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Would you let him go for that price? Clicky Liverpool will spark a £10million transfer auction after deciding to sell Peter Crouch to the highest bidder in January. Crouch's future has been the subject of intense speculation this season but now manager Rafa Benitez has finally lost patience after seeing a change in the striker's attitude. The Liverpool manager believes Crouch's status as an England player has turned his head, to the detriment of the work ethic that made him such a valuable team player when he arrived from Southampton for £7m in 2005. Benitez has instructed Anfield chiefs to secure the best possible price for 26-yearold Crouch. There will be no shortage of offers, with early signs of interest from Newcastle, Portsmouth and Aston Villa, one of his former clubs. A move abroad is believed to appeal to Crouch, with Juventus in the market for a front-runner. Casting an eye towards the Premier League, Liverpool's initial valuation could prove a stumbling block. Manchester City dropped out after being quoted £15m. Sportsmail understands that Crouch is prepared to dig his heels in and see out the remaining 18 months of his contract if Liverpool insist on £15m. It seems likely the club will have to lower their sights to around £10m for a New Year deal to go through. Crouch's expected departure may not be the only one after Momo Sissoko demanded showdown talks over his lack of opportunities this season. The 22-year-old Mali midfielder has made only four Premier League starts and sees little hope of forcing his way back after slipping behind Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso for a place alongside Steven Gerrard. He wants to grill Benitez over his standing and is ready to demand a move in January if the manager cannot convince him he will have a more active role in the second half of the season. Liverpool only just pipped Everton to the former Valencia player's signature and there is certain to be strong interest from the Premier League as well as a host of foreign clubs, headed by Juventus, jostling for the chance to offer him a fresh start. Daniel Agger has set his sights on a return to action against Newcastle a week tomorrow, following a 13-game absence with a broken metatarsal. 'I have had to miss out on Denmark's game in Northern Ireland, but I hope to be ready to play for Liverpool after the international break,' said the 22-year old centre-back. Benitez, who will give Sami Hyypia an overdue rest if Agger is passed fit, says Yossi Benayoun has only an outside chance of making the lunchtime kick-off at St James' Park. He has been forced to rule out Alonso, who has suffered another foot injury. Benitez said: 'Yossi is working with the physios now. We will have to see if he is fit for Newcastle; it's still too early to say. 'He and Agger are “maybes” but perhaps it will be easier for Agger than for Benayoun. Xabi should start running in the next week but he is a “no” for Newcastle, for sure.'

Linked with us in the Daily Mail - don't know where they get it from, maybe they have been reading NYR's posts... Daily Mail link for what its worth Liverpool have joined Manchester United in the race to sign Racing Santander's Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay. Real Madrid and Juventus are also keen on the 21-year-old who is valued at £10million.

