Ed-Zeppelin

Interesting table and not that surprising to anyone following the ins and outs for each club rather than simply the ins as seems the want of the majority of the media. I'm still of the opinion that our spending will go up should we get through into the CL group stages. A good result against Toulouse and we may get a full back and a winger still, for example.

"I don't know what you're on about net spend: I have a house with £100k equity I have a current mortgage capacity of £100k I can therefore afford a £200k house The house I want/need costs £195K I buy a house for £150k Oops, I f***ed up" I'm not quite sure what you're getting at there? Surely if you get a house for £150k that meets your needs when you have £200k to send then that is a good thing?! If you have the money available and don't use it and end up with something that doesn't meet your requirements then you've made a mistake. Perhaps I'm missing something? If Rafa had been given the ability to spend a net £30m this year and has only spent £20-25m and is happy with what he has then again surely this is all good. The biggest difference the new owners seem to have made to the way we spend is to make money available up front so we can get out quickly and buy big players for big money, especially Torres, and then sell players at our leisure and thus get better money for them than we have often done in the past. I'd like to see more of this. All the nonsense in the press over the last week has really annoyed me as the standard or writing and research from most football journalists seems to have hit an all time low. Some of the so called experts on the radio and tv have also come out with some staggeringly stupid and ignorant comments as well. What's more depressing is that those that wre doing it all last season are just as bad this year.

I'm remarkebly suspicious of Kaizer's statistics. If there are to be two more as it is seemingly going, and it's to be a LB/CH and a winger I hope it isn't Heinze, as although it'll piss off b******s nose, which would be nice, I'm not sure he's the player he was a couple of years ago. As for the winger I'd quite enjoy us not signing Quaresma just to see Kaizer implode. At the same time if we did sign him Kaizer may well explode. So we win either way!!! I'm still unsure of Quaresma, talented no doubt, but I'm just not sure he'd work out here. If Rafa reckons he'd do it that's good enough for me. (No offence meant Kaizer, you've been endlessly entertaining all summer!)

All this arguing about expenditure is difficult as noone really knows the financial situation currently. I'd suggest the fact that the new owners have sanctioned a lot of new deals for big money and nearly equalled and well beaten our transfer record in one sumer is something that wouldn't have happened otherwise. As long as Rafa is happy with the players he's been able to sign, which seems the case, and has also been able to get first top choices, which seems the case also on the whole, then who's to argue. Factor in the fact that the new owners are helpig get the stadium sorted and I'm more than happy. In many ways getting the stadium sorted is more valuable to us, certainly long term, than really throwing cash around now, assuming Rafa is happy with his players. I also like the fact that we've gone out and bossed the market in a way we've not done for a while. We've haggled well both in buying and selling thus far. As for transfers: Chiellini would be very nice and I'm still not sold on the idea of Heinze. I'd still like to be greedy and get another real winger in.

I'm guessing that if we'd signed the guy for £10M a lot more people would be talking him up as the next big this or that. Such is the clamour for big money transfers, especially in our case this summer, that when Rafa goes out and gets a decent player for next to nothing he's written off as a nothing player who should be sold within the year. The way I look at it is that last season we had Kuyt, Crouch, Bellamy and Fowler up top. This season that looks likely to be Torres (touch wood), Kuyt, Crouch and Voronin. As much as we all love Robbie for me at this time Voronin is a sizeable improvement, and he's fairly versatile to boot. I think he may surprise a few people. I admit I've not seen much of Voronin but what I have suggests his work ethic will fit well with Rafa, he can play a number of roles, again a plus and is good on the ball and a good finisher. His scoring record is pretty good all told last time I checked. He'll be a good replacement for Fowler, and could even fill in for Garcia in some respects. Not to mention that by getting him on a free we've given freed up more cash for a winger/striker etc.

