Sport Liverpool Football Club

[Commander Jameson]

The rumour I've heard is that Lahm is ManU-bound (as first choice right-back).

[dogsout]

I don't rate Degen at all. He's quite solid and unspectacular and I really don't think we need him at right back. We need attacking overlapping fullbacks that allow ourt wide men to come infield in the system we employ. I don't think Degen is good enough, although I haven't seen that much of him (about 10 games or so), I think I've seen enough. He may turn out to be a decent squad player but I really don't think he will offer us what we need.

Lahm is brilliant but probably isn't a realistic target. I understand he has been running his contract down so he'll probably be available at cut price (he'd fetch £15m or more easily) but even so, every top club will want him.

The Abidal rumours are interesting. He's had a poor season in Spain but has been playing for a team that has really underperformed with loads of behind the scenes nonsense going on. He was great at Lyon and also for France before his move so he could turn out to be a bargain for somebody.

As for Barry, he must surely be the player Balague spoke of ages ago as being nailed on to join us. For those that didn't hear about it or don't remember: Guillem said we were close to signing an English player that wasn't a big name but would constitute another "quality piece in the jigsaw". He also said that when we first heard about him the initial reaction would probably be disappointment but we should remember "he can also play on the right".

Maybe he will be asked to play wide either side in the three. I've not seen him take up such an attacking position before but I remember seeing him do well on the left for Villa on occasion. He's definitely got enough quality on the ball and provides a big enough goal threat for it to be considered anyway. We'd finally have somebody that can consistently deliver a fucking set-piece, too.

[larrydavidsanger]

How does everyone think our board situation will contribute to whether we get our targets this summer? Rafa had been complaining earlier in the season that he was being restricted by the board in going after who he wanted and since then the situation's only gotten worse

[V3zna]

How does everyone think our board situation will contribute to whether we get our targets this summer? Rafa had been complaining earlier in the season that he was being restricted by the board in going after who he wanted and since then the situation's only gotten worse

I think Benitez could generate his own cash this summer if necessary. Crouch, Pennant, Riise, Guthrie, Carson, Voronin etc will bring in enough £ to splash out on a few new players. Don't forget next season we potentially have Nemeth, Plessis and Insua stepping up to the first team squad permanently.

[Das]

O'Neill is such a bell piece!

[larrydavidsanger]

From the BBC

Injured midfielder Harry Kewell will have cost Liverpool £157,554 per game when his Anfield career comes to an end this month. Kewell, who was signed by Gerard Houllier from Leeds in 2003, is one of several players heading for the exit door

[Kelthink]

Good riddance, frankly. Waste of time in the end. Shame about Berger at Villa, but it possibly wasn't the best thing for him to say...

[dogsout]

He knew his time was up anyway. He's played less for them than Kewell has for us!

[DeNeo]

Well done to the reserves tonight - won the North/South League Play Off 3-0

A great team performance from them, Nemeth (obviously), Brouwer and Lucas scored.

[Commander Jameson]

We must be looking at using Nemeth more next season, especially with the new seven-subs-on-the-bench rule.

[DeNeo]

We must be looking at using Nemeth more next season, especially with the new seven-subs-on-the-bench rule.

I hope so, he's got so much to his game - pace, strength, holding the ball up - and of course scoring. I hope he starts on Sunday

(Oh, and Lucas was only playing as Spearing was injured. Villa had 4 first teamers!)

This doesn't sound good:

Liverpool first-team coach Alex Miller is to take over as manager of Japanese side JEF United Chiba, the J.League club announced on Thursday.

The 58-year-old former Rangers star is expected to arrive in Japan on Saturday to start work at Chiba and will attend their league match against Kyoto Sanga.

Former Nagoya Grampus player Shigeo Sawairi will serve as interim manager for this weekend's game and will join Miller's coaching staff once the Scot's paperwork has been finalised.

"We are convinced that Mr Miller is a wonderful person who can improve our team," said Chiba president Hirotake Miki.

"We, as the whole club, would like to work together with our new manager to focus on our games for the rest of the season."

Chiba are bottom of the J.League standings after collecting just two points from 11 games so far this season - a run which led to Croatian coach Josip Kuze being sacked on Wednesday.

