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Posts Tagged ‘Liverpool’

Chelsea will try to push through the signing of Fernando Torres on Monday with a stunning £95million transfer package they believe will trigger an escape clause in the Liverpool striker’s contract.

Roman Abramovich is ready to commit the staggering sum to secure the service of Torres, with £50m needed to activate the clause they are now confident exists.

A further £45m will be guaranteed to the 26-year-old in a five-year deal that would see him earn £175,000 a week.

Liverpool were already preparing for life without the World Cup and European Championship winner on Sunday night.

Having signed Luis Suarez, they will also try to land Ashley Young from Aston Villa and Blackpool’s Charlie Adam before the transfer window closes at 11pm on Monday.

Villa manager Gerard Houllier has already said Young is not for sale, and the club are trying to secure him on a new contract. However, that has not stopped new Anfield co-owner John W Henry contacting Villa owner Randy Lerner in a bid to mitigate the loss of Torres.
Read the rest of this entry »

Kenny Dalglish may see himself as a custodian of the Liverpool way but his high regard for Anfield’s heritage will not blind him to the need to shake off the past rather than cling to it.

While the man given charge of Liverpool until the end of the season is determined to reintroduce the spirit of the Boot Room – if not the room itself – he insists that fans deserve more than reminders of the club’s glorious past.

Dalglish will sit in the home dugout at Anfield today for the first time in 20 years as his side attempt to provide the first victory of his second managerial reign by winning the Merseyside derby with Everton.

He says today’s game must signal the end of the romance which has greeted his return to the Anfield hot seat – and the start of results.

Although immensely proud of the club’s traditions, he is aware that today’s Liverpool fans need their own magic moments.

Apart from Gerard Houllier’s cup treble in 2001 and the miracle of Istanbul four years later, the Kop have had little to cheer since Dalglish, now 59, stepped down as manager after the famous 4-4 FA Cup draw with Everton. Read the rest of this entry »

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has left the club by mutual consent.

Hodgson, 63, won only seven of 20 Premier League games after taking over from Rafael Benitez in July 2010 and led the club to 12th in the table.

Former player and manager Kenny Dalglish has been placed in charge until the end of the season.

“Both parties thought it in the best interests of the club that he stand down,” said American owner John W Henry in a statement on the club’s website.

Hodgson refused to answer questions about his Anfield future following Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat by Blackburn on Wednesday, the club’s third loss in four Premier League games, which left them just four points clear of the relegation zone.

And when his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round match against Manchester United on Sunday was cancelled on Friday, it fuelled further speculation that the former Fulham manager’s tenure was drawing to a close.
“I have found the last few months some of the most challenging of my career,” read a statement from Hodgson on the club’s website. Read the rest of this entry »

Pressure was mounting on boss Roy Hodgson as Liverpool slumped to a 1-0 home defeat against Wolves.

Ironic chants of ‘Hodgson for England’ and calls for Kop legend Kenny Dalglish to take over filled Anfield after Stephen Ward’s goal gave Wolves their first win at Anfield since January 1984.

Following Liverpool’s stunning defeat by Wolves at Anfield, we want to know who YOU think should be the club’s manager when the January transfer window opens.

It was not only the 1-0 reverse that enraged the Kop, it was the abject manner of the performance under Roy Hodgson against a side that began the evening bottom of the Premier League.

As soon as Stephen Ward struck on 56 minutes, it seemed there was no way back for Liverpool.

It remains to be seen whether NESV, the Boston-based owners of Liverpool, back Hodgson enough to let him try and rebuild his side with reinforcements when the January transfer window opens.

Among the names touted to replace him are Kenny Dalglish, who the Kop sang for once again during the defeat to Wolves, and Rafael Benitez – one banner at Anfield read simply “Come home Rafa”.

But there are a number of other contenders, with Frank Rijkaard the current favourite at 3/1. Didier Deschamps is next at 4/1, while the other leading contenders in the eyes of the bookies read as follows:

Rafael Benitez 5/1
Martin O’Neill 7/1
Guus Hiddink 8/1
Kenny Dalglish 12/1
Manuel Pelligrini 14/1

So who would you like to see as manager in January? Should Hodgson be given the chance to rebuild? Or would you like someone other than the leading names touted by the bookies to take the reins?

