30 Mar 2015

Done Deal: Liverpool to sign 'outstanding' £125k-a-week star this summer to replace Gerrard

My worst transfer fears have been realised: Liverpool are set to sign James Milner to replace Steven Gerrard. Has the world gone mad?

Every day, I awake with the desperate hope that Liverpool's interest in James Milner is just a horrible recurring nightmare, but according to The Mirror on Sunday:

* Milner will 'quit Manchester City this summer' and 'sign for Liverpool'

* Liverpool will pay Milner £125k a week.

* Milner has allegedly been 'assured by Liverpool' he will play in Gerrard's soon to be vacated central midfield role.

I simply cannot conceive of a world where Liverpool pay James Milner £125K+ per-week. The idea is nauseating, and it's anyone's guess why an average British footballer nearing the end of his career is worth that much. Consider Milner's creative stats over the last 4 years:

* 2014-15: 6 goals/8 assists in 38 apps (so far)
* 2013-14: 2 goals/15 assists in 44 apps.
* 2012-13: 4 goals/7 assists in 35 apps.
* 2011-12: 3 goals/5 assists in 37 apps.
* 2010-11: 3 goals/8 assists in 42 apps
* TOTALS: 18 goals/44 assists in 196 apps
* Goal every 11.9 apps | Assist every 4.3 apps.

Milner - recently hailed by Brendan Rodgers as 'outstanding' - averages 3-4 goals a season over the last 5 years, and I can't see that changing at Liverpool. He'll just be another industrious midfielder who'll fail to score goals when it really matters.

I just don't understand it: if Milner - who will be 30 on his next birthday - is the height of Liverpool's transfer ambitions, then there are serious problems at Anfield. Looking at the bigger picture, the most worrying thing is that LFC's top class stars continue to be replaced by inferior players:

* Suarez replaced by Lambert and/or Balotelli.
* Carra replaced Lovren.
* Gerrard replaced by Milner.

Manuel Pellegrini insists, however, that Milner is a unique player. This week, he told reporters:

“It would be very difficult to find a more complete player than Milner. There are players who are better technically. There are quicker players. There are players who head the ball better. But show me a player who does all the things that Milner does well and there isn’t one.”

Even if this is true, so what? 'Jack of all trades, master of none' is the phrase that comes to mind, and versatility should not be a substitute for consistent match-winning quality.

Plus, Pellegrini's comments are laughably disingenuous - if he rates him so highly, why has Milner been a sub/unused sub and/or subbed off in 63% of games this season?

As if it wasn't clear enough, I'm totally against the Milner transfer; it represents a shocking lack of ambition from Brendan Rodgers, and will not help Liverpool move to the next level.

Of course, I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I won't be.

Author:


102 comments:

  1. I think he'd be a brilliant addition to the squad, but he doesn't scream 'go-to-guy'.

    In fact he doesn't scream anything. He politely interjects "d'ya need a hand with that, mate?"

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  2. Agreed here. We have Hendo who runs all over the park for 90 mins.
    Don't need Milner who is in the same mould. Dissapointing really.

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  3. Peter from Perth WA3:27 am, March 30, 2015

    How many minutes constitutes an appearance, I think you are using spin to justify your argument.
    If you used the argument that Milner went for the money at a time that LFC were interested I would agree with you, don't sign.
    Keep the money and sit on the bench.

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  4. Agree. Milner? So, where's the class, the finesse, the intelligence, the polish which are essential to the world class midfielder, which are, in turn, the requisites of a world class team that aims to sit atop the rest? This is Liverpool, yet still recycling worn goods all these years later. Another freeby??? Pffft... unbelievable.

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  5. Ya Jamie so much money for an aging midfeilder. He is no Gerrard not in any manner. The selection process is something wrong here

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  6. Not going to gotten, BR builds with young players.

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  7. Far worse news !!!
    Just read that Sterling has rejected a new contract at 180 000 p/w.

