Liverpool Banter Archive August 24 2014

24 Aug 2014 21:54:49
Anyone see Lazar Markovic's interview? Love the confidence the guy has, seems like he is very focused on being the best player he can be.

Really looking forward to the game, maybe see a cameo from markovic himself and possibly Moreno which is exciting! Come on the Reds!

If he works as hards as he talks, he`ll be a great signing.

24 Aug 2014 20:22:38
Super excited for tomorrow's game now! We raised our game for the big games last season, let's do exactly the same this season, picking up points vs the top 4 away would be a big advantage! Can Definetely see us scoring 2, will just depend on how many they score!
I predict 2-2, but am hoping for more!

24 Aug 2014 17:38:23
A couple of question if okay Eds01/02

1) While you can't give definite answer but do you think Borini will likely stay at LFC, or has anything changed in terms of a move to Sunderland or Italy?

2) Do you think LFC are using their youth players wisely? I guess I ask this with a preconceived notion that BR probably won't give most of them much/enough game time?

Personally I rate Borini and hope he stays but only if he was to get game time which is maybe unlikely and I do hope some of the Youth squad get decent game time. there is some real talent there but I guess when your with a big club and wanting win big things managers may feel its too risky so play safe?

Anyway, thanks for all your work

{Ed002's Note - (1) I can't answer that but have explained about Sunderland wanting him, him wanting Inter, Inter not wanting him, his agent looking for a buyer in Spain, could end up on loan if no buyer. (2) Until thi summer it looked like there was a plan for the younger players - get them to the fringes of the team and loans for experience for some. Now, it looks like there is no real plan in terms of go out and get a couple of years experience and we will see where we are. Hence the issue with Suso, the sale of Kelly etc.. None of this looked likely before Brendan Rodgers was given the candy store key. I would advise that the club need to be careful here.}

Your summary or borini sounds like my love life ed.

Lot of people agree with you on here about that Benny - he's hoping you aren't in a relationship with 7 of the posters ;oP

24 Aug 2014 19:22:11
Ed0002, You have refferred to Rogers as a kid in a candy store quite a few times in your replies to different posters. I think we had to bring in a number of players this window to cope with the extra CL games, to field a more competitive team in cup games and to just generally improve our team/squad/bench. What other team in recent history has been successful with a very small squad and relied on inexperienced youth players coming through the ranks? When people talk about Chelsea or Man city, nobody mentions Candy stores, they all mention how strong their squads are with strength in depth, Why are Liverpool any different? Of course we will all have different opinions on which players should have been brought in, but IMO opinion, our squad is far stronger for the players we have brought in than if we had relied on youth players to fill the gaps.
Its is a brilliant ideal, and a great thing to see youth players develop and make it through to first team football, but the reality is that very few do make it, no matter how well they do at youth level. It just seems Rogers is getting bashed unfairly for improving our squad.

{Ed002's Note - The squad did need improving, it did need a little more depth. The Champions League games are of no significance numerically. AS I said, it would be more comfortable if there appeared to be some plan for the remaining squad members and the younger players. There isn't. Many of the players from last year have been returned to their clubs, sold or put out on loan (Aspas, Ilori, Cissoko, Moses, Albert for example) because they were bad buys or loans by Rodgers. Assaidi will be sold or loaned. A replacement has been bought for Sakho - for more than double Liverpooll could have had the same player last year. They came in to add depth to the squad and improve it. It didn't work. Liverpool has a very good academy and players were gradually brought through to provide cover and to sometimes get their chance. No plan exists now - Rodgers is going to them one by one, giving them a kick in the balls and interrupting their career. Kelly has been sold. Suso - has he got a future? Quite frankly, there appears to be no plan.}

Funny Post Benny!

25 Aug 2014 12:21:42
i get where your coming from Ed. and at the moment it does seem like a bit of an overload. but since Rogers first came in with his plan he has said he would like two players for each position. we now have that but with slight excess. i'm sure a lot of us are expecting and hoping a few players leave come the end of the month. and not because we want certain players gone but because we are worried about the financial status of the club at the moment. since the Dempsey saga leaving us with one striker for a period of time, it seems as if we are buying before we sell. as I assume this left Rogers fuming at the time. weather this is the right way to do business with a club that is trying to get its head above water i'm not so sure. I admit it scares me. but if this is the case, then there is a plan behind this madness. injuries and drops in form are inevitable and with two senior players for each position this for me does leave a place for our academy players to see and get the opportunities they deserve.

