The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[GalwayBayBoy]

Stuart James The Guardian, Thursday July 31 2008
Article history

After pushing for a move to Anfield, Gareth Barry now appears to be remaining with Aston Villa. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images

Gareth Barry's future remained shrouded in uncertainty last night after it emerged Liverpool were in the process of putting together an £18m deal for the England international when Aston Villa issued a statement claiming the deadline for completing the transfer had passed. The latest development leaves Barry facing the possibility of remaining at Villa Park next season despite knowing that Liverpool had managed to raise the funds to meet Martin O'Neill's asking price.

Villa remain adamant there will be no further negotiations, with the Midlands club pointing out that yesterday's 5pm cut-off had been agreed on Monday with Liverpool and Barry. Since then the Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, is known to have leaned heavily on the Anfield board and persuaded the club's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, to finance the Barry deal. However, with no further bid arriving before the deadline, Villa last night claimed all talks were off.

"This evening Aston Villa can announce that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club following the interest from Liverpool over recent months," said a statement posted on the Villa website shortly after 5pm yesterday. "During discussions in the past few days a final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of and agreed to. This deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with Villa."

The club say there is no chance of the situation changing, although it appears unlikely that Barry, who has made no secret of his desire to move to Anfield, will concede defeat. Indeed it is anticipated that the midfielder, mindful that Liverpool can now meet Villa's valuation, will hold discussions with O'Neill today in an attempt to force the issue. He may even submit a transfer request, something he has not felt the need to do hitherto.

Liverpool are expected to encourage Barry to go down that path, although there can be no certainty that O'Neill will give in. The Villa manager has adopted a hardline stance ever since Liverpool's interest in Barry first surfaced at the end of last season. He claimed last week that Villa "wouldn't be at the behest of Liverpool football club" and promptly stayed true to his promise to set a deadline for the deal to be finalised.

"Naturally we're all absolutely delighted that Gareth will be staying at Villa Park and relieved to find a resolution and closure to the saga," said O'Neill. "We had a very positive meeting on Monday when it was agreed between Gareth, his agent [Alex Black], Mr [Randy] Lerner [the chairman] and myself that a deadline should be communicated to Liverpool to finally resolve the situation. Liverpool were informed and that deadline came and passed. Now we can all look forward to the coming season with relief, anticipation and ambition."

Villa, anxious to formalise their own plans for the new season, had felt it was necessary to push Liverpool into a corner after it emerged there was unlikely to be another offer for Barry until several players left Anfield, with Benítez having spent £20.3m on Robbie Keane. Yet the manager convinced Gillett and Hicks to sanction a bid without trimming the squad, although authorisation for an offer did not arrive until after Villa issued their statement.

Liverpool might well question why Villa have to be so bloody-minded about a deadline that has no resemblance to the transfer window, which closes at the end of next month, although O'Neill - and Barry for that matter - is entitled to ask why the Anfield board left it so late to find the money. Villa claim they have not received a formal offer from Liverpool since a £13m bid was tabled more than six weeks ago. Liverpool were confident of addressing that situation yesterday morning, when Rick Parry, the chief executive, telephoned Lerner to discuss Barry. However, there was no further contact between the clubs before the 5pm deadline, prompting Villa to announce that Barry would be staying.

[full back]

More scouse humour - the new chant:

"He's quick, he's red, he talks like Father Ted - he's Robbie Keane, he's Robbie Keane"

[Chrisowc]

More scouse humour - the new chant:

"He's quick, he's red, he talks like Father Ted - he's Robbie Keane, he's Robbie Keane"

Got that in a txt this morning.

[el_cuervo_fc]

Barry's Liverpool move still on 

Barry has made it clear to Villa that he wants to leave for Anfield
Gareth Barry's proposed move to Liverpool could yet go ahead despite Aston Villa stating he will be staying with them, BBC Sport understands.

Liverpool failed to meet Villa's deadline of Wednesday to sign the 27-year-old England midfielder.

That led Villa to announce the deal was off, yet Liverpool remain eager to sign Barry and he wants to move to Anfield.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill and chairman Randy Lerner are due to meet Barry and his agent for talks later this week.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has said he needs to sell players before he can meet Villa's valuation for Barry, which is believed to be £18m.

Villa manager O'Neill said on Wednesday that he was "absolutely delighted" Barry would be staying at Villa Park and "relieved there is resolution and closure to the transfer saga".

He added: "Now we can all look forward to the season ahead with relief, anticipation and ambition."

Villa have already rejected a number of bids from Liverpool that fell short of their valuation for the player.

606: DEBATE
He hasn't said he wants to stay, Liverpool have just missed the deadline

CardiffbornScouse
O'Neill has made no secret of his displeasure at Liverpool's conduct in trying to sign Barry and the player himself was ordered not to report for pre-season training after criticising his manager in a newspaper interview.

But the England international played for Villa in a friendly against Walsall and came on as a substitute in their Intertoto Cup win over Odense.

Villa's ire will have been increased by the fact that Liverpool splashed out £19m for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane - with the fee possibly reaching £20.3m with add-ons - yet have been unwilling to match an £18m valuation for Barry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7533851.stm

I can't wait til this situation is resolved one way or the other.  I'm sick of listening to it

[corn02]

13 subs so can't really take much.

Dossena was actually one of our better players for me, Darby was also good.

