Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Funny faced Brazilian in? Or is he going to Chelsea?

Gurning right back Daniel Alves has been strongly linked with us for some time (pictured left). But:

DAILY EXPRESS
Chelsea have joined Liverpool in the race to sign Seville's £12m full-back Daniel Alves. This is a lot of wedge for a right back in my opinion. Oh well, the sheikhs are coming...

THE SCUM
Chelsea are ready to end their right-back search by landing Sevilla's £10m-rated Brazilian Daniel Alves. I think we bid that much over Summer so this is obviously more bollocks from the lieing gets...

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Sheikh on it - Liverpool FC set for investment

THE SCUM
Rafa Benitez will "hit the jackpot" after Sheikh Mohammed opened takeover talks with Liverpool

DAILY STAR
Rafa Benitez will get cash for a spending spree if Dubai International Capital complete their £450million Liverpool takeover

DAILY MAIL
Liverpool are set to come under the control of Sheik Mohammed, the world's fifth-richest man

DAILY EXPRESS
Rafa Benitez will be given funds to challenge Chelsea and Manchester United when the formalities of Liverpool's £450million takeover by Sheikh Maktoum are completed

On balance then, there is only one story haunting the sports pages about Liverpool FC today. Do you think it's right or wrong for Liverpool to fall into foreign ownership?

For me, I believe that a moderate regime would be best. Historically, Liverpool FC spends about £25M a year on players. Upping that to, say, £35M a year would please me. We don't want to buy the premiership, we don't want to turn into Chavski. However, we do need investment for new players and investment for the new stadium. I approach the whole thing with cautious optimism.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Warnock and Bellamy out? A team of Pavons and Zendens?

THE DAILY MIRROR
Liverpool are planning talks with Real Madrid outcast Francisco Pavon and the defender could sign a pre-contract agreement in January. No more Real rejects please, the lad is rubbish and Real's defence is rubbish. No thanks. Unlike Real's team of Pavons and Zidanes we would have a team of Pavons and Zendens. Not quite as good on balance.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is hoping Craig Bellamy can provide some much-needed goals now his court case is over. And me, well, I'm hoping a Liverpool player will score in the next match anyway...

THE DAILY STAR
Chelsea are considering a move for Valencia's Portuguese right-back Miguel.

THE SCUM
Blackburn are ready to make a move for Liverpool left-back Stephen Warnock (pictured left). I hope we keep hold of him - I think we need some home grown talent to give the squad back bone.

THE DAILY EXPRESS
Aston Villa's list of transfer targets includes Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane and possibly Craig Bellamy. More on this ongoing story. No smoke without fire?

The LFC.TV message board is linking us with Ajax's Klaus Jan Huntelar today as well. Not a bad signing I would say, looks like a star in the making. There are also claims we are signing a fifteen year old Finnish wonderkid.

And don't forget the campaign for better taches - below.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

The moustache appeal

A Liverpool fan called BOBRED has recenlty observed that succesful Liverpool squads have always featured lots of players with moustaches. Drawing inspiration from BOBRED, The Red Kop is launching a campaign for more moustaches.

Leave a message here, even just your name, and we will treat this as a petition. When we have a suitable quanitty of names a copy of the page will be sent to the Rafa Benitez and he will almost certainly cave in and order the players to grow taches.

If we have any hopes of winning the league, it's time to take action!

I think the least the squad can do is grow some taches for us. Give us a laugh if they can't give us three points.

I think a few taches and we would easily be in the top four. If half the squad had taches we could finish second. If the whole squad had taches, we could easily win the league.

And just think - if Crouch had a tache he could use it to brush Shaun Wright Phillips hair when we play Chelsea.

So sign now. There is no other choice.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Chav-chanko to leave Chavski, Defoe in, Pepe loaded

LOADS OF PLACES BECAUSE ITS TRUE! DEFO!!!
Chelsea are considering allowing Andriy Shevchenko to go out on loan in the New Year, with former employers AC Milan his most likely destination. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Thirty million quid!!! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

DAILY MIRROR
Liverpool are braced for a £12million battle with Manchester United for Jermain Defoe, and Rafael Benitez says he is prepared to offer Craig Bellamy in part exchange.

Aston Villa have are also in the hunt for Liverpool target and Blackburn full-back Lucas Neill. Good, we've got enough thugs at the club as it is.

