londonkopite

Aint fit to lace Garcia's boots is he? No chance.

Do we need one of these? ____________Reina_____________ Finnan___ Carragher Agger ___Riise Mancini Gerrard Mascherano Kewell ______Tevez_____Torres________

Seems absolutely ridiculous to turn down Henry at £16M and make enquieries for Darren Bent. I trust the people saying he wanted to come but I just don't believe we turned him down.

Riise is perfect for the long ball and long throw tactics that Allardyce likes. He is also strong and will probably be played at left midfield by Fat Sam. Maybe we can just do a straight swap for Michael? Talking of "insiders", a first team player once told me we were definitely signing somebody (it was Michael Owen before he went to Newcastle) and I told all and sundry and was well chuffed with myself. It didn't happen and I lost all faith in insiders!

Mate at work who is mates with Carra!!!

I know who she is mate and I didn't mean to cause offence but dear Alyson doesn't know any more than any of us. Oliver Kay is much closer to the club and I can understand her getting things off him and passing it on to you but seriously, people on these very boards know more than her. If she had a proper scoop, as a journalist she would be sat at her keypad right now doing an article. Edit: As for fyds - now he is well worth listening to.

With all due respect, I am not sure they were. Those quotes were from a "source close to the player" and if you read the words carefully they are dressed up to be from his agent as it speaks about "phone calls from Parry". They have never appeared in the Spanish Press with a name attached to them. Maybe Rafa told Alison Rudd?

What is his name? There is a person on RAWK who certainly is an "Insider".

You have to smile at the "sources" on the internet. Someone here knows Alison Rudd who incidentally now the old board have left has no contacts at Anfield - she is just a journo in the same way Fifield is for the Guardian. I can assure you that someone like Rudd knows no more than you or I. The sportsdesk at the Times shares info with the whole NewsCorp Group and they have Torres nailed on by the way if you believe the NOTW. Then there is this "Elisha Scott", who seems to be well respected but why would Steve Gerrard know, even care about transfer fees? Would he really be telling someone about the Fernando Torres fee being £18M plus a player from his honeymoon in Malta? Yet people hang on every word the poor bloke says. Finally, we have "fyds" who if posts are to be believed is Rick Parry's right hand man. Not to mock anyone's sources or anything like that, we all have these "insiders" but I urge everyone to take a step back and really read some of this guys posts. Finally, I heard from someone who looks after our foreign players that Torres' English lessons are already being organised, it's 90% done - but then my fall back if things go wrong is that last 10% right? Easy this lark.

We are in for Torres, his agent from the Bahia Group has already confirmed this today. We offered E24m and Garcia which was rejected.

We are in for Torres but not at £27M. Rafa spoke to the Echo today, he didn't say anything on Torres, for a reason.

Both Benayoun and Bent are good players, and I apologise for any offence with my last post. I didn't think we were in for "good players" this term, we have quite a few of them already. I also think it's a bad idea buying players on the back of them playing well against us. Next up Kevin Lisbie!!

Darren Bent and Yossi Benayoun. How the mighty have fallen.

I have seen the others and notice the truths, half truths and often made up stories, but it is fyds that intrigues me. He sounds like he knows members of our old board. What does that mean? I am just curious as to who he is as he speaks with such authority. I understand if people want to keep his identity secret if he is someone important. Sorry if I made things difficult.

Obviously an insider at the club then and a massive secret of this site. I will keep an eye on it and try and work it out in the end.

Who is this fyds? Does he work at the club at a senior level?

I don't post much but do read a lot of the forum and keep coming across you each time people speak about transfers. We all have a friend or two who "hears things" - e.g. I have heard from 2 good sources that Henry has told Arsenal he wants to join us but Arsenal won't allow it. What I try not to do though is announce it on the internet as being an "insider" is quite embarassing if things go wrong. Can I ask how you know all these people at the club and why you speak with such authority? I am genuinely interested, do you work at the club? Or you getting your info someone on of the big mouths from our PR department? Just interested really.

I doubt Rafa will let Mascherano leave, after being so clever in getting him here. I think this lad is a replacement for Zenden, with Sissoko also moving on probably to Barcelona or Juventus. With us linked with E'to maybe Xabi is moving to the land of his father?

Real Madrid have won nothing this year and haven't done since cavemen, maybe he is a little jealous?

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,2074386,00.html Former Real Madrid boss and Argentine World Cup winner Jorge Valdano has slaughtered the managers of Liverpool and Chelsea - Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho respectively - after their Champions League semifinal meeting. In a column for Marca, a scathing Valdano penned: "Football is made up of subjective feeling, of suggestion - and, in that, Anfield is unbeatable. Put a s*** hanging from a stick in the middle of this passionate, crazy stadium and there are people who will tell you it's a work of art. It's not: it's a s*** hanging from a stick. "Chelsea and Liverpool are the clearest, most exaggerated example of the way football is going: very intense, very collective, very tactical, very physical, and very direct," he added. "But, a short pass? Noooo. A feint? Noooo. A change of pace? Noooo. A one-two? A nutmeg? A backheel? Don't be ridiculous. None of that. The extreme control and seriousness with which both teams played the semi-final neutralised any creative licence, any moments of exquisite skill. "If Didier Drogba was the best player in the first match it was purely because he was the one who ran the fastest, jumped the highest and crashed into people the hardest. Such extreme intensity wipes away talent, even leaving a player of Joe Cole's class disoriented. If football is going the way Chelsea and Liverpool are taking it, we had better be ready to wave goodbye to any expression of the cleverness and talent we have enjoyed for a century." Valdano explained why Benitez and Mourinho were to blame for the demise of flair and creativity. "The lives of Mourinho and Benitez have crossed in a world that is ever more scrutinised and exposed by the media, which is why they look at each other with such distrust," he wrote, "but they have two things in common: a previously denied, hitherto unsatisfied hunger for glory, and a desire to have everything under control. "Both of those things stem from one key factor: neither Mourinho nor Benitez made it as a player. That has made them channel all their vanity into coaching. Those who did not have the talent to make it as players do not believe in the talent of players, they do not believe in the ability to improvise in order to win football matches. In short, Benitez and Mourinho are exactly the kind of coaches that Benitez and Mourinho would have needed to have made it as players."

Funny that, you could replace Lennon with Ronaldo there of 1 year ago.

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Last summer we needed "goalscorer" as we already had someone to hold the ball up and link the play in Crouch. Kuyt is a fanastic player but was he really what we needed bearing in mind most of the time he is playing deep and outside of the area? His job this season has been replacing Crouch, with Bellamy replacing Morientes. As far as goals are concerned the threat hasn't changed much. Kuyt is a great player, just not what we needed last summer.

Saying all that look at who wants to buy him and which league they play in. For that reason alone Xabi is worth £20M easy.

We have spent money, our problem is we tend to spend £20M on Diao, Diouf and Cheyrou instead of the cash on Anelka and Duff... or we spend £30M on Kuyt, Pennant, Bellamy and Gonzalez instead of paying out that money on Alves and Huntelaar - who is the real goal getter in the Dutch team and not Kuyt.