David Hodgson

Agreed. If Newcastle don't make Europe, he'll be ours. Certain of it.

He's right and wrong. They did try the hardest, but Rafa did not say we tried 'the hardest', he just said that we did try to get him.

Johnston and Dalglish featured up front that season.

You out with us for that bev tomorrow mate ?

Yeah, that would be ludicrous. All those impatient idiots who wondered why we were taking do long to get Owen, the right winger and centre back, in the summer, didn't appreciate the subtleties of the LFC transfer masterplan. Which were.....erm....oh yeah....to miss the f*cking deadline altogether. We have every right to be concerned that the club mess up their timings on another transfer window, because they have 'previous'.

Yes.

...ermm...yeah......sorry. Posts merged: yes, and no. Would it surprise anyone if I said what a really really nice guy he comes across as ? Posts merged: I could tell that they were all extremely happy at the club, and content only to consider giving 100% to LFC for the rest of their careers.

I actually soiled myself....

Sign more small, cheap names like Josemi, Pellegrino and Nunez, and less pricey players (who actually turn out to be good !) like Crouch, Alsonso, Sissoko and Reina.

Only been on a tour of Melwood with my little lad, and met all the players. What a treat. The lads really looked after us and made a 7 year old boy and a 38 year old boy very happy. Ah, the inside secrets I could reveal........but mustn't.....oh, OK,....saw Nando having treatment. He's injured but they reckon he'll be fine for Newcastle. The new Melwood is a really impressive set-up, and the staff there were full of praise for Houllier's work in establishing it.

I disagree. You simply cannot argue with a player who's scored 14 goals in all competitions. Djibril may be a yard dog at times, but he is a true goalscorer. Crouchy looks a fine player but you cannot go on forever being a non scoring forward. Crouch has given us a bit extra at times, but let's not get this out of perspective. He has not suddenly become our play maker or the 'x' factor that makes us tick as a team. He still has so much to prove. Cisse scores goals, has a far better historic pedigree than Crouch, and is having the better season.

Most indications are that we could have got Owen for 11/12m and well less than 80k a week. For a proven 20+goals a season man, I think that's good value. The European Cup represents an amazing achievement, just as our finishing 5th on the points we did represents a real failure. I had hope that armed with the draw of being European Champions, the money that run earned, and the getting back into the Cl, that our board would have managed to back our manager to the tune of the near 30m net that Newcastle have managed, rather than the 5m they managed to date. We really needed to capitalise on the wave of confidence at the club this summer. People can think I'm being hysterical here, and just unduly pessimistic, but I really wonder how our key players are feeling today. Are they still buoyed with the confidence of Istanbul, or are they like me, sat there scratching their heads at the very limited strengthening the club have undertaken this summer, and feeling strangely deflated.

Will, what the f*ck is 37 points off top and 5th place if it isn't a downward trend. Yes, I too think we can't surely do as badly again, but not significantly. Let's not nit-pick, about the precise curve of this 'graph', are you seriously happy with the state of the club at the moment ? Posts merged: Yep, this will be about my fourth in the past 2 weeks. Must really cut back. Thanks for the feedback though.

Things are not right behind the scenes at our club. A blind man can see it. We have respected 'insiders' telling us the same. Yet so many of you seem to want to put you hands over your ears and cover your eyes. I admire the loyalty, I genuinely do. I never wanted LFC to become one of those hysterical situations where bored fans routinely chant 'sack the board'. I've been around a good while, and I fully understand what a valuable commodity stability has been at LFC. We traditionally trust our leaders, whilst others lose patience in 5 minutes. But something big isn't right here. Let's set aside our gleaming cups for a second, and draw a graph of the club's league position since 1990. It shows decline, in position terms, and points terms. It shows a gap widening between LFC and the top, and there are no signs of a reversal of that situation. In fact, the decline is so entrenched, most of us fans would take 4th place now. I've always been a realist, and accepted that 'nothing lasts for ever' and that we couldn't really expect a full return to the glory days. Then we got Rafa. Yes, Parry and Moores got Rafa. Well done to them, though anyone analysing the European managerial scene for all of 5 minutes could have deduced that he should be a priority candidate. Persuading any manager to come to Liverpool, should then not be the hardest job in the world. Especially when Benitez was not happy at his club, and not being tracked by any other club of our stature. The current leaders at Anfield have had the wit to realise that the club needs bigger transfer funds to compete at the top of the league. They know that the ability to sign players with proven pedigrees is inherently expensive, but that's what is required, by and large, for sustained success. Big clubs need to be signing 'big names', in order to remain big clubs. It's not a PR thing, its common sense. The biggest turnaround in LFC fortunes I remember was during the summer of '87, when Kenny transformed a fading tired looking team into one of the most vibrant I've ever seen. He did it by signing, big/pedigree names, and by spending the money required (Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge, Houghton). that doesn't mean a canny manager doesn't also scout for bargains and seek to unearth gems, but few have sustained success just by 'bargain hunting'. I think Rick Parry and co. understand what has to be done, but are just not proving competent enough at doing it. We have no new ground on the horizon, no signs whatsoever of new investment, and, it seems, a dwindling transfer kitty for the manager, despite the kind of success that should be generating more funds than ever. Of course, I don't know the conditions these men work in, and I've always adhered to the maxim about 'not judging a man 'til you've walked in his shoes', but Mr Parry and David Moores insist on working in such secrecy that we are left with little choice but to judge them by results. The 'results' that have left myself, and many others, exasperated and pointing fingers are, to re-iterate : - failure to get the stadium project underway - failure to raise new investment - failure to, apparently, provide the manager with much more than a net transfer 'war chest' of 5m in the summer after wining the European Cup - Failure to secure many of the cheaper targets the manager wanted, in the positions he wanted. - failure to secure Michael Owen, despite being in pole position to do so. - the near loss of Steven Gerrard through a basic lack of communication. Yes, there will be issues you can take with one or two on this list, but, fair or not, it's a list that seems to gain in length, and plausibility with each passing month. It's time for answers, not 'dignified' silences from Parry and Moores. I'd like to see them face a fans forum, and try and justify their positions. I don't see why we have to work on the assumption that they are 'innocent' until proven otherwise. Many of us feel the reverse, and have the right to feel we need big re-assurances.

I can't help but think that there's negotiating and there's false economies. If Rafa really wants Owen, and he clearly does, and he wanted Figo too, then the board may be risking losing both deals for the sake of a million quid or three. Less playing brinkmanship, and more just getting things done, can sometimes yield more than the supposed 'saving' to be made by eeking every last penny out of a deal. I note we don't seem to take quite the same attitude when selling. We didn't keep Bolton waiting to the 11th hour for Diouf, and we managed to let Villa conclude the Baros deal well before the deadline closed. There's also the question of the message such negotiating tactics send out to the players we're after. Take the Sissoko case. We waited 'til after Everton thought they'd all but done that deal, to make our move. Very clever, we might think, especially as we got the player, but it's a good job it wasn't a more attractive team we were up against. I fear that LFC's buying tactics risk leaving the sought after player doubting whether or not he's truly wanted. The Gerrard contract saga is an example of this. Our conduct over this latest Owen deal seems to bear all the hallmarks of our current negotiating style. It might, just might work and get us the player for a million or two less than we might otherwise. Alternately it could leave us at the end of the transfer window having alienated a player who desparately wanted to come to us, and with less to show for a summer full of transfer dealings than we should have. Most importantly, the manager goes into another season short-handed, and may consequently under achieve on his/the club's targets. How many millions could that cost us ?