Radical football opinions - no consequences!

[Shaggy]

I miss Keys and Gray.

[truefan999]

Carroll will prove to be a massive waste of money. We will sell him in 2-3 years for £10-15m to a team like Villa.

Kenny is not the answer and should not be the manager next year.

Carragher has been on of the problems with our team. He is anti-football. He is a brilliant stopper and can organise a defence but he cannot play football and this effects our general style of play. Indeed he has only flourished under managers with negative approaches to football (GH and RB).

FSG do not have the money to invest to take us back to the top. They have not spent a penny so far and will make limited funds available (i.e. maybe £10-20m extra in the summer). We will probably settle into the role of the new Villa (ie a team whose natural position is between 7th and 5th).

Steve McManaman was a liability to the club. His lack of natural position and his ill-discipline repeatedly dragged us out of shape and cost us a lot.

Souness was doing a good job (in parts) but was too brutal and honest. The club was on the decline and the players too old. The youth set up was a shambles. He tried to rebuild the club from the bottom up and he tried to replace the first team all at the same time. He did not have the money to replace them adequately. Nobody in his position could have done a better job but they could have been more diplomatic,

Grobbelaar was clearly bent. No doubt about it. This clearly let down the vlub and Souness and showed Souness was doing a better job than people thought when he had a keeper letting them in.

[PTP]

Amen to all of that, apart from the tiny bit about respect

The time was going to come sooner or later that they'd beat the record, meh. I've spent half my life without seeing another league title, and it's taken this long for someone to beat the old record. This tells me that our history is ancient and shouldn't play a part of any argument these days. Let's create a new list of honours, and enjoy them in the present. I envy Chelsea too for their league titles, but have no respect for them either.

- i try to point to our achievements in the last 10 years...which is my adult life when arguing with rival fans.....

We've still won what...two fa cups, a uefa cup, is it two carling cups? a champions league, plus super cups and charity shields? - and been to another champions league final as well as other finals, on top of that we have had a long list of recent massive massive results and famous nights that no other club in europe rivals - chelsea/real madrid/inter milan/juve when they were good/arsenal etc etc all memorable european nights.....Plus on top of that we have been involved in two or three of the best cup finals in any competitions anywhere....the 2001 fa cup, 2001 uefa cup, 2005 champions league(which trumps every final thats' ever been played)

When you look at it....considering 'how **** we are' - 'how far we have fallen' - 'how we are apparently not famous anymore' -

we've not done to badly in recent times and certainly, United and maybe arsenal and chelsea(they have the league but we have the european cup!) apart - every single football fan of every single team in the country would swap their last 10 years for ours!

[Norbs]

- i try to point to our achievements in the last 10 years...which is my adult life when arguing with rival fans.....

We've still won what...two fa cups, a uefa cup, is it two carling cups? a champions league, plus super cups and charity shields? - and been to another champions league final as well as other finals, on top of that we have had a long list of recent massive massive results and famous nights that no other club in europe rivals - chelsea/real madrid/inter milan/juve when they were good/arsenal etc etc all memorable european nights.....Plus on top of that we have been involved in two or three of the best cup finals in any competitions anywhere....the 2001 fa cup, 2001 uefa cup, 2005 champions league(which trumps every final thats' ever been played)

When you look at it....considering 'how **** we are' - 'how far we have fallen' - 'how we are apparently not famous anymore' -

we've not done to badly in recent times and certainly, United and maybe arsenal and chelsea(they have the league but we have the european cup!) apart - every single football fan of every single team in the country would swap their last 10 years for ours!

Yeah, it's a brilliant record really and comparable to most other teams, bar 2 since the millenium. Fans still talk about '18 league titles though' which is akin to telling your current wife that your late wife was far better in bed...

[MrMichael]

To a degree there's a good point there but I'd say 'underperformed' instead of 'overrated'. He was astonishingly brilliant but yet did it with the minimal effort. He could've been so much better had he worked on his fitness more

If Fowler had been better he would have been the best ever.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcv11hWfzMI"]YouTube - Robbie Fowler's greatest goals[/ame]

For his first 4 seasons or so he was just stunningly good. Then all sorts of things took a bit away, but he'll not be the first player to have peaked in his early 20's.

