20 Dec 2014

Gerrard raves: Liverpool is the 'perfect' club for £31m attacker, and I 'hope he signs' a new contract

After a 17-game goal-drought (which curiously coincided with ongoing contract negotiations), Liverpool attacker Raheem Sterling is back amongst the goals, and with Arsenal to come on Sunday, LFC captain Steven Gerrard has made a public plea to the youngster to sign a new deal with the club.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Gerrard insisted that Liverpool is the 'perfect' club for £31m-rated Sterling, and explained why he 'hopes' the youngster 'signs a new contract':

"He’s going to play most weeks, the fans love him here. He can progress here and become a top, top player here so I hope the people around him give him the right advice. He’s got to keep learning, he’s got to keep wanting it"

My thoughts on the Sterling contract situation are well-documented, but once again: if he is 'happy' Liverpool (as Rodgers claims), then why is he holding the club to ransom and holding out for an insane pay-rise? Why is Gerrard forced to make a public plea for him to stay?

In my view, Sterling as no loyalty to Liverpool; like most players in elite leagues, he has loyalty to money, and that's it. If that's not the case, why is he stalling on signing a new deal? He's 19! How difficult can it be to accept £70k a week?

After his two midweek goals against Bournemouth, Sterling is flavour of the month again and Rodgers is doing his usual schtick of hyping him out of all proportion, but it's totally unwarranted.

This is lower-league *Bournemouth* we're talking about, not Real Madrid, Man United, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, or Basel, teams against whom Sterling failed to score. Those are the games that matter, but like all of LFC's attacking players, he failed to step-up.

Who cares if Sterling then breaks his duck against lower-league opposition? Is that going to help Liverpool qualify for the Champions League? Are those two goals going to arrest the club's poor form in the league?

Sterling deserves credit for his Bournemouth double, but unless Sterling actually scores when it matters (i.e. in the Premier League), then it's just another false dawn.

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30 comments:

  1. A bit harsh on the lad

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  2. Agree with you Jaimie.....too many players in this day and age not playing for that club crest emblem with pride that sits on the front of their shirt (and that`s all clubs incl. LFC)...it`s all about money greed...I think in Sterling`s case though,Rodgers is implying that it`s his `advisors/agent`,not Sterling himself that is holding up negotiations...although that said...Sterling would surely be `instructing` them....so maybe the stalling starts and stops with Sterling after all.....just hoping he remains level headed (best young player in Europe award !!???),and is`nt thinking he is already good enough for the likes of a big money offer from Real Madrid or Bayern Munich...hence Gerrard`s plea for him to stay at LFC.

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  3. When has Sterling ever not put 100% in?
    When have you ever seen a quote from him which displays anything but humility since that famous 'Steady' quip?
    Would you like it if someone in your job got paid 40 or 50% more than you because he was older?
    Jamie is suggesting that Sterling is a mercenary, holding the club to ransom. I don't agree.

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  4. What you say is right. Raheem has got a contract with Liverpool and when that is served he will be able to choose his next club. At the moment he is nineteen years young and is one of our top players. He must look around and see what other players in the club are earning and ask why he is being asked to accept less than many of them. I believe the club should ask themselves 'what would we be prepared to offer a European player with the skill of Sterling?' and put that to him. - If there were women playing in the team they would be presenting a claim to 'The Equal Opportunities Commission' or whatever you call the body who resolves these issues. I realise Liverpool are trying to lower the wage threshold at the club but that's rather like trying to hold back the tide - it's too late. They should pay the player his true worth if they want him to remain. I really hope they resolve his contract situation soon and when they have done that they should immediately visit 'Arry' at QPR and make an offer for Charlie Austin they cannot refuse.

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  5. Since when has Liverpool done transfers the sensible way :-)

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  6. Charlie Austin not for me i think we need a striker with pace so we can press like we did last season

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  7. I want Sterling and Coutinho on the wings stuffing the ball into the box for a player like Austin to convert into goals - immediately after LFC establish a top keeper between the sticks; sign a midfield enforcer and a commanding central defender to play alongside Skrtel. Happy Christmas Cal and anyone else who reads this post.

