Liverpool Season 2010/11

[smithy]

Hopefully the new manager gets rid of Lucas, Insua, Riera, El Zhar and Ngog for starters.

[smithy]

Harry redknapp has been linked with a 12 million pound bid for Lucas Leiva.
Apparently he has been a fan of the player for a while now and feels he will mature as a player despite much criticism from liverpool fans.

link - lucas linked with spurs

[smithy]

Rafa Benitez flew back to Liverpool to say goodbye to friends and left the Hillsborough Justice Campaign with a 96k pound donation.
A wonderful parting gesture on his part.

[devilsadvocate]

Harry redknapp has been linked with a 12 million pound bid for Lucas Leiva.
Apparently he has been a fan of the player for a while now and feels he will mature as a player despite much criticism from liverpool fans.

link - lucas linked with spurs

That's classic stuff there.

[devilsadvocate]

Rafa Benitez flew back to Liverpool to say goodbye to friends and left the Hillsborough Justice Campaign with a 96k pound donation.
A wonderful parting gesture on his part.

It's not that wonderful though is it?

He's been handed a 12m payout and then gives HJC less than 1% of that payout as a donation?

I find it more insulting that wonderful.

Better than nothing though I guess

[smithy]

Harry redknapp has been linked with a 12 million pound bid for Lucas Leiva.
Apparently he has been a fan of the player for a while now and feels he will mature as a player despite much criticism from liverpool fans.

link - lucas linked with spurs

That's classic stuff there.

Took you long enough.

[devilsadvocate]

Harry redknapp has been linked with a 12 million pound bid for Lucas Leiva.
Apparently he has been a fan of the player for a while now and feels he will mature as a player despite much criticism from liverpool fans.

link - lucas linked with spurs

That's classic stuff there.

Took you long enough.

Bit slow off the block sometimes.
Brains and Spurs fans are mutually exclusive!

[smithy]

Rafa Benitez flew back to Liverpool to say goodbye to friends and left the Hillsborough Justice Campaign with a 96k pound donation.
A wonderful parting gesture on his part.

It's not that wonderful though is it?

He's been handed a 12m payout and then gives HJC less than 1% of that payout as a donation?

I find it more insulting that wonderful.

Better than nothing though I guess

DA - That's a very harsh and spiteful post.
He got a 6 million pound payout so he's not as rich as you say he is.

It's not often a foreigner, either as player or manager take to a city in the UK.
RAFA did, and the fans loved him for it.
He didn't have to make the donation, he donated 96K as 96 is a significant number as far as Hillsborough is concerned.
I'm not sure how you find his gesture insulting, I don't think any LFC supporter does.
He'll always be welcome back in the city, especially if Lucas is sold very quickly.

[devilsadvocate]

He didn't have to make the donation, he donated 96K as 96 is a significant number as far as Hillsborough is concerned.
I'm not sure how you find his gesture insulting, I don't think any LFC supporter does.

Yeah fair enough. No spite intended. I understand the significance of the 96.
My only bitterness is that one man can receive such a huge payout after a poor result for the season.
Didn't mean to offend.

[smithy]

It was just over a week ago that the Liverpool hierarchy finally confirmed that they had decided to mutually consent to the departure of manager Rafael Benítez. Benítez was officially announced as the new coach of Inter Milan yesterday, with reports coming out of Italy suggesting his transfer fund at his new club will be an astonishing £80m. But Benítez wasn’t presented to the media and fans yesterday, that takes place next week.

Instead he was in Liverpool, saying his goodbyes after returning from holiday. One of those goodbyes was to the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG). Just to take time out of what must now be a hectic period for him was a touching gesture from a man who had no obligation whatsoever to do so. But then he handed over a cheque for £96,000 of his own money; it takes little imagination to work out just how moving that gesture was to the vast majority of supporters.

Most of the cynics – because there are always cynics – have wisely chosen to keep their opinions to themselves. The few that couldn’t are best ignored, along with their future opinions on issues surrounding the club.


The HFSG knew that Rafa wanted to meet them and say farewell, and they knew he wanted to make a donation. But as chairwoman Margaret Aspinall explained, the really were taken by surprise: “When he handed me the cheque and I looked at it and saw the amount, it was quite emotional,” she said. “I didn’t know he would be so generous.”

Benítez has seen and felt the pain that Hillsborough continues to cause. The man some describe as cold and unfeeling seems to be anything but when he’s dealing with people who actually deserve some warmth. And Margaret, mother of James who was just 18 when he was taken from her, certainly deserves some warmth. She was clearly taken aback by the gesture and led the calls to persuade Rafa to rethink his request for no publicity.

“He has always been supportive in the past. He just wanted to feel as though he had given something back,” she said. “What he is really doing is thanking the fans and knowing the truth is in their hearts. It shows where his heart is.”

Few of those who pass judgement on Rafa’s character have actually ever spent a great deal of time with him, but Margaret always speaks from the heart, she isn’t trained in how to say the right thing for PR purposes, she says what she means. And her words call into question so much of what is said about the man: “He is just a nice, genuine man. We have never had this before from any manager. He didn’t have to come and meet the committee personally – it was an absolutely fantastic gesture.”

Speaking about how it will be put to use, she said: “It will keep the memorial service going for a long time to come and will pay expenses that we cannot afford as individuals.”

Asked what she said when he handed the cheque over, she said: “What can you say to that? We said thank you on behalf of the 96.”

But to Margaret the gesture had a much larger meaning, hence the reasons for her to push for it to be made public: “I think the fans need to know about the gesture. I am not talking about the money, but how he feels for the fans. He feels so much compassion for the fans and I think he is going to miss them. It was just nice to know that he wanted to see us before he went.”

