royhendo

It's just an Internet site. I like it on here too but I don't post much - mostly speak to a few of the boys by email or whatever. Different strokes for different folks, that's all. I don't police it - the staff do that - and they like things a certain way. The rules are on there so it's no biggie.

Buck yer fuckin ideas up boys or I'm locking this pronto! Oh. Hold on. ;) Peace and love babes.

How did you go, ya massive shower of scaly fannies? ;)

Not at all mate - feel free any time - it's a hobby. :) And tear them to shreds at leisure cos most of the time I talk a lot of shite.

Cheers lads - it's a no brainer now more than ever eh?

The Evening Times in Glesga seem to have linked him in November. Liverpool in link to Peter Lawwell - Evening Times | Sport | Editor's Picks

Very interesting Steve, cheers mate.

Just wanted to say it's been a privilege dealing with you Kop Faithful boys and working with you as part of SaveLFC. We've been one team and you're a special group - you have something you can't buy. Many thanks and congratulations boys! :)

I have a hard time with that statement related to "the smaller internet groups" Graham. It gets to the stage where people keep plugging away to try and help you boost your membership in spite of themselves.

Steve - have sent you an email.

Alright lads. I'm one of the RAWK scribes, and to be fair, this email thing was one thread that built its own momentum on the board. Don't confuse it with the entire site (albeit I have to say it's pro-the manager and demands the detail when you don't back him - I know having been critical this season myself). I personally think it's pointless cos I reckon he's off anyway - the one thing everybody from every site bar a few madballs can agree on is that these owners are a disaster for the club. It's pointless everybody arguing over shite like this - we should just put all the nonsense to one side and join together against the owners, whether it's as a member of the union or not. There's a thread on the boards there where we've tried to make it clear it's about targeting the owners somehow, and we keep reminding people it's not about Rafa Benitez. The union are involved, and if you guys on here could do a similar thread that'd be great (although I'd understand if you think a. I'm a RAWKite prick and b. you're already doing plenty on that front as it is - which I think you are, don't worry). SOS are involved and thus far it's led to MacPhisto80 taking the bare bones of an idea with a couple of other people pitching in to produce that Liverbird blood bag above. I think it's fucking brilliant. Anyway, peace and good will to all men, save for you know who.

Can we stop giving Maureen credit for this? It's Moratti who pulls the strings. Amazing though eh? Eto'o must do Pep's tits in.

What's Ancelotti earning?

Lucho went to Marseille for about €18m - ridiculous really eh?

This is the bit that I struggle with. How is it common knowledge? How do we have an insight into what Xabi Alonso is saying? I'm not challenging you dude - but a lot of people talk as if they have an inside track on these things. Do they? Are people playing rounds of golf with Xabi Alonso? Working as his Spanish tutor? ;)

Thank fuck we never signed Barry, that's all I can say. We'd all have been sectioned by now.

But hold on - if he's already decided he can no longer work with the manager, then how come he'd be prepared to stay and get on with things professionally if things don't pan out and the deal falls through? Are you saying he wasn't prepared to work with Rafa this last season, but he somehow found the will to stomach it for another season? I don't see why the whole thing, whether it's likely to happen or not, has to be spun into a massive soap opera. If he leaves, he leaves, and we have a footballing problem to solve and some cash. If he stays, then great.

Barca bought Dani Alves for €35m plus €6m in performance-related add-ons (winning CL, winning league, maybe winning the cup). So €41m (over £34.5m at today's exchange rate).

Sorry if I'm missing something, but if it's true that Rafa is intent on spinning this to look like he has no option but to sell, and if Bascombe hates Rafa, then why would Bascombe play into Rafa's hands? Cos he's a half assed excuse for a journo hack, maybe? ;) Hope Xabi stays FWIW. He's unique. Rafa would undermine his position if he sold him too.

(i'm in dundee by the way and regularly go to see dundee united) hearts were playing dundee united and yes, there are a few decent kids at both clubs at the minute. both clubs are also actively looking for loan players as far as i know. possibly the kid dixon, but more likely the loan stuff i reckon.

