So the transfer window has shut and overall, I must say that though we should welcome anyone putting on a red shirt, there is little excitement in our new signings. Too often, I see posters kid themselves into thinking we've un-earthed a world beater in the making. Here's my take on things. We've signed players who are already at the peak of their careers and who can only get worse and not better. We had to do this so stabilise the ship. Hodgson does not have the luxury of signing young hopefuls, and certainly doesn't have a "5 year plan". To me, the signings of Jovanovich, Konchesky, Poulsen and Meireles spark little excitement. Make no mistake about it, these are players we wouldn't have considered signing 2-3 seasons ago. These are players who if you ask me should be sought after by midtable sides which is a matter of concern, because I can't help asking myself if we are now a midtable side. On a more positive note, the arrivals have been greeted by a lot more optimism than I anticipated by a good number of posters. On a more negative note, I suspect that they will come under criticism by the very same posters halfway through the season. I'm not trying to be overly pessimistic, I'm trying to be realistic and manage not just mine, but your expectations as well.

On the issue of Mascherano, I've said that there are always two sides to a coin and we should give him the benefit of the doubt. We cannot treat our own like the MACC treats the people; guilty until proven innocent. Do what you will, but here's what he has to say so far.

No more knee-jerk reactions please.

poulsen signing was a joke, really, did ever monitored poulsen when he was at juve?,,liverpool did a huge favor to juve by get rid of him from turin..

Acutally Poulsen play quite good when he play at Schalke 04 and Sevilla FC, maybe he not really suit for Seria A, so u guys just need to bet he can come back to the form from how he play at German and Spain league.

who doesnt want to win trophies?

Did I watch a different Poulsen play on Sunday night?! I thought he did much better than Lucas and played his part very well as defensive midfielder. Yet, most people seem to think he played poorly ... hmmm?

I like Masch and thought he was not fully utilised by Argentina at the WC. However, he's got a rather volatile temperament and I can imagine him arguing and even throwing tantrums when things don't go his way. Not all Argies are like that mind you .. I think Maxi looks more even tempered. So, did he "go on strike" against Man City? Not important now - we already lost 3 points there.

I think RH is trying to close the gap between our 'seniors' and our very younger players by bringing in these experienced ones and at the same time hoping to make an immediate impact this season. Players like Babel, Lucas, Skrtle, Ngog etc.. are no longer youth but still not steady enough.

Anyway, I hope everything will work out!

i agree. poulsen did much better from lucas at wba...but neverteless, everyone has their own opinion about everything.

i still reserve my dislike towards lucas. he's a good player for stoke or marseille, but a mediocre player for liverpool fc.

On the signings so far, i disagree that all the signings are bad. I greet with great optimism the signing of Raul Meireles. He is the type of player we didnt have for quite some time... that robust jan molby type but at the same time, the ones that can score goals. i still anticipate him playing in a red shirt. wherelse for konchesky, trust me he will do the job at leftback...as for all of our lb players in the past, stig inge bjornbye,...staunton...riise...ziege. we have always had decent lb's but never the star quality...underated i guess.

i agree with duke about the mid-table part. We're starting to look like a mid-table team when are the creme' de la creme' of the premiership but i guess we're becomin more like krispy kreme.

anyways, lets take one game at a time and hold hopes throughout the season. YNWA.

ps: duke. i think u know one of my close friend, Hazry. lol. we bleed red.

transfer window shuts, now it's time to breathe a little easier without all the insane rumours flying around.

personally, i think the signings this summer has been conservative, we opted for experienced players or foreign players with enough track records, but as expected no major signing that thrills fans and club. no one to blame but ourselves, now we suffer from the tight budget after losing out on an UCL place last season.

our signings have hardly got anyone's head turned, perhaps apart from joe cole who was somewhat a surprise player. at the moment transfers have been more like direct replacements: cole for benayoun, konchesky for insua, meireles for aquilani, poulsen for masch, jones for diego. we have more players leaving than coming, and it's sad enough that our wallet is so tight that we can't even secure a signing without selling our own player first.

i can understand that we may not have any transfer kitty this summer, but we clearly made a profit and if the cash received is not made available to bolster the squad, then i guess everyone would've noticed how bad our club's situation is in now. top four is like miles away, the current squad is mediocre at best, we'll have to wait till the end of this season to judge RH, but again, personally i haven't been convinced from the day he signed the dotted lines. for me, RH is clearly chosen because he can work things out without needing a big budget (and he won't be complaining), exactly what the club's owners are looking for.

poor preseason, great game against arsenal before going back down for the next two games against city and wba. it's as though we're back to our yo-yo and inconsistent days of roy evans.