Former St Mirren and Hibernian manager Miller joined Liverpool in 1999 as chief scout but became a first-team coach following the arrival of Rafael Benitez in 2004.

So that'd be 2 of Rafa's main coaches going in the space of 9 months

[reef]

The rumour going around the office is that Sammy Lee is at Melwood as I type (and has been for the last 2 days) to replace Alex Miller. I'll be happy with that (re) appointment.

[DeNeo]

The rumour going around the office is that Sammy Lee is at Melwood as I type (and has been for the last 2 days) to replace Alex Miller. I'll be happy with that (re) appointment.

Yeah that'd be good - I was saying when Pako left and Sammy got sacked we should've brought him in as Assistant Manager

[DeNeo]

Now on the offal:

Rafa Benitez has confirmed first-team coach Alex Miller will leave Anfield to become manager of J League side JEF United Chiba.

The Scot leaves for Japan after nearly a decade at Liverpool both as chief scout and, since 2004, as part of the coaching staff.

Benitez confirmed Miller would be replaced over the summer.

He told Liverpoolfc.tv: "It is very positive news for Alex. This is a very good opportunity for him to coach in Japan.

"It means we will be promoting some of the existing coaching staff and also over the summer we will be looking to bring in a replacement.

"We have some names and options but need more discussion first.

"I want to wish Alex all the best in his new job."

Chiba are bottom of the J League standings after collecting two points from 11 games so far this season - a run which led to Croatian coach Josip Kuze being sacked on Wednesday.

Miller enjoyed a 15-year playing career with Rangers before earning his European coaching licence.

His managerial CV includes South China AA, St Mirren and Hibernian, who he led to the Scottish League Cup.

[Graham S]

The bit of A Season on the Brink where Sammy Lee is packing up his office is a very sad moment.

[DeNeo]

It's a bit annoying how people are insinuating that £15million is too much for Crouch:

One player who seems certain to be on his way out of Anfield is Crouch, the England forward, even though Benítez informed clubs such as Villa and Portsmouth yesterday that the asking price would be £15million for a player who has started only nine Premier League matches this season and will be available on a free transfer when his contract expires in June 2009.

Bent went for over £16million last year. Ok Crouch is in the last year of his contract, but he's come on so much since we spent £7million on him. It's about time we started getting decent money for our players - especially the English ones who are always overpriced when we go for them.

[rjpageuk]

Crouch didnt even make it to the bench today so it looks like he is off in the summer for sure unless he is injured.

[Kelthink]

Crouch didnt even make it to the bench today so it looks like he is off in the summer for sure unless he is injured.

I didn't think there was much doubt, myself.

Also, Voronin scored! Lol what

EDIT: Lol Torres, too. Beat von Horseface's record. B)

[Takizawa]

Anyone watch the game? How did Insua get on?

[V3zna]

How did Insua get on?

His team mates don't always take advantage of his forward runs and in both matches his defending got better the longer the match went on. He's going to be an important player if we stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation.

[Commander Jameson]

Now that we are done, what are peoples' thoughts on this season?

Overall, it has been a disappointing season for me because of a number of factors:

Starting off well, then losing momentum once we lost Agger in that first international break, only getting some solidity when we got Skrtl

Still failing to take our chances to convert draws to wins or holding onto a lead

Having ManU do a double over us again and us failing mentally at OT again

The boardroom shenanigans

Poor seasons from a number of key players

Lacklustre performances from fringe players when they do get their chance to play

That own goal

ManU getting closer to our league championship record

On the plus side:

Best foreign debut season since Van Nistelrooy. What an absolute superstar he's become!

Skrtl has been very solid since his arrival (our Vidic?). Hopefully, we will see him and Agger form our first choice centre-back partnership next season

Reina - winning the Golden Glove for the third season running (not that anyone would ever mention it)

Unfortunately, I can't see much changing for next season. We may improve our first team, but not more than ManU or Chelsea will, so we will still be playing catch-up. Third or fourth again for us, I reckon.

[rjpageuk]

I agree with pretty much everything you said CJ although I am slightly more positive about next season.

I think if Agger can stay fit it will make a difference to our defence next year as we did leak a few more goals than usual but we scored a lot more and I think this can continue next year. We scored more goals this year than any other team in all competitions didnt we?

