Tommok

Burn an effigy?

They've been giving those things away for years

The chanting was arguably more pro-Alonso than anti-Barry but I suspect that the owners feel that holding out on the Barry deal might be favoured by some sections of the Liverpool fan base (despite it clearly being against the wishes of the manager who knows a bit about football).

yes and I blame him for the downturn in the economy and the poor weather this summer too.

maybe not

It was 100% b*****ks but there is some sense in it.

He mentioned that previously didn't he, said that he was pleased or happy with Xabi etc - not sure if he went as far as to say he's deffo staying though. Has Rafa been asked directly in the last interview about Xabi? If so, I doubt he'd say nothing!

Does he prefer the more hirsute lady?

Funny how every cloud has a silver lining

Is the game repeated on LFCTV later - for those of us still at work? The LFCTV website has the TV schedule for 'today' as Weds 6th August Edit: its fixed and 'Today' is actually today now but no sign of a replay of this evenings game later tonight.

Keane will bring us so many options though - with him and Stevie G interchanging to support Torres, we have an awesome attack.

he did score a few important goals last year and they were FROM THE WING

why aren't we bidding for Roanldo then?

Do you honestly believe that Keane is not an improvement on Crouch??? I had a lot of time for Crouchy but sorry its CRAZY to say Keane is not an improvement on him.

That sums up my views on Kuyt too. He has been one of our most consistent players this year and was one of the best players in a very talented Netherlands side in the Euros. The problem is that even when he is played on the flanks (as he generally is), he is judged by his goal tally as if he's going to score as many from there as a striker might be expected to get.

yes but even that was thrown into a cocked hat by his magnus opus which listed the players that are better than Keane. The best thing about that was that it hastened his demise and a few days later he was banished from here. On a serious note the RAWK post was a good read - took me a couple of ciders to plough through it though!

He's lost the plot somewhere with this one. Having said that if we end up paying £17.5M to £18M plus Finnan I guess Villa will be quite happy. Really messed their own fans around with it all though too surely a few of them are wondering what MO'N is playing at. I suspect he's been called in by Lerner or the Villa board and hence his statement today is a bit of veiled hissy fit back at them.

If he'd just kept it buttoned at the outset - this could have been carried out like any normal transfer negotiation then Very odd indeed.

This is so weird. Seems Villa are quite adamant its all over. Has the fat lady really sung tho?

Hopefully this is the case. The media always seem to state the total figure including add-ons like this - these add-ons with players we buy are generally winnnng the league or CL with the player in the side. The telegraph piece actually seems to be saying the phasing of the payments is a sticking point.

if it does go through and Finnan is part of the deal then his value can be used to either talk up or talk down the overall value I guess.

think his last word on this one was that it may well go t*ts up, since then he's had no further concrete news as far as I can remember.

there's been some bizarre twists in this one but surely Villa can't still sell him after that statement unless they claim their official site made a howler. I really want us to sign him for no more than £15M plus Finnan (ideally without Finnan) and to see the Villa fans and MO'N try and back peddle out of this.

those 6 cm will make all the difference!