Without Charlie Adam in the starting XI...

[RichC]

A fair point. We are a fickle bunch at the best of times

Adam is a squad player and that's the price we paid for one. You only have to look at the likes of Anderson at Utd to see that was money well spent. In fact, he reminds me a bit of Anderson....left footed, can't really run or tackle and panics when near the penalty area

I would put Adam behind Gerrard, Lucas, Spearing & Henderson for a midfield role in our team at the mo

we're still rebuilding the squad and I do expect to see us strengthen again in the summer, handy squad player but he got far more game time this season IMO due to lengthy absences of Lucas and Gerrard

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

He was a media darling wasn't he.. Too much hype surrounded him for the first half of that season. In terms of what we paid, its not the end of the world, we could make that back if he moves on.

[Eric Swindler]

I'm not a fan (of Adam) but you would have thought the number of people who have had to eat their words about Skrtel, Lucas, Maxi and Kuyt there would be a greater level of acceptance that sometimes you have to be loyal stick with players to get the best out of them. It's a fine line and I suspect you have to back someone 100% until you don't and Kenny has at least given all his signings a fair chance and of late we are seeing much improved versions of Carroll and Downing at least.

The thing with all of the above players you mention is that they had recognisable raw materials which one could always see, despite not always performing to the 'acceptable' level. With Charlie Adam, all I tend to see are fundamental flaws in positioning, mobility and awareness that I'm not sure will be overcome. Rangers didn't let him go for no reason.

He certainly did well with Blackpool, and that stint showed that he can do well within a certain defined set-up where his co-midfielders cover for his flaws, but at Liverpool i suppose more is expected, in that we need players to be at a level that they can produce no matter what the set-up.

I wouldn't sell him though as he's handy to have in the squad and his resale value would be **** all anyway.

[baitman]

...and his resale value would be **** all anyway.

if he is that useful to us you need to ask why his re-sale value would be **** all... its cos no one else would want to buy our dog. if hes not good enough for anyone else, why would we be happy to have him, even if he was only a squaddie

[RedReet]

I'm not a fan (of Adam) but you would have thought the number of people who have had to eat their words about Skrtel, Lucas, Maxi and Kuyt there would be a greater level of acceptance that sometimes you have to be loyal stick with players to get the best out of them. It's a fine line and I suspect you have to back someone 100% until you don't and Kenny has at least given all his signings a fair chance and of late we are seeing much improved versions of Carroll and Downing at least.

I would like to hope that it isn’t blind loyalty Kenny is showing to the players as such, but more staying true to the vision of how he thinks we should play and how he thinks they fit into this system. He obviously has an idea in his head on how he wants the team to play and how he can take the club forward and I’m sure he signed these player thinking they would help him achieve this, more so that those they replaced. Obviously it hasn’t worked out as planned as it’s clear some of his signings have underperformed both individually and collectively but I hope Kenny is persisting with it in the hope that one day it will all click rather than feeling he has to justify his outlay by picking them week in week out (not that he always does).

[red g]

The thing with all of the above players you mention is that they had recognisable raw materials which one could always see, despite not always performing to the 'acceptable' level. With Charlie Adam, all I tend to see are fundamental flaws in positioning, mobility and awareness that I'm not sure will be overcome. Rangers didn't let him go for no reason.

He certainly did well with Blackpool, and that stint showed that he can do well within a certain defined set-up where his co-midfielders cover for his flaws, but at Liverpool i suppose more is expected, in that we need players to be at a level that they can produce no matter what the set-up.

I wouldn't sell him though as he's handy to have in the squad and his resale value would be **** all anyway.

he is only 26 and think we could easily get our own back. He has talent and proved he can be the difference in a crap team. The likes of Championship teams that get promoted would take him as would a few mid level premier teams.

[Eric Swindler]

if he is that useful to us you need to ask why his re-sale value would be **** all... its cos no one else would want to buy our dog. if hes not good enough for anyone else, why would we be happy to have him, even if he was only a squaddie

I think your squad needs to have its share of 6/7 mil players on the bench. If we sell him we'll just need to buy another, so you'd be inclined to stick with him. Rafa was a great man for that kinda sell-one-buy-another and there is something to be said for that, to keep motivation levels up, but CA has his positives, just not enough to warrant a first team place.

