Who's this Rory Smith of the torygraph?

[ratcatcher]

Every one of his columns on us is nothing short of a disguised attack on the club. Is he the new hatchet man?

 

Sorry, cant cut n paste the whole story, the torygraph wont let me. I dont think we are 'badly short' of options or that our preparations are 'stutterring' or in a state of 'malaise.'

 

I think this is at least the 3rd possibly 4th column of his where he's trying to do us down.

 

Rafa Benitez badly short of options in Liverpool squad as Steven Gerrard returns - Telegraph

[Juan Galonso]

Every one of his columns on us is nothing short of a disguised attack on the club. Is he the new hatchet man?

 

Sorry, cant cut n paste the whole story, the torygraph wont let me. I dont think we are 'badly short' of options or that our preparations are 'stutterring' or in a state of 'malaise.'

 

I think this is at least the 3rd possibly 4th column of his where he's trying to do us down.

 

Rafa Benitez badly short of options in Liverpool squad as Steven Gerrard returns - Telegraph

 

Think I read something in the Mirror very similar to this on Thursday or it could have been yesterday not sure but Masch and Xabi to me are just as important as Gerrard and Torres combo. Lose one of them it will be bad but if we lost the two of them then we are seriously fucked. You can replace full backs with like for like really but all the central positions in the side need some type of stability.

 

The tit who wrote this I can't take seriously either. Because his name is Rory. What is he a frigging tiger or something.

[Sladey]

I thought the same thing as you, when I read it. I've managed to copy the article from the site, so here it is in full (or you can just click on ratcatcher's link):

 

======

 

 

Rafa Benitez badly short of options in Liverpool squad as Steven Gerrard returns

 

By Rory Smith

Published: 11:45PM BST 24 Jul 2009

 

Three games, one goal, no victories. Pre-season results are no gauge of a team's potential, but it is hard not to draw parallels between Liverpool's stuttering preparations for the new season and the malaise behind the scenes.

 

Steven Gerrard may have been found not guilty of affray at Liverpool Crown Court, but that was a rare ray of sunshine in a summer of increasing gloom at Anfield.

 

Friday's deadline for the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to refinance their £350 million loan with the Royal Band of Scotland and Wachovia passed without resolution. Sources suggest the delay does not indicate any problem, but that the deadline was "elastic", though there have been suggestions of complications regarding guarantees for a new package.

 

 

Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, may have learnt to tune out such distractions since the Americans arrived. Besides, under the terms of his new contract, he has complete control of Liverpool's football matters, and there is plenty there to occupy his thoughts.

 

Benitez intimated before the end of last season that all Liverpool needed to make that giant leap forward from second to first by May next year was stability, that if he could keep his squad together, making one or two additions of the utmost quality, the club's 19-year wait for a league championship would begin to draw to a close. That now looks a pipe dream.

 

Gerrard may be a free man, "free to focus on his football," as Benitez said in response to his not guilty verdict, but his pre-season will have suffered. The club captain was scheduled to play last night with a reserve XI at Tranmere, but he clearly would have preferred to be with his senior colleagues in the Far East.

 

That the England international will be joined over the weekend on Merseyside by Nabil El Zhar and Martin Skrtel, knee and hamstring injury victims respectively, adds to Benitez's woes. Fabio Aurelio, the left-back, is already expected to miss the start of the season with a freak injury picked up while playing with his children on holiday.

 

Benitez may have signed Glen Johnson for £17.5 million, but with Alvaro Arbeloa likely to join Real Madrid and Napoli in talks to sign Andrea Dossena, Liverpool's defence already looks threadbare.

 

Benitez's midfield, for two years arguably the best in the Premier League, is in danger of collapse. Real Madrid have turned Xabi Alonso's head on a £30 million move. Javier Mascherano, meanwhile, is thought to be keen on curing his homesickness for Argentina by moving to Barcelona. Liverpool's engine room has stalled.

 

Benitez does not have the funds to spend big – his coffers may stretch to the £3 million Sylvain Distin, but not the £20 million David Silva – but he does not yet know what his priorities are.

 

He needs action, and fast. Madrid and Barcelona must be presented with non-negotiable prices for Alonso and Mascherano. Benitez is adept at employing the velvet glove to get what he wants in the transfer market. Now, if he is to create the stability he craves, it is time for the iron fist.

[Salou]

I'm sure I read on another thread by UEM that he was a red?? I could easily be mistaken though and confused him for someone else.

[drewy]

Is it the same Rory Smith who used to write for the Mirror?

[Mischa]

I'm sure I read on another thread by UEM that he was a red?? I could easily be mistaken though and confused him for someone else.

 

That's ok. That's what I was going for.

[Red Nick]

I dont see how anyone can be upset with that article probably Echoing the feeling of a lot of LFC fans

 

He makes a valid point about all the need to sort out the team and its preperations for next season.

 

Its pretty clear that Silva wont be joining unless Xabi is sold.

 

The Bank refinancing is also a concern as they may be forced to pull the rug from under Rafa but thats just speculation.

 

There is a real need to move on positively and bring all the negative issues to a head

[ToxtethTerror]

Slightly negative article - Bad Journalist.

Slightly positibe article - great Journalist.

 

Or something like that. Have to say though, that article is utter shit.

[drewy]

I dont see how anyone can be upset with that article probably Echoing the feeling of a lot of LFC fans

 

He makes a valid point about all the need to sort out the team and its preperations for next season.

 

Its pretty clear that Silva wont be joining unless Xabi is sold.

 

The Bank refinancing is also a concern as they may be forced to pull the rug from under Rafa but thats just speculation.

 

There is a real need to move on positively and bring all the negative issues to a head

 

Behave Nick; he contradicts himself in the first paragraph.

