The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - #DankeJürgen

[AZOffaly]

2 years left on his contract.

And lads, no matter how many times ye say things like "ultimately wants to go to a bigger club and realistically win trophies" we know what you are trying to do

I think you are being a bit paranoid AZ. Liverpool are no longer a big gun and the lad wants to move up a rung.

Yes. Absolutely. Liverpool are no more than a small fry. They are not 8th in the world in terms of the Forbes rich list. They are not a hugely supported worldwide brand. They are not currently expanding their stadium to hold an extra 13,000 people per match. And they have been nowhere near challenging for trophies in the past couple of years. Why would anyone want to play there?

Have not won the league in 25 years and are as far away as ever. Have no Champions League football. Have a manager who is far from proven. Have owners that seem reluctant to sanction big money buys and big wages. Can't blame the lad for showing a bit of ambition to move up a level.

Fair enough. Alternatively you could say he's an important player on a young team who are developing under a good coach, and if that money does get sanctioned they may be in a very strong position to challenge for at least Champions League Football next season. If he leaves he will only have a handful of clubs that are in a better *current* situation, and would he even get his game at those clubs? Chelsea? City? Barca? Real? I can't see it. Arsenal is probably his best bet, and the best fit in those terms, but I don't think Liverpool are a million miles behind Arsenal. United are in rebuild mode themselves, and I can't see them being interested in Sterling, or vice versa.

[mouview]

Remember Brian Clough's quote, something like, "If a player came to Bill Shankly demanding a pay rise, he would have hit him, and I'd have held him down for him".

So antiquated now.

[Bingo]

Tony Barretts take on the current position - not a lot to argue with really. Time for change in direction/strategy etc.

Not since buying Liverpool in October 2010 has Fenway Sports Group (FSG) endured such a chastening 72 hours. On Saturday, supporters at Anfield reacted with derision to the suggestion that the club are heading in the right direction. Then yesterday there was a vicious double whammy as Michel Platini confirmed that the Financial Fair Play rules which attracted John W. Henry to purchase the club are to be relaxed and Raheem Sterling's camp made it known that the winger wishes to leave.
Liverpool are vulnerable right now. They are mediocre and everyone knows it. The reality is that those at the top end of the football industry have known it for some time, hence senior scouts from Manchester City and Chelsea becoming Anfield regulars this season in the knowledge that Liverpool's best players are there for the taking in a way that they haven't been for half a century.
For all the opprobrium – some of it just, some of it not – that will inevitably be showered on Sterling and his representative, Aidy Ward, following yesterday's events, the reality is that it is Liverpool's weakness that allows players and agents to act in the way that they are. One of the club's first and most important responsibilities is to make it a place that players find difficult to leave and it would be absurd to claim that is currently the case.
With no Champions League football to offer, only one trophy (the League Cup) won in the past nine seasons, just three title challenges since 1991, a transfer policy that prioritises the future over the present and an inability to compete for top players, Liverpool are failing to keep their end of the bargain in terms of how a big club are supposed to behave. Expectations have been lowered, almost dumbed down, and if the supporters can recognise that so too can the players.
Thus far, the strongest argument that Liverpool have been able to muster in their attempts to convince Sterling to remain at the club is that it is the best place for his development at this stage of his career; not that if he remains at Anfield he can fulfil his ambitions, that success is around the corner or that they will pay him as much as others are willing to. It is an argument rooted in weakness and lacking in conviction.
It could also be argued that it is flawed given that Sterling, a creative player, has spent the past 12 months playing in a team without a forward. It is all well and good playing regular first-team football but doing so in a dysfunctional team that stymies your best qualities is hardly developmental.
The reality is that Liverpool's problems – their failure to finish in the top four, their struggle to hold on to their best players, the lack of supporters' faith in the club's direction and the pressure that is building on the Anfield hierarchy – are symptoms of the same cause: a flawed transfer strategy that it is causing untold damage. Signing potential rather than proven talent is undermining everything that Liverpool are supposed to stand for. It has reached the stage where one of their better young players is not prepared to hang around to see if their inferior young players will improve.
For all the accusations that Sterling is going the wrong way about forcing a move (and many of these are wholly legitimate), Liverpool are at the mercy of the ambition of others because they are either unwilling or unable to match their rivals' ambition. That situation is only likely to become more severe now that FFP is about to be watered down. As Henry himself conceded recently, without FFP it becomes "very difficult" for Liverpool to compete. The established football food chain, ordered according to owners' wealth, leaves them exposed. Rival clubs, avaricious agents and even their own supporters know this only too well.
FSG's model is failing. Whether that is because it is fundamentally flawed or poorly executed is a moot point but what is not in question is that Liverpool's entire football operation is in need of urgent evaluation. Until the things that are going wrong are put right, then Raheem Sterling won't be the last to believe the grass is greener elsewhere, he'll just be one of a number in an ever lengthening line who view Liverpool Football Club as a stepping stone rather than a final destination.



TB.

[deiseach]

Can't argue with any of that. The chilling part is that FSG would be tempted to look at the likes of Newcastle, who are able to turn a decent profit by just being the Premier League, then look at the investment that would be required to compete with the top four, all with no guarantee of a return on that investment, and wonder 'why bother'? The economics of football is that of the madhouse.