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  8. If thats true i read it too and not sure how accurate it is but i could not see the club offering that to him and also if money is so important to him rejecting it.

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  9. Jaimie ,
    Can we not start a supporter's wish list for this summer transfer and then hand it over to BR ?

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  10. Definitely not a Stevie G replacement. No one can be. Milner is a fantastic addition to the squad though.

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  11. I know what you said is tongue and cheek, but most Liverpool supporters seem to be more knowledgable than our scouts.I trust a fan general consensus on transfer targets, more than I do our recruitment team.

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  12. I suppose the difference is that supporter's pay with hard earned cash to buy their match day tickets where as scouts get paid to bring players , no matter how inferior, to the club .

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  13. Looks like something has gone horribly wrong between BR and Sterling !!

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  14. I would not take any rumours of players joining next season to seriously at this point until we know who is going to be in charge next season.


    If we had to get a DOF in then he will be making the decisions on who will be signed. I am not to excited with the idea of Rodgers/transfer committee spending any more money on players and wages.

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  15. Well Rodgers has had has been continuously hanging Raheem's contract situation out to the press.


    When Rodgers said "Raheem has been offered an incredible deal" the press took that story and made a proper meal of it and since then it has not stopped.


    I said earlier this season that somebody should have gotten a muzzle for Rodgers.

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  16. Who has said signing Milner would be the 'height' of Liverpool's transfer ambitions? I personally think Milner could be a great addition to our squad on a free transfer. It doesn't mean we do not need other players but in isolation I would have no qualms about him joining. Granted, the reported contract does seem steep, but given the lack of a transfer fee, I would be prepared to accept that. He would add great versatility to the squad and given Rodgers desire to play different formations, he could end up being a very economical signing as I could easily see him fitting into a 4-4-2, 4-3-3, the diamond and even the current 3-4-2-1. He also has experience and in my opinion is an under-rated player who does have some real quality at times. You only need to look back at the match against us at Anfield at the end of the season to see what a positive impact he made to City's comeback when he was brought on at half-time.
    All in all, I would view his arrival as nothing but positive but of course I still want us to press ahead with other targets, which I'm sure you and others would find more glamorous.

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  17. Great post. That alone is worth 25.000 a week..

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  18. If we are covered in all positions and can aford him, great addition.

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  19. Surely it is time for Liverpool to get a DoF to do the transfer matters and PR work ,so BR can concentrate on getting Liverpool into CL and winning trophy's.

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  20. Agreed ,when Liverpool signed K Toure was that the end of road ??

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  21. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:40 am, March 30, 2015

    Can we stop signing English players?
    I am done with Sterling sell him to Arsenal , use the money to sign
    Kevin De Bruyne and Maphmis Depay
    They know Liverpool is the club they should join if they want to be the worlds best players . Also Alexander Lacazette will look at how Suarez and Torres progressed.


    ............................................Lacazette
    ........De Bruyne.................................................Depay
    .................................................Coutinho
    ..................................Can..........................Pjanic


    No more English players , they are average and overrated and overpriced like Adam Lallana and Henderson

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  22. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:41 am, March 30, 2015

    Major reconstruction is needed , if Liverpool are to progress.


    Balotelli,Lambert ,Borini
    Sterling, Markovic,Lallana
    Henderson, Allen


    Build around Phillipe Coutinho and Emre Can

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  23. Without Henderson we lack that quality though. Two Henderson's are better than one.

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  24. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:43 am, March 30, 2015

    If that is enough to to put him off or sour his relationship with Rodgers.
    then maybe Sterling should consider playing netball or doing ballet rather then football.

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  25. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:44 am, March 30, 2015

    How is that bad?


    Torres,Suarez ,Alonso
    were all a million times better, and we have coped.


    Sterling can leave no player is irreplaceable .

