Glen Johnson....

[diego]

Rafa signed two shit full backs last summer, and currently wants to replace another full back he signed. He is great at signing full backs. NOT.

 

He transformed one good right-back into a better centre-back.

[diego]

Probably in those two bastards arse pocket(expenses). I would not be at all surprised if those two horrible men told him he could have the Keane money only for them to go back on there word.

 

I am convinced its 20m plus sales.

 

Did you tell Bascombe that or did he tell you?

[diego]

Seriously I don't know why some of you are so worried about the potential Johnson deal. Rashid tells us that the Board has the final say and he said they made a brilliant decision stopping the Barry deal last year. So, according to Rashid, you can all relax and leave it to brilliant George and Tom to overrule any dumb move Rafa makes.

[diego]

18.5M. Wow, maybe Benitez really is cracking up.

 

A club selling its best players always exaggerates the fee they receive to appease their fans.

 

With ATK-like certainty I can tell you the feet being mooted is substantially lower than $18 million.

[CrouchieBoy]

Fantastic post Rev, as always. Sensible and honest. I'll rep you when I can.

[philyhamann]

Did anyone think Degen would really be good? Not only is he shite, he had a shit injury record and it came as no surprise he was injured for the entire season.

[jackofdk]

If Rafa buys cheap players, it's wrong. If he buys too many foreign players, it's wrong. If he buys expensive english players, it's wrong too.

 

Some posters raise reasonable concerns over the ALLEGED price we might be paying for Glen Johnson. Others are in the usual tedious mode.

 

But Rafa has stated on record no more than a week ago, that he feels he has the funds to get the couple of players we need. If he feels that Glen Johnson is one of those and a long term solution at right back, then splashing big bucks is, in my opinion, the right thing to do. Our usual bid-low-and-wait-'till-august 30th-approach has seen us fail miserably time and again. And with so much money in the market this summer, we need to act even quicker. If that means paying a bit over the odds, then so be it.

 

And let us put this thing about him being the replacement for Arbeloa to bed for now. Right back is the only place in the team where we only have one proven player. That hurt us last season (Middlesbrough away and Carra's alleged refusal to play there). Rafa needs to put that right this summer.

[Jose Jones]

Did anyone think Degen would really be good? Not only is he shite, he had a shit injury record and it came as no surprise he was injured for the entire season.

 

I don’t even think Rafa thought Degen would be really good. He thought “he’s a decent player, free, good going forward and might be a useful option against “park the bus” teams – if it doesn’t work out I can flog him for a couple of million quid, what can really go wrong?”

What went wrong is that he’s been injured all fricking season so no-one knows if he’s any good, and we couldn’t sell him even if he’d been proven to be no better than average.

[Crazyhorse7778]

Well summed up by G Richards.

[llego]

I really hope Bob doesn't leave, we need competition in every spot and unless Darby improves drastically this would leave us with one RB again. On the plus side that would mean Johnson would only cost us 3.5 million in actual transfer money spent (8 mill for Arby, 7 mill that Portsmouth owed).

[Catch22]

English footballers are overrated, overhyped & overpriced (see Ingerlund)

 

The lower reaches of the PL are overrated,overhyped & not very good (see the Uefa Cup)

Look how shit Keane was at the CL level - he was "PL-proven"!

 

UK footballers have very poor grasp of tactics as they aren't taught properly yet Rafa plays a very tactical game

 

We don't need them for regulations as it is against EU law.

 

Complete waste of money

[Thants]

We can look at the league goals.

 

1. Man City - Kuyt scored in the 90th minute when we were attacking with everything we got, I think an argument could be build he was playing as a striker at the time and not a wide player, but I`ll leave this open.

 

2/3. Wigan - Kuyt scored two goals when playing up front.

 

4. Spurs - From the right.

 

5. Bolton - From the right.

 

6. Pompey - scored in the 85th minute, again we were attacking with everything we got, I would argue he was playing up front, came on for N`Gog.

 

7. Man City - Up front.

 

8. Villa - From the right.

 

9/10. Hull - cant remember but would go with up front, the reports leaves it open for debate.

 

11. Newcastle - Up front.

 

12. West Brom - from the right.

 

I`ll leave it at that, people can make up their own mind, but we certainly need an improvement out wide right, someone with pace and the ability to beat a man by skill.

 

Ha ha that's just majestic. Next time I'm at the library I'm going to get your book out.

