RafaShanks

Agree, but out of the two, I think Torres is more likely to cut it in the Premiership with his robust style. He's more in the Rooney mould and makes things happen. Not sure Villa could hack it. Klose would be ideal, but he's nearly turning 30. We need to be looking for someone younger.

Villa is not "world class" (hate that feckin saying ) in my opinion. Neither is Torres.

Sounds like Blackburn are gonna feck us around with this again. If they want Warnock and money, they can feckin do one.

What's the situation with the Ukrainian that Blackburn were looking to sign as Neill's replacement?

Confirmation (not that we needed any) that silly season is in full effect.

We can also sort that out in the summer as well our strikeforce. I personally would play Luis on the left and Stevie on the right, when Momo is back fit of course. Gonzalez and Pennant can deputise for both. Kewell will be back for the Barca game no doubt. All we need in the window is Neill and a midfielder.

Can't see Rafa selling/buying any strikers in the window. He said the same as well. In the summer would make more sense.

Liverpool prepare to sell Crouch to fund Villa move By Jason Burt Published: 29 December 2006 Liverpool are understood to be preparing to sell Peter Crouch - and want to sign Valencia's David Villa as the England striker's replacement. The moves, which would cost a combined total of more than £40m, could come as part of what is being predicted as the busiest January transfer window since the system was introduced four years ago. There is a number of stumbling blocks to any deal, however. Although Crouch is wanted by Newcastle United, they may not be prepared to meet Liverpool's £12m valuation. Instead they would like to pay around half that amount for the 25-year-old, who moved to Anfield for £7m in the summer of 2005 from Southampton. Liverpool need to generate a bigger fee for Crouch to help to pay for Villa, also 25, who would cost around £25m from Valencia and who has long been tipped for a move to the Premiership and is believed to favour joining Liverpool. Villa, who scored 25 goals in 35 League games last season, but just eight so far this term, has long been admired by the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, who has made attempts to sign the Spanish international. Villa would not be eligible for Liverpool's European Cup tie against Barcelona, having already played in the competition this season and with Valencia still involved it will make his transfer even harder to secure. Crouch has fallen out of favour and in recent weeks has fallen further behind Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy. He got his chance against Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day but was singled out for criticism by Benitez after missing three headed chances. That defeat meant Liverpool slipped out of the Champions' League places and, with the takeover by Dubai International Capital still to be completed, they need to add fresh impetus to their season. Blackburn's Lucas Neill is also expected to sign next month. With Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi injured, the Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder has targeted a striker as his main January signing. He is considering Lyon's John Carew, who has been told he can leave the French champions and could arrive initially on loan, as a cheaper alternative should Newcastle fail to land Crouch. As he attempts to add more physical presence to his attack Roeder also knows that Charlton are unlikely to sell another of his targets, Darren Bent. * The Charlton manager, Alan Pardew, has said that he is confident of signing the former Hearts defender Stephen Pressley. The Sweden defender Andreas Granqvist will join Wigan on loan until June. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/pr...icle2110251.ece I'd rather have Huntelaar tbh.

I've lost count of the number of cliches in this thread.

Nastic target Paletta By Francisco Acedo - Created on 28 Dec 2006 Gimnastic de Tarragona are hoping to sign Liverpool defender Gabriel Paletta on loan. Reports have claimed the Liga strugglers want to bring in Paletta to boost their survival hopes and ease a defensive crisis. Recently-appointed coach Paco Flores is understood to have been in contact with Liverpool regarding a possible loan deal in January. Paletta has yet to establish himself at Anfield since joining The Reds from Banfield over the summer. The Argentine youngster has made just one substitute appearance in the Premiership and could be allowed to join Gimnastic for experience. Gimnastic are also reportedly interested in signing Salif Diao on loan, with the midfielder currently enjoying a three-month stint at Stoke City. http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=4...+target+Paletta Re Mascherano: Can't he even not sign for us on loan?

FFS, typical. Rafa's whole transfer history dragged up once again.

Hmmmmn, not so sure about that. The stucture of the payments to Brum (and additional fee's) might dictate that though. Anyone know the precise breakdown of these?

