alias75

Id watched him in the flesh numerous times for Wales so knew what we were getting. Hes similar to Kuyt in that his workrate is such that even when things aren't working for him hes still useful for the team because he never stops trying. On form hes almost unplayable, as we're now seeing he has the ability to drift into wide positions and get assists and when the game is stretched there arent many better with balls over the top. His other great asset is that hes never satisfied and is always looking to improve, even yesterday you could see that. I knew we were getting a bargain for 6 million and glad hes started to show the form to back that up.

Ill think you'll find the knee jerkers were in the minority even not long after the game had finished. Most of them have admitted they got caught up in the moment and were wrong with their level of criticism. Yet we still get mindless drivel from paid journalists, the level of football journalism really has nosedived the last few years and Rafa really does seem to targeted by these guys. For a manager thats achieved what he has in the game it really is out of order, no doubt had we won the Carling Cup this season the very same media would be pointing out how worthless that trophy is.

Think hes played about 10 times for Depor so hes getting some good first team experience. from memory even though we sold him im sure there was some terms in there whereby we had the option to buy him back after 2 or 3 seasons for a set fee so even if he goes on to be worth a lot more than we sold him for the fee is set should we want him back. Think that was a very smart move by the club hes going to get games in La Liga and will obviously improve. Right back is a position he could have a chance of filling in the first team in a few years so if hes given those sort of assurances and we want him back I could see him returning to the club. Even if we're not interested in him for the first team if the fee has been set and in 2 or 3 years time hes worth much more than that fee then it would be stupid of the club not to take advantage of that situation even if it meant we sold him again fairly quickly for much more than we paid for him.

I havent heard Neil comment anything really but im guessing from the way we're expressing our interest hes keen to come here. If thats the case those are the 2 options Blackburn have. If Neil doesnt have his heart set on Liverpool then of course that changes things, but its not as if he'd be badly paid here anyway.

Really enjoyed reading that, it really does amaze me how ex pros with no record in management can constantly criticise a manager thats won the CL, UEFA Cup, La Liga and FA Cup, i just dont see the same level of absue aimed at Fergusson or Wenger when their teams are also having a bit of a bad spell. Rafa certainly doesnt get the respect his record deserves, even yesterday when the team was named you had average ex pros saying that he didnt know what he was doing! your talking about one of the most thoughtful managers there is, everything he tries may not work but to say he doesnt know what hes trying to do is so far off the mark its laughable. Its also true how the Carling Cup has all of a sudden taken on this huge importance within the media, no doubt if we had won the Carling Cup this season and nothing else the very same media would be telling us how worthless a trophy it is. I also think its a decent point about Gerrard, no doubt he plays well from the middle against most teams but you can count the number of huge games hes played from that position against big sides on one hand. Top read that.

re Neil: hes in control of the situation, even if some club (most likely idiots like Newcastle) bids say 4 million for him he doesnt have to move anywhere he doesnt want to. Remember when we sold Baros apparently there were bigger offers on the table compared to Villa but the player reused point blank to even talk to those clubs. If he wants to play for us Blackburn have 2 options.. 1. Take our offer in January 2. Lose him for nothing at the end of the season

comparing Nolan or Zenden to Mascherano is way off the mark ,before he signed for West Ham he was one of the most highly regarded young midfielders in the world, a few average games for a team struggling in a new league is hardly reason enough to write him off. This is an ideal chance to sign one of the best young central midfielders in the world for a relatively small fee. You can say we already have 3 top quality central midfielders which is true, but we dont have decent cover for Alonso. Sissoko and Gerrard are both similar types in that they get about the pitch and are all high energy, Mascherano is a good alernative to Alonso if he gets injured or needs resting, they could also play together in a 4-2-3-1 for certain games against tough opposition away from home.

