Armin_Tamzarian

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

They've briefed against him for awhile now, it's one of the more nauseating aspects of the whole debacle.

I want 2 things from one player. The ability to replace Torres and the possibility of linking with him. It's possible that Babel may fill the latter role but I don't think he can do the former which makes it the priority. At the moment once Torres is removed from our forward lineup we lose all pace in attack. There's no ball over the top option and Kuyt and Voronin essentially play the same role. Crouch appears to be on the way out unless the board are keeping him for a new manager. If Darren Bent is going to West Ham for a reported £10m he would be a good buy. He's quick, can play on his own if required and offers both pace and an aerial/strong threat. He could play a spearhead role with Torres off him if required but if we lost Torres then at least we'd still carry a pacy threat and the option of playing 1 up with our creative attacking triumvirate of Gerrard, Benayoun, Babel/Kewell behind. I'd sell Crouch to finance this move as he appears to have lost Rafa's confidence. Bent offers goals in the league and would lift some of the fear that I experience every time Torres goes down.It might be his experience at Tottenham would make him wary of taking a lesser role at a big squad of course and in any case it looks like we should be looking at players a lot further down the financial pecking order.

Lescott is one of the players I wish we'd signed. To get a fine young central defender who covers well at Left Back and can score at the other end at that price was good business. I've no real problems with Prentice's side, he has to include a roughly 50/50 split and its good to see lower profile players like Carsley recognised for their efforts, as with the deserved inclusion of Arbeloa.

Alonso and Mascherano are my preferred pairing. They're both dedicated central midfielders and superb at what they do. I like the balance between Mascherano's tackling and Xabi's passing range. If Liverpool were facing top notch opposition I'd play those 2 in central midfield and put Gerrard just ahead of them with plenty of freedom to roam. With a solid base and an intelligently moved ball I think far from stifling Gerrard this would give him the best chance to shine.

For me it was as good as it gets. Even if we were to clinch the league in extra time at Old Trafford it could never match the unreality of that night. It's not just the unbelievable game its the route to the final, the incredible opposition, most of all the setting, the mixture of East and West, the fantastic Turks, the red hordes in the gateway to Asia. Like Wayne I couldn't take football seriously for a long time afterwards. I do get a kick out of it now but if I had to walk away from it tomorrow I'd happily do so, I never expect to match that night again and I don't need to.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

In any case they're referring to the 'lets saddle the club with the debt we incurred buying it with a bit on top for assorted costs since then' deal rather than the one which builds a new ground.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Their Euro games so far have been discounted and turnout has been poor. Probably won't be more than £15

This content is not viewable to guests.

Nobody borrows better, Though sometimes I wish others could Nobody borrows, quite the way they do, Though the interest aint so good,

The worst thing is looking at Arsenal continuing to keep these predators at bay. Even with the odious treachery of Dein the board has managed to retain a sense of a real football club rather than some mere adjunct of a global sports portfolio. It remains to be seen if they can fend off Usmanov or Kroenke but at least they can already point to the revenues from the Emirates as a sign that outside capital isn't neccesary.

Agree with all of that. Incidentally it's funny you mention Kenny and Gary Mac. My bet for the methodology behind a restructuring/emasculation of the manager role was for a younger coach being brought in with Kenny brought into a Director of Football position to appease the fans in the wake of Rafa's departure. So the appearance of a legend would calm fears that the club was being reshaped in the image of corporate America when the reality was that was exactly what was happening. Pure speculation mind. I also agree that we're having the wrong conversation, with the exception of Cobs and Matty naturally. It's not whether Mourinho is qualified as John says, or if he's a c*** as everyone agrees, of course he's both. I think the interesting thing is why the OP's journo friend is so convinced that JM is the choice to replace Rafa when so many factors would appear to preclude him. This isn't the first time its appeared in the press. There were rumblings a few months ago when our form had slipped that Jose had his eye on Rafas job. I've also seen him linked a couple of times in papers, albeit in a non committal way. Maybe its all being made up because Jose is out of work and it makes a good story.

I know where you're coming from. Whilst I'm pretty sure you can rest easy on Mourinho taking over I'm still interested in where the rumours originate. If one were looking to force a troublesome and proud employee out of the club, without the expense of paying up his contract, this would be the kind of rumour which might do the trick. Rafa has little time for Mourinho and the thought of building a squad for Jose to take over surely wouldn't sit well with him. Just as well that Rafa's received the unequivocal backing of the entire Liverpool hierarchy then...

This content is not viewable to guests.

I also think it looks as if Rafa will go in the summer but I don't think Mourinho would be their choice as a replacement. Surely they'll look for a coach who is happy to go along with the brand building exercise, not another headstrong technocrat with ideas of controlling transfer strategy. They'd never trust Mourinho to keep his mouth shut and given their reliance on the markets they'd not risk another manager revealing the cracks beneath the pr smoothed surface. American sports owners have won this battle years ago. They separate coaching from recruitment and limit the power of the manager as they would any other employee. If Rafa is forced out the days of the strong manager figure, the Shankly type in other words, will be over. We'll get a media friendly head coach.

This content is not viewable to guests.

I had a bad pint is all

It's not like getting a mortgage where the lender is interested in the resale value of the property if you default. The loan won't just be for the stadium build but for the money G&H spent on buying the shares. The lenders will look the current and future revenues of Liverpool FC. Given that both stadia will increase revenue significantly the lenders won't really care whether the new stadium is an eye catching design or a bog standard off the shelf dome. All they're bothered about is whether the monies loaned can be repaid by the business.

I might pop in the Oakfield afterwards