Andy Carroll mega-thread

[Monkeywool]

I love this club, but some of our fans are so fucking shit its unreal.

 

Torres is gone, deal with it. He wanted to go and got his wish. Andy is now our main man and our number nine, it doesn't matter how much he cost. What matters is that he is here. I will trust Kenny Dalglish, the multiple trophy winning legendary manager, and his judgement of what a player is worth, rather than some anonymous drama queen fucks who feel like their wife has just broke up with them by shitting in their mouth and running off with their brother.

 

Seriously, get over yourselves and embrace the fact that Carroll is now our number 9 and move on, stop going round and round in circles and stop thinking about our fucking finances.

[the walsh]

when is he back from injury.

[piscinin]

£35 million is the cost of David Villa ffs - the panic purchase of Carroll is a total waste of money. Pardew and Ashley must have seen Dalglish and the MUG stamped on his forehead from a mile away. Just watch as Carroll is found out by the better Prem defenders and any decent defenders in Europe.

 

Rio Ferdinand was never a 30m pound player, but he's added more than 30m pounds of value.

[NIred1]

I hope he's as good as Vieri, used to love him.

[Phoenix]

Yes, but he did not score goals in the premier league and was not on the brink of the national team at that time. At that time they may have seen it as not worthy.

 

Imagine, if he is a success for us or England? We will have one of the biggest stars on our books. Forget Wilshere or Walcott, he has potential to be bigger than both of them. Both of them are not forwards really but Carroll is and he is a true number 9. We all know that Centre forwards >>>> Midfielders when it comes to marketing and stardom. :drool:

 

 

Sorry mate ...i think Wilshere has more talent by a mile.

 

we have now so will; just have to get on with it.

[shaunstrudwick]

Have you read my posts?

 

Of course I am pissed off he was allowed to leave. We have been rushed and over spent, that is not what is best for this club.

 

if Torres had set his mind on going why do you think it would be a benefit to still have him here stinking up the place with his shitty attitude?

 

Kenny wanted him to stay and tried to talk him round but Torres wanted out - his head had already been turned - this wasn't a sudden decision on Torres' part either - it been brewing since the fuck up of 2009-2010 season and how the owners and Rafa combined to really fuck us over - yes he was a proper cunt with the timing but maybe he wanted to make sure the Saurez deal was deffo done first?

 

in some ways Torres leaving completely draws a line under the Rafa & Hicks and Gillette era - lets move on - we are building something new now with new owners prepare to spend BIG on the right players and a manager who loves this club more than anyone

[lucozade]

£35 million is the cost of David Villa ffs - the panic purchase of Carroll is a total waste of money. Pardew and Ashley must have seen Dalglish and the MUG stamped on his forehead from a mile away. Just watch as Carroll is found out by the better Prem defenders and any decent defenders in Europe.

 

Just a small clarification but with our new structure it would have been Comolli who spoke to Pardew and Ashley. Kenny would identify the targets but he wouldn't be involved in the actual negotiation of the transfer fee etc Commolli and FSG would do that and Kenny would be told if they could get his target or not.

[russ1979]

I am fucking delighted with andy carroll great signing only just turned 22 he,s gona be dynamite who gives a fuck if he was 35 million it wasn,t are money and a added bonus we got suarez whos only just turned 24 witch wasn,t with are money, The 2 signings are gonna have time to adjust in time for next season.

When we will have a couple more of 20 odd million pounds worth of signing.

Times are finally good isn,t this what everybody,s been wishing for, for the last 4 years+ ENJOY and stop fucking moaning

 

BTW fuck torres its his loss big time

[Torvald Utne]

Why do people keep talking about Walcott in a positive way, throughout this thread I've seen reference to it being money well spent etc. He's abysmal.

[tobycatz]

See telt yee ah wernt on the ale last night man,looks me hands doc ,steady as a rock .

[Guest davelfc]

He looks as chuffed to fuck

 

[YOUTUBE]jIpkkfhqmOQ[/YOUTUBE]

Sorry you'll have to watch it on youtube

[lucozade]

This one can be watched on here

 

[YOUTUBE]nFB_A5aUsto[/YOUTUBE]

[Randy Marsh]

Kenny Dalglish moves towards permanent manager's role at Liverpool

 

The caretaker has mopped up the last drops of doubt after a successful deadline day stamped his authority on Anfield

 

Andy Hunter

The Guardian, Wednesday 2 February 2011

 

 

Now Liverpool and Fernando Torres have ended the pretence that a) their jewel is not for sale and b) he has Anfield etched on to his soul, it cannot be long before Fenway Sports Group banishes another uncertainty over the club's future direction. That would be the "caretaker" prefix before "manager" in the job title of Kenny Dalglish.