{Ed002's Note - Much of my concern is where Rodgers is with the players he has brought in. People are hailing him as a great "man manager" and whilst I have seen him do very well with youngsters in the past, I look at the players he bought before this window and sort of figure he really has a poor buying history:
Fabio Borini – club want him sold
Joe Allen – squad player
Oussama Assaidi – club want him sold
Nuri Sahin – loan that never worked out
Samed Yesil – left on loan
Daniel Sturridge – good buy, good price, great return on investment – let’s hope he can work with Balotelli.
Philippe Coutinho – still on the fringe a little but a good buy, good price – will he have a regular place with the new players coming in?
João Carlos Teixeira – high expectations, out on loan – will he ever get a chance?
Luis Alberto - left on loan
Iago Aspas - left on loan
Simon Mignolet – played all of last season and team got second place
Kolo Touré – club were willing to let him move on but personal terms could not be agreed
Aly Cissokho – loan that never worked out
Mamadou Sakho – club may well have replaced him with a player they could have bought last year for less than half of what was paid for Kirikou
Tiago Ilori - left on loan
Victor Moses – loan that never worked out.

I am pretty sure that given the £120M or whatever players cost, pretty much any Liverpool fan would have spent the money differently.}

25 Aug 2014 13:42:23
i agree with you completely. its a scary time financially for Liverpool right now. Rogers is a very good young manager but is also clearly still learning and has a way to go before becoming a "great" manager. for me Moses and Cissokho were always cover with no intentions to be made permanent. I could be wrong. so does that mean in your opinion Sakho was brought in to be the leader at the back when still having to learn english first.? not a great move if that's the case. the one move this window that has thrown me a bit has been lallana. great player don't get me wrong but with Coutinho developing at a fast rate, Texiera finally getting his chance last season and Suso being on the fringes I feel we could of held off with that transfer for now. for me that was either a careless buy or we have a plan to sell Coutinho for a large sum in the coming windows.

{Ed002's Note - I don't think Sakho was ever seen as a short-term solution but Lovren seems to be a like for like replacement for him. If all Rodgers wanted was cover, then the younger players could have provided that. In taking players, particularly expensive players like Moses and Cissokho on loan, Liverpool would be telling them they are there to get games, not to provide cover. Maybe they were not good enough, but certainly they were a result of further misjudgement by Rodgers. I would think Lallana is seen as the Gerrard replacement and future club captain. Coutinho will be looking at the likes of Lallana and Markovic and wondering. Suso will be staring forlornly through the rear window of the 1947 Foden charabanc as it takes the team to tonight's game.}

Well said EDD002, well said, people sometimes can't see the wood for the tree's. .

24 Aug 2014 15:46:18
Eds, how come the new teams page is not having any posts put up? I tried to post a team, and it was just never posted

{Ed033's Note - You didn't look very hard. The last team you submitted and that we received is on the teams page at timestamp: 21 Aug 2014 21:44:18.

Ed002 wrote an entertaining article that we have placed at the top of the Liverpool teams page.

All new posts on the team page appear under Ed002's excellent article.

, i'll look harder in future

24 Aug 2014 13:00:03
Ed,
Do you mind talking us through how a medical works? Why do some clubs take longer than others?

{Ed001's Note - you would need a doctor to really talk you through it. The main reason ours take so long is because we are more thorough and it takes time to get the results back from scans etc.}

24 Aug 2014 13:54:09
Ed what is the latest on radamel falcao! I know his interest is in Real Madrid but have we made any move towards him or is he on Brendan Rodgers list?

{Ed002's Note - Try the European pages.}

With di maria to utd almost completed, that would most likely confirm falcao to madrid me thinks.

24 Aug 2014 12:55:43
Any news on any outgoings?

Coates, Robinson, Adorjan, Assiadi, Yesil, Borini

Possibly?

Johnson, Agger, Lucas

{Ed002's Note - Liverpool will be looking to loan players if they cannot be sold as it is critical to try and balance the books in terms of wages. That would be far from ideal and shifts the issue to next year.}

24 Aug 2014 12:14:47
{Ed002's Note - Romero wants first team football but is struggling to find it - being on the bench at Dinamo Moscow did not

Ed does this mean Liverpool are considering him to be No 1 if we sign him, Or that he'll be happy to be understudy in the prem.

Sorry if you can't answer this but thanks in advance anyway.

{Ed002's Note - No, it means that he didn't get assurances from Dinamo despite their playing a 40 year old as first choice. The world does not revolve around Liverpool.}

24 Aug 2014 13:47:38
I didn't think the world did revolve around Liverpool that is why I asked IF we sign him as you have said there is reported interest AND said he wanted 1st team football, So Liverpool interest + Wants 1st team football I just asked about Liverpool in particular, You no with it being the LIVERPOOL banter page as you often tell posters to go to a certain teams page if there post does concern Liverpool.

{Ed002's Note - Try the Dinamo Moscow page - it is dealt with at length there.}

Well it does If your an lfc fan! :)

My world does Ed!

My world does Ed!