Jose Reina is set to be rewarded with a new £40,000-a-week deal at Liverpool. Nice one Pepe...

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Transfer rumours - November 28, 2006

LIVERPOOLFC.TV MESSAGE BOARDS
Liverpool's central midfield injury crisis has further worsened as converted winger Boudewyn Zenden has picked up a knock. Pants, that's what I say.

DAILY STAR
Liverpool and Celtic are trailing QPR striker Ray Jones. Here's what they have to say about the lanky striker on the QPR message boards.

Former Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger has begged Stoke boss Tony Pulis to start him against Cardiff tonight so that he can impress potential buyers. Class player still in my opinion, could do with a move infield (a la John Barnes) and a good club. If I were him, I would stick with Stoke - they are on the up.

DAILY MIRROR
Manchester United are ready to make a £12m swoop for Spurs and England striker Jermain Defoe. Looks like that's scuppered our Bellamy swap deal then - shame.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Tranfer rumours - November 27

DAILY STAR
Livorno keeper Marco Amelia has claimed that Liverpool are among several clubs trying to sign him... Never heard of him, stick with Riena I say.

NEWS OF THE WORLD
Liverpool will swoop for Ipswich striker Billy Clarke in the January window. Seems a lot for a reserver: more here http://www.itfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Academy/0,,10272~567050,00.html

THE PEOPLE
Craig Bellamy is a £7million target for Aston Villa. Yeah, sell him on. Do you think Rafa sometimes makes buys simply in order to sell for a profit later (Nunez, Josemi, Krompkamp?)

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has inquired about Real Madrid defender Cicinho.

THE SUNDAY MIRROR
Tottenham are set to swap Jermaine Defoe for Craig Bellamy in January. Mint, get Defoe in instead, quality!

DAILY MAIL
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is in no doubt Craig Bellamy can put his courtroom worries behind him to help solve a mounting injury crisis at Anfield.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
Bolton forward El-Hadji Diouf has confirmed a long-standing perception of his approach to the game by admitting he regularly attempts to dupe match officials by diving to win penalties. "Surprise, surprise" said long standing Reds fan Cilla Black. "His spit hits you right between the eyes," explained a long standing Celtic fan.

Right back replacements

Thanks to Fowi from the .TV message board for this article on potential right back replacements for the ageing but excellent Finnan:

After reading and debating a lot in the past few days about Steve Finnan and our right-back situation in general it is quite clear that we’re in need of a player in that position. This player is to both compete for Finnan for the starting role and to take over in the next couple of years. So therefore I present you with 12 foreign-based right-backs who are affordable, avaliable (some of them rather expensive though) and who I feel could do a good job for us. These players are:

Daniel Alves – Sevilla, AGE: 23
Everybody knows pretty much everything there is to know about this player after this summer. However, I still feel that Rafa hasn’t given up on him yet. The thing is that Rafa sees him mainly as a winger and not as a full-back in HIS team. His defensive qualities are still questionable but he has improved a lot in the past 12 months and even though some of his tackles are very erratic, even over the top, he’s still a decent defender. Coupled with his fantastic technique and most of all his Formula-1 engine, he’s today one of the best full-backs in Europe. He won’t come cheap but good players rarely do.

Nelson – Benfica, AGE: 23
The latest player we have been linked to is Benfica’s Nelson. Now, people should not be frightened by his £17mil. quoted price because there is no way that they will either demand or get that much for him. A very talented player and in the same mould as Portugal’s main right-back Miguel. Not the tallest but very strong, very stable on his feet, quick and technically endowned. One of the positives about Nelson would be that he probably wouldn’t mind sitting on the bench for a few months as he knows that if he comes to Liverpool, he will be the number one right-back eventually. Having watched him quite a few times, I also feel that he would not have problems adapting to English game.

Cicinho – Real Madrid, AGE: 26
The forgotten man at Real Madrid and a player that is not appreciated by Fabio Capello. He’s been told he can leave the club if serious bidders come in for him, which means that his price would be a reasonable one. He has had injury problems in the last 8 months but there is no doubt that he’s still a top full-back and the natural replacement for Cafu, for Brazil. On the field he combines great attacking play with solid defending and is also a very influential figure off the pitch as well. He wouldn’t have any problems slotting straight into our squad and our style of play as he’s not a typical Brazilian fullback. Just a year ago clubs like Man Utd and Milan were willing to pay up to £12mil. for him and now he’s available at probably less than half that price. Probably the biggest bargain on this list.

