GWistooshort

Macherano says that the ref told him when he booked him that it was for kicking the ball away so no chance of the booking being overturned even though it was the wrong decision The interview with Masch is at http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090311-1105.htm - it's a compilation vid with Kuyt, Spearing & Torres as well being interviewed after the match - it's one of the official site's occasional free to watch vids

From Sky Sports website.................. Kjaer interest confirmed Chelsea and Liverpool linked with Dane By Graeme Bailey Last updated: 10th March 2009 Simon Kjaer's agent Mikkel Beck admits clubs from all over Europe are tracking the Danish starlet. Reports from Italy have suggested that Chelsea and Liverpool are the latest clubs to join the chase for the Palermo stopper. The 19-year-old has shone for the Sicilians this term and is now considered one of the hottest young prospects in Europe. He was highly-rated before Palermo snapped him up from FC Midtylland, with Real Madrid failing to land him ahead of the Italians - who handed Kjaer a five-year deal. However, Kjaer - who was called into the Denmark squad for the first time last month - is now being tipped to leave Palermo just 12 months after joining. His agent is former Middlesbrough and Derby striker Mikkel Beck, but he refused to confirm the interest from either Liverpool or Chelsea. "I cannot talk about specific clubs, but it is natural that the top clubs in Europe are following Simon - he has been outstanding this season," he told skysports.com. "I have to comment all the time on Simon, but that is purely down to how he is doing. "We don't know what is going to happen, he is very happy at Palermo and could easily stay put. "A move is not on his mind at all, he is getting on with playing and that is how it should be." Beck did though confirm reports that Kjaer has a clause in his contract that would allow him to move for a set €12million (£11million) fee at the end of the season. "There is a clause in his contract," said Beck. "It will allow him to move during a set period in the summer." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5032867,00.html

Daily Telegraph 11 March 2009 Liverpool must close financial gap or risk lagging behind European elite When Liverpool and Real Madrid collided on Tuesday night in the sort of atmosphere unique to Anfield on European occasions, they did so as sporting equals. By Paul Kelso They may have only met once before in a competitive tie prior to this year's Champions League, the 1981 European Cup final, but as the most successful sides in the competition's history, with 14 titles between them, they dine at its highest table. At Madrid they expect nothing less, and as the richest club in Europe they have resources to match their ambitions. At Liverpool expectations are just as high, but financial realities mean that they punch above their weight every time they pass the last 16 stage in Europe. In financial terms Liverpool are quarter-finalists at best, ranked only seventh in the recent Deloitte's European money list with an annual revenue of £167 million dwarfed by Real's table-topping £290 million. Domestically, the club trail a distant fourth to their Premier League rivals. The internal feuding between co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, outgoing chief executive Rick Parry and manager Rafael Benitez has dominated attention for the last six months, but closing the financial gap is the club's priority. The raw numbers are chastening. Liverpool's commercial earnings last season were £51.5 million, £10 million less than Chelsea's, £13 million short of Manchester United's and better than Arsenal's £44 million only because the Gunners took a large portion of their £90 million deal with Emirates up front. The gap in match-day revenue is even more startling. United take more than £3 million-a-game courtesy of Old Trafford's 76,000 seats, 9,000 of which are part of corporate hospitality packages, and generated £101 million last season. Arsenal, with 7,000 premium seats in the 60,000 Emirates selling in the nearby City of London market, generated £94.6 million. Even Chelsea, with a comparable capacity, brought in £74.5 million, a full £25 million more than the £39.2 million generated at Anfield last season. There are many on Merseyside who will tell you that the relative scarcity of corporate seats at Anfield – just 2,800 of the 46,000 come with prawn sandwiches – is one of the prime reasons for the sort of crackling atmosphere generated last night. It is a source of pride that the club have, relatively speaking, resisted the commercialisation so prevalent elsewhere. The fans may cherish Anfield's authenticity but for owners with acquisition loans to service and expansion plans to realise, closing the financial gap is a priority. To do that they will have to overhaul a commercial operation that has been left standing by their rivals, and more importantly build the 73,000 capacity stadium that Hicks and Gillett promised when they bought the club. The commercial failings of the club is the principal reason for the removal of Parry as chief executive, a move engineered by Hicks, now clearly the dominant partner in the dysfunctional relationship with Gillett. With Parry leaving in May, responsibility for financial growth is in the hands of Ian Ayre, the former Huddersfield chief executive appointed as the clubs first commercial director by Hicks in 2007. Ayre acknowledges the club have fallen behind, but is confident that they can make ground quickly. "It's fair to say that we should be stronger commercially given that we are the most successful club in English football historically," he told The Daily Telegraph. "The challenge is different here though, because you have to preserve the very unique values and history of this club. For every supporter who says we should be squeezing more money from the brand you'll find one who wants the unique nature of it protected. We have to respect that view, because there are people at Anfield every week for whom the club means everything." Squaring that circle will never be easy, but with owners schooled in the hyper-commercial American sports market change is inevitable. Ayre is already targeting Asia, mindful that no English club have made a sustained impact on the market, and has plans for a number of new products including a touring version of the Anfield museum close to fruition. The club are also targeting a greatly increased shirt-sponsorship deal. Carlsberg pay just £7 million a year for their deal with the owners confident that they can more than double that. A new stadium will do more than any sponsorship to elevate Liverpool into the European commercial elite, with the new Anfield predicted to raise at least £50 million more per season while maintaining corporate seats at about five per cent of capacity. "We have real support for the stadium plans because the supporters know it will be good for everyone. We're like a family that has outgrown its home, and its time to move on to a place where we can give all our supporters a fantastic experience as well as providing a magnet for tourism and the city," Ayre said. Realising that vision will be the biggest challenge of all. The stadium plans have been approved and planning permission received, but with the credit markets frozen and uncertainty over the ownership of the club persisting, there is no prospect of work starting any time soon. Until the search for fresh investors to break the Hicks-Gillett deadlock is successful, Liverpool will continue to compete in the slipstream of richer continental rivals. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...pean-elite.html

