Now It's Grobbelars turn to have a go at Rafa

[Guest]

I stated facts - measurable facts in my post/opinion. Yet you haven't. The tediousness of your post and you indicates that when someone contradicts you with their opinion, you're only response is to attack that individual and not counter with a productive post/opinion of your own. You my friend are a sad individual and need to understand that this is a forum where people express their opinion. If you don't like it, don't respond by attacking the individual. If you can't do that, then GET THE **** OFF THIS FORUM YOU TEDIOUS ****!

I was being highly sarcastic you tonk.

[Shaggy]

And talking about the lack of depth in the squad, I think that can be attributed in part by Rafa going for more big name players now, if we get in one or two big players we have a formidable team. But that of course depends on Gog and Gokke at the top.

Of course, you'll probably remember that for so long one of the sticks used to beat Benitez, by idiotic pundits and even some fans, was that he bought too many "mid price players" instead of forking out big for top quality.

Now of course he's done that, and guess what?!?! He's getting slaughtered for it. There is irrefutable evidence that Rafa is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He just can't win, people are out to get him.

Obviously results are poor at the moment and that's one criticism he cannot avoid, but a lot of the other stuff is just bile.

[Guest]

We got £30m for a player that Rafa valued at £10m the previous year. We sold a rb we purchased for £4m and sold him for £4m and replaced him with Rafa's target (£20m Glen Johnson). So, in short we sold a player that Rafa wanted to get rid of in Alonso, and made £20m more than Rafa anticpated and replaced him with Rafas target in £20m Aqua and £20m Johnson. How can that be turned around into us being weaker??? Whether we agreed with it or not, Rafa believed that Alonso was NOT part of his future plans, Aqua was his second target to replace Alonso and Rafa believed that Johnson was a BETTER player than Arbeloa. In Rafa's mind we had improved considerably, not "regressed".

The fact that since those changes we been **** by and by, before the season kicked off, fact of the matter is Rafa believed he had improved the squad.

With his improvements we're out of the CL before December and out of the league before Halloween. Lets be honest, we've been out of the title race from day one, its just that now the points difference is such that we've no chance.

And what about the injuries?????????????????????

We've got a better starting 11 compared to last season, barring Alonso at CM. We haven't been able field our strong team at any point this season. That has disrupted all our plans.

And again you're pushing for the argument that Rafa has spent £40m, which is a fallacy. Johnson was a needed investment, as well as Aquilani, who at £20m is arguably a better player than Alonso and bought at a profit.

That to me immunises Rafa of any wrongdoings this summer. He did what he had to do, in the midst of very difficult financial constraints and with City and Real inflating the transfer market to the point of ridicule.

[Guest]

Of course, you'll probably remember that for so long one of the sticks used to beat Benitez, by idiotic pundits and even some fans, was that he bought too many "mid price players" instead of forking out big for top quality.

Now of course he's done that, and guess what?!?! He's getting slaughtered for it. There is irrefutable evidence that Rafa is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He just can't win, people are out to get him.

Obviously results are poor at the moment and that's one criticism he cannot avoid, but a lot of the other stuff is just bile.

[The_weatherman]

Of course, you'll probably remember that for so long one of the sticks used to beat Benitez, by idiotic pundits and even some fans, was that he bought too many "mid price players" instead of forking out big for top quality.

Now of course he's done that, and guess what?!?! He's getting slaughtered for it. There is irrefutable evidence that Rafa is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. He just can't win, people are out to get him.

Obviously results are poor at the moment and that's one criticism he cannot avoid, but a lot of the other stuff is just bile.

Ridiculous, and sad that the fans are no better than the pundits and media they like to make fun of. If we don't give Rafa and the team support when things are difficult who will? And if we don't support them through the hard times we are no better than the regular supporter. It's very easy supporting a team that's winning.

[Guest]

Ridiculous, and sad that the fans are no better than the pundits and media they like to make fun of. If we don't give Rafa and the team support when things are difficult who will? And if we don't support them through the hard times we are no better than the regular supporter. It's very easy supporting a team that's winning.