 

The strategy of John W Henry and Tom Werner, Liverpool's principal owner and chairman, has been muddied by their first foray into the transfer market, though there is no mistaking their ambition. They approached January with a reputation for using Sabermetrics – a statistical system used to assess players that was developed in baseball – to make considered purchases and a stated aim not to make the kind of rushed judgments that had cost Liverpool dearly before their arrival. They spent £35m on Andy Carroll within 24 hours of Torres showing up at Melwood with his representatives to say there was no way back.

 

Promises of investment were delivered to such an extent on Monday that the mourning period for Torres lasted only a little longer than a can of deodorant sprayed on to a burning Liverpool shirt. And yet, with the £57.8m spent on Carroll and Luis Suárez being recouped by £56m from the sale of Torres and Ryan Babel, FSG's outlay spoke of necessity, not extravagance. It did, however, provide the clearest signal that Dalglish has FSG's confidence to manage Liverpool after his fire-fighting role ends, officially, in May.

 

The clamour for Dalglish's permanent appointment began before he was offered the position as a caretaker and it may be dismissed as sentimental or indecently premature, after five games in charge. But the evidence for his confirmation as manager is already compelling. The Scot was not some idle bystander on Monday while Damien Comolli lived up to his billing as director of football strategy and guided FSG through a potentially calamitous transfer window. Dalglish was at the heart of Liverpool's long-term planning for the replacement of Torres. Caretakers are given mops and buckets, not the most expensive British footballer of all time on a five-and-a-half-year contract.

 

One of the first assignments given to Dalglish by Rafael Benítez, after the former returned to the club as ambassador and academy figurehead in July 2July 009, was to scout Suárez at Ajax.

 

"We have known about him for three years," said the Scot, who will give the £22.8m striker a debut at home to Stoke City tonight, subject to international clearance. "When I came back here it was early on that we were looking at him, so when we were talking about players it was pushing at an open door regarding Suárez. He'll be a fantastic player and he's fantastic in the dressing room. For a Uruguayan, and a forward at that, to be captain of Ajax tells you something about the personality of the fella."

 

Dalglish was the driving force behind Liverpool's interest in Charlie Adam, which came to nothing when Blackpool rejected a £10m offer on Monday night and set a £14m price that FSG refused to pay. The arrival of Carroll, though, hardly fitted Comolli's brief, which is to unearth hidden gems at reasonable prices. Indeed it puts Comolli under a punishing spotlight.

 

FSG appointed Comolli 19 days after its £300m takeover in October, in response to the transfer mistakes that had contributed to Liverpool's decline. It seemed a sensible move. Now it appears to have been a rushed response by owners who never trusted Roy Hodgson and who accept, as Torres warned last summer, that Liverpool are not blessed with time if they wish to rejoin the elite.

 

It was said when Hodgson left the club four weeks ago that Dalglish's reluctance to step aside as caretaker would cause problems for FSG. That suspicion was cemented when the 59-year-old said at his unveiling on 10 January that he would happily move on for "somebody better". Yet FSG has struck lucky. Dalglish has galvanised Liverpool after the Hodgson era; in less than a month his charisma and outlook have affected the atmosphere, playing style, public statements and transfer policy at Anfield. His appointment would not be a populist move today. It would be an obvious one.

 

Reflecting on an extraordinary day in Liverpool's recent history, and the return to spending millions on players rather than on interest repayments, Dalglish said: "It's encouraging there are still players out there who want to play for the club and have a feeling for the club. It will benefit the self-esteem of the supporters and the owners and the players that this football club is still held in high esteem.

 

"While we have a realisation we cannot hold on to the past, the history and tradition of the football club, neither can it be used as a noose around our neck. That should be a great signal for everybody to drive forward and make their own history. I'm sure John, Tom, every supporter and the staff and players are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

[Randy Marsh]

I think there is one big factor that many people are overlooking when assessing yesterday's events.