Sunday People at the weekend reckoned Man City might sell Micah Richards in the summer & that we're one of the interested clubs http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/tm_...-name_page.html

Agreed - he didn't have the mentality Rafa looks for - & Keane was very unlikely to develop it given his age

I read it on here & believed it

Like Gabriel Heinze for example?

Some sensible comments from Sam Wallace of the Independent at the end.......... Sky Sports website Shopping and flopping Has Rafa signed too many average players? Last updated: 8th March 2009 John Dillon says Rafa Benitez's record is not good enough for him to be afforded total control over Liverpool's transfer policy. Reports in the Sunday newspapers suggested that the Liverpool boss may have to sell players before he is allowed to spend any money in the summer. The reports come amid protracted negotiations over the Spaniard's new deal with one of the stumbling blocks thought to be who has the final say over signings. Dillon, of The Sunday Express, argued that Benitez should not be given total power over the club's transfer dealings because he has signed too many "average" players during his spell in charge. "I should think he needs to sell to buy," said Dillon. "He's bought so many players over the time that he's been there - and a lot of them have turned out to be very average players. "There's been an argument at Liverpool about him having complete control over transfers, but I think he needs to up his game in the transfer market to prove he's worth having complete control. "He builds teams rather than buying spectacular individuals. Fernando Torres is that, but he's also an out-and-out striker. "There always has to be a crisis with Benitez. He's like Mourinho in a way, he creates situations to feed off, either to motivate himself or the team." However, Sam Wallace of The Independent disagreed, suggesting Benitez has done well with the resources he has been given. Wallace argued that Liverpool have done well to compete with Manchester United, as they don't have anywhere near the same spending power as the Old Trafford club. "I don't quite agree with John's assessment of his transfer record," Wallace said. "I think it's actually quite decent. "This is lighting the blue touchpaper in Liverpool because there have been pages and pages written in fanzines on his players in and players out. People will talk about all the young players in the academies that we don't know about. "What I would say is as great a club as Liverpool is, it's not the great commercial powerhouse of Manchester United. It doesn't have the infrastructure, the stadium or the matchday revenue. "They are simply not as powerful as Manchester United and in those terms I don't think he's done a bad job. "He's not managing a club that in terms of its finances is comparable with Manchester United and yet he's expected to compete with them. "And he has bought some fantastic players - Alonso, Torres, Skrtel, Agger, Reina - these are good players. "I feel he brings players like Craig Bellamy in for a certain period of time and then moves them on to try to improve on them. That is building a club. "Plus he hasn't gone anywhere. He's lasted a lot longer than Jose Mourinho did in English football!" http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,15117_5022474,00.html

