2 Mar 2013

Risky: Coutinho reveals surprising info about his £8.5m LFC move. Worrying...?

After an excellent performance on his full Liverpool debut, new Reds signing Philippe Coutinho has hit the ground running at Anfield, and fans will be hoping that he continues his good start against Wigan Athletic. in the Premier League this afternoon. Fellow Brazilian Lucas admitted last week that he's helping Coutinho settle-in, and according to the 20-year old, Lucas - not Brendan Rodgers - played a big part in persuading him to join the club.

In an interview with The Telegraph yesterday, Coutinho - who scored on his Anfield debut against Swansea City - revealed the following surprising info about his transfer to Liverpool.

The manager and I did not speak before I signed, it was Lucas who passed me all the information I needed. He told me how the club works, the style and the structure of the club and how we play.

"When I signed I already had all the background information I needed because Lucas and I spoke for a long time. The decision for me was made quite quickly on this basis.”


It seems strange to me that Liverpool can sign a player without the manager having any kind of meeting/discussion with him first.

Rodgers is always going on about how important it is to sign players with the right mentality/attitude etc, but how can he judge this if he doesn't actually spend any time with the player prior to signing?

Rodgers recently claimed that he'd been 'tracking Coutinho's career since he was 15', yet he didn't think that meeting with the Brazilian before signing him might be a good idea? It seems likely that the first time Rodgers ever met Coutinho is the day he arrived at Anfield to sign his contract.

Is it standard practice for managers to sign players without meeting with them first? In Liverpool's case, I'd hope not but perhaps that's the way Rodgers does things? With this in mind, did Rodgers meet with Assaidi or Sahin before they signed for the club?

I personally find it a little concerning, but that's just me. I'm not suggesting there's anything to worry about with Coutinho, but when the club is spending large sums of money, it would seem prudent business practice for the manager to at least meet with the player before the club splashes out.

NOTE: From now on, any comment that moans about this site being too critical/negative etc will be deleted. I don't have the time or the energy to keep explaining the same thing over and over again. If this site is too critical for you, go to another LFC site.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


107 comments:

  1. needless negative article, time is precious in January and the transfer is destined for success.

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  2. Language boundaries maybe? 

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  3. completely agree with that. rodgers is a joke, thats all i can say. he should go back to some average football team

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  4. liverpool4life56512:25 pm, March 02, 2013

    Your reading too much into it!!!, Rodgers asked Lucas everything, then he asked coutinho, there must be language barrier too!, also Rodgers has tracked him since 15 so he must know what he was getting,

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  5. Yes, I agree, though surely you still meet with a player before signing him?

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  6. Well he is here lets worry about the ones the club miss not what they get.

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  7. What do you mean 'he asked Coutinho'? The Brazilian clearly states that he had no contact with Rodgers before the transfer.

    The issue I'm raising here is whether it's a good idea for managers to sign players without meeting with them/discussing things first.

    The language barrier is no excuse. That's what interpreters are for. Plus, Rodgers could've met with Coutinho alongside Lucas, who could've translated.

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  8. liverpool4life56512:34 pm, March 02, 2013

    That Rodgers asked Lucas questions about him, then what Rodgers said he told coutinho there must of been a link, anyway a manager don't have to speak to a player only ayre would of because he handles the transfers....

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  9. Why doesn't a manager have to speak to a player before he signs him? What kind of effective policy is that? I sincerely doubt this is standard practice. How can a manager get a real sense of a player's attitude/beliefs etc without ever talking to him first?

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  10. liverpool4life56512:39 pm, March 02, 2013

    Because he asked Lucas about him and his ex managers.... But you do have a fair point but at some clubs managers don't speak to a player before he signs.... :)

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  11. Here, we have proof that Rodgers doesn't meet with players before they sign, but I doubt you'd be able to find the same for any other top club. I'm happy to be proven wrong though.

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  12. you the one who wrote the article are the joke.so what if bran didnt talk to coutinho.is he not a good player?

