beejay

Steven Tayor. Keep up.

The papers are full of Hicks going incandescent with rage about Rafa's "I'm focusing on training & coaching" quotes so what do you think he will do when he hears Rafa has said the owners don't understand the transfer system? That sounded a pretty strong criticism to me. And did Rafa give away the identity of one of his transfer targets? I'm sure he said something about working on a free transfer - who could that be I wonder? Maybe a centre back available on a bosman next summer (so can sign a pre-contract in January) who came down with a late injury to miss today's game?

Why have they put all transfer activity on hold until 16th December? It has to be that they want to see if by then we are still in the Champions League and in contention for the League, before deciding on our transfer policy. Because the moratorium is on sales as well as purchases and Hicks has said Rafa has to get the best out of his existing players it also seems to be Rafa's judgement that is in question. That; in effect, means Rafa is on trial for the next month. Incredibly short-termist for a guy with his brilliant record.

I accept that but : "We made a significant investment in the playing squad during the summer and desperately want this team to succeed. "There are some very important games coming up in the next couple of weeks and all of us need to focus on winning those games and getting the best out of the players we already have at the club. "We will leave any talk of buying or selling players until we come across to Liverpool in December and sit down with the Manager then." Sounds like a public rebuke to me, especially the bit in bold.

If this is brinkmanship with Rafa being told to tow the line or f*** off, then G&H are mental. If Rafa walked now, the fans would be up in arms, half the players would want to follow their mentor and the club would be in serious turmoil mid-season. Their business plan would look a bit sick then. This next week could be a huge turning point for this club. If by Thursday we have lost 3 points and the manager and are out the champions league... Sort it out you guys

Rafa Benitez’s transfer history IN Josemi £2m Antonio Nunez £2m Xabi Alonso £10.7m Luis Garcia £6m Mauricio Pellegrino Free Fernando Morientes £6.5m Scott Carson £750,000 Antonio Baragan Compensation fee Jose Reina £6m Mohammed Sissoko £5.6m Boudewijn Zenden Free Peter Crouch £7m Jack Hobbs £750,000 Godwin Anti Free Miquel Roque Free Jan Kromkamp Swop for Josemi Paul Anderson Swop for John Welsh Daniel Agger £5.8m Craig Bellamy £6m Gabriel Paletta £2m Mark Gonzalez £4.5m Fabio Aurelio Free Jermaine Pennant £6.7m Dirk Kuyt £9m Alvaro Arbeloa £2.64m Andriy Voronin Free Lucas Leiva £6m Sebastien Leto £1.5m Fernando Torres £20m Yossi Benayoun £5m Ryan Babel £11m Charles Itandje Free --------- £127.44m OUT Danny Murphy £2.5m Michael Owen £8m Vladimir Smicer Free El Hadji Diouf Undisclosed fee Mauricio Pellegrino Free Alou Diarra £2m Gregory Vignal Free Jon Otsemobor Free Milan Baros £6.5m Josemi Swop for Jan Kromkamp John Welsh Swop for Paul Anderson Fernando Morientes £3m Dietmar Hamann Free Bruno Cheyrou Free Djimi Traore £2m Neil Mellor Free Jan Kromkamp £1.5m Darren Potter £200,000 Steve Warnock £2.5m Salif Diao Free Luis Garcia £4m Mark Gonzalez £3.5m Djibril Cisse £8m Craig Bellamy £7.5m Jerzy Dudek Free --------- £51.2m tonybarrett@liverpoolecho.co.uk That's never right. Nunes cost £2m but Owen only sold for £8m? Diouf went for at least £3m? It's probably a lot fairer to look at the asset values of the squad at the time Rafa arrived and compare that with the squad values today. Rafa would be substantially in the black I would say

No question that's right but the part I don't get is why Hicks is seemingly blocking deals out as well as in. That suggests Rafa's judgement is being questioned - ie stick to being a coach & using the players already at your disposal.

Barretts 2nd article says it all. Game of poker now.

A friend of mine on the echo told me that the malouda deal was agreed but we lost out to chelsea because G&H were slow in sanctioning the deal. This led to his outbursts in the summer about moving quickly. This was resolved when money was released for Torres and everything was rosy for a while. But 6 months on, here we go again. It may again be sorted when the yanks come over in December but you can't run a club like that, something has to give and there will come a point when either Rafa has had enough and walks or G&H push him out.

Don't think Rafa wants to sell Momo because he offers "possibilities" the others in centre midfield don't ie his incredible stamina and ball winning qualities. He also signed a new contract in the summer. Crouch is a different story and he's off in January I think, together with Carson and maybe Riise as well who only has 18 months left and hasn't been offered a new contract. With the money we will obviously buy a new centreback but I would be surprised if we didn't replace Crouch as the Indy article suggests. Babel up front hasn't really worked yet and it would be a big gamble on Torres' fitness if we didn't buy another target man.

