GWistooshort

Confirmed by the Beeb I'm afraid http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7842831.stm

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ General transfer news The Daily Telegraph claims Rafa “is desperate to bring in a new player to offset Robbie Keane's slow transition at Anfield”. Dirk Kuyt The Daily Telegraph says Rafa “would be loathe to lose” Kuyt, who is "an integral part of his plans”, but “with transfer funds in the summer likely to be restricted by the club's owners' financial travails, a bid of £10m would be tempting”. Emile Heskey Several papers report that Aston Villa are making moves to sign Heskey for a fee that all agree is £3.5m, apart from the Independent which thinks it will be “around £6m”. Most report that Heskey was expected to move to Liverpool in the summer on a free, but most now believe a move to Villa this month is more likely, although there is a variety of opinions on how far it has progressed. The Daily Mail claims Wigan have already accepted Villa’s offer, with Villa “confident” that Heskey “is their man”, while both the Birmingham Post & the Times report that the deal is “on the verge” of being completed. Meanwhile, the Independent understands that “Villa & Wigan are already in negotiations over the player” & the Guardian reports just that Villa have made a bid, while the Daily Telegraph says “club sources suggest that a deal is by no means complete” although it believes Villa are “closing in” on a deal to sign Heskey. The Telegraph goes on to say that it is Heskey’s relationship with Villa manager Martin O’Neill plus “the promise of regular first-team football” which has convinced Heskey “to move to Villa…rather than rejoining Liverpool in the summer”. The Times reports that Wigan are now willing to let Heskey go this month because they have signed Colombia striker Hugo Rodallega & also hope to sign Mido on loan from Middlesbrough. The Mail says Villa’s move has “surprised” Liverpool, who were “confident” of signing Heskey in the summer, & that “Wigan insiders believed the deal to Anfield was done & dusted”. The paper says Liverpool “may respond with a counter bid this morning” & reports that Villa “are eager to rubberstamp the deal in case Liverpool make a move for their former player”. The Independent claims Heskey already had in place “an informal agreement to join Liverpool when his current contract expired in the summer” & says that Villa’s bid & Liverpool’s response will be “an interesting test of the fragile peace at Anfield” given Rafa’s “recent complaints about the slow response of…Rick Parry on transfers”. The Times believes Everton could also bid for Heskey.

From today's Daily Mail....... Kop for sale to Kuwait - U.S. owners in talks with Arab billionaire SPORTS AGENDA EXCLUSIVE by CHARLES SALE Last updated at 12:50 AM on 23rd January 2009 Liverpool have been on a covert mission to the Middle East in an attempt to sell the club to one of the richest men in the world. The Anfield party, led by finance director Phil Nash, have been in Kuwait talking with billionaire Nasser Al-Kharafi. Al-Kharafi, who studied business administration at the Liverpool College of Commerce, showed great interest in buying the club last autumn but a bid never materialised owing to the £600million price that the American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were quoting. This latest venture to find a foreign buyer has been orchestrated by Hicks, whose fragile alliance with Gillett has broken down again. Both owners employ different financial consultants, Merrill Lynch and Rothschild, to represent them. Hicks, who headhunted Nash from Arsenal, is examining options either to sell his 50 per cent stake or buy out Gillett, but their complicated ownership agreement would not help any initiative. Hicks is also understood to be putting his Texas Rangers baseball team up for sale, a sign that he wants to concentrate his sporting interests on Liverpool. He is certainly the wealthier of the two Americans, with Gillett having had to restructure his personal finances this month. There is an urgency to Hicks' latest sales pitch because Liverpool's current £350m bank facility is unlikely to continue after July with the two banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia, both in serious trouble. Al-Kharafi is president of the family conglomerate the Al-Kharafi Group, whose varied interests include running fast-food franchises such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Wimpy throughout the Middle East. Forbes ranked him at No 46 in their 2008 list of the world's richest people. The family made a fortune in engineering and construction before diversifying into an international business empire. Al-Kharafi was serious enough about buying Liverpool last year to have hired football stockbroker specialists Seymour Pierce, though his camp deny reports that they were also approached by Mike Ashley to buy Newcastle. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...illionaire.html

These are the only comments I've seen from Fernando on players leaving/staying if Rafa left 'Rafa has been a very important manager for me and for many other players, too,' said Torres. 'He has brought a lot of players here and put his confidence in them. 'When Rafa believes in you he is with you all the time, thinking about how you can improve, coming up with ideas, questioning you but listening, too. 'If he goes there could be five or six players looking at their future. But I'd like to stay here, and in that way maybe it does not matter if Rafa is here. I'm a Liverpool player but I'm also assured Rafa is happy here and wants to stay, and that is what I hope will happen.' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...g-new-deal.html