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy claimed his side punished Liverpool for their over-confidence after masterminding a shock 1-0 victory at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Stephen Ward poked home the decisive goal in the 56th minute to earn Wolves their first win at Anfield in nearly 26 years.

“I think the perception of Wolves is that we’re going down so would sit back, get our arses slapped and bellies tickled,” said the Wolves boss.

“But we were the better team. I thought we deserved it because we decided we were going to come here and have a go.

“I guess fortune favours the brave.”

McCarthy believes justice was done for the striker, who was harshly sent-off in a 2-0 defeat at Anfield last season.

And the Wolves boss insisted his side paid no attention to the massive backlash against the Liverpool players and manager Roy Hodgson from the home crowd. Read the rest of this entry »

by.cruiser

Newcastle have appointed Alan Pardew as the new Manager and it will be interesting to see how he take on Liverpool in his first match after his controversial signing for five and a half years.

It was a strange decision as former boss Chris Hughton were just getting the results when he was sacked by owner Mike Ashley and Pardew was brought in on a long term deal.

The fans were not happy that Haughton were dismissed so it waits to be seen how the former Southampton, Charlton, West Ham and Reading coach will receive before kickoff.

When these two sides faced each other it is usually high scoring and with recent events between these two sides it could be a thriller.

Liverpool have won five of their last eight games and have recovered from a bad start under Roy Hodgson. They thrashed Aston Villa 3-0 on Monday Night Football but their form on the road has been questioned. Hodgson’s side have lost five and managed just one win this season away from home. Read the rest of this entry »

Aston Villa manager and former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier believes that he took Liverpool “into the 21st century”.

The Frenchman spent six-years in charge at Anfield between 1998 and 2004, during which time he guided the Reds to a famous League Cup, FA Cup Uefa Cup (now called the Europa League) treble in 2001.

But towards the end of his reign on Merseyside, Houllier came under much criticism as he eventually parted ways with the club.

However, he believes that he had a significant part to play in the club winning the Champions League a year after he left, since he built the team that beat AC Milan in the final of the tournament.

“I always think that the mission of a manager is three-fold,” Houllier said, according to The Mirror, ahead of his return to Anfield – albeit as a manager of another club. Read the rest of this entry »

Pepe Reina has warned that Liverpool must improve fast or risk losing the likes of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

The Anfield goalkeeper insists new Anfield owners NESV must follow up their ambitious talk with signings to make the Reds more competitive.

Reina’s own future has come under the spotlight as Liverpool languish in ninth and nine points behind Barclays Premier League leaders Chelsea.

And he warned: ‘We have to finish this season in a better position than we are at the moment and make sure we build for the next years and try to be competitive. If not, it’s going to be difficult for them to keep these kind of players.

‘We have to be sure that we deliver better performances otherwise it’s going to be really, really, really difficult (to finish in the top four).’

Liverpool are scouring Europe for at least one new striker in January and manager Roy Hodgson knows all areas can be improved.

Reina admitted: ‘We are not probably as strong as Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham can be so that’s why we have to make sure we build a better squad.

‘At the moment, it’s almost impossible to compete for nine months against Chelsea, for example, and that is what I want.

‘The clubs all around England are building proper squads. We have to do the same and we have to be able to compete.’

Reina heads to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham on Sunday looking to break a club record. If he keeps a clean sheet, it will be his 100th in 197 league games – breaking Ray Clemence’s record which was achieved in 217 outings. Read the rest of this entry »

The news coming out of the Liverpool medical room this afternoon is not good at all. Steven Gerrard has had an initial examination on the hamstring injury he picked up last night whilst playing for England and the doctors say he will be out of action for three to four weeks. Gerrard is having a more detailed scan and we should know by this evening what the results of those are.

We are not playing too well right now and loosing Gerrard at this stage of the season does not bode well for us but if I have to take any positives from this injury: Joe Cole may now get the chance to play behind Torres now that Gerrard is not available to slot in there. Hopefully Cole will step up and shine there. Secondly, I think it was two seasons ago when Gerrard got injured and we thought the team would not perform well but we actually played better without Stevie. But I wonder if we can do the same this time round. What do you think? Read the rest of this entry »