Unfortunately for us, I don't think we have the cash plus Rafa has expressed his interest so unless Suarez can persuade him otherwise, we're going to miss out on him. http://www.fansfc.com/Chelsea/story/42836/6.html

I came across this article which brings me back to what I posted yesterday about us not having a proper defensive midfielder, and about playing Joe Allen higher up the pitch as he did for Swansea. Look at these statistics.

http://paisleygates.com/?p=10863

The problem is not many places will be open at that time even if we are to meet up.

Whereabouts do you live?

I'm not backing my mate. I'm speaking for myself and even if I was it wouldn't be termed, "delusional". It would be blind faith. Delusions are what you suffer from if you feel your posts are construed as banter and not meant to incite. A simple google search will help you define the word.

The elite tag has to do with number of posts in forums that encourage discussion unlike say, kopitiam. It has to do with me saying something like, "you're an idiot". I could care less about the tag and it seems like you're more fixated on it than I am. I've explained this before but you seem to have a problem with comprehension. That or you suffer from selective amnesia.

The only reason I respond to you in this manner is because when I've tried to reason with you, you've displayed the intelligence of an amoeba. If you act like a kid, people will treat you like a kid. When a kid does something wrong, you can't reason with him because he is somewhat devoid of logical thought.

I am not a Scouser because I was not born and bred in Merseyside. Again, using a term you don't understand.

Once again, learn what EQ means before using it. I assume you know what a dictionary is?

I didn't see the image he posted but after trying to reason with you from the start and even standing up for you because I welcome reasonable posters, I am fully supportive of every form of degradation aimed at you because I feel you've worked really hard to earn it and should therefore be duly rewarded.

I went against the rules by doing what? If I've hurt your feelings, please feel free to report me and have me banned. You know, the whole running back to mommy analogy I gave earlier.

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Added on November 27, 2012, 9:46 pmI agree but it isn't the first time. I mean we rely a lot on Suarez today. In recent years we were relying on Torres and Gerrard. Not a good thing of course. Thing is defensive midfielders are key in today's game and aside from Lucas, we have none which is a matter of concern. Houllier had Hamann and Rafa inherited Hamann and then signed Mascherano. Look how important Hamann was in Istanbul. When he came on at half time, Kaka became a spectator. We've clearly missed a fully fit Lucas and as many central midfielders as we have, I think we need to sign cover for him. Neither Sahin nor Allen appear to be permanent solutions. Perhaps a versatile player like Barnetta who can play in that position?

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 27 2012, 09:46 PM

Wow a comeback that makes so little sense. I told you much earlier to come back when you got smarter so be a good little boy and do as you're told. Laughing at your own jokes is a sign of desperation especially when it isn't funny.

Lets take a poll. Who thinks junior here is a standup comic?

Well I invited you out to a face-to-face discussion at a neutral turf but you declined. Changed your mind?

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Added on November 27, 2012, 10:22 pmNope, it's tomorrow night/ Thursday morning. 3.45am kickoff.

Then go la. Hoes before bros!

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 27 2012, 10:22 PM

Thought so. I'll just stay a "big man in my own turf" then.

The worst thing is I can't make out what he meant. Also, he seems to hear voices in his head because I don't recall calling him "desperate". #looneytoon

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Added on November 28, 2012, 8:57 amCancer before he hit the first decade mark. Shocking. YNWA.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 28 2012, 08:57 AM

If thisis anything to go by, it looks like we're looking at a loan signing which puts Bent right up there in contention.

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/foo...ary-and-pl-1862?

Desperate because you can't win an argument and deflect everything aimed at you. Are you lonely?

Your profile says you're a chick. I think you may have this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder

No thanks needed.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 28 2012, 02:38 PM

He's been fixated with us since proclaiming he wanted to knock us off our perch and until he picks up a couple more European cups, he'll continue to peek over the hedge. He chastises us for signing a player who just came off a good season in the Premiership. Sure £35mil is a lot of money which in hindsight, hasn't paid off. Easy to comment now but did he say anything at the time we signed him? No. He on the other hand signed a player he had never seen play for a reported £7.5-9 million. Make sense much?