Just did a bit of digging around on the web to collate figures for a few of our rivals when it comes to squad numbers... First team squad numbers 36 - Arsenal, Man Utd 35 - Liverpool 30 - Man City 27 - Chelsea 23 - Villa Reserve players not listed in 1st team 21 - Villa 19 - Man City 18 - Liverpool 17 - Arsenal 13 - Chelsea 10 - Man Utd Total loanees (1st team and reserves) 11 - Liverpool 10 - Arsenal 9 - Chelsea 6 - Man Utd 3 - Man City 2 - Aston Villa Academy players not listed in reserves 27 - Aston Villa 25 - Man Utd 22 - Chelsea 19 - Liverpool 17 - Arsenal ? - Man City (details not listed) --- So - total player numbers for 1st team and reserves are as follows... 64 - Liverpool 63 - Arsenal 52 - Man Utd 52 - Man City 49 - Chelsea 46 - Aston Villa

you're right - there's not much point in these debates - I agree there's a problem and I think it's as much structural as it is political - anyway you gave me a lot of food for thought and I appreciate it dave

cheers for the detailed reply Dave - much appreciated. i'll not drag it out cos i've the utmost respect for the work you put in and your contacts and passion for the club - as you say we largely agree about this stuff and it's just minor details really. i'm going to be writing an article on the squad (or squads) depth issue shortly and hope to refer to your piece on the areas i agree on. i'm hoping to compare and contrast our set up with those of our rivals and try to assess the relative costs if that's possible. anyway, will keep you posted on its progress. I'd agreee with that and if I misread it I apologise - my main point, though, is that people are blanking your very valid points and writing them off on other sites using that as their excuse. People bristle I guess whenever the subject of Parry v Rafa comes up in any form, but it's not right because I think many of your central points in the article are massively important, and shouldn't just be dismissed. OK, well it's a good point you make about the UEFA ruling (and one I hadn't taken into account), but even taking that aside, there are a fair few Academy graduates in the Reserve squad who are getting game time, which undermines your argument in my view - just my view, but there it is. But they were all promoted. Your point was that there's no chance of players being promoted based on the examples of Eccleston and Ajdarevic, but several players have been promoted. On top of that a fair few Academy players have been given first team starts since 2004. As I say though, I agree that the current set up isn't helping players develop and it needs urgent attention. I pretty much agree Dave. I think there should also be a vetting process in place for assessing players before they make the step up, even if both sides have agreed to the original signing - if the player isn't turning out as hoped, we shouldn't be bound to promoting them because of politics, just like we shouldn't be rejecting/blocking them because of politics. I can't argue with you on what the staff think cos I've never spoken to any of them - if that's their view it's wrong that things are so tense they feel they can't raise these issues. I've only seen Eccleston on the TV (one reserve game and Academy highlights since the TV channel started) so I can't testify to much beyond him looking a real prospect. As for the reserve strikers, i'd agree on Brouwer, and I'm not sure about Simon. I've never seen Flora who you're assuring everyone is a waste of space, and despite flashes of brilliance from Bruna, he looks out of sorts and a level short of what we need physically and in terms of his decision making. I disagree with your opinion of N'Gog. I'm guessing you'd rate Pacheco and Nemeth ahead of him, and when fit you'd expect Saric to stake a claim ahead of him too. from what i've seen dalla valle looks an even brighter prospect than eccleston, and Pourie also looks a real handful, so