{Ed002's Note - Maybe that is the problem Monster Magnet.}

24 Aug 2014 10:50:04
Very sad to hear Albert Ebosse was killed directly after a football match by fans throwing rocks.

Very sad to hear. It's disgusting that some "fans" decide to throw rocks at a player.

RIP, too young to fall.

24 Aug 2014 12:29:56
I have to agree. This is incredibly sad. A proper example should be made and fans shown that there is no place in football (domestic or international) for this kind of behaviour.

It is murder! It goes beyond football

24 Aug 2014 10:09:07
Not Liverpool related but just like to ask anyone know what age drogba actually is lol.

24 Aug 2014 10:57:42
The same age as Ed002 :-D

I know there's a debate about the real ages of African players, but surely he's not claiming to be 21 reet?

25 Aug 2014 10:24:36
More like 15 griff.

24 Aug 2014 09:32:35
Epicpotato I think it is down the page has highlighted the hypocricy of posters on this site, 83% think balotelli is a good buy yet a few days before 69% stated it wpuld be a bad buy.

What a bunch of opinionless lemmings some posters on here are, pretty much anything I post gets a negative reply on here which is fair enough but at least its my genuine opinion and its not bs to get a pat on the back off the i'm Liverpools number 1 fan brigade.

{Ed002's Note - "Opinionless lemmings" or simply "fickle football fans"? We will see when a 34 year old John Terry comes in to shore up the defence in January Waro.}

Haha. That's what I was trying to point out Waro. I just didn't want to be as harsh as to label the masses as "opinionless lemmings".

Everyone against Mario signing when it didn't look likely, but now that he looks very likely, people change their mind.

Well said.

24 Aug 2014 10:21:04
I think it's football fans in general Waro, only with a lot of supporters it's the other way round, as in when it looks like they're club is signing a player, said player is the best in the world, then when they sign for someone else they claim to not want them anyway. Football brings out the worst in people I find, it can make people hypocritical, unreasonable and irrational, and completely blinded by love for a club. It's just more noticeable with use because there are so many of us who use these pages. All of the LFC supporters I know in real life are not a reflection on these boards and are supportive of anyone who the club signs. It's amazing what people will say when they have the protection of a computer screen and a keyboard.

I don't normally agree with you Waro, but this is spot on

24 Aug 2014 10:26:48
Maybe it's a case of if BR thinks he can handle him, then that's good enough for us.

I think A reason for this is, people guessed the cost would be higher than £16m so then it would be bad, I thought he wasnt worth the fee I thought he would cost, £25m, as he is potential trouble, but he is undoubtedly talented so £16m is worth the risk.

{Ed002's Note - Ignore the costs completely.}

24 Aug 2014 12:14:27
You will be bombarded with terry posts now Ed002
Brace yourself.

{Ed002's Note - It will be easier to get them out of the way now rather than at the start of the January window. He won't make the Leicester game but should be registered for the Sunderland match on January 6.}

People not allowed to change their opinions on a player now? What is the point in some of these posts exactly?

24 Aug 2014 12:38:38
Correct me if I am wrong Waro. Everyone said that Balo is a good player for us but they don't want us to sign him due to his off-field issues.
2 weeks before the question was something like 'do you want us to sign Balotelli?' which most given no as the options due to his baggage but many indicated he will be better than Bony as a player.

24 Aug 2014 13:55:51
The poll wouldn't of been answered by the same people, meaning no one is a leeming.

{Ed002's Note - Go point - no leemings here.}

Don't know about anyone else but i've been pro Balo all along

The only thing that changed in those 2 weeks, was that we showed interest. Price was never brought into either question was it?

25 Aug 2014 04:36:32
Waro, I disagree with just about everything you say. But in this instance you are 100% bang on the money in my humble opinion. there's a great article on line by someone at the Guardian. its highlights are;
Gazzetta dello Sport has just calculated that in 568 days at Milan he made them 788 different headlines. Mario Sconcerti, writing in Corriere della Sera, neatly summed up the Balotelli phenomenon as "the strange talent of making everyone happy when he arrives and even happier when he leaves".
Mourinho reckons his book of Balotelli anecdotes would stretch to 200 pages and the one he likes to tell the most is a belter. "We went to play Rubin Kazan in the Champions League. All my other strikers were injured. No Diego Milito, no Samuel Eto'o. I was really in trouble. Mario got a yellow card in the 42nd minute and when I got into the dressing room at half-time I spent 14 minutes of the 15 available speaking to Mario. I said to him: 'Mario, I can't change you, I have no strikers on the bench, don't touch anybody and play only the ball. Mario, if someone provokes you, don't react. If we lose the ball, no reaction. If the referee makes a mistake, no reaction." A pause.
"The 46th minute: red card."
At City, the coaches recall how they would give him DVDs to swot up on the opposition then realise he was watching Laurel and Hardy movies instead. They remember him being fascinated with the sliding doors at their training ground and driving slowly towards the entrance in his camouflage sports car, mounting the kerb to see how close he could get before the glass swung open.