[powerpack]

Are you deluded. I think you've missed the fact that we have been knocked out of the Champions League and have already lost 5 games in the league. We're conceding more goals and we're closer to a relegation place than the top. That my friend could be defined as "We have regressed". You can blame injuries or the god but the fact is, Rafa has had money to spend to build a squad. Even if Rafa only had £10 Million to spend every year, the squad should improve. Rafa is the one who decided to sign an injured player for £17 Million pounds.

Sorry I think you are deluded. The press are feeding you heaped spoons full of ****e and you are swallowing them. I have 2 words here 'NET SPEND'. You can't look at £200million as a figure you have to look at FACT he has Spent £16.6million on average. You say with £10million we should improve, which we have on about £16million, but there is a difference between improving and keeping up with the Jones. Our rivals are out spending us, but you have to compare net spend. We HAVE improved and keeping up as well as we can considering the amount Rafa has had to spend (NET, oh there's that word again that people so easily sweep under the carpet). Before Rafa came along finishing 4th was an acheivement now its an expectation, is that not improvement? We finished on more points last season then we have done for about 20 years (I could be slightly wrong here).

We have been to 2 European cup finals won one and consistantly been reaching the last 16, this year being an exception. Did we have that under, Souness, Evans or GH? Err no, so again that's an improvement. You are judging Rafa on Aug 09 to Nov 09, not his entire reign. I am simply baffled by our regression this season. Alonso was a loss but are scoring significantly less goals, even with Torres and Gerrards injuries? I think the real problem is we are conceeding significantly more. We lost Arbo and Sami whilst Carra and Skrtel are having a dip. The 2 new defenders are still getting to grips with zonal marking and thats our problem. I for one will judge him at the end of the season if he is given that long and look forward to him being able to put out a full strength team for the first time this season. You can slate him for his bizarre substitution and team selection policies and I honestly can't argue with you. But the transfer facts speak for themselves (ps stole these from a previous post)....

2004/05

£2m - Josemi: peanuts and was moved on in a swap for Kromkamp 18 months later
£1.5m - Antonio Nunez: part of the Michael Owen deal and filled a gap for a while. Peanuts.
£10.7m - Xabi Alonso: Massive success and sold for £30m+ in the summer when he wanted to leave
£6m - Luis Garcia: Massive success and sold to Athletico Madrid for £4m
Free - Pelligrino: Stop gap that allowed us to rest Sami for league games, benefitting us massively in Istanbul. Now on the coaching staff.
£6.3m - Fernando Morientes: Pretty much everyone made up when we signed him, top class, but never settled. Sold for £3m to Valencia.
£1m - Scott Carson: One the most highly rated young keepers around. Lost out through injury and signing of Reina when Dudek left the club. Sold for £3.25m.

Total bought: £27.5m

Free - Marcus Babbel: Released to Stuttgart at the end of his career.
£2.5m - Danny Murphy: Xabi Alonso signed to fill the role Murphy had in the side
£8.5m - Michael Owen: Wouldn't sign a new contract and sold before he left on a free. He's done nothing since that is a masterstroke with hindsight.
Free - Stephane Henchoz: Released to Celtic at the end of his career

Total sold: £11m

A total of £16.5m net spend in his first year at the club, with the vast majority of that being spent on Xabi Alonso.

2004/05 net spend: £16.5m

2005/06

£240,000 - Antonio Barragan: Kid for the future. Sold for £675,000 to Deportivo a year later.
Free - Boudewijn Zenden: Signed for nothing and released for nothing. Did a job for us.
£6m - Pepe Reina: In the top 3 or 4 keepers in the world now and still young. One of Rafa's best signings.
£5.6m - Momo Sissoko: Brilliant for a few years, had that eye injury and sold to Juventus when his form dipped for £8.2m. Replaced by Mascherano.
£7m - Peter Crouch: One signing I did question but proved to be a great bit of business. Turned him from a laughing stock into an international. Sold for £11m.
Unkown - Miki Roque: Kid bought for peanuts. Sold again for an unknown amount.
£150,000 - Jack Hobbs: Highly rated 16yr old signed from Lincoln. Didn't progress as hoped and sold to Leicester for a reported £1.5m, although figure not confirmed.
£190,000 Besian Idrizaj: No idea who he is
£1.5m - Mark Gonzales: Cheap player to provide back up for the left wing. Sold for £3.5m to Real Betis.
Exchange - Paul Anderson: Swapped for John Welsh. Sold for £250,000.
Exchange - Jan Kromkamp: Swapped for Josemi. Later sold for £1.75m
£5.8m - Daniel Agger: Blighted by injuries but potentially top class and great signing for the money.
£250,000 - David Martin: Young reserve keeper
Free - Robbie Fowler: Pay as you play deal and no risk involved. Scored a few goals. Released in the summer.