Good report here from Dave Usher over at TLW http://217.199.172.89/tlw/forum/showthread.php?t=41292 The reds youngsters showed they are in no mood to relinquish the FA Youth Cup trophy they lifted last season, as goals from Jimmy Ryan and Ray Putterill gave Steve Heighway's side an impressive victory over a much fancied Chelsea outfit. The visitors line up read like a who's who of 'Football Manager 2007' stars, and cost a fair bit to assemble. There were some players with big reputations in their side, but they rarely troubled an outstanding Liverpool back four led by skipper Jay Spearing. I saw Chelsea win at the Academy earlier this season, and they looked pretty useful that day. The side that took to the field at Anfield was even stronger, boosted by the inclusions of imported strikers Carlos Tejera and Morten Nielson. With highly rated wingers Miroslav Stoch and Scott Sinclair (who appeared for the senior side at Wycombe the other night), I honestly feared the worst. I was guilty of underestimating our lads, whose resilience and sheer will to win gave them the edge over opponents who on paper were much superior. Heighway's kids were first to every ball, well organised and on the balance of play thoroughly deserved to win. In a week in which the club's youth policy has come under close scrutiny in the wake of Arsenal's success at Anfield, this will have been a hugely satisfying win for the reds Academy chief, especially as nine of the starting eleven are local lads who have been with the club for many years. Only Danish goalkeeper Martin Hansen and Scottish midfielder Ryan Flynn have been brought in from outside the area, whereas the Chelsea side had talent brought in from all over the place. Sinclair was signed for big money from Bristol Rovers, Tajera came from Espanyol and is very highly rated, Harry Worley was nabbed from Stockport, Michael Woods was the lad they nicked from Leeds (prompting Ken Bates' 'Siberian schysters' rant), Miroslav Stoch is a highly rated Slovakian winger, Morten Nielsen is a Danish youth international and they had two Portuguese u18 internationals on the subs bench. Their expensively assembled squad was completely nullified by the reds back four however. There is a lack of height in the reds backline, but that was never an issue as Chelsea play on the floor. It was only in the closing stages that they went route one when they sent big centre half Worley up front (a common Chelsea tactic against us!). Spearing and Threlfall contained Tejera and Nielson with surprising ease, neither striker got a kick throughout the contest, whilst in the first half dangerman Sinclair couldn't escape the close attentions of the dilligent Stephen Darby. This years youth cup side lacking the flair and attacking threat of Hammill and Anderson, as well as the muscle of Antwi and Hobbs, but there are still several players left from last year. Jimmy Ryan was one of those, although he missed the latter stages of the competition through injury having scored in an earlier round. He is back in the side this year, albeit out of position on the right of midfield. To me, it would have made more sense to play Jimmy in the centre and switch either Charlie Barnett or Ryan Flynn to the right, but Steve Heighway clearly knows better as it was Jimmy who proved to be the reds main goal threat in the opening 45 minutes. He was within a whisker of opening the scoring on 8 minutes, when Chelsea failed to clear a Barnett free-kick, and the ball fell to Ryan on the edge of the box. His left foot drive fizzed just past the post with the keeper nowhere. Six minutes later he did find the net. Lee Woodward made a good run into space down the left, and was found with a superb ball down the line (I don't remember who played the pass unfortunately). He held the ball up, and then laid it back to the supporting Putterill, who looked up and picked out Ryan in the centre with a terrific cross. Ryan was closely marked, but flicked the ball with the outside of his foot on the volley into the far corner of the net. Three minutes later Putterill released Lindfield through the centre, and he unleashed a superb dipping half volley from 20 yards that was narrowly over the bar. It wasn't a free flowing attacking display by the reds, but they were still looking the more dangerous of the two sides. Chelsea tried to use the pace of their two widemen, but for all their obvious ability they couldn't get much change out of the Liverpool full backs. Their best chance of the entire game came ten minutes before the break, when Liverpool failed to clear a corner, and when the ball was sent back in Stoch had a glorious chance six yards out in front of the Kop, but he scuffed his shot wide. I expected an onslaught in the second half, but it never materialised. In fact, the longer the half went the more Liverpool got on top. On 65 minutes Woodward went close with a curling shot after good play by Barnett, and five minutes later the striker got clear of the defence after latching onto Lindfield's flick, but the keeper saved at his feet. All this time, Hansen had not had to make a save. In fact, the only time he was remotely extended was when he had to make a fairly routine save from Spearing's headed backpass. He dealt very well with any crosses that came his way, and his kicking was good too. He looks a very assured young man. The reds made the game safe with six minutes remaining, when Spearing's 'Alonso like' diagonal ball found Putterill in the box, and he brought the ball down on his chest before steadying himself and drilling a low left foot shot into the far corner. An excellent goal from the in form frontman, who also got the winner in the last round at the Hawthorns. I had expected a lot more from Chelsea to be honest, but rather than focus on how disappointing they were, I think great credit has to go to our lads for simply not letting them do what they wanted to do. The boys all worked extremely hard, but the win wasn't just down to that. They used the ball well when they had the chance to attack, and tactically they were brilliant. The defence caught Chelsea offside time and again, and the organisation of the back four was very impressive. I sometimes worry about Spearing at centre half because he's so small, but in terms of organising, reading the game and generally having a football brain, Jay is as good as I've seen at this level in a long time. You can see why the Academy staff love him to bits, he's a born winner. He and Threlfall play very well together and they were the foundations on which this win was built. Putterill and Ryan were both excellent too, and thoroughly deserved their goals, but the two centre backs share the star man award. Team: Hansen; Darby, Spearing, Threlfall, Burns; Ryan, Barnett, Flynn, Putterill; Lindfield, Woodward (Wignall):