Latest injury news from the official site............ REDS WAITING ON YOSSI INJURY NEWS Paul Eaton 09 March 2009 Liverpool are waiting on the results of a scan to discover how long they will be without in-form Yossi Benayoun. The Israeli star suffered a hamstring injury in training and is doubtful for tomorrow night's clash with Real Madrid at Anfield. The Reds will also make late fitness decisions on Fernando Torres, Alvaro Arbeloa and Daniel Agger before manager Rafael Benitez finalises his team selection for the Champions League second leg clash. "Yossi has a hamstring problem and we will know more after the scan," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv today. "Fernando is training but not in the full sessions. We are doing special sessions with specific work with some players. Hopefully he can train today and then we will see. "It depends on his reaction after the session and then again tomorrow. I think he can be part of the squad and maybe he can play some minutes, but I can't guarantee how much. "It's the same for Arbeloa and Agger. We have two more training sessions before we have to decide." Liverpool will definitely be without Albert Riera for the tie, with the Spaniard suspended after collecting a yellow card in the Bernabeu two weeks ago. "We have known that Riera will be suspended and we have two or three options in that position for this match," added the boss. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090309-1117.htm

From Sky Sports website........... Voronin wants Hertha decision Striker not giving Liverpool any thought during loan in Germany By Thomas Zocher Last updated: 9th March 2009 Andriy Voronin wants Hertha Berlin to decide on his future by the end of March after claiming he 'could not care less' about whether Liverpool are following his progress. The Ukrainian striker is on a season-long loan at Hertha and has impressed in the Bundesliga, scoring a hat-trick against Energie Cottbus at the weekend. He has previously stated he would be keen to stay with Hertha, but is keen for the club to make a swift decision as he says other clubs are showing an interest. "I want to have a decision by the end of March at the latest," Voronin told Bild. "There are plenty of offers from other clubs and, if it takes too long to talk with Hertha, I will be heading into talks with other clubs. "Every player needs faith, at Hertha I feel that the players and manager are putting trust in me." He added: "I could not care less about the idea that Liverpool know what I am doing for Hertha. I am scoring goals for Hertha, not for them. "I really do not give a damn about the way they are thinking about me." Hertha's general manager Dieter Hoeness confirmed the club are hoping to agree a deal which will see Voronin stay at the club. Hoeness said: "Andriy is in brilliant form actually, we really want to keep him at our club. "I am hopeful we will be able to find a solution. It's a natural fact that he is getting more and more of the spotlight from bigger clubs with more money, and time really is a factor. "We will do everything we can, but we will not rush into any financial risks." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_5028185,00.html

Quotes from Rafa confirming it............ Yossi Benayoun is almost certainly out having suffered a hamstring strain in training.He was today undergoing a scan to discover the extent of the damage. Rafa Benitez has not yet ruled Benayoun out but he admits it will be difficult for the midfielder to be involved as Liverpool look to protect their 1-0 first leg lead. “It does not look a bad injury but it will be difficult for Yossi to play in this game because it is so soon,” Benitez said today. “Yossi is having a scan and then we will know more.” http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-f...00252-23099064/

Edge of the seat signing?

Times reporting it too http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle5871343.ece

Nice comments from Raul about playing at Anfield........... Fernando Morientes struggled to adapt to life at Liverpool during his 18-month spell on Merseyside. Yet the striker’s quiet time there made an indelible imprint on one of the greatest players in the history of Spanish football, a powerful memory that will surge again through Raúl’s mind like a bolt of electricity when Real Madrid arrive at Anfield this week for the second leg of their Champions League first knockout round tie. The Real captain went to see his former teammate at Anfield – the only time he has travelled to England to watch a game from the stands – and the experience left him awe-struck and eagerly anticipating the opportunity to play at the famous stadium crammed in between those tiny terraced streets. “I’m stuck for words,” Raúl said. “It’s so different: the singing in the ground and the approach to the stadium. You walk through the area with all the houses and suddenly there it is, the stadium, you can’t see it until it’s on top of you . . . crowded with all the fans, the noise, the passion. The atmosphere was incredible. It was a league game. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for a Champions League match . . . crazy.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle5870803.ece