And another article from James Lawton....Independent article no 2

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Another article talking sense, agree or not... Pressure falls on Steven Gerrard to prove he is the man for every occasion Martin Samuel Chief Football Correspondent For a man who will lead out his country today, who captains his club each week and whose personal CV includes a starring role in a victorious Champions League campaign and perhaps the most personally attributable FA Cup Final victory since the days of Stanley Matthews, it would at first appear that Steven Gerrard has very little to prove. Not so. This is a huge season for him, and not just because there is an international tournament at the end of it and increased transfer revenue giving his club, Liverpool, their best chance of finishing as champions in the modern, Premier League, era. It is significant because this is the year Gerrard has been given his head. He has been elevated and indulged more than any other English or Premier League player and to the exclusion of several, his preferences dictating policy from Anfield to Wembley. And with that acquiescence on the part of Steve McClaren and Rafael BenÍtez comes responsibility. This season, Gerrard has to show he is a player around which a winning team can be built. In the next five days, particularly with John Terry, the captain, injured and Gerrard wearing the armband for the first time in his competitive England career, he has to be the man that powers England to next summer’s European Championship finals. If the team return from Russia defeated, just as it will be the beginning of the end of the McClaren era, perhaps it will be the end for Gerrard as kingpin, too. The match against Estonia today may be a formality to some but for the England captain it has to be the springboard to a further justification of McClaren’s faith, which has been absolute since the victory over Andorra last season. That was the turning point in this campaign; and the turning point for Gerrard, too. Preferred to Frank Lampard in central midfield, he inspired a second-half revival that ended in the first of a quartet of 3-0 victories for England. Lampard returned against Estonia last season and the pair worked well in tandem, but he was injured for the wins over Israel and Russia, when Gareth Barry starred in his place. With Owen Hargreaves still injured, suddenly all members of England’s central midfield are interchangeable and potentially expendable: save one. It is much the same at Liverpool, where Xabi Alonso, Mohamed Sissoko and Javier Mascherano are in orbit around planet Gerrard, moved inside from the berth on the right that he occupied and disliked for much of last season. Results have been mixed. Gerrard scored the winning goal away to Aston Villa on the first day of this season and was the best player on the pitch against Chelsea, despite playing with a broken toe, but his form dipped alarmingly against Birmingham City, Marseilles and Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool have hardly been stricken without him. In the six games that Gerrard has not started this season, Liverpool have won four, drawn two and have scored 17 goals. The words that have been obsessing McClaren, the England head coach, since he saw Gerrard and Barry together against Israel – blend and balance - will no doubt have been floating around BenÍtez’s head, too, although for differing reasons. He may feel that Liverpool’s equilibrium was better served when Gerrard started wide. It is now the task of the player to prove that is not the case. “I like to play under that pressure,” Gerrard said. “I like to have the responsibility of trying to run the game.” Gerrard is a fantastic footballer and that much is beyond doubt. His display in the 2006 FA Cup Final was definitive, using his right boot the way a fighter’s trainer would smelling salts, to revive a floundering champion and send him into the ring one last time. Whenever Liverpool looked beaten, Gerrard patched them up and sent them out again, with a perfect cross, an equalising goal or the sublime shot that took the game into injury time. He even scored a penalty in the shoot-out. So it is not that Gerrard does not possess the talent, the temperament, or the resolve for the role, more that only in the pages of comic books does Roy of the Rovers win the game every week. In real life, craft, discipline and the ability to serve the team with something other than heroics are equally vital, and in those areas he still needs to show he can sustain. It is not simply that Gerrard may not be as effective as a central midfield playmaker as some of his rivals, most specifically Cesc Fàbregas, of Arsenal, the league leaders, more that the calibre of the player that has to be excluded to accommodate him can give a manager an awkward decision. Ideally, Gerrard is used in a midfield three, allowing a holding player and one other attacking central figure to be selected. As McClaren and BenÍtez favour width and two strikers, however, he is often deployed as part of a 4-4-2 formation, meaning his presence comes at a cost. For England, Gerrard’s selection at present means no place for Lampard, the most prolific goalscorer from midfield in the country. For Liverpool, it could lead to the exclusion of Alonso, the best passer at the club. This is not too high a price, providing Gerrard is performing. For England, of late, he has lived up to expectations; for Liverpool, not so much. It could also be argued that great players, greater than Gerrard even, have found no hardship in operating from wide. Zinédine Zidane was often deployed on the left for Real Madrid and France, but gravitated towards the centre to impact on games; the same is true of Ronaldinho for Barcelona and Brazil. Gerrard’s frustration at being required to start right for Liverpool and England usually coincides with a dip in fortune for the team; he has no problem when there is a victory to celebrate. Footballers are fickle like that, certainly English ones. David Beckham also fought a battle to be considered a central midfield player, oblivious to the fact that his best performances, his best seasons, were invariably delivered from wide. All of which makes this a crucial few days for Gerrard, particularly when the real test comes in Moscow on Wednesday. Having got what he wants, he must give the country what it wants, too. Do you think he has been reading the forum? Times article

Even the echo's at it now... Reds Kopped it from ‘ding dong’Oct 12 2007 by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo SO who, exactly, was responsible for the first goal Liverpool conceded from open play this season? Was it Sami Hyypia’s inability to deal with Paul Robinson’s long ball? Was it Steve Finnan or Jamie Carragher failing to cover the second ball? Or was it Pepe Reina coming off his line a fraction early? Reds fan Mike Hopper offered an alternative viewpoint this week . . . one that left him hopping mad – and one that deserves closer examination. With Sami staring intently skywards at Robinson’s falling clearance, and Anfield waiting in hushed anticipation . . . everybody’s concentration was pierced by a “Ding! Dong!” followed by a message advising fans not to smoke in the toilets at half-time. “It probably took no more than a split second of distraction, but it was enough to put off our centre-back and similarly his co-defenders,” reckoned Mike. “In a flash, Robbie Keane was in on that moment of hesitation to equalise. “What really took the biscuit was the reason and timing of the interruption. Sixty seconds to go before the interval and the crowd is treated to a public announcement threatening all who might go smoking in the toilets. “For heavens sake! What was so important that the warning could not have been held back until there was a pause in play, or better still, the half-time whistle had blown?” Fair comment. But Mike went on: “And if somebody suggests that the massively effective Anfield public address doesn’t affect the concentration of the players when applied as it is with such suddenness right in the middle of play, I will not accept it. “Indeed, I venture to ask if other grounds apply such a rigorous messaging service with such arbitrary fashion and timing. “What would an audience make of, say, Sarah Brightman being caught in full rendition of ‘Memories’ by a tannoy voice-over forbidding the lighting up of ciggies? “Consider how a golfer would react to the flash of a camera as he prepares to putt; or a Test batsman to a loud public address just as Glen McGrath’s arm is unleashing a 90mph bouncer at him. “Imagine the Swan Lake ballet in mid-pirouette being interrupted by the ding dong and the immortal words: ‘This is Operation Royal Court!’ The idea is so far-fetched as to be positively laughable. But not, it seems, at Anfield in the middle of a Premiership game! “I am not suggesting that health and safety be either undermined or compromised, but please can something not be done to see that Mr Operation Anfield, whoever he might be, puts just a bit more thought and sensitivity into the timing of his broadcast.” Mr Operation Anfield, you have been warned! Blaming Mr.Operation Anfield

