you are right twice. first yes he does deserve a bit of love and second our clubs competance in what it does next will indeed determine the gap he leaves... howeer.. whether summer 2015 or summer 2016 in the end he has to retire shortly.
look this is absolutely true but it has to tie back into billys point. If LFC had signed properly when carragher retired would we be so bad... in the end we all bloody well know if you got one more year out of carra that was it he was falling apart and got out at the right time IMO... plus had indian summer too. It is incompetance that said toure was the man to replace carra... or skertl... or that lovern was an organiser.. carra's legs simply could not carry him. simple. the ideal scenario is keegan leaves, dalglish comes in... thats the dream ticket isn't it? its far more likely you get a scenario like utd where ronaldo left and... hmmm... nobody came in.. or scholes. time moves on and theres no roon for sentiment. I see nobody disputes the stats in the OP. Fact is frank lampard is not all that at city but he is a useful squad addition covering gaps and making a difference... like garry mcallister in 2001 for us. Gerrard isn't willing to let that happen so fair enough but I think most lfc fans would say he'd offer more to us in and around the club coming on like lampard and starting the odd cup game and big game than playing week in and week out and being pressed hard by every relegation side we play and getting pushed round.
Just watched his interview with Claire Rouwke (so). Stevie's proper gutted as expected and fighting back the emotions. He will be missed, hope he (and Carra) does return one day.
good for him but its still his choice, perhaps the title i chose isn't good. my main point was about how frank lampard has played a tiny amount for city in comparison but is getting plaudits while gerrard has played lots and until he says he's ****ing off he's nothing and now suddenly lfc are making a huge error
If Gerrard is to believed he is Liverpool through and through then he would not go swanning off to america having been offered a life time roll at Liverpool. He dont need the money or the hassle and all his ex Liverpool team mates dont believe he would not walk out on the club for no reason and neither do i.....There is more to him refusing to stay at Liverpool than meets the eye...WHAT???
Nah, the lads been at LFC since he was 8 yeas old, he's not happy to spend what's left of his career on the bench, he's fully entitled to his time in the MLS because he's fully earned it and our blessing.
Well i dont believe that for one minute. something is not right and i agree with some of Gerrards close collogues that he would never leave if offered a contract in a million years but for some reason he is turning his back on a job that his mates are baffled.
That's as maybe,but on the point about him leaving, its sad but I wish the lad nothing but good luck and thank him for his years at our club. Any dirty washing will be hung out in due course.
I think his wife needs to have a little word now and tell him big boys don't whine and cry basically. He does sound a bit whingy and has decided to toss his toys out if the pram Meanwhile lfc sound amateurish but hey... John terry has still not actually got his new deal and lampard was made wait all season and was not offered anything so....
Just a comment.... None of these close colleagues are willing to admit the lads ego is saying no way am I a 20 min player and I'd rather 90 mins v painters pretending to be a big star then play 20 mins after watching adam lallana ponce about doing cruyff turns and falling about Note that basically lampard is happy too cos city are in for trophies. Gerrard says a lot about Rodgers but I fancy he really thinks lfc have no chance of a trophy or buying a real player so he's said **** it
The problem with this is the American game is very fast and quite physical, it is also very warm over there. I can`t see him playing many 90 min games.
