Bloggers of the Round Table - Part 1: The Fate of Liverpool?

In a constant effort to keep things interesting here at the blog, we've assembled a panel of people whose work and comments we've enjoyed over the past year to discuss some of the key topics of the summer.  We'll not only be hosting the conversation here on this blog but also on the blogs and sites of others participating in the conversation.

Before I kick things off, I'll introduce everyone to the people behind this exercise.
  1. Mike Hynter - Writer at EuroSport and part of the team that produces The Fantasist;
  2. Nik Argiropoulos - Author of the YFF Assistant Manager blog;
  3. Susiendran Karunananthan - Author of the YFF Scout blog;
  4. Mohamed Killeeny - Loyal reader of our blog and Top 100 finisher in the YFF game this season;
  5. Jeremy Spitzberg - My co-blogger on our blog that is so old that we didn't need to name it to differentiate it from the others (hmm, maybe we should get on that now that there are so many good blogs out there);
  6. Neal Thurman - your host and co-blogger at http://fantasyepl.blogspot.com
For the first topic which we'll post on our blog when we get to the end of it, I'd like to start discussing club needs from the summer and I'd specifically like to start the group discussing what I think will be the most interesting story of the summer...Liverpool. What do you think SHOULD happen at Liverpool?  What do you think WILL happen at Liverpool? So many questions to answer here...additional investment? Outright sale of the club to someone who can afford to operate it? a change at manager? high profile players coming in? leaving? Seems like it could go just about anywhere.

What does every one think about Liverpool's fate this summer?

First up, Mohamed Killeeny…


Greeting from sunny Egypt to all the people over there and hopefully this will turn into something good.

All the world knows that Liverpool is in a real mess at the moment and that it is a mess that has been contributed to by a lot of people.  YES, I do blame Hicks & Gillette but I also have to add in Rafa Benitez.

What do I mean?  Benitez has spent millions and millions and still has the guts to say that he wants 4-5 players to make the team stronger!  How on earth can he say that after 5 years in charge? I do believe that the team in 2005 was much stronger than it is now and it is his fault for giving the Liverpool fans the current inadequate team.

What did the “squad” look like in 2005? Kewell, Owen, Baros, Cisse, Smicer, Hamann, Hyppia, Henchoz, Finnan, Murphy, Riise which isn’t necessarily a great team but for all of the money spent how different is that from Lucas, Aurelio, N’gog, El Zhar, Pacheco, Insua, Degen?   Need more evidence? Don’t forget the awesome transfer deals including Mark Gonzales, Sebastian Leto, Albert Riera, Antonio Nunez (Fill your jokes here Mr. Owen) plus the quick buying, rejecting, and then selling (usually at a loss) striker after striker!! (Crouch, Bellamy, Keane, Morientes, etc.).

What Should Happen?
So we reach a conclusion that Rafa can’t deal in the transfer market and that means that yes, Liverpool definitely need a new manager.  The current players have got no pace, no skills, no creativity and have been forced to use negative tactics to avoid conceding against “heavyweights” like Hull, Wigan, and Mighty Portsmouth.

What Liverpool really need is a miracle.  They need a guy like Sulyiman El Fahim of Man City.  I can’t understand why they sold the club to those Americans (I am not against the US :} ) [Editor’s Note – good thing that you’re not ].  Why don’t I understand the move? The alternative was the Dubai Holding Company whose owner is the governor of Dubai, Sheikh El Maktoum.  All you need to know about him is that he’s one of the wealthiest people on Earth.

What Will Happen?
In my opinion, Rafa will stay as they can’t sack him due to his compensation.  Gerrard and Torres will also stay and they will let Rafa have some money to buy a Spanish player  for 20M player only to sell him he next season for 10M!

Neal’s Comment
Of the group of us, Mohamed is the only Liverpool supporter and in the wake of this season’s disappointment I can see why he is so pessimistic.  I don’t think things are QUITE as dire as Mohamed thinks they are – injuries have clearly played a significant part in Liverpool’s failures. 

Nik is next up in Part 2 of this discussion…
on

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:15 AM

    @Mohamed Kileeny,you said " Benitez has spent millions and millions... " . true. but why stop at that? obviously he also recoup MILLIONS ans MILLIONS .
    "still has the guts to say that he wants 4-5 players to make the team stronger"
    lol. surely every sane manager would said this at some point in their career. lest you forget, players DO GET OLD. you need to replace quantity for quantity and if possible increase the quality.

    "What did the “squad” look like in 2005?"
    ummm, that's 2005! 5 years on you don't really expect these players to be in liverpool do you?
    kewell, injury-prone, wage sapping. Owen-"LOUD MOUTH" get us only 8mil and nunez, Baros-headsdown striker who didn't work out(not even under MON's aston villa, left for 6.5mil), Cisse(broke his feet,poor scoring record) , Smicer(age), Hamann(age), Hyppia(age), Henchoz(age and JC was coming to centre,release free), Finnan(aka mr consistent move due playing style and age), Murphy(left for 2.5mil), Riise( left for supposed under 4mil) . with this "2005" group, benitez recoup around 28mil. guess how much does torres cost?

    Lucas-(young, Liverpool's Young Player of the Season ), Aurelio(came for free, off for free, injury plagued), N’gog(goal per mins should be really decent, 1.5mil in), El Zhar(wasn't good, filler-class), Pacheco( so called up and coming? need more games, saw him too rarely), Insua(forced to play on and on and on, something got to give that is consistency), Degen(free in) . didn't cost more than 10mil for this group.

    "Mark Gonzales, Sebastian Leto, Albert Riera, Antonio Nunez " made an earning of 1mil odd on MG.made earning of 3mil odd on leto despite him not appearing for liverpool on pitch AT ALL(work permit issue).riera- unhappy issue with benitez despite having a decent to good showing) nunez was forced down benitez's throat(free in , free out). with riera still here, we spend like 4mil on this group. surely this are "awesome" transfer deals.

    "plus the quick buying, rejecting, and then selling " if players don't work out, then they've got to go! you don't want inept players staying around do you? especially with only little to no loss as a penalty. lol, quick buy-sell? crouch? 3 season playing for us? no? signed at 7mil sold at 11mil? bellamy was and still is a firecracker. right choice to sell. keane, yes. but look who bought him from us? if benitez is an idiot, someone is a bigger fool. Morientes didn't work out well. just like plenty of footballers moving to other leagues, not a surprise really.

    ~Newbie

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  2. John Capper11:17 AM

    Benitez went through an irritatingly idiosyncratic team selection period which broke the cohesion and rhythm of his squad. One can only doubt his judgment from the uncertaincy displayed and the poor performances of his teams. Why sell Crouch, an England squad quality forward? Most of his buys have not been worth the money payed out. Who scout's for these players he buys because their advise has been catastrophic? Cynically they could be on commission from Man Utd and their poor judgment should lead to their recommendations being suspect and their dismissal. How come Everton have found such top quality local talent and Liverpool have not? The Board of Directors voted a six year contract extension so they definitely compounded the club's problems. If he won't leave don't reward him by a handout; let him stay but APPOINT A MANAGER LIKE MARK HUGHES OVER THE TEAM AND REASSIGN BENITEZ's DUTIES. He'll soon go, and cheaply too.

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