The OFFICIAL Liverpool Supporters thread

[Tommy Tibbs]

Any further updates on the offloads of the voninator, pennant and so on? 

[Mentalman]

Taken from Today's Gossip column on BBC:

Liverpool could have raised some of the cash to finance a move for Gareth Barry with the sale of Dirk Kuyt - but the Reds scared off Hamburg with their £16m valuation of the Dutch striker. (Daily Mail)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7546529.stm

[full back]

£16 million for Dirk
What a f**king joke
Below that it says Benny Mc Carthy for £7million

[Tommy Tibbs]

£16 million for Dirk
What a f**king joke

Jol always had great time for Dirk, mind he called him a guaranteed "20-20"man! 

[Chrisowc]

£16 million for Dirk
What a f**king joke

Jol always had great time for Dirk, mind he called him a guaranteed "20-20"man! 

Martin Jol could have a thread of his own.  Maybe that could be 'for the next future'.

[Yes I Would]

16 million for Kuyt, im sure Hamburg were well and truly scared off, and any other club who may have had a remote interest.

Benitez seems to be a big admirer of Kuyts (or else is too stubborn to admit that he hasnt been that effective) and is gonna perserve with him.

[stevo-08]

A make or break year ahead for Kuyt I think. He had a difficult year last year for personal reasons and it certainly seemed to affect his performances. Also he had to adapt to being switched from playing upfront to playing wide on the right, where his main duties seemed to involve providing extra cover for the defence. In fairness, he handled that change fairly well and never seemed to complain or sulk like some of our other "stars". I certainly admire his "honesty of effort", as John Giles would say, and he did score some very important goals (Everton, Inter, Arsenal) but at times it was amazing to see how Rafa persevered with him during games while taking off much more threatening players.

Rafa seems to have unbelievable loyalty in kuyt but, with the players in the squad now, surely he cant get as much gametime as he did last season. I'd hope that he'd only be used in away games against the top 3 teams or CL games when a more defensive approach is required.

[EC Unique]

I would say it is a make or break year for Liverpool/Rafa.. If they do not win the PL Rafa is gone and I think Fernando will get itchy feet!! They will stay in the battle this year for longer and will end up higher than customery 4th

[corn02]

boom boom.

It is make or  break year for Rafa though. I am his biggest fan but he needs to be in the title hunt near the end. Torres in on a 5 or 6 year deal so hi sfeet will only itch for 60 million-odd. We are ina good position but a winger would be nice.

[el_cuervo_fc]

Liverpool's owners have failed to raise the cash to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and now the move could be off - again. (Daily Mirror)

that's great spending power those americans have 

[Mentalman]

Kuyt and Benayoun stay - Benitez  

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez insists that Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun will not leave the club this summer.

Dutch forward Kuyt, 28, is a target for German club Hamburg while Benitez admits Roma are interested in midfielder Benayoun, also 28.

But Benitez, after meeting with both players on Thursday, said: "Neither of them will be leaving.

"I have no more news about Yossi - he will be staying. [And] I am really pleased with Kuyt. He will be staying."

It had been suggested that the Anfield boss would let both go in order to finance a deal for Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry.

Liverpool have had a number of bids rejected for the England international, the latest of which was believed to be just short of Villa's £18m valuation.

But Benitez has made it clear he still considers Kuyt and Benayoun part of his plans.

"I have talked to Yossi and told him I want to keep him. He is a player with quality and has shown that during pre-season," he said.

"I also talked with Dirk Kuyt this morning. I am really pleased with him."

Liverpool signed Dutch international Kuyt from Feyenoord in August 2006 in a £10m deal while Israel's national captain Benayoun joined from West Ham in July 2007 for £5m.

At present Benitez seems no nearer to concluding a deal to bring Barry to Anfield, though Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill gave the green light to the deal - if the terms are right for Villa - at the weekend.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7548188.stm

[stevo-08]

Liverpool's owners have failed to raise the cash to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and now the move could be off - again. (Daily Mirror)

that's great spending power those americans have 

wouldnt pay too much heed to what the mirror says. I fully expect liverpool to sign barry with finnan going the other way. The only question is whether liverpool sign him before or after they get funds from the likes of pennant & voronin. with the way this saga has gone on, it wouldnt surprise me if we have to wait until the last minute of the transfer window before confirming the deal.

[gawa316]

Team for tonight:

Reina, Arbeloa, Dossena, Carragher, Agger, Alonso, Plessis, Kuyt, Benayoun, Torres, Keane. Subs: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Finnan, Voronin, Pennant, Insua, Ngog, Spearing, Nemeth, El Zhar.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

any streaming links?

[Chrisowc]

any streaming links?

I used the one from Tuesday night but it only has audio of the Arse v Ajaxsch on Sky