Summer 2014 Transfer rumour thread - Part VI

I can't believe some people are believing the **** Lovren is saying.

 

That's my point.

If it was really so hard here now, as Lovren et al seem to be making out, those players would be getting their agents to get them out of it as well.

It doesn't seem that they are. If Steven Davis wanted to leave Saints, he'd get some decent offers and could move fairly sharpish, I'd expect.

If players like Fonte were forcing moves too, I'd be concerned. But it's just the lads linked with the top four teams who are throwing their weight about.

The fact it's UCL and a club with a huge fan base is why he wants to go, but this makes him look a bit more of the 'victim' than the 'suspect'.

 

Well, not believe it, but believe there's some truth behind it. He's acting like a tosser and most of it is probably bullshit - the accepting of offers and so on - but there's enough evidence to believe the board isn't doing an amazing job.

 

Footballers play for the team, not the board. The board is only really important a) when you want out, or b) when you want more money. Lovren has a good, long contract. Therefore, he only cares about the board because he wants out. Boo ****ing hoo.

 

Well yeah, Lovren's acting like a tosser, no doubt. My concerns about the board are unrelated, really.

 

Nah, the board are doing a ok job dealing with the **** that is going on. It's just some people choose to believe every bad thing that is said about the board by a player that wants away.

 

Well it depends what you mean by an amazing job. They have obviously decided to have a firmer grip on the finances than Cortese and if that means they have decided to go at a more sustainable pace, then that is not a bad thing. If that was not what the better players wanted to hear then maybe there are none so deaf as those who don't want to hear?

 

And Liverpool aren't the second biggest club in the world behind Real Madrid. Living in the past that club.

 

On the subject of ambition, if it's true we wanted hernandez in part ex for shaw and remain keen on him, i'm not seeing a lack of ambition.

Tadic, Pelle, Hernandez... we're an average premier league left back short of being a stronger proposition overall if just those had all come off.

 

The only bad stuff that's come out about the board in nearly 2 months is from players trying to force their way out. Fonte and Cork are pretty obviously in contract talks now.

 

the main offenders being set on big club moves, and cork/fonte wanting to resolve their long term future before they miss the boat to move elsewhere if there was no agreement to be had.

 

It's not really about that, it's about leadership and direction. Cortese was a clear leader with a clear direction and we were better of because of it. Now, nobody really knows who's calling the shots (we have a hockey coach in the position of chairman, come on), several players have complained about a lack of communication, both want away and not, and there are a number of whispers about none of the players liking Les Reed - the main guy on the board who controls football matters. The likes of Lallana and Lovren are firing shots about a change in ambition - probably bullshit but not definitely - and it's generally not seeming like a very well run club. As long as the bank account looks healthier I suppose...

All I'm saying is, they've not done anything at all to win trust yet. That could well come, but at the moment, a level of scepticism more than simply "ah no they're doing great, it's all the players" might be warranted.

 

I am going to piss myself if Liverpool don't make the top four next season.

 

They'd be making a step down.

 

Can I put this another way? The board are on a lose-lose. They cannot say we are still aiming for Europe and that we want to push on from last season. They cannot say we don't want to sell. Why? Because they have said all that and the players who want to leave pretended it never happened. Same with the promise to bring a top manager. It happened. The players ignored it.

The problem is that Cortese promised them the world. I just re-read Lovren's words on signing. He talked about the big things he'd been promised in the club's future. Well, that was bullshit that he swallowed whole, and he's just realising it. The board that ****ed us was Cortese's, not this one.

 

That implies we're still a good club though.

 

To just rule it out would remind me of the words "head", "bury" and "sand".

It's not like Dejan is the first to make such claims.

 

We are still top half quality in my opinion.

 

They could go sideways though, surely? Steven Davis etc could get a move to a similar-sized club or a club with similar infrastructure if they wanted it.

 

Beyond my craziest dreams a few years back. Good times