1 Sept 2011

Hoorah! With Degen leaving, Liverpool FC is finally free of Benitez's deadwood

Rafa Benitez undoubtedly signed some brilliant players during his time at Anfield, and the club is still benefiting from some of the players he signed. However, it's also true to say that Benitez wasted a lots of money on players who just weren't good enough for Liverpool. It's taken a long time to rid the club of these highly paid players, but with the departure of Philipp Degen today, the club is no longer lumbered with Benitez's deadwood.

Deadwood - Noun

1. A branch or part of a tree that is dead.
2. People or things that are no longer useful or productive.

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When Benitez left, the club was saddled with a whole raft of players who were tying up valuable squad space and costing the club hundreds of thousands of pounds a year. It has taken fourteen months to get rid of Benitez's flops but it's great to finally have players like Degen - surely one of the worst Liverpool signings in the modern era - off the payroll.

Between them, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Hodgson have removed the following deadwood:

Nabil El Zhar
Ryan Babel
Charles Itandje
Emiliano Insua
Philipp Degen
David N’Gog
Milan Jovanovic
Alberto Aquilani*
Daniel Ayala
Sotiris Kyrgiakos
Damien Plessis
Albert Riera

* Aquilani was/is a very good player but for whatever reason, he didn't do enough to justify his large (staggered) transfer fee, there he could be classed as deadwood.

Kenny Dalglish has also quickly culled Hodgson's deadwood too, swiftly moving on the likes of Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen and Joe Cole.

Unlike his predecessors, Dalglish's first set of signings have (arguably) been a success. Consequently, Anfield is now officially a deadwood-free zone :-)

Jaimie Kanwar







38 comments:

  1. Problem was that Hodgson brought in a fair bit of deadwood also, and the only one he brought in who wasn't, Meireles, is also gone as well. Seemingly, the club contract dispute has encouraged him to believe that he was not really wanted at the club. Shame.

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  2. Didn't you say before that Aquilani's fee was payed in total up front. Now it is staggered, seems like you are manipulating the facts for your own end.

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  3. What are you on about?  Show me where I stated his fee was paid upfront.

    I posted an article outline how his fee would be staggered, here: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/11/alberto-aquilani-truth-about-his.html

    Please get your facts straight.

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  4. Rafa was forced to buy players for a pittance - which by definition means players who others  did not want usually because they were inury prone.  Even so Rafa attracted Reina, Torres, Alonso, Mascherano, Kuyt, Arbelo and many other fine players  and got Gerrard to re-sign twice.

    Degen was on a low wage. 

    So what's your point?

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  5. In addition to the list of fine players Rafa recruited, who I mentioned earlier, Rafa also attracted Aquilnai, Reira, Kyrikiagos, Babel, N'Gog and severaln others on your "deadwood" list who were fine players, gave us great service and earned the club a profit.

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  6. A lot of BIG clubs were after Babel, Rafa got him and it was great signing when he made it but it just didn't turn out rite for us.
    The Big Greek was more than serviceable.
    And Riera wasn't that bad.
    But lets not forget that Rafa didn't have big $$$$$ to spend while H & G were there......It just wasn't a good time at LFC with those money hunger pigs at the helm.

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  7. Stop talking about Benitez1:25 am, September 01, 2011

    He's gone and if it were up to this site we'd have sent the European Cup packing with him...Jesus if it weren't for Rafa this website would have to jump on Hitler's jock

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  8. Hoorah my ass!!!!

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  9. Well, we got rid of our deadwood, and we sold one of our best two midfielders from last season as well. Once again to Chelsea. Ridiculous.

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  10. Is still feel you're continued criticism of Benitez is uncalled for and unnecessary, many of those players did at some point put in a shift for us especially when compared to Poulsen, Konchesky, Cole and Brad Jones, not forgetting that Meiriless only turned into a player when Kenny arrived!
    I just wish you who show the same sustain for the mid table survivalist Woy ( who is now working his dark magic on WBA with similar verosity) who is the biggest blight in living memory! Benitez (winner of the CL, FA Cup, highest points total, highest number of goals scored and number 1 EUFA club coefficient manager has gone! Leave his legend alone and  remind yourself that whatever you thought of Benitez his was a million times better than Hodgson!

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  11. I still feel you're continued criticism of Benitez is uncalled for and unnecessary, many of those players did at some point put in a shift for us especially when compared to Poulsen, Konchesky, Cole and Brad Jones, not forgetting that Meiriless only turned into a player when Kenny arrived!
    I just wish you who show the same distain for the mid table survivalist Woy ( who is now working his dark magic on WBA with similar verosity) who is the biggest blight in living memory! Benitez (winner of the CL, FA Cup, highest points total, highest number of goals scored and number 1 EUFA club coefficient manager has gone! Leave his legend alone and  remind yourself that whatever you thought of Benitez his was a million times better than Hodgson!

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  12. http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2011/08/revealed-top-10-liverpool-fc-transfer.html

    <span><span>"MYTH 4</span>: Alberto Aquilani's fee is to be paid in installments.
    <span>Reality</span>: The full amount has already been paid.