First half motm - Skertl
Second half MOTM- Carragher.

All yo ucan take out of it, Keane was tidy.

[Hound]

Jaysus, just seen the list of unseeded teams for today's (11am) champions league qualfier draw and there's a couple of pretty nasty ones:

Atletico Madrid (Spain)
FC Sheriff (Moldova) or Sparta Prague (Czech Republic)
Drogheda United (Ireland) or Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Inter Baki (Azerbaijan) or FK Partizan (Serbia)
Vitoria SC (Portugal)
NK Domzale (Slovenia) or Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) or Wisla Krakow (Poland)
Standard Liege (Belgium)
FC Twente (Netherlands)
Tampere United (Finland) or Artmedia Petrzalka (Slovakia)
Aalborg (Denmark) or FC Modrica (Bosnia)
SK Brann (Norway) or FK Ventspils (Latvia)
Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) or Rapid Vienna (Austria)

[AZOffaly]

Obviously you don't want Athletico Madrid or Galatasaray.

[brokencrossbar1]

Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Aalborg/Modrica v RANGERS/Kaunas
Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Standard Liege v LIVERPOOL
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest
FC Twente v ARSENAL
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia
SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest

Happy enough with that draw, especially with second game in Anfield.  Gunners have a ncie draw too and if Drogs somehow beat Kiev, they are Back in the USSR again!

[supersarsfields]

Yeah can have no complaints with that draw. Could have been alot worse.
What's the date for these games does anyone know?

[corn02]

12/13 and 26/27 i think. (August)

[gawa316]

One nil Liverpool at half time. torres tap in

[gawa316]

3 nil now Ngog and Yossi

4 nil now Alonso pen

[el_cuervo_fc]

New-boy Ngog opens account as Rafa's Reds run Rangers ragged 

Rangers 0 Liverpool 4


Rangers manager Walter Smith wanted a stern test ahead of Tuesday's make-or-break Champions League qualifier against FBK Kaunas - and Liverpool were happy to oblige by handing out a thrashing at Ibrox.

David Ngog opened his goalscoring account for the Reds after Fernando Torres claimed the only goal of the first half.


Yossi Benayoun then found the back of the net before Xabi Alonso completed the rout from the penalty spot.


Rangers failed to score once again after Wednesday's Ibrox stalemate and know an improvement will be needed when they travel to Lithuania for the crucial second leg,
as they bid to keep their European hopes alive.


New signing Madjid Bougherra was named on the bench but failed to make his Rangers debut, while Kyle Lafferty made his first home start.


New goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri started between the sticks for the Reds while, at the other end, Rangers faced the daunting prospect of trying to halt a strikeforce worth a combined total of £40million in the shape of new signing Robbie Keane and Torres.


Rangers had the best of the early chances. Lee McCulloch's ferocious long-range shot whistled inches past Cavalieri's right-hand post, before Kenny Miller hooked over after pouncing on a Nacho Novo lay-off.


Torres then came close for Rafa Benitez's side when he threw himself in front of a cross from the left from Andrea Dossena, only to send his header screaming over the crossbar.


The breakthrough came with 23 minutes on the clock when a powerful Damien Plessis shot was blocked by Allan McGregor - but the goalkeeper could not hold the effort and Torres was on hand to rifle home the rebound.


Steven Gerrard then embarked on a decent run before unleashing a 20-yard drive that McGregor did well to parry but, this time, the danger was cleared with Keane loitering with intent in front of goal.


Then it was Rangers' turn to threaten when Sasa Papac's audacious attempt at lobbing into the top left corner was only just touched out of play by a full-stretch Cavalieri.


A flurry of activity from Rangers followed but the home side failed to restore parity before the half-time whistle.


The best chance came when Miller released Novo into the box, who rounded Cavalieri at the near post, only to somehow be denied from about a yard out by a sliding block from Dossena.


The good news for Rangers was that Torres was one of several players withdrawn at the interval, with both sides making five changes each.


The bad new was the arrival of Ngog, who helped himself to a goal of his own after 57 minutes. The French striker pounced on a loose pass from Kirk Broadfoot and left McGregor with no chance from 12 yards.


Liverpool added to their lead further three minutes later. McGregor managed to swipe at a Christian Nemeth effort only for Benayoun to come racing in at the back post and bury the rebound from close range.


Cavalieri made way for Jose Reina, while McGregor was swapped for Neil Alexander - and he was plucking the ball out of the net with 20 minutes to go.


Broadfoot was deemed to have tripped Nemeth in the box and Alonso stepped up to convert from 12 yards, with Alexander well beaten.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1040913/New-boy-Ngog-opens-account-Rafas-Reds-run-Rangers-ragged.html

[brokencrossbar1]

N'Gog

http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/7X4TLVDSDZGY70L4


Torres

http://101greatgoals.magnify.net/item/VVY7J3H4600MKC2T

Great result.  Rangers are obviously ahead of Liverpool in their preseason as they start earlier.  A run of Clean sheets for the new guy Caviliri(sp?) and at last some goals.  With the Barry deal nearly done with Finnan going the other way and no word of Xavi leaving, I am confident for the first time on years.

[el_cuervo_fc]

Martin O'Neill has issued a statement saying that liverpool have until the end of the transfer window to sign Gareth Barry.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/7533851.stm

his interview is available on this link.  He sounds like he's had enough of it.......... A bit like the rest of us I think