Lazy journalism, slow news week blah blah = b*ll*x, this story has been rumbling on for months and there's far more than a grain of truth in it. Rafa & Crouch don't see eye to eye ( ) he won't sign a new contract, he is well behind Torres as the main target striker and I can't see any outcome other than that he's off in January.

Wouldn't swap Pepe for any other goalie in the world,

Here's the full article http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/tm_head...-name_page.html

I have a feeling Michael Owen will go to Man City in January. Berbatov wants to leave, no question about that but his transfer fee will be astronomical. There again, with all that money from selling Crouch, Carson, Riise, Sissoko, Guthrie etc.....

No

You have to wonder why the club have allowed JAR's contract to run down to 18 months despite his pleas (this is just the latest) to sign up for life. He has been playing as though his mind is elsewhere - the transfer talk has distracted him, probably because there is something in it. I still like him as a player but his performances are becoming progressively worse and something has to give. We either sell him while he can still command a decent fee or give him a new contract as an incentive to recover his best form.

Not necessarily http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100new...-name_page.html

I think it's a bit premature to say we have clicked back into form, but the signs are there. We ran out of form gradually and are now hopefully progressing in the right direction courtesy in part of a couple of easier fixtures and the return of key players. A 2 week recharge of the batteries for the likes of Carragher, Aurelio, Kewell & Torres and the time for injuries to heal with Alonso, Agger & Benayoun so unless more injuries crop up (mocker alert) the portents are good. We are still unbeaten, tucked in behind the front two and one of the main causes for optimism I think is that Rafa will now have a much clearer idea of the strengths & weaknesses of his squad from the turbulence of the last 2 months yet we have emerged relatively unscathed and still in the mix. Benitez is highly intelligent and a true analyst not a pseudo-techno like Fat Sam who some of the media drool over because he has a f***in exercise bike for the subs strategically placed for the cameras. Rafa will be much more aware of his go-to players now and that bodes well for the hectic period up to Christmas.

Sorry, I meant LFC only. I'm struggling to think of another big money profit-take on a player we have bought then sold since Rushie. Loads of loss-makers though, headed by Cisse (£14m - £6m = £8m loss) & Diouf (£10m -£3.5m = £6.5m loss) but Carson's profit of £9.25m redresses the balance a bit.

Babel is coltish but he has genuine talent and if handled properly (ie exactly as Rafa is doing now - giving him plenty of game time but not all as a starter and in a variety of poistions) he could be explosive, a real star, Torres is class, he makes everything look so easy. And Rafa must be a hell of a poker player - we were 10 mins away from a major outburst from the fans at the tactics - play possession football for 60-70 mins then throw the kitchen sink at them in the last quarter - when it all clicked into place, just like it did against Everton and would have done at Blackburn if Kuyt could hit a cows a*se with a banjo.

If Carson is sold for £10m after buying him for £750,000 does that make us the biggest profit from a sale of a non-home grown player? Robbie went to Leeds for £13m & Owen to Real Madrid for £10m but they both came through the academy. Fantastic bit of business by Rafa and those who say he has bought a zillion kids but none have emerged should be reminded that Carson was only a prospect when we bought him.

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0116996/Ss/...ath_key=0116996

Whether we like it or not, Rafa won't just put his best team out or even his fittest team. He will have a plan based on analysing Fulham's strengths & weaknesses and he will pick players who can best carry out that plan. From what I have seen this season, Fulham aren't a bad side, they move the ball well, have pace & strength but they are hopelessly naive in defence and their goalies have made some horrendous howlers a la Robinson. They are dangerous on the break and from set pieces and try to isolate full backs for far post headers. I think Rafa will try to play a controlled, compact game and take them on through the centre, turning their centrebacks, rather than using the wings and putting in crosses. That means Torres & Kuyt with Benayoun & Riise.

Or maybe even us? The one huge difference in Tuesday night's performance compared to the previous 8 or 9 limp displays, was the energy & effort of ALL the players for 90 mins. Maybe I'm completely wrong but it almost seems that the team are playing to instructions to conserve energy in games unless we are behind. We then step it up in the last quarter when we have fresh legs on. Rafa has said the plan is to keep the team in contention for 2/3rds of the season and then kick on. Rotation is expressed to be the way he will keep the key players fresh. But my impression is that we do not play a high tempo full-on pressing, pass & move game unless we absolutely have to win (eg Besiktas) or we are up against one of the big boys (eg the Arsenal game). I just don't see the same levels of committment or sweat in the lesser games. It's either a motivational thing or Rafa doesn't want them tear-ar*ing around every match until we come to the business end of the season when he will let them loose to run the legs off the opposition.