This is a guy who was out with a shoulder injury for Milan recently and posted a photograph of himself on Instagram playing table tennis. Only Balotelli could excuse himself from a game with flu - Milan's friendly against Valencia last Sunday - then take part in a charity ice-bucket challenge the following day and not understand how it looked.

The above can be found at:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/aug/23/Liverpool-mario-balotelli-song

25 Aug 2014 12:07:31
Agreed Waro, I haven't commented on the Balo signing, but if I am honest I was against it. Given a choice I would rather it fell through now and we used Borini or any other option. I think (at any other club) Balo was really funny and a complete nutter. However he is lazy, doesn't train properly and doesn't' take care of himself.

'The cult of Balo' is more important to him than his footie career. For me that is unforgivable. Like most fans I would cut off my right nut for a shot at playing for LFC! He is great to watch when he isn't wearing a liver bird upon his chest, but it won't be funny when he is! A lot of people on here who seem happy about this transfer were frothing at the mouth to get Suarez out after the last biting incident.

NOW you want a bipolar megalomaniac in our team? Sorry but I am anti this deal and won't apologise for it. However the second he signs he becomes a red and I will get behind him, because I have too, I'm a fan and it's what we do!

Like just about everyone on here I seriously hope I am wrong about him and that he met Ed002 on his travels, the ed changed water into wine and fed it to a recently religious Balo who was miraculously cured of a massive ego and numerous mental disorders. Not that I doubt the Eds powers but I seriously doubt he has changed despite his promises. It looks like a wait and see for us!

24 Aug 2014 03:29:01
As soon as balotelli joins I think borini will be shipped unless there is a change of thought from Liverpool. Still like borini a lot but the infamous balotelli is better. Man city here we come!

Borini needs to leave for the sake of his career. The only time he will start a game is in the domestic cups, and that certainly will not be enough to make the Italy squad for the Euro Finals in 2016. The lad needs to start thinking with his mind than with his backside and be realistic about his chances at the club. Sunderland would be a good option for the next couple of seasons, because he could always go back to a top club in his homeland if he does well at Sunderland.

24 Aug 2014 07:27:17
I am sure it's apparent to him that he's not needed, and basically at the moment the greater risk is his own, if the man believes that there's a better opportunity for him other than Sunderland, then do let him wait. I suspect the £14m fee agreed with Liverpool has forced a few possible teams looking elsewhere.

And if not Sunderland, I suspect he'll go for lesser fee than what's on the table right now.

{Ed002's Note - He does not want to move to Sunderland and his representatives are looking for alternatives in Italy now it seems he won't get a chance to move to Inter where he wanted to go. I would put aside thoughts of specific amounts of money.}

Jordan Henderson refused to go to Fulham. I am really glad he did that, because he has proved he is up to playing for our club. If Borini wants to stay and compete for a place, then it's surely up to him. I believe that he will go to Sunderland, but I don't think we should force him out. Imo saying stuff like thinking with his backside, and being realistic is totally disrespecting him. At the end of the day he was injured for most of his first season, he went out on loan last season and was Sunderlands young player of the yr, scoring in all of their big matches, Cup final against City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Utd, Everton. The lad couldn't have done much better to prove he has quality. Good luck Fabio.

Spot on Jiminy. Borini is a far better player than people give him credit for. Everybody wants Hernandez and yet Borini is twice the player. At least he can start a game and do well, not just score against weak and tired opposition. I'd have been happy to just keep Borini. In fact, I'd be happy to not bother with another forward and still keep him now! He is a good player with the potential to be great.

Ridiculous statement ems borini isn't even better than hernandez

Borini may be surplus to requirements but he is still a better player than Hernandez. Borini can actually create as well as score goals, ha s abetter work rate and his head never drops during a game. Hernandez is a tap in specialist, it ends there. The guy can't even dribble properly.

I agree with EMS hernandez is just a poacher with no other ability than good positioning inside the penalty box. Borini works harder, is a better passer, can play in more positions and is more likely to track back and defend.

The most important people don't want Hernandez tho. Namely the transfer committee, but they do want Mario. At some stage when you buy players some will have to be let go. Borini is in that category.

He has to go because we need to get money back in, agger borini lucas johnson assadi coates and more will be pushed towards the door as we need to try and balance the books, I wish all of them well and thank them for their service.

24 Aug 2014 14:43:04
Have to agree about hernandez, good pace, movement, and a good poachers - but has a terrible first touch and can't pass. A reason he never cemented a place at united

Take the red tints off, Borini isn't better than Hernandez