophy since before Benitez arrived in England. Not that the newly relegated European tin-pot counts for much more than nothing to a lot of people.

[jamespp]

We are also forgetting the fact that the cost of living has gone up since the Houllier days, and so players are more expensive now than they used to be.

 

no, player transfers were more expensive and inflated 5,6,7 years ago

[Croque Monsieur]

Ferguson had a far better team already, which counts for a lot. And I presume you're not incorrectly including Cisse's purchase in that figure. And, of course, the 18 years he'd spent (including 7 relatively barren ones) fashioning the club in his image didn't hurt.

 

Wenger is the only one with a cheaper side than Rafa, and he hasn't won a top tier trophy since before Benitez arrived in England. Not that the newly relegated European tin-pot counts for much more than nothing to a lot of people.

 

Alas, I'm coming round to the way of thinking that Rafa will take a lot longer than this to win the league. Of course if we're all happy with cup runs then this is no problem. I suppose it all depends on what we consider 'success' to be.

 

Wenger might very well win the league this season, and even if he doesn't at least his 'cheap' side is, at the very least, mounting a decent challenge. I don't think it's too much to ask that Rafa does the same. Or is it?

[Jonte]

My problem / issue with Rafa's spending is that he focuses way to much on qvantity instead of quality. We got to much average players.

For the money we've spent on Kuyt and Crouch alltogether, we could have had Torres x2. And in my eyes we would have been better with Torres,Torres, Voronin and Fowler as attackers than Torres, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin.

 

Look at the United team that won the title, they had a strong 11, but nothing much more than that. Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea, what is that?

[bobhorse]

My problem / issue with Rafa's spending is that he focuses way to much on qvantity instead of quality. We got to much average players.

For the money we've spent on Kuyt and Crouch alltogether, we could have had Torres x2. And in my eyes we would have been better with Torres,Torres, Voronin and Fowler as attackers than Torres, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin.

 

Look at the United team that won the title, they had a strong 11, but nothing much more than that. Darren Fletcher, John O'Shea, what is that?

 

The Day i start to worry about them bunch of cunts up the road is the day i will pack in

Go back over the last lets say 5 years and count up there trophy's and ours ok they won the Prem but you dont get any extra for that now like you used to

It used to be the European Cup and the chance to be the best of the best not anymore finish 4th and win the CL brings you much more than winning the Prem and nothing else

In the day when the Dollar is king mate that is all that matters so we just best get used to that

I'm not saying we dont try to or that we wont just that now it is something that will happen if it happens

[Paul]

These are all the players I can think of that Rafa has signed who have played in the first team. I've highlighted the ones I reckon have been an unqualified success in bold.

 

Torres, Alonso, Reina, Pennant, Kuyt, Morientes, Zenden, Aurelio, Josemi, Nunez, Gonzalez, Crouch, Garcia, Sissoko, Carson, Kronkamp, Agger, Arbeloa, Paletta, Voronin, Benayoun, Lucas, Itandje, Leto, Hobbs, Skrtel, Insua, Barragan, Mascherano, Anderson, Idrizaj, Babel, El Zhar, that Argie centre half who he had at Balenthia.

 

That's 5 players who've unquestionably improved the first team from 34 I can think of. Of the rest, a few (Crouch, Garcia, Arbeloa, Benayoun, etc) have been more of a qualified success, but there has been a lot of dross - and not all of it cheap.

[philyhamann]

Are people thick enough to think that we outright spend 40m? We sold 3 strikers to fund Torres.

[StevieH]

Are people thick enough to think that we outright spend 40m? We sold 3 strikers to fund Torres.

 

Using IOU notes.

[Benitaur]

These are all the players I can think of that Rafa has signed who have played in the first team. I've highlighted the ones I reckon have been an unqualified success in bold.

 

Torres, Alonso, Reina, Pennant, Kuyt, Morientes, Zenden, Aurelio, Josemi, Nunez, Gonzalez, Crouch, Garcia, Sissoko, Carson, Kronkamp, Agger, Arbeloa, Paletta, Voronin, Benayoun, Lucas, Itandje, Leto, Hobbs, Skrtel, Insua, Barragan, Mascherano, Anderson, Idrizaj, Babel, El Zhar, that Argie centre half who he had at Balenthia.

 

That's 5 players who've unquestionably improved the first team from 34 I can think of. Of the rest, a few (Crouch, Garcia, Arbeloa, Benayoun, etc) have been more of a qualified success, but there has been a lot of dross - and not all of it cheap.

 

Agreed, but of those sold, we only lost money on Morientes and Garcia. The rest we made money, or will likely make money when sold or at least break even.

[Paul]

Agreed, but of those sold, we only lost money on Morientes and Garcia. The rest we made money, or will likely make money when sold or at least break even.

 

I couldn't give a monkeys about that, to be honest mate. I want top quality players in the team not a constant merry-go-round of players coming in and going out, sometimes making a bit on them, sometimes losing a bit but rarely making us significantly stronger.

 

I do think this "But he makes money on his rejects" thing is also not especially right anyway, never mind being a red herring. Garcia, Morientes, Gonzalez, Josemi and Paletta were all sold at a loss. I reckon you could add Pennant and Kuyt to that list, were they to go on sale now. The big money spinners will be Momo and Carson, but they're both still here.