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  13. Dude, again, what's with the dummy spitting; Rodgers is a joke, seriously, is that all you can come up with?

    Do you not think that, even once, we've played some outstanding football?
    Do you not see anything of what he's trying to do?

    Or are you just looking at the papers and seeing who City & Chelsea are signing or have signed (at mega costs) and seeing Utd running away with the league and come up with the "Rodgers is a joke" statement. 

    If that's the limit to your argument then it's not really a valid one, now, is it?

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  14. I guess it has something to do with the language barrier, does seem a bit strange though. Rodgers does seem to have good communication with Lucas though and I heard talk of Suarez trying to persuade Eriksen to join, might be just paper talk but if there is truth to it it would be very appealing. We really need to control the midfield more and pin back opposition defences more.

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  15. maybe they spoke over the phone and it was lucas who was acting as translater

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  16. Coutinho said he 'did not speak' with Rodgers before signing. Talking on the phone constitutes speaking, doesn't it?

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  17. brendan speaks english with a belfast accent whereas little coutinho relies mainly on portuguese. oddly lucas does both very competently  standing on his head.
    probably not too irrational of mr rogers to choose him as his go-between then. and, yeah, sorry, but negativity still seems to sit too comfortably with you.

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  18. Maybe Rodgers was busy with other stuff at the club and, as it was close to deadline day, he asked Lucas to do his mediating for him?

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  19. BRING BENETEZ BACK

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  20. The technical directors of Barcelona and Real Madrid sign players for their respective clubs and managers have little or no input in identifying or signing players. You would have to assume therefore that the respective managers of those clubs don't speak to prospective players either and the system works well for them. Barca and Real aren't the only clubs that employ this system.

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  21. liverpool4life5651:31 pm, March 02, 2013

    Chelsea do it to? Man city? They let the manager directors deal with transfers...

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  22. Rodger said he's been tracking him since he's young, and as manager he got 101 things to do and obviously don't want to waste time talking to the player he knows well... 

    So he sent Lucas, who during his period of injury, been doing some scouting work for the club...furthermore Lucas can understand English and speak Portuguese and Spanish, so good to have him speak to Coutinho... 

    Don't read too much into it, I would probably do the same if I'm the recruiting manager of a company...

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  23. I think that it is unethical for managers to meet up with players they are interested in... Unless permission is sought with the other club's representatives...

    I don't think we would like it if we saw pep having a chat with suarez somewhere :PI think that they have their sources close to the player and make a thorough background check before actually signing them... But of course, if the talks are in an advanced stage, then yes, it's logical for the manager to meet the guy... It makes the guy feel wanted too :)
    BR's transfer policy is a mystery xD.

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  24. Jeez really??? This is the sort of thing that concerns you?? Coutino is class 

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  25. i agree jaimie i think common coutesy would at least entail a handshake and greeting before you sign..if i signed for a club and the manager didnt meet me or phone me to at last introduce himself id find that kinda rude to say the least....maybe thats why we have lost a few signings who knows ...perhaps rogers thinks hes to good to meet a signing ...ps does anyone not find it worrying that players with out a track record of negotiation etc are conducting the transfer policy of the club ....what do we do if we sign a player from a country where we dont speak the lingo...i have heard we are after honda perhaps we should send the guy from the local chippy who speaks the lingo to conduct the transfer.....  

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  26.  the point is you are leaving the selling of a philosophy or dream to someone else.....its rogers who is driving the club not lucas ...for all rogers knows lucas may hate the guy and be trying to put him off...say courtino was in battle for lucas role....im being far fetched but do you get my point

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  27. I don't think it is a cause for worry. At my workplace, I was signed on without ever meeting my manager, would you also call that a risk? As long as a manager approves the pursuit of a player, I don't think he actually needs to go talk to the player if all the boxes are checked.

