beejay

according to another forum the seville president says they received a "succulent" offer from liverpool for alves yesterday and are considering and talking to the player. Sounds like they may accept if they are talking to alves - although the report also says we have been after him for 18 months and increase our offer by another million euros every week!

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There have been a few quotes in the last week about our strikers such as Parry saying we have Kewell & Garcia who are "second strikers" and now Rafa saying we will keep Pongolle. It wouldn't surprise me if we replaced Cisse & Morientes with just 1 front-line striker. Crouch, A N Other, Fowler, Pongolle, Kewell, Garcia wouldn't be bad provided we have plenty of options out wide.

You have to wonder how much influence McLaren is having on tactics and selection now we effectively have 2 managers. It's the Evans/Houllier problem - the players aren't sure who is in charge, the outgoing manager starts to take risks to answer the public perception of his weaknesses and every word spoken by the incoming manager is taken as a threat to his authority by his co-manager but is heeded by the players. Result = utter confusion. It looks like McLaren may have put his oar in with the selection of some - such as Downing - and Erickson then tries to show who is boss by dumping him to the sidelines. Sven is accused of being too safe with his selections so he makes a ludicrously ill-conceived decision to pick Walcott as 1 of only 4 strikers with 2 of the other 3 injured. Probably Hargreaves is a Sven man but McLaren is in the Carrick camp so they choose Carragher instead who they both like. I can see open warfare breaking out early on with the senior players siding with one (probably McLaren because he is staying on) and the other (Erickson) marginalised as the tournament progresses.

He was out injured for ages after he was beaten up by some yardie gangsters for nobbing one of their women! Not very bright

It doesn't matter he's off and pretty soon _ sky sports : Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse claims three French clubs are chasing his signature. The Frenchman revealed Lyon, Marseille and Paris Saint Germain are keeping tabs on him Cisse's future at Anfield has been the subject of intense speculation for some time as he struggled to hold down a regular place in Rafa Benitez's plans. Benitez is thought to be in the market for new strikers as his side struggled for goals last term and he has already offloaded Fernando Morientes to Valencia in a bid to raise some funds. Cisse came close to leaving Liverpool last January before he eventually decided to stay on Merseyside. The former Auxerre man has warned Liverpool he will not endure another frustrating season like last term and that he wants his future resolved before the World Cup finals get underway next month. "I won't play another season like this with (Rafael) Benitez," Cisse told Football365. "I want everything to be arranged before the World Cup, in order to be 100 percent focused on my football. "I am in contact with PSG, Lyon and there is also a link with Olympique Marseille."

I heard one yesterday from a guy who has been working on the stadium procurement (he also had an involvement in the emirates stadium, arsenal's new ground). According to him David Moores has agreed to sell out. The guy said it would be announced any day and will be "huge" ie we would have a massive financial injection enough to give the go-ahead to the stadium and for a transfer fund big enough to compete with our rivals (except chelsea). He guessed it might be the Krafts but he hasn't been told who it is. He was 100% on the rest of it though. I don't want to start a new thread because I can't vouch for the guy but he is well connected and was very sure it would happen.

Yes, but you said the same about Emile

Ballague was dead right. I agree but like many others on here I thought rafa would give him another season to see if he could recover his form. One of the most disappointing Liverpool careers I can remember. I was made up when he signed and after that 1st goal he scored away to charlton I really thought Nando would be great for us.

Its not just about a soulless bowl (why cant the designers be a bit more creative?), although thats a big issue in it for me. Its the money issues, our ownership, whether we can fill the new one and all that. I have a season ticket and i can understand some of the other peoples comments about not being able to get tickets i.e. they cannot get them. But we re-develop Anfield and those problems are removed aren't they. I just think that Anfield is our spiritual home, and I find it slightly hard to take that everyones so positive about moving to a new ground when i feel so bad about it.

New stadium = 60,000. We are told that it cannot be extended any further. Anfield redevelopment = 55,000. No-one is talking about keeping the capacity as it is. But there is a choice.

Too right - it's shouting that the cost of relocating to Stanley Park is £160m and rising. It's ludicrously simplistic to say that we will only be able to compete with the big boys if we move. The comparison between a new stadium and redeveloping anfield was made when the costs were estimated to be £80m to move to a 60,000 seater and £50m to stay in a 50,000 seater. A no-brainer then. But that has changed. What if the comparison - based on today's estimates not 2 years ago - was £160m to £80m. Still a good deal? People are saying that it would be too difficult to redevelop the main stand and just look at the gate money we would lose. Didn't stop us building the centenary or the new kop if I remember. And what about all the other grounds that have been redeveloped? The pending decision will be permanent and irrevocable yet we are talking about some short-term loss in gate receipts as a justification for our new home for the next 100 years? And don't get me started on the corporate boxes we will miss out on. If I was as convinced as some on here that we will make a mint of money and guarantee us the league maybe I would be more inclined to accept that the new stanley park kop will be the same size as the away end. As it is, I would rather we spent our money on the existing ground and told all these foreign investors to f*** right off.

Completely agree with that! I know that a lot of fans here are thinking about the future of the club with regards to moving to a new stadium, but that doesn't mean that the fans who want to stay at Anfield are living in the past. If we were able to extend Anfield to something like a 60,000 seater stadium that would mean us competing financially. I read someone say that they were there during Shank's era, and fair play those were glory days for that era where it felt fresh and that guy was probably able to get to the ground without use of a walking stick , but when I started going to games as a kid it was during Souness's time. For me since the turn of the century these have been glory years, apart from the odd blip. For me the crowd is more passionate and partisan as ever, with odd exceptions and I'd want future generations to be able to experience the sound of Anfield on any given day, never mind just European nights. I find it hard, great fans as I know we all are, in fact the greatest, believing that we could turn a bowl into the most intimidating stadium in world football. Thats what we'd be leaving.

Gerrard does a job on the right (a f*** good job) but he is far better in the middle. Even when he starts on the right he will switch into the middle - like in the fa cup final. We need a class right sided player who can stay out wide and stretch the opposition. Gerrard should be given licence to get forward but from centre midfield. Xabi is developing into a deep lying, holding midfielder - he added plenty of physical edge to his game last year - as well as being the first receiver from the back 4. We just need some more pace out wide which speedy and a couple of new recruits can supply.

And thats what matters to me! The physical nature of the ground may have changed but it will always be Anfield When we move to Redrow Anfield or whatever, just know it isn't going to be the same I've been a kopite for a decade now, longer than some, shorter than others, but even I know the Kop is where all the other fans want to be because its the home of our most partisan and passionate fans. How are we ever going to recreate what we have done in a bowl?

Hmmm, I've seen him a few times as well and he is unconvincing defensively but good getting forward. He is playing full back for Seville however and is not a specialist right winger so it's a bit baffling why he is supposedly our No 1 target for our most problematic position. Of all those linked with this position - Pennant, SWP, Joaquim and Simao - Alves just doesn't stand out as a better player and by the looks of it he won't be a cheap option. Rafa's opinion is all that counts but it wouldn't surprise me if we went for Alves AND Pennant so that we would have at least 3 different types of player on the right side just as we will have 4 or 5 on the left next year (Riise, Aurelio, Kewell, Gonzalez and Zenden).

You might know more than me concerning back up options so I guess I'll have to take your word for it. But as for the sentimentality, there has to some doesnt there, we've had some great times at Anfield and the ground conducive to a great atmosphere, it seems a very hard step for me to take walking away from a ground with so much History for the sake of moving to a new ground which has had so many knock backs concerning funding, our ownership, club share , and this delay that I wonder whether it'll ever happen. How much have stadium costs risen since we decided this was our only alternative?

I mean i see all the positives from it, smart new stadium, more money, better players, more corporate seating , and yet Im still of the same opinion, stay at Anfield. I don't think that the club has looked into a redevelopment of Anfield properly. To get finance in for the potential stadium we're looking at selling the club to people, in my opinion, I dont trust with the future of the club. What I want more than anything is for the club to keep its current atmosphere, where we have a special relationship with them and they have with us. If we bank on this new stadium with Moores selling his stake to someone who doesnt love the club as much as he does it'll be heartbreaking. I dont want people on these boards in 10 years time saying "remember what it was like at Anfield" or "I wish we'd never moved", I get it enough from people who were old enough to remember the standing Kop saing its just not the same. Im not of that opinion, but when we move ground theres no turning back. So you could say I'm a bit afraid of moving ground, but if everything changes afterward you'll know why.

Im with you on this, why cant Liverpool just develop around our existing ground, I would hate it if Liverpool didn't have a Kop anymore. Im sure we can raie the seating to around 55,000-60,000 if we re-develop the main stand to join the anny road, possible a two tier main stand mirroring the centenary, and fill the corners that are currently wasted. Liverpool own a lot of property around the area, and its a far cheaper option. What about the pubs around the ground aswell, I'm not sure everyone fancies waking mile away from the ground to have a few before the game. Thats where a lot of atmosphere starts! Ever since I saw the plans for the new stadium with their being no replica one tier Kop, I had a downer on it, and with all the stuff thats come after it I'd be far happier just expanding what we've got!

I really hope that means bellamy. Honestly think he could be terrific for us.

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Simao?

Somebody please post a pic of rafas head super imposed on a ridiculously muscular man please. RAFA GET FIT!

We are always harping on about Cisse's attitude but if you compare & contrast the comments of Morientes & Cisse in the last couple of days it's obvious who has the greatest desire to play for the club. Cisse is also a lot younger, faster, scores more goals and is more versatile around the pitch. If it's a straight choice between the two I hope Rafa lets Nando go back home and gives Cisse another year.