ajams

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Ha, he's not the brightest is he? To be fair to him he comes across as enthusiastic enough. I'd like to roll out the cliches about his potential and how he might improve under a different manager, but I'm kind of past that with him now....

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Yes, primarily, although he has played left back a fair bit for Villa. I have no problem with this, decent enough squad player imo.

Dunno if it's has been posted yet, but this from the Guardian spells out what his 'beef' is... "Torres is settled in Liverpool but disillusioned with the club's failure to secure new investment having been told a takeover was imminent when he signed a new four-year contract worth £110,000-a-week last August." If this is the case then it explains why Purslow is the one who's been negotiating with him. On the broader subject I'm inclined to agree with Leo that he should give us another season, given his injuries over the last couple of years, the time left on his contract and his age. That said, if he feels he was duped into signing his last deal then it's understandable that his relationship with the club has been damaged. We really need this sorted out one way or the other. If he goes it will be just another sad reflection of the mess the club's in behind the scenes, but life goes on.

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Yeah he probably does, but he's capable of playing deeper if needed.

He played centre mid for West Ham in his last season there. Admittedly they got relegated, but he was by far their best player that year if I remember rightly...

Given that you posted in response to me, I should probably let you know I saw the article the first 5 times you posted it It says that initial contact had been made a month previously. The bit afterward about taking advantage of the lack of manager does not rule out the possibility that Rafa made the decision to sell - it could just as easily mean that they wanted to close the deal quickly, before a new manager could come in and decide to keep the player. These nuances are easily lost in translation, which makes it less than conclusive evidence in my view.

Isn't that what people are worried about - that Purslow's asset-stripping on the sly?

Do you think Insua's being sold against his will? I think the only thing in question here is whether the decision was made by Rafa or Purslow. The idea that Purslow took advantage of the lack of manager to sell players doesn't really ring true to me - far more likely Insua's agent was on to Fiorentina before Rafa's departure, imo.

My guess is Rafa told Insua at the end of last season that he couldn't guarantee him a place in the team and he could go if he wanted to. Insua's agent then came to an agreement with Fiorentina, and by the time Hodgson arrived Insua was pretty set on leaving. I suppose Hodgson could have insisted on keeping him, but 5 million is a good price for a young player with a lot to learn, particularly if he's had his head turned by the promise of first team football in Serie A. As for Riera, he's certainly wanted to leave for a while, so it wouldn't be surprising if that's seen as a fait accompli from both sides.

Couple of new quotes from Roy on Insua and Riera, which may shed a bit more light on things: Of Insua’s transfer, Hodgson added: “As far as we understand, the deal has been completed between the clubs and his agent is sorting out personal terms. “We thank him for his time at Liverpool and the work he did for us and accept that it was the right moment for him to move on and get first-team football with Fiorentina.” And, re: Riera: “I’ve hardly seen him play at all. I’ll only have an opinion about him... that will be more informed when I’ve seen him play but at the moment some players like Insua, or Riera, decisions were made about what will happen to them last season and really, I’m coming in on the back of it.” Daily Post It seems that (1) Insua wants first team football and feels he's more likely to get it at Fiorentina, and (2) the decision to sell was probably made before Rafa left, on the basis that he didn't see Insua as first-choice and that Riera was obviously persona non-grata.

Yep , welcome Roy - and good luck. He may not be a glamorous or exciting appointment, but he could well turn out to be a good fit for us at this point in time.

I can confirm he does have a ponytail. He's not a bad pundit either.

This is really getting worrying now.

My faith in Rafa's ability to turn things around is severely shaken right now. Normally I'd be inclined to say it was time for a change, but under the current circumstances the chances of us getting a good long-term replacement are minimal IMO. There is also the possibility of meltdown if we appoint the wrong man, but then that's always a risk. On balance I suppose I'd keep him, but I must admit if he decides to go then I'll be a lot less bothered than I would have been a year ago.

Reina Mascherano Johnson

Reina - Without him it would have been 2 or 3. Agger - easily the best of our defenders, if he can stay fit it should be him & Carra from now on. And, errr, Kuyt, I suppose - didn't look fully fit, but he kept working and was involved in our few decent pieces of attacking play.

Hasselbaink was £15m if I remember rightly. Anyway, Chelsea were spending plenty of money long before Abramovich came along - they were on the way to a Leeds-style meltdown prior to the takeover. None of that changes the fact that we were overdue for a change of manager at the time though.

benayoun gerrard kuyt

Don't like the sound of this, from The Guardian "The Liverpool manager is understood to have only £2m left to spend this summer, despite making a profit on deals during 2009. With not even the money he raises sure to be reinvested in the Liverpool squad, he is unlikely to sanction further sales, ending Hertha Berlin's hopes of re-signing Andriy Voronin on a long-term deal. "We can't sell any more players as the Premier League is very demanding," he said. "We have some players injured now and if we lose any more then we won't have many options. It's important to keep the squad and try to find solutions."

Reina Johnson Benayoun

We've apparently just bid £6m for Turner, so we must have some money to spend. That said, I'd be surprised if we have more than £8-10m - I'm basing that on the general tone of reports from the more reliable journos, including the two quoted above. Whether this is because Rafa has chosen to spend a large part of his budget on new deals for some of our best players, as Balague has been saying, or because our beloved owners have decided to cut funding to help pay their debts is debatable. Personally I think it's likely a little bit of both. Either way I think those awaiting another headline signing will be disappointed.

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