[Bingo]

Can't argue with any of that. The chilling part is that FSG would be tempted to look at the likes of Newcastle, who are able to turn a decent profit by just being the Premier League, then look at the investment that would be required to compete with the top four, all with no guarantee of a return on that investment, and wonder 'why bother'? The economics of football is that of the madhouse.

The latest sound bites on FFP must really hit them as well. Seemed to be a big part of their strategy to let teams regress to them rather than investment to catch up. It would seem that the new SKY deal has put the frighteners on the big European clubs with influence and they looked for some extra space. Talk of legal challenges to it as well.

Seems to be badly timed as the FPP just seemed to making an impact and putting the reigns on some of the oil money.

[Boycey]

Can't argue with any of that. The chilling part is that FSG would be tempted to look at the likes of Newcastle, who are able to turn a decent profit by just being the Premier League, then look at the investment that would be required to compete with the top four, all with no guarantee of a return on that investment, and wonder 'why bother'? The economics of football is that of the madhouse.

The latest sound bites on FFP must really hit them as well. Seemed to be a big part of their strategy to let teams regress to them rather than investment to catch up. It would seem that the new SKY deal has put the frighteners on the big European clubs with influence and they looked for some extra space. Talk of legal challenges to it as well.

Seems to be badly timed as the FPP just seemed to making an impact and putting the reigns on some of the oil money.

Maybe the FFP changes won't be exactly what the original scaremongering suggests??

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/marcotti-musings/62/post/2456828/financial-fair-play-and-understanding-plantini-changes

[Bingo]

Can't argue with any of that. The chilling part is that FSG would be tempted to look at the likes of Newcastle, who are able to turn a decent profit by just being the Premier League, then look at the investment that would be required to compete with the top four, all with no guarantee of a return on that investment, and wonder 'why bother'? The economics of football is that of the madhouse.

The latest sound bites on FFP must really hit them as well. Seemed to be a big part of their strategy to let teams regress to them rather than investment to catch up. It would seem that the new SKY deal has put the frighteners on the big European clubs with influence and they looked for some extra space. Talk of legal challenges to it as well.

Seems to be badly timed as the FPP just seemed to making an impact and putting the reigns on some of the oil money.

Maybe the FFP changes won't be exactly what the original scaremongering suggests??

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/marcotti-musings/62/post/2456828/financial-fair-play-and-understanding-plantini-changes

Send that to Boston quick before Ian Ayre draws his own conclusion and sells everyone.

[Armamike]

2 years left on his contract.

And lads, no matter how many times ye say things like "ultimately wants to go to a bigger club and realistically win trophies" we know what you are trying to do

I think you are being a bit paranoid AZ. Liverpool are no longer a big gun and the lad wants to move up a rung.

Yes. Absolutely. Liverpool are no more than a small fry. They are not 8th in the world in terms of the Forbes rich list. They are not a hugely supported worldwide brand. They are not currently expanding their stadium to hold an extra 13,000 people per match. And they have been nowhere near challenging for trophies in the past couple of years. Why would anyone want to play there?

Arsenal were probably in a better position than that for many years and it didn't stop Fabregas or Van Persie from moving on to better money and to win things. . . also Arsenal have a proven winner as manager. Liverpool do not!

Arsenal play nice football. One trophy in 10 years (possibly 2 if they win the fa cup).

[GJL]

http://www.90min.com/posts/2179636-jamie-carragher-reveals-secret-meeting-with-sir-alex-ferguson?a_aid=35396

[laoislad]

 

http://www.the42.ie/find-steve-finnan-campaign-liverpool-istanbul-anniversary-2114176-May2015/

Have you any idea where Steve Finnan has got to...?
The former Ireland and Liverpool full-back looks set to miss the 2005 Champions League anniversary celebrations.

IT'S HARD TO believe, but Monday marks a decade since Liverpool's epic comeback against AC Milan in the Champions League final.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of one the greatest nights in the Reds' history, the Echo Arena in Liverpool will host a reunion and every member of the matchday squad is scheduled to attend the event.

Except one.

Organisers have been unable to get hold of former defender Steve Finnan and it seems one of Ireland's greatest full-backs has fallen off the face of the earth since retiring from the game in 2010.

The Liverpool Echo, who are reporting the story, have started a hashtag #findstevefinnan on Twitter in a bid to locate him. He's presumably enjoying life after football but it would be a shame for him to miss the party.

Any ideas where he's gone...?

[theskull1]

Your lad Sterling is as clueless a SR phillips IMO. He 's obviously being told otherwise

[heganboy]

Your lad Sterling is as clueless a SR phillips IMO. He 's obviously being told otherwise

do you mean S W-Phillips?

[AZOffaly]

Coates actually played well tonight for Sunderland. What the hell?

[theskull1]

Your lad Sterling is as clueless a SR phillips IMO. He 's obviously being told otherwise

do you mean S W-Phillips?

Yes I do .. 

Think I'm still wright though

[muppet]

Your lad Sterling is as clueless a SR phillips IMO. He 's obviously being told otherwise

do you mean S W-Phillips?

Yes I do .. 

Think I'm still wright though

Write right!