Summer 2011

[Glen C]

Sunderland have been shite all pre-season, worse than us even.

Only Sessegnon has been impressive, he's definitely a danger and had a quiet start at Sunderland but was always going to find his feet.

 

Must admit i haven't followed them to know how they are getting on but we can hardly say that we have been great ourselves. But none of that matters come the first game of the season. Both teams will raise their game, just hope our game is better as we need to get off to a good start.

[zigackly]

I guess in King Kenny's mind he's thinking he has kuyt, suarez and carroll that can all lead the line so another striker isn't a priority. But I don't get the delay in getting a centre back when you have agger who is barely fit, the greek who isn't good enough and skrtel who is decent but not great and who's poor in the air. We are really weak in that department.

 

I would say the delay is probably to see if the price comes down a bit like it did with Enrique. For instance Cahill and Dann are both in the last year of their contract and the closer we get to the deadline the more likely they will be prepared to take a lower price.

[fowler9]

Must admit i haven't followed them to know how they are getting on but we can hardly say that we have been great ourselves. But none of that matters come the first game of the season. Both teams will raise their game, just hope our game is better as we need to get off to a good start.

 

I went to their game at Turf Moor with my mate who is a Burnley fan, they were shocking apart from Wickham

[fowler9]

For instance Cahill and Dann are both in the last year of their contract and the closer we get to the deadline the more likely they will be prepared to take a lower price.

 

 

are they? thought I heard Cahill signed a four year contract last year the other day and not heard anything about Dann's contract, must say I'm suprised about the prices mooted if they are

[zigackly]

are they? thought I heard Cahill signed a four year contract last year the other day and not heard anything about Dann's contract, must say I'm suprised about the prices mooted if they are

 

He signed a three year deal in 2009:

 

Gary Cahill signs Bolton contract extension | Football | guardian.co.uk

 

No news since then that I can find, but apparently Bolton wanted him to sign a new contract a couple of weeks ago because his contract is up next summer:

 

Bolton Gary Cahill looks set stay despite links Arsenal Manchester City Tottenham club also want him sign new contract - Transfer News - MirrorFootball.co.uk

[BenR_]

The delay with the CB is probably a tactic to lower the price. Dann and Cahill both have only a year left on their contract if I'm not mistaken, so we hold all the cards as their teams will be looking to sell them and will lower their price if the window nears it's end and they have no offers matching their demands.

 

Personally I don't think Dann is all that, he'd improve on the Greek but not much else. I guess he'll add more depth and quality cover at CB, but that's not what we need. We need a top class CB to come in right into our first XI and partner Agger or Carra. Cahill can do that, Dann i'm not so sure.

[FidelMurphy]

It makes sense to go for Cahill and use Ngog to offset some of the cost, you can see why we've concentrated on what I saw as the two priority positions to be addressed after LW so late in the window, our targets are either in a relegated side or have one year left on their contracts ensuring a more reasonable price later in the window.

[Glen C]

I went to their game at Turf Moor with my mate who is a Burnley fan, they were shocking apart from Wickham

 

Really? Was Gyan back by then? Does Wickham look like he can handle the premiership?

[fowler9]

Really? Was Gyan back by then? Does Wickham look like he can handle the premiership?

 

Gyan played upfront with Wickham but neither had much service but Wickham did well when he got it, both times I've seen him play live he's looked good but not been as impressed when i've watched him on telly

 

Brown and Bramble were appalling

[Aldonose]

Comment From Rich

I feel like i've been asking this for weeks. Mainly because I have. Liverpool. Left-back. Yes? No? Maybe?

 

Oliver Kay:

Maybe. Probably. But not yet.

 

Comment From LiverpoolPlus

What's the latest regarding LFC in the transfer market??

 

Oliver Kay:

They like Scott Dann and they like Jose Enrique (and a few others in both postions), but, as far as I'm told, they're not in a position to make a realistic bid for either player at the moment. Don't forget just how big the wage bill is and they've added to it this summer -- and with no Champions League revenue again this season. They seriously need to offload at least three of Acquilani, Cole, Poulsen, Degen etc. I hadn't realised until the other week that Degen was still there. He's on a ludicrous salary too, around £50k a week.