Total bought: £26.73

Free - Vladimir Smicer: Out of contract and released. Played a small part in Istanbul.
£3.5m - El Hadji Diouf: The best £3.5m Rafa has ever recieved.
Free - Pellegrino: Filled the gap in the last 5 months of the previous season, not good enough and released.
£2m - Alou Diarra: Sold for £2m. One of Houllier's buys.
£2m - Antonio Nunez: Bought for £1.5m and now sold for £2m when didn't work out.
£6.5m - Milan Baros: A Houllier signing sold at a profit. He's done nothing since.
Exchange - John Welsh: Swapped for Paul Anderson
Exchange - Josemi: Swapped for Kronkamp.

Total sold: £14m

2005/06 net spend: £12.73m
2006/07

£6m - Craig Bellamy: Good signing and later sold for £7.5m to fund Torres deal.
£2m - Gabriel Palletta: Played a few league cup games, not good enough and sold for £1.2m
Free - Fabio Aurelio: Very injury prone but a good player when fit. Great signing for nothing.
£6.7m - Jermaine Pennant: Second choice after missing out on Alves. Ran his contract down and released. Attitude stank.
£9m - Dirk Kuyt: Has his critics, but has been brilliant for the money. 15 goals last season from wide and vital to the way we play. Ultimate pro. Great signing.
£200,000 - Nabil El Zhar: Few cameos last season and improving. Injured now. Promising still. Peanuts.
£750,000 - Astrit Ajdarevic: No idea who he is, and released on a free to Leicester.
Loan - Daniele Padelli: Reserve keeper, made one appearance and never seen again.
Undisclosed - Jordy Brouwer: Young reserve.
£2.5m - Alvaro Arbeloa: Bargain signing, great service for a few years and sold for £3.5m when running his contract down.
Loan - Javier Mascherano: Rescued from West Ham, now one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and will probably be sold to Barca this summer for a massive profit. Paid £18.6m for him a year later at end of loan deal.

Total bought: £27.15m

£200,000 - Zak Whitbread: Youngster
Undisclosed - Bruno Cheyrou: Houllier flopped, sold for a reported £1.5m.
£3m - Fernando Morientes: Didn't work out. Cut his losses.
Free - Didi Hamann: Great servant, released at the end of his career
£675,000 - Antonio Barragan: Paid £240,000 for him.
£2m - Djimi Traore: Houllier signing and daylight robbery getting £2m for him
£500,000 - Neil Mellor: Signed as a kid and did a job for a while. Not good enough and released.
£1.75m - Jan Kromkamp: Nunez bought for £2m, swapped for him, who then sold for £1.75m. Stop gaps at minimal expense.
£525,000 - Darren Potter: Acadamy lad, not good enough and robbery getting that much for him.
£1.5m - Steven Warnock: Probably sold to cheap and looks a mistake with hindsight. Good squad player.
Free - Salif Diao: The clearout of Houllier's flops continues.