Interview with Van Persie in the Guardian today........... "So can he give an assurance he will be at Arsenal this time next year? "Yes. I have a contract until 2011." What about an extension? "It hard to say anything about it now. But put it this way. I have a friend who says the grass always looks greener in your neighbour's garden. He is right." The general tone in the interview is that he does want to stay - also talks about how he has matured alot, which was about the only concern I'd have about signing him http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ma...senal-interview

Daily Mail 8 March 2009 Bankers take prospective Anfield buyer to High Court By Daniel King A High Court writ for breach of contract, brought by investment bank Seymour Pierce against a consortium led by Kuwait's Al-Kharafi family, claims George Gillett and Tom Hicks had been involved in talks with the Arabs for more than a year before negotiations broke down for the third time at the end of last month. But club sources claim that, despite the July deadline to renegotiate the huge loans which financed their takeover two years ago, the American pair are not actively seeking to sell and will not do so unless the price is right and they consider the would-be owners to be suitable. Several parties are understood to have approached Hicks and Gillett, but there is no deal on the table. Neither Hicks nor Gillett would comment last night, but last week a prospective member of Al-Kharafi consortium took the highly unusual step for an Arab businessman of going public with a claim that Liverpool's owners were demanding too much for the club - thought to be around £500million. The writ suggests that talks with the Al-Kharafis began soon after the Americans agreed new terms for their loans with the Royal Bank of Scotland and American institution Wachovia in January 2008. Although Hicks now seems to be the one driving a possible sale to the Kuwaitis, with his lieutenant Roy Bailey in the Middle East in recent weeks, the writ, seen by the Mail on Sunday, claims the Gillett camp were the primary movers this time last year. It is believed that a sale was all but finalised last July, only for the Al-Kharafi consortium to walk away at the last minute. The claim lodged with the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court on February 25 this year says that Seymour Pierce was engaged on February 27 2008, by Rafed Al-Kharafi and the Al-Kharafi National Group to be the exclusive adviser on a takeover of Liverpool. According to the document, the Al-Kharafis agreed to pay Seymour Pierce an initial fee of £100,000 once Hicks and Gillett had agreed to talks about a sale and a corporate finance fee of £150,000 once the bank had obtained private financial information to aid consideration of the purchase. By March 18, the document claims, both Gillett and Hicks had indicated they wanted to sell to the Kuwaitis. On April 10, May 15 and June 17, it is alleged, Gillett's advisers provided confidential information to Seymour Pierce, including a list of all salaries at the club, while the Hicks camp forwarded the club's 10-year financial projections. Including expenses and interest, the total claim is for £302,368.89. The writ also says that the contract between Seymour Pierce, fronted by football deal-maker Keith Harris, and the Al-Kharafi family included a success fee. Sources suggest that if the Kuwaitis do eventually buy Liverpool, Seymour Pierce will claim a further £7million. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...High-Court.html

Andy Hunter in the Guardian is also reporting Yossi injured, although whether he's just repeating the story from the Mail or it's source is unclear http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ma...ool-real-madrid

Reports this morning that we're now negotiating separately with only part of the Kuwati consortium.......... The Independent Monday, 9 March 2009 Kuwaitis aim to reignite deal to buy into Liverpool By Ian Herbert A Kuwaiti takeover of Liverpool looks less than imminent, with differences now emerging between members of the original consortium believed to be involved. Though the Kuwaitis are one of a number of prospective investors whom Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks is seeking to do business with, the Al-Sager family, one of the consortium's members, is now ready to continue talks independently of the wealthy Al-Kharafi family. Hicks and George Gillett, who had hoped that Nasser al-Kharafi – ranked the 52nd richest person in the world – would bankroll a takeover. Hopes now appear to rest with the Al-Sagers. Abdulla Al-Sager, who is representing his family in the talks, has said discussions with Hicks will continue within the next few weeks. He also made several assertions which seem aimed at limiting damage caused by his claims last week that the Americans' asking price is too high. Sager said: "They [Hicks and Gillett] are willing to negotiate and we are negotiating and will continue to do so in the weeks to come. We are serious and things can change." Though Sager sat behind Hicks at Liverpool's home match with Chelsea last month, there is no suggestion that he has been a central figure in discussions. Middle Eastern business culture does not tend to involve executives integral to sale talks speaking publicly about the issue. Sager was quoted last week saying discussions over a sale were going "really badly". However, he told Bloomberg yesterday: "Hicks and his team are nice people and unbelievably humble. We are huge supporters and we definitely want something to happen." A considerably reduced asking price seems to be necessary before the al-Sager or the al-Kharafi family might be willing to provide the necessary finance and to prevent the Kuwaitis heading off in the same direction as Dubai International Capital, whose £600m offer was rejected by Hicks and George Gillett. The Americans' negotiating position has been changed by the fact that they must repay or refinance £300m of debts in July. Sager added: "I don't think anything will happen unless we get a better price, but we are still talking." http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...ol-1640180.html