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Uh oh, double post. Nothing to see here.

Saw them a while ago in Costco on the dock road. Was buying his little girl a massive play set. Amazing that quite a few of our players who aren't from Liverpool end up staying in the area.

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How nicely would you like me to speak to you, you master of all things tv? I did email you to ask but i think you are either ignoring it as you don't have a scooby who i am or it got lost in the pit that is junk mail! Pretty please let me in on the secret? I can email you again if you want to tell me in secret.....

Was this a reply to me mate? I haven't got a PM yet if it is.

Ok, can anyone help me with this....i have sky downstairs but freeview upstairs, if i subscribed to setana would i be able to get reception on the freeview box and sky too? As i know you can just subscribe with freeview it doesnt have to be through sky. I am going to contact them, but thought some bright spark on here might know! Cheers

Cheers mate, just ordered for a friends birthday pressie!

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They have changed the times article to this now, which is much more detailed. Amended Times article Steve Heighway, the legendary former Liverpool winger and head of the club?s highly successful academy, has labelled as ?crazy? the decision of Rafael BenÍtez to take control of the best young players at the club. Heighway is leaving the academy after 19 years, during which he groomed the talents of a host of players, including Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen. ?Rafa is a terrific manager, tactically astute with qualities I really admire,? Heighway said. ?In my view, I?m the best coach of 17 and 18-year-old players in this club. But I no longer get the chance to do that. That?s crazy, that?s mad; it?s to the detriment of the young players at this club. If they are not working with the best coach of young players, then what is this football club doing? It?s not an ego thing, but one thing I am absolutely sure about is that the best thing for the players is to be with me. ?My influence is being taken away too soon over the best players and I?m not convinced that what they are going to do is better for them. Last summer Rafa called me when I was in America and told me he wanted five players to go to the reserve-team squad, but he never asked me my view. He just told me, ?These are the five I want.? So my whole role has been totally undermined. ?Maybe because I have a brain and a mind, maybe that counts against you. I have never been asked by the manager which players I think are the best players. His staff watches the players and his staff make the decisions.? Heighway said that he has ?tremendous respect? for BenÍtez ? but only as the manager of the first team. He had less time for Gérard Houllier, BenÍtez?s predecessor. ?With Houllier I just got blanked once I stood up to him in a couple of very high-profile moments,? Heighway said. ?So I became persona non grata. ?Managers are control freaks; they are not used to people disagreeing with them, standing up to them in general. It became very obvious that was it; once I had disagreed with him I wasn?t going to get anywhere with him.? But, unlike now, Heighway stood his ground and did not leave. ?Houllier, in a very public meeting, stood up and demanded control of the academy and was told he couldn?t have it,? he said. ?I got tremendous support from Rick Parry [the Liverpool chief executive], so I just got on with the work. And of course Steven Gerrard broke through from the academy five minutes later. ?Houllier ludicrously claimed that he discovered him wallowing in the academy, which was a very foolish thing to do because he lost credibility with a lot of people who knew differently. Stevie had been groomed for the top here and everybody knew it. I?d been telling them since Steven was 14 that potentially we had a world star.? Heighway?s academy team won the FA Youth Cup last month, beating Manchester United on penalties in the final, and he has taken many of those players on tour to the United States this week. ?There?s nothing going on here for them,? Heighway said. ?The reserve team?s season is finished, but he [benÍtez] won?t let some of them go.? Heighway said that he is leaving the club the legacy of a group of players who could have the impact of the best Anfield has seen. ?Kenny [Dalglish] was the greatest player I ever played with,? he said. ?You felt you could win any game because of him. And I feel that now with these boys who have just won the Youth Cup. I would take these boys anywhere and put them up against any team of 18-year-olds in the world, even a squad of international players, and I would be disappointed if they didn?t come out on top.? Heighway was ready to resign last summer, but stayed so as not to create instability while Parry, his great ally, was in takeover talks. ?It?s not easy to walk away from something,? Heighway said. ?It?s common knowledge I would want to do things differently. Above all I?m a coach and I?m told I?m good at it. I no longer coach the best 18-year-olds in this club and I?ve done that for 19 years. Rafa has taken that away from me now. ?There?s no bitterness. First-team mangers should have it the way they want it. All the club has to decide is how far they are able to extend their influence. Obviously they are not going to control the ticket office. And my view is the academy is an area the club have to be careful about in letting the first-team manager?s influence spread too far. ?I would urge any football club to make sure the academy is not one of the areas the manager controls. I just think it is ludicrous; it doesn?t make any sense whatsoever. ?My attitude is very simple. If I don?t share the same views as the manager, then I need to go, not him. It?s obvious we don?t agree. We haven?t fallen out. I?m not expecting Rick Parry to sack Rafa because I disagree with things he wants to do and it is important to stress that I don?t have that kind of ego.? Heighway has met George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, the club?s new American owners, and has indicated that he would accept a new part-time role helping Liverpool to identify young talent overseas. ?I spent 18 or 19 years being a policy-maker and decision-maker and I?m not going to suddenly start cleaning the floors or scouting the odd game,? Heighway said. But any new role would have to be part-time, so that he can spend time with his children and grandchil-dren and travel. He still has a home in Clearwater, Florida. ?The club have a lot of projects in America which will need servicing and I?m quite fortunate in a sense that I have a unique set of qualifications, having played, having got a degree, having coached here for 19 years and in America for eight years,? he said. ?So I can go into a club in America and give talks or seminars or whatever. They [Hicks and Gillett] were certainly very complimentary about the work we have done here. I?m waiting for them to come back to me.? Heighway won four league titles, two European Cups, two Uefa Cups and the FA Cup during his 11 years at Liverpool from 1970 to 1981 and believes that success was built on what he terms the Liverpool way. ?I?m very principled,? he said. ?I have a view on what it is to play for Liverpool, what it is to work for Liverpool, what are the values, what are the standards, and I find that others still share them with me but it is less and less.? Those values are about ?conducting yourself with class, winning with class, losing with class, not winning at any cost. I think you would hear Rick Parry saying that. ?And also I believe in a way of playing. We have always believed in pass and move at Liverpool. Maybe that?s something that only I believe in now. That?s hit home to me quite hard ? maybe the values I share are things from the past. ?There are going to be changes and I would rather not have to make the decision on whether I want to be part of them. Those changes won?t necessarily be for the worse; everyone has their shelf life. I?ve been here 19 years ? that?s a long, long time.?