What a load of b******s! Simply because they've both been poor for much of the season they're both looking for scapegoats left, right and centre! Rafa would probably argue it was his best side, as he had to rotate due to tiredness of his players, which given Rafas record is probably legit. Regardless, we don't have a squad so we can play 11 players all season. We have a squad so we can used it how and when we like! I've got a lot of time for Jewell as a man and a manager, and can understand the bottom teams annoyance over the West Ham/PL bottling situation, but all this smacks of desperation! And Warnock can f*** right off!

On the whole i'd agree about our negativity away from home but we set up and started pretty brightly today. There were certainly ways of being more negative when going to play Arsenal away and we took the option of taking them on with two up front and got forward pretty often and quickly early on. We had the better of the chances until their goal came, and up to that point Arsenal and their fans had started to get frustrated, ideal and just what we needed. The goal came at a point where i felt we were doing ok and had started to play some reasonable stuff. After that they settled and we were chasing, 3-0 from that is no surprise with Arsenal in their current form, even if they were missing chances. My biggest worry, even against Arsenal, is our inability to stroke the ball about with comfort as Chelsea, Utd and Arsenal, and others aside seem to do. It showed badly at points to day and meant that the front players were chasing or under intense pressure before they even had the ball. Also, once we had the ball we were more rushed, despite being under no more physical pressure than the Arsenal players when they were on the ball. This led to us only creating chances when we hurriedly strung 3 or 4 bungled passes together on a bit of a whim. There was a lack of cohesion at times which has come about too often this season IMO, home and away. Arsenal, Utd and Chelsea all seem to know where each other are going, the movements etc and can find each other and move on again. We struggle with this too often IMO. We show signs on occasions but it's too rushed. On the Gerrard in the middle argument I'd like to see it now, with him next to Xabi. As anfield has said, few teams have too such deep sitting, if not defensively minded, players. Scholes and Carrick at Utd are pretty similar to a Gerrard/Alonso axis. Like Alonso, Carrick is not the quickest or a proper defensive midfield man. Momo's injury gives Rafa an excuse to try this without dropping someone! It's frustrating as the talent in the first team at least, when at our strongest, is more than a match for anyone yet for me we're struggling to find the required cohesion that our main rivals have. Perhaps the number of new players in the team etc has slowed the process but 'Borough is now a huge game. That all said i fully expect us to go to 'Borough and win!!!! Funny old game!

Good to hear if true! No doubt it will make the design a little more difficult as to build a more symmetrical stadium is bound to be simpler but with it being such a traditional aspect of the current stadium i think it would certainly appease some of those against the new place if it still had a Kop!

As much as I love Anfield and all that it stands for I also think a new stadium is pretty much a necessity if we're to continue growing and competing a the top of the game. Being a positive sole i also take the view that it gives a all current and future Reds a new home to make their own and to build a reputation for. The talk of numerous soleless bowls around the country should be used to throw down the gauntlet to those who go each week! I'd also like to say that we have to build something better than Arsenals! Even if the capacity is the same we have to out-do them! Atmosphere is a given, although theirs does seem to have improved that'll probably wear off! My other concern is the Kop, or potential lack of it! From the pictures i've seen there doesn't seem to be a definable main Kop 'grandstand'. For me i'd like to see that so that it stands out in the same way as it does now. To have two identical ends would take away from the special nature of the new Kop!

He said yesterday after the game, when asked about the cramp and potential injuries, that he was feeling quite fresh overall as Rafa had been taking him off with 20 mins to go a bit. So he may have played in 57 but how many of those he played the full game i don't know. Although i suspect it's still a fair number!

Well Rafa, for one, doesn't seem to judge them on that, otherwise it would have been Crouch who stayed behind and Cisse who went to Sunderland on Wednesday. I like Cisse, think he's got talent and could score many goals. But i fear to get the best out of him you have to build the team around him. Under Rafa that is never going to happen. Cisse needs to start working as hard as Crouch for the team, and keep scoring, if he does he'll start every week. If not, Rafa will go for the 'team' ahead of any individual every time, so Crouch it is! Crouch may not have scored but he's been key in our run of good form.