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ Emile Heskey The Daily Mail says Heskey “is expected to return to Liverpool in the summer”. Dirk Kuyt According to the Daily Mail, Juventus are interested in Kuyt, But Rafa “is not about to let him go now — particularly with Robbie Keane struggling”. However, the article claims that if Rafa were to leave as a result of his contract dispute, Kuyt “will not be far behind”. The Liverpool Daily Post says Juve have identified Kuyt “as their number one transfer target” & are planning a move for him in the summer. The paper also reports that Rafa “is unlikely to welcome any interest in the Dutch international who remains a key part of his plans”. Fernando Navarro According to the Rumour Mill in the Liverpool Daily Post, reports suggest Rafa “is keen to add [sevilla] left-back Navarro to his squad, with a move expected to be made before the transfer deadline”. However, the article says “it would seem unlikely” that Liverpool would be prepared to pay Navarro’s £20m release fee.

What about a loan move for Felipe Caicedo from Man City? He's looked quite good whenever I've seen him this season Could he be our Ronnie Rosenthal?

Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt is a £10m target for Italian giants Juventus. (Corriere dello Sport 1106 GMT) http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/g...ers/7841515.stm

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ Emile Heskey The Guardian says Liverpool are “apparently content to wait until the summer” before signing Heskey, who is happy to wait until then because, as a free agent, he will be able to command a large signing-on fee. Fernando Navarro According to the BBC Gossip Column, the Daily Telegraph claims that Sevilla's “£20m rated left-back Fernando Navarro is being tracked by Liverpool”. Jermaine Pennant The Guardian says that Spurs made a late bid for Pennant, who joined Ports¬mouth on loan yesterday, & Spurs boss Harry Redknapp “will not rule out another attempt to sign Pennant in the summer”. The Daily Telegraph claims Pennant fell out of favour with Rafa because he missed a training session.

in case he forgets?

I shall be very glad when he's gone permanently Pennant yesterday............ "It’s been frustrating this season but the Liverpool manager decided he didn’t want to play me for whatever reason." http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/index.php?cm..._articleid=2061 "I love playing football. I have not played for so long you almost forget how great it is." http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ja...ague-portsmouth

