Ok so i can't sleep, so i've been whoring the Liverpool gossip and decided to lay out this summer in a way other than 'let's sign Arda Turan and Charlie Adam', and i'm interested to know if this is how everyone else sees it. Damien Comolli: "When we prepare for the next season itââ¬â¢s difficult to say we work to the January transfer window. We work from summer to summer. When the window shuts in September we are preparing for the next summer window, not the one in January because, as people say, usually not much goes on in January. We proved that wrong. As soon as it shuts on 31 January we are thinking about the summer and what we are going to do. We talk about different targets, about players we thought about in January but couldnââ¬â¢t do and keep the scouting team workingââ¬Â¦ So I expect a busy summer." For a start this indicates we will get the busy summer most of us want, rather than the lack of that some opposition fans continue to tell us we'll get. Also, I doubt Comolli got his recent promotion because they no longer want him to have input into transfers. Bringing in foreign talents is Comolli's speciality, Henry wouldn't have hired him if he didn't want to utilise this talent. John Henry tells us our squad depth is poor- he is unlikely to change his mind with 1 or 2 signings methinks, which points to several more signings. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...-a-major-issue-says-john-w-henry-2263912.html Budget Most of us have factored in the ã20mil+ that we were willing to spend on Suarez without the sale of Torres. If we then include sale of a few fringe players and our first 'in the green' summer the potential budget could be quite healthy. I can't find the source now (if anyone can, please post it) but there is another interview with Comolli where he talks about the unexpected exit of Torres, and that he was asked by John Henry 'what do we do now?' At this point Comolli puts forward Carroll as the solution as he was 'our number one summer target anyway'. So this means we were willing to spend what would probably have been ã20-25mil this summer on Carroll regardless of torres leaving. I won't say 'we have ã100mil' or however much to spend, but the various elements do suggest we will have a significant budget for the first time in ages. Feedback Nothing new here but there are various different sources outside of the 'office' if you will that are excited about our potential transfer business. Carroll http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_6867249,00.html Carragher http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ited-by-liverpool-transfer-plans-2266253.html Dalglish http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...iverpool-fans-expect-more-big-signings-summer Targets Here's Kenny telling us there is a good chance we will go for wide players: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...lves-Matt-Jarvis-earmarked-article719805.html Here is Comolli talking about Dimitri Payet (of his ex club St Ettienne) who has 12 goals in 23 games in Ligue 1 this season and looks decent. If Comolli rates him this highly then i can't imagine us not going for him. He's been mentioned before but only briefly and thought 1 or 2 might find him more interesting than some of the other rumoured targets. His potential pricetag would also not stop us from going for someone like Ashley Young if the budget is as healthy as we are being led to believe. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11800_6499129,00.html Andy Carroll says Gary Cahill is the toughest defender he's played against: http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/77176/default.aspx By the way i think Stoke's mauling of Bolton could be great for capping Cahill's price if we do go for him. Would have been a pain if he had done well and then played in the final as well. If Andy 'unplayable' Carroll says he's tough then that's good enough for me. Homegrown, fast, and better on the ball than most of our current centrebacks, might turn out to be our most important signing of the window. And to wrap that all up nicely and put a big bow on it... All the gossips are now saying Reina has been convinced enough by our plan that he is in fact going to stay- and this is a guy who has seen enough false dawns and enough of his friends leave the club to take some convincing. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/187275/Pepe-Reina-to-stay/
Great article Nips. You must suffer from insomnia if you put all that together at half 5 this morning! Personally i think we should splash out big for a world class winger and left back. Then sell a bit of dead wood to strengthen other areas and perhaps bring in a couple of players such as Cahill and Adam to offer some more strength in depth. Due to the talented youth starting to come through i dont think we need a complete overhaul like many of us suggested a few months back. Kelly for one could end up saving us 20 mil as he looks like he has the potential to be the main man in defence. Plus the likes of Sterling could make an impact next season. Overall, i'm hopeful that we will be pushing for top 4 next season.
Thoughtful read. I fully expect a major overhaul of the playing staff this summer. The key element is not settling for second best, as we've done for far to long. If Henry is serious about turning the club into genuine title challengers, then we need the right personnel and these players don't come cheap. Payet looks a good player, and a lot better value than Young. Gary Cahill i think is more likely to go to them lot down the east lancs. I'm sure Comolli, Dalglish and others have very clear targets in mind. One rumour i did hear was Liverpool where trying to do a deal for Aquilani to Juventus, involving Chellini coming the other way, how true? Don't know, but he's the type of player that fits the criteria NESV have set and can play either center half or left back.
