NeilR

So, when does King Kenny take over as care taker manager???

It obviously needs a shake up and as we are in a transition period anyway where I have already written off any chance of silverware or CL spot until we have new owners, I'd rather see us trying to establish a good brand of football then the stuff we are doing now with guff results. -Pepe is nailed on starter. -I'd go with Kelly at right back at the moment as he looks more assured than Glen despite his youth at the moment. Would also be blooding him for the future. -As far as CB goes I think Carra needs to be dropped for a while. I'd like to see Agger and Skrtel given a run. -Not much of a choice at LB at the moment so konchesly will have to do. - With Dirk out at the moment and Maxi not exactly doing anything to suggest he will be able to keep Kuyt out on his return, I'd go with Johnson at RM. Takes the spotlight off him at RB at the moment, we all know he can attack and enjoys doing it, but it also gives extra strength to the back 4 as he can drop to help Kelly or cover overlaps. - The only other thing I would do to make us more defensively stable but still make us expansive and not justy a side to sit back, woudl be to play Lucas and Meirles as the deep lying midfielders. Poulson I still dont know why we bought him, and he is too slow for the PL. But both Lucas and Raul can do a good job lying deep but either can support the attack if needed. Gerard I'd rather see in the attacking midfield role. LM is still a question mark area from a defensive perspective, and Torres picks himself up front (although we need a better backup or partner for 2 up front as we are becoming a bit reliant on Torres here and also too predictable - but that is for another topic).

Im in exactly the sameboat as you, probably too young to really appreciate Kenny at the time, and definately Barnes is the best Liverpool player I have seen that I can truely recall properly and not just through replays now. What gets me about those clips is when you look at videos of some older great players you know they were brilliant at their time but think the game has changed now and they might not be as successful now. I dont think that is the case with Barnes. I still think he'd thrive if he was on the scene now as he has the skill and physical power to play in todays game. What I would give to have him play now on our left, creating things for Torres and chipping in with goals himself. Scary to think what price tag they would put on him in todays game.

I think it will be... Reina Johnson Carra Agger Konchesky Lucas Gerrard Maxi Cole Babel Torres Considering it is at their gaff, I'd prefer to see the following but dont think there is a hope of it... Reina Kelly Carra Agger Konchesky Lucas Meriles Johnson Gerrard Cole Torres

You can add Anthony Annan, Gary Medel, Stephen Defour, Jeremy Toulalan to that list, which is still quality and I'm sure thats not an exhaustive one . Plenty of alternatives. Hopefully we'll get as close to £30m as possible for Masch and also get it all to reinvest on top of any other money we've made through our sales.

Actually played as a centre back in the world cup and can play the right back role as well as the defensive midfielder. Very very like Masch in how he plays (even likely to pick up bookings in the same way Masch does, hence why he was suspended against Brazil). Shouldn't cost more than £8m although Boca (who had him on loan) are looking to make the deal pemanent I believe. Haven't seen any links of us to him though, which is a pity.

You could add Medel, Defour, Cambiasso, etc to that list. Basically its not all doom and gloom if we sell him for good cash as there are planty of very good options out there (no doubting Masch's quality though). I'd be gutted if we brought him in. Seen him a lot during the season they were relegated from the PL and in my opinion was one of the worst LB in the league that year. Just think back to our match against them when bable scored the deflected goal off him. He ran around like a headless chicken all day. Better staying away from that one.

Then we sign Gary Medel if that what you are looking for and you'll not miss the hunting down at all. I certainly wouldn't mind it and it'd free up a lot of cash.

I've come to accept a few weeks ago that he'll leave, and the latest comments from Roy doesn't change my view. I'd prefer he'd stay and sign a new contract, but with the sound bites coming from him/his agent over tha last few months, the fact that his contract has only 18 months left, the fact we could actually free a significant amount of money for our rebuilding which is undoubtedly needed and a priority, and the fact I think he is easier to replace than Torres or Gerrard, I'll not lose too much sleep as long as any money gained is reinvested sensibly. Don't need to spend anywhere near the whole of the cash we'd get for masch either to get a suitable replacement. You could bring in players like Medel, Annan or Cambiasso (just to name a few), or Parker or Cattermole if we wanted the English quota to improve, and these are all more than good enough to do a job at probably less than half the money we get for Masch. Not saying they are as good, but are still significantly good. Its far easier to replace that type of player for less cash than someone say in the Gerrard or Torres mould (basically if you sold them you would need to reinvest all of that money to get a similar quality replacement). If he stays then brilliant, but if he goes, he's more than replaceable. And the extra money can go towards the LB or LM.