    <img></img>

    It's true that <span><span> </span>Roma posted a breakdown on their website of how Aquilani's fee was to be paid in installments</span>. However, as the accounts clearly show, that arrangement changed at some point and the full fee was paid up front. "</span>

    I have to admit that was the first thing that struck me also; the main point of this article is however totally true, for the first time in an age, im at total ease with our squad!

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  13. Yeah, Benitez bought some bad players. So did Hodgson. He only bought 5 players in total didn't he? Poulsen, Cole and Konchesky? Jones has done nothing too. Meireles was good for half of a season. Great success rate. So, great job, Roy, on getting rid of some of Benitez's dead wood, as you mentioned, and stoking us up with your own dead wood instead.

    To preempt your reply, I read the articles here to have a laugh at the anti-Benitez brigade posts that still occasionally appear. This article, in my humble opinion, is another example. By the way, I also realise that your article was about Benitez and dead wood - not about Hodgson. However, I think its completely fair to point out what I see as the slanted nature of the article though.

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  14. By the way, would it be rude to ask if you get increased traffic for Benitez-based articles? I'm just trying to understand your motivation, as I think you're being honest when you say you have nothing personal against him. Still, the Benitez articles you write are usually written in a provocative way, so I can only assume it is to generate higher web traffic.

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  15. degen was a free if I am not mistaken and you need to ask yourself why was he a free and why did we go after him

    LFC saw something in him other clubs didn't
    all we could afford at the time
    he was all that was left/available
    parry/parslow couldn't get the deal done for a better target

    let me ask you if henderson and coates become 'flops' will that be the fault of kenny or camolli????

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  16. Not sure how many times we have to go through this, but Rafa spent 250M.  I don't want to hear about net spending and all that other bilge water, he spent 250,000,000.  Time to let go and focus on the future.

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  17. I don't care what anyone says Benitez was a good manager. People are forgetting that he didn't have the full control he wanted over transfers, and not only that, he tried signing top class players but had to go with poor second or even third planned choices. He got to two champions league finals, won one dramatically enough to be etched in evey fans memory, played stylish football at times and gave us great great players.He knew what he was doing when a lot of people doubted him, he gave Lucas his chance, bought quality in Aquilani, gave us Reina ( who is arguably the best goalie in the league). I can keep going, we should have won the league in his best season, I remember the only games we played bad in were some unfortunate ties and 2 losses. Some people can probably take 2 losses in a whole season, but Benitez always made it hard for us to be beaten and he raised our expectations, i was dissapointed with those 2 losses, we didnt lose those games we have a league title, but im not gonna live in the past, but know when one needs credit for hard work and that is Benitez. King Kenny is just another great manager to add to the history, him winning the league with blackburn, back at the club where he is a legend. Very good days ahead. 

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  18. The below link/extracts is to/are from your own article 'REVEALED: Top 10 Liverpool transfer fee myths/inaccuracies'.

    http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2011/08/revealed-top-10-liverpool-fc-transfer.html

    <span>MYTH 4</span>: Alberto Aquilani's fee is to be paid in installments.
    <span>Reality</span>: The full amount has already been paid.

    <img></img>

    It's true that <span><span></span><span>Roma posted a breakdown on their website of how Aquilani's fee was to be paid in installments</span></span>. However, as the accounts clearly show, that arrangement changed at some point and the full fee was paid up front.


    Read more: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2011/08/revealed-top-10-liverpool-fc-transfer.html#ixzz1WfYSusBx

    I don't think it is a big deal in the context of this article but just thought it was worth pointing out, especially since the article is less than a week old.

    On another note, I find it hard to call Soto deadwood. He was hardly a quality player but he filled a gap in the squad and was more than worth the money we paid. There are a few more too.

    El Zhar was a major prospect when we signed him.

    Ayala is a good player (a little disappointed he was never given a proper chance to be honest but Wisdom, Kelly, Wilson and Coates are all the future for centre-half) and we made a profit on him.

    Insua was a good player until he got brought into the first team to early. Up until he was forced to play too many games, he was coming along nicely.

    We got good service from N'gog for the money we paid and made a profit.

    Babel and Riera weren't bad buys but turned bad for different reasons. Babel was badly handled by Rafa which spoiled him (though there would still be question marks over his 'football brain' even if he had been man-managed better) and Riera was good in his first season (really brought balance to the team at a good price) but undid that good work after his training bust-up.

    I can understand how some of these were 'no longer productive or useful' but deadwood seems to ignore the fruit they bore and the fact that they weren't always bad players. Very few signings work out long-term. Riise went off the boil but to call him deadwood wouldn't really seem right considering the service he provided for the outlay. I understand there is an element of arguing semantics here but I think there is something to what I'm saying, and I'm sure others will agree.

    Itandje, Jovanovic and Degen are indubitable deadwood though, no argument there. Terrible buys. Jova wasn't a bad idea but the wage we offered was insane, especially considering his injury record.

