beejay

Pepe Reina has been - for me - the main factor in our improvement, on the pitch, in the league this year. His Grobbelaar-like patrol of the last third of the pitch has meant we can defend a higher line and his back four are so obviously more confident in him as a result. But it's true that Dudek was equally brilliant in his first year. Jerzy was pretty much flawless when he arrived - I remember the away game at Derby when 1-0 up the ref gave them a pen in injury time and Dudek pushed it round the post right in front of us - yet he lost it in his 2nd year when one mistake, highlighted by all & sundry, led to another. I don't get the same impression about Reina. He seems far more confident as a person and a stronger mentality to cope with the inevitable, occasional error. Yet even Pepe will never, ever manage to make a more crucial stop than Jerzy did - again right in front of us - as on the 25th May 2005. But Reina is - now - a better goalie than Dudek and at his age, could be better than even Clemence.

Most major planning permissions nowadays are subject to completion of a S106 Agreement with the local authority. A S106 provides for all the off-site planning conditions and "planning gain" contributions to community facilities. As Rushian says, you cannot implement the permission without entering into the S106 Agreement and they often take an age to negotiate. So it is a big step in planning terms. It also means the club are in a better position to quantify costs because all the off-site contributions will be set out in the Agreement. It may not be anything new - we may have agreed the terms of the S106 a while ago but held off signing for whatever reason - but it is more likely to be a sign that we are committed to the new stadium.

The KOP is a monthly paper so this must be the April edition and therefore 2 weeks old?

Liverpool favourites to land Mexes Wed, Apr 12 2006 12:07 Roma defender Philippe Mexes is attracting the attention of Liverpool but will not be moving to Milan according to his agent. The Rossoneri have been heavily linked with a move for the French international defender as they look to replace their aging rearguard, who have served them so well over the years. With the Serie A title seemingly lost to Juventus for the second successive year club of officials are looking to rebuild for next season and were looking to the likes or Mexes to shore up the defence. However the player's agent Olivier Jouanneaux has dismissed the rumours surrounding a move to the San Siro and confirmed that Liverpool are the team who appear favourite to land the talented stopper. "I have no news of any contact from Milan for my client," he told the Guerin Sportivo magazine. "There are a number of English teams who are interested in Philippe though with Liverpool at the front of the queue." Mexes is under contract in the Eternal City until 2008 and is reportedly keen to extend that deal, despite the interest from the Anfield outfit. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If we did go for Raul - which I doubt - that would spell the end of Robbie.

PARRY: OUR POSITION REMAINS THE SAME Paul Eaton 29 March 2006 Rick Parry today insisted there has been no change in the club's position as the Reds continue their search for investment. The Reds released a statement this morning confirming they were in talks with a number of potential investors. "Due to the reports over the weekend, we were obliged to make a statement and write to shareholders," explained chief executive Rick Parry. "It's a formality, but there has been no change to the situation. "Our position regarding the need for investment has been well documented, not least at February's AGM which was reported extensively by the media at the time. "The Board has not changed its strategy and despite the comments attributed to so called experts this afternoon, this is not fresh news." settles that then

"An offer for the entire shareholding of the club" sounds like a version of ManUsa ie Moores and say some other large minority shareholders such as Granada agree to sell their shares giving the new people enough of a stake to oblige the smaller shareholders to sell out. How many shares has Steve Morgan got? Wonder if he is involved in this?

Objective 1 deadline day is the end of this week isn't it? It ties in

Cisse is obviously a goner but it's far less certain that any of the other strikers will be unloaded (even Pongolle & Mellor). Despite what the fans think, Rafa clearly rates Morientes and the player is still insisting he will stay. The emphasis on getting Fowler fit for next season surely means he will be given a new contract and Crouch has done more than enough to justify his position. As for Owen - it's interesting that we are now denying any interest in Defoe. Owen & Defoe are far too similar in style to expect us to buy both and if Defoe is out of the reckoning could it be that it is because Newcastle are now definitely out of Europe next year (after the FA Cup defeat and losing against us ) so the escape clause can be triggered for £12m?

Rafa has been promised £42 million to spend in the summer This calls for a 100 page speculation thread

We played 3 at the back several times last year with Pellegrino and Rafa clearly likes that system. With Agger looking quality but still a bit raw it gives us stability at the back and definitely suits both Kromkamp and Warnock both of whom had excellent games. It also suited Stevie G to bomb forward and Harry was effective in the 1st half playing off Crouchie. Wouldn't be in the least surprised to see us playing this system more often and with Palletta arriving in the summer it could be Rafa's favoured formation.