Why do you refer to yourself as a third person? Split personalities? You cross dress at night don't ya? How anyone can make sense of what you've just posted is beyond me. Ringworm is a fungal infection, not a reptile. There are already too many stupid people in the world. Go back to school for the future of mankind.

Oath. The worst thing about that infant is he believes he's making sense and actually doing a good job at debating issues. I do commend him however. It takes a lot of practice to sound that stupid.

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Added on November 29, 2012, 8:59 amThing is I hope fans don't start blaming Rodgers. Not his fault we missed out on a striker. All he can do is to ensure the team keeps possession and creates chances. He can't put them away himself. I said the same thing about King Kenny because he was blamed for the team hitting the post over 30 times. How long will fans stay patient with Rodgers? His win percentage is the lowest of any Liverpool manager in recent history. I personally don't expect much this season or the next and am willing to give him his full tenure before judging. Until then, I am fully behind Brendan.

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Added on November 29, 2012, 9:04 amHere's proof that anyone can be a football manager. Not of a Premiership club but still.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty...13724--sow.html

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 09:04 AM

Lol. Come over to Malaysia and use Streamyx. You just might get that speed.

Since two-face refers to himself as a third person, I think I'll do the same. Don't think you need to punish him. I think the constant need to seek attention and validation is punishment enough.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 10:02 AM

I'm the opposite. I think FSG have done a lot of good to improve the cash flow at the club. They've cleared out debt and despite our league position, we are healthy. They could have pocketed the money generated from the Torres sale as profit but instead, put faith in Dalglish and Commolli, sanctioning the purchase of Andy Carroll. Suarez wasn't exactly cheap either and neither were Jordan Henderson or Steward Downing.

If you read this article, you'll come to realise they aren't as miserly as you may think. They have spent more than anyone as a matter of fact.

http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/09/fsg-t...pending-at.html

In their short time as owners, they have done a lot to reduce wastage and they have always said they'd spend prudently i.e. not put the club in debt by loaning money to buy expensive players in the manner Gillet and Hicks did.

I do really think they deserve more credit than they are getting. We knew we weren't getting a rich Sheikh looking for a hobby but instead, businessmen looking to invest in an entity they feel, they can make profitable in the long run.

It is indeed a testing time but we should never feel ashamed to fly the club's colours. When I wear it the day after a defeat, I feel a sense of pride, not remorse. Why? It takes more to stand by your club in defeat than in victory. Our fans sing YNWA at the end of the game when we're winning but they also do so in defeat. You'll see clenched fists and buldging veins as kopites belt out YNWA in sheer defiance.

When someone laughes at me for supporting the club, asking why I still support the team, I don't feel anger. Instead, I feel pity for that person will never have the same connection with the club he or she supports.

Istanbul as magical as it was, flattered to deceive because we did finish behind Everton that year, in 7th, marginally better than last season. The fact of the matter is we've struggled to find any measure of consistency and I'm not just talking over the course of a season. Aside from 2005, we also had success in the 2000/2001 season under Houllier but that didn't last either. In spite of this, I don't think our base is shrinking. We're still a very well supported club. Our jersey sales world wide fall behind only Man Utd, Real Madrid and Barcelona despite having not won the league in over two decades. We aren't losing fans, if anything we aren't getting new ones.

Never lose faith.


Attached image(s)

I share your sentiment. Regardless of our league position, I'm still optimistic and I hope we persist with Rodgers. It doesn't bother me if it takes us another 5 seasons to challenge because I'm in this for the long haul and so long as FSG and Rodgers continue to make progress, I'm fine with us taking baby steps.

Same here. Gareth Bale is playing his best football now and I reckon most defenders will have a hard time. Johnson was and is the best option to mark him as far as I'm concerned. If I were use a basketball analogy, people used to say that if you could limit Michael Jordan to less than 30 points you've had a good night. I'm not suggesting that Bale is his footballing equivalent, but there is only so much you can do against someone in blistering form.