Total sold: £10.15m

2006/07 net spend: £17m

2007/08


£5m - Lucas Leiva: Brazilian player of the year when signed. Could still go either way but a lot to prove.
Undisclosed - Krisztian Nemeth: Promising youngster currently out on loan in Athens.
£270,000 - Mikel San Jose Dominguez: Youngester plays in the reserves.
£1.8m - Sebastian Leto: Left winger signing but refused a work permit. Sold for £3m.
£20.2m - Fernando Torres: Bargain of the century
Free - Andriy Voronin: Free transfer to strengthen the squad. Plays well in Germany, garbage over here.
£5m - Yossi Benayoun: Took a while to settle but now a key player. Superb signing and an absolute bargain.
£11.5m - Ryan Babel: Highly rated dutch international. Absolute waste of space. Bad signing on reflection, but nobody knew how he'd turn out. Still got potential but he can't be arsed.
Undisclosed - Charles Itandje: Back up keeper signed for peanuts. Now released.
£1.3m - Emiliano Insua: Youngster who is now a full Argentinian international and massive potential. Bargain.
£6.5m - Martin Skrtel: Been off form this season so far, but brilliant last year and a good signing for the money.
£18.6m - Javier Mascherano: Completion of loan deal

Total bought: £70.7m

£2.7m – Florent Simana-Pongolle: Houllier youngster sold wanting first team football.
£100,000 – Daniel O’Donnell: Kid sold
Free – Jerzy Dudek: Released at end of contract
Free - Zenden: Released at end of contract
Free – Robbie Fowler: Released at end of contract
£4m – Luis Garcia: Wanted to return to Spain. Great service.
£6m – Djibril Cisse: Houllier signing sold to part fund Torres deal.
£7.5m – Craig Bellamy: Sold at profit to part fund Torres deal
£3.5m – Mark Gonzales: Signed for £1.5m and sold when didn’t work out.
£1.2m – Gabriel Palletta: Bought for £2m but never worked out. Young defender.
£3.5m – Chris Kirkland: Houllier signing. Injury prone and wanted first team football.
£8.2m – Momo Sissoko: Great signing, good service, sold when lost his form at a profit.

Total sold: £36.7m

2007/08 net spend: £34m

2008/09

Free – Philip Degen: Garbage, but free.
£7m - Andrea Dossena: Italian international left back. Hasn’t settled. Bad signing.
£3.5m – Diego Cavalieri: Reserve keeper. Only played league cup games so far.
£1.5m – David N’gog: Young French striker. Promising.
£19m – Robbie Keane: Everyone made up when we signed him. Didn’t work out and sold back to Spurs for £16m.
£8m - Albert Riera: Spanish international. Started well but jury still out.

Total bought: £39m

£4m – John Arne Riise: Good servant but form tailed off. Snapped their hands off at £4m.
Free – Harry Kewell: Harry who?
Undisclosed – Anthony Le Tallec: Houllier youngster finally released. Fee not known.
£11m – Peter Crouch: Laughing stock bought for £7m. Great signing. Wanted first team football.
£2.25m – Danny Guthrie: Youngster from Acadamy thought not good enough.
£3.25m – Scott Carson: Injury prone and Reina now first choice. Sold at profit.
Undisclosed – Steve Finnan: Sold for a fee believed to be £1m
£16m – Robbie Keane: Didn’t work out.
Undisclosed – Jack Hobbs: Young defender that didn’t progress. Sold for believed to £1.5m.

Total sold: £36.5m

2008/09 net spend: £2.5m


2009/10

£17.5m – Glen Johnson: Big fee, but has been brilliant so far.
£17.1m - Alberto Aquilani: Injured so far but meant to be a class act. Highly rated in Italy.
£2m – Sotirios Kyrgiakos: Last minute signing to fill Hyypia’s shoes. Only money we had to spend.
£160,000 – Daniel Ayala: Young defender, played a few times this season and looked promising.

Total bought: £36.76m

£250,000 – Paul Anderson: Youngster that didn’t progess.
Free – Jermaine Pennant: Out of contract. Poor signing.
Free – Miki Roque: No idea who he is. Bought for peanuts.
£3m – Sebastian Leto: Signed for £1.8m but didn’t get a work permit. Had to sell.
£3.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa: Wanted to leave and out of contract in the summer.
£30m – Xabi Alonso: Wanted to leave. Bought for £10.7m. Great signing.

Total sold: £36.75m

2009/10 net spend: £10,000


Total Players Bought: £228,976,000
Total Players Sold: £145,100,000

Total Net Spend: £83,876,000


So, that’s a total spend of just over £83m in 5 years at the club. An average of £16.6m a year.

