Summer 2011

[Beantown Red]

Long shots

 

Nicklas Bendtner has been linked with a loan move to Everton, but Arsenal are expected to sell the Denmark forward to an overseas club. Liverpool have denied interest in signing Aly Cissokho, the Lyons left back.

 

The Times

[Unrighteous]

I think Joe Cole could still be a very good player here. We need to give him a chance playing in his preferred position of central midfield though.

 

[Iceman]

[KirkdaleRick]

Paul Thompson has pulled the plug on his twitter account.

[James Dean]

Ouch. Back to RAWK then.

[Horus]

Paul Thompson has pulled the plug on his twitter account.

 

To concentrate on his modelling career?

[barosrocks]

Paul Thompson has pulled the plug on his twitter account.

 

RIP YNWA etc.

[satansmutt]

You know when transfer rumours are quiet when you're talking about Tommo's twitter account

[Gym Beglin]

I think Joe Cole could still have a future at this club.

He's the same player Steve Clarke had at Chelsea, just a couple of years older and wiser.

He'll just have to take his chances when they come along.

That's what I think about Joe Cole.

[Unrighteous]

Joe Cole? Future at this club? Ha!

[DJLJ]

Blackpool snap up Reds youngster Bruna | Evening Echo

 

Blackpool snap up Reds youngster Bruna

 

7/18/2011 - 11:24:50 AM

 

Blackpool have signed Liverpool reserve-team midfielder Gerardo Bruna on a permanent deal.

 

The 20-year-old Argentinian, who moved to Anfield from Real Madrid in the summer of 2007, was a regular for the second string but never made a first-team appearance.

 

“Liverpool have completed the permanent transfer of Gerardo Bruna to Championship side Blackpool,” said a statement on the Premier League club’s website.

[Major Tom]

Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere but I thought it a decent article from Paul Hayward.

 

 

The Kop lives in mortal fear of the mediocre buy, the non‑Liverpool signing: a dread that dates back to Phil Babb, Neil Ruddock, Julian Dicks and Jimmy Carter. These unwitting souls are among those blamed for the dilution of the great Anfield tradition of recruiting only aristocrats capable of maintaining the lustre of the Shankly‑Paisley era.

 

This understandable defensiveness is a problem for modern Liverpool managers because each new acquisition undergoes an especially fierce scrutiny, especially if he is British and therefore known to the Anfield jury. Buying an average player to perform a specific function stirs the anxieties of supporters who can reel off the duds of the past 10 years, from Paul Konchesky to Salif Diao, Fernando Morientes and Andrea Dossena, who still guarantee a rueful shake of the head on Merseyside.

 

Supporters who have witnessed five European Cup wins are within their rights to demand the highest possible standards, but in the current phase of mass transition there is little prospect of instant elevation to the Premier League's top spot. Kenny Dalglish is rebuilding not for a title push but a solid top-three place from which a proper challenge can then be mounted.

 

Unless my eyes fail me, Dalglish is organising a staged recovery. And it could be no other way, given the sheer number of passengers and stowaways who packed the squad over a decade of experimentation under Gérard Houllier and Rafael Benítez. The legacy of that transfer trawling still confronts Dalglish, who has so far managed to cull only Konchesky in his summer dealings.

 

The Englishman, bought by Roy Hodgson to perform a limited service at left-back, was perhaps the unhappiest of all recent temporary Anfield residents. His mother's brief declaration on Facebook that Liverpool fans were "scouse scum" was unlikely to endear her to the locals. This miserable relationship ended when the son trudged off to the King Power Stadium and Sven‑Goran Eriksson's Leicester City.

 

Plainly no tears will be shed if he is joined by Alberto Aquilani, Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, Milan Jovanovic or David Ngog. For all Dalglish's recent flourishes in the transfer shop, Liverpool's followers will only really relax when they no longer have to look at players who are emblematic of strategic failings stretching back to the Graeme Souness reign.

