Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13

gafferino wrote: »

Are any of these lads talking about sissoko? (don't know hot to spell it and am not on twitter!)

Simple answer is no. I think Talksport are running the story. Very unreliable in my experience.

Ben Smith says there is interest from Liverpool in Clint Dempsey and Joe Alllen.
He thinks moves for them are dependant on Andy Carroll moving on.
He also thinks there is genuine interest in Theo Walcott but that interest is not as far down the line as Dempsey and Allen.
He was adamant that Liverpool had no interest in Gaston Ramirez when nearly everyone else on twitter was saying there was a deal in place. Guess he was right again.

amiable wrote: »

"That's the crossbar, try not to hit it."

We have signed a deal with Chevrolet as a global automotive partner.

A few sources who are independent of each other saying we are testing out Bologna with a 13m euro bid for Ramirez.

Edit....Chevy deal for 4 years.

Knex. wrote: »

Honestly, and it hurts me to say it, but I think 6th place is about right for the season ahead.

I would say you are 100% spot on , I would be very shocked to see us get anywhere near the top 4 because we are still 3 to 4 players short . It all depends on out targets . I still feel we need another striker and we are badly lacking on the right hand side . We where soft there this season but loosing Kuyt has made that out biggest weak spot imo .
This season will be all about putting the long term plan into action and I think you see some rocky patches of form while rodgers implements his plan .

Knex. wrote: »

Have I missed something? Thought all they got was a guy from Rennes for free and that youngfella from Coventry?

Forgive my ignorance with the names

IMO, and Im posted my thoughts on this a week or two back, the table will end something like this:

1. City
2. Chelsea
3. United
4. Spurs
5. Arsenal
6. Liverpool

Any of the teams I have in the top 3 can make a claim for number 1 spot as it stands.
We are nowhere near these 3 teams. Nowhere.

Spurs could well surprise us all, they've been on the up for a while and AVB could prove to the English Media that he is the top coach that he was believed to bet his time last year.
We cannot even remotely compete with the squad at Spurs' disposal. Hopefully the flog Modric and fail to replace him.
Will be shocked if we finish near them.

Arsenal haven't failed to qualify for the CL in donkey years and could easily make a claim for 3rd 4th in my list. I'm banking on RVP leaving and Wenger playing Podolski on the wing while himself and Giroud take time to adapt to PL.
Possibly the closest team in the top 6 that we can compete with.

Honestly, and it hurts me to say it, but I think 6th place is about right for the season ahead.

Imo the only sure thing about the top end of the league is that the two Manchester clubs will be near the top, get at least 80 points and probably closer to 90. City surely will be challenging til the end if they don't have it wrapped up before the final day.

The rest are really hard to predict imo, especially at this stage before summer business is wrapped up.

I agree that Chelsea have the ability to challenge, especially if their big money buys live up to expectation and Torres continues his form from the Euros. But on the other hand they are something of an unknown quantity. They finished 25 points off the pace last year. They have a manager who is largely unproven - De Matteo did well playing backs to the wall, organised, defensive football to win the CL, but it's a different kettle of fish winning the Premiership. Di Matteo is completely unproven at this level. We also don't know what to expect from the likes of Hazard and to a lesser extent Hulk. They have no Drogba. Drogba didn't do much in the EPL last year and it effected them. Imo they could finish anywhere from challenging to the title to struggling for 4th place.


Spurs are a similarly unknown quantity. New manager that has already failed in the EPL but is of course very highly-rated. They will almost definitely lose Modric which will be a huge blow. I can see Spurs finishing on anything between 60-80 points. Really difficult to tell where they will be at this stage.

If arsenal lose RVP they could be in real trouble. Wenger usually pulls them through and I would expect them to finish top 4, but without RVP they could be in serious trouble if the likes of Girou and Podolski don't hit the ground running.

We're obviously an unknown quantity too. I might be in the minority, but I think if we conclude the rest of our summer dealings well, if the players fit into Rodgers' system, then I think we can get over 70 points and perhaps sneak back into the CL. Now I'm not saying I think we will but I do think we can and is perhaps not such a distant possibility as some might think. For the record I also believe it's possible we'll finish on a similar tally to last year.

Spurs and Arsenal could potentially have weak seasons and if we go about things the right way we could overtake them. Chelsea would be a far more distant possibility, but like I said it's possible they could finish with a similar tally as last year. They'll probably improve but it's by no means a cert.

The only thing that is definite imo is that we'll finish a good way behind the Manchester clubs

shelvey is gona play a big role for us this year i think

I see our old friend is back @ 9:41

lucas, shelvey and aquilani in midfield for the yellows

hopefully they play together in the friendly

Seems to be becoming more certain that Bellamy will be on the way.

Becoming dangerously short up from IMO, there's a good chance that Bellamy & Carroll as well as Kuyt will leave by the end of the window with only Borini coming in. We were already pretty short of numbers up top!

Times - Swansea stick to guns and reject player-plus-cash deal for Joe Allen

Gary Jacob

Swansea City have indicated that they will not accept a knockdown fee for Joe Allen or any makeweights from Liverpool after they turned down a player-plus-cash deal for the Wales midfield player.

Liverpool had been willing to pay Swansea in the region of £10 million and allow a squad player, believed to be Jonjo Shelvey, to move to the Liberty Stadium on loan for next season, but the offer was rejected by Huw Jenkins, the Swansea chairman.

Swansea’s valuation of Allen stands at £15 million, in keeping with an exit clause that was inserted in the four-year contract signed by the 22-year-old last summer.

Although Allen has not asked to leave Swansea, his present club recognise the attraction of a potential move to Merseyside, where the midfield player would be reunited with Brendan Rodgers, the new Liverpool manager who arrived at Anfield from the South Wales club last month.

Jenkins, though, is adamant that the full valuation must be met before he considers sanctioning the departure of Swansea’s most prized asset.

Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in Allen, who is in the Great Britain Olympic squad, and could make a move should Luka Modric finally complete a transfer to Real Madrid. But Liverpool remain favourites to capture Allen’s signature.

The complication for Liverpool is Rodgers’s agreement with Swansea not to return to his former club to try to sign any of their players for the next 12 months. It is understood, however, that the accord can be dropped at Swansea’s request if a deal suits them, meaning that it is up to Liverpool to make an offer for Allen that is too good to be turned down.

Spurs will you ever just **** off please.

Opr

opr wrote: »

Times - Swansea stick to guns and reject player-plus-cash deal for Joe Allen



Spurs will you ever just **** off please.

Opr

I won't shed many tears if we don't manage to get bent over to buy Joe Allen.