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  8. I agree with you. If Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling are equally valuable to the club and make equal contributions on the pitch day in day out, why should the latter's earnings be capped just because he's younger. Who decides when he is entitled to earn on par with someone older than him and at what age is this? 22 years, 23 years, 24 years?


    Rodgers and the club may see their role as one to morally protect Sterling, but you can't keep lauding this kid as the saviour of Liverpool Football Club and then sell him short - he will go elsewhere. The Club may see it as greed, the player sees it as an injustice.

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  9. In the EPL there's Begovic, Krul, Guzan and Cech. They are all excellent keepers, with the first two in their mid 20s, and in my opinion that's where we should concentrate our efforts. Bringing in an unknown to add to all our flop keepers is senseless IMO.

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  10. Nice one David Happy Christmas to every one. Coutinhos strongest position is playing behind pacey strikers playing through balls, i just think once we get Sturridge back with another striker with pace and Sterling in a front three and the team pressing like they did last season we will be a very good team going forward.

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  11. The way I view it is: just because Sterling is looking for a vastly improved contract, it doesn't necessarily mean he is unhappy at Liverpool. In my opinion, to suggest that Sterling is not really happy- contrary to what BR says- just because he is exploring contractual options- is really misguided.


    Forget about his age (which you got wrong, Jaimie); Sterling is being significantly relied upon to spark our attack. That is the cold hard truth. Therefore, he has every right to squeeze as much wages out of the club as he can. He supposedly finds it difficult to accept 70K a week *because he knows that he can get more*. Do you really think that Sterling and his manager should just accept that he's just a 20 year old guy who should be humbled and privileged to play for Liverpool, let alone receive any wages from them? No, not when he's one of our attacking focal points! Additionally, he has just been voted the best young player in Europe; an award that has seemed to be a great indication of a star career to most of its recipients.

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  12. Age should not be criteria in wages. If he is good enough to play and perform, then he must be paid his worth.
    Or we can sell and buy more clowns (for the future players)

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  13. nick1811 you're absol right! Our team talk this season has literally been- "Raheem here's the ball run with it & score." At the age of 20 Gerrard never had to carry LFC the way Sterling has been asked to, so yes 70k per week is laughable in today's money. Especially when Hazard has or will be signing a £200k/week contract.
    This problem has been exacerbated by BR's rubbish buys, because Sterling knows he's indispensible. If there was healthy competition with other quality players then maybe that could be used as a bargaining tool, until then we pay him according to his importance not his age!

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  14. Age is just a f***ing stupid excuse. If a 20 year old can handle 70K a week, then he can handle 100K a week.

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  15. Perhaps even at just 20 Raheem is not naive enough to think that by him accepting less money that will somehow overturn the entire capitalist system.
    You don't hear too many people criticising lottery winners for hanging on to their winnings and you don't hear many winners saying " no don't give it to me share it out amongst the less fortunate who did not win this week".
    He might also think that a larger share of the ridiculous sums generated by football is better in his pocket than JH's and the shareholders. He might even have his own charitable interests which he chooses to support as an individual.
    These days footballers contracts are seldom completed and merely serve as a framework to protect the interests of both the player and club. In this case he and his advisers might just be playing for time and . weighing up whether LFC will enable Raheem to fulfil his potential and actually win things.
    I do also wonder why the club allows a situation to develop where negotiations are taking place mid season. And whilst you cannot control the press, players agents and ex players from commenting it is very unfortunate to have representatives of the club throwing in their twopennyworth

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  16. What a load of shit. If you worked for a company, were pretty much their best performer in that particular year, and all they offered was a pay rise which did not put you on par with the co workers around you (which you consistently out-perform, why would you sign the contract?!.
    You would look at offers elsewhere, it's not like the job is different, no retraining or such, you would get more money for doing what you already do.

    You are all fucking deluded if you think people work for the love of the employers and company (club). People work to earn, to live. If you are not being valued at your employment, you leave for better conditions elsewhere.