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  28. your just being silly jaimie. your just making coutinho's words twisted. he didnt mean i didnt meet the manager. of course he did, he was just saying even before he signed with liverpool whilst there was interest in him, lucas had already told him about the club and this made it an easy decision to sign for the club when he came in to talk and discuss a contract.

    also with regards to when Brendan Rodgers said hes been tracking since 15, as a real football fan you do follow players from a all around the world and see how there doing, especially ones with exciting potential (e.g neymar, jordan ibe, mario gotze. we all probably follow these players) So it will be no different with Rodgers. rodgers would know alot more than us about the kid, who went into the la liga with a good mentality and had a good season, and played well in the serie a and champions league with inter but struggled to really break into the first team with inter, but has never gone on to complain about game time. this is a young kid from brazil who knows he is privaleged to be in europe and play for clubs like inter milan and liverpool. he even said he knows how much it means to play for liverpool and the boy seems pretty enthusiastic about playing for the club. hes the same age as shelvey, and probably alot better and at least hes never talked about game time.

    stop trying to get onto BR jaimie and support the team during a hard transition were going through and talk about good things

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  29.  language barrier do me a favour...im sure rogers could find a translator if required

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  30. so the manger of real never met OR SPOKE TO ronaldo before he signed BS

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  31. although Jaimie the counter argument to this is he had met borini and allen and look at them...so perhaps its better he doesnt meet the players 

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  32. Jamie can you tell us what part of the country your from? Just interested to know.... I know it's irrelevant to this topic but just curious. Thanks mate.

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  33. Troubling news if TRUE !

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  34. Mourinho was the one who signed Coutinho for Inter, Rodgers is in contact with Mourinho and also trusts Lucas, enough to make him an unofficial scout when Lucas was injured, this shows that Rodgers respects immensely Lucas's judgement of talent and mentality, especially with Lucas being the captain of the Brazil U21's. 

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  35. It may not be standard practice, but it may be revolutionary practice, we may be the trendsetter with this type of policy, getting a highly respected foreign player to be the middle man so to speak between the manager and the future player. This shows that the manager trusts his players. This can only be a good thing.

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  36. Borini has been injured for majority of the season, so that is not the manager's fault.

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  37. This is probably just miscommunication/mistranslation. It's not like that never happens, is it? He probably means that they didn't meet before he came to the club for his medical, which isn't particularly surprising. How many managers, at the busiest time of the season, are going to go traipsing over to Italy to have a chat with a player. You delegate other people to do that stuff...

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  38. Seeing as though Coutinho can't speak English and Rodgers can't speak Portuguese, don't you think it's better that he got Lucas to do the talking? Another point I think you're missing out on is the fact that using Lucas as the 'interpreter' means you don't have to pay for one. Not to mention the fact that these "quotes" are no doubt translated from Portuguese into English, therefore your interpretation or what has been said could be incorrect. It's a bit like reading the bible in English - stuff gets lost in translation and people can read too much into obtuse statements.

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  39. Rodgers has put his trust in Lucas for this particular transfer, a player who is highly respected at LFC and also in Brazil and a captain of the national U21s. I doubt Rodgers is stupid and wouldn't have put the faith in Lucas if he wasn't 150% professional. When Lucas was injured, Rodgers effectively made Lucas an extra scout, Rodgers probably informed Lucas that Coutinho was a player he has liked for a while and Lucas should have a look at him and see what he thinks. Lucas obviously came back with some pretty good feedback. Good on Rodgers and good on Lucas, I for one am happy that Coutinho is at Liverpool, as this is an extremely savvy piece of business.