your claims are going to be put to a severe test over the next few months and years, that's for sure. I completely agree with you on this - 100%. I'm just not sure dalla valle will be blocked when his time comes. I'm holding out some hope that if a kid's genuinely special, even politics won't be able to prevent them from breaking through. the allegation that his appointment was a mistake, and that he won't have his contract renewed. it hints that he's professionally incompetent, or a trouble maker, or some combination of the two. That's your opinion and your article reads as if it's shared by the Academy staff, and possibly Ablett (although it's not clear whether he thinks that of the entire squad). I know you think Plessis and N'Gog are no use - I disagree with you on those two. For me, I think there are some good young players in there. I'd include Plessis and N'Gog and you wouldn't, but even then, would you agree that San Jose, Duran, Weijl, Nemeth, and Pacheco look decent? They cost next to nothing, and there's a very good chance of them making the grade if they work hard on their game. And if not, there's an equally good chance of them being sold on for a serious profit. So again, I think there are holes in your argument - it's a subjective opinion that not everyone shares with you. no - the point was that we're pursuing recognised talents as well as the 'dross' you claim he's signing elsewhere. Opare, Ramsay, Cofie - we're getting some recognised talents and evidently we're also in the running for the others, which you'd expect from the scouts at a serious club, no? so maybe it's evidence they're not completely incompetent. I can't answer that, but feeder clubs have worked well for some clubs, most notably arsenal with the pipeline of kids from west africa, and ajax with kids from south africa. Maybe my source on these Hungarian kids isn't the greatest (Aruns who posts translations on RAWK) but the core players from the MTK Academy are creating a lot of excitement in their home country, and we've seen at close quarters how good Nemeth looks. From what you read, maybe the suggestion on poaching their staff isn't such a bad idea! As for my comments on Nemeth being an overstatement, I realise it's from Sky, but he's highly rated, and these players command high fees. Sky Sports | Football | Transfer Centre | Sky Sports Scout | Sky Sports Scout - Krisztian Nemeth Are you suggesting he's not likely to command a good sized fee? that's a fair point, but maybe us getting him now was the only way to prize him from the other top clubs vying for his signature, much like Ferguson's wooing of Van Nistelrooy before he did his cruciate at PSV after their deal was only agreed in principle? I don't know the ins and outs any better than anyone else, but I'm pleased to read about how good Saric could be, and that he's on our books for very little investment. no - as i said above, it's just evidence that they're in amongst it for some of the biggest prospects, which you'd expect them to be. I agree with that - definitely. But Bruna aside, I don't think Kakaniclic and Amoo are better than Weijl, and I don't agree that Eccleston is better than Nemeth and Pacheco. I'm not sure on Simon and I've never seen Flora play, so I can't comment. The point is that it's their subjective view and obviously they're going to favour their own players. yup, and a very good point too. I don't agree that all of Macia's recruits are dead wood, but I do think we need to get things moving, cos the system is looking seriously 'constipated'. yup - as I say i think you make a lot of very important points and i meant no disrespect. in fact, i'll be promoting your ideas on this subject in my own stuff - i'll just be arguing for them in different ways is all. anyway, kudos for the effort and for your continued good work - and as i say, sorry for logging on to rant instead of just lurking.