Surely with Aurelio out of the club we've already reduced the number of injuries by 50%

Id say:- Striker + LM + LB as priority CB next Then CM upgrade on Lucas. I hope I am not right and I'm not writing him off yet, but I hope Jovanovic is in addition to this list above as I don't think he's the quality we'd hope for on either the LM or striker position. Think he'd be a useful addition to the squad, but that priority list I mentioned is for serious quality additions.

I'd go with something along these lines too. A few risks will have to be taken is correct as we need to raise enough money to bring in 4-5 players of significant quality. ome players in an adeal world I wouldnt like to see, but think some strong decisions are needed.. Out: Yossi (the one I have a real gut wrench about leaving, but he hasn't cemented one particular position as his own over others). £7m Skrtel £8m (could get a decent price for him and wouldnt have him before Carra or Agger or the long term successor to Carra Im suggesting below) Lucas (ok as a squad mamber but in my opinion his quality doesn't live up to the amount of time he gets on the pitch for us). £7m Cavalieri, Itandje, Aurelio £0 Riera £5m Babel £9m El Zhar £1m Spearing £1m Plessis £1m Degen £1m Total = £40m ish In: CB: Kjaer £12m LB: Kolarov / Taiwo £12m LW: Turan £15m CM: Banega £9m (Martinez would be better but more expensive) ST: Jovanovic £0m Total = £48m I wouldn't mind Krasic for RM but with funds limited I feel the others are more of a priority.

Is the right answer. Ticks all the right boxes (inlcuding reduced fee) for what we are looking for, and would add a diffferent element to what we already have. There was talk of him being available for about £6m or £7m in Jan. Surely if we can off load Dossena and Voronin we would cover that without Waldorf and Stadtler having to dip into their generous and bottomless pit of funds.

I think Robben is the type of player (skill and natural position) we need which would nicely finish up our summer spending and give us a lot of different options (different formations & personnel on the left, like Riera, Benny, Robben-type player, or babel, dependant on the opposition). However, it wouldnt necesasarily have to be him, but that type of player (an option we currently dont have ) that we need. It could be Robben, Silva, Young, Lavezzi or even Ronaldinho. The type of player that can cause havoc and unlock tight defenses attacking at pace off the wing.

I dont believe Rafa would have signed the new contract with promises of a £20m kitty and not get it in writing, especially with the yanks previous history of going back on promises. Surely he isn't that stupid??? With all the speculation on a lot of defenders here, no-one saw this Kyrgiakos signing coming (if he does indeed sign). I'm gonna try and be an optimist and take a bit of heart from this and our transfer situation at the moment and view it as none of us (including the hacks who didnt see this signing coming either) have a clue what Rafa is up to behind the scenes, so maybe there is stil hope we'll make another quality signing as an atacking left forward/wing option. Maybe the reason we only have a couple of million to put towards what is effectively our 4th choice defender is wise as any more would come off a budget Rafa already has ear marked for someone else. Now, must go and take todays dose of happy pills before my las one wears off!

Personally, I dont believe that article is completely true. If we only had £2m left then how did we bid something like £6m for Turner a matter of days ago? I think its a case that a lot of hacks dont know jack and are just speculating to fill colum inches.

I'm dissappointed to hear this confirmed by Rafa after what we have done for Maschs career. We saved him when he was rotting in West Ham, have developed his talents to the degree that he is now national captain, turned a blind eye and allowed him to go to the Olympics even though we knew it would impact us, and he stated at the start of last year that he owed us trophies. I'm not going to turn on him, especially if he knuckles down, but just dissappointed that after the club have done an awful lot for him he still had his head turned by Barca. I can understand Xabi feeling agreeved the club tried to sell him last year, but Masch cant feel we've let him down. I suppose all we can do now is win the league and CL (twonking Barca on the way) and see how he feels after that!!!

Turner is good I agree, but who do we drop then out of Carra, Agger & Skertl to make way for him? Rotating 3 I think is ok (utd do it with Plug, Vidic and Evans), but 4 I think is too much, upsets the continuity too much and leads to unhappy players.