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  40. He did, his name is Lucas Leiva

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  41. nonsense. jaimie is just twisting up coutinho's word. he never meant it like that. 

    jaimie why not talk about keisuke honda? apparently we're trying to get a pre-contract in place to sign him on a free transfer in the summer and if we do this will be the coup of the summer. ive been waiting for us to sign a player with so much technique, vision, a player where the ball sticks to their feet. a all round player, set piece specialist, magician like mata. Honda is real baller, and i cant wait till we get him, we've been tracking him for long now. Definately will change the fortunes of our team, CL & World Cup Experienced. world class player up for free

    YNWA

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  42. borini was the worst signing of the whole summer amongst every premier league club. £12M on absolute nonsense. happy rodgers is going for players like sturridge, coutinho, icardi, honda because we cant afford to be taking risk on agile, weak, low confidence players like borini who should probably be in the championship. hes managed 1 goal which came on his debut, so he has no excuse for low confidence proving hes a low confidence player and 0 assists in 16 games. sorry but for a striker that is poor, even david ngog scored more

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  43. I was going to suggest a similar thing but even still you can get a feel for a person without having a full conversation with him. It does seem strange they hadn't met before he signed however. 

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  44. Coutinho is quoted as saying "The manager and I did not speak before I signed..." which fully does suggest that BR hadnt met with him prior to arriving at the club to sign. I dont think Jamie is twisting his words at all. They could have been mistranslated from the original source though thats a possibility. The meaning could be slanted somewhat. I do feel however that if this report is true its a little odd for BR to not meet with him first. Although with the obvious language barrier and BR not being able to be everywhere at once Its probably not uncommon for this sort of thing to exist at other clubs too. I'm sure other teams in the league sign players without the manager personally meeting them first.


    Furthermore Lucas and BR clearly have a special relationship you can see that when he talks about him personally and when they do interviews together. He would trust his judgement I'm sure.

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  45. I fully agree with you Jamie and I agree that BR should have met with him first, if in fact its true that he did not, but its likely that it just wasn't possible for him to make it or that it wasn't deemed a priority. Coutinho after all isn't the highest profile signing in the world so it may have been decided that BR going to personally meet him wasn't necessary. Just a thought.

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  46. Fairly positive way to see it. I think its going to depend on the profile of the player. It could go a number of ways. The player not meeting the manager could be interpreted as a little disrespectful and underselling the importance to the team thus acting as a deterrent or in this case it was clearly effective in attracting the player to the club. If in some dream scenario we were in for a player like Falcao (oh what a sweet dream that would be) I'm sure BR would personally meet him as this is a higher profile signing with more importance. 

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  47. exactly. coutinho didnt even mean it like that anyway. YNWA, dont you know what that means. your meant be writing good thinggs, not turning all the fans away from BR

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  48. I personally don't think it is a good idea for managers to sign players with out meeting them first. i strongly believe that Rodgers was just desperate to bring in a second player during the January transfer window. He wanted to bring in anyone with reasonable talent capable of hitting the ground running and making an impact at Anfield from the very start. He was a man who was feeling the heat after having signed a few flops in the summer. People like Assaidi, Allen and Borini and don't forget Nuri Sahin. Rodgers needed a success story in the transfer market. Countinho when he became available to Rodgers was seen as the player to redeem Brendan Rodgers in his transfer market dealings. Until now all the success stories at Anfield were not Brendan Rodgers signings. Sterling was a Benitez signing, so was Lucas. Shelvy was a Hodgson signing. Suarez was a Daglish signing so was Suso, and Henderson. No one brought in by Rogers has been a real hit until the last January window when there existed a desperate need to bolster the attacking line at Anfield. Sturridge was brought in to great success and shortly after came Phillip Continho. The two only real success stories signed by Brendan Rodgers. 

    It is my opinion that Rodgers was  willing to sign the Brazilian Continho without having spoken to him simply because (1) Lucas rated him highly and (2) there was a need to bring in a really talented player who could come in and energize the Liverpool attack. With a goal in his debut just like Sturridge and Suarez, Continho is already in good company.

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  49. This is pure supposition. You do not know that the managers don't speak to prospective signings.

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  50. Yes, you'd just entrust an £8.5m purchase to someone else.

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  51. John Henry entrusted BR to buy players too...unless you meant BR gave Lucas 8.5m to Italy and sign Coutinho up?

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  52. Ngog cost a million and was considered a flop

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  53. Exactly. Rodgers is responsible for buying players. Thus, when 8.5m of someone else's money is going to be spent, I'm sure Henry would prefer it if the manager actually met with the player first.