 

[Thants]

And for the record I'm excited by this signing, based on his last 18 months I've watched him.

[jackofdk]

English footballers are overrated, overhyped & overpriced (see Ingerlund)

 

The lower reaches of the PL are overrated,overhyped & not very good (see the Uefa Cup)

Look how shit Keane was at the CL level - he was "PL-proven"!

 

UK footballers have very poor grasp of tactics as they aren't taught properly yet Rafa plays a very tactical game

We don't need them for regulations as it is against EU law.

Complete waste of money

 

You made that point 10 pages ago and didn't respond to my answer:

 

Well, I think there's a good chance you might be right if a case makes it to the EU judges. But there is no way on earth Rafa can or should base his forward planning on that. And our lack of english first teamers this season has held back the development of Darby and Spearing, as Rafa - according to Dave Usher - wouldn't let them leave on loan because he needed them for the CL squad.

 

We need english players this summer.

 

We can't make our summer signings on the basis on winning a case in a european court. First of all we couldn't be sure of winning, and secondly it would take years to get a decision anyway. So please stop peddling the same nonsense.

[coop]

I think last season showed why we do need another right back.

 

Degen is fucked and needs selling on so other then Arbeloa who is there.

 

We have Stephen Darby coming through the ranks but he is not ready to be a first team regular yet although hopefully he will get a couple of games during the upcoming season.

 

Arbeloa has been unsettled for a while now and with interest from Real Madrid it makes you wonder if he will go back to Spain so Rafa has a chance now to sign a player who can be a good signing.

 

At the moment the alternative if Arbeloa gets injured is Carragher who hates playing out there.

 

Johnson will give us a good outlet attacking down the right overlapping Kuyt and for me would be a good signing for £13.5m.

[jackofdk]

I think last season showed why we do need another right back.

 

Degen is fucked and needs selling on so other then Arbeloa who is there.

 

We have Stephen Darby coming through the ranks but he is not ready to be a first team regular yet although hopefully he will get a couple of games during the upcoming season.

 

Arbeloa has been unsettled for a while now and with interest from Real Madrid it makes you wonder if he will go back to Spain so Rafa has a chance now to sign a player who can be a good signing.

 

At the moment the alternative if Arbeloa gets injured is Carragher who hates playing out there.

 

Johnson will give us a good outlet attacking down the right overlapping Kuyt and for me would be a good signing for £13.5m.

 

I agree. And I can't help but notice that you keep mentioning 13,5m as the price. Why is that?

[llego]

Not to mention it puts to rest all that drivel about LFC getting bullied around this transfer window. A week ago lots of headlines read like Transfer crisis: LFC loses out on Barry and on the verge of losing Johnson. This helps remind everyone that we can buy who we want, at least until we run out of money. There are limits to Man City's reach.

 

Edit: Finally found a decent youtube compilation of him.

[YOUTUBE]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFmzTt1aK6k&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFmzTt1aK6k&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]

YouTube - Glen Johnson // PFA Right Back of the Year

Edited June 16, 2009 by llego

[Thants]

There are lots of ways of looking at this signing. I don't think any of us likes the price very much, but that is the reality of the current situation. There are a number of money laden clubs around. I would like to pay £8-10M for Johnson, but if that isn't possible then so be it. We have bought a fair few fullbacks for around the £2-3M mark during Rafa's tenure, so if he 'overpays' on one then that's not the end of the world.

 

If Arbeloa is off to Real Madrid for £8-10M then he nees to be replaced. I think Johnson is an upgrade over Arbeloa, especially in attacking. And we should take the whole right flank into consideration in weighing up the merits of Johnson's signing. Kuyt is a fixture in the side. He hasn't fully convinced everyone, but I think it is fair to say that most of those who have had legimitate doubts can at least see what he brings to the side. He is not a lightweight, dribbler-type, who will miss a fair few games through injuries and whatnot. He is a solid citizen who puts in a shift every single time; a player who defends in his area of the pitch by putting their defenders under pressure, and one who weighs in with his share of goals. All good. Lamenting what he does not bring to the side has been done ad infinitum.

 

So what has this got to do with Johnson? Well, if we can say Dirk is a 'defensive attacker', then Johnson is an 'attacking defender'. My point is, between the two of them we might, just might, have great balance on the right flank.

 

I think most people feel that we already have a good squad, so what we need to do is now look to improve the first team as best as we can. Johnson should be an improvement on Arbeloa, so it makes a lot of sense, especially if we also factor in his age and place of birth, given the quota of home grown that will be needed.