 

By the way do you think you're the only Liverpool supporter who isn't aware of what needs to be done?

 

You need to get down from your castle and stop talking down to people.

[Red Nick]

Behave Nick; he contradicts himself in the first paragraph.

 

By the way do you think you're the only Liverpool supporter who isn't aware of what needs to be done?

 

You need to get down from your castle and stop talking down to people.

 

Kings talk down to peasants

 

its the way of the world and has been since king Henry

[Sinos]

Was he the twat that had a pop at AFC Liverpool in a blog post last christmas/new year?

[Ponz]

Truly shite article. He's lumped together every negative point he can think of with no regard for its relevance, significance or probability of occuring. The sort of paint by numbers garbage one would expect from the s*n or daily star.

[Paul]

Seriously, what is wrong with that? I've read this bloke's stuff on-line for the last year or so and he's a decent journalist. The fact is that our summer has not been the perfect preparation for the title assault we're all desperate for and that's what he's written. Some Reds are almost Evertonian in their touchiness these days.

[Redexile]

I dont see how anyone can be upset with that article probably Echoing the feeling of a lot of LFC fansHe makes a valid point about all the need to sort out the team and its preperations for next season.

 

Its pretty clear that Silva wont be joining unless Xabi is sold.

 

The Bank refinancing is also a concern as they may be forced to pull the rug from under Rafa but thats just speculation.

 

There is a real need to move on positively and bring all the negative issues to a head

Except the opening para is a load of bollox- how about a story on the millionaires of city unable to beat either Orlando Pirates or Kaiser chiefs??? How about the fact that not once has our strting 11 been fielded. You need to change the record now, plenty of fans are aware that we need a couple more signings.

[Paul]

Except the opening para is a load of bollox- how about a story on the millionaires of city unable to beat either Orlando Pirates or Kaiser chiefs??? How about the fact that not once has our strting 11 been fielded. You need to change the record now, plenty of fans are aware that we need a couple more signings.

 

Mate, all that opening paragraph is is a journalistic hook to hang his story on; the very first point he makes is that pre-season (which I returned to not bothering with a couple of years ago) is meaningless. He was just looking for a way to introduce a piece about the issues that have been a distraction for us this summer - and a distraction is exactly what they've been. There really is nothing wrong with it at all.

[Catch22]

Pre-season have absolutely no relevance to the real stuff: it is simply a bonding,fitness & money-raising exercise.

 

The problem with the article is not what it says but what it doesn't say.

Our distractions are exactly the same as the other big clubs working to a budget & are based on exactly the same underlying tax/FX/ Citeh & RM paying silly money reasons.

 

Arse lost Adebayour as they couldn't match his wages & won't reinvest it all in the transfer market, the Mancs lost Ladyboy & Tevez as they couldn't match their wages & won't reinvest all in the transfer market & we will likely lose Xabi because we couldn't match his wages & won't reinvest all in the transfer market

It is a general not a specific issue.

 

Even the Chavs are facing distractions because their captain has had his head turned by higher wages, although they do not have a hard budgetary constraint.

 

Doubtless he was write simlar articles about specific issues at the other clubs in a similar sensationalist way when the underlying issue affects all & is far more pertinent.

[crouchaholic]

Madrid and Barcelona must be presented with non-negotiable prices for Alonso and Mascherano. Benitez is adept at employing the velvet glove to get what he wants in the transfer market. Now, if he is to create the stability he craves, it is time for the iron fist.

 

Didn't Rafa already do this, at least with regards to Masch? If I'm not totally mistaken, he said something along the lines of "Barca can't afford him, as he'll cost about £40-50m".

[shaunstrudwick]

of course losing Alonso and/or Masch would be a massive blow if we could not replace with equal or higher calibre players - hardly cutting edge journalism that is it ffs!

 

but imo:

 

Masch will stay

Alonso will go

we will sign Silva

and another mid/attacker depending on how Rafa wants to deploy Stevie

 

i still want Snjeider to come but i think Rafa wants the cash

[hamstrung]

Not sure why anyone would get worked up about that

[The Acolyte]

Saw something in a I think the mirror which was about Whiskey Nose and his mind games. They then used an extract from THAT Rafa press conference where he said something about Ferguson deciding the fixture list and letting the other managers know as an example. That was a joke you moron!

[kelster]

Nothing wrong with that article. It's all about opinions. He's gives his opinions, none of which are implausible. We have a shitload of debt and player's heads are being turned by offers from other clubs. Grim times.

[MLB]

The papers have been trying to make a story out of our "stuttering pre-season" for the past week or so. It's a load of old bollocks like, but they're trying to sell papers aren't they? It's basically a whole load of bluster about nothing and will be over soon enough, one way or another. I'm not at all concerned about our pre-season so far.

[Count Morfeo]

Seriously, what is wrong with that? I've read this bloke's stuff on-line for the last year or so and he's a decent journalist. The fact is that our summer has not been the perfect preparation for the title assault we're all desperate for and that's what he's written. Some Reds are almost Evertonian in their touchiness these days.

 

Concurred.

[Guest Kenny]

of course losing Alonso and/or Masch would be a massive blow if we could not replace with equal or higher calibre players - hardly cutting edge journalism that is it ffs!

 

but imo:

 

Masch will stay

Alonso will go

we will sign Silva

and another mid/attacker depending on how Rafa wants to deploy Stevie

 

i still want Snjeider to come but i think Rafa wants the cash

 

Silva wont be coming, down get your hopes high.

[The Great Jacko]

He does have a point about our defence: we've lost Hyppia, may sell Dossena and Bob plus we have Aurelio injured and have only bought in Johnson. Makes me realise that a CB who can cover full back a la Distin as a very important requirement.