spencer

"He said the new stadium was designed to be a uniquely recognisable building, a tourist destination in its own right. “We created the south part of the building to really be a destination environment. He said a number of things were being worked on to “make it a place for fans even on non-game days having a place that is interior to the stadium”. Pretty much what I was saying yesterday and I'm very pleased to hear it confirmed. Great interview and just shows how good our new owners are - they actually get their architects to sit in the Kop at a big game before letting them loose on the new design!

A fair point about the pitch. But this will hopefully be a great piece of architecture in a great setting and I think we'd be mad not to exploit that. I also think the City would be mad not to take advantage of it too, especially if the transport infastructure is sorted. Everyone admires the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and this is used for everything you can possibly think of, all kinds of sports, concerts, meetings, displays. I'm not saying we go that far, of course, but certainly we could make more use of it than having it open just for our home matches. If the architects pull it off, then I think the demand will be there.

I'm looking at the bigger picture. Obviously many fans will only visit the stadium for the game and will spend all but the game time in the local pubs but if the ground was an attraction in itself then many people would spend time - and obviously money - in the stadium itself both before and afterwards. In addition maybe the ground could be kept open outside matchdays and gain revenue then as well - concerts, conventions whatever (council permitting). The same goes for corporate hospitality, where the big money is. The more attractive the stadium overall, the more income for the club, and the more money for the manager to spend on the pitch. It's hard not to see this becoming a major tourist attraction. Sorry if that upsets the diehards who think the ground should be used for two hours every two weeks.

Another thing that strikes me seeing the new image is that the stadium will be unique in having terrific views looking out from the inside - there are some great vantage points there. Fortunately Goodison won't be around to spoil them.

http://videos.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolech...umSouthEast.jpg In this bigger picture you can see the Plaza to the left - i.e. the current ground, and it really demonstrates just how enormous the new stadium will be in comparison.

Agree with that last comment - Arbeloa looked excellent in midfield, especially considering he played the whole game. Cracker from Agger - wins the ball in midfield, takes it round a defender, plays in Riise with a good through ball and then blasts home the layoff from Kuyt - how many other CBs could have scored that?

If you ignore the advantageous illumination and imagine it at ground level during the day, you can see that it is basically a typical modern retail park structure - could just as easily be a Tescos, B&Q, whatever - it will blend well with the surrounding retail development but not have any presence of its own unless they can add something 'iconic' to make it more memorable (and signs saying 'peoples club' ain't it!). Can't understand the costing either - earlier in the week it was £50m, then £75m, and today it's £150m, and I don't see how Tescos can fund it without upsetting their shareholders. Anyway it'll be soon be forgotten once our behemoth is unveiled next week.

It will certainly get interesting when the case hits the High Court - I think the judge will want to see actual legal proof of the situation not all this 'scouts honour' rubbish that the PL has accepted. It may be because of the threat of serious questions from a real court that the PL is now trying to appear to play hardball with the Tevez transfer.

Do you ever get the feeling on these forums that some people actually want us to fail? They'd rather see us screw up so they could say 'told you so' than actually see things turn out well.

Scary thing this is just the start. First there will be endless arguments for and against it once the design is known, then followed by numerous threads about planning permission, capacity, transport (and the usual 'in the know but cannot divulge' crap), followed by equally numerous threads about how the price has gone up or the start is delayed or it's not what was promised, yadayadaya, and then another three years of rumours of one sort or another while it's being built. God help us!

Well according to BlueKipper, we shouldn't be getting our hopes up! "Gillete and Hicks have run into serious problems which is why they have ordered a rethink. The previous design was not buildable by people needing to riase finance. Way too much steel in the design. They have had no choice but to redesign. Any other story is a PR cover up. Also and even more importantly they have been given the knockback by all the major UK lenders, so now they are hawking it round USA to find a lender. All is not as rosy as it looks". Damn! Maybe that explains the glass Anfield Road end - G&T can't afford the steel.

At least JC has done better than the likes of Tommy Smith (Get well soon, Tommy!) and Jimmy Case who never got capped at all and the way Alan Hansen was treated by Scotland still rankles with me. (still think Jamie has been badly treated of course).

Brown was rubbish again and contributed nothing whatsoever going forward. At least Bridge made the effort to attack though not very successfully.

I thought this was a transfer speculation thread?

To be fair to the council, the limit they've placed on the capacity initially due to infrastructure issues is surely reasonable. If the new owners have said they will fund improvements to the infrastructure in order to allow a greater capacity later on, then I think the council should be amenable to that. Yes, it's money talking, but in an acceptable way.

Just come back to this thread and I realise people misunderstood my point about Owen playing for Utd - it was nothing to do with a former red playing for the enemy, or being a mercenary etc. My point is wouldn't you be worried about them getting a quality front player? People might not like Mikey returning on some kind of moral grounds (he betrayed us etc) but surely you'd have to fear him playing for ManU? There is absolutely no evidence at the moment to say that Owen is past it. I almost think some of the naysayers would rather we came second without him, than first with him.

Would those who are against Owen returning be happy to see him playing for Man United - assuming he is as past it as they claim?

Wasn't the idea to build lower rather than taller to increase the capacity?

Arsenal's 'on the cheap' youth policy isn't actually paying off (other than financially); they scraped into 4th last season, and finished 4th this season, and I reckon 4th is the best they can hope for next season too. Anyone got any YouTubes of Snoogy?

A player who's impressed me this season is Nicky Shorey, Reading's LB. A real cool customer, no hoofs from this guy - mentally probably the complete opposite of Riise. I will be interested to see how he plays for England tomorrow.

His creativity and eye for goal have been sadly missed this season and he makes the difference in games like last night. I know he's not everyone's favourite because not all the flicks and tricks come off but he's one of the few players in the squad who can make something out of nothing - and he would still spend more time in the penalty area than Dirk!

Rafa was certainly very relaxed - I think we're all more stressed than he is!

But, as has been pointed out before, even if Lucas is intended to replace Xabi or Momo, you'd have to wait till he's proven himself first before letting either one go.

Saw this quote on a 'Brazilian prospects' thread: ".. keep an eye out for Lucas of Gremio. Not sure if you got a chance to see the any of the South American U-20 but this kid is just amazing. Tackles, distributes, scores goals. Incredibly intellligent player. Only 19 and he got the Golden Ball for best player in the Brazilian league and captained Brasil to the SA U-20 championship already (was the best player in the tournament to many as well). Wouldn't be surprised if he locks down a midfield spot on the Seleção for the next 10-13 years like Dunga did". http://www.fbtz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55542&page=6 But can he hold down a midfield spot at Anfield?

As a Sky News watcher, I'd nominate Eamonn Holmes - was great watching him squirm yesterday doing the sports report.