Candystore

"We've been looking at Jan since July and are really pleased. He's been looking at other big clubs in Europe but the Premier League is where he wants to come and play with us."

Daily Mail

From Charles Sales in the Daily Mail: Spiralling wages in the Barclays Premier League have reached such a crazy level that Liverpool, so desperate to ensure Chelsea would not beat them for the signature of defender Glen Johnson, are now paying him a staggering £139,000 a week. That sum must make him the best paid full back in the world. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1...fit-Kasper.html

Xabi Alonso absence haunts Rafael Benitez Tony Barrett Given Rafael Benítez’s meticulous attention to detail, it is little wonder that the Liverpool manager is an avowed admirer of Arrigo Sacchi, the legendary former AC Milan coach who once confessed after a 4-0 victory that he “had made two pages of notes on the errors that we had made”. If Benítez, another of football’s scribblers, made his own list of failings after the 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa on Monday night, the chances are that he would have run out of ink. Page one would have been devoted to a collective lack of composure, as evidenced by Lucas Leiva conceding a needless free kick that led to his own goal, Pepe Reina’s booking for kicking away the ball in frustration immediately before Villa’s second goal and Steven Gerrard making a challenge of such rashness that the only suitable punishment was Villa’s third goal, from a penalty by Ashley Young. Page two would have featured musings on defensive errors, the kind of fault that an arch organiser such as Benítez detests, but at times seems powerless to prevent. Three games into the season and Liverpool have conceded three goals from set-pieces. Zonal marking, a system that the Anfield club often utilise to great effect, will again come under the microscope, but a failure to attack the aerial ball properly is the main reason why set-pieces remain Benítez’s bête noire. Related Links Page three would be left blank. Not because Benítez had run out of things to say, but because no analysis of Liverpool’s problematic start to the season would be complete without mention of the club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. As it is, the Spaniard is well aware that further criticism of his employers could place his job in jeopardy, no matter how much frustration he feels at what some view has been insufficient backing in the transfer market since the end of the 2008-09 campaign. So many problems and — with a tricky assignment away to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and the impending closure of the transfer window unlikely to be preceded by any significant additions — so little time and opportunity for Benítez to resolve them. How Liverpool got to this point after ending the previous season as the most genuine of contenders to unseat Manchester United is a matter for debate. Certainly, the owners have again been an issue, providing neither sufficient funds nor conspicuous stability in the boardroom. Some sources at the club insist that Benítez has spent a net £18 million on players this summer, but that figure can be reached only by taking into account the pay rises awarded to Reina, Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt, Daniel Agger and Yossi Benayoun. According to available figures, the Liverpool manager has, at the very least, balanced the books this summer. With a growing feeling that Benítez’s squad reached its potential last season — an appraisal that was laughed off by some when it was made by Sir Alex Ferguson before the new campaign began — the owners’ unwillingness to invest heavily over the summer looks increasingly like a missed opportunity. But it is those who are missing on the pitch that are hitting Liverpool hardest, with the absence of the three A’s — Xabi Alonso, Alberto Aquilani and Daniel Agger — upsetting the team balance and rhythm. Alonso was Liverpool’s metronome and his departure to Real Madrid was always going to be keenly felt in the short term. Benítez gambled on Aquilani as his replacement, even though the Italian is injured and is unlikely to return until October, and at present Liverpool’s midfield is failing to function with anything like the same levels of fluency witnessed during Alonso’s time at the club. The situation has been exacerbated by Agger’s back problems because, without the Denmark defender’s ball-playing abilities from the back, Javier Mascherano and Lucas have been guilty of dropping too deep in an attempt to reprise Alonso’s quarterback role, a task that neither is equipped to perform. With the obvious shortcomings of Benítez’s squad meaning that there is no Plan B to be reverted to when Plan A fails — apart from the underwhelming Ukraine forward, Andriy Voronin, and the desperately disappointing Ryan Babel — it is little wonder that Liverpool’s title credentials are being questioned even though the season is still in its formative stage. Benayoun, though, firmly believes that Liverpool, despite having lost as many matches in the Barclays Premier League this season as they did throughout all of the previous campaign, have the necessary quality and the time to turn the situation around. “At a club like Liverpool, if you lose two or three games, people will ask if we are strong enough to win the league,” the Israel midfield player said. “But there is still a long way to go, everything can change. We still think we can win the title.” With 35 games to play, there is little question that Liverpool have time on their side, and it is worth highlighting that United made a similarly inauspicious start last season, collecting only five points from their first four fixtures before going on to beat Benítez’s team to the title. But when the only silver lining to the clouds gathering over Anfield is provided by the problems of their great rivals from the opposite end of the M62, it is clear just how many problems Liverpool have. Benítez probably does not have a notebook big enough to cover them all. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle6809894.ece

Think it's free to Virgin subscribers. I mean cable, not those subscribing for the first time.

Hull City manager Phil Brown has admitted his disappointment at missing out on Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo. Tigers chairman Paul Duffen confirmed the Spanish marksman would not be joining the KC Stadium outfit prior to their clash with Spurs on Wednesday. The club did not have long to digest the news that Negredo would be staying in Spain before Harry Redknapp's side ran out 5-1 winners in East Yorkshire. Brown believes Hull did everything they could to tempt the 24-year-old to the club and is disappointed everyone's efforts have been in vain. Reports in Spain suggest Negredo, who would have cost Hull £12million, is now poised to join Sevilla after also attracting strong interest from Real Zaragoza. Spain stay "The lad has decided to stay in Spain," stated Brown. "We did everything we possibly could and I take my hat off to the chairman for the things he did in getting a world-class player to even talk to us. "But that's dead now, it's on the wave behind and we'll try to get the next one. "I'm very disappointed. There was a lot of effort and energy, not just from myself - for the last six weeks we were working hard at it." Meanwhile, Brown has confirmed France-born Bosnian right-back Sanel Jahic is joining the club on trial. "He is going to join us for a couple of days training and we'll have a look at him," he added on the Aris Thessaloniki defender. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,117...502189,00.html#

That's what he'll dream tonight

Done the PC yesterday. Not saying he's quit like

I'm sure I saw on Sky Sports that Fulham had talks with him but that he'd already sorted out something abroad.