 

Liverpool losing their crown jewel to a rival is big headline news. The club needed to make a statement of intent yesterday and that's exactly what we did. Had Torres have left and no one else been brought in with that money there would have been a massive cloud of gloom over this club. The boards actions yesterday made certain that instead of everyone spending the next few months mourning the loss of our number 9, we instead got straight back on the bike after falling off and brought in the man who they obviously believe will be his long term replacement.

 

We've also shown our intent not only to our rivals but also to prospective recruits for next summer. We've dusted ourselves down from the loss of a great player and given the club a new hope and optimism with the purchase of two more on the same day. Any new player we may be putting the groundwork in on over the next few months will look at the club and know we mean business.

 

So what if we spent massive amounts of money on someone still relatively unproven. He's the man we wanted, and he's the man who Kenny believes will do the job. People compare the purchase to Villa but forget that all transfers are conducted in different circumstances. And anyway, was Villa available on the market for £35m yesterday? No. It's ok to say we should have waited until the summer before pursuing our number 1 target, but what makes people believe that Carrol wasn't our number 1 target anyway regardless of whatever else is in the market. He fits the FSG/Kenny mould perfectly. Young, plenty of potential, British and hungry. Have faith in the King. This is the man he wants, Torres' actions over the past few days just meant we had to go out and get him sooner than we thought we'd need to.

[Jose Jones]

I think there is one big factor that many people are overlooking when assessing yesterday's events.

 

Liverpool losing their crown jewel to a rival is big headline news. The club needed to make a statement of intent yesterday and that's exactly what we did. Had Torres have left and no one else been brought in with that money there would have been a massive cloud of gloom over this club. The boards actions yesterday made certain that instead of everyone spending the next few months mourning the loss of our number 9, we instead got straight back on the bike after falling off and brought in the man who they obviously believe will be his long term replacement.

 

We've also shown our intent not only to our rivals but also to prospective recruits for next summer. We've dusted ourselves down from the loss of a great player and given the club a new hope and optimism with the purchase of two more on the same day. Any new player we may be putting the groundwork in on over the next few months will look at the club and know we mean business.

 

So what if we spent massive amounts of money on someone still relatively unproven. He's the man we wanted, and he's the man who Kenny believes will do the job. People compare the purchase to Villa but forget that all transfers are conducted in different circumstances. And anyway, was Villa available on the market for £35m yesterday? No. It's ok to say we should have waited until the summer before pursuing our number 1 target, but what makes people believe that Carrol wasn't our number 1 target anyway regardless of whatever else is in the market. He fits the FSG/Kenny mould perfectly. Young, plenty of potential, British and hungry. Have faith in the King. This is the man he wants, Torres' actions over the past few days just meant we had to go out and get him sooner than we thought we'd need to.

 

Good post.

I think Carroll fits the type of player Commolli/FSG have said we’ll be looking for, and Kenny obviously rates him as well. It’s fairly obvious he was already on the radar but because of Torres putting in his transfer request we’ve bid higher than his value to get him.

 

I agree part of the benefit of the deal is that we counter act the loss of Torres with some positive feel about the direction the club is going – and probably this added to the justification of the fee. So long as Carroll turns out to be good there will be no problem.

 

Good article from the Guardian up there as well. I don’t really agree that Commolli might turn out to be a wasted appointment. If he can manage the details of the football side, running the scouting department, working to identify players, dealing with contracts and transfers and work well with the manager I think he’ll be a good appointment. The signs from this window that him and Kenny are working together pretty well is good.

[RobbieOR]

Randy Marsh in good post shocker. One of the most underrated posters on here.

[s(k)aturation]

Spot on, Guardian, Randy, Jose.

 

Have a glance across the perch, Fergie. I think Kenny is eyeing off having it back all to himself.

[kiwanis]

So what if we spent massive amounts of money on someone still relatively unproven

 

The problem with it is what economists call an "opportunity cost".

 

Economics 101 - Opportunity cost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

That money from the Torres sale SHOULD have been used far more effectively; Carroll is very poor business and high risk.

 

Even if Carroll is ok is he 35 million quids worth of ok - does that deal look like it will ever be break-even on the talent/cost scale let alone good value???