We did - Arbeloa, Degen & Darby Darby was 1 of our 8 locally trained players, which is the difference with picking Aurelio, Dossena & Insua http://www.ynwa.tv/forum/index.php?s=&...t&p=2289401 We only named 7 locally trained players for the knock out stages, with 1 of them (Keane) having left since - which means that we only have a 23 man squad instead of the 25 man squad permitted http://www.ynwa.tv/forum/index.php?s=&...t&p=2309720 If we wanted to pick Insua, 1 of the other overseas players would have to be left out - it would have to be Dossena really IMO, can't see us picking both + Aurelio & then leaving out 1 of the other overseas players Cavalieri Reina Dossena Hyypiä Agger Aurélio Arbeloa Škrtel Alonso Benayoun Mascherano Lucas Torres Riera Kuyt Babel N'Gog

We all dream of a team of Torres? Next summer's Degen?

The Independent Saturday, 7 March 2009 Ray Ranson: Sky Blue thinking As Coventry welcome Chelsea to the Ricoh Arena today, chairman Ray Ranson tells Glenn Moore how he's using his experience from the worlds of football and business to turn the club around When a club pulls off a giantkilling in the FA Cup it is not unusual to find the chairman in the thick of the celebrations, back-slapping players, raising a glass of champagne, ensuring the television cameras show his best side as he basks in reflected glory. Should Coventry City defeat Chelsea in the FA Cup sixth round this afternoon their chairman will be absent. Nor will he show if City lose. Ray Ranson has been in that dressing room scene, he has enjoyed the heady scent of unexpected victory, tasted the bitterness of a shock defeat. He will sit down in manager Chris Coleman's office after the game and share a glass of wine, but he knows where he is not wanted, and not needed. "You have to be consistent," he said as, in the impressive environs of the Ricoh Arena, we looked ahead this week to the tie. "You either go in, win, lose or draw, home and away, or not at all. And it is very difficult to go in, week in, week out, home and away. Players are not stupid. They can smell it. If you only go in after you win a couple, it's 'oh, chairman's here, we've won a couple'. Then you lose a couple and don't show up." Ranson knows because he was once a player. He made more than 500 appearances, mostly at right-back, for Manchester City, Newcastle United, Birmingham City and Reading. Now he is a millionaire having made his fortune in finance, topped it up by making ProZone a household name, then used it to front the takeover of City by Mayfair investment firm Sisu Capital. He has been a success in two very different worlds and is now bringing that combined experience to bear on a club only now coming to terms with Premier League relegation eight years on. Ranson tried to lead takeovers at Aston Villa, Manchester City, Derby County and Southampton before succeeding at Coventry in late 2007. "I wanted to put all that expertise, ex-player, finance, ProZone, into seeing how far I can take a football club," he explained of his quest. The journey began at St James' Park. As he entered his thirties Ranson began to think of a life after football and started what he describes as "a sports finance insurance business." It was an uncommon sideline for a footballer and he admits he kept it quiet. "I just jumped on a train down to London and did what I had to do on my days off. I didn't advertise the fact." In 1995 two significant developments occurred. He retired, and he met the late Matthew Harding. "Had it not been for that good fortune I would probably not be in this position now," he said. Harding owned the Benfield Group which was, said Ranson, "one of the most profitable privately-owned companies in Europe." He added: "The company was predominantly involved with catastrophe re-insurance, covering the effects of hurricanes, etc, and Matthew wanted to set up a sports side. It was a fantastic opportunity." Harding was also an ardent fan of today's opponents and was vice-chairman, having invested heavily enough in Chelsea to stave off the club's possible bankruptcy, when he was killed in a helicopter crash flying back from a Chelsea match at Bolton in 1996. "He was a fantastic person and a very good businessman," added Ranson. In 2002 Ranson left Benfield, selling his holding for a seven-figure sum. "But," he said, "I got tired of semi-retirement. I was introduced to the ProZone business. They were losing £750,000 a year and looking to raise some finance. I invested several million into that in 2004." He sold the controlling interest in it last year, but not before, he said, "It had been transformed as a business, and into a very successful one." By then he had decided he wanted to run a club, putting into practice lessons learned when