Christian Zaccardo – Palermo, AGE: 25
Italy’s world cup winner is a much different player than the 3 mentioned above. He’s not as good going forward as any of them but on the other hand he’s probably the best natural defender on this list. Quite tall for a full-back, strength and high level of concentration are his trademarks which make him a typical Italian defender. He’s having a brilliant season at Palermo who are top of the table at the moment and therefore he wouldn’t come cheap. Nevertheless, Palermo is not a big club in Italy and I’m sure that he would be interested in a move. Milan are very interested in him, so are Juventus and Liverpool should be as well.

Philippe Degen – Borussia Dortmund, AGE: 24
He too has been mentioned before and mostly by people on this MB. My feeling on this particular player is that he would fit into our style of play. He’s big and strong, probably the most physical player on the list and he’s a typical British defender. However his level of concentration is not the best and he offers far more going forward, despite his size, than at the back. I remember last season in the game between Dortmund and Monchegladbach when he let slip his marker and Dortmund conceded a goal. Now, that happens to every defender from time to time but what was remarkable is that after the game Van Marwijk was asked by the reporter who made a mistake for the goal. His response was: “Degen, and not for the first time”. Nevertheless, this is also a player who can improve a lot and who certainly has other good qualities to compensate for his poor positioning.

Anthony Reveillere – Lyon, AGE: 27
Rafa knows all about this player as he was a member of the Valencia’s Primera winning team. He’s a player of immense experience and he’s a player who very rarely lets you down. This probably marks him as the player who is closest to Finnan in his style of play. He’s not the strongest nor the quickest and he’s not the best going forward but he very rarely has a bad day and is a typical Benitez, and may I say Houllier (obviously), type of player. He wouldn’t offer anything different to our team but he would still do a good job.

Rafinha – Schalke 04, AGE: 21
This small player is very much like Alves, a typical Brazilian offensive full-back. He has been one of the best full-backs in Germany since day 1 and is probably second only to Willy Sagnol. Brilliant going forward as he’s a type of full-back who does not make early crosses but is well capable of running straight into the opposition box. His incredible stamina makes it possible for him to go up and down the right-hand side for practically the entire match. As mentioned above, he’s not the biggest nor the strongest but he offers so much going forward that his defensive problems can be covered up by tactical tweaking. He too wont be cheap but the fact that he plays in Germany lowers his price, possibly beneath the price that his qualities warrant.

Gio Seitaridis – Atl Madrid, AGE: 25
Voted best full-back at EURO 2004 but has struggled since then. He was at Porto for a while with good success. Now he’s at Atletico and has played in every game so far this season, with success. There is not much this player can’t do. A good defender and adequate when going forward, strong and blessed with a very good first-touch. Another one of his strengths is that he can play well as a central defender too. He’s not the obvious candidate because he has just signed for a new club but perhaps this summer a good offer would be hard to refuse for Atletico.

Darijo Srna – Shaktar Donetsk, AGE: 25
We have been linked with him for quite some time now that it seems like he’s 30+ years old. In fact he’s only 25 and, disregarding his love for Croatian country music that landed him in trouble last month, Srna is one of the best right-backs in Europe. He’s been linked to many clubs but he’s quite happy playing at Shaktar and he doesn’t want to sign for an average European club. However, a move to Liverpool would be perfect for him and for us. He’s also probably the only player who can deal with the entire right-hand side on his own, which he demonstrates both at Shaktar and for Croatia. A top top player.

Bernard Mendy – PSG, AGE: 25
People will remember this French player from his short stint at Bolton but before that he was a brilliant player at Paris SG and also a full France international. He’s now back in familiar surroundings in France and is once again demonstrating his qualities, not least his breathtaking pace. Probably the quickest full-back in the world combines his good physique with fine technical abilities and is a very offensive full-back. A typical Arsenal-type defender in the mould of Eboue and Toure.

Christian Lell – Bayern Munich, AGE: 22
I’ve mentioned him before but he’s worth another mention. A young, talented full-back who is a product of Bayern youth academy. He spent 2 seasons on loan at FC Cologne before being drafted back into Bayern’s squad. He hasn’t had many chances this year so he will probably be up for a move pretty soon. Plays a bit like Phil Lahm but is physically stronger. However, unlike Lahm, he hasn’t been tested on the left side of defence. He could be a very interesting player for us and I predict that once he moves to another club he will become the nr.1 right-back for Germany.