 

All this brings me to the price. If paying this much for Johnson means we cannot afford an attacker (I use the term loosely, referring to the front four, but in my view the position in most need of strengthening is the left of the three behind Nando) then I feel that Johnson is a mistake.

 

But if Rafa feels he can still get the attacker he needs after this signing then he should pursue Johnson. After all, it is not as though there are no other suitors for Johnson. If Rafa waited first to sign the attacker, in all likelihood Johnson will be snapped up by Chelsea/Citeh/whoever.

 

As ever, we need to see what the window brings in its entirety before we can weigh up the merits of an individual signing. If Johnson is the only signing then it is an improvement on one position, though probably not the most pressing area in the side. So, let's wait and see what happens.

 

Post of the thread. Top top summary Rev.

[Torvald Utne]

I think this may be the reason why people lose their rag....

 

(and this is only the times when he mentions them both by name in the same post)

 

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/search.php?searchid=656454

[The 5th Benitel]

English footballers are overrated, overhyped & overpriced (see Ingerlund)

 

The lower reaches of the PL are overrated,overhyped & not very good (see the Uefa Cup)

Look how shit Keane was at the CL level - he was "PL-proven"!

 

UK footballers have very poor grasp of tactics as they aren't taught properly yet Rafa plays a very tactical game

 

We don't need them for regulations as it is against EU law.

 

Complete waste of money

 

 

Gerrard, Carragher, Lampard, Terry, A Cole, J Cole, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs are all players who have played in Champions League finals and at least challenged for a PL title in recent years. What's the other thing they've got in common?

 

And from what i remember English teams tend to sack off the UEFA Cup cos it's not worth bothering with. The fact Rangers were in the final recently backs that up.

 

It's just standard tabliod horseshit to say English players aren't 'technically good enough' if England lose a few matches. The fact is if the majority of England's starting 11 went up for sale the top clubs in Europe would be fighting each other to sign them up.

[coop]

I agree. And I can't help but notice that you keep mentioning 13,5m as the price. Why is that?

 

Due to the fact most people are going overboard on the Times article becuase it states we are signing him at £18.5m but if you read that article again you will see they state that price is only after £5m of 'addons' are taken into account.

 

Another words if people are going to say we paid/paying £18.5m for Johnson then we may as well say we paid £26.5m for Torres.

 

The £18.5m fee quoted in the press is likely to be the eventual fee if Johnson achieves all the addons but considering that probably includes winng the Premier League/Champions League then im sure we could live with that.

 

If the Times is to believed we will pay £6.5m for Johnson (£18.5m minus £5m for addons minus £7m owed money from Crouch).

 

The problem is for a newspaper saying we are signing Johnson for £6.5m does not have the same sensational headline as 'Liverpool to pay £18.5m for Johnson.

[jackofdk]

Cheers.

 

Now the only thing that we need to clear up is how they can still owe us that much for Crouchy, but I guess it is the phenonemon known as the Parry Effect.

[cochcaer]

Were he going to another club, those defending the fee would be on here laughing their bollix off.

[Catch22]

Gerrard, Carragher, Lampard, Terry, A Cole, J Cole, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs are all players who have played in Champions League finals and at least challenged for a PL title in recent years. What's the other thing they've got in common?

 

And from what i remember English teams tend to sack off the UEFA Cup cos it's not worth bothering with. The fact Rangers were in the final recently backs that up.

 

It's just standard tabliod horseshit to say English players aren't 'technically good enough' if England lose a few matches. The fact is if the majority of England's starting 11 went up for sale the top clubs in Europe would be fighting each other to sign them up.

 

 

The tabloids always claim we can win the WC & when we don't it is due to bad luck/foreign refs, etc.

They never admit that we are in fact pretty average.

 

Some clubs also claim to "sack off" the Uefa club when in fact they fail in it.

Winning it would bring all involved personal glory, money & career progression (without success in Europe they are not going to get a top 4 job)

They are desperate to do well but aren't up to it.

[JohnnyH]

Were he going to another club, those defending the fee would be on here laughing their bollix off.

 

No. I think the same few people would be saying that around £15m is what you'll expect to play for a first choice 24 year old England International right back recently voted right back of the year and with 4 years left on his contract.

 

I however agree that the same people on here who seem to think prices are still at 2000 levels, would still be laughing at the fee. But I get the feeling these same people would balk at Villa for £20m.