I'd much rather NOT bring in a CB, I feel Kelly is ready for that position and with Agger, Carragher, Skrtel all also in contention if you add another top class defender to the list we're going to have an unnecessary amount of defenders. Not to mention I'd love to see Ayala (who's seriously impressed in the championship) come back. We've also got Wisdom who's a beast of a defender in the Academy, not to mention Sama, Wilson etc... It's just a lot of talent that will need runs out in the next couple of years. We do however need a LB; Robinson can then be used as 2nd LB because I don't think he's ready to do an Insua and get thrown straight into the mix. Wingers are obviously a must, I think we need a RW and LW as Kuyt is not a natural Winger so we shouldn't push it on him. I'd love to see a creative mid come in as well, I wouldn't mind Aquilani back but I do question his loyalty after that season at Juventus whether he would push for a transfer or not. Henry is bound to splash the cash in the summer, but I think he told Comolli in January to bargain for Suarez which is how we managed to cut an awesome price for him. Henry is not one of these owners who will give a huge warchest and say "spend as you will" he wants to be involved, and I think he WILL be involved in the transfers and he will be the major force behind getting these players for lower prices after all he's a canny businessman and wants to know he's getting the best quality for his buck.
Excellent article Skrtels nips. I completely agree.There is a lot of speculation going round,However I can't wait until the summer to see the owners put their plans into action.John Henry did say last October ''Judge us on what we do,not what we say''.There could be serious developments this summer,one being Kenny getting the job full-time,This is looking more and more likely to happen,as Steve Clarke is in negotiations for a long term contract.It was Kenny that brought him in,so the two work in tandem.The next one is the announcement on whether a new stadium will be built or whether the existing site will be redeveloped,an announcement is due in the foreseeable future.Its looking really bright and very encouraging.
They played some serious hardball with those negotiations, starting insultingly low. But what matters is when it became imperative we got Suarez the money was there. The deal actually knocked the Torres story off the headline. That was very shrewd. FSG have always shown a willingness at the Sox to spend to get the players they really want, the stars to complement their youngsters.
the future looks bright , but the reina staying/going saga i hope he stays as on his day he is the best keeper in the world, but if hes not fully commited ship him out and get shay given who will jump at the chance to play for the king for a 3rd time
It looks like Reina is staying put.He's joined the other players in clamouring for the King to get the job full-time.The last two that did were Lucas and Kuyt,and not only did they pledge their futures,they signed contract extensions.I don't think we have anything to worry about.However Shay Given wouldn't be bad back-up.
I doubt Given will want to be a backup when he has been on the bench for 2 years, that guy from boro should be a more than god enough backup.
Cheers lads thought it would be useful if we all had a general idea of where we're going this summer. Could save us a few off-point threads in the future. I agree on the Kelly point- he might be ready to move into the centre next season and thiss season playing him at right back was a great idea. He's gotten games in a position that is less high risk than centreback, and its a position that will have taught him a lot about positioning, as well as making him a better team mate to whoever does play full back alongside him. Also fullbacks tend to have to do more on the ball, which is important as we look seriously hamstrung whenever Agger is out and we don't have a centreback who can bring the ball out of defence. The experience should have done him good. The 'its our year next year' thing gets constantly thrown at us by the Mancs, but i can only remember 1 time in the last 15-20 years where i predicted us to win the league, and that was the season after we finished 2nd (in hindsight having weakened that team it was never going to happen). My general feel for next year is that we will be strong contenders for Champions League football. Best wishes to Gerard Houllier by the way.
Excellent article. I believe that the future does seem very bright indeed and the commitment of the owners to help us go back to the top of English football is clear. We do need a left-back. That's been said quite a lot. We do also need wingers and I believe we will get top-quality wingers to get the best out of Carroll. Anyway, time will tell. The signs do look very bright indeed.
The thing that is most pleasing and this is something thats rarely mentioned and it doesn't cost money is the overall togetherness that Kenny has instilled.Its wonderful.This is where everything starts.The signs as I said previously are very encouraging.Its an ''All for one,one for all'' philosophy.Once you have that,everything else is easy.The owners,the manager and the players are singing from the same song-sheet.I'm not going to say,Liverpool will be champions next season,that would be incredibly stupid. However,I do stick to my statement that Kenny will turn Liverpool into champions within 3 years.
If i had to get my crystal ball out i would say that we will improve massively over the next 3/4years, at which point a new manager will come in, will not quite get instant success and then the xenophobic media will pressure us into sacking Comolli, and when we get back to our title challenge a few weeks later everyone will say a director of football doesn't work in english football. Hopefully some time during this Garth Crooks will be deported to Iran. Some people have started saying we don't need wingers, but i think we need to play with at least one quick wide man. I hate it when teams have forwards like Carroll and they go route 1 to him. This guy is unbelievable in the air, so if we get crosses in from the wings he will score no end. Anyone see that peach of a cross Barton put in against Utd? Wouldn't have him anywhere near our club but thats the kind of service Carroll was getting at Newcastle and if we can recreate that he'll bag loads. Our only decent natural left winger of recent times has been Riera and for that one season where he played well and on a regular basis we finished 2nd and played great football.