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  26. I would suggest you ignore all this nonsense until the summer. If I am right people were screaming about Sterling getting ninety grand a week on his last contract extension. He is on thirty five. There is a lot of bull putters bud. Don't eat it up.

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  27. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:46 am, March 30, 2015

    No Ings or Milner.


    Why always go English?


    it is clear now it is some sort of philosophy rodgers or the club believe in.


    Lallana,Henderson,Allen,Lambert
    all waste of money .
    the only Englsih player that has worked and not come through our academy is Sturridge

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  28. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:48 am, March 30, 2015

    Look he is leaving ,i think it is now more then money .
    Maybe he wants to win trophies then he will join City , or he wants to move back to London where Arsenal will be best for him,
    We can deny he is leaving all we want , like we did with Suarez , does not change the truth .

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  29. Lallana should be another(better in creation) Henderson..

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  30. Rodgers does not want to work under a DOF. It is why he turned the job down when FSG approached him the first time round.

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  31. Look you know nothing about the situation. So please stop talking as if there is any forgone conclusion. The only truth there is is that the silly are going over the top about all this and it is annoying.

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  32. Seriously?! The daily mail?! That is what you will believe? So Liverpool were apparently reluctant to pay Raheem one hundred and fifty grand but then offer....what....one sixty? One seventy? No a full thirty five grand more than he was originally asking for even though talks have ended until the summer. And you believe this? Jesus wept.

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  33. Have we coped? Without Alonso we fell out of champions league. This coincided with Torres' form falling off a cliff. Without Suarez we may not get champions league after finishing second. Coping? Engage brain if possible.

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  34. Coping is one thing ,winning is another !
    What do you want from Liverpool ??

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  35. The common response to this is that we already have a better player waiting in the wings in Jordan Ibe, but it's too soon to say that. Sterling has already built up a ton of experience playing for Liverpool and if people think that the comparatively 'wet-behind-the-ears' Ibe is an instant fix (should Sterling leave) they will be sorely mistaken. We should always be looking to keep our best players if we want to progress.

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  36. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:15 am, March 30, 2015

    we won the carling cup after Alonso and Torres left. And we will probably win the fa cup this year

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  37. Sorry ,Just read the Metro headlines and NO I DONT beleive it .
    PLEASE DO NOT blasphemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  38. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:17 am, March 30, 2015

    Maybe if he leaves w sign a better player
    With sterling there is a lot of hype because he is English .
    But is he better then Garcia or Yossi Benayoun were for liverpool?

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  39. Players contracts should not be spoken about in detail via the public, especially not by the manager.

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  40. Nevergonnacrackthecode10:31 am, March 30, 2015

    Rodgers likes talking to the media and answering every question
    And they love him , they only love Mourinho more
    , if Rodgers was Rafa Benitez/ Daglish with that start the media would have had him sacked already.
    So it works for him

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  41. Jordan has 6 Goals and 12 Assists in 39 games (including FA-Cup and Carling-Cup) this season.
    Now please why a central midfielder with those stats is overrated?

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  42. And Scouts work in the real world while fans are in fantasy football land

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  43. You could have stopped after So please stop talking.......;-)

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  44. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva11:06 am, March 30, 2015

    IMO BR needs his head read Milner in the same sentence as Gerrard is an insult in the highest form, as for Sterling FFS sell him he obviously thinks he is bigger than the club, if this is all true.

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  45. Agreed . Sometimes you just need a guy to come along roll up his sleeves and help you get a coat of paint on the kitchen walls. You don't need a paint brush juggler or Jackson Pollock.


    And yes I am decorating at the moment in the style of Glen Johnson ...

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  46. Thing is he could've signed an extension and got paid far more for the rest of the season, he's missed out on higher wage payments by protracting negotiations and now we can't insert a buyout clause. Knowing how agents and clubs work from the past tap up revelations there is probably someone in the wings saying something like "put in a transfer request at the end of the season and we'll pay you the difference". He'll also get out of dodge without the fans giving him too much of a hard time coz while he's publicly undecided fans will be kinder. The guys gone.