I'll second the above, took ages to download but definitely sounds like he says 'You're a f***ing genius mate' and Rafa laughs.

Cheers for that confirmation, great that he has been included in the squad all this time, obviously a great incentive for him to get fit, and as was said before he looks positively lean and mean in the training pics and vid.

Are we just keeping him under such wraps that he is not included in any of the possible squads in newspapers and on bbc?

I've read the entire thread as its gone along but i can't remember whether Harry Kewell is actually included in Liverpools list of players to play in the CL, does anyone know for definite that he is included? I'm presuming that he is with all the speculation that he will be on the bench tomorrow, but clarification would be cool. Cheers

Dont know who the writer is but he's mentioning the new song right at the end of the piece. Times article about the Anfield atmosphere and the new song Interesting its being picked up by the press.

Evening all, don't post often but thought this might interest some, as rafa is pleased the stadium is being reviewed. Also, the figures rafa is talking about might be of some interest. Havent seen this posted earlier, but delete if it has! Stadium review is a good idea says Liverpool's Benitez By Jeremy Butler LIVERPOOL, England March 17 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said on Friday he supported the decision of new owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to review the plans for the club's proposed stadium. The Americans have halted preparatory work to set up a review of the new stadium to discover if they can increase the proposed 60,000 capacity. "We talked about 60,000 fans, that would be fantastic but now we're talking about 70 or 80,000 and that would be better," Benitez told reporters on Friday. "More Liverpool supporters could see the game and there are more possibilities for the club in terms of money. For me, it's good for the club." Benitez says building the new stadium is just part of the work Hicks and Gillett need to complete to bring Liverpool onto a par with Manchester United and Chelsea. He believes the club are heading in the right direction but need to speed up their plans. "The message is clear - we need to improve in a lot of things," he added. "You can't spend 100 million pounds each year on players to improve the team. We are a top side, we are in the Champions League and we have to look at ways of improving the club. "It is clear we are in the right way but we have to go maybe faster." Liverpool have played at Anfield since Everton left in 1892 and the proposed new stadium would be close to Anfield on Stanley Park, the open space which separates Anfield from Everton's home at Goodison Park. Although Anfield once held almost 62,000 for an FA Cup match against Wolves in 1952, the current capacity of the ground is just over 45,000. guardian Be gentle!