helping clubs finance transfers via a leaseback arrangement with banks, during which time, he said, "I looked at a few clubs' accounts that frightened me to death. There's a casino here [part of the Arena complex], but we don't gamble." Days like today explain why Coventry, then nearly £40m in debt, appealed. "We will have a full house here [the first since the 32,609 capacity Ricoh was opened in 2005] and could have sold 40-50,000 tickets. One of the reasons we came to Coventry was the fan-base. It's a one-team city with tradition, but which hasn't had much to shout about in recent years. "If we were in the Premier League there would be 25, 28, 29,000 here every week and the club would be making money. That is why we came here. Everything is in place. We just have to put together a team on the pitch capable of getting us there." The man charged with doing so is the 38-year-old Coleman, formerly manager at Fulham and Real Sociedad. Ranson appointed him after swiftly dispensing with Iain Dowie, whom he had inherited. "When I took over I asked a very high-profile chairman, 'If there is one thing to do, what is it?' He said 'Get the best manager you can afford, and one you can work with.' Chris is young, and he won games in the Premiership." Surely, though, as an experienced ex-pro he must be tempted to pass judgement – to put his oar in, as the bloke who owns today's opposition is said to do. "No. It's very easy to stay out of it. I have a top-class manager and we talk about things, but I don't offer advice and he doesn't ask for it. Sometimes I turn up and people ask me if someone is playing and I say, 'I don't know', because I don't." Coleman, appointed 13 months ago, backs this up. "I thought, 'he will either understand how the dynamics of a club works, or he'll interfere because he's been in football all his life and been involved at the top level.' He understands it. We've had some poor results and it's been slow moving forward, but he's never once asked me why I picked a certain player, why I played a formation, why we lost. He sees the bigger picture. He's never interfered." The pair sat down early and decided the 34-man squad was poor and had to be overhauled. More than half have gone, and others will follow in the summer. Coventry now have a nice balance of upcoming talent, such as defenders Scott Dann and Daniel Fox (who is injured today), goalkeeper Kieren Westwood, and striker Leon Best, together with more experienced hands such as Clinton Morrison and Stephen Wright. They have reason to be hopeful today, if not confident. The club are on a good footing on a broader level. Coventry still lose money but the debt has been paid off, or written off. How did he persuade creditors to accept the latter? "Hardball negotiations." Ranson is not joking. Sisu is said to be an aggressive trader of debt-laden businesses with co-founder and chief executive, Joy Seppala, described by an admiring rival as having "balls of steel". Coventry fans are not complaining. Ranson and Coleman are being spoken of as potential latter-day equivalents of Derrick Robins and Jimmy Hill, the entrepreneurial chairman-manager partnership which lifted them from the old Third Division to the First in the 1960s. Ranson, who has been linked with the soon-to-be vacant chief executive's job at Liverpool but insists he is committed to Coventry, said: "Running a club is everything I anticipated and more – the good is better, the bad is not as bad. I don't miss playing football one iota. I really enjoyed it but I had 18 years and I've moved on." But he remembers the lessons of his playing days, and will continue to keep out of the dressing room. "I do not know what the point is of a chairman coming in and saying, 'all the best lads'. The players look at you as if you are stupid. So I don't go there. "We had an old chairman at Newcastle, Gordon McKeag. He was a gentleman and he came in win, lose or draw, home or away. You don't mind that, but we got beat 6-0 at Ipswich and he said, 'unlucky boys'. Jim Smith [then Newcastle manager] was there with his head in his hands going, 'Unlucky?!'" http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...ng-1639167.html

Surely it's Carra?

He's started 11 in the league, 6 in the Champions League, 2 in the FA Cup & 1 in the Carling Cup, although I don't think he was fully fit in all of those (eg Spurs in the Carling Cup)

In those 8 games we gained 75% of the points available This season with Gerrard starting, but not Torres (16 games) we've gained 71% With Torres starting, but not Gerrard (5 games) we've gained 47% Without either of them starting (2 games) we've gained 100% Quite clearly we should have sold them both in January & built a team around Robbie Keane

So I've heard