    I love Liverpool, but unless they give Sterling what he rightfully deserves, if I was him, I'd go elsewhere. When you can play the best but earn less than the rest.... Fuck that!, Loyalty goes both ways.

    Your rants at players not deserving of your praise Jamie are getting tiresome. Sterling is our best player and you come out firing shots and accusations of greed at him. You talk of loyalty yet lambast on of the great things to come out of the club in the past couple of seasons. I knew there was a reason I stopped reading your crap journo rants. Yawn, you bore me.

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  17. What a load of shit. If you worked for a company, were pretty much their best performer in that particular year, and all they offered was a pay rise which did not put you on par with the co workers around you (which you consistently out-perform, why would you sign the contract?!.
    You would look at offers elsewhere, it's not like the job is different, no retraining or such, you would get more money for doing what you already do.

    You are all fucking deluded if you think people work for the love of the employers and company (club). People work to earn, to live. If you are not being valued at your employment, you leave for better conditions elsewhere.

    I love Liverpool, but unless they give Sterling what he rightfully deserves, if I was him, I'd go elsewhere. When you can play the best but earn less than the rest.... Fuck that!, Loyalty goes both ways.

    Your rants at players not deserving of your praise Jamie are getting tiresome. Sterling is our best player and you come out firing shots and accusations of greed at him. You talk of loyalty yet lambast on of the great things to come out of the club in the past couple of seasons. I knew there was a reason I stopped reading your crap journo rants. Yawn, you bore me.

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  18. Waits for my comment to vanish again...... This site does not encourage debate. Deleted my comment as it doesn't agree with him... Nice work dictator J

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  19. he missed a few chances against man u and has a habit of giving the ball away, needs to learn to sometimes play the easy ball an retain possession imo. Totally agree with you on this Jamie,

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  20. He was only 18m a few weeks a go, if we hold out till summer, he will be worth over 100

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  21. Of course he has to learn the game, and develop. Ronaldo scored 3 and 5 goals in his first two seasons, the 9 in his third. He was a world record fee for a teenager at the time at £12.2m. But he was well paid, developed, and exploded into the player we saw in his 3rd-4th seasons .
    Sterling has scored 3, then 9 in his first two, with 3 so far this year. Yes, he needs to learn to finish, but let's be fair, he started (Like Ronaldo) as a pacey winger, and we have asked him to learn wing back, no 10, and CF which he has done with aplomb.
    You really think that holding back £30k pw when he sees lesser players contributing less being paid more is teaching him a valuable lesson? Pay him the going rate for his talent. No more, no less.
    Maybe you don't rate him. Fine, but some very well respected people in football do. CR7 had the same tendency to dribble instead of passing and he learned. Sterling has shown he is willing to listen- perhaps Robbie Fowler should work with him 1 to 1 on finishing

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  22. He is one of our best players if not the best. Why should he accept to be paid less? Only because he is young? How much would Liverpool have to pay to replace him and let us not forget the wages that the club would have to pay. He deserves a good contract so give it to him.

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  23. You mean to say that you would just accept some dibby dibby raise for your talents when you know that you could do far better. Especially knowing that your career could end at the time of your next injury?
    Come on. Let's not kid ourselves shall we?

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  24. Glad to see that quite a few of you have said the same thing before I did.
    I can breathe again.

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  25. Hi Mike, I never said I don't rate him, he has great potential still to come, most definitely he is not the finished article we all hope he will become, however he does have his weaknesses too. Maybe they should look at a more lucrative bonus scheme to keep him hungry, rather than just laying what he wants on a plate.Oh an that extra 30k equates to over 1.5 million per year, a lot of money in any ones book. I just don't think he warrants that kind of pay rise,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,yet.

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  26. Depends on whether your a mercenary player or not really doesn't it

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  27. Would luv to see Alex Song at Liverpool next season??

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  28. Alex Song, Reis, and Hummels, these three would slot in with an instant impact... Sterling up front with Sturbridge interchanging with Cuthino, Lalanna and Markovic, would b an class side,, Bring it

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