Souness was doing a good job (in parts)

[Exiled_red]

I never really took to Michael Owen, as good as he was for us, I never felt he was 'one of us' (perhaps because he burst onto the England scene so soon). I was frustrated when he was picked ahead of Fowler, who was (and always will be) 'one of us'

[Alex]

I also think the Premiership should be a two teir league. With the best 10 playing each other more.

[Maxiedge]

Jean Michel Ferri could have been the greatest player this club ever had if he hadn't been sussed out as a mole...

[Daniel 7]

I'm really worried about the Andy Carroll signing.

I worry that it sets us back as a footballing team, I prefer centre forwards a bit more cultured than the John Fashanu / Dion Dublin / Duncan Ferguson types. (Although I would argue that at 22 Duncan Ferguson had more potential and was a better all round footballer, he was just a complete nutter)

I worry that he was only proven as a Championship player, and worry that the signing was another deperate clamour to the "english" direction certain squad members / the media wanted for Liverpool.

Can't get excited about Carroll, we've made such big statements with centre forwards in the past - Collymore / Torres / Suarez / re-signing Rush / Aldridge, and been lucky enough to bring through huge talents like Owen and Fowler. Carroll isn't as good and won't be as good as any of them. Wish we'd got Llorente instead.

[Icon]

Carroll's going to be massive...

[Daniel 7]

He already is. He makes Soto look small.

[Gibbo]

Not really radical but; Money has, and will continue to, destroy football.

[Exiled_red]

Not really radical either, but I don't think the Financial Fair Play rules will be enforced properly, I can see exceptions being made in the early years which will lead to some watering down and a decent into farce.

[Chrono]

People only hate el hadji diouf cos he is black.

That genuinly made me laugh out loud in a very quiet office

[PTP]

i see carroll in a better light - it's a raw diamond shaping that, potentially could be special - he's never going to be a fowler or torres or henry - but he can be so much more than ****ing ferguson, fashanu or dion dublin

he has the physical attributes and a strikers instinct to attack the ball (be it in the air or on the ground) - what we need to do is work and develop his technique and improve his speed of thought, his first touch, etc and that can be improved on and at 22 he has it all in front of him - especially with suarez buzzing in and around him - suarez is there for the thrills and tricks and flair - carroll is there to stick it in the back of the net and i think, he could go on to do that...and if it works out well - well the potential is there for him to become Liverpool and Englands main striker for the next 10 years! -

he's a raw talent and i made up we got - not just because he's scored two against city - but the first time i saw him i thought wow...he could go on to be a great striker and i thought...shame, cause the way we are going we have no chance in attracting someone in his position

Phil Thompson said something like this about carroll when he was playing well for Newcastle, well before we were even linked with him - "someone somewhere, will take the gamble and sign him - be it united/arsenal/chelsea/spurs/city or liverpool - he won't stay at newcastle - he will go, and he will be one of those players that say United spent £20m on - we'd all be saying hmm we should have been in for him"

that was well before we paid £35m for him and thats what people have got worrying them in the back of their heads - £35m is a massive massive gamble - but **** it, we had to sign someone, we had suarez already and carroll is something and if thats what we had to pay for him then so be it....I'd much rather we signed him than ummmed and aaarrrrgghd about it and then missed the bout.

As i say - the £35m tag is what concerns people - and i agree he wasn't worth £35m - but put it into context - The fact he is young/english and shown potential means he is worth £10m instantly! (ffs people are talking about the likes of connor wickham for £10m!!!) - then add the fact he had a good start to his premiership debut season....i'd say a £15m bid - rising to £20m was a fair price..........but then you have to throw in that guarenteed if he was available for for £15m to £20m - that at that price, us united chelsea city arsenal and spurs would all have been in for him - that rises the price again to about £25m to ensure you out bid him

Again no complaints with that......to often we have been interested in someone for £10m say, and then everyone shows an interest, the price rises to £20m and we pull out and leave the big boys doing business.


The extra £10m taking the deal to £35m is purely down to the fact it was a January transfer deadline deal done at last minute when we had just recieved £50m!!! for Torres.


In the 'real and sensible' world - what could have or should have happened is - Torres to have been sold for about £30m and Carroll signed for £15m - which look like more realistic valuations....but it's still only the £15m difference.


Oh and finally - if Carroll, fufills his potential - and say, manages to average 20 a season for the next 5 years....and then signs a new deal for another 5 years.....£35m will be a ****ing bargain!!