 

With Dalglish back in charge and more sensible American owners at the controls, you can sense a burning urge for there to be no more flops on the recruitment front. In that context, the £20m spent on Stewart Downing this week is bound to seem more risky than Liverpool fans would like. Each new face is cast against the backdrop of Robbie Keane, Ryan Babel and Bruno Cheyrou.

 

But a clear policy is emerging under Dalglish and Damien Comolli, the director of football whose presence is bound to cause friction at some point between manager and executive floor. First, Dalglish has employed his knowledge of the youth setup to hurry along John Flanagan, Conor Coady, Jack Robinson and probably now Raheem Sterling, a teenage firefly in wide positions.

 

At the core, Liverpool are investing in mid-twentysomethings, to escape the Europa League trap. Jordan Henderson, 21, and Andy Carroll, 22, are further down that scale, but this summer the main action has come closer to the point of full maturity, with Charlie Adam, 25, joining from Blackpool and Downing, 26, arriving just as his career starts bearing fruit.

 

To see Liverpool spending £36m on Henderson and Downing is bound to unsettle the congregation, especially after the £35m splurge on Carroll, who was listed in Newcastle's accounts only 18 months ago as a £500,000 asset.

 

In the deepest recesses of Anfield there is mounting anxiety about Carroll's prospects of graduating to Ian Rush level. Aspects of his "lifestyle" suggest a less than austere approach to life away from the pitch, which may explain the club's interest in the similarly meaty 18-year-old Connor Wickham, who moved instead to Sunderland.

 

Extending the contract of Glen Johnson, 26, was another act of mid‑range consolidation, and while these names are unlikely to revive memories of John Barnes, Kevin Keegan, Souness or Dalglish himself, they are a realistic first response to the might of Manchester United, the capriciousness of Chelsea and the petro-wealth of Manchester City, whose £400m deal with Etihad Airlines has so upset the Anfield board.

 

At this moment in their rise from upper mid-table it is less about instant Hollywood sparkle than assembling a core of hardened pros who can lift some of the burden off Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. When John Henry's firm ousted the speculator-clowns Tom Hicks and George Gillett, we all ran off with the Moneyball theory about cheap talent acquisition.

 

In the event, Liverpool have had to pay well over the odds for players whose price tags massively outweigh their achievements, but it still feels like a shift in the right direction. In this needy age, the CV and star profile are everything but Liverpool are still in the business of restoring something far more precious: their spirit.

 

Kenny Dalglish splashes cash but Liverpool spirits rise | Paul Hayward | Football | The Observer

[Gym Beglin]

It's a tad shitty to mention how Carroll was only listed as a £500,000 asset in the Newcastle accounts just 18 months ago.

I wonder how much Phil Jones was worth 18 months ago, or Jack Wilshire, or Gareth Bale, or Charlie Adam for that matter.

18 months is a lifetime in football, you may as well date a player's worth back 10 years if you date it back 18 months.

 

Just a bit of a shitty article in general that, undertones of 'shitty players in our squad', 'Aquilani is a shit player', 'Benitez was a shit manager', 'we wasted £35m on carroll', 'we should have signed Wickham', 'Comolli is going to upset Kenny and the board', and various other little digs, all wrapped in a weird package marked 'positive piece about Liverpool'.

[Il Fenomeno]

What sort of retard compares Morientes with Konchesky?

 

But a clear policy is emerging under Dalglish and Damien Comolli, the director of football whose presence is bound to cause friction at some point between manager and executive floor.

 

What a shithouse.

[Guest Jon Snow]

Wow sky just cant help there self's can they.

 

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce admits he is in the dark about by reports linking midfielder Lee Cattermole with a move to Liverpool.

 

Speculation earlier in the summer suggested the 23-year-old could be a target for the Reds, who have since signed his former Black Cats team-mate Jordan Henderson.

 

And claims that recent arrival John O'Shea may be handed Cattermole's captain's armband have sparked fresh talk of a departure.