first post, and it's a rant aswell, so apologies. and before posting, i mean no disrespect to Dave - i just want to get my thoughts out. i just got the article through the post the other day cos it's something a few of us have been debating on RAWK. i think dave highlights a lot of important points, albeit the article comes across as Dave blazing a trail for the 'downtrodden' staff at the Academy. i've not read the debate here in full, so sorry if it's been done to death, but there are a lot of holes in the argument that detract from the good points made i reckon. of the 29 players listed in Ablett's squad, 9 were from the Academy, and 6 from that 9 are in the Champions League squad (out of a total of 28 ). it's hard to square that with the 'nobody from the Academy ever gets a chance' line from an outsider's point of view. if nobody breaks through, then how are the likes of gary mackay-steven and martin kelly at melwood? also, how is it the melwood staff's fault if money is being spent on players at academy level while they have no control over the things they want to see in the players chosen? i can see your points on adjarevic and eccleston, but the book's not closed for eccleston (at least not yet) and there were doubts over ajdarevic stated on this site a while back, no? did dave not say ajdarevic and pourie etc were fighting, that coaches were falling out with each other, and all sorts? i don't think it's on suggesting that pourie, kakaniclic and the rest will have no chance of breaking through - there are several players at academy level who look good and if they leave then fair enough, i'd be really angry (other than the case of ecceleston, specifically dalla valle, ince, kakaniclic and buchtmann look really strong talents). there are a lot of other points that i couldn't quite accept, but no point harping on - just leave it to two points really - the allegation against hamberg is pretty serious and it ought to be backed up, surely? and as for the sustained attack on macia, just looking at the reserve squad, was it all herrera's work to bring in players who look real prospects in recent years? i'm not sure who was behind every buy, but a lot of these deals have been for sweetie money (compo, nominal payments, and so forth) compared with other clubs at our level. dave says pacheco and nemeth are two who could make it as first team squad regulars, but it says nothing about some of the other work we've done, and some of the players we've narrowly missed out on. we've secured a feeder club agreement with MTK Hungaria and in the article it's portrayed as if it's a complete waste of money, but in gulacsi and nemeth we've sewn up two of the brightest young prospects in european football at the moment, and the midfielder who's injured at the minute is by all accounts pretty special too. if you dig a bit deeper the academy set up there is supposedly superb and it's really only us playing catch up with what other big clubs have done in the past. even if nemeth's the only one who makes the grade, there's every chance he could be a £10-£15m player for the club, so it's hard to see how there's much downside to the deal. other than that, while he's also injured as pointed out in the article, saric is recognised as a massive talent and apparently a coach who brought savicevic through as a youth and worked in denmark with saric before his move apparently rates him on equal terms. none of us have seen him play yet, but you can see the angles on why we took the risk. then we pursued daniel opare only for him to u-turn at the last minute and join madrid - he's now at castilla b. i don't think the melwood-based scouts are as bad as they're being made out to be. it's all based on 'in my view the players at the academy are better than the players in the reserves', but obviously the Academy staff are going to say that. there are a few decent players in there at reserve level and for me, the recruitment's not the problem - it's as you say - the lack of competitive playing time and the need to root out dead wood more regularly to free space for younger lads and brighter talents. but anyway, rant over - it's not fair to criticise the article because in the end, the points made are right - it's a shit sandwich and everyone has to take a bite if it keeps up long-term. i agree strongly with dave's point on the need for long-term continuity at academy level because managers are liable to be moved on - it's a results business and cases like wenger and fergie are the exception rather than the rule. also, the shite rained on us from these two owners and from parry means it's a miracle we're managing to do anything on the park or at Academy level at all. For me, I like the idea of someone respected coming in to liaise between the two parties - a new head of football development at youth level who puts the Academy staff under the right amount of pressure to perform, and agrees the standards (technical ability, physical power and fitness, and attitude - all three of those aspects are measurable in this day and age) as well as being experienced enough to know when someone's a player full stop. kenny would be the dream choice for me, because he's capable of doing the diplomatic side. it's easy to single out rafa for clog for the way he's acted towards the academy, but that's modern managers at that level. mourinho lost his job because of this exact same problem apparently - he took on frank arnesen who'd been taken on to head up youth development and scouting on a massive salary, and arnesen had avram grant and abramovich's ear. mourinho took every opportunity to slag off the youth development's lack of end product, but arnesen was powerful enough to undermine his position and see him off in the end. now arnesen's for the chop apparently... here's a couple of articles on it... Digger: Chelsea cull of scouts at odds with Buck's bullish declaration | Sport | The Guardian Premier League: Frank Arnesen on brink over Chelsea 'failure' | Football | The Observer foreign managers who come to the UK think they'll get longer to complete a project - ramos thought that too - and rafa wants to stay in one place for as long as he can and control everything, just like every other manager with an ego wants to do. ferguson and wenger managed to pull it off, and it's not done either of those clubs any harm, but they had (mostly) stable ownership who were committed to their man - we don't. so yeah, i totally agree with dave that we need to sort out the long-term independence of the academy but at the same time we need to put proper checks in place to make sure nobody's too cozy and complacent (not that i'm saying they are by the way - but i hate to hear people saying 'they're scared to speak their mind cos they might lose their job' - they should have the balls to give their professional opinion directly to the people who they disagree with, or they're letting the club down). we also need the melwood guys to sit down and put in writing what they expect from Academy players if they're going to graduate to the reserves, and then have someone there to make judgement calls on each category. it's possible to do it and it'd get rid of stupid arguments because the people involved would have a lot less wriggle room to work the political side. anyway, everybody should be working for the long-term improvement of the club, but when your owners aren't particularly arsed beyond making the next interest payment, and when your chief exec is hell bent on saving his own arse at every turn, then it's hardly any wonder people are all over the shop at the club, and that the manager gets frustrated. the sooner we get shot of the yanks, closely followed by parry, the sooner things will start to move in the right direction.