The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

Goats Do Shave · January 31, 2008, 08:00:58 AM

on 606 last night - a few Liverpool fans were on saying there will be a protest against Rafa this week end!

Apparantly the tide has turned - he is now wanted out!

Personally, I still think this is harsh, but if he has lost the players, he'll not get them back!

Declan · January 31, 2008, 08:12:42 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7217238.stm

Interesting development

stevo-08 · January 31, 2008, 08:17:53 AM

I am a Rafa fan but how the hell can he justify playing kuyt & kewell while babel & crouch warm the bench. It is getting beyond a joke. This "loyalty" or whatever it is, is his single biggest problem. We mightnt have the funds to compete with utd/chelsea/arsenal but Rafa's team selections have undoubtably cost us a alot of points this season.

full back · January 31, 2008, 08:39:59 AM

What the fcuk is going on at Anfield. No win in the league from Boxing Day

Seriously though, as I said before the players simply arent there. With the transfer window about to close Rafa is going to have to make do with what he has - which outside of Carra, Stevie G & Torres isnt very much.
Although I had never seriously entertained it, is there a possibility of the scousers finishing outside the top 4?

AZOffaly · January 31, 2008, 08:47:10 AM

Brutal result again. I didn't see any of it, as I was driving back from Offaly, but I listened to reports on 5 Live and it sounded gruesome. Liverpool are in serious, serious danger of imploding this season unless they show a bit of backbone now.

fullback, it is very possible, and if the current form continues I would say probable, that Liverpool will finish outside the top 4. They don't deserve anything else at the moment.

EC Unique · January 31, 2008, 09:33:17 AM

Do you think a team that has drawn 10 and lost 3 out of 23 games deserves to be in the Champions League? I think not but Liverpool could still turn it around to make that better reading but it is unlikely.

AZOffaly · January 31, 2008, 09:34:22 AM

I presume that's not directed at me?

nrico2006 · January 31, 2008, 09:39:07 AM

At least Benitez has shown some ambition by saying that he believes Liverpool will finish in the top 4. The progress they have made under the man is immense!

AZOffaly · January 31, 2008, 09:43:07 AM

I was thinking that nrico. I still think he's the man for it, on balance, but this is a serious setback of a season. Up till just after Christmas he was constantly saying how much better off LFC were, in terms of points gained, compared to the same stage last year.

He's stopped doing that for some reason

EC Unique · January 31, 2008, 09:53:51 AM

Quote from: AZOffaly on January 31, 2008, 09:34:22 AM
I presume that's not directed at me?

No AZ, going by your above post you agree with me. I think the best thing for Liverpool is to get rid of rafa, forget about who owns the club because they are going to be there for the mid to long term now. Rafa has lost the players, some of the fans and lost control of himself, it is time to go.

Norf Tyrone · January 31, 2008, 11:06:23 AM

The best bit for me is that many Lpool supporters were predicting Chelsea's demise when Jose left. The 'new' big 3 were meant to be Man U, Arsenal and Lpool!

full back · January 31, 2008, 01:19:59 PM

Good enough idea, but would there be enough shops, banks & post offices to rob

(only kidding mods)

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3095760,00.html

A group of Liverpool supporters is to unveil an ambitious plan to buy the troubled Anfield club from its US owners.

A group calling themselves Share Liverpool FC aim to create a stakeholder base of 100,000 fans to raise enough cash to oust Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

It comes after weeks of worry about the financial future of Liverpool, sparked when the pair took out a £350 million re-financing loan.

There have also been tensions between the owners and club manager Rafa Benitez.

Rogan Taylor, a Kop season ticket holder and a director of the Football Industry Group at the University of Liverpool, is leading the buy-out campaign.

He said: "It is time to answer the concerns that football fans have about the patterns of ownership developing at our major football clubs.

"Thousands of Liverpool fans have already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

"Large amounts of debt is often laden onto newly-bought clubs and the fans know that in the end, it will be them who will have to pay it off through increased ticket prices and other schemes.

"In such a case, why not simply buy the club yourselves?"

Purchase

The model proposed by Share Liverpool FC will be a 'member-share' scheme, aimed at raising £500 million to purchase the club from Hicks and Gillett and build a new stadium.

The group have pointed to Barcelona as an example of how the system works. Barca currently has more than 150,000 culis - members who own the club.

Mr Taylor added: "What many don't realise is that there are other ways of financing and taking ownership of big clubs.

"In Germany and Spain, most top-level football clubs are simply 'Not For Sale'. They are owned by many thousands of 'member fans'.

"The Champions League has been won on six occasions in the last 15 years by clubs owned and run in such a way."

The plan will be unveiled at the School of Management of the University of Liverpool.

Liverpool FC have so far refused to comment.

J70 · January 31, 2008, 01:20:58 PM

They want 100,000 fans to pay 5,000 each?

Billys Boots · January 31, 2008, 01:24:52 PM

They do though, don't they though?

Gabriel_Hurl · January 31, 2008, 01:33:51 PM

Quote from: EC Unique on January 31, 2008, 09:33:17 AM
Do you think a team that has drawn 10 and lost 3 out of 23 games deserves to be in the Champions League? I think not but Liverpool could still turn it around to make that better reading but it is unlikely.

It's a good thing this years Champions League qualification was based on last years league positions