The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[Gabriel_Hurl]

5 minutes time

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Team

Diego Cavalieri
Andrea Dossena
Sami Hyypia
Martin Skrtel
Stephen Darby
Damien Plessis
Yossi Benayoun
Steven Gerrard
Andriy Voronin
Robbie Keane
David Ngog

Subs:

Steve Finnan
Daniel Agger
Fernando Torres
Xabi Alonso
Jermaine Pennant
Alvaro Arbeloa
Dirk Kuyt
Daniel Pacheco
Krisztian Nemeth
Jay Spearing
Emiliano Insua
Jamie Carragher
Pepe Reina

[Hound]

First Half:
Diego Cavalieri
Stephen Darby - Sami Hyypia - Martin Skrtel - Andrea Dossena
Andriy Voronin - Damien Plessis - Steven Gerrard - Yossi Benayoun
Robbie Keane - David Ngog

2nd half
Diego
Steve Finnan - Daniel Agger - Carra - Insua
Jermaine Pennant - Jay Spearing - Plessis - Dirk Kuyt
Daniel Pacheco - Krisztian Nemeth

Alonso, Arbeloa and Torres on for the last 20 minutes (for Plessis, Finnan and Nemeth).
Reina on for the last 10 minutes (to huge ovation! (ex-Villareal))

I've missed a fair bit of the 2nd half, but nobody has stood out as particularly good or bad. Heading for no score.

[The Real Laoislad]

I know he's young and raw but that Ngog reminds me of a forward version of Djimi Traore..
Dossena looks a bit overweight too if you ask me..

[Doogie Browser]

An incredibly lame statement from Villa!

In any event I've always struggled to be convinced that Barry is better than Alonso

In my opinion he is a better player than Alonso, brings much more to a team with all round play and versatility, he has shone in a mediocre team for over ten years and would have been a great foil for Gerrard.  Great news for Villa though, well played O'Neill he named his price from day one - simple as that and Liverpool could not match it.  Villa now (hopefully) get to keep their best player who will have a lot to prove to the fans next year.  
As for Liverpool, I would be very worried that a Club who call themselves genuine challengers for the League will prob end up with a net positive spend this Summer of a few million quid.  They will again get fourth and finish a good 15-20 points off the top.

[stiff breeze]

rafa looks a bit overweight if you ask me. He must have pigged out during off season

[Hound]

I know he's young and raw but that Ngog reminds me of a forward version of Djimi Traore..
Dossena looks a bit overweight too if you ask me..

Well I was expecting him to be a forward version of Djimi, so I was glad that he looked (slightly) better than that! He's a big enough lad, and looks to have pace too.

Dossena doesnt look like a £7m full back, but its early days. Chunky rather than plump I'd hope.

Robbie made a balls of the chance he got, but did alright otherwise.

Great effort by Spearing at the end.

[AZOffaly]

Insua looks like he wasn't too far from the cake tray as well over the summer.

Torres looked dangerous when he came on.

[stiff breeze]

Insua looks like he wasn't too far from the cake tray as well over the summer.

Torres looked dangerous when he came on.

yeah , like he might eat some1 the fat bastard

[The Real Laoislad]

Also it is now fact...Ray Houghton is just as annoying on Sky Sports as he is on RTE

[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.