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  54. How do you know Chelsea and Man City sign players without the manager meeting them first?

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  55. Has anyone had any £500 bets today?

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  56. what about situations like sigurdson at spurs he was signed before AVB signed. (may not be completely right there) but the player was definitely first chosen by the board

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  57. BR: Luke, I read on the papers Coutinho not happy in Inter, can you email him and check whether he would like to come to Liverpool? I will send my 183 pages of my football philosophy, please translate it in Portuguese and make sure Coutinho understand that I want him to play in position 1, 2 and 3. My Portuguese is rusty and no point talking to him in English.
    Lucas: Sure Boss... 

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  58. im sorry ...im getting sick of going with Jk but the manger should surely speak with the player....we live in a media age ..these guys have agents who are in the buisness of speking with clients by vidophone or whatever that there life...we are not talking two tin cans and a piece of string ....say rogers upon meeting a signing realises he just doesnt like the guy or his attitude ......i find it bizarre im sorry but if i was manger id want to speak to every signing ..perhaps that why that guy went to southampton..id want to meet every signing so i could try and convince them ...to leave it to someone else is passing the buck  

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  59. liverpool4life5654:26 pm, March 02, 2013

    Because managers/coaches only give the directors name of players, then sign them, and sell the club to the players, also Chelsea do it because they've said before, carlo said it when Torres, and luiz deal was done. And city is also the same...

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  60. this does sound strange, but im not sure how surprising it is. Its far simpler for BR to get info on the players personality without talking to him: he could just ask someone who knows him. The manager should pick the players he wants and then there are systems in place for other people: scouts, CEO etc to go and talk to him and sort out the details of transfer and contract. BR can say what he wants doing and trust people to ensure that its done.


    I dont think its too big a deal, although the manager should definitely be there to welcome the player to the club (eg BR's meeting with borini seen on Being: Liverpool). Also i would prefer the manager to be the one to convince players to come (benitez and torres)

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  61. I feel the problem here is the building of a picture from a blank canvas, regarding a view we have little information about. Philosophically this gives us problems, I can't agree that a news report and a comment from that interview gives us enough to build the sort of assumptions being made.

    Why couldn't the story be more about the process in place to acquire a player with great potential, even if BR could not be involved directly for whatever reason. But in my mind I can image scouts involved, the eyes and ears of BR, Director level involvement, again all communication passed back to BR and his team. And I'm sure some time will have been spent looking over video's and player stats... We can suggest with confidence, that Lucus, did not manage the whole process from start to finish alone :)

    I do not believe BR had 'no' involvement and feel thats an obsurd suggestion to make, just because BR didn't meet Continho directly I feel that is being stretched. Clearly we have acquired a good player with ability to take him beyond good, potentially world class (fingers-crossed). He also felt we were building for the future, which I'm guessing came from Lucus, scouts, other players in the know, his management team etc... and we knew of his ability, which again came from different directions.

    A sound piece of business, the process may seem to have been to simplistic but I'm sure all the correct player purchasing procedures were in place and I for one i'm pleased with the purchase and the quality of this player ...

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  62. And U still believe in Rodgers? 

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  63. Another crap jk article. Keep defending your shotty writing. Blah blah blah blah block me again lol

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  64. Now we know why, and how, Lucas was deployed as a scout during his injury lay-off.

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  65. Site is too critical... 

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  66. Does any manager interview a candidate in any other job before a company takes them on? Does a big city trader earning just as much get to meet the head honcho? No a CV probably doesn't even reach them. If BR has faith in his scouts and has seen been tracking him for so long a chat with him wouldn't mean much in reality and anyone who wants to talk himself up can do it easily so chatting isn't really going to tell you how good someone is going to be. Having said that common courtesy would dictate that he should have met him before signing a contrat if what is said is true.