[MrMichael]

I love the way Mark Hughes can spend £200m in one window but Rafa spending £200m (and recouping more than half) in 5 years is constantly dragged up by commentators.

So, that’s a total spend of just over £83m in 5 years at the club. An average of £16.6m a year.

Some post that

I think you could possibly argue (mostly on the basis of Torres) for most of that £83m being covered in increased current squad value.

If anyone wants to blame anything for our current situation, £2.5m net spend in the last 3 transfer windows does seem a bit blatant.

[Shaggy]

Great post powerpack.

I love the way Mark Hughes can spend £200m in one window but Rafa spending £200m (and recouping more than half) in 5 years is constantly dragged up by commentators.



Some post that

I think you could possibly argue (mostly on the basis of Torres) for most of that £83m being covered in increased current squad value.

If anyone wants to blame anything for our current situation, £2.5m net spend in the last 3 transfer windows does seem a bit blatant.

[Jas]

Sorry I think you are deluded. The press are feeding you heaped spoons full of ****e and you are swallowing them. I have 2 words here 'NET SPEND'. You can't look at £200million as a figure you have to look at FACT he has Spent £16.6million on average. You say with £10million we should improve, which we have on about £16million, but there is a difference between improving and keeping up with the Jones. Our rivals are out spending us, but you have to compare net spend. We HAVE improved and keeping up as well as we can considering the amount Rafa has had to spend (NET, oh there's that word again that people so easily sweep under the carpet). Before Rafa came along finishing 4th was an acheivement now its an expectation, is that not improvement? We finished on more points last season then we have done for about 20 years (I could be slightly wrong here).

We have been to 2 European cup finals won one and consistantly been reaching the last 16, this year being an exception. Did we have that under, Souness, Evans or GH? Err no, so again that's an improvement. You are judging Rafa on Aug 09 to Nov 09, not his entire reign. I am simply baffled by our regression this season. Alonso was a loss but are scoring significantly less goals, even with Torres and Gerrards injuries? I think the real problem is we are conceeding significantly more. We lost Arbo and Sami whilst Carra and Skrtel are having a dip. The 2 new defenders are still getting to grips with zonal marking and thats our problem. I for one will judge him at the end of the season if he is given that long and look forward to him being able to put out a full strength team for the first time this season. You can slate him for his bizarre substitution and team selection policies and I honestly can't argue with you. But the transfer facts speak for themselves (ps stole these from a previous post)....

2004/05

£2m - Josemi: peanuts and was moved on in a swap for Kromkamp 18 months later
£1.5m - Antonio Nunez: part of the Michael Owen deal and filled a gap for a while. Peanuts.
£10.7m - Xabi Alonso: Massive success and sold for £30m+ in the summer when he wanted to leave
£6m - Luis Garcia: Massive success and sold to Athletico Madrid for £4m
Free - Pelligrino: Stop gap that allowed us to rest Sami for league games, benefitting us massively in Istanbul. Now on the coaching staff.
£6.3m - Fernando Morientes: Pretty much everyone made up when we signed him, top class, but never settled. Sold for £3m to Valencia.
£1m - Scott Carson: One the most highly rated young keepers around. Lost out through injury and signing of Reina when Dudek left the club. Sold for £3.25m.

Total bought: £27.5m

Free - Marcus Babbel: Released to Stuttgart at the end of his career.
£2.5m - Danny Murphy: Xabi Alonso signed to fill the role Murphy had in the side
£8.5m - Michael Owen: Wouldn't sign a new contract and sold before he left on a free. He's done nothing since that is a masterstroke with hindsight.
Free - Stephane Henchoz: Released to Celtic at the end of his career

Total sold: £11m

A total of £16.5m net spend in his first year at the club, with the vast majority of that being spent on Xabi Alonso.

