Bascombe on Henchoz.

[sammya]

And that hits the nail on the head. In the treble season, we mightn't have had the best team in the land, but we had players who wanted it, and were prepared to put in that extra bit of effort to get it. (remember Markus' lungbursting run in extra time against Brum?)

 

That's why we got some 'lucky' breaks, whereas now we're not getting them. You make your own luck.

 

Somewhere along the line we lost that spirit and unity(in my opinion with the influx of too many french speaking players which has diluted the team spirit and morale at th club).

 

Djibril Cisse at £14m may bring talent, pace, power whatever, but who's to say he isn't going to look for the easy ride and enjoy the nightlife like some of the other French players who've come over? He might not of course, but £14m is a big risk, especially given the money we're going to lose when H*skey and Diouf are sent packing.

 

We need to compete in England before we can even worry about Europe. We need players who are winners, and who will do it week in week out, whether they're playing against Arsenal or Leicester.

 

I'd be looking to bring in those who I would trust 100% to show commitment every week. That, by and large, would mean British players.

 

Alan Smith and Shaun Wright-Phillips would fit the bill, and I'd also be in for Joe Cole although I know a lot aren't convincved by him.

 

Even players like Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton would add something to the squad which we haven't been getting from the Cheyrou's and Diao's of this world.

 

The team spirit would improve, we'd have a bit more grit when the going gets tough (whereas now we don't have it apart from Gerrard, Carra and a handful of others), and the banter in the dressing room would make for an altogether better, happier atmosphere at the club.

 

Welsh, Otsemobor & co should also be brought into the squad on a regular basis.

 

Oh, and how about Erik Meijer as manager ;-)

 

 

where's the english spine to arsenal, pray tell.

 

Its more complicated than that dave and you know it. Cisse is different to cheyrou as he has the mentality of a winner and to lump the 2 together because of nationality is unfair

[Guest Podge]

Getting back to steph, he wont get a look in now after

making those comments. He'll be blacklisted for saying

Houlliers job is on the line. Bring back the grimmace!

[Truered]

Doesn't matter Podge HOullier will be gone soon and 'The Grimmace' will be back shortly.

[Guest Podge]

Doesn't matter Podge HOullier will be gone soon and 'The Grimmace' will be back shortly.

 

I hope your right but I wouldn't put my mortgage on it!

[dave u]

where's the english spine to arsenal, pray tell.

 

Its more complicated than that dave and you know it. Cisse is different to cheyrou as he has the mentality of a winner and to lump the 2 together because of nationality is unfair

 

It is more complicated than that, I agree and I'm not suggesting that bringing in a few more reliable British players will turn us into champions. But at least we'll have players who we know will be giving it everything no matter who the opposition.

 

Do you think we're getting that now?

 

The Cisse/Cheyrou thing we'll find out in time. You may be right, but given our appalling lack of success with players from France surely you can understand the scepticism?

 

As for Arsenal, they can afford to have fewer British players because they have a manager who can spot talented players with a winning mentality, and he can then get them playing to a system which makes them devastatingly good.

[Bamo]

Tom R said - Just had a scary thought.

If we get a new manager (please Lord!) then who's to say we won;t get one who thinks the sun shines out of Hes*ys arris??!! Most of the fecking do!!!

Eek! - like MO'N you mean.

Actually I wonder if a motivator like MO'N could get us back the Emile of treble season rather than the H****y of the last 2 years.

No one doubts his ability he just needs handling properly (probably)

The same could apply to half of our squad play em in the right position give them the "fire in your belly that comes from pride and passion in wearing the Red shirt" and no 19 is in the bag.

 

Where do I send my CV?

[aws]

Gerrard,Carra and Owen are the only players who imo show a real winning mentality on a consistent basis and recently Owen has (maybe understandably) allowed himself to be distracted by his personal problems (like SG last year).Sami used to have it but seems to have lost both focus and pace over the last two years although he has improved since losing the captaincy.

It's not enough and is the biggest reason for our dreadful under-performance.We have too many "confidence players" who only perform when things are going well and don't seem to be able to raise their game when the chips are down.We desperately need a couple more players with the drive to drag the rest of the team up by their bootstraps on a bad day.

[aws]

Going back to Henchoz - he will leave in the summer.Fact.

[dave u]

Going back to Henchoz - he will leave in the summer.Fact.

 

Notice how the day after Marseille, Riise came out in direct contradiction to his manager and said it wasn't the refs fault, it was the players as they should have won the tie at home. Next game he wasn't in the 16. He wasn't injured.

 

Will be interesting to see if Steph makes the bench on Sunday after saying that 'the manager's job future is uncertain' or words to that effect. My guess is he won't.

[aws]

Dave - I honestly think he's on his way which will be very sad.I think GH has decided that we need to push up more and that the SH combination is not quick enough to allow us to do that.Tactically I think the decision is right and Henchoz's injuries have meant that he's the one to be sacrificed.His comments (which were originally given to L'Equipe I think) have probably burned his boats.

Riise is on thin ice and wouldn't be surprised if he was sold.