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  67. lol deleting moaning and critical comments, to create the illusion that everyone posting on your page agrees with you? if you can't handle honest opinions then don't bother about writing these articles. and for your information your articles aren't very good. you keep speculating and theorycrafting too much over insignificant stuff. and as for this article i'm pretty sure rodgers had full control over the situation. lucas obviously reported back on any feedback relative to rodgers just like any interpreter would do. and if coutinho had attitude problems i'm sure lucas would let him know. after all, how could rodgers have discovered such a problem without having a interpreter telling him anyway? he doesn't speak brazilian

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  68. by the way he played today at Wigan I would get Lucas to interview all other players before they sign, looks a good player, quick feet. 

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  69. JustCan'tGetEnough9:58 pm, March 02, 2013

    correct and Rafa recommended him to the club scouts when he got sacked at Inter.

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  70. was the interview verbatim or cherry picked? i am always sceptical with regards to press accuracy(history demands this). i was present,very recently, at an interview with a luton town manager, who has now departed( not difficult to guess who). we have been bessie mates since school and played in the same sides for a good few years and he asked if i wanted to see what he had to put up with. he was quizzed about his decision to go and what was said and actually conveyed, would have put a television editor to shame, the way it was cut, pasted and presented! Nothing new to people, that revelation, no doubt.  so i am not sure that br never met him before he signed. but it gets the fans talking and coming up with theories and conspiracies, doesn't it!?

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  71. I love reading this site. It's headlines and stories are pretty much always bang on. Sadly, and this will almost certainly be moderated out, its becoming less and less relevant clinging to subtle, likely misinterpreted comments and trying to make a conspiracy theory out if them.

    On this subject, BR signed a great played by the looks of it after a few games. He used a fellow countryman of his target to help with negotiations. Great idea. Seems to have paid off. What's the problem. BR may or may not have spoken to him before he signed. Maybe 'before he signed' means before negotiating a transfer deal. Who

    I'm getting fed up of reading silly complaints about Br just like, dared I mention RB. He's earning some support. Give it rather than jump on some bit of non news to try to find an issue, a flaw. Get real.

    Mark

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  72. Jamie this aticle is a waste of time. Try writing an article on the performance today or the quality certain players shown. For you to come out and comment about how you think Rodgers should sign players and what processes should take place is just a little bit wasting time and full of pure nonsense.

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  73. You´re right JK, that´s just you.  You would look at J-Lo´s behind until you could find a birthmark to bitch about.

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  74. Ferguson signed Bebe (who turned out to be a dud) without even having seen him play, never mind not having spoke to him.Surely that counts,BIG TIME.

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  75. Maybe, Rodgers had decided he absolutely wanted this player and made that aware to the relevant people at Lfc to see if it was financially possible during the Jan window. Maybe he asked them to talk to who they needed to make it happen. On doing this, maybe, Coutinho made it aware to his people that he definitely wanted to come to LFC. On hearing the potential availability and enthusiasm of the individual, maybe BR had enough faith in Lucas to mention a friendly, untranslated phone call might not go amiss.
    On the deal being closed out financially, backed up by a personal conversation in his own language reassuring him of any doubts he may have had in joining and represented by someone loyal to the club. It would have probably been very informal.
    Lucas would have then probably confided his positive views to his manager who obviously felt the player was already convinced to come. Had he been needed to persuade the new arrival any further, I'm sure that would have been the next steps to the process. 
    Upon completing these things then maybe, Coutinho was then welcomed at the club personally by BR who probably had LL present to help in the communication again.
    I don't really see what the big deal is. We have absolutely no way of knowing everything that went on during negotiations, and based on a very small element of a conversation, that was already probably slightly mis translated, it has gathered momentum into another reason for an attack.
    Coutinho is here and looks to be settling in very nicely.
    Rodgers is obviously already fond of his attributes.
    Why moan for the sake of the moan itself....

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  76. Who cares : ) BRENDAN RODGERS signed a cracker!!

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  77. Spot on mate....