Could be any of those and probably some we havent thought of... Maybe wing backs of Finnan and Aurellio and a midfield 3 of Alonso, Gerrard with Kuyt in the hole behind Bellamy and Crouch?

I think the comparison with Rooney is a good one, thought he was excellent in the world cup and before that at the Olympics he was the best player there by far. offers something we dont have much of in the side which is an attacking player that isnt afraid to run with the ball and commit defenders. His time at West Ham could be ideal if another PL team takes him on.

How would Blackburn feel if west Ham did offer 8 million for Neil though knowing full well he'd simply refuse to sign for them. Didnt we get a bigger offer for Baros before he left but he wouldnt even talk to them.

Thanks guys...

The media are quoting between 80-100 million ive seen some posts from guys that seem to know what their talking about and have seen the numbers that say thats not correct. Ive looked for explanations on here but its like looking for a needle in a haystack. can someone give me the reasons as to why the 80-100 figure isnt correct, or point me to the relevant posts. Thanks in advance

Ok thanks, it was a stupid assumption on my part when he was here for the CL game i assumed he'd be staying and training before officially signing. I guess thats a no no then unless things get desperate.

He was in the crowd for one of the CL games a while back i assumed he stayed over and has been training although that may be wrong.

I doubt many on here have seen him play at all but Rafa seemed very confident he would be pushing for the first team before the end of the season, any player aged 17 playing for his countries U20 side is clearly very highly regarded. From what ive read his best position is probably centre back but he is left sided so hes probably played left back for the U21 side because they have more experienced central defenders that are a couple of years older than him. Now we have problems down our left with Garcia out for the season and Gonzalez for maybe a month, also theres talk of Warnock going to Blackburn. The obvious solution is Aurellio and Riise or maybe even Lucas Neil if that happens, but maybe Insua will egt some first team action sooner than everyone expected. I know he couldnt sign until January but hes been here for a few months now, be interesting to see if hes named in the squad for the first team anytime soon.

Sorry couldnt answer this earlier (im in oz) i do think hes done a very good job with the squad if you look at some of the players he was left with all on huge contracts. We had Diao, Diouff, Traore, Biscan, Le Tallec, Murphy, Cisse, Cheyrou, Baros, all of whom were on big contracts and for the main none of them had consistently performed for the first team, thats a lot of players to move out and they had to be replaced. I think the problem is players like Bellamy and Pennant shouldnt be first team regulars in a potential title winning team, these players should be our 2nd tiers for those positions, hopefully by next season that will be the case. But overall i think the quality throughout the squad has improved. You could argue wide midfield is still weak but i dont think its any weaker than when he got here, certain areas like GK, central defence, central midfield are clearly stronger than when he took over.

