Hicks will back Benitez in transfer market

[Reece]

are you sure about that?

Would be interesting to see some evidence of that.

[Rich]

Would be interesting to see some evidence of that.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH



I mean C'MON!

[Rich]

Aquilani was £5m upfront and Johnson was off set by the money we were never going to get from Pompey for Crouch.
We'd be getting 20p in the £ like every other company they owe money too.

I don't think there's is anything correct in this post at all. Well done!

[Charly]

Either way, lets hope Benitez doesnt make a pigs ear of it like in the previous two summers.

Its sad to say that we have not improved the first team since we bought Torres and Mascherano in. Benitez is going to have to work realyl hard to sort this out. I think its the only way to save his job. Another summer of poor purchases, and I doubt our new owners will trust him with more cash.

If we are getting a decent amount, perhaps it will be enough to persuade Torres, Gerrard, Monster and Benayoun to stay. I have a feeling that those four players have lost faith in Benitez though, and will want to leave for that reason.

Personally, I have lost faith in Benitez . But if we are stuck with him, I hope to god he can pull it around, and convince me he is the right man after all. Its going to take a lot though.

Where does he even start to improve the team? If everyone is fit, where are we weakest? Left back? Both wings are awful. Centre midfield. A backup striker? I think 4-5-1 is making things difficult, as we will have to spend a decent amount to get a backup striker who wont get a game if Torres is fit, and will then be a waste of money... Surely a left winger or centre midfiled will be where he whacks down the big wonga? But where does this leave Aquilani?

[red g]

Would be interesting to see some evidence of that.

yes, but that info is very hard to get hold of

[Craig_H]

Would be interesting to see some evidence of that.

[Lecter]

Good piece by Rory Smith in the Telegraph.

Quote


At the risk of breaking the fourth wall, perhaps you could help me out. Last week, in the course of my usual professional nosing into all things Liverpool, I spoke to two immaculate sources on the subject of the club’s transfer spend this summer.

The first informed me that the club would have no problem making a couple of impressive signings in a bid to reshape the squad. They didn’t mention whether that would come from sales or investment, but they seemed confident there would be a goodly sum of money for Rafael Benitez, or whoever, to spend when, and if, they chose to do so.

The second, barely a couple of hours later, suggested that was hocum, that Benitez was yet to receive in his meetings with Martin Broughton and Christian Purslow, Liverpool’s chairman and managing director respectively, the reassurances he desires that he will be backed in the transfer market. Indeed, the feeling was that even if the Spaniard were to sell players, there were no guarantees he would be able to spend all, or indeed any, of the cash generated.

Such is life at Liverpool, land of contradictions. There are so many factions – boardroom, Boot Room, dressing room – offering wildly contrasting perspectives on the future of club, manager and players that it is almost impossible to know where to begin.

Truth has become a fluid concept, and one only imparted in whispered, clandestine briefings. Always off the record. As in not attributable quotes. As in sources this and it is believed that. As in the technique employed by those who do not have the courage to stand by their words, by those who know what they say may not stand up to scrutiny. As in spin, and bluff, and lies.

There are occasions, such as yesterday, when one faction or another comes out fighting. Then, over the phone to Sky Sports News, Hicks issued the following statement: “We have a substantial transfer budget in place. There is some misinformation about transfer spending. It is more than double what it was and we will make a significant investment this summer but it is more about getting the right players.”

Liverpool fans, come August 31, will remember those words. And the words of Purslow, who told Spirit of Shankly, the club’s supporters’ union, that “the manager has had plenty of funding available,” that “no proceeds from player sales are used to pay down…debt” and, though the club’s player account has to “be self-funding,” he had spent time talking with Benitez about “summer transfer plans.”

Those words are on record. As is Hicks’s comment to a fan earlier this year that this will be a “big” window for Liverpool. Christian, Tom and (the ever-silent) George, now is put up or shut up time. The maths show that Benitez has made a net profit of £20 million or so over the last 30 months in the transfer market. You have promised money to spend, and now you must deliver. No matter how long any of you remain ensconced at Anfield, if you want to exit this escapade with a shred of dignity, you must deliver.

[el matador]

i suppose by the time the transfer window shuts we will know exactly where we stand in relation to any transfer spending.

My guess is that we wont be making any decent signings while the owners are looking to sell the business.

Every £20m we spend on players is another £40m on the asking price so you ask what's the point ?