[Commander Jameson]

I know you probably meant this, but just incase you didn't... Torres hasn't the best foreign debut season since Van Nistelrooy. He has had the best foreign debut season full stop. Bettering RVN's season.

Ah excellent! I knew he was at least level after yesterday. Cheers for the clarification, tbb.

[ras el hanout]

What bothers me most about this season is that we could have won the Premiership this season had it not been for Rafa's fucking about for most of it. When he wasn't trying to be clever we looked really good. Unfortunately it was too late. Hopefully he won't fuck around next season and hopefully he'll buy loads of players.

[Guest]

What bothers me most about this season is that we could have won the Premiership this season had it not been for Rafa's fucking about for most of it. When he wasn't trying to be clever we looked really good. Unfortunately it was too late. Hopefully he won't fuck around next season and hopefully he'll buy loads of players.

Well it's hard to say for sure...but once he started playing a more consistent side we dropped out of our slump and looked much, much better.

I guess Rafa would say "They had to be rested" - that's right so we were fresh to come 4th and lose the UCL semi final

[Sng]

Yeah, wasn't that crazy bad patch when he was rotating and not playing the likes of Torres? Losing to West Ham and then drawing to the likes of Villa, Boro and Wigan. If that never happened and we actually got some points against Chelsea and Man Utd then things could have been very different.

Although I'm sure you can say the same about certain Man Utd/Chelsea results.

[dogsout]

He settled on a system but he kept rotating right to the end. He's not going to stop rotating but hopefully he'll stick to the system for the most part next year. He seems to have realised that he can't influence Premiership games tactically in the same way he can in Europe (and did in Spain). It's best to set out with our own style and impose it on the opposition than worry about countering their's. Especially against the mid - bottom table teams. A lot will depend on whether he can bring in the players he wants over the summer. The ownership debacle has to get sorted out one way or the other before the start of next season as well. Stability must be found or we'll flounder again next year.

[Commander Jameson]

Can we please put this "Torres rotation" myth to bed? As far as I can work out, Torres has played in most of the games he could have played in (when he was not injured). The media (Sky in particular) have put this out there and it has been lapped up by every detractor of Rafa. Yes, Rafa has rotated both players and systems to our cost, but Torres is not one of them.

[dogsout]

I guess Rafa would say "They had to be rested" - that's right so we were fresh to come 4th and lose the UCL semi final

Look at Fabregas in the second half of the season compared to the first; had he been afforded the same level of rest that Torres was (which amounts to a few Premier League games and some cup appearances) perhaps he'd have carried his impressive form over from the first half into the second. I don't think it's fair to fault the man for "needlessly resting players" when his handling of them has worked in terms of their fitness and form being maintained over the whole season. I agree that he got his tactics wrong a few times this season which led to some bad results. It's also fair to say that he was under considerable pressure this season and nearly lost his job. Some of you have said you don't believe that the problems behind the scenes had any effect on the performances on the pitch but I think they did.

Since then he's obviously found a way to cope with the uncertainty and has got the team focussed on their football, as well as altering his approach in the Premier League. In a lot of ways I'm hopeful for next season but I am worried about the club's financial problems and whether or not stability will be found over the summer. Man U and Chelsea will definitely strengthen further and we could be left even further behind if we're not careful.

Edit: What Commander Jameson said.

[Guest]

We could do with the Prem next year. As we all know Man U are now on 17 titles, 1 behind us. Plus if they win in Moscow...

Not acceptable!

Look at Fabregas in the second half of the season compared to the first; had he been afforded the same level of rest that Torres was perhaps he'd have carried his impressive form over from the first half into the second. I don't think it's fair to fault the man for "needlessly resting players" when his handling of them has worked in terms of their fitness and form being maintained over the whole season. I agree that he got his tactics wrong a few times this season which led to some bad results. It's also fair to say that he was under considerable pressure this season and nearly lost his job. Some of you have said you don't believe that the problems behind the scenes had any effect on the performances on the pitch but I think they did.

1) Fair enough. I'm just an internet guy and they are experts. I'll have faith

2) I do believe at the start of the problems it did affect the side most definately. Then I think after a while they handled it much better.