Reaction to Liverpool loss blown out of proportion - it's a fact By Rory Smith Last updated: August 19th, 2009 Rafa Benitez, famously, likes facts. He keeps detailed lists of them in his pocket, for use on a variety of social occasions. He is most probably aware, then, of the old truism – first outlined by that noted philosopher, Homer Simpson – that you can prove anything with facts. Take the fact of Liverpool’s opening day defeat to Tottenham. According to misspelled sports analysis firm Bettorlogic, losing at White Hart Lane has left Benitez’s side’s title dreams in tatters. Apparently, over the last six seasons, only two of the Big Four have ever lost on the opening day. Fact. Neither of those sides – Manchester United in 2004 and Liverpool a season previously – went on to win the league that year. Fact. “Rafa Benitez’s side will have to quickly get their act together to stay in the hunt for the title,” intones Bettorlogic’s CEO Mike Falconer, in his company’s press release. “If it’s not already too late.” To watch, listen to and read many of the obituaries drawn up in the name of Liverpool’s title challenge, even that bizarre extrapolation of a conclusion from arbitrary, coincidental statistics may be a mite optimistic. To many, it is already far, far too late. Liverpool’s flat performance at White Hart Lane, it seems, has left them with just 37 games to claw back an all but unbridgeable three-point deficit on all their main rivals and nigh on extinguished their hopes of winning the league. Rafa Benitez should not have sold Xabi Alonso, his only creative midfielder. Instead of wasting £40 million on Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, he should have bolstered his squad, in case injury hits Fernando Torres or Steven Gerrard. Should that happen, Liverpool would struggle to qualify for the UEFA Cup, let alone the Champions League. All, after one game, facts. It is doomsday punditry of the worst kind, and Benitez clearly has little time for it. Asked yesterday if he thought the critics had a point, the Spaniard genially enquired as to who the prime culprits were. Jamie Redknapp, for one, came the reply. A wry smile, a Hispanic shrug of the shoulders. “It’s easy to criticise on television,” he said. “They’ve never managed a team that’s lost a game.” It is unfair to single out Redknapp, but he is certainly one of the worst offenders of a breed of pundits who now litter our TV screens, airwaves, websites and newspapers, using the word “literally” when they mean “figuratively,” jerking their knees under both definitions and proving anything they want with facts. The problem with such an approach is that it relies upon leaving out other facts. Facts like Alonso wanting to leave, informing Benitez that he would be returning home in May and going so far as handing in a formal transfer request in three months later. Contrary to Tony Gale’s incredible assertion during the match at White Hart Lane that “Benitez never fancied Alonso,” not only did the Liverpool manager buy the Basque and turn him into one of the best midfielders in the world, he also sought to keep him until it became clear his appeals were falling on deaf ears. Or the fact that Benitez has been roundly criticised for five years for buying squad players, yet the minute he chooses to add two thoroughbred options to his squad, he is informed he needed quantity rather than quality. Given the financial constraints placed upon his transfer activity by Liverpool’s owners – Benitez is operating a barter economy in a capitalist world, spending only what he raises – quality in quantity was simply not an option. That, of course, has given free rein to critics wishing to advance that most specious of arguments when it comes to Benitez’s side, the over-reliance on Torres and Gerrard. Leaving aside the irony that, if it were true, it therefore contradicts the criticism of selling Alonso, it is also bunkum. Yes, Liverpool are weaker without their two best players. But taking Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie out of Arsenal’s side would have much the same effect. Even Chelsea and Manchester United would find life harder without Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand. Besides which, Liverpool finished second last season, just four points off United, in a season when Torres and Gerrard only started 14 league games together. Still, you can prove anything with facts. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rorysmi...ion-its-a-fact/

1. Andy Gray waiting for us to concede a goal and then saying - 'that's what happens when you zonal mark' - always seems to forget our defensive record last season 2. Andy Gray 'Rafa always makes his subs in the 64/65 mins' - I mean so fu**** what. Redknapp too is getting on my t***, said that Rafa forced out Xabi Sky sports website had a article on Rafa and referred to him as the 'Spanish Tactician'. I hate Sky Sports Rant Over

I think we'll have a better idea once our medical team get to work with him

Wonder what shirt number he'll get

AQUILANI AGREES CONTRACT Liverpool FC 07 August 2009 Liverpool FC confirmed this evening that Alberto Aquilani has successfully completed a medical and agreed a 5-year contract with the club. The player will now continue his rehabilitation from an ankle operation under the guidance of Liverpool's medical team and is expected to be fully fit in approximately 4-8 weeks time. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090807-1933.htm

He hasn't signed yet and is already telling the Scum - We've won it FIVE TIMES!

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Gerrard stays up front. End of

He wrote 'A season on the brink', think it was kinda official, maybe

That's all it ever his from him. In the know, but doesn't know much

Bet they'll get him on the cheap now. Hope we get at least £25m

Juninho has left Lyon on a free, could worth a punt for a season

Don't think we'll get any quotes from Xabi, unless we hold out for £35m and RM tell him to force the issue

So Real are offering £28 million. I'd take £28m + Sneijder

I thought the ad said that all the games were on liverpoolfc.tv, maybe I'm wrong

Seeing their new No9 in tears after losing to us in the final.........priceless