[Big Dave]

Either way, lets hope Benitez doesnt make a pigs ear of it like in the previous two summers.

Its sad to say that we have not improved the first team since we bought Torres and Mascherano in. Benitez is going to have to work realyl hard to sort this out. I think its the only way to save his job. Another summer of poor purchases, and I doubt our new owners will trust him with more cash.

If we are getting a decent amount, perhaps it will be enough to persuade Torres, Gerrard, Monster and Benayoun to stay. I have a feeling that those four players have lost faith in Benitez though, and will want to leave for that reason.

Personally, I have lost faith in Benitez . But if we are stuck with him, I hope to god he can pull it around, and convince me he is the right man after all. Its going to take a lot though.

Where does he even start to improve the team? If everyone is fit, where are we weakest? Left back? Both wings are awful. Centre midfield. A backup striker? I think 4-5-1 is making things difficult, as we will have to spend a decent amount to get a backup striker who wont get a game if Torres is fit, and will then be a waste of money... Surely a left winger or centre midfiled will be where he whacks down the big wonga? But where does this leave Aquilani?

And that coincidently was the only Summer that we've REALLY spent a decent amount of money!

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

if he banks with halifax then yeah cunts keep offering me loans and extensions to my overdraft

[CJ]

even sky are now using net spend. they say that in moores last three years

players in 102,980,000
players out 36,380,000
net spend 66,600,000

22m a season

they yanks three years

players in 146,250,000
players out 104,100,000
net spend 42,150,000

less than 15m a season.

not sure that those figures are correct but they are what sky put up enough said.

also think how player values have changed over those six years

certainly worth thinking about.

[Craig_H]

even sky are now using net spend. they say that in moores last three years

players in 102,980,000
players out 36,380,000
net spend 66,600,000

22m a season

they yanks three years

players in 146,250,000
players out 104,100,000
net spend 42,150,000

less than 15m a season.

also think how player values have changed over those six years

certainly worth thinking about.

That's ****ing scandalous.

[Ryan_Derrick]

Aquilani was £5m upfront and Johnson was off set by the money we were never going to get from Pompey for Crouch.
We'd be getting 20p in the £ like every other company they owe money too.

In which case we'd have only received £1.6m of the £8m they still owed us.
Making Johnson a baragin at £10.6m.

[banditos]

even sky are now using net spend. they say that in moores last three years

players in 102,980,000
players out 36,380,000
net spend 66,600,000

22m a season

they yanks three years

players in 146,250,000
players out 104,100,000
net spend 42,150,000

less than 15m a season.

not sure that those figures are correct but they are what sky put up enough said.

also think how player values have changed over those six years

certainly worth thinking about.

Is this in the context of proving that Hick's is full of ****? If SSN are getting stuck into the *******, this is a new development in terms of the mainstream press.

[Mattshark]

Either way, lets hope Benitez doesnt make a pigs ear of it like in the previous two summers.

Its sad to say that we have not improved the first team since we bought Torres and Mascherano in. Benitez is going to have to work realyl hard to sort this out. I think its the only way to save his job. Another summer of poor purchases, and I doubt our new owners will trust him with more cash.

If we are getting a decent amount, perhaps it will be enough to persuade Torres, Gerrard, Monster and Benayoun to stay. I have a feeling that those four players have lost faith in Benitez though, and will want to leave for that reason.

Personally, I have lost faith in Benitez . But if we are stuck with him, I hope to god he can pull it around, and convince me he is the right man after all. Its going to take a lot though.

Where does he even start to improve the team? If everyone is fit, where are we weakest? Left back? Both wings are awful. Centre midfield. A backup striker? I think 4-5-1 is making things difficult, as we will have to spend a decent amount to get a backup striker who wont get a game if Torres is fit, and will then be a waste of money... Surely a left winger or centre midfiled will be where he whacks down the big wonga? But where does this leave Aquilani?

Does your memory last longer than last season?

Riera was a good signing at the time and made a positive improvement to our first team, unfortunately this season he has been a tit.
This season we were screwed over by our owners, that is not Rafa making a pigs ear of it.
How is our right wing awful, Kuyt is productive, whether you like it or not and Maxi is an excellent player.
We have 4 good central midfielder so to suggest we are weakest there is ridiculous.
Left back, yes we need another and we need to replace Riera

Sorry but your post is ill thought and ignorant of the facts and as bad as the **** in the tabloids.