2004/05 net spend: £16.5m

2005/06

£240,000 - Antonio Barragan: Kid for the future. Sold for £675,000 to Deportivo a year later.
Free - Boudewijn Zenden: Signed for nothing and released for nothing. Did a job for us.
£6m - Pepe Reina: In the top 3 or 4 keepers in the world now and still young. One of Rafa's best signings.
£5.6m - Momo Sissoko: Brilliant for a few years, had that eye injury and sold to Juventus when his form dipped for £8.2m. Replaced by Mascherano.
£7m - Peter Crouch: One signing I did question but proved to be a great bit of business. Turned him from a laughing stock into an international. Sold for £11m.
Unkown - Miki Roque: Kid bought for peanuts. Sold again for an unknown amount.
£150,000 - Jack Hobbs: Highly rated 16yr old signed from Lincoln. Didn't progress as hoped and sold to Leicester for a reported £1.5m, although figure not confirmed.
£190,000 Besian Idrizaj: No idea who he is
£1.5m - Mark Gonzales: Cheap player to provide back up for the left wing. Sold for £3.5m to Real Betis.
Exchange - Paul Anderson: Swapped for John Welsh. Sold for £250,000.
Exchange - Jan Kromkamp: Swapped for Josemi. Later sold for £1.75m
£5.8m - Daniel Agger: Blighted by injuries but potentially top class and great signing for the money.
£250,000 - David Martin: Young reserve keeper
Free - Robbie Fowler: Pay as you play deal and no risk involved. Scored a few goals. Released in the summer.

Total bought: £26.73

Free - Vladimir Smicer: Out of contract and released. Played a small part in Istanbul.
£3.5m - El Hadji Diouf: The best £3.5m Rafa has ever recieved.
Free - Pellegrino: Filled the gap in the last 5 months of the previous season, not good enough and released.
£2m - Alou Diarra: Sold for £2m. One of Houllier's buys.
£2m - Antonio Nunez: Bought for £1.5m and now sold for £2m when didn't work out.
£6.5m - Milan Baros: A Houllier signing sold at a profit. He's done nothing since.
Exchange - John Welsh: Swapped for Paul Anderson
Exchange - Josemi: Swapped for Kronkamp.

Total sold: £14m

2005/06 net spend: £12.73m
2006/07

£6m - Craig Bellamy: Good signing and later sold for £7.5m to fund Torres deal.
£2m - Gabriel Palletta: Played a few league cup games, not good enough and sold for £1.2m
Free - Fabio Aurelio: Very injury prone but a good player when fit. Great signing for nothing.
£6.7m - Jermaine Pennant: Second choice after missing out on Alves. Ran his contract down and released. Attitude stank.
£9m - Dirk Kuyt: Has his critics, but has been brilliant for the money. 15 goals last season from wide and vital to the way we play. Ultimate pro. Great signing.
£200,000 - Nabil El Zhar: Few cameos last season and improving. Injured now. Promising still. Peanuts.
£750,000 - Astrit Ajdarevic: No idea who he is, and released on a free to Leicester.
Loan - Daniele Padelli: Reserve keeper, made one appearance and never seen again.
Undisclosed - Jordy Brouwer: Young reserve.
£2.5m - Alvaro Arbeloa: Bargain signing, great service for a few years and sold for £3.5m when running his contract down.
Loan - Javier Mascherano: Rescued from West Ham, now one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and will probably be sold to Barca this summer for a massive profit. Paid £18.6m for him a year later at end of loan deal.

Total bought: £27.15m

£200,000 - Zak Whitbread: Youngster
Undisclosed - Bruno Cheyrou: Houllier flopped, sold for a reported £1.5m.
£3m - Fernando Morientes: Didn't work out. Cut his losses.
Free - Didi Hamann: Great servant, released at the end of his career
£675,000 - Antonio Barragan: Paid £240,000 for him.
£2m - Djimi Traore: Houllier signing and daylight robbery getting £2m for him
£500,000 - Neil Mellor: Signed as a kid and did a job for a while. Not good enough and released.
£1.75m - Jan Kromkamp: Nunez bought for £2m, swapped for him, who then sold for £1.75m. Stop gaps at minimal expense.
£525,000 - Darren Potter: Acadamy lad, not good enough and robbery getting that much for him.
£1.5m - Steven Warnock: Probably sold to cheap and looks a mistake with hindsight. Good squad player.
Free - Salif Diao: The clearout of Houllier's flops continues.