& something verging on the sensible from Martin Samuel To stay at Liverpool, Rafael Benitez, the manager, does not require a team of lawyers working overtime to insert unworkable clauses into his new contract. He needs something altogether more decent, simple and old fashioned. Trust. A mutually sincere relationship between a senior employee and his employers is what separates Benitez from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa, even David Moyes at Everton. Benitez has an issue with Rick Parry, his chief executive, whereas by comparison Ferguson has nothing but praise for Parry’s equivalent at Manchester United, David Gill, describing him in an interview with GQ magazine as the best thing to happen to the club recently. Benitez stops short of wishing Parry gone, but his comradeship with co-owner Tom Hicks, who has also moved against Parry, would seem to be based on the old adage that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Observed as a family unit, Liverpool are strange and dysfunctional. The most successful of Benitez’s contemporaries have working relationships built on two central tenets. The first is that the manager is the best judge of what a football club needs in the transfer market, the second is that the senior executives will, within reason, at all times respect this and attempt to deliver his vision. Crucially, however, such arrangements are not put in writing. They cannot be. To embrace this ideal in a way that was legally binding would make an employee more powerful than his employer. Ferguson is not given the power to dictate transfer policy at Old Trafford; instead he accepts assurances that this is the way it will be. Other professions will recognise this arrangement. A newspaper columnist, for instance, writes on the understanding that he is at liberty to express individual opinions, without interference. Yet, not one will have a contract that says ‘write what you like’; in black and white a publisher will always reserve the management’s right to edit or spike copy. This protects the newspaper against extremity, inaccuracy, vanity or a bloke just trying to work his ticket. Press freedom exists on trust. The best football clubs also utilise this dynamic. Gill knows that Ferguson’s judgment has brought success; Ferguson understands the Glazer family must have the final word on major expenditure. The manager trusts that they will listen to his recommendations; the owners trust he knows what he is doing. The problem at Liverpool would appear to be that nobody trusts anybody, which is why Manchester United were prepared to pay above what was expected for Michael Carrick of Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool vetoed Benitez’s interest in Gareth Barry of Aston Villa, against his wishes. To recap, Parry and Benitez are clearly at loggerheads, as are Liverpool’s owners, Hicks and George Gillett. Parry and Hicks are opposed, too. Against this backdrop of constant battling are skirmishes; over Barry not coming, Daniel Agger possibly going and, most damagingly of all, around Benitez’s contract. Fernando Torres, Liverpool’s record signing, said at the weekend that as many as six players would consider their options if Benitez left, so this current dispute must be taken seriously. The downside of employing a leading coach from abroad is that the influence of a strong individual tends to alter the culture of a club. So Liverpool is now a Spanish enclave on the Irish Sea and the consequences of Benitez walking would outstrip, for instance, the departure of Moyes at Everton. Moyes has been consistent, relatively successful and is very well respected, but has not presided over what amounts to regime change. Everton, as of January 21, 2009, still resemble Everton of March 14, 2002, when Moyes took over, except better. Not so Liverpool. Losing Rafa would mean abandoning the Rafalution and Liverpool would move, in an instant, from a point where the mission is on the point of accomplishment to one where it is starting again from scratch. In the circumstances, then, it should be imperative to keep him: but not at any cost. What Benitez wants is basically out of the question. He cannot have total control of the transfer budget, because it is not his budget. There is mitigation and sympathy for Benitez but it is too simplistic to view this merely as the fall-out from the failure to sign Barry last summer. This is about what happens if trust is missing from a relationship. It was not that Liverpool could not afford Barry, or did not want Barry, it was that they did not trust Benitez sufficiently to make the call. He thought the player was worth £18million, his employers did not, and they did not satisfactorily support his expertise to allow him final say. Now Benitez wishes to circumvent this process with clauses in his contract, but if Liverpool did not trust him then, why would they trust him now, and why would they legally surrender executive veto? Would Barry’s £18m fee have been too much for Manchester United or Arsenal had the manager made his case? The likely answer is no. Yet, Ferguson and Wenger do not possess total control over transfers, either. They merely have a board of directors who respect their opinion. If Benitez felt that same love, none of this would have happened. David Dein, the former vice-chairman of Arsenal, is feted for the way he managed Wenger during his Highbury days but, beyond the initial appointment — which was inspired — how hard can it have been? A pre-recorded tape message could have accomplished much the same (and been relied upon not to sell its shares to Alisher Usmanov) throughout those years. In the event of a difficult transfer decision, the board would consult its trusty Grundig Four Track Deluxe Model TK 23L, press play and hear what it had to say. A deep voice would then intone: ‘Whatever the French bloke wants, say yes.’ Job done, gentlemen, meeting adjourned, anyone fancy a pint? The Glazers have clearly reached the same conclusion about Ferguson, Randy Lerner, the Aston Villa owner, about O’Neill, too. It helps, though, if manager and owner are simpatico. Wenger, for some reason, has an aversion to spending money, and that policy will find favour with any board. Ferguson is always willing to drop a million or 30 in the transfer market, but his way also wins trophies and he was very supportive of the Glazer takeover from the start, quickly learning the value of private ownership when United went out of the Champions League at the group stage against Benfica, and no questions were asked or profits warnings hastily issued to the City. O’Neill and Lerner have been on the same wavelength from day one in a way that must make Mark Hughes, the manager of Manchester City, green (or greyer) with envy. Then there is Benitez who should, with his track record, have a parallel relationship but does not because, privately, some at the club still view him as a thinking man’s Harry Redknapp and flag up a quite frantic turnover of playing staff as evidence. In this game of point-counterpoint, Benitez will then refer cynics to the squad he inherited and ask what else was he meant to do. And on it goes. The stance of the club is unhelpful because the transfer market has never been an exact science and even the greatest managers make mistakes. Benitez would have paid £18m for Barry with no guarantees, yes, but the executive who killed that deal but agreed Robbie Keane was value for money at £20m from Tottenham is hardly looking the sharpest tool in the box, either. The difference is that few depict the signing of Keane as a boardroom blunder. He is the mistake of Benitez alone. Maybe shouldering the blame has driven the manager to demand full responsibility. Parry’s view is that every company has a chain of accountability and in football one of the links is between manager and chief executive. Looked at coldly, he is right. What he misses is the human touch, the bond that unites a successful club and is currently undermining Liverpool. Parry found the right manager in Benitez, which is half of the job, but what remains is to put faith in him. ‘To trust people is a luxury which only the wealthy can indulge,’ wrote E.M. Forster. Liverpool would recognise the sentiment, but whether they can afford not to trust Benitez is a more pressing question. And if they do, how to demonstrate this without putting it in writing? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...iting-Rafa.html

