15 Jun 2012

Craig Bellamy admits: I'll be 'shocked' if LFC don't sign this 'special' player. Bid?

Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy recently toured Singapore to promote the club's new home kit, and whilst he was there, he took time out to urge Brendan Rodgers to sign one of his former Swansea players.

Speaking to reporters, Bellamy - who was also raising money for the Craig Bellamy Foundation - raved about Wales international Joe Allen, and made it clear that he hopes the club signs him this summer. He said:

"He [Allen] is special. He has made so many key plays for Swansea last season.

"He’s a Brendan Rodgers player, he fits Liverpool to a tee. If Liverpool are able to secure him, they will have a real gem of a player.

"I would be shocked if Liverpool did not go for him this summer. "


Having watched Allen play for Swansea many times last season (including an excellent performance in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool at Anfield), I would love to see this happen, and I would definitely take Allen over Jordan Henderson in central midfield.

Allen has one key ingredient that Henderson lacks: supreme self-confidence on the pitch, and unlike Henderson, I doubt he would be affected by making the significant step-up to Liverpool, especially with Rodgers being at the club.

According to Swansea City's chairman, there's an agreement in place to stop Rodgers poaching his old players, but I would be surprised if it was a formal, legally binding arrangement. In any event, money talks, and if a player really wants to leave, he will leave.

What do you think?






Jaimie Kanwar


39 comments:

  1. Well he seems very underrated but I just hope he wouldn't be like a Charlie Adam who blossomed at Blackpool but has been quite mediocre at Liverpool

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  2. It's a no brainer. Allen is a remarkable player. Only problem is that it may not be possible to sign him till the next season. He was also on Kenny's radar.

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  3. Allen might not be able to come to Liverpool if the rumours that Rodgers is not allowed to take players from Swansea is true. Alternatively I would tap up Arsene Wenger about Aaron Ramsey's availability as he has dropped down the pecking order at Arsenal and his style of play fits the pass and move philosophy that Brendan Rodgers likes. We still need an enforcer as well and IMHO Spearing and Shelvey need to be moved on.

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  4. wth are you talking about shelvy is good enough for liverpool and should of started the fa cup final he is much better than henderson

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  5. Unlike many I do rate Henderson and think we should keep developing the kid, but it doesn't mean the Allen is not class and that we should not make a move for him.

    Never seen it as a problem to have too many quality players.

    If one preforms, he should keep his place, whilst the other should wait for a subtitute cameo and grab his chance, proving he deserves a place in the team.

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  6. Makes little odds if the agreement is binding legally or not, if there is indeed some arrangement then expect Brendan Rodgers to keep it.
    He has shown incredible humilty and consideration for swansea and all those connected to it so I would expect him to stand over his word.
    I would rather he did keep his word than go in for someone who would undoubtedly improve our squad and bring back a bit of respect to the club that we have lost over the last few years.
    We need to improve our professionalism as much as our playing staff maybe more so

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  7. Shelvey is 20-years-old and has a brilliant future aheadof him, so Liverpool should absolutely not get rid of him!!! It would be a BIG mistake!! As for Henderson - Allen, Rodgers aren't allowed to sign from Swensea if we don't pay over the top for him and that's not going to happen as Liverpool could get better players for the amount they will have to pay and strengthen other parts of the team. Liverpool already invested heavily in Henderson and should keep him, not in the starting eleven, but without doubt on the bench as he is versatile enough to jump in where he is needed and always runs all day long and gives it his best, he could be a good impact-player for next season and has a bright future in the club!!

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  8. A really good possession player. Would be a ideal player for the stage the club is at now. Would like him at Anfield. Keeps possession ticking over really in midfield, which he does better than anyone at the club, at least in terms of consistency of it anyway. 