Total sold: £10.15m

2006/07 net spend: £17m

2007/08


£5m - Lucas Leiva: Brazilian player of the year when signed. Could still go either way but a lot to prove.
Undisclosed - Krisztian Nemeth: Promising youngster currently out on loan in Athens.
£270,000 - Mikel San Jose Dominguez: Youngester plays in the reserves.
£1.8m - Sebastian Leto: Left winger signing but refused a work permit. Sold for £3m.
£20.2m - Fernando Torres: Bargain of the century
Free - Andriy Voronin: Free transfer to strengthen the squad. Plays well in Germany, garbage over here.
£5m - Yossi Benayoun: Took a while to settle but now a key player. Superb signing and an absolute bargain.
£11.5m - Ryan Babel: Highly rated dutch international. Absolute waste of space. Bad signing on reflection, but nobody knew how he'd turn out. Still got potential but he can't be arsed.
Undisclosed - Charles Itandje: Back up keeper signed for peanuts. Now released.
£1.3m - Emiliano Insua: Youngster who is now a full Argentinian international and massive potential. Bargain.
£6.5m - Martin Skrtel: Been off form this season so far, but brilliant last year and a good signing for the money.
£18.6m - Javier Mascherano: Completion of loan deal

Total bought: £70.7m

£2.7m – Florent Simana-Pongolle: Houllier youngster sold wanting first team football.
£100,000 – Daniel O’Donnell: Kid sold
Free – Jerzy Dudek: Released at end of contract
Free - Zenden: Released at end of contract
Free – Robbie Fowler: Released at end of contract
£4m – Luis Garcia: Wanted to return to Spain. Great service.
£6m – Djibril Cisse: Houllier signing sold to part fund Torres deal.
£7.5m – Craig Bellamy: Sold at profit to part fund Torres deal
£3.5m – Mark Gonzales: Signed for £1.5m and sold when didn’t work out.
£1.2m – Gabriel Palletta: Bought for £2m but never worked out. Young defender.
£3.5m – Chris Kirkland: Houllier signing. Injury prone and wanted first team football.
£8.2m – Momo Sissoko: Great signing, good service, sold when lost his form at a profit.

Total sold: £36.7m

2007/08 net spend: £34m

2008/09

Free – Philip Degen: Garbage, but free.
£7m - Andrea Dossena: Italian international left back. Hasn’t settled. Bad signing.
£3.5m – Diego Cavalieri: Reserve keeper. Only played league cup games so far.
£1.5m – David N’gog: Young French striker. Promising.
£19m – Robbie Keane: Everyone made up when we signed him. Didn’t work out and sold back to Spurs for £16m.
£8m - Albert Riera: Spanish international. Started well but jury still out.

Total bought: £39m

£4m – John Arne Riise: Good servant but form tailed off. Snapped their hands off at £4m.
Free – Harry Kewell: Harry who?
Undisclosed – Anthony Le Tallec: Houllier youngster finally released. Fee not known.
£11m – Peter Crouch: Laughing stock bought for £7m. Great signing. Wanted first team football.
£2.25m – Danny Guthrie: Youngster from Acadamy thought not good enough.
£3.25m – Scott Carson: Injury prone and Reina now first choice. Sold at profit.
Undisclosed – Steve Finnan: Sold for a fee believed to be £1m
£16m – Robbie Keane: Didn’t work out.
Undisclosed – Jack Hobbs: Young defender that didn’t progress. Sold for believed to £1.5m.

Total sold: £36.5m

2008/09 net spend: £2.5m


2009/10

£17.5m – Glen Johnson: Big fee, but has been brilliant so far.
£17.1m - Alberto Aquilani: Injured so far but meant to be a class act. Highly rated in Italy.
£2m – Sotirios Kyrgiakos: Last minute signing to fill Hyypia’s shoes. Only money we had to spend.
£160,000 – Daniel Ayala: Young defender, played a few times this season and looked promising.

Total bought: £36.76m

£250,000 – Paul Anderson: Youngster that didn’t progess.
Free – Jermaine Pennant: Out of contract. Poor signing.
Free – Miki Roque: No idea who he is. Bought for peanuts.
£3m – Sebastian Leto: Signed for £1.8m but didn’t get a work permit. Had to sell.
£3.5m – Alvaro Arbeloa: Wanted to leave and out of contract in the summer.
£30m – Xabi Alonso: Wanted to leave. Bought for £10.7m. Great signing.