Gotta agree fully there with you Chili and Fyds. Its always better to say you are skint when negotiating price down (although I still dont see anywhere in that article where we even say that, just doesnt state what we have as a budget which might be the case as it might be dependant on who the money is for). I hope, and still believe, we have enough cash left for the atacking left midfielder we've talked about. Someone like Silva, Lavezzi, Robben, Young type player. And that'll be a good summers bit of work. Dont think we should eb panic buying for a CB who is going to be surplus in just a few weeks when our first choice 3 are back...unless we are loaded and can bring in the LM & CB as well!!!

I know he is an agrovating t*** and had the incident with Pepe, but like Ronaldo, opposition fans tend to hate him while his own team love him (Chelsea fans certainly did), he has the type of footballing ability that we need, and I'd turn a blind eye to his past encounters with us if he can produce the same form for us he has shown over the last few years. I dont know Rafas thoughts (who does) but Id consider him as one of my transfer options. Think we need 2 more players (can live with out panic buying a CB for now or pick up a free like Campbell), and would look at the following:- Lwing: Silva, Robben in that order and if out of price range I'd consider Simao as a good alternative cheaper option who has a good reputation, European experience, and seems to do well against English sides. CM: Aquilani, Martinez, Cambiasso, Sneijder. All different players and different also to Xabi, but coupled with a good LW signing, all I think can help to make us a stronger unti overall in diffferent ways.

But thats negating the possibility of going from Alonso, Masch & Lucas to Masch, Lucas, Martinez AND maybe someone like Silva or Young! Dont get me wrong, I'd prefer we'd keep Xavi and would be very happy if the transfer window closed now and the squad we'd have vs our rivals. But big players have left liverpool in the past and life goes on. Its a matter of what Rafa can get for his money should he decide to cash in on Xabi (which I hope he doesn't but it wont be the end of the world our our tital ambitions)

I think Martinez is at a very similar stage in his development and career as Xabi was when we bought him (eg age, on the fringes of national team, beginning to develop a good reputation but not proven yet, price, etc etc). So I agree that he'd be no bigger risk than Xabi was when we bought him, and as GEH says Xabi had one of his best seasons (if not his best) with us that first year. Of course there is no garauntee that Martinez would be a similar success, but there is no garauntee of that with any player, established or not. There are countless "proven" established players that for some reason or another have flopped when they move to a different team or country (e.g. Shevchenko, Veron, Mendieta, to name a few). Keeping Xabi is the only way we can be sure to keep the quality, but it does not mean any type of replacement (superstar or unrpoven) wont improve the team or equally weaken it. Its always a risk.

Being honest Silva or Young would be good purchases for us (we can debate the pros and cons of each and everyone would have their preferred option), and I think would command similar fees. If we do decide to sell Alonso and can get at least £30m for him, we sell say Dossena for £6m and Babel for £8-10m, and buy one of these 2 plus a CM like Martinez for arounf £12m. I think this would actually leave us with a better overall side (although being able to hold onto Xabi and purchasing Silva / Yound would be even better).

Personally I'd love it if Alonso stayed. Even if he is not happy, if we don't get £30-35m for him I'd tell Real where to go (about time they learned that we are not a selling club as they think they can bend us over any time they wish after what they did with the Owen saga). And I dont think its a risk keeping Xabi if he does want to go as he's still have 2 years on his contract to command a decent value next summer, and as its a world cup year coming up he can't throw the dummy out of the pram and decide he isn't going to give it his all. I truely think Rafa hold all the cards in this case (unlike the club did in Owens time). We don't need to sell (in fact it would be better if we held Xabi) so its cough up the cash (over priced or not - but Real created this problem) or just go away. We have to pay over the odds for English players (Barry and Johnson are good examples), so Real are in the same situation when it comes to Spanish ones. There is a premium on top of your own nationals heads with the new home grown rules being proposed. Alonso will be very hard to replace, and as others have said, maybe it wont be exactly like for like if we did need to. There will probably be some style adjustment needed, which is unfortunate Possible options: - cambiasso (would be my choice despite being older and he knows how to play with Masch) - Daniele De Rossi (maybe unrealistic) - d'agostino - Aquilani - Javi Martinez - Moutinho - Veloso - Hernanes - Schneider - Hamsik So some possible upgrades, and some may weaken us slightly (always going to be difficult to replace Xabi) but could free us up money for other purchases which could ultimately make us stronger.

And look at the figures touted around from Barcalona for Eto'o. Madrid are doing what they did with Owen, trying to get a Liverpool player for a lot less than he's worth.