Utter rot Seriously do you know much about Mls You are talking about a prem standard player here going to a league were ****ing robbie Keane is MVP You are talking the league where the great Thierry Henry phoned it in for years I've been to San Diego btw, that's south of la and the climate frankly is lovely, it's not Nevada (where I've also been) The greats like Landon Donovan and painters, plumbers and car mechanics won't be too bothers don't you worry....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30691946 When Steven Gerrard suffered a rare blemish in the middle of his latest masterclass, AFC Wimbledon's fans pounced on the topic that will dominate Liverpool's agenda between now and the day he takes his leave. "You're not wanted any more" rang around Cherry Red Records Stadium in Kingston as the home supporters put their own twist on Gerrard's decision to decline a new Liverpool contract and move to the United States next summer. Liverpool's followers were only too happy to offer the conflicting view - and no wonder after their 34-year-old captain once again dragged them out of hazardous terrain to safety almost single-handed with both goals in this 2-1 FA Cup third round win. Gerrard's departure next May has been presented by Liverpool and the player himself as the right time for the parting of the ways. This iconic captain's future would have been carefully managed had he stayed another year, with his number of performances inevitably reduced. It seems Gerrard does not want, or indeed deserve, to close out his magnificent career with a lengthy spell of bench-warming. It is tempting to use every significant Gerrard intervention as part of the case for the prosecution to accuse Liverpool of failing to do enough to keep him - and even this superb performance should be placed in the context that it was with a middling League Two team in opposition. And would he be able to sustain this level of performance and energy, especially in a more advanced role, on a weekly basis in the Premier League into next season? Valid questions but questions Liverpool's fans were prepared to set to one side on Monday. Even now, with the credits rolling on his Liverpool career, they still have no-one like Gerrard who can give them hope when it seems lost, such as against FC Basel with his late free-kick on the night they went out of the Champions League, or here against AFC Wimbledon, when he produced yet again when matters were starting to look extremely difficult. Jordan Henderson is Gerrard's successor-in-waiting as Liverpool captain but does not yet come within light years of the impact the current incumbent has either on the field or off. He is still a developing player and personality so it is actually a tough comparison, but how can he, or indeed anyone else, follow Gerrard as a leader in battle, a figure afforded total respect (perhaps even fear when it comes to opponents) off the field or as a symbol for the fans? Whether Liverpool like it or not, this debate will run and run until the day Gerrard walks out of Anfield for the final time and perhaps even beyond - it was certainly raging on Monday night. Gerrard's former Liverpool team-mate Jamie Carragher, who feels aggrieved that the midfielder has somehow been allowed to drift away from Anfield, tweeted on his @Carra23 account: "If Gerrard was one of the new signings at 24 we'd be raving about him but we judge him at 34 against himself at his peak." Carragher had earlier tweeted: "Liverpool struggled for goals this season. Their top scorer is going to the MLS next season!" Even QPR striker Charlie Austin tweeted: "How can Liverpool let this man go?" Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was the subject of lavish praise in Gerrard's abdication speech, with the player saying he wished he had worked under the manager a decade ago, but there is no doubt there will be questions for the club's owners and executive staff every time he affects events as he did against AFC Wimbledon. Gerrard's former Liverpool team-mate and room-mate Danny Murphy told BBC Sport on Match of the Day: "Liverpool are very fortunate they've got Steven Gerrard as his two bits of quality have been the difference between the sides and not much else." And Alan Shearer added: "There was one guy who dragged Liverpool through by the scruff of the neck. How many times have we said this over the years? It was his performance, his goals, his work-rate, his effort." Shearer also drew the parallel with Chelsea's decision to let Frank Lampard go, only to see him turn up at Manchester City as a danger to his old club's Premier League title chances. Gerrard has made it clear he will never play against Liverpool but Shearer added: "I just wonder whether Chelsea look at the Frank Lampard situation and just wish that they hadn't let him go. I wonder if Liverpool will do the same." The bottom line is that no matter how much Liverpool look to the future, the player and inspiration they still rely on is Steven Gerrard. For that overall impact on games, his colleagues and his club, he will be impossible to replace. Liverpool's debt to Gerrard was placed in even sharper relief by the fact it allowed them to secure an FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Bolton Wanderers despite seeing the usual fault lines exposed by AFC Wimbledon. After Gerrard put Liverpool ahead in the 12th minute, there was a period of relative calm as Neil Ardley's side were subdued and the Premier League giants looked in control. It did not last long as Liverpool's defence came under pressure and, as it has done so often this season, almost instantly looked incapable of coping. Sean Rigg had already missed one good chance before he forced a save from Simon Mignolet and it was alarming to see how a routine kick from AFC Wimbledon goalkeeper James Shea created various degrees of panic and a chance that Matt Tubbs wasted. Wimbledon's equaliser from Adebayo Akinfenwa was Liverpool's defence in microcosm. Mignolet flapped hopelessly at George Francomb's corner under pressure, Mamadou Sakho bundled the ball against his own bar and amid the carnage Akinfenwa reacted first. Mignolet, only restored in goal because of an injury to his journeyman deputy Brad Jones, was taunted throughout by AFC Wimbledon fans well-versed in his problems with the ball at his feet. If Liverpool could get their hands on a goalkeeper of quality as a long-term replacement for Mignolet this month surely they will, although it could prove easier said than done. Mignolet may have to do for this season but not beyond. Rodgers works on defensive organisation and is certainly too skilled and confident a coach to bring in an outsider to assist with defence, but that vulnerability must remain a concern. As he pointed out when Arsenal scored at Anfield recently, it is not a matter of coaching or organisation when three one-on-one headers are lost in Liverpool's own penalty area. The current players simply need to be better - or replaced by better players.
