Guz

Something I've never really grasped, how much did the Anfield crowd change from 1964 to 1984? That clip always makes me smile. I find it hilarious seeing that old fella with half a head of hair singing along to a beatles tune while jostling for some terrace space with lads from around 18 (?) to those in their 60s, maybe older. It's fantastic. Did that still happen in the 80s or since the early 70s has there been a general trend for the "having fun but looking like a tart" kind of fun on the kop to be restricted to a younger age group?

No idea about that but maybe they should be casting an eye over Rome the following season as well.

Sunday newspapers write so much s*** it's impossible to say whats true or not. It wouldnt be the first time the rags just re-hashed a story from the Echo. There are also hardly any quotes since Rafa's post-athens outburst so until we sign someone the papers are just going to keep going round in circles and saying the same thing because the club certainly isn't giving any hints in public.

People were convinced Xabi was desperate to goto Barca or th at Rafa wanted rid yet here he is now sitting pretty on a new long term contract. Seems a lot of the frustration this summer is that all we've got to go by is Rafa's quotes post-Athens. There seems to be absolutely nothing going round, everyone seems to know f*** all - papers or otherwise and that includes Bascombe. I don't think that's necesarilly a bad thing when it comes to transfers. I fail to believe we're sitting on our arses doing nothing or that G+H would be stupid enough to alienate Rafa this summer when he's had so much interest from elsewhere and showed his frustration It's funny, last August most people were convinced we were gonna do really well. We had options all over the pitch, 2 players per position and just had a great league season yet we had a poor seasonand now thats turned into pessimism and doom and gloom. Guess that's football

The funniest thing about this is remembering back to the newcastle press conference when Owen signed and Fat Fred throwing a hissy fit when being asked about a release clause. Now his new manager comes in and admits it within weeks of joining the club

ok fair dos. Just have to wait and see now then I guess

The only thing I can find on youtube is Hicks, in response to speculation about £25m+ on 1 player, saying that with increased revenue from the stadium we'll be able to compete with any club in the world. I always took the "snoogy doogy" comment as Gillet saying that they'll have no input into recommending Rafa player X or Y, not necesarilly saying they'll 100% buy whoever Rafa wants. Especially considering that quote came on the back of some hack asking if they want to sign Owen back and Gillet saying if we do buy Owen, it'll be if Rafa wants him back and nothing else.

Where and when? Again, its not that I dont take your word for it but if they've been so open in interviews that I've missed then I'd like to see for myself what else they've been saying about their ideas for the club etc.

Any links? Not saying I dont believe you, but would like to read a couple of their interviews in full if thats the sort of stuff they were claiming before the close season

Obviously it depends on who you do and dont believe but there was a lot of talk about Rafa just cutting his losses and decided to get rid of owen instead of pursuing any further negotations in order to help sign Garcia and Alonso and hopefully tempt Morientes away from Madrid. I dont know if it's true or not and I'm not saying Owen didnt toy us around at all, but I'm sure it's not as cut and dry as some people make out and I dont think its as unlikely as some suggest that Rafa would want him back at the club. Ok, so my memory is playing on me and we wanted to sign him after 2005 and the CL win, not the season after. I still find it hard to beliveve there would be people at our club who would pressure our manager to sign someone he didnt want

Why would Rafa, who had just won the european cup and fa cup in his first two seasons at the club and managed our biggest points tally for about 15 years, be forced to sign a player he didn't want when our finances were so tight? I know our club have made mistakes over the years but if they "pressured" our manager into signing someone when we were scraping the barrel for money I'd find it absolutely staggering beyond belief. If Rafa wanted him again as a top target (though unlikely IMO) I dont understand how anyone would want the transfer to not happen

Rafa, who was the one who SOLD Owen so abruptly in 2004 to fund Garcia & Alonso obvioiusly identified Owen as someone to contribute to picking up trophies, 12 months ago. If he does it again this year then I'm all for it personally

Did they say they'd do that? Did they say they'll shell out HUGE amounts of money on individual players? Did they say we'll be run like Chelsea and just splash cash without looking to bring money in the other way? If they did then it's my mistake. But I certainly didnt expect anyone to do that when we were looking for investment. The new stadium is the centre of the club's financial plan. Considering it's costing so much money, for me giving Rafa £15-16m etc. for players (not total spending) IS backing him. Just because we have some money now doesn't mean there won't be targets which we can't afford or can't have. Sit tight and wait and see what's going to happen

I'd love it if we signed Owen but if we dont get him I'm not too fussed. Rafa wanted him last season but we couldnt afford it. If he wants him again this summer and Owen wants to move then I for one will welcome him back with open arms

Just cant see why people are getting so worked up by that first Bascombe article (the one about Forlan). If anyone thought G+H would come in and build us a new stadium and splash £30m on individual players without having to raise funds by selling players then IMO they need to have their heads checked out. Our problem hasnt been that we havent been able to sign the likes of Eto'o but that we've missed out on the targets we've looked at by a few million - Simao, Alves, Miltio etc. Just because we're on the up and have some money to spend doesnt mean we're going to assemble a squad of all stars and buy the best players in the world (and Eto'o certainly falls into that category). Carrick isn't *that* good, Hargreaves isn't that good, Saha, Vidic, Evra etc. They're excellent players who fit the way United play and and some occasions over paid for because they are able to. The same goes for Chelsea. We've signed this Lucas fella, we've got the core of our team pinned down in new contracts, our players will have a longer break than usual for the first time in f***ing ages and there's still a hell of a long time to go in the summer. Not saying everything is rosy in the garden but some people need to chill out.

Just because we arent going to spend ~£30m on one player doesnt mean the americans are being tight, doesn't mean Rafa doesn't have a lot of money to spend and doesn't mean we won't get the targets we want for the club and improve our squad dramatically.

More rest of Carra = not a bad thing

Havent seen that much of him really. Is he a quick, can beat the defender type of direct winger or is he more like what Kewell has maybe become i.e. good in posession, good crosser, gets into goalscoring positions?

I agree. From the moment Gerrard intercepted the ball to Xabi's calm play, Bellamy's through ball, Riise's pass and the finish. Sublime

Or the wording on Xabi, Pepe and Luis' contracts. Or the wording on an official bid, let alone player contracts...

Fair point but dependent on Sissoko being content to play a squad role next season and us not getting a big enough offerthat outweights the benefit of using him more sparingly next season.

"What other supporters would send hoax emails to their own?"

Or maybe he's gone past that phase and just wants to play for the club. But we probably are getting some decent players...soon.

Great news. Mind you, we all know that deep down Rafa wants to sell Gerrard and only plays him because he's a local laaa

Who? Mascherano? He's a proper defensive midfielder. He intercepts the ball because he knows where it's going to be and how to stop an attacker, he doesnt rely on his athleticisim like Sissoko or Gerrard which makes him less catchy to the eye. Just like Didi was and Makelele is for Chelsea. His inclusion can also allow Alonso to play further up the field which isn't the case with either Sissoko or Gerrard partnering him. And that could be vital if and when we get better attacking players on the left and upfront. Not saying Sissoko is s**** like but if we get an excellent offer for him then we will have to consider it very seriously.