[The_weatherman]

I hope I'm wrong but I reckon Kenny will give Adam a start against either Wigan or QPR, for us to lose points. Where is the QPR build up thread?

[SK]

he was good while Lucas was playing and he had the role of a deep-lying playmaker, where he had little defensive duties and had a lot of the ball, now since Lucas' injury he's been asked to step up as a DM, which he is not, so he had to play a game not natural to him. Not a good comparison but if Pirlo was asked to to Gattuso's job i'd think he'd suffer aswell. We need to fit him in the team somehow, but if not, if he's just not suited to our style of play then he needs to be shipped out.

I'd give his another year mind, with Lucas back and Gerrard pushed a bit forward he'd come good i'd say.

[baitman]

I think your squad needs to have its share of 6/7 mil players on the bench. If we sell him we'll just need to buy another, so you'd be inclined to stick with him. Rafa was a great man for that kinda sell-one-buy-another and there is something to be said for that, to keep motivation levels up, but CA has his positives, just not enough to warrant a first team place.

yeh, someone who doesnt fall over for **** all.

ive seen better players in the park, mate. sorry, but he is ****e

[baitman]

he was good while Lucas was playing and he had the role of a deep-lying playmaker, where he had little defensive duties and had a lot of the ball, now since Lucas' injury he's been asked to step up as a DM, which he is not, so he had to play a game not natural to him. Not a good comparison but if Pirlo was asked to to Gattuso's job i'd think he'd suffer aswell. We need to fit him in the team somehow, but if not, if he's just not suited to our style of play then he needs to be shipped out.

I'd give his another year mind, with Lucas back and Gerrard pushed a bit forward he'd come good i'd say.

im sorry, but this ongoing attempt at "creating" a role for charlie adam is a joke. saying that he needs cover so he can go forward and express himself with his football, and that he is a playmaker. oh, please...
next thing someone will compare him with kaka

if he could play football then i would be willing for kenny to stick with him, but he looks like a three legged donkey.

[Kenneth]

Bit harsh there, but he should basically be Gerrard's understudy until we get someone better.

[Tee]

Adams ability on the ball is decent enough IMO, its just his severe lack of mobility/athleticism that puts him in trouble. He is just not up to being a CM for Liverpool FC.

[Lee]

Adams ability on the ball is decent enough IMO, its just his severe lack of mobility/athleticism that puts him in trouble. He is just not up to being a CM for Liverpool FC.

Don't mind him being here until the end of the season or even next year if used sparingly and for some cup games, but we need better players really.

However we've more pressing issues to address, like on the flanks and up top.

[dww]

The thing with all of the above players you mention is that they had recognisable raw materials which one could always see, despite not always performing to the 'acceptable' level. With Charlie Adam, all I tend to see are fundamental flaws in positioning, mobility and awareness that I'm not sure will be overcome. Rangers didn't let him go for no reason.

He certainly did well with Blackpool, and that stint showed that he can do well within a certain defined set-up where his co-midfielders cover for his flaws, but at Liverpool i suppose more is expected, in that we need players to be at a level that they can produce no matter what the set-up.

I wouldn't sell him though as he's handy to have in the squad and his resale value would be **** all anyway.

Adam has 11 assists. In a team which hasn't been scoring many. The next best assister in the squad is Suarez with 5, behind im is Kuyt on 3. Some might argue that represents a raw material on which to work.

Like I said I'm not a fan but I accept that it may be that Kenny sees that he can work on aspects of his game. I doubt anyone on here is a better judge (than Dalglish) of what is a fundamental flaw or something you can overcome.

I would like to hope that it isn’t blind loyalty Kenny is showing to the players as such, but more staying true to the vision of how he thinks we should play and how he thinks they fit into this system. He obviously has an idea in his head on how he wants the team to play and how he can take the club forward and I’m sure he signed these player thinking they would help him achieve this, more so that those they replaced. Obviously it hasn’t worked out as planned as it’s clear some of his signings have underperformed both individually and collectively but I hope Kenny is persisting with it in the hope that one day it will all click rather than feeling he has to justify his outlay by picking them week in week out (not that he always does).

I agree that you have to hope it is an informed judgement rather than blind loyalty. I was merely pointing out examples where many fans thought the loyalty for our manager was blind but over time their judgement was justified.