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  47. Using the goals/assists stats as a stick to beat Milner with is the same as people that do it to Hendo. Their primary role in the team is not to score and create goals. They chip in with about as many goals/assists as a reasonable fan will expect them to over the course of the season.
    Personally I think signing Milner on a free is a no-brainer. He'll bring vast experience of both winning trophies and playing in Europe, he's played alongside some of the best players in the world and outlasted more than one top manager at city. he's English so he'll know a lot of the lads already and I've never heard a player or manager with a bad word to say about him so he's not going to upset the dressing room. He's also probably the most consistent player in the league, don't understand why you under-rate him so much

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  48. That story is just ridiculous. My default setting is not to believe anything the Mail print but this one takes the biscuit.
    Here's what we know... Talks between Sterling and the club have been put on hold til the summer as confirmed by both players camp and the club.
    Now suddenly the club have made a 180k a week offer (highly unlikely) and he's turned it down? Bollocks

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  49. Spot on mate

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  50. Milner will NOT happen so need to lose sleep. Will Hughes will be signed instead.

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  51. Surely Sturridge with his injury record cannot be declared a winner ??

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  52. No Logan is at it again engineering hope for a Rodgers sacking via Sterlings non negotiations dont take any notice.

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  53. You are aware of what FA are doing no? That there has to be a certain amount of English and homegrown players in teams. This number is supposedly increasing.

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  54. I think you make some good points but all this is just speculation. It's literally nothing.

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  55. Tried that and he has kept posting.

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  56. Firstly the Carling cup? Really? That is what you are using for this? Who else has won the Carling cup? Didn't Birminghan win it when they went down. WIGAN same with FA cup? Being in arguably the most prestigious and financially rewarding tournament is offset blithe League cup? Once again I ask if you could engage brain. Not sure if that is possible though.

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  57. Exactly. I find it absolutely bizarre that so many are so clueless in all this.

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  58. Exactly. You need to build on your best players otherwise you are in a constant state of flux. What annoys me most is how many of these people who talk about getting rid of Sterling are the same that bemoan the term transition. Well that's what you get when you keep selling your best players and hope new recruits or youngsters can fill the void. Constant transition.

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  59. Are you always painting the wrong wall?

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  60. Every team needs piano carriers. But he has more to his game than that.

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  61. What did you make of the trouble at the Russia game orme?

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  62. agree, but I prefer they carry pianos at full back and play like Mozart in the middle... especially at 128k per week

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  63. Exactly. Arsenal fans will testify to that

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  64. Shame. Should've been over in the first minute, but they were gentlemen above expectations. So we took our savegeness to another level. Pure shame.. I am 15 years supporter(different sport though), never something similar came to my mind, to any of us..

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  65. Midfirld needs piano carriers maybe even more than defence, perciselly because of Mozarts..

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  66. I'm sure I heard once that Glen is as a master painter. At least, I think that's what they said.

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  67. yeah, let the other teams have the thoroughbreds in the middle and we'll pit our work horses against them. we haven't won the league in how long? just look at the class in the midfield of the teams that have won it...

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  68. Like who? Fibreglass is the only CM I can think of in the league who could come close to that.

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  69. Mr. Point Of View12:59 pm, March 30, 2015

    Under BR system is still a doubt !

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  70. Sorry you will have to explain.

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  71. yes its pure conjecture but you have to ask yourself why he hasn't signed yet if he's going to stay? and I can't swallow the reasons being publicly cited so far. also maybe Champions League will be something to beat us with?

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  72. James Milner is world class and he will lead Liverpool to the Champions League final!

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  73. I don't know. There are a few possibilities and the ones you discount are just as possible.

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  74. Plus, Essien rings a bell? Hendo is Coutinho for him..

