GWistooshort

Sky ran the story in mid-December & I'm pretty sure that they were new comments from Barry at the time Coupled with other comments Barry has made at several times during the season about being pleased with Villa's progress, having forgotten about the collapsed move to us & giving 100% to Villa, I take his comments that he will stay at Villa if they qualify for the CL at face value The only question for me is whether he'd be happy to sign a new contract if Villa finish in 4th or whether he would wait until after the qualifying round to see if they get through to the group stages or not

How he didn't think Boswinga's challenge was a straight red given his view of it, I just don't know

Barry has said he will stay with Villa if they qualify for the CL "If I am playing Champions League football, there is no need to look elsewhere. That would have to be a definite. I don't want to be eating my own words." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4626152,00.html

Agree with both, plus another striker who offers us something different to Torres when we want to switch to plan B, who also complements him well if we want to go to 2 up front, who has a decent goal return (in case Torres is injured/off form) & who is willing to accept Torres/Gerrard are going to be 1st choice We may also need another central midfielder to challenge Lucas as the replacement for Mascherano/Alonso as Lucas has shown so far this season he can't do it to the standard required on a consistent basis

Because he wanted to play more 1st team football - he should get that chance now

This one isn't all the FA's fault - in incidents where the offending player has not been punished enough or at all FIFA's Laws of the Game prohibit the FA from taking any disciplinary action if it was seen by at least one of the match officials when it happened Apparently FIFA didn't even want to allow red cards to be rescinded if the referee agrees when the FA approached them about post-match disciplinary action It's a stupid situation & does the game no favours whatsoever I'd hope that the linesman (in particular as he apparently was the only match official to see it) & Riley are given a good talking following the review of their performance by Keith Hackett or the like

The official site says Nemeth is expected to be out for up to 6 weeks http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/archivedirs...090129-1110.htm so he should be available as cover if we want him after that as his loan was only for 1 month (although he's not in our CL squad)

He hasn't been with us long enough yet - he needs to have been registered with us for a period of 3 entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 & 21 See http://www.uefa.com/multimediafiles/downlo...60_download.pdf (Pars 17.08-17.14)

Tony Barrett on the Echo website says no one else coming in http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-f...00252-22837715/

Thinking about it further selling Keane will just mean that we have a 23 man squad & therefore only need to name 6 'locally-trained' players, which we will have done

Felipe Caicedo?

Squad has been posted on UEFA website (see list below - it looks like we're going to defend our way to victory ) Sami in, as is Keane, Degen out, Dossena in & no Insua We've only named 24 players instead of 25, which allows us to only name 7 'locally-trained' players (Carra, Darby, Kelly, Irwin, Gerrard, Spearing & Keane) instead of the 8 we would needed to name if we had chosen 25 players, although it will be interesting to see if Keane going back to Spurs has an impact Real Madrid have selected Diarra & not Huntelaar in their squad - Saviola is also in it http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/club=50...on=1/index.html Goalkeepers 1 Diego Cavalieri 25 Pepe Reina Defenders 2 Andrea Dossena 4 Sami Hyypiä 5 Daniel Agger 12 Fábio Aurélio 17 Álvaro Arbeloa 23 Jamie Carragher 32 Stephen Darby 34 Martin Kelly 36 Steven Irwin 37 Martin Škrtel Midfielders 8 Steven Gerrard 14 Xabi Alonso 15 Yossi Benayoun 20 Javier Mascherano 21 Lucas 26 Jay Spearing Forwards 7 Robbie Keane 9 Fernando Torres 11 Albert Riera 18 Dirk Kuyt 19 Ryan Babel 24 David N'Gog http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/club=78...on=1/index.html

The Independent article says that also attending the match was "a property executive, whom the Hicks camp has been talking to about helping to fund a 60,000-seat replacement stadium for Anfield"

A couple of snippets re Rafa's contract from today's papers......... Hicks has offered Benítez assurances about his role and responsibilities in a revised contract offer, but that draft has still to be approved by Gillett, who remains hostile to the manager. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle5636557.ece Gillett and Hicks later held talks with Benitez and it is thought they will announce today that the manager will get a new four-and-a-half-year deal, with an agreement reached over his control of all football matters. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/200...15875-21090980/

Tony Barrett in the Echo today also saying Sami is in & Degen isn't http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-f...00252-22834829/

From today's Independent............ "Xabi Alonso, has distanced himself from a move away from Liverpool. The former Real Sociedad player admitted he almost signed for Real Madrid ahead of Liverpool in 2004 but committed his future to the Premier League club. Alonso said: "Are we saying that contracts are worth nothing? I have three more years here and some of the other players have even longer deals. I remember when Rafa arrived people said half of his old Valencia team would be accompanying him but in the end no one came. And [Jose] Mourinho has not taken half of Chelsea to Inter Milan. The whole thing is a matter between the club and Benitez. The players are not affected. "I spoke with Real Madrid but there was no agreement between the clubs. Then Liverpool came to the table and an agreement was reached quickly. They won me over with how serious they were and I soon came to realise what a fantastic club it is." http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...ix-1523015.html