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  19. For some the reason the other guy who pointed out the Aqua discrepency wasn't there when I posted. Sorry.

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  20. Add up the fees of the list of so-called deadwood players and see how is the total fee spent on them. Don't forget to deduct the fees recouped from selling these players as well. If possible please also add up the profits made by LFC from selling the players bought by Rafa.

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  21. Rafa bought Torres for 22.5m and Bable for 14m while KK reaps the harvest to spend the money on selling them to get Suarez and Carrol for 57.5m. Alonso was bought at 10m and sold for 30m. Ngog was bougth at 1m and sold for 4m. Lucas and Reina are bargain buy. Aquilani is a good buy but Hodgson shipped him out. Mascherano and Benayoun left when Liverpool was in a mess. Also bear in mind Liverpool needs to bear over 35m annual loan interest during the previous management era. Things turn bad when Moore sold LFC to the two American jokers. Be fair to Rafa.

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  22. Roy bought more deadwood than a decrepid old bum

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  23. Rafa bashing site beware beware

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  24. The question is why were we signing all these players in the first place and not spending real cash like now??

    Snake oil salesmen as owners, that's why............

    Pity we didn't get Sturridge as part of the deal, I wonder is there any background story. I'll google it in work shortly

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  25. I don't write anything just to generate traffic; I write about stuff that interests me. The whole traffic argument has absolutely no merit anyway - if it was just about hits then why would I take regular breaks from the site? Recently, I was away for 9 months; when Benitez was here, I took 2 six month breaks from the site. If you're trying to build traffic you don't disappear for months at a time.

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  26. Dear Jammie,
    it s sad that you still have a go at Benitez at every chance you get after almost one year and half him getting sacked.
     I understand and accept that Benitez bought some useless players and also some good ones like Torres, Kuyt, lucas, Mashrano, alonos, garca, reina ......, I could make excuses or reasons for those bad buys. I could also blame the club transfer strategy for the buys and sells which by the way didnot get any better after Benitez left and only we started to have shape and strategy in our transfers when new owners got comollli in charge.
    the truth is something that even a one sided writer like you can not reject and that is Benitez was a successful liverpool manager who many liverpool fans (maybe majority) love and respect and they know that he always had the interest of the club in his heart.
    we now need to move on and be postive and make sure we dont divide our fans as some tried to do for many years.

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  27. Why don't you tighten up the parameters for comments?

    So people just can't drop anonymous comments

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  28. You must have serious mental problems, if you really think that!
    Hodgson's purchases were absolutely a disgrace and can not be compared to Benitez' signings. Then you even hail Hodson for "clearing deadwood".
    You should seriously stop your agenda against Rafa and instead move on as everyone else.
    Stop writing without thinking and support the scum or someone else. You are a disgrace for LFC!!!

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  29. I've considered doing that but I didn't want to restrict people from easily commenting.  I'll give it a shot though and see how it works out.

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  30. <p><span>Discounting Jovanovich as a Benitez signing, just one short year after making 5 signings for the Liverpool first team, only Aurelio’s corpse remains as evidence of Hodgson’s reign. And not one of those players will be missed. </span>
    </p><p><span></span>
    </p><p><span>Thank God he only had control over one transfer window, or else we'd really be f*cked!</span></p>

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  31. <span>

    DEADWOOD????????
    Agger      SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Kuyt       SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Skrtel      SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Aurelio     SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Reina       SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Johnson   SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Maxi        SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    Lucas,     SIGNED BY BENITEZ
    ALL the player that hodgson signed have GONE. Now THATS deadwood. I have to admit, you are by far the funniest poster on the web. Keep it up Jamie, you make us match goers laugh. PS have you been to Anfield yet.
    </span>

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  32. We haven't sold Brad Jones so we aren't technically a deadwood-free club.

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  33. yes, rafa was a excellent manager, and one day surely he will come back, i dont see the way we played under his fully fi side nowadays anymore...the passong and everything was charismatic under rafa but not anymore under Roy or kenny...

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  34. We are all so bored of your 'sniping' Jaimie, why is it when you directly contradict yourself (as you have done with this article, pointed out above) you conveniently forget about it. Could it be that you have an agenda against Rafa, for whatever reason and you are STILL following it now, months after he has gone. He wasn't even the last manager for christ sake and the last one was considerably worse!!! But that's right, you LOVED Roy Hodgson didn't you, did that bet you had with a friend work out well for you Jaimie, you know, the one for £500 that LFC would finish top 4 last season.... ??

    You know nothing about football mate.

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  35. We still got Danny Wilson and Brad Jones.

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  36. Find it strange that we call Danny Wilson deadwood, yet he plays for the Scotland team. Not the strongest team in the world, but we all agreed that you do not play 84 games for your country, Denmark, and be a poor player, so wit Wilson being young and being in the Scotland team that beat Denmark recently, how can he be deadwood?

    Agree that Brad Jones is hardly anything special, but he hardly played! We have a better back up keeper now, I think, but he will hardly play either! Surprised he did not get a run out at Exeter.

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