I'll pick out a few key points from the article.

I do agree that the fact we ended the transfer season with no strikers other than Suarez and Borini is a cockup. FSG stuck to their principle by not meeting a valuation if they felt is was too high. I'm pretty sure they'll correct this in January.

If anything, FSG have been very consistent with their statements, but fans keep demanding for success now. Isn't going to happen until we make a profit. Last season we recorded a loss of $49 million pounds. This was of course not taking into account the Warrior deal which took effect this season. Also, we've just signed a 4-year deal with Chevrolet. FSG are working. Fans just need to take their eyes off the pitch for awhile to realise this.

Suffice to say, I think that FSG will be content as long as we improve on our 8th placed finish last year. Winning trophies is important but not a priority at the moment because the prize money from winning trophies is a bonus, it isn't a guaranteed stream of regular income. When we make a profit either from say securing more sponsors and expanding Anfield, we will see the club invest in players. At the moment they need to balance the cheque books and that means looking into reducing and managing our overheads e.g. player and staff salaries. The more we earn, the more we can afford to pay. The last time we spent more than we earned, we almost ended up being owned by a bank.

As fans, it's natural for us to wish for owners who are willing to inject their life savings into the club to sanction the purchase of players. If we empathise however and put ourselves in the shoes of FSG, would we be willing to do so? I keep backing FSG because for once, I feel we have owners with foresight and direction. We were falling behind everyone else under Moores and subsequently Gillet and Hicks who spent, and put is in debt. Fans need to remember that we were facing administration and FSG bailed us out. For that alone, we owe it to them to see their vision through at least.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 12:50 PM

I stand corrected. What I quoted was for Adidas kits alone.

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2012/10/08/...rt-sale-charts/

We're 6th overall.

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Added on November 29, 2012, 1:36 pmI'm not sure what happened when the decision to let big Andy go was made. It looked as though Rodgers released him under the assumption we would get Dempsey, not taking into consideration that FSG wasn't going to budge on their valuation of the player. I don't think either party was completely blameless and it could have been down to communication. Either way, we were screwed.

When you draw the comparison between affording to buy and affording to send a player out on loan, are talking in monetary terms, or are you suggesting we could ill afford to lose a striker?

I'm not suggesting that fans do not care about what takes place on the field, but they cannot only focus on that, turning a blind eye to progress off it especially when FSG have issued statements saying that is their area of focus for now. When that is resolved only will they consider paying more for players and their salaries. Therefore it is unfair to attribute our league position to the owners being skint because a) they have already spent more than anyone in Liverpool history and b) they will not spend at a deficit which I personally feel is a good thing.

I get what you're saying about the product and one reason I'm sure the owners considered before purchasing the club, is the commercial viability of the club. It stands to reason to believe that they had done their projections before hand and were sure that we had the fan base and global appeal to be a profitable club. Despite the lack of success compared to our more illustrious rivals, Liverpool still does enjoy a pretty good following, which makes it easier to secure sponsors like Standard Chartered, Warrior and Chevrolet. We are fortunate in this respect.

In the end, everything you and I have talked about is important. We just need to listen to what FSG are saying and rank them in order of importance. If you listen to what the gaffer and FSG are saying now for example, the priority is clearly on increasing income and decreasing overheads. If they didn't agree on this, Rodgers would have been axed for saying improving on 8th is an achievement.

Having said all that, we haven't exactly been playing poorly I feel. We've just been getting poor results.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 01:43 PM

We have been in the same situation we are now since Souness. Yet, there still aren't enough seats in Anfield so I don't think attendance to games will be affected. We still have a very healthy number of travelling fans.

I do agree that if we continue to deteriorate, we will fall off the radar but overall, I am optimistic despite our poor league position, for reasons I've already given. It will take years for what you're suggesting will happen, to be dire. Before the time comes, I am confident we would have addressed our league form. John Henry mentioned that the task of transforming the club is like steering a cruise liner, not a speedboat and I can understand why.