Lars Jacobsen – FC Copenhagen, AGE: 28
Probably the cheapest player on the list and the least ambitious solution as well. However he’s a player with decent experience, having played at Hamburg, and is a very solid defender. He’s doing well in the Champions League this season and is also the number 1 right-back for Danish national team. He has a bit of everything but his crossing is probably his best asset.

The above list shows that there are some rather expensive players and then there are potential bargains. There is no doubt that Finnan is not getting any younger and that at some point we are going to have to think about his replacement. However there is also an urgent need for another right-back at the club to provide competition. Some of the players on the list would not only provide competition but would also eventually succeed Finnan.

Friday, November 24, 2006

News and rumours - November 24

Rafa Benitez has agreed to pay £1m to Boca Juniors for 17-year-old Argentinian left back Emiliano Insua. Added to Gabriel Palletta, who is already at the club, Liverpool only need nine more Argentianian Under 21s to complete the set.

Bolton boss Sam Allardyce has criticised Lyon president Jean Michel Aulas for leaking his interest in grumpy old waster Nicolas Anelka.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Bellamy in court for alleged assault

Liverpool star Craig Bellamy grabbed a young woman by the throat after they bumped into each other at a nightclub, a court heard on Thursday.The Wales and Liverpool striker is alleged to have assaulted 19-year-old Sophie Palmer and 20-year-old Holly Smith during a night out in Cardiff city centre during the early hours of February 5 this year.

Prosecutor Mike Hammett told Cardiff Magistrates Court the alleged altercation happened as Bellamy was walking in a corridor at the No 10 nightclub at about 2am.

Mr Hammett said Bellamy collided with Miss Palmer as she walked in the opposite direction, and "words were exchanged".

Bellamy is said to have then grabbed Miss Palmer's friend, Holly Smith, by the wrist and swore at her.

The court heard that moments later he followed the pair after they had walked away and grabbed Miss Palmer by the throat.

Bellamy's friend and sometime minder, Franklin Lynch, was also accused of assaulting Miss Palmer, and is alleged to have grabbed her in a bear hug when she tried to get assistance from door staff.

After the two women made an official complaint to police, Bellamy told officers during an interview the incident started when he caught the eye of one of the complainants, in the nightclub.

When she asked him what he was looking at, Bellamy said he replied: "If I was looking at anyone it would be those two behind you because they are far prettier."

Bellamy said the girl then slapped him and he made a counter complaint to police.
Mr Hammett said Miss Palmer suffered bruising to her neck and a reopening of scarring on her breast following the alleged incident.

He also said Miss Smith had bruising to her wrist.

Bellamy, 27, of Menai Way, Rumney, Cardiff, denies both counts of common assault. Lynch, 52, of Glan-Y-Mor, Barry, South Wales also denies one count of assault.

Giving evidence, Sophie Palmer, now aged 20, said she was walking along a narrow corridor to the champagne VIP bar followed by two friends when she first saw Bellamy.

She said: "I began to walk through the gap and Craig Bellamy was walking in the other direction and he bumped into me. He was quite aggressive, he was just swaggering around.

"I turned around and said to him 'excuse me, why couldn't you wait in that gap there'.

"He said to me 'you're too f***ing fat to get past me you fat slag'.

"He was very aggressive and very arrogant."

Asked by Mr Hammett how she responded, Miss Palmer said: "I shrugged it off, said 'whatever' and kept walking in the direction I was going."

She said she then turned around to see her friend Holly Smith "having words" with Bellamy.
"I can't remember if he pushed her or she pushed him first, but they both pushed each other."
Miss Palmer said Bellamy then followed her along the corridor and grabbed her.

"He grabbed me with both hands around the neck and held me up against the wall and he was squeezing."

From www.teamtalk.com

Today's rumours and news - November 23

The Daily Star

Liverpool sustained injuries to Xabi Alonso, Mark Gonzalez and Jermaine Pennant in last night's Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven at Anfield - fingers crossed they aren't out for long

Also in The Daily Mirror

French champions Lyon are considering a move for former LFC striker Nicolas Anelka - I always thought he was shite anyway. Not surprised he hasn't set the world alight at Bolton - he's the French Kevin Davies...