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  78. Danielmorris_lfc2:20 am, March 03, 2013

    How many of you actually believe in modern football a manager has much say at all in transfer negotiations that falls completely at the feet of MDs or directors of football. The manager will draw up a list of targets but 8 times out of 10 have zero say in the deal, that is the way of modem football now I'm afraid. Wise up. This isn't football manager.

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  79. I wonder if it is just an incomplete comment, because of the translation. He could mean well before signing he talked only to Lucas (since talking to Rodgers would be illegal).

    The other side could be that Rodgers, like all good managers, has an ego, and believes he could get the best out of any player.

    It does seem odd though and makes you wonder about transfer procedures at LFC and indeed elsewhere in modern football.

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  80. Honestly everyone, if you all stop replying to this joker we might get shut of him once and for all. And stop him clogging up the LFC News now feed! Like he says himself, we can all go to other (superior) LFC sites.

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  81. That is the most interesting thing i've read on this thread......never ever seen a Japanese guy working at a chippy!! 

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  82. Luca is a top player who coutihno looks up to. Better him tell the kid what its all about. 2 assists today rogers january signnings looking good. Let's learn from the fiasco at chelski and get behind rogers. Sort out the defense andd we could actually challenge for major honours again the league is the weakest in years at the top end and rogers has finnally sorted a major issue we are pickig up a lot of points in bottom half of the table something we have strugled with for a long time. We can't blame rogers for the silly goals that have cost us this season.:

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  83. Perhaps, just perhaps (roll eyes) he had spoken to him sometime previous in the 5 years he has been following his progress? In that time knew everything he needed to know about his attitude? and when the time was right pounced before others could. Perhaps he has total faith in Lucas to establish his true commitment?
    God Shanks drove some places with full intention just to pick a player up and bring them straight back! "God your a bigun"
    Well done BR, a stroke of genius. City, the shite gunners and Chelski must all be thinking SHIT, how did we not get him !!

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  84. JR just wants to tickle us into comments abd debates. What JR is getting out of this. Nowadays we have IT doing our job for us. Video conferencing on big screams can save time and costs.No difference in meeting personally. Facetime is used by everyone with Iphones.

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  85.  its a sushi bar that does a side line in chips and gravy

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  86. because its good to moan...its what makes the world go round

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  87. I thought money did that!

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  88. You are indeed wasted in whatever you do and a side line in stand up would suit you most fittingly.....

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  89. What do you think of luis and coutinho's performance JK ?

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  90. you really are a weasel kkanwarr

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  91. We are really running low on news this weekend eh'? jeez lol

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  92. Theycallmemrburt12:13 pm, March 03, 2013

    It gives the impression of trust and a strong family environment in my opinion.  Rodgers is a big admirer of Lucas as a player and a man, it's a big responsibility Rodgers has placed on the shoulders of his star DM.  Lucas has repaid him for this over the last few matches, he's been incredible. 

    If anyone knows about Character and what it takes to succeed and overcome adversity it's Lucas.  Early doors Rodgers has brought in what seems to be exactly what is needed for the chemistry of the team.

    Anyone notice how Rodgers was hugging the lad (coutinho) at every opportunity last night?  He was fathering the kid throughout the game.


    till the wheels fall off..............

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  93. Theycallmemrburt12:17 pm, March 03, 2013

    Just to add we are actually doing things in the right way now.  We may be losing or drawing in the tighter games against the big teams but we are thrashing whoever deserves a thrashing.  For so long we have been getting up for the big games and slipping up elsewhere.  Playing against the top 4 as man utd show every season is not our bread and butter......playing against the other 14 teams is. 

    As we improve our personnel and mentality we're gonna be some team.......

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  94. ye i agree totally with theycallmemrburt, LFC are in the ascendency, just need to iron a few errors maybe further up the pitch but we are looking exciting to watch..I love what BR is doing, yes he's gonna make a few mistakes which on this site has been well documented, but some people never seem to say what a fantastic job he's actually doing, we are not a million miles away form the top 4 as most think, I honestly think we'll mount a serious challenge nxt season for the top 4, there's so much positivity coming from anfield that we we to embrace it and go with it. coz in a season or two we will be a force again....OK lets have the reply of how mentally unstable i am???