 

Brutal fact is that LFC have been mugged by NUFC. Reeks of a panic buy and about a million miles from a cool, sober and rational "moneyball" approach to transfers.

[Guest The Chimp]

He's fucking sound is Randy.

 

* Right. Back into exile for me *

[jamespp]

This one can be watched on here

 

[YOUTUBE]nFB_A5aUsto[/YOUTUBE]

watching that, he doesn't come across as the type who gets into trouble in town or training ground fights

[Skrtel Milk]

He seems very happy to be here according to that video.

 

I can't wait for his debut!

 

A handsome young man.

 

British steel!

[s(k)aturation]

So what if we spent massive amounts of money on someone still relatively unproven

 

The problem with it is what economists call an "opportunity cost".

 

Economics 101 - Opportunity cost - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

That money from the Torres sale SHOULD have been used far more effectively; Carroll is very poor business and high risk.

 

Even if Carroll is ok is he 35 million quids worth of ok - does that deal look like it will ever be break-even on the talent/cost scale let alone good value???

 

Brutal fact is that LFC have been mugged by NUFC. Reeks of a panic buy and about a million miles from a cool, sober and rational "moneyball" approach to transfers.

 

While we're dredging up economic terms, there is also in retailing such a thing as a "loss leader".

 

A "loss leader" is an item that you don't make money out of, or indeed even lose on financially, however it is a calculated loss, or "psychological" business gamble if you like, taken in order to showcase your intentions and predispose people positively towards those intentions.

 

It could equally convincingly be argued that Carroll's purchase is just such a thing.

 

You won't find "loss leaders" on page one of Economics 101, but then again businesses tend to function beyond the confines of page 1 in the world outside Wikipedia.

[kiwanis]

The richest football transfers in the history will read: 1) Cristiano Ronaldo, 2) Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 3) El Ninny, 4) Zinedine Zidane, 5) Luis Figo, 6) Hernan Crespo … and, er, 7) Andy Carroll.

 

Ok so one might have to adjust for inflation etc., but even so. Will Carroll ever be in the same class as the likes of Ronnie or Zizu or Figo??? I'd say that outcome is close to zero.

 

Even for "The Emperor's New Premier League" these seems utterly bizarre - especially as Carroll, who was apparently offered to West Ham for £1m in 2009, has had just one decent half-season in the Premier League (11 goals in 20 matches, a slightly worse rate of return than Zaki's 11 goals in 19 matches for Wigan). Still, we're sure Damien Comolli et al., all "know" what they are doing right?

 

We have made the list on the top ten biggest transfers in history and who do we buy Andy Carroll, we really are taking a massive gamble. The pressure and scrutiny will be immense particularly for that price; the media who generally hate us will pile on the pressure, not just on him but Dalglish and Comolli.

 

Frankly, it is embarrassing that we make that list by buying an unproven youngster with potential rather than the finished article. Yes the crazy situation, last minute El Ninny bombshell played its part but really we could end up a laughing stock. It completely goes against FSG's emphasis on value in the market. Smacks of a panic buy. Dreadful.

 

But many don't have the balls to call the club out on this one I fear.

 

That 35 million quid in the summer COULD have renewed the spine of the team - if invested wisely. It's gone now. Interesting to see just how big the transfer kitty will be in the summer.

[Mathewbet1]

If he turns into the player we know he can be over the next year or 2 then we have just sorted our lead striker for the next 8 years. That would be worth more than 35m.

[Wor Horse]

Why the fuck are people complaining. It's not your money.

 

Swap the prices we paid for Suarez and Carroll if you want, it's far more realistic and it'll make you feel happier.

 

We smashed our own transfer record twice and the British one for about 4 hours in one day, yet people still complain. Money will be spent in the summer, this is a statement of intent. Carroll was probably signing in the summer for £20m.. El Twatto leaving forced our hand into bidding more than we wanted to get him. But how you'd be complaining if we'd "risked Pacheco and Suarez for Europe" as i saw being mentioned, Suarez can't even fucking play in Europe for one and Carroll is here for the next 6 years, not 6 months.

 

It's a huge sign Kenny is here for the long term and now we've got 2 options up front instead of El Sulk. Why do people still feel the need to complain? Swear down this is one of the most negative fanbases ever, but yet if United had signed Carroll people would be saying how Fergie took a risk and the Glazer's backed him.