 

Comment From Luthers

Oli, I know that most people are writing Liverpool off as 4th place contenders, but I think that they need to be taken a little more seriously than that and should be considered genuine title rivals. Not playing in Europe will give them much more energy, and seen their demolitions of United, City since Dalglish came back, as well as their results against Chelsea, would suggest that a full, fit season would bear fruit. I still think they are 3 players shy (left back, centre back, second striker) of being able to sustain a CL/PL challenge, but surely their challenge has to be taken more seriously than Monday's podcast would have suggested?

 

Oliver Kay:

If you're taking the predictions in Monday's Times as a sign that Liverpool are being written off, I would say that's a bit oversensitive, Luthers. Out of seven people, five said they'll finish fifth, one said they'll finish fourth and one said they'll finish third. I don't think that's a case of writing them off. As title contenders maybe, but that's not writing them off for fourth. I actually believe that, of last season's top four, Chelsea, City and Arsenal all have the capacity to fall considerably short of expectations and that Liverpool have the capacity to exceed them. But my prediction, based on what was most likely to happen rather than what could happen if certain teams fluctuate more than expected, was that they'll finish fifth rather than fourth.

 

Comment From harvey

best and worst signings so far? i'm going johnson to wolves the best and henderson to liverpool the worst (too much money and dont think he'll play)

 

Oliver Kay:

Johnson is an excellent signing for Wolves, I agree with that. I've actually said elsewhere that I think Jay Bothroyd is a good one for QPR, too.

My instinct is to be sceptical about Henderson because every time I saw him in the second half of last season (and during the U21 tournament), he looked poor. But he always looked promising before that. Maybe he was genuinely distracted by the doubts over his future. I do know that Kenny Dalglish thinks he, out of all of this summer's signings, is going to be a real star for Liverpool in years to come. Maybe he should be regarded more as one for the future, but with a big price tag, the reality is that he's going to be under pressure/scrutiny to perform.

 

Comment From Sam K

Hi Oli, good to have you back. Is David Moyes still alive? It has been very quiet with Everton. Any news? Also, do you think Dalglish has overpaid for the players he signed? N'Zogbia at £9m looks a better bit of business than say £20m for Downing.

 

Oliver Kay:

N'Zogbia looks good at £9m, but he is known within the game as something of a ... well, he hasn't quite done enough to shrug off the Charles "Insomnia" tag that Joe Kinnear gave him. I've said it before re Liverpool's deals. They identified the players they wanted and they went for them -- Phil Jones and Gael Clichy as well as Adam, Henderson and Downing. There is an approach there of paying whatever it takes to get the player, which arguably would have served them well over much of the previous decade, when they usually ended up going for second- or third-choice targets (contd). But yes, the best part of £80m on Carroll, Henderson, Downing and Adam looks rather excessive. (contd)

 

Oliver Kay:

And Moyes? Yes, still alive and waiting for the summer to end and the football to start. It's a shame for them they're not able to be in a position to bid for eg. Barton or Crouch or Bellamy, who would give them things they don't have. They're more concerned this summer with preserving what they've got.

 

Comment From David

Do you think there is a Liverpool bias at the Times, I noticed in the predictions Tony Evans (editor) was keen to point out that a) Kenny Dalglish is a "genius". b) Suarez will prove that he is one of the best players in the world!? c) Hernandez is a flat track bully!? ( Hernandez actually scored some of Utd's most important goals last season - Valencia, Marseilles, Everton, Chelsea etc)....?

 

Oliver Kay:

I don't think you can say there's a Liverpool bias when two out of seven of us tipped them to finish in the top four. Suarez is a brilliant striker, as proven not only in the second half of last season but also in the Copa America. But I agree with you re Hernandez. Not a flat-track bully at all.

 

Comment From Martyn

With a whole host of north west clubs (Wigan, Blackburn, Everton) being spartan in the transfer market compared to their 'nosiy neighbours' do you have any news on any transfer dealings about to be unveiled to shake the lower half of the premier league table to the core ?