Total sold: £36.75m

2009/10 net spend: £10,000


Total Players Bought: £228,976,000
Total Players Sold: £145,100,000

Total Net Spend: £83,876,000


So, that’s a total spend of just over £83m in 5 years at the club. An average of £16.6m a year.

Caught a bit about spending on Sky Sports News the other day and they were spouting off that Rafa had spent £135 million net since he joined compared to Chavski who had spent £166 million in the same period and Scum who had only spent £35 million. I'd love to know who we spent that other £50 million on????

[The_weatherman]

I think you could possibly argue (mostly on the basis of Torres) for most of that £83m being covered in increased current squad value.

Definately, that 83 million is still lying around in our squad and more so.

Mascherano
Aquilani
Torres
Johnson
Agger
Skrtel
Kuyt
Benayoun
Voronin
Aurelio
Reina
Riera
Insua
N'Gog
Cavalieri
Dossena
Babel
Degen

All players Rafa bought and the value of those players is more than 100 million of that I'm sure of. So Rafa is really in plus in the transfer market, these assets are there available for us to use. This squad cost roughly 134.5, give or take. I think only Dossena and Babel will be sold for less than they cost.

[Ryan_Derrick]

Caught a bit about spending on Sky Sports News the other day and they were spouting off that Rafa had spent £135 million net since he joined compared to Chavski who had spent £166 million in the same period and Scum who had only spent £35 million. I'd love to know who we spent that other £50 million on????

The Scum have had some big sales that have driven their net spend down. £80m for Rent Boy - Ruud & Becks? went for big money in that time. And how they got £6m for Keiron Richardson i'll never know!

[Guest]

Hahahaha fantastic post powerpack and one that will *hopefully* be digested by the bashers on here.

[powerpack]

Hahahaha fantastic post powerpack and one that will *hopefully* be digested by the bashers on here.

Cheers guys. I really don't know what Rafa has done to alienate the press, it's almost like a witch hunt. He stood up and had the balls to say Slur 'Purple Face' Alex gets more decisions from refs and here's the facts! I can take the drivel that come from the press and the twisted facts. Its harder from ex players but hey they get paid a few bob and remind people they are still about. But our fans gets my goat.

[Getcolin]

We got £30m for a player that Rafa valued at £10m the previous year. We sold a rb we purchased for £4m and sold him for £4m and replaced him with Rafa's target (£20m Glen Johnson). So, in short we sold a player that Rafa wanted to get rid of in Alonso, and made £20m more than Rafa anticpated and replaced him with Rafas target in £20m Aqua and £20m Johnson. How can that be turned around into us being weaker??? Whether we agreed with it or not, Rafa believed that Alonso was NOT part of his future plans, Aqua was his second target to replace Alonso and Rafa believed that Johnson was a BETTER player than Arbeloa. In Rafa's mind we had improved considerably, not "regressed".

The fact that since those changes we been **** by and by, before the season kicked off, fact of the matter is Rafa believed he had improved the squad.

With his improvements we're out of the CL before December and out of the league before Halloween. Lets be honest, we've been out of the title race from day one, its just that now the points difference is such that we've no chance.

Thats not entirely true though is it.
Rafa wanted £18m from Juve, not £10M and Juve wouldn't/ couldn't pay up.
Rafa wanted Xabi out 2 summers ago when he'd been ****e for the last 2 seasons.
After last season he wanted him to stay.
Again he wanted Arbeloa to stay, but he needed the money from Arbies transfer and Arby wanted out.

The reason it is being highlighted as a failure to strengthen is that as we all know, modern football is a squad game, not a team game.
I don't think anyone could argue that when we had our first XI out last season, we were one of the best sides in Europe.
If we had had 1 or 2 more quality players (strikers as back up for Stevie and Torres), then we could well have won the league.
This has been carried over into this season.
Also you have to add in that if you stand still and everyone else moves forward, in effect you have gone backwards.