Why was he booked after showing his T shirt? I thought FIFA/UEFA had withdrawn this as an automatic yellow card, it's only if you jump into the crowd that you get booked now for celebrating a goal. I think it was an FA Cup game when some lad from the lower leagues scored the winner (against Leicester?) in the last minute then got sent off for a 2nd yellow after taking off his shirt and had to miss the next round. There was a big fuss and UEFA stepped in to agree that it was a nonsense. I've seen loads of players doing it this year without getting booked.

According to some other forums we've already spent the money. 2 big games coming up, the club has to focus on them although it would be nice to see the uncertainty removed over so many behind the scenes issues.

It's not (yet) a police state. The crowd pay their money and are entitled to have their say. I don't agree with it but neither do I expect 45,000 to be super-fans either, especially when our strikers (and Nando esp) have been misfiring so badly. They didn't boo the manager but weren't best pleased with the substitution - and he's not the pope y'know. By forever criticising some section or another of the support, it sounds a bit like you are saying "why isn't every one a super fan like me?" No disrespect meant AR, it just seems to give so many on here a licence for self-flagellation and naively, I still believe our fans are fookin great.

Jeez, are we going to have a gigantic thread slagging off another section of our supporters after every match?

Maybe, but my point was that those 1,000 pages started with the presumption that we wanted a new stadium and set out to prove the case. It's happened with countless projects, particularly where public money is involved. I'll wager this - if we don't proceed with the new stadium we WILL expand anfield, no question.

I just can't believe that. I think the club were so hell-bent on the concept of the new stadium that they contrived to under-estimate the cost-benefit analysis of anfield and over-estimated on the new one. It's since become perceived knowledge that we have to move or stand still. The Kop magazine (I know!!) did a fairly in-depth piece on the choice facing the club following the spiralling costs for the new stadium and concluded we would be better off financially from rebuilding the main stand and extending the anfield road stand to bring capacity up to 55,000. Cost about 80m compared to the 160m + for a new 60,000 seater. Yes, there would be issues over lost capacity temporarily and dressing rooms etc but none are insurmountable and they are TEMPORARY. The original estimates were 50m for expanding anfield compared to 80m for the new stadium - at that time it looked a no-brainer but not any more. All this is apart from other aspects such as the loss of atmosphere from losing the Kop to a new bowl.

Disagree. Of course it's an option - it's the only option if we can't afford a new stadium.

Same as him

Agreed for the most part, but a Rooney or Aimar or Bergkamp is a specialist role requiring them to sit deep, away from the action to find space or play off the striker. Gerrard is much more of a box-to-box player who is always in the middle of the action rather than a clever, skillful 2nd striker. The Lampard comparison is more to the point.

Isn't that pretty much the same thing? I actually agree with you over the free role but that could leave the striker isolated, as we have seen so often this year.

That's the point isn't it? Whoever we go for has to fit into the personnel we have, not the other way round.

This was Rafa's last update on Sunday morning: The loss of Mohamed Sissoko has been the most damaging blow to Liverpool?s squad this season according to boss Rafael Benitez. The Anfield chief revealed Sissoko, despite predictions that he may never play again and could lose the sight in his right eye after being kicked in the face in Lisbon a fortnight ago, actually returned to training at Melwood this week. He has surprised Benitez, who said: "He is improving, he has been training this week and running so maybe we will see him again in a few weeks. "I was surprised he was running and he was even using a ball. Maybe a few weeks will see him fit. He certainly has been a major loss for us since he was injured."

Reading his Sunday Times interview he says that when younger he couldn't get around the pitch so much and so was used as a holding midfielder by Houllier. He now sees his best position as an attacking midfielder but his versatility has meant that he has been deployed out wide both by Liverpool and England. Gerrard was described by Slur Alex recently as the most influential player in the Premiership bar none and he is so good he would be a contender for the best player in any position except goalkeeper. How many positions did he fill during the Champions League Final? We are now looking ahead to next season with all the talk about new wingers & strikers to cure our goals famine and take the burden away from Stevie G who is far and away our top scorer despite being moved around the midfield. For the good of the team and to get the best out of his talent, where should Rafa play him next year? At Valencia, the system was a lone striker with Aimar deeper as the playmaker, 2 fast wingers, a holding midfielder and Baraja in the centre to support both defence and attack. This season, Rafa has usually played 4-4-2 with 2 strikers rather than a withdrawn playmaker (although Morientes does drop deep). If we bring in the right midfielder(s) and 2 new out-and-out strikers we have been clamouring for, that suggests Gerrard would play centre midfield next to Alonso or Sissoko in a conventional 4-4-2. But, when we have used this system against the better sides we tend to get over-run in midfield. On the other hand, is Gerrard good enough in the Aimar role behind a lone striker, meaning we could play Sissoko/Hamman and Xabi in centre midfield? Rafa will want to have more than one system to give him possibilities but to fall back on a well-organised formation for the big games. So going back to the original question, where will Stevie play for us next year?