 

Oliver Kay:

That's a very open-ended question, Martyn. I'm not sure Keith will welcome an open-ended answer. Blackburn, as I mentioned before, are in talks over a few players from Spurs. So are Villa (Hutton). There are a lot of other clubs who are waiting for the top clubs to start lowering their demands for outgoing players, be it for permanent deals or loans, eg. QPR with Joe Cole. Stoke, West Brom and Wolves have done some decent business. Everton's priority is to preserve what they've got.

 

Just goes to show that even well respected journo's are getting it totally wrong at the moment!!

[Dan Vito Corleone]

Let's hope we can start flushing the toilet in the next few weeks.

[el nino laff]

His Agent was in Liverpool today

 

:tease:

[el nino laff]

Its clear that the club are keeping the media out of all our transfer dealings this summer.. Happy with this approach.

[MLB]

Even if we don't sign anyone else we still need to move a few players on. There must be someone out there gullible enough to take the likes of Insua, El Zhar and co.

[Mathewbet1]

According to twits on twatter G.Cahill 10m + Ngog a possibility

[RedAdmiral]

I personally think we'll have to wait until around Christmas to see the best of us this season though. When you introduce so many new players to the first team your going to have to wait for a bit of understanding to form. Its all looking very balanced though, no round pegs in square holes for once.

[Beantown Red]

Loris Néry, the young fullback AS Saint-Etienne, Liverpool interested, whose sporting director Damien Comolli is none other than that performed the same functions in the Drill until last October. Néry, under contract with the Greens until 30 June 2013 received a proposal for an extension of two years from its leaders. But the player also studied with his advisors the English track. The Reds would be according to our information ready to offer a long-term contract with the International Hopes lights, before lending in preference to a team in Ligue 1.

 

Google translation

[pauliescouse]

Reports in Spain saying Real Madrid have rejected a 25M Euro bid for Gonzalo Higuain from us.

 

Absolutely no idea if this is true or not! Just thought I'd share what I read..

 

Sources: Higuain - Buscar con Google

Edited August 11, 2011 by pauliescouse
forgot to say who the bid is allegedly from!

[bobhorse]

According to twits on twatter G.Cahill 10m + Ngog a possibility

 

I would have thought it would be more like £7-8m plus NGog maybe a little more with add ons

 

We would be getting Cahill and paying towards NGog's wages with part of the fee and maybe loan Wilson for the season that way they would get a Striker plus a CB and some cash would suit everyone would put a major question mark over the first team prospects of one of Carra Agger and Skrtel the Greek will leave at the end of the season

 

Joe Cole to Spurs

Aquilani to Millan

 

Its all starting to take shape only Meirales and Poulson for decisions to be made on El Zahr and Degan either out on loans or out the picture

[Mathewbet1]

Balague confirms : " No offer made by #LFC for Gonzalo Higuain.

 

 

Nailed on then.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Reports in Spain saying Real Madrid have rejected a 25M Euro bid for Gonzalo Higuain from us.

 

Absolutely no idea if this is true or not! Just thought I'd share what I read..

 

I've said many times how highly I rate that guy. I just can't see it. Where would he fit in with all the players we've recently purchased. He'd give us some more pace and more creative options up front.

[Megadrive Man]

Its no wonder Cahill is still at Bolton, I didn't realise he'd only got one year left on his contract. Bolton really can't afford to let him go for nothing next year, we should offer 10 million at most, I'm amazed that clubs allow these situations to develop.

[cyador]

If QPR are waiting for us to lower our demands with cole, i bet warnocks being a right cheeky bastard and probably offered to pay something like 10 per cent of his wages for a years loan.

 

I have no idea how we're going to offload players like degan, cole, poulsen. Personally if they do end up staying cause their unwilling to take a pay cut on the stupid wages purslow gave them i hope we don't give them even a minutes game time, not even with the reserves.

[Beantown Red]

Only positive is Degan and El Zhar on last year of contract. Wilson was saying yesterday he would not mind going back to Rangers on loan. I think he would be better off going on loan to championship or lower placed premier league team. Cole is being linked with loan to QPR but I wouldn't mind Modric going to CFC simply because I think Harry would probably take Cole permanently if he had some money. Aquilani I think will end up back in Italy but wouldn't mind him staying. Poulsen is a bit worrying since there appears to be no interest and he still got two years left on contract.

[MLB]

I don't think there is any serious interest in Poulsen, reading between the lines. We are stuck with him.