Is this the same manager that got our highest points total in the league? Yes our results against our main rivals isnt too hot as i mentioned in another thread this is the next level we need to get to. Its obvious we need to buy better players to compete with Man Utd and Chelsea (lets not forget we are ahead of amazing Arsenal in the league) i have no doubt that Rafa is the right man and hopefully he'll be given the money to get his #1 targets. Thats true but asnt he been forced to go for quantity over quality because the squad was in such a bad state when he got here. He could have spent the money on less players but that would have left him with poor alternatives or players that are proven failures under GH. its taken him 2 seasons to almost totally get rid of the players he was left with that he doesnt want, lets hope from now on its quality over quantity.

thats how i saw it too, 1-4 at HT was no reflection on the balance on play, a side like Arsenal are always capable of doing that, remember the game they played earlier in the season and missed about 6 or 7 golden chances could have been 5 or 6 easily and ended up 0-0, today was the opposite of that, they scored with almost every chance they had and got a few good calls from the linesman. Our players made individual errors (again). Its always hard to lose big at home but i just put it down as a freak result and hopefully it will quicken the realisation from the board that we need better players.

Dont do anything stupid Kev (and im not talking about backing Watford with all your money) todays game will have absolutely no reflection on the next PL game, only 2 or maybe 3 of them that played today will play against Watford. If you are that confident we're not going to win though i suggest laying Liverpool instead of backing Watford that way you have the draw on your side too!

We dont really know what Rafa will do with big money to spend cos hes never been in that position. But we do know his big money signings like Alonso, Reina, Sissoko, Agger, Gacia have usually worked out. Theres always the odd Pennant or Morientas in there but in pennants case its clear we wanted Alves and couldnt afford him and in Morientas's case he just didnt work out here he isnt a bad player. Because the squad was so poor when he took over we've had to sign too many players in the "maybe" range some have worked out some havent, most of the ones that havent have been moved on. Hopefully now we can start getting his number 1 targets instead of settling for 2nd or 3rd choice.

I think all that tonight proved is that... 1. Rafa doesnt care about this competition 2. Some of our "experienced" players are past it, notably Dudek and Fowler who just doesnt have the legs to play against these types of defenders anymore. 3. Our kids arent a patch on Arsenals (ok we knew that anyway) Hopefully this is another wake up call to our fringe players, if you want to make it at Liverpool FC you have to raise your level or you wont be kept on. We know Rafa is ruthless, we know he knows the academy setup needs to be overhauled (and it is being) it always hurts after games like tonight but i agree that it will only make Rafa more focussed, and if it highlights the difficiencies of some players better now than later.

How did he disrespect the FA Cup? by playing Dudek? Dudek has been an international keeper for a decade now, as a manager you cant really legislate for individual errors. The FA Cup game we were full strength bar Dudek in goal.

i think the difference was our team was disjointed some first teamers some fringe first teamers some reserves. Im betting most of that Arsenal side tonight play together for the reserve team with toure and Fabregas added in there. Their young players are obviously a lot better than ours but we all knew that anyway.

Its clear Rafa doesnt care about this competition and had we won on the weekend im sure most fans wouldnt have cared either. Yes its nice to have a day out in Cardiff but it is the least important competition and think it should be used to give our young players a taste of what it takes to make it in the first team. A few of them now know what it takes and maybe that will give them a kick up the backside or else they wont have much of a future here. As for Dudek he is a proven international keeper and has been for a decade, he has to be expected to play better than he has, the fact he has had 2 poor games in a row is his own fault not Rafas. You could argue whether he should play or not after the weekend, but he should be able to play for the first team still without making these basic mistakes, if anything this should see Carson back soon which isnt a bad thing.