Well, he's apparently said he would have stayed if he'd been offered a new contract in the summer now
Mito there's one major problem with your sig. In Bob's day when a player aged and we moved him on we tended to bring in someone at least as good as the player we were replacing. Since Gerrard came through we've brought in a ruck of midfielders and only two (in a decade and a half) have been near good enough to lace his boots. We couldn't even buy players to complement him never mind to replace him. We don't have a single player in the youth set up who is anywhere near the standard of Gerrard (even now with "legs that have gone") so we will have to buy and I don't think the current set up knows how to bring class into the club. Both Rodgers and the ruddy committee have failed to improve on the players we've lost. Reina left and we replaced with a far worse player, Agger departs and we now have to play Sakho or Lovren (certainly no improvement), Carra left and we replaced with Toure (no improvement), Suarez left and we replaced with Mario (), Stevie goes and we replace with..... So when Stevie does go and we bring in yet another pile of dross will we really be so glad he's been put out to pasture? We already need to replace the goalkeeper, we still need a centre half or two, our full backs are average at best, we'll now have another hole in midfield (possibly more than one unless we are going to keep relying on the likes of Lucas and Allen) AND we will need at least one more striker due to Studge's injuries and Balotelli's woefullness . That could mean another massive squad change in the summer and we've already seen what good that has done this year. So I wonder as I've wondered all along...do we really need to create one more big gap in the squad? Will we really see the improvement that some on here so passionately believe we will once Gerrard passes through the Shankly gates for the last time next May? I hope it's the start of a new era at Anfield but I fear it will just be more of the same (or worse).
In nearly 50 years of supporting this club, watching us be one of the best teams in Europe under Paisley, the lows of Heysel and Hillsborough, the mega depression of the half time score of Istanbul to the elation of the final score and seeing Gerrard and Carra raise that Big Eared trophy, I have never been more depressed about the health of our club as I am now. The photo of Gerrard and Carra raising the European Cup in 2005 has pride of place in my home and whilst I have seen great players, Keegan, Dalglish, Souness, Rush, Fowler etc leave, I am concerned about the media circus surrounding the departure of Gerrard and the public slagging that is taking place. Ive been concerned about the way the club have been conducting business since Rodgers took over. He is too quick to open his gob, to slag players off and to come out with such contrite crap when we play badly - it reminds me of Woy at times. Now to hear Gerrard openly saying he would have signed a new contract is rubbing salt into a wound. This is just indicative of the public spat between player and manager that has clearly festered for some time. Yes, Gerrard is a club hero and a fan idol. He has chosen to leave after 20 plus years of loyal service. The timing is right as we have all slated his performance in a mediocre team this season and perhaps its indicative of the state of decline the club is now in with Rodgers and post Suarez. We should all thank him for his service and hold him in utmost regard in the future along with past greats and I for one dont believe we will ever see their likes again. He should hold the fans and the club in his heart and not now use his departure to destroy the goodwill that has been built up over the years. However, Gerrard and Rodgers must stop this washing of linen in public. This is not the Liverpool way of doing things and is causing damage to the club in a press thats Manchester dominated.
Gerrard offers very little on the pitch so no, we won't miss him in that sense. His dressing room influence and star appeal will be the biggest losses. If anything, I think we will have a more cohesive and fluid unit, where the likes of Henderson can finally step up without having to babysit his captain. And Gerrard wasn't happy with a reduced role, yet has started/played more games than anyone else bar 2-3 others in the team. That's ridiculous. Billy does make a good point though - can we actually replace him properly? I'm not talking about like for like or buying a ready made world class player. I'm talking about a player who can actually contribute to this team. We've spunked £20m on Lovren, £23m on Lallana, £16m on Mario and £4m on Lambert. And most of these are Rodgers's choices. Keep him away from transfers and let the committee do their job and we could add some quality finishing touches to this team.
Well they're hardly going to say the club are making a huge error in letting him leave until he is actually going to leave are they? And almost all the criticism of Gerrard over the last few seasons has come from a section of our own fans, not the media. Whilst accepting that he's not the powerhouse that he once was, they've still recognised that he has had more subtle, but still important, influences on the team and the club. I'm not really interested in circumstantial comparisons with Frank- he's obviously content with a cameo role whereas Gerrard isn't.