    Adam had the Blackpool side playing to his tune (i.e. tactically set up to accommodate his strengths and weakness), whereas Allen, albeit a key player, was part of Rodgers' tune. So I don't have the same doubts that I had about Adam, as the likes of Britton (and Sigurddson later on) is as key as Allen, when it comes to the midfield for Swansea.

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  9. Please letus see the scourse of this so called comment by Craig,
    i have no doubt he rates Allen very highly but to compare him with
    Hendo is very unfair,lets surmise a role reversal ie. Allen play under
    KD`s management for 12 mths & Hendo play for BR.Then see how they fare

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  10. I don't want Allen this window if it means over paying by £10m (for example). Fed up with over paying for players and selling players cheap, or loaning them out and paying part their wages. Sickening waste of funds. I'd rather wait the 12months as agreed in the gentlemans' agreement. Hendo hasn't had a good start. He knows that and we know that but he is a good player. Shelvey is good too. We need to develop these types of players and that comes with playing. Adam has had it IMO . Inconsistent , slow to react, takes ages to decide where to pass or shoot. Set pieces are pony too . Spearing is a squad player. Stuck with downing so hope he improves his goal scoring. Assists are more the the fault of the players he sets up- they have to score in order for him to get an assist. Aqualani never wanted to be at lfc from the second the ink dried on his astronomical contract. Joe cole says he wants a second chance, so let's give him that . Hopefully he can give us 1 good season?

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  11. Unless Shelvey improves his attitude & work rate i doubt
    very much he will figure in BR`s plans.

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  12. Young Engineer11:47 pm, June 15, 2012

    what about swapping him with charlie Adams 

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  13. Could see it happening. Especially a swap with Charlie Adam or a loan deal to include Shelvey.

    The contract between Rodgers and Swansea as regards to players is not legally binding. No legal contract exists that would effectively stop liverpool bidding for a Swansea player.

    However, it is a gentlemans agreement and given the way Rodgers is acting over the sigurdsson transfer, I fully expect him to keep his word.

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  14. We can't sign him for 12 months. This was part of Swansea's terms when Rodgers left. He's only 22 as well isn't he? If nobody else takes him i'll happily see us sign him. I wish people would give hendo a break, hes learning his trade. LFC is a very difficult club to come into and be an immediate success. I remember the days when Gerrard gave the ball away and got silly yellow cards, was constantly injured, I don't need to finish my sentence on how he turned out. Adam is deadwood, Downing is the same and we got rid of Kuyt, once we sell Maxi, shelvey and spearing we'll have cleared all of the deadwood in our midfield, replace them with Sigurdsson, Gaston (if it happens) Kalou, Cole and Maybe Aquilani.

    People forget that our main priority is a striker, I agree with your article about Huntelaar he'd fit wel with Suarez.

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  15. more cm's wtf we need fast skilled wingers!!!! Although I do like Allen

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  16. Henderson is comfortable on the ball and dosnt lose it much at all. He is a very good player and will turn out very good. Players however like spearing should be kicked out asap. Getting rid of kuyt was a good start. His first touch was horrid.

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  17. he would be a very valuable asset in our team because he has great potential to fulfill

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  18. Give Henderson time , he'll come good!!!

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  19. Spot on post Niall. I would rather BR waited a year and kept not only his word to Swansea but our word as a club. We've taken a battering for a lack of integrity over the last couple of years and itsn't the way i want my club to move forward. Let's win back the respect we have lost both on and off the pitch. Like everyone else, i love Kenny to bits but it was time for a new broom to sweep clean and get us started on a new road, not trying to grimly fill in the potholes on the old one we were on. Swansea have behaved completely honourably towards us and we should do the same in return. If that means we miss out on a player for 12 months then so be it.

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  20. Allen Is a great prospect, fatastic player for one so young.would uit us.. Bonus for me would be the fact I know the lad and his family. Live 5 minutes down th road.. Would LOVE o see Joe Allen In The Might Red kit..

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  21. hate to disagree Elmo but I think that Shelvy has shown a lot of promise. