Pawlu

Some 3 years back Liverpool (set up a partnership agreement with St. Kevin's Boys so it would hardly be surprising if their best player were to sign for us. It also seems that Jack Byrne will be joining from the same side.

Thomas was signed on loan because there wasn't enough time to push through a permanent deal on deadline day. Him joining Liverpool in the summer is a formality. It's interesting to see that people can form an opinion about an 18 year old after seeing him play for a couple of games. Could it be that he's still finding his feet? Nah, he's had a couple of not so good games so he must be hopeless. FWIW, this kid had already played twice for Coventry and did pretty well against a Premiership side (Birmingham) in the FA Cup. That's not to say he'll be a star but it would suggest that he isn't hopeless. As for Stevie Irwin, he went for a trial at Aberdeen but they decided against signing him.

Has Alex Cooper been injured? Must be gutting for him, having done so well last year when given a chance with reserves, to be out of reckoning not only at reserves but even at U18 level.

Saw David Moli play for England in the victory shield and he looks an awesome prospect: built like a tank (very similar to Andre Wisdom), fast and very good technique.

When asked which one player he would sign for Liverpool, Jimmy Case answered Roque Santa Cruz. Which shows how much he knows really.

You're wrong as we sold Bucthmann but we did something similar with Ronald Huth. After having an excellent South American U20 championships we forgot to offer him a new contract and he ended up back at his old side in Paraguay. He spent the final months of last season at Vicenza in the Serie B and even made his debut there. Doubt whether he would have made it here in any case but he is a good player.

Who is the chief scout at the moment? Am I right in thinking that, for all the reports to the contrary, Eduardo Macia is still here?

Antonio Gomez, who was John McMahon's assistant with the reserves has been appointed as manager of Real Valladolid which shows just how highly rated he is to be given such a big role despite being 36 years old. He takes with him Gonzalo Rodriguez who was the fitness coach with the reserves. Apparently, they're trying to sign Daniel Ayala for Valladolid. Hope that LFC don't consider it. Link

Him Pacheco and Ayala, if I recall.

Definitely Gulacsi.

Don't know about Amoo but I would guess that he will be offered one especially as he was mentioned by Benitez as one of the players that they were looking at to bring into the first team. As far as Bouzanis is concerned, last year it was said that he was going to be offered a five year deal but that never happened. He said so himself that he's out of contract: No Boo-s for Dean JANUARY 08, 2010 DEAN Bouzanis admits his nickname has got lost in translation – but it has helped him become an instant hit with the Stanley fans. The Australian keeper is called "Boozer" by the Reds faithful and even has his own song despite only a short spell at the club. "To be honest, in Australia, it’s actually pronounced "Bow-ser" (Bouzer) but it has been lost with the accents since I came over here," said the 19-year-old Liverpool stopper. "I accept Boozer – it’s just seems to have stuck. I have heard the fans sing their song about me and it is really good to hear as you come to a club and you want to be liked by the fans and it makes you want to win every game for them." Bouzanis is loving life at Accrington after getting his first taste of League action accidentally – but since then has held his place. He came on loan to give competition to Ian Dunbavin but when the regular stopper got injured against Barnet in the FA Cup second round clash, Bouzanis has stepped in and hasn’t looked back. And he has since played seven games with a record of five wins and two losses – to Bury in the league and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat at League One leaders Leeds. "I didn’t have a lot of time to think for my debut. I was straight on and I hadn’t even warmed up," he said. "It was a shock at first as it was so different to reserve team football and it has taken some time to get used to. "In the reserves they pass the ball around a lot more and it’s a different type of football in League Two – for corners the box is so congested – and it is really physical but it is a good experience." Bouzanis has been with Liverpool for three years and, with a Greek mother, has represented both Australia and Greece at youth level. Pressure Last season he helped the Liverpool youth team to the FA Youth Cup Final but knew he was ready for some first team experience. And he said he had heard of Accrington long before he came on loan in November. "I read up a lot about football and love football so I knew plenty about Accrington even when I was in Australia," he said. "I was pleased when I got the chance to come here. I wanted to play some games and improve and it is a great club. "It’s great to play competitive games and, for me, they are all new grounds and it’s a good experience, like playing in the local derby against Morecambe – those are the games you want to play in. "We needed to win and I like that kind of pressure and it is a test for me to play in that kind of environment. "All the lads were up for it, it was close, there was a big crowd and I will never forget it as I have always wanted to play in a local derby at a professional level. And to win there – that was great for the fans." He also got to play at Elland Road against former Premier giants Leeds – who had in goal ex-Red loanee and fellow Liverpool keeper David Martin. "I guess he is number three at Liverpool and I am number four and it was strange to be in the tunnel playing against him – there was a bit of banter. But it is always good to compare yourself and see where he and I am up to." And Bouzanis is hoping he can stay until the end of the season and help Stanley into the play-offs. He has signed on for another month. "It is a month to month loan deal but I am hoping I can stay until May as I love it here and then we will see where I am at as I am out of contract at Liverpool. "Every game is important now at Accrington as, with our two games in hand, we can get into fifth place if we win them and it is great to have something to play for and strive for. "Then, if we beat Gillingham in the FA Cup, we will face Fulham and that’s massive, especially at home. They are all big games – and that’s what I want." No Boo-s for Dean - Accrington Observer

Forgot about Nemeth. He's been out for some three months after picking up an injury with the Hungary U21 side. Made his comeback recently and played some thirty minutes in AEK's last game. Before that, he had been doing very well for them scoring goals and setting up chances.

The rumour in Italy is that Liverpool made contact with Dida when Milan where in Manchester to play against United. None of the main newspapers have carried the story which, ironically, might mean that there's some truth in it: if it was simply his agent trying to drum up interest then he would have made sure the rumour made more noise. It wouldn't be beyond reason for Liverpool to sell Cavalieri - I believe that Benfica made a bid for him during the summer - so getting someone of Dida's experience would make sense. Gulacsi is a great prospect, but he needs to play regularly at a decent level - Championship or higher - because there's no way that he can improve simply through the reserves. Perhaps we could give him to Genk, if the deal with them was true. Martin and Bouzanis are, I believe, out of contract in the summer. Don't know if that's the case for Martin Hansen as well.

Leicester have been abysmal in the last few weeks and I believe they've lost all games since he's been there. Not his fault though. He started yesterday and had a decent game, actually scoring a goal but that was ruled out on offside. The word that Swindon fans use to describe Darby, as anyone who has seen the reserves would expect, is dependable. He doesn't give much going forward but has certainly helped their defence. They've won three of their last four game 1-0 and drew the other one 1-1 (with Norwich who are running away with the league). In the two games before he joined them, they had shipped in six goals so he must be doing something right. Their next game is against Leeds and, if they win, they'd overtake them and potentially move into second depending on how Milwall do. It has been a similar story for Robbie Threlfall at Bradford where he has played all of their last nine games (scoring twice) and proving that he is too good a player for this level. Nathan Eccleston scored on his debut and looked good but didn't play that much afterwards. He's been suspended for their last three games after what has been described as a shocking tackle. Dean Bouzanis had a good run at Accrington but recently lost his place to Gerrard's mate Ian Dunbavin. Bouzanis' contract is out this summer and it doesn't look as if he'll be offered another one. David Martin only joined Derby as a stop-gap and in fact has only played twice for them before Stephen Bywater returned. He's another one who I believe will leave this summer on a free. Finally, it has been a terrible season for former reserves boss Gary Ablett (and Hughie McAuley, who is his assistant) at Stockport. They're virtually already relegated, haven't scored for their last six games and I believe that they set a new record for consecutive defeats. It probably has little to do with Ablett himself and more with the club's financial troubles. Probably was a wrong choice for him but he should have kept his mouth shut about Benitez which would have increased the chances of him taking a couple of players from our reserves on loan.

Joined Fiorentina as a left back but turned out to be not so good at it and ended up on the left hand side of midfield (sounds familiar, doesn't it). He's a good player, though, with an absolute hammer of a left shot. We were in for Vargas when he was still at Catania but it seems that he didn't want to move away from Italy so he went to Fiorentina for €12 million.

The Stephens trial came about because Kenny Dalglish is a good friend of Danny Wilson, Swindon's manager. Wouldn't surprise me that the Darby deal came through him as well.

Would be funny if true. Sadly it is not, especially as 'rubinetto' means water tap...

Kopaloadofthis: as far as I am aware there aren't any specific books on Italian sides. In fact, there aren't any really good book about Italian football in general. If you haven't read them as yet, I would suggest Futebol (Brazilian football) and Feet of the Chamaleon (African football), both of which are great.

It is a very good book: full of insight and a real eye-opener. What's amazing is the good words that so many players had to say about Liverpool, even those who eventually didn't get to join. Particularly loved the piece by John Gregory who was really complimentary about Liverpool. Also, although Simon Huges doesn't really go into it, from the snippets that are revealed it shows that the club was run by arseholes way before the Americans or David Moores took over. Probably the best Liverpool related book that came out last year. Other than this, I'd highly recommend Feet of the Chameleon which is a book on the history of African football. PS - Macia is actually interviewed in the book and the methods actually haven't changed that much although the network is much wider spread. That said, he gets a fair bit of criticism in the book which I guess many on here will enjoy.

I don't think that Adam Dawson has played yet for Bury - there's a Stephen Dawson there as well so it might be him that you're refering to Maldini - but he has been on the bench on a couple of occasions which isn't bad for a sixteen year old. As to why he left, given the recent arrivals of Ngoo, Silva and now Moli, I think either he was told that there wouldn't be a place for him or else he figured it out for himself. Talking of former academy reds, Michael Scott has joined the academy that Glen Hoddle has set up in Spain. Quite surprising given that he had such a good season at right back last year.

Roma sacked their team doctor this summer because of the large number of injuries. There were a lot of accusations going around that, allegedly, he wasn't up to the job of taking care of the players but was kept on because of his links with the Sensi family.

Interesting that Palsson was captain. I'd have thought that Threlfall would be the obvious choice.

Basically that piece is saying that Rafael Benitez doesn't want to sell Mascherano for anything less than a huge fee but Barca are willing to tempt him with an offer of €30 million which is the maximum that they are willing to spend. It also says that much depends on what happens with Alonso because if he goes to Madrid then Liverpool definitely won't be selling Mascherano.

New Academy Head Looking to re-establish a Liverpool Way #fullpost{display:inline;}Re-hauling the overall philosophy at the academy. That is the task that Rafael Benitez has set for new academy head Pep Segura who will be looking to see that all teams in the set-up play in a specific manner and with a particular style. Talking to the Spanish paper AS, Segura said that as the head of the technical areas at the academy, he will be the reference point for all coaching and training sessions. With a large number of staff at the academy being released last week, which included high profile figures like Hughie Macauley and John Owens, it looks like Segura has already set about his job in an area where, yet again, Liverpool seem to have fallen behind. “Arsenal and Manchester United having been working well with young players for a number of years and Liverpool is now trying to do likewise,” he said. “At Arsenal, Wenger has had total control [on the academy] for the past fourteen years. The same is now happening at Liverpool where Rafael Benitez is now involved in the day-to-day operations but also in the players’ contracts as well as the technical staff.” Benitez newly gained power over the academy is evidenced by the fact that Segura was handpicked by him, contrary to what had happened two years back when Piet Hamberg had been appointed. “He (Benitez) asked me what I was doing and at the time I was at out of work. At that point he asked me to come over for a weekend where he told me that he had thought of me for this role. I thought about it for a couple of days and then accepted.” Having led Olympiakos to a league and cup double, it might seem surprising that Segura has accepted to move back into youth football. Yet, that is where he seems to be most comfortable at. “I have been in football coaching for the past twenty-six years but only for the past three years have I been working in the senior game. I was the link between Barcelona B and the first team in my final season at the Nou Camp and then spent two years in Greece.” Given their success in the Champions League with a squad built around home grown players, it is fashionable to try and copy the Barcelona model. That seems to be what Liverpool have gone for and Segura, with eight years of experience at the Catalan giants, seems perfectly suited to do just that. “One of the keys to success at an academy is to have a clear training and playing ideology throughout the different age-groups so that the players can learn about their positions. Once that’s in place you can leave them on their own.” “Then there’s the ability to spot players: Messi, Bojan and Iniesta are there because they’re good. True, they came and liked what they saw so they decided to stay at Barcelona. That is also very important.” “Yet, the secret to continuing with this production line is that everyone knows what their role is, which makes it all easier. Once you have set up the way you work, then year on year you can build on it and get results. I remember that there were some problems when the 4-3-3 style was imposed but they were overcome and the teams play well.” Which is not to say that clubs with a distinct ideology between the youth and senior set-ups cannot work but, as Segura hints by using Real Madrid as an example, it is more difficult to integrate players into the senior side. “It is curious because Madrid have a bigger pool from which to choose from than Barcelona and they always have great players. But that is precisely it: Madrid is a factory of individuals but you need to define the philosophy of the club.” I recall that Angel Pedraza (a former Barcelona and Real Mallorca player) once told me that he wasn’t the best player of his [youth] side but made it to the first team because there was a gap in his role. The same applies to [sergio] Busquets who is another example of a player who has been trained for a specific role. It wasn’t a coincidence neither for Pedraza nor for Busquets. They were chosen because they had specific abilities that fitted into the characteristics of a particular position. Lately, I’ve talked a lot about this with Benitez: if you see what way you want to play and are clear about it then you can say that you need a player to play as a 2, 7 or 11 in this or that team. That way everything is better” “Pedraza was casual about it or is about Busquets. Arrived with a clear profile is set to play and fit into that idea because his features were those of that position. I've commented a lot lately with Benitez: if you look you see a clear way of working what you need: a 2, 7, 11 in this or that team. And you're all the better.” http://www.aliverpoolthing.com/2009/06/new-academy-head-looking-to-re.html

Out of curiosity, did you read the article? Where does it say that they will be getting coaching from any of our players? The likelihood is that they will send over some of the academy coaches (or what's left of them).