 

However, Bruce insists he has not heard from Liverpool about any interest in former Middlesbrough man Cattermole.

 

"I don't know where that has come from. It's news to me," Bruce told the Journal.

 

"I have not even thought about this situation, to be honest. I have had bigger things on my plate to worry about.

 

"We have been dealing with Liverpool for the past five weeks over the Jordan Henderson deal and there was never a mention that they wanted Lee.

 

"I don't know where it's coming from at all."

African partnership

 

Meanhile, Sunderland have revealed they have signed a partnership agreement with top Ghanaian club Asante Kotoko as they seek to promote the club in Africa.

 

The Black Cats, who have Ghana international striker Asamoah Gyan among their ranks, while compatriots John Mensah and Sulley Muntari also played at the Stadium of Light last season, will offer practical support and advice in youth coaching, player development, fitness and medical matters and football business strategy to Kotoko under the deal.

 

In return, the African club, which boasts eight million followers, will work

 

with Sunderland on promoting their brand in the continent.

 

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, who recently hosted a Ghanaian delegation on Wearside, said: "It was a huge honour to welcome the Kotoko officials to our club and I'm delighted that we have now formalised a partnership agreement with them.

 

"There's a tremendous passion for football in Ghana and I see a real synergy

 

with Sunderland in that respect - football means the world to the people of

 

Ghana and in that respect, they are no different to Sunderland fans.

 

"There's an infectious enthusiasm for the game that is wonderful to witness

 

and we are honoured to be working with Kotoko and the Ghanaian people."

 

Bruce in dark over Catt talk | Liverpool News, Fixtures, Results, Transfers | Sky Sports

 

That's because we don't what the guy ! Comprende !

[Guest davelfc]

 

"I have not even thought about this situation, to be honest. I have had bigger things on my plate to worry about.

 

Now there's something I can believe.

[Mr Mojo]

According to reports Bolton Wanderers are swooping for Barcelona winger Jeffren Suarez.

 

AS claims Jeffren is set for talks with Wanderers after a bid of €6 million was accepted by Barca last night.

 

The money will be used by Barca to help fund their bid for Udinese star Alexis Sanchez.

 

Jeffren, who was also interesting Liverpool, is now set to meet with Wanderers boss Owen Coyle.

[Guest Jon Snow]

Now there's something I can believe.

 

:yes:

[Manny]

According to reports Bolton Wanderers are swooping for Barcelona winger Jeffren Suarez.

 

AS claims Jeffren is set for talks with Wanderers after a bid of €6 million was accepted by Barca last night.

 

The money will be used by Barca to help fund their bid for Udinese star Alexis Sanchez.

 

Jeffren, who was also interesting Liverpool, is now set to meet with Wanderers boss Owen Coyle.

 

If he didn't want to lower himself to go play for Udinese, I can't see him wanting to go to Bolton.

[shaunstrudwick]

According to reports Bolton Wanderers are swooping for Barcelona winger Jeffren Suarez.

 

AS claims Jeffren is set for talks with Wanderers after a bid of €6 million was accepted by Barca last night.

 

The money will be used by Barca to help fund their bid for Udinese star Alexis Sanchez.

 

Jeffren, who was also interesting Liverpool, is now set to meet with Wanderers boss Owen Coyle.

 

what's happened to our interest in Jeffren then?

[Gym Beglin]

If he goes to someone else in this division for as little as £5m then I'll go spastic.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Too late.

[Major Tom]

What sort of retard compares Morientes with Konchesky?

 

 

He's not. He's just talking about players who haven't worked out at Liverpool and they are two of them. For whatever reason.

 

Why do people get so defensive about the press? It's just an opinion.

[18-5]

Diego Capel to join Sporting Lisbon for 4 million Euros.

 

Isn't he supposed to be better than Downing and other English players? :whistle:

[Torvald Utne]

he's fucking shite