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  95. I think you'll find I have been one of Rodgers' biggest supporters since day one, and regular visitors will confirm that. Yes, I've criticised him, but I don't deal in blanket support. Rodgers is doing a good job, but he's not above criticism.

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  96. I think I shows the trust and value Rodgers shows in Lucas as a player and as a man. Rodgers did mention that he wanted to keep him involved in the footballing set up when the player was injured and he also mentioned that Lucas was first player that he felt understood the philosophy that he wanted to bring to the club.

    From the interviews that I have seen of Lucas I would say after Gerrard and Carra he embodies what LfC is all about . We all know how much had to battle the boo boys while settling into a new culture while learning a new position. If his experiences and knowledge enticed Coutinho to Anfield and helped him settle more smoothly then that's a big plus and very clever move on the part of Rodgers.

    Over the past month I have been reading a bio about the great
    independent film maker John Cassavetes and one of the things that I
    loved about finding out about his process was the way that everybody in
    his small film crew chipped in with the whole production. The actor was
    also the cameraman, or director was the editor, all because no other options and they wanted to fully optimise their chances of making the best film that they could with the resources at their disposal.

    Liverpool have to think outside the box and use any advantages that they have to capture top players. Plus I love the idea of some of the senior players being involved in the transfer process as it shows that they care about the club.

    I'd prefer this way of getting a player compared to buying someone from a you tube compilation which some mangers have done in the past....Brian Little springs to mind (pre youtube, but the same kinda format) 

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  97. Really solid point, I find it bizarre that he would not meet with a player first?
    Would this be a directive from BR or the club?
    Could we be missing potential signings if this is in fact the policy in place? Too players want to know their roles and how they will be accommodated / used and this has to come from BR!

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  98. This was an article posted last year, it went to talk about how BR could possibly used Lucas as a scout whilst he was injured. The article is below for you to read.

    http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/boss-lucas-can-be-my-scout

    Rodgers thinks highly of Lucas, trusts his judgement so why not use him - using Lucas is no surprise.  After all, Rodgers has been interested in Coutinho for some time (what the press say.) The language barrier between him self and Coutinho can be an obstacle. However, it only takes a friendly conservation with Rafa and Mourinho who both managed Inter to get an understanding of Coutinho his behavior, work ethic, team work etc. After your decision is made you only need to convince the player to join. In this case it was Lucas instead of BR who did it. Whats wrong with that? Regardless of what method he used to sign Coutinho no club will sign a player without doing homework. Reason why we have Ian Ayre on the payroll - so BR does not always need to be involved. In this case it was I want this player go and sign him.  

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  99. so YOU don't like being criticised eh jamie all right for the goose but not  .........

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  100. Love how every comment I put in here seem to vanish....even if there´s not a profane word written or any insults inserted in any of them.  Kind of validates them in my view.

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  101. You're a sniper. All you do is rock up and make snide comments. If you want to discuss football in a civil manner, then do so. Any further comments like the ones removed and you'll be banned. If you don't like it here. go elsewhere.

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  102. Jamie K - get a girlfriend, get out more and stop peddling such nonsense. Love Mum. 

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  103. I´ve been nothing but civil, I just don´t like the way you dress up facts to fit your personal beliefs and then belittle people who do the same.  When people who don´t agree with you use interviews or articles to back up their views you brand them as "blind" and people who will belief the club´s spin doctors but then when you find something written which fits in with what you feel is true you got an article posted within the hour.  

    Guess my ban is coming now, no problem....

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  104. not accusing you of being negative, but certainly of being desperate for a story, creating something out of nothing. we are all guilty for the ultimate stupidity of reading it. these are your opinions of other reports, nothing original ever appears here

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  105. What is worrying? Rodgers doesn't speak the same language as Coutinho, and before he signed they were in different countries. How are the supposed to talk? Some phone call with translators on both ends? Absurd.

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