Andy Carroll - Best Striker in the World

[kris90210]

Its very easy in hindsight saying this

We had less than 48 hours to find a replacement

We tried for a few others and failed

I think its a stretch to believe we could have negotiated 2 or 3 transfers in that space of time

Remember even the Carroll signing was cutting it fine at the time

That's true. But at what point should we have said, 'no - that's too much'? With hindsight (obviously easy), we should have stopped well short of 35 million. Even if it did leave us without a replacement until the Summer. I mean, Carroll was injured anyway, so it's not like he could come straight into the team.

And I didn't mean we should have negotiated 2-3 deals in the January window. Just that for 35 million pounds we could have signed 2-3 players - talking in general terms to emphasise what bad business it was.

[Lecter]

It's a good job we ran out of time, god knows what we would've ended up paying if there were another few hours of negotiations.

[Kenneth]

Its very easy in hindsight saying this

We had less than 48 hours to find a replacement

We tried for a few others and failed

I think its a stretch to believe we could have negotiated 2 or 3 transfers in that space of time

Remember even the Carroll signing was cutting it fine at the time

Yep, complete panic buy with predictable consequences.

And of course we didn't actually have to sell Torres.


Although with 35 in the pocket, I think we could have negotiated for most players pretty easily tbh. "What do you want for x?" "About £25m", "ok, call it 30".

[Vermilion]

It's a good job we ran out of time, god knows what we would've ended up paying if there were another few hours of negotiations.

[Lecter]

That's true. But at what point should we have said, 'no - that's too much'? With hindsight (obviously easy), we should have stopped well short of 35 million. Even if it did leave us without a replacement until the Summer. I mean, Carroll was injured anyway, so it's not like he could come straight into the team.

And I didn't mean we should have negotiated 2-3 deals in the January window. Just that for 35 million pounds we could have signed 2-3 players - talking in general terms to emphasise what bad business it was.

Again this is all well and good but one of the major things behind doing business in January was it was the final window before the FFPR applied to us

I've yet to see any confirmation that money earned through transfers prior to FFPR could be carried forward into a FFPR accounting period

[kris90210]

With all due respect there is a difference between it being "part of the transfer strategy" and it being the "biggest factor"

Moneyball and sabermetrics are clearly the method that they use to target players

Yes there was a preference for British / British based players then used to further narrow selection but in no way was that the guiding principle behind our transfer policy

That is moneyball/sabermetrics

Fair enough

[red g]

That's true. But at what point should we have said, 'no - that's too much'? With hindsight (obviously easy), we should have stopped well short of 35 million. Even if it did leave us without a replacement until the Summer. I mean, Carroll was injured anyway, so it's not like he could come straight into the team.


And I didn't mean we should have negotiated 2-3 deals in the January window. Just that for 35 million pounds we could have signed 2-3 players - talking in general terms to emphasise what bad business it was.

thats was the mostbaffling thing for me, he was always going to be out for a month or two wasnt he? then he had to get back to fitness.

I think Spurs bid 15million in Mid January, then thye bid 25million with a few adays to go in the market.

Its as if we bid to stop spurs getting him. 7

pure panic buy

[Lecter]

Yep, complete panic buy with predictable consequences.

And of course we didn't actually have to sell Torres.


Although with 35 in the pocket, I think we could have negotiated for most players pretty easily tbh. "What do you want for x?" "About £25m", "ok, call it 30".

But we did try and negotiate for other players and got told to **** off

Yes even with £35 million in our pocket

[Kenneth]

It's a good job we ran out of time, god knows what we would've ended up paying if there were another few hours of negotiations.

[Phoenix07]

Guillem Balague on the Torres to Chelsea deal on February 1st 2011:

Between the moment Liverpool realised that a serious bid from Chelsea could be presented during the January transfer window and the point at which Torres signed a five and a half year deal at Stamford Bridge, the search for a replacement at Anfield became a priority over the last few weeks as Liverpool made enquiries as to the availability of the likes of Fernando Llorente and Alvaro Negredo. Liverpool ignored the first offer from Chelsea, which made before the Fulham game on the 26th of January, and dismissed it out of hand, considering it an insulting amount compared to what would be expected. But once Torres made his feelings clear on Friday night, the situation changed dramatically.

On Sunday, the increased £50 million offer from Chelsea materialised and Liverpool accepted it under the condition they could find a replacement. As reassuring as it is to have money in the bank, football wealth needs to be reflected out on the pitch: as Newcastle - considerably richer but short of a striker - may well find out.


Life goes on. Liverpool have moved on quickly, bringing in two international forwards where they previously had just one. There was an element of panic in the Carroll decision but football people at the club (Comolli, Dalglish) feel the potential justifies the outlay. Over time, the wisdom of that decision will become apparent and reflect how good the sporting hands running the club really are.

http://www.guillembalague.com/blog_desp.php?id=547&titulo=A%20difficult%20decision%20that%20Torres%20could%20not%20resist

I get the impression we were aware that Torres would be leaving a good while beforehand.

[kris90210]

But we did try and negotiate for other players and got told to **** off

Yes even with £35 million in our pocket

I thought it was reported that we bid £25m for Llorente. Did we actually offer the same amount for the other targets we were linked with? I doubt it very much.

Anyway you look at it, £35m for Carroll was really shocking business. And at this rate he could well go down as the worst transfer of all time. Let's just hope he pulls his finger out of his arse and starts playing with some fire in his belly again.

[Kenneth]

The most depressing thing is that David Ngog was a more useful player.

[cream]

An injured player as well. Why, why, why.

[Lecter]

I thought it was reported that we bid £25m for Llorente. Did we actually offer the same amount for the other targets we were linked with? I doubt it very much.

Anyway you look at it, £35m for Carroll was really shocking business. And at this rate he could well go down as the worst transfer of all time. Let's just hope he pulls his finger out of his arse and starts playing with some fire in his belly again.

We bid over £30 million for Llorente

Got told to do one he wasnt for sale at any price

There was others at the time we were linked with (cant remember the names) but again we got told to do one

Carroll was there and available so we paid it (rightly or wrongly) the others werent available

[Lecter]

Ah just seen Phoenix's post Negredo was the other player

Either him or Llorente would have been good buys, but they werent available

Oh well