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  75. Agree, at present he's the classiest act going around in the middle. A mere reflection of the EPL as a whole, really... not as classy as other leagues. It's a shame we lack the pull to buy players of a similar ilk to him from abroad. Plenty have been linked... Reuss, Mkhitaryan etc. but sadly none have materialised. But what's heartening is that we're looking at the right, IMO. Visionaries and classy executioners with hard work and discipline.

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  76. Hope you got a big piggy-bank to chip in to the transfer funds cause those players look like £100m+ all day long. I'd keep Hendo and sell Sterling if he doesn't sign

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  77. I think just Milner would be a mistake but him and another like Pjanic or something that would be good for the team as a whole

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  78. And I suppose you agree that it is ok for Rodgers to discuss players contracts with the media?


    Got nothing to do with him getting sacked. He needs to shut his trap when it comes to things like this.

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  79. Worked well with Comoli......

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  80. I'll eat a hat of your choice if BR is not in charge at the start of next season.

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  81. Hendo and Pjanic?... yes, I think so. Grit and sheer class is ideal within individuals, but if not, then between individuals is also good provided they play telepathically

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  82. Usually (if Jamie likes a player) the goals assists are put together and the games per goal/assist which for Milner works out at just over one every three games. Which is actually a decent return.

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  83. And I presume his apps mean all those he was subbed in, and there were quite a ew of those. And majority of them he was in as defensive sub, or keep the result, or allow others to have free hands so..

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  84. I would like someone to show me exactly what Milner brings to the team. Sounds like we are cloning Hendo and that wont get us into the champions league!!

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  85. Last 10 matches he played 580 minutes(less than 6 and a half full matches) 4 goals/assists. Great stats!!!

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  86. For a long time Hendo has been carrying the water bottles for Gerrard now we are bringing Milner to carry the water for Hendo? Cool

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  87. Problem is we have one Mozart- Coutinho. The other mozarts thinks our pianos are not good quality for them to try out their tunes and chords

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  88. Hendo does know a few tunes, by the way..

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  89. Just one more and we are set. Sterling, Ibe, Lallana and Sgturidge.

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  90. Exactly a few. But for the band to create hits and be at the top of the cahrts consistently we need more piano players who can play the high notes and not get stuck on the Cm Gm Am Fm only. We need players who can also pllay the accoustic (dribble well), the Bass (long pass), drum (steely midfielder who really breaks up play consistently) and off course two people who can play the violin and saxophone with different styles (score goals regularly and score different type of goals: headed, shots from inside the box, outside it and free kicks). Hendo is a bit confused in that its not clear (I bet even to him as well) whether he is a piano player or a drummer so he tends try his hand at both and does a disservice to both instruments, affecting the music that comes out in the end

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  91. At this juncture, I think it should only be pointed out if Rodgers doesn't call someone "outstanding".


    I think we all assume that every player he's spoken about has been called "outstanding" at one point or another.

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  92. When BR says "he's outstanding", he basically means "he's shit".

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  93. Exactly, it's not like we're gonna be signing Toni Kroos anytime soon. A good dose of realism and perspective is required for a large section of the fan base

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  94. The reason Sterling is holding the club to ransom is because of fans like you who enable his greed, and continually stick their heads in the sand.

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  95. In the style of Glen Johnson? Sounds lucrative but likely to injury you.

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  96. TheLegend OfJosh3:10 pm, March 30, 2015

    Our defensive play in the middle of the park is way below standard. We need to ask ourselves if Milner is an improvement on the current central midfield players that we have, Allen/Lucas/Hendo?? Lucas has been excellent defensively, Hendo and Allen have improved as the season has progressed. Frankly speaking, Milner is a more COMPLETE player than those three. He needs an actual full season in one position, Liverpool will offer him that if he comes and Hendo and Allen will do well to learn from him.

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  97. The post? Pay up.

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  98. It has nothing to do with me or fans like me. No matter how many times you spout that nonsense it doesn't make it any more true.

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