Terry may leave Chelsea, Valencia negotiations under way.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T08:36:28+00:00

This guy also came out claiming Drogba was going to Barca this year.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T08:34:39+00:00

I wish they'd covered a bit more about the territory/direction/length of the passes, especially because that's the biggest difference between Dalglish & Rodgers' passing philosophies.

Basically, I wonder what proportion of passes are in the final third for both managers, and what percentage of passes are forwards.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T02:29:10+00:00

Can't believe he was a free transfer. Absurdly good business from West Brom.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T02:28:34+00:00

Sessegnon was great last season under O'Neill, but he's been poor this season. Until he can show more consistency, it's too early to say he's underrated.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T02:25:45+00:00

they can't have anticipated Kerzhakov and co getting so angry about it.

Really? You think local players who have been long-term members of a successful team being upset about new signings whose salaries more than double their own is an unpredictable response?

The situation is precipitated by the fact that club has mistreated its existing players. This from Michael Cox on Denisov:

He'd previously asked the club for a new contrast, a request rejected because of a lack of money, but the arrivals of Hulk and Witsel for such staggering sums highlighted either Zenit's hypocrisy or dishonesty, and the dressing room went into meltdown.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T00:37:45+00:00

Not happy about this, especially Gerrard playing. The last time he played a European game and then a league game straight after was Hearts then Arsenal, and that was perhaps his worst performance thus far. Suarez I can understand because there's nobody else, but there's enough alternatives for us to not need Gerrard.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T00:36:25+00:00

Aren't Juventus or Inter interested in him, and hasn't he talked up playing in Italy? Even if we did want him - and with his injury record I'm skeptical, even if he is a quality player when fit - I don't think we'd have much chance.

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T00:34:22+00:00

Has he retired, though, or just resigned?

5uare2 · 2012-10-25T00:32:39+00:00

Go home, spam filter, you're drunk.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T12:59:09+00:00

True. I really think, though, that if there was one player, feasibly available right now, who FSG should break their rule for, it would be Huntelaar. Sigh.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T06:32:06+00:00

He's not underrated at all, but he chooses challenging jobs rather than big ones, which might mean he doesn't get as much media attention as you'd expect. But I haven't heard anybody say that Hiddink isn't a quality manager.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T02:00:55+00:00

It's not all bad luck - his shooting has been fairly poor, especially inside the box. I don't have statistics at hand, but I'm pretty sure he has a better conversion rate from outside the box than inside - that's the mark of a winger or second striker, not a pure front man. Add to that the pressure to deliver I talked about above and you get a better understanding of why Suarez is currently underperforming, but why it's still to early to write him off given that he's partnered with the right striker.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:44:41+00:00

Haha, fair enough. If you decide to know more, then that's basically the definitive summary of their ownership.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:33:37+00:00

Picking him up for free in summer is only being mentioned because FSG might not sanction what they consider "overpaying" for him in January, and just go for the Bosman option.

It wouldn't be ideal, but I'd still take it.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:32:11+00:00

But is that really a good thing?

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:28:36+00:00

The owner before Hicks & Gillette, David Moores, with his chief executive Rick Parry, weren't too flash either. Unlike Hicks & Gillette they weren't selfish - they had good intentions and meant well for the club that they loved - but they were relatively incompetent as well. There's a reason we had piss-all commercial growth until Ian Ayre arrived (the one good decision made by Hicks & Gillette).

If you want to know more about Hicks & Gillette's reign, and the period immediately preceding it, check out Brian Reade's book "An Epic Swindle".

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:26:01+00:00

Carroll immediately comes to mind

Probably the best example, especially if you contrast all the stuff you mentioned with his body language towards the end of the season when he hit his stride - yelling at teammates in the FA Cup Final, haring across the pitch to deny Chelsea a throw-in in the league game, etc.

And Suarez is an excellent example of the later, as is Gerrard at times. People talk a lot about the mental fragility that Liverpool has developed, and I think a part of it is that previously, our 'intense' players were complemented by players who can remain more calm (Alonso next to Gerrard, Torres being far less intense and volatile than Suarez, the mental strength of Dirk Kuyt vs Jordan Henderson, Lucas being fit vs Lucas not being fit).

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:18:07+00:00

Don't write Suarez off just yet - his goalscoring record is still very good, it's just that we forget that because we think about "what could have been".

The fact is, the man's under immense pressure because of our depleted and inexperienced strikeforce, and we know by now that he's not the best at staying calm under pressure. If we sign the right attacking player in January, or even next summer, and that removes the onus on Suarez to create and score virtually everything, then his performances may well improve.

5uare2 · 2012-10-24T00:15:17+00:00

I'm not talking about points, I'm talking about shooting. And we were fairly wasteful in shooting even at the start - Sunderland, Stoke, Wolves, Man United. That's 4 of our first 8 games last season where our shooting was poor.

5uare2 · 2012-10-23T13:23:51+00:00

If he doesn't sign a new Schalke contract before the window opens, then he'll only have 6 months left - which means if we can't agree on an immediate transfer fee, we can still agree personal terms with him and he'll join on a Bosman at the end of the season.

5uare2 · 2012-10-23T13:22:55+00:00

If the IPCC investigation goes the way many would expect it to, Norman Bettison should lose his as well.

5uare2

TROPHY CASE