From the Daily Telegraph today................. "The Americans [Hicks & Gillett], whose exploits provide an object lesson in the limitations of 50-50 ownership, had been due to meet in the United States on Sunday to discuss club matters but that appointment was cancelled. Meanwhile, City sources have indicated that both men continue to search for investors to ease their personal exposure to the £350 million refinancing deal agreed with RBS last year. RBS have agreed to extend that loan to the end of June, but Gillett is under pressure to refinance an additional £40m he borrowed to provide a personal guarantee that was a condition of the deal. He is understood to be paying interest at 19 per cent on the loan, which is due to expire on Sunday. However, the wider question as to Liverpool's ownership going forward, remains. Hicks continues to retain Merrill Lynch, who are searching for investors willing to bolster his control of the club." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...title-goal.html

I think Gerrard/Torres should be the 1st choice rather than looking for a partner for Fernando However, I think we do need another striker who can be back up for/offer something different to Fernando & also play alongside him on occasion - I also think they need to be able to score their fair share of goals Unfortunately I don't think Keane, Kuyt nor N'Gog are up to it (nor Heskey) I think Crouch would have been ideal for this role, but unfortunately he wanted to play more regularly Personally I think Zaki or Pogrebnyak would be good I think we also need another decent full back for each side (to challenge Arbeloa for RB & Aurelio/Insua for LB) & another decent wide midfielder for each side (to challenge Kuyt for RM & Riera for LM) & a more offensive CM for when we don't need to play Mascherano (Barry?)

Be interesting to see who replaces him in our CL squad, given he was 1 of our 8 locally trained players Hammill? although Sky Sports said the other day they "understand" we are planning to send him out on loan

From Sky Sports website................. Pompey - Pennant deal is close Winger set for short-term switch to Fratton Park Last updated: 20th January 2009 Peter Storrie says Portsmouth are 'very, very close' to concluding a deal for Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant. Pompey have already agreed terms with Liverpool to bring in Pennant, who is out of contract at the end of the season. Pennant is understood to favour a loan move to Fratton Park and Storrie confirmed the 26-year-old will not initially sign a long-term deal with the club. "We are trying our very best to bring players in," Pompey's executive chairman told The News. "As far as Jermaine is concerned, it's very, very close - as we are with one or two others. "It was only ever going to be a loan or short-term permanent deal. "He is a free agent at the end of the season and he doesn't want to give up those rights. Whether it is a contract until the end of June or a loan, it's a bit irrelevant." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_4822106,00.html

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ Jermaine Pennant The Daily Mail claims that Pennant “is due to hold further talks with Portsmouth today in a bid to resurrect a £2m move” after he had “initially rejected overtures from Portsmouth” but “has since been told by Rafa that he does not figure in his plans & he will be unlikely to play again this season”. The article says Pennant “wants to keep his options open in the summer” & Portsmouth's proposal would “allow him to do that” as a free agent in the summer. Savio Nsereko According to the Independent, West Ham are closing in on the £10m signing of Brescia's 19 year old German striker Nsereko, who “has previously caught the eye of Liverpool”.

The Daily Post &/or Echo said in the last few days that he might not recover from his calf injury that kept him out of the squad against Stoke, so expect it's that

From the rumour mill in today's Echo.................. Sevilla left-back Fernando Navarro According to IMScouting, Navarro could probably be secured for a fee closer to around eight million euros and he is an "energetic, pacey full-back who is dangerous going forward. He can fill almost any position in the defensive array and is a strong defender." http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...64375-22725691/ Juve interested in Babel & Kuyt La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Juventus have already drawn up a shortlist of replacements for Pavel Neved, who is nearing retirement, & that Babel & Kuyt both feature on it. Apparently, Kuyt, whom Juve consider as "one of their primary targets", is expected to cost "at least €12m", while Babel's price "would also well exceed the €10m mark". http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...375-22725691/2/ Hungarian youngster Andras Gosztonyi Newcastle have given a trial to 18 year-old MTK Hungaria "prospect" Andras Gosztonyi, who is "also on the radar of Liverpool management". http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...375-22725691/4/ El Zhar El Zhar, who is out of contract next year, is a target for AS Monaco. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverp...375-22725691/5/

Fernanando talks about the upcoming derbies, the title race & whether he prefers playing as a lone striker or with 2 upfront http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...090119-0751.htm