Liverpool set for delay over stadium By Andy Hunter Published: 28 December 2006 Liverpool's move to a new 60,000-seater stadium could be further delayed if their prospective new owners proceed with plans to develop real estate and leisure opportunities on the club's historic Anfield home. A newspaper report yesterday claimed that Dubai International Capital, the investment arm of the Dubai government which is close to completing a £450m takeover of Liverpool, will borrow £300m to finance the deal, is offering 30 per cent of their 90 per cent stake to City investors and plans to sell the club at a huge profit in seven years' time once it has maximised returns by developing "real estate/leisure" facilities "on the current Anfield site". That final option, however, poses fundamental problems over the club's long-awaited move to a new stadium on Stanley Park. Liverpool City Council granted planning permission for the Stanley Park site, and allocated European funding towards the overall regeneration of the Anfield area, on the understanding that the club's existing home would be redeveloped as " Anfield Plaza", a scheme that currently includes some real estate and leisure developments but also a memorial to the victims of Hillsborough and those supporters who have had their ashes scattered inside the stadium. It also includes gardens that will compensate for the loss of land the council has donated to Liverpool to enable the Stanley Park project to proceed. "Anfield Plaza" was the result of lengthy consultations, and any attempt to revise the scheme at this late stage ­ with work scheduled to begin on the new stadium in the spring ­ will necessitate a fresh planning application on behalf of DIC and, by extension, cause further delays to the project. But DIC's long-term strategy for Liverpool has not been finalised and sources close to the takeover were yesterday sceptical about the claims. A DIC source said: "DIC is a very serious investor with the ability to take a long-term view. DIC has not yet formally made an offer, never mind completed a deal. "Certainly, there are no plans to exit an acquisition we have not even bought yet. What DIC is doing is planning to make sure that, if a deal is done, Liverpool has the best possible funding in place. "This is also important in terms of making sure cash is available for the ongoing strengthening of the playing squad. Should DIC acquire the club, Liverpool will be well run, both on and off the pitch." http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/pr...icle2108147.ece

That's when I stopped reading.

Wasn't expecting much from Pennant as I've never really rated him, but been poorer than I thought. Worst part is his general lack of agression, urgency and the way in he's poor in general decision making. Aurelio is the one I'm the most disappointed with. Lets not feck about, he's been absolute s****. Neither suitable at LB or LW, especially LB which is his supposed custom position. He was a free (or was he?). His time at Valencia was been plagued with injury and so far, it hasn't proved any different here. This hasn't helped him. Dirk and Bellamy, I've been the most impressed. Initially more with Dirk, but Bellamy has shone recently. Both will prove to be excellent buys. Gonzalez has been hit and miss, but is still very young and will hopefully only get better with experience and guidance. Can't really comment on Paletta, as he's hardly figured. Overall 6/10. Still way too early to judge though.

I'm gonna get lynched for saying this buy I don't think Crouchy is good enough at the highest level. I know this is gonna sound harsh, but when it matters most, he doesn't stick the ball in the back of the net. I know Bellamy and Kuyt have missed a few chances recently, but they know how to finish. I also was chatting to a Villa fan just before we signed Crouchy, who told me that he has to be playing regulary to get the best of out him. which isn't gonna ideally happen unless Bellamy or Dirk get injured. Kuyt and Bellamy are both excellent in terms of what they give us and how tirelessly they work for the team. For next season, I'd personally have Kuyt, Bellamy, Huntelaar (or another clinical finisher) and Pongelle (or another young, hungry pacey striker). The wingers situation is another problem and another discussion altogether.

Wonder if Torres and Aguero will be part of the deal?

He hasn't had any serious competition for as long as I can remember. Maybe Neill's (who's more than comfortable on the left) arrival will give him a kick up the a*** that he feckin needs.

Anyone remember Stephen Glass?

This thread is utter s****.

We haven't got a good record at White Hart Lane, but for some reason I don't fear them this season. 3 points in the bag. But then again, we'll probably get beat again after dominating the game. Not too worried about Bolton, as our players should be well up for that with previous history etc. Cue for the "we're even sh1tter than we originally thought threads".

At the start of the season we were just woeful away from home and couldn't even muster a shot on target. We've improved slightly and are now dominating games, creating chances, just not putting them away. Rafa and co will get it right (fingers crossed).

It's bad luck when it happens occasionally. It's a squad problem, no matter who feckin plays. We need 10 chances to put the feckin ball in the back of the net.

Why the feck are you all slating individual players? They're all as bad as each other. It doesn't matter who plays up front? They all waste feckin chances. It's a massive problem we have. Kuyt, Bellamy and Crouch all need 10 chances to feckin score a goal. We need to get someone like Huntelaar in the summer to sort this out. Until then, this will continue to happen. Looked at the way we struggled recently against lesser sides (scorelines were very flattering apart from Wigan game). Disasterous day with all the teams around us winning.