[smithy]

He didn't have to make the donation, he donated 96K as 96 is a significant number as far as Hillsborough is concerned.
I'm not sure how you find his gesture insulting, I don't think any LFC supporter does.

Yeah fair enough. No spite intended. I understand the significance of the 96.
My only bitterness is that one man can receive such a huge payout after a poor result for the season.
Didn't mean to offend.

No offence taken at all.
I bet Purslow, Hicks or Gillette won't make a donation.
Ironically, I first read about this story from a link to the S*N newspaper !

[devilsadvocate]

Most of the cynics – because there are always cynics – have wisely chosen to keep their opinions to themselves. The few that couldn’t are best ignored, along with their future opinions on issues surrounding the club.

[smithy]

Most of the cynics – because there are always cynics – have wisely chosen to keep their opinions to themselves. The few that couldn’t are best ignored, along with their future opinions on issues surrounding the club.

LOL I did have a giggle when I read that.

If you look at RAFA's bank account, he ain't gonna go to cash converters in a hurry, but it was nice of him to make that donation.

[devilsadvocate]

Haha, as you're well aware, I do have a tendency to speak first, think second!

[LMA]

It was just over a week ago that the Liverpool hierarchy finally confirmed that they had decided to mutually consent to the departure of manager Rafael Benítez. Benítez was officially announced as the new coach of Inter Milan yesterday, with reports coming out of Italy suggesting his transfer fund at his new club will be an astonishing £80m. But Benítez wasn’t presented to the media and fans yesterday, that takes place next week.

Instead he was in Liverpool, saying his goodbyes after returning from holiday. One of those goodbyes was to the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG). Just to take time out of what must now be a hectic period for him was a touching gesture from a man who had no obligation whatsoever to do so. But then he handed over a cheque for £96,000 of his own money; it takes little imagination to work out just how moving that gesture was to the vast majority of supporters.

Most of the cynics – because there are always cynics – have wisely chosen to keep their opinions to themselves. The few that couldn’t are best ignored, along with their future opinions on issues surrounding the club.


The HFSG knew that Rafa wanted to meet them and say farewell, and they knew he wanted to make a donation. But as chairwoman Margaret Aspinall explained, the really were taken by surprise: “When he handed me the cheque and I looked at it and saw the amount, it was quite emotional,” she said. “I didn’t know he would be so generous.”

Benítez has seen and felt the pain that Hillsborough continues to cause. The man some describe as cold and unfeeling seems to be anything but when he’s dealing with people who actually deserve some warmth. And Margaret, mother of James who was just 18 when he was taken from her, certainly deserves some warmth. She was clearly taken aback by the gesture and led the calls to persuade Rafa to rethink his request for no publicity.

“He has always been supportive in the past. He just wanted to feel as though he had given something back,” she said. “What he is really doing is thanking the fans and knowing the truth is in their hearts. It shows where his heart is.”

Few of those who pass judgement on Rafa’s character have actually ever spent a great deal of time with him, but Margaret always speaks from the heart, she isn’t trained in how to say the right thing for PR purposes, she says what she means. And her words call into question so much of what is said about the man: “He is just a nice, genuine man. We have never had this before from any manager. He didn’t have to come and meet the committee personally – it was an absolutely fantastic gesture.”

Speaking about how it will be put to use, she said: “It will keep the memorial service going for a long time to come and will pay expenses that we cannot afford as individuals.”

Asked what she said when he handed the cheque over, she said: “What can you say to that? We said thank you on behalf of the 96.”

But to Margaret the gesture had a much larger meaning, hence the reasons for her to push for it to be made public: “I think the fans need to know about the gesture. I am not talking about the money, but how he feels for the fans. He feels so much compassion for the fans and I think he is going to miss them. It was just nice to know that he wanted to see us before he went.”

Ha Ha is that Bruno in the background

[devilsadvocate]

[smithy]

I wonder if Roy Hodgson will pick Lucas when it's announced he's the new manager.

[devilsadvocate]

Roy Hodgson will turn Lucas into ronaldinho, kaka and maicon combined!

IMO Roy is the perfect fit for the Liverpool job as it currently stands. And moving to liverpool is a great gig for Roy!

I just hope that after man citeh finish their fantasy buys, Roy takes Liverpool to a higher finish than those spoilt brats.

[JK]

Im not sure how to describe my thoughts on this properly, but here goes ... I have plenty of respect for Hodgson and his achievements, but I have no doubt the club is "skimping" on the cost of a manager - Particularly if it still harbors ambition to be a big club.

That's not intended in anyway to be disrespectful toward Roy and I hope I'm wrong .. He's well earned an opportunity to lead one of the higher placed clubs (no disrespect intended toward Fulham either), Im just not sure Im comfortable with it.

I hope the club doesn't do the wrong thing by him either.

[devilsadvocate]

C_P, I thought a similar thing when old mate Arry took over at Spurs.

I thought he was great for saving us from relegation, but that as long as he stayed, we'd be mid table. The rest is history.

Looking through Fulhams list for 2009/2010, Roy worked miracles. Schwartzer was better than ever. Danny Murphy had his best season. Zamora was a revelation. Their defence was a tight unit that was almost impenetrable at times.

IMO - Liverpool's only problem is their skimping on players. There is no depth whatsoever. The club can't afford one top 4 quality teams, let alone 2 or 3 like Chelski and Citeh can. But I bet Roy could work miracles on a budget which stretched further than Gina Wild's back door.

If you got say a Capello or even Jose with the current list and no budget, you'd be in the relegation scrap IMO. Bring in Roy or even Sparky and I bet they'd perform miracles.