It is a matter of perspective in the end, and I'm looking at our situation from an optimistic one. I've been pessimistic about the club for much of my life because we lacked foresight and direction. We were content with living in past glories but we now have people dedicated to bring us forward.

I personally am confident Rodgers will deliver some measure of success by the end of his term.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 01:51 PM

We almost did a Leeds Utd by overspending so it's a fine line indeed.

I don't think it's as much about saving as it is about spending wisely. Sadly, this means reducing overheads whilst at the same time, increasing revenue. We could do one and not the other but that would take more time. That being said, much of this is centered around not signing a replacement striker which I think everyone would agree is a mistake. If you look at the bigger picture, we've reduced our wage bill by some $30 million pounds per year by releasing ageing or innefective players. If you consider we made a loss of $49 million last season, this goes a long way into helping reduce overheads. Unfortunately, sticking to our guns meant we lost out on Dempsey but like I said, it has also done a lot of good. Some may say that it was too early to sell someone like Kuyt, but it also meant we get to give youngsters like Sterling and Suso a go.

I agree that if you continue to slide, we are in jepordy of losing out on good players but it's like I said earlier. The club will not spend what it hasn't earned. Meaning only when we make money, will the owners provide bigger transfer kitties and relook the wage bill. You are right that we will most likely not go after big players unless the numbers make sense. It is why it's futile to get excited over rumours of signing Cavani because it is more likely we'll get someone like Darren Bent on loan.

This beckons the question. If we aren't going to rely on buying expensive star players, how will we improve our league form? The answer was given in the article we posted earlier. We either have to grow talent, or we will look for young players with potentially good value in the future. It is possibly whey they sanctioned the purchase of Suarez and who knows? If we don't have to get into a bidding war by some miracle, signing Cavani might make financial sense as well.

It's almost a chicken and egg story here. Fans think that the way forward is for the owners to invest money first and hope it will pay dividens but unfortunately as history would have it, we haven't had much success with this. We have spent so much in transfers and wages over the years and we have yet to win the elusive league title. The owners who are businessman therefore, are being prudent and will not spend until they can ensure we turn over a healthy profit and we aren't far from it if you consider our loss last season did not take into consideration the reduced wage bill from players sold prior to the start of the season, and the sponsorship deals with Warrior and Chevrolet.

We could do a Chelsea or Man City and record huge losses despite winning trophies but our owners are businessmen. They are looking for profit, and not to spend on luxury items like say, a Premier League trophy, as well I think they should be. I for one would not want for the club to record a loss just to win a title. The long term survival of the club matters more to me than bragging rights.

I am inclined to agree with the owners that the smartest way forward, isn't to spend too much now. The thing is, we can and have improved our cash flow even though we finished 8th in the league last season. As fans, we may not like that FSG are talking the long route but we have to respect the fact that it's their money invested in the club, not ours. I personally do respect FSG because all their statements so far, make perfect sense to me. John Henry is an honest man which I like. In contracts, Gillet and Hicks opted to win fans over by telling us everything we wanted to hear. Henry could do this as well, but he has more class.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Nov 29 2012, 03:05 PM

Nice one. It is something we have to keep going. Can you imagine how quiet Anfield would have been in the mid-90's if fans abandoned the team? Thankfully, kopites are a different breed, like fans of West Ham, Newcastle and Man City for example. They are behind the team all the time especially in times of adversity.

Lil Red, it's not about age. It's almost like what subject we used to focus on in school. I personally liked math. In the case of Liverpool, my focus was on history and tradition, hence it's why I chose this club. I really like the fact that we have such strong traditions, some of which are still practiced today. I like that fact that the club places and emphasis on remembering our past and honouring it. After meeting the likes of you and monstar, I'm convinced that it's down to this, and not age because monstar was only 21 when I met him. If you were to ask me to read up something Liverpool, I'd look for stories from seasoned posters in RAWK because having a deep appreciation for them has made me the fan that I am today, for better or for worse. I don't read that much on say tactics because I can honestly say, I don't like the game as much as I do the club. I didn't play much of it growing up and I mostly only watch Liverpool games.