Today's Liverpool-related transfer rumours........ General news The Independent says Liverpool are “unlikely” to make any new signings this month. Jermaine Pennant According to Sky Sports, Portsmouth boss Tony Adams “has revealed that he is set to hold talks” with Pennant & “remains optimistic that his pursuit…will prove successful”. However, the Daily Mail reports Adams is now only looking at a loan deal for Pennant, but is “hopeful [one] can still be thrashed out, despite the winger’s preference to stay at Anfield until the summer before moving on a free”. The Mirror says Liverpool will let Pennant go on loan this month if he signs a one-year contract extension, but that he “is refusing to be pressured into a new Anfield deal & intends to move on a Bosman”. It claims “Everton want to sign Pennant on a free…this summer” & “he could snub AC Milan for a move across Stanley Park”. Daniel Agger Rafa is quoted in The Daily Mail as saying the club have been “too slow” dealing with Agger’s new contract & Liverpool “could face a similar situation with other players”, while according to Agger’s agent they have “heard nothing” from Liverpool since the start of November, who he says haven’t offered Agger £70,000 a week.

Further comments from Rafa & Agger's agent on Agger's contract situation................. Rafa "The club have been too slow dealing with this and the player does not know where he stands. The club have been slow dealing with Agger. His situation is in the papers all the time now because we were not quick enough. I was talking with him and his agent, and it is clear that is the case. Daniel told me he wants to stay, and there is no doubt he is 100 percent committed to the club. But they are waiting and waiting and do not know what is going on. It is true we could face a similar situation with other players, not just Agger." Agger's agent "I have had only one meeting with Liverpool, when they played Atletico Madrid at the start of November, and heard nothing from them since. It is very unfair on Daniel that there has been talk of £70,000 a week, because that isn’t the case." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...tract-saga.html

More comments from Rafa in today's Guardian............... "I decided to say something because we will play games until May and if we have to wait on the contract then every week we would be just talking about that and not concentrating on football," Benítez explained. "The players are ­concentrating on their training sessions, nothing else, and that is how it should be. I wanted to finish the speculation. Now I have answered and the matter is closed. It is better to concentrate on football and I think the answer I have given will help our title challenge. "I am 100% sure that the players are focused on games and on football. When I talk to them they understand the position clearly and they understand what it will take to stay at the top of the table. What I have said and how we play are two ­different things, but I think what I have said will help us for the rest of the season for different reasons. One is that it will take some of the pressure off the players. I am only thinking about the best for my team and especially now because we are top and we are title contenders." Benítez has not, however, placed contract talks on hold for the remainder of this season and is willing to meet the Americans' lawyers as scheduled next month. "I don't know how difficult it will be to resolve," he added. "I only know I decided to finish it because I think it is in the best interests of my club. It shouldn't be difficult to resolve though. I am only talking about working within a budget, not controlling everything." The Liverpool manager is refusing to compromise on the issue of who ­controls the club's transfer activities and has accused Parry, Hicks and Gillett of ­prevaricating over a new contract offer to Agger. The Denmark international defender is entitled to buy-out the final year of his current deal this summer and last week his agent, Per Steffensen, was spotted holding talks with Milan's general sporting director, Ariedo Braida. "The club has been too slow on Agger's contract," insisted Benítez. "Agger is now in the papers because we were not quick enough. I was talking to Agger and his agent and Agger was telling me he wants to stay. His commitment to the club is 100%, but they have been waiting and waiting and waiting and they don't know what is happening. This could be the same situation with other players. I wanted to finish my contract in one week and deal with other things because I was only thinking about what is best for my club." http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ja...-premier-league