We're not only crippled by tight budget. We have deteriorated reputation too.

Give you an example, we could have signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He's on loan for a year, with an option of signing him permanently at 24 million euro.
Meaning we don't need to pay millions of dollar upfront. It's a steal.
He's much bigger (in size) than Heskey & C.Cole. He's much skillful too.
Will he join Liverpool?

I heard Spurs is sigining Van Der Vaart for 8million?
Will he join Liverpool if we offer the same price?

Look, we are like "mid-table" team now.
Sad but true.

its because we are not in UCL this season. but still when we're in UCL, we still cant buy very good player.

Hei... I actually fell asleep watching Liverpool playing WBA.
...The same feeling came back like watching Liverpool - Aston Villa match back when GH last season in Liverpool FC.

...So, transfer window closed. Couldn't get Carlton Cole in since need to off-load Babel first... At least, or at-least hoping, PK can steady the ship at the back and help a bit on the attack.

*yawn*.... Hope I don't fall asleep on the next match.

Mmm which Hazry might this be? I know a couple.

In regards to the WBA game, we really should be winning these games comfortably. The result could have been really different had WBA scored just minutes before we did. Also, Skrtel's compulsion to flirt with danger kept me on the edge the whole time. I've seen penalties given for less. I was a little disappointed that we looked scared to lose, and were hesitant to throw players forward whenever we got the ball. Whilst it isn't uncommon to see the likes of Johnson or even Agger get up, I would like to see more darting runs in the centre of the park. Instead we keep spraying the ball out wide but Johnson aside, we don't really have players who can outpace their markers. Hence, we keep having to hold the ball up, eventually having to pass it back.

Hazry hazer. oh wait.. i think john c might know him. not sure which one of u guys know him. he told me one of u guys are from lyn.

liverpool? mid table? ok. that should be the worst. nothing more. oh yes, probably the 19th to manu. once and for all, we can get the pressure off the club and start rebuilding again...

hope vincent tan just buy and take over liverpool.

lol vincent tan where got so much money

Ah yes, he plays futsal with us. Jon C knows him better since I hardly join them for a game.

I hope not. His reputation preceeds him.

Halfway? If I were a betting man I'd say the firing squad will be out sooner than that.


I think most people have already made up their mind about Mascherano and I doubt any revelations by him will sway their opinion. And if their opinions were so easily swayed, how much weight could you put on them?

I for one will remember him for his commitment and passion when he was fighting for our cause. I don't like the manner of the exit but I'm not going to to forget what he's done for us.

1st of all I never think Masch deserved to be slagged by some fickle fans because he wanted to leave. He earned it especially after a good perfomance last year.

But I do believe he should just shut up and move on. The Citeh game was 2 weeks ago.. No need to make any more fuss about it. The fans will remember and respect him as a good player for LFC but the more he talk, more fans will lost respect for him.

First he said his wife is not settled in liverpool and now he said its because of barca came calling last year and his ass cant stay still anymore. and go as far by saying "i signed for a club who really wanted me".. yeah right, who want you when you were left to rot in west ham a couple years back, eh?

Just shut up, Javier.. let bygone be bygone.. thank you for your services and now enjoy the bench in barca.

This post has been edited by rushmode: Sep 1 2010, 03:59 PM

+1, the more the monster talk, the more kopies will hate him

Not everyone mate. I for one wish him well and hope he flourishes at Barcelona. If you want to be angry at him, then it's your right. I on the other hand, empathise with him and can only hope that the majority of Liverpool fans display the traits that once made us the most patient fans around.