[dave u]

Dave - I honestly think he's on his way which will be very sad.I think GH has decided that we need to push up more and that the SH combination is not quick enough to allow us to do that.Tactically I think the decision is right and Henchoz's injuries have meant that he's the one to be sacrificed.His comments (which were originally given to L'Equipe I think) have probably burned his boats.

Riise is on thin ice and wouldn't be surprised if he was sold.

 

 

The only senior players who won't be looking over their shoulders are Kirkland, Carra, Gerrard, Kewell, Owen and Baros.

 

All the others have to be worried.

[aws]

The only senior players who won't be looking over their shoulders are Kirkland, Carra, Gerrard, Kewell, Owen and Baros.

 

All the others have to be worried.

 

Can't disagree with that except maybe Finnan is safe because he's new and Sami might be safe because it's a bit risky to start from scratch with two new CBs.I reckon all other senior players are for sale at the right price.I just hope we keep Didi as well.

[dave u]

Think Sami would be allowed to go if a decent bid came in. Agree about Didi, although it would take a lot force him out. He knows Houllier has been wanting to get rid of him for a while, but he doesn't want to leave and won't be forced out.

[aws]

I see that GH has just had a go at Henchoz's comments on lfc.tv.He's on his way (and I don't mean GH).

[Paul]

This sort of thing could be the beginning of the end for Houllier now. If he starts getting into media battles with some of the senior pros at the club, he will lose what little credibility with the players he has left, and a lost dressing room is something even Moores won't be able to ignore.

[aws]

But Paul,do you really think players should give interviews to the press and complain that they're not being selected?Don't we all laugh when Robert says the same thing at Newcastle?If GH (or Robson)ignored this type of behaviour then they would have no prospect of maintaining discipline in the dressing room.

[Paul]

Ordinarily I'd completely agree, but I think Henchoz's interview is indicative of major problems with the players' view of GH.

[aws]

Didn't Henchoz do something very similar when he couldn't make the Swiss team?I seem to remember him falling out with the Swiss manager on similar grounds.

Personally I think it's a storm in a teacup and is only indicative of the fact that Henchoz is on his way.

[Mav]

Yeah but why does GH have to respond every single time

 

This should be handled in doors.

 

It just makesGed look small time with another gridge to bear

[MLB]

I reckon we should sell Hamann. I would have replaced him with Scott Parker over a year ago when he could have been bought for about £5 million. I also reckon we need to flog (either figuratively or literally)...

 

Traore

Biscan

Vignal

Cheyrou

Murphy

Diao

 

 

And if we got good enough offers we should probably also sell Henchoz and Owen.

 

I also think it's unfair to suggest Cisse might be suddenly become unprofessional when he gets here, seeing as he's shown no signs of that in France. The language of the players or where they're from doesn't count for shit if they're all behind the manager, so buying English lads isn't necessarily the answer.

 

Saying that, Wright-Philips would be a good signing for anyone this summer..

[cochcaer]

Yeah but why does GH have to respond every single time

 

Same with St. John spat, getting into a public slanging match hardly reflects well on the club.

 

Apart from remarking that he was unhappy on the bench (something many players do) and that he had little communication with Houllier I saw no incendiary comments in Henhoz's remarks. It's not as if he said Biscan is shite etc.

 

Sami too has remarked on Biscan's defending back in Finland but he got away with it chiefly because the UK never picked up on it.

[Guest Martin]

I would cull

Traore

Biscan

Vignal

Cheyrou

No 8

Diao

EHD

Smicer

Dudek and Murphy for some cash cos the above will have to be given away for sweet fanny adams to to get them off the wage bill.

I would like some of the British talent brought in Joe Cole SWP Dawson Barton Nolan to agree with some of the suggestions. That would be an unbalanced side but together with the home grown elements that is the future as we are not rich enough to buy the france 2nd team and buy our way out of trouble

[MLB]

Homegrown talent isn't the answer unless it's of the very highest quality. Wright-Philips might make the grade, but the likes of Nolan, Barton etc. won't add much to what we already have, and certainly won't help us overtake Arsenal and the Mancs.

[Kopite]

The only senior players who won't be looking over their shoulders are Kirkland, Carra, Gerrard, Kewell, Owen and Baros.

 

All the others have to be worried.

 

I hope you're right Dave. They should be f*cking worried because no matter what happens as regards the management some of them have simply not done the business (Heskey, Diao, Diouf, Biscan). They either be sacrificed by an incoming manager or by GH (if he stays) as he knows he can't afford the p*ss-poor, gutlesss performances we've seen from the players I have mentioned.

 

I'd also include Sami as a player who needs to sort himself out as I think he has been rubbish for the best part of two seasons. If I was honest I'd rather keep a fit Henchoz than the Sami Hyypia we have seen over the last 18+ months.

[cochcaer]

Homegrown talent isn't the answer unless it's of the very highest quality. Wright-Philips might make the grade, but the likes of Nolan, Barton etc. won't add much to what we already have, and certainly won't help us overtake Arsenal and the Mancs.

 

True, but they'll offer more than Cheyrou and Diao etc.

 

I'd rather we buy 'squad' players from England and go abroad only for true first team talent.