From today's Independent................ Sam Wallace: Control freak Benitez picked the wrong week to go to war with the boardroom Talking Football: What Benitez is asking for is unprecedented power. More than Ferguson and Wenger Monday, 19 January 2009 The final word in transfer dealings, proxy-chief executive, chief of the academy, answerable to pretty much no one. Seeing as Rafael Benitez's boardroom coup is now public, he may as well make a clean sweep of it and demand final say on all sandwich fillings served during match days at Liverpool. While you're at it, give him the key to the Anfield stationery cupboard too. You want 20 envelopes and a new printer cartridge? Better ask Rafa first. The trouble with those many individuals in English football who harbour dictatorial tendencies is that they do not realise the damaging effect of their power grabs on everyone else. Benitez decided to go for the jugular of chief executive Rick Parry, to accuse him of mistakes over Daniel Agger's future, at precisely the wrong moment in the season. Everton visit Anfield tonight, Steven Gerrard is in court on Friday, and, as of Saturday, Manchester United have seized the initiative in the title race. The timing of Benitez's declaration of war on Parry, of his alliance of convenience with co-owner Tom Hicks, could not have come at a worse time for Liverpool had Sir Alex Ferguson been sabotaging it himself. Benitez's attack over the weekend was not about what was best for the club, however much he might protest that it was. What Benitez did this weekend served only his own ends. For such a brilliant football strategist, it was a ghastly mistake. Parry would never claim to be the last word in slick business acumen, but then neither is he the worst and losing out on Gareth Barry was not the first time a transfer has collapsed. Luiz Felipe Scolari cannot be too pleased at the way his club dithered over Robinho. Ferguson can count plenty of bodged transfer deals over the years, from Paul Gascoigne in 1988 to Ronaldinho in 2003. Benitez may want his own man in charge of transfers but how long before he decides the new chap is not up to it? What Benitez is asking for is unprecedented power. More, it seems, than Ferguson who even now, with two Champions League titles and 10 Premier Leagues to his name, answers to chief executive David Gill, a chartered accountant by trade. More than Arsène Wenger, without question the greatest money-to-value operator in the modern transfer market, whose line manager is a rookie chief executive from America who only started work at the club this month. Let us follow in Benitez's fantasy for a moment and ask whether he merits the power he craves. His track record in transfers is not as bad as popular myth suggests, in many respects it is much better than many give him credit for. He has shipped out the failures quickly (Gabriel Paletta, Mark Gonzalez, Fernando Morientes) or got them out on loan (Sebastian Leto) and traded even some suspect performers for a profit (Momo Sissoko, Jan Kromkamp). There have been many successes too (Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina, Agger), others he has profited on (Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy) and his biggest investment of all, Fernando Torres, is maturing nicely. An exact inventory of prices, players, profit and loss is not a matter of public record. But broadly speaking, it would be fair to say that Benitez has a very decent, if not spectacular, record in the transfer market. Yet it is certainly not the record of a manager to whom any owner would wish to cede complete control. As for his desire to take over the club's academy, it was most people's understanding that he had already done that. He has ousted the academy director, Steve Heighway, who brought through Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. He has, according to one estimation, signed 27 teenagers from 13 different countries to the academy over the last three and a half years. That does not sound like a manager who is struggling for influence. If you still think that Benitez has got it right on Liverpool's academy, read chapter three, A Liver Bird Upon My Chest, of Carragher's recent autobiography. It is a compelling treatise on how average foreign teenage recruits have stunted the development of local Scouse talent. Carragher is scathing about Heighway's treatment at the hands of Benitez and Gérard Houllier, and less than complimentary about the likes of Paletta and Leto. It is very rare for a player to challenge his current boss in print but Carragher evidently felt strongly enough about the potential effect on his club. Of those 27 teenagers signed by Benitez, Carragher names only Krisztian Nemeth and Dani Pacheco as potential Liverpool players. Otherwise he is left wondering why local boys Jay Spearing, Stephen Darby and Martin Kelly have not been given a chance by Benitez. "It's disturbing to hear some of the arguments made by parents who say they may send their child to Everton instead, simply because they are not seeing our local boys get a chance," Carragher writes. No manager, not even one as talented as Benitez, can be allowed to run unchecked. Clubs are at their healthiest when the powerful figures who run them exert checks and balances upon each other. Of course, this being Benitez, the stories of a summer move to Real Madrid have already begun. That is the biggest joke of all. Can you imagine English football's biggest control freak at a club where the manager is the last person to know anything? http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/footbal...om-1419309.html

More comments from Rafa on what he said about Ferguson........... "It is the same with what I said about Mr Ferguson. I was thinking about what is best for my club and my team, and a lot of people have agreed with me. You cannot wait until May, because it is too late then to find a solution. Things needed saying now, and I think what I said is going to help us for the rest of the season. It will take some of the pressure off my players, for one thing, and also make people think about the things Mr Ferguson gets up to. When United played, a couple of days later, I was really pleased to see the television cameras were following him and the referee throughout." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...tract-saga.html

Bascombe in the NOTW today says Hyypia is going to be added to our CL squad for the knock out stages in place of Degen or Dossena (3 new players can be added up to 1 Feb) Also that he's going to be offered a role as player-coach http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/1338...AT-ANFIELD.html