The Guardian, the Independent & the Times this morning all say that representatives of the Al-Kharafi's were at the match yesterday http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/fe...verpool-chelsea http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...ne-1523002.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle5636557.ece

From the Daily Mail today............ Kuwait billionaires are still in Anfield talks Last updated at 12:58 AM on 02nd February 2009 Liverpool are still locked in talks about selling the club to the Al-Kharafi family in Kuwait, despite reports that the secretive Middle East dynasty were no longer interested in Anfield. Instead, Kuwaiti representatives saw Liverpool beat 10-man Chelsea at Anfield and they are continuing negotiations with warring owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, having conducted their due diligence studies of the club’s troubled finances over the past few weeks. Hicks’ main allies at Liverpool, commercial director Ian Ayre and finance boss Phil Nash, have been in Kuwait making presentations to the Al-Kharafis, whose patriarch Nasser has delegated nephew Rafed, a Liverpool fan, to be chief negotiator. It is understood the Al-Kharafi family want the majority stake, with Gillett being bought out and Hicks keeping a reduced percentage. The full price would be about £300million but that would also mean picking up debts of £350m. Liverpool will be wary after the Al-Kharafi clan terminated talks last July without explanation. The contract was ready to sign and all that needed to be done was to settle periphery issues. Hicks was furious after five months of negotiations conducted under the football radar. Equally upset at their wasted work costing them millions were Al-Kharafi’s UK financial advisers, understood to be football stockbrokers Seymour Pierce. But the Kuwait billionaires haven’t gone away, although agreeing anything between Hicks and Gillett is problematic. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1...ield-talks.html

Liverpool Daily Post this morning says Rafa "has had a change of heart" & decided to include Sami in our squad for the Champions League knockout stages instead of Degen http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...375-22832670/2/

ROBBIE KEANE IS AXED Liverpool ace dropped as Harry Redknapp waits to move ROBBIE KEANE - out By CHRIS BASCOMBE, 31/01/2009 ROBBIE KEANE has suffered yet another humiliating snub by Rafa Benitez after being axed from today’s squad to face Chelsea. And that could drive the £20m striker into Tottenham’s arms. Harry Redknapp will make a last ditch bid to re-sign Keane ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline after being given every encouragement by Benitez a deal can be done. But the move by Redknapp will send the Liverpool boss on another collision course with his board. The Anfield hierarchy are not convinced it is the right call and would only sell if the full £20m can be recouped. Even then, Keane would have final say but, despite his despair at the way his Anfield career has gone, he won’t ask to leave. With Kop boss Benitez’s own future still far from secure, he could sit tight for six months and hope for a fresh start. Benitez underlined his discontent with the Keane purchase and refused to accept responsibility for the fee paid by Liverpool last summer. He said: “The club spent £20m on Keane. As soon as you sign the player, he is just another player. You don’t think about the price. The only difference between the players is their salaries. On the pitch, they are the same.” http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/1511...erpool-ace.html

Yeah Bascombe in the NOTW 2 weeks ago http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/1338...AT-ANFIELD.html

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ Robbie Keane According to the BBC Gossip Column, Sky Sports News have said this morning that Spurs “will step up their quest for a new striker after losing Jermain Defoe for at least 3 weeks with a foot injury”. The Times says that Defoe’s injury “could result in [spurs] launching a fresh bid for Keane”, although the Independent claims that Spurs “believe that any hope of signing Keane back from Liverpool is now gone & will look to bring in a loan signing”. Sami Hyypia The Liverpool Daily Post this morning says that "doubts" have been raised over Hyypia's "Liverpool future" after he was left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad once again. The article says “a number of clubs are monitoring Hyypia’s situation” & Sunderland “could now make an effort to lure [Hyypia] to the North East, although Benitez wants the player to stay”. The Times believes Sunderland have already made a bid for Hyypia.

We'll also have to hope that one of Agger, Carra or Skrtel doesn't get injured

Confirmed in this morning's Daily Post Champions League omission raises doubts over Sami Hyypia's Liverpool future Jan 31 2009 Ian Doyle SAMI HYYPIA’S Anfield future could be called into question after the defender was again left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad. The Finland international was not part of the 25-man pool for the group stages with UEFA rules limiting the number of foreign players. And Hyypia, a regular starter in the Premier League in recent months, has again been overlooked for the knockout stages with centre-backs Martin Skrtel, Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher already at Rafael Benitez’s disposal. Sunderland are among a number of clubs are monitoring Hyypia’s situation and could now make an effort to lure the veteran to the North East, although Benitez wants the player to stay. While Hyypia misses out, Philipp Degen keeps his place in the Champions League squad despite having not yet completed a full game for Liverpool since his summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund. Degen has been sidelined by a succession of injuries, and picked up another knock playing for the reserves against Manchester United in midweek. Asked if Hyypia would be in the Champions League squad, Benitez said yesterday: “I don’t think so. It will be difficult. “We cannot change too much. We don’t have too many options. We need a right full-back just in case. I have told him. It was very positive. He is a good professional and he understands. I want him to stay.” http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...64375-22821371/