Sunday news report thread

[Michael]

Ah.... now that little meeting in the Burj al Arab is starting to make sense! Mr Mendez indeed!

[Shanks65]

Rafa: "It's not a draft system. We have free players available now. I'm not talking about players that cost money."

Which "free" players could he be talking about?

[Guest]

Rafa: "It's not a draft system. We have free players available now. I'm not talking about players that cost money."

Which "free" players could he be talking about?

This statement doesn't make sense unless he's talking about 'free' transfers. Could be the way that the journo interpreted it.

Could also be with the sales that he's expected to make, i.e Carson and other players out, we could offset the cost by balancing the books.

[Shanks65]

This statement doesn't make sense unless he's talking about 'free' transfers. Could be the way that the journo interpreted it.

Could also be with the sales that he's expected to make, i.e Carson and other players out, we could offset the cost by balancing the books.

Yeah it's puzzling.

I read it as Rafa talking about bringing in free transfer(s)

[Tinkerbitch]

Did nobody else hear Sky's reporter saying to Rafa "How serious is the problem and what about the England job?" Rafa smiles and says "No, it's not serious"! I thought I'd imagined that, but Sky have just replayed it. I guess we'll know after 16th December.

[AFII]

CARNAGE AT THE KOP
EXCLUSIVE LIVERPOOL HIT BY CASH CRISIS Freeze on signings Prices to be hiked Stadium shelved?
By Les Walsh

Tom Hicks and George Gillett are gripped in a £500million financial crisis that threatens Kop carnage - with the departure of Rafa Benitez only one item on their nightmare agenda.

The Anfield boss is at breaking point with his American owners and is only one more rant away from the sack after last week's bizarre outburst - prompted by what he sees as their failure to back him again in the transfer market.

Although if Benitez does get the boot he is understood to have a clause in his contract that would see him walk away with a £6million pay-off.

The club owners are desperate - with the world credit squeeze threatening to wreck their grandiose plans for a new 76,000-seater stadium that is due to open in 2010, but which could now be delayed.

Hicks and Gillett, even if they get the £500m they need to start work on the new ground, are likely to be faced with double-digit interest rates that would see the club paying out a staggering £50m in bank fees - £20m more than the expected operating profit for 2007. They know that would not make business sense and the only way to fund the loan would be by either hiking ticket prices - something they vowed not to do - knowing that such a move would wreck their fragile relationship with an increasingly doubtful support.

Or they can freeze transfer cash, a move that would almost certainly cause a final split between them and Benitez.

The Liverpool boss is clearly still hurting and said yesterday, following the 3-0 win at Newcastle: "They have said to be calm. But they don't understand the transfer window in Europe and how difficult it is to sign players."

Just three months ago, as the owners prepared to unveil their plans to make the 60,000-seat new Anfield even bigger and better, they would have had no problems securing the cash they needed at manageable rates.

Three weeks ago, Benitez was declaring that even a shock exit from the Champions League - which will happen if Liverpool do not beat Porto on Wednesday night - would not affect his January transfer window war chest of at least £20m.

Benitez was counting on that money to turn Javier Mascherano's loan deal into a £17m permanent transfer as well as pursuing Heerenveen striker Afonso Alves and Racing Santander defender Ezequiel Garay - at £18m the pair.

Now he may even be forced to sell players - with £12m-rated Peter Crouch the first in line - but the scenario could get worse because interested clubs know that Liverpool face a cash crisis and will try and undercut asking rates.

Making the knockout stages of the Champions League would be worth up to £14m - but that money would also surely disappear as the Americans fund their huge plans.

Hicks and Gillett were the men who promised to transform the club after borrowing £298m - a loan that is due to expire in 2009 and cost the club £21.5m in interest.

They then decided to wipe out that borrowing with the new £500m package, which would fund the start of the new building and include the original loan - further evidence that neither American has actually put his hand in his pocket in terms of investment.

If Hicks and Gillett do not put up about £100m of their own money, then the new Anfield plan will either have to be halted or down-sized . . . and their scheduled meeting with Benitez on December 16 could also be their last.

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/footba...name_page.html

[Rashid]

Rafa to be sacked this week?

NOTW are saying that Rafa will be sacked this week. Article written by Chris Bascombe of all people.

I wanted Rafa sacked if we didn't challenge for the league but these band of cunts have made me realise that principle can be more important than winning. Rafa has more class in his toe then they have in their whole body. I'd boycott going to games for a while if this happened.

I refuse to feed these ******s.

:whatever:

[AFII]

What a surprise to see Rashid come back in a time like this

Can a mod delete this one. Use one of the existing threads instead

[Rashid]

What utter c*nts.

[JohnDoe]

The media is going to milk this thing dry and write nothing but nightmare scenarios for the next month. Prepare yourselves.

[sinbad]

Just heard some hack from NOTW on the radio.According to him there's no way back for Rafa, and the Yanks decision is final.
These *******s are gonna put us back years with this bull****.

[blacky]

I was expecting this from the media. Doesn't make it easier to stomach though!! I am starting to wish we had never sold the club to them

[blacky]

If they sack Rafa they can **** off back to the states....cunts

[StevieG08]

WTF ****ing outrageous behavior by the the yanks, **** off you pair of cunts!!!

[Red_Al_77]

How bloody predictable.