coachpotato

Only on the assumption that Mascherano may be going (and how are we expected to know, we're only fans!), i'll say firstly i'm not interested in how Barcelona or Real Madrid would be affected by his arrival there, i'm only interested in how LFC would be affected. Pre-requisite would be for Rafa to sit him down (if he hasn't already) and tell him that he's only going to lower himself going elsewhere (the same goes for Alonso), but, if he is determined to go then the number of pounds/euros he goes for starts with a 4 and has at least 7 more figures after that. Otherwise he stays and gets on with it. IF we lose him then I believe, apart from perhaps Essien, there's not a better player at doing what he does, so no alternative to buy. We should use all the available funds from his sale to buy attacking alternative(s) and go fuck-off-gung-ho at teams and batter them into submission, thus winning the League by Easter 2010.

No brainer really. ESPN aren't going to shell out for Setanta's games then broadcast them free. With a bit of luck, they might be able to push them out cheaper though.

I understand that having a fan card should reduce the amount of touting. This doesn't stop various people outside the ground touting though, and where I sit in the Lower Cent, the 3 seats in front of me are owned by a bloke who never attends a game. According to the lad who sits next to me, who used to pay this fella face value for one of his ST's, he owns 5 ST's in total. He's probably getting at least £50 on average a ticket for each game? No system is perfect, and until we get a bigger ground,and have more tickets available for genuine fans, there'll always be ways found for touting tickets cos there'll always be a demand that people will pay for..

"Ferguson Resigns - Moyes To Take Over" Can't wait for that one.

Very good AP, very good!

I saw his comments regarding Man Utd and Chelsea possibly bidding for him, he said he was happy at Anfield and was on good money, as all players in the top league are, so why would he want to move for a little more money and be unhappy. This was either the same day or the day after Xabi was commenting on the exchange rate affecting his money by effectively making his contract worth 30% less. The lads a legend already.

That's just wrong.

Well in Andrew. Every bit helps to correct those who, in sometimes innocent ignorance, do not know what the truth really is about the day. Hope it's helped you a little to say your piece lad.

I don't agree there, all that closed season, Madrid had been pushing for Vieira to join them from Arsenal, and he hadn;t said no about leaving the Gooners. Until about 3 weeks before the start of the season, when he signed up on an improved deal with the Gooners, leaving the Madrid President looking for a big money signing. It was relatively late on, just before we played in the CL qualifiers, that news about Owen/Madrid broke and within weeks he was gone. We'll never get to the bottom of these things, as mere supporters, but I believe Owen was Madrid's second choice after Vieira. I'll stand corrected however.

Is right. But light on the Will Young songs, eh?

I'm with Spy Bee on this. The lad has made (or had made for him) some very bad decisions, and of course has suffered injuries to go with those bad decisions. I'd still have him back, if the stories about Carra and Gerrard wanting to see him return are true, he must be worth a punt on a pay as you play/score basis. Fit he's still class.

Fans always get screwed when it comes to allocation in finals. Whether the FA or UEFA, they look after their corporate mates first, then anyone other than the Clubs, then give the clubs theirs. The clubs then look after their corporates then the players, staff etc and only THEN will the fans be considered. No-one expects to get to two finals in a row so they bury their collective heads in the sand and hope the furore goes away in the summer, only to do the same next season. But Everton crying over any allocation is a bit much when they can't fill their ground. People's Club......aye!

I think he's the nearest thing to Kenny Dalglish i've ever seen. And I don't say that lightly. If he's not nailed down at Arsenal then we should try to sign him, we don't have to worry if or where he'll fit in, he's Class so he will fit in.

I'm not defending Rafa when I say this by the way!! A simple rule of thumb for me is, how many £20M players (and I mean players valued at that) do you have in your squad? The more there are, the more likely you are to be successful. It's become a fact of life. We can't afford to go out and buy £20M players because we're skint through a combination of bad ownership recently and corporate laziness throughout our most successful period. How do you get players worth £20M without buying them outright? Through spotting talent early when they're cheaper or bringing them through your own academy system. On either score we've been dismal, probably because of the politicking going on inside the club. How long would a youngster last in our first team though if he didn't produce straight away? Unless we turn around our revenue situation pronto, we're going to be set for years of mediocrity because eventually no decent player will want to play for us. It's sad to say it, but we need new owners soon and with plenty of cash. Football became a business many, many years ago and we haven't moved with that fast enough.

The frustration on here and other boards, as well as in the pubs, clubs, workplaces etc. is to be expected. We've all built up our hopes of winning the title because of the fact that we've been at the top for so long this season. Most will have realised earlier on in the season that we weren't (and aren't) playing like a team which could win the title, but the pressure from the Mancs nearing an 18th title, and from Chelsea (who are not out of it yet) coupled with our hope that we'd put a gap between ourselves and the others "when we start playing well" has meant it's been like a poker sticking in every time we've dropped points. So many draws, too many points dropped. The same as last season and probably the same or similar results this. 3rd at best? And yet, should we kick into any kind of run of form, the likelyhood will be we'll give anyone a run for their money. There's a long way to go yet, and the interference of the CL to come, not just to us, but also to the Mancs and the Chavs. They will both drop points along the way. Rafa has made poor decisions and at bad times, of that there's no doubt. Rafa, in my opinion, also plays things too safe overall, but that doesn't necessarily mean that our chances are gone. It's unlikely we'll win the title, but it isn't dead yet, and until it is completely gone, I think we should try and keep our frustrations under control, difficult as it might be, as to start a civil war amongst US, with all that is (allegedly) going on behind the scenes, would almost certainly put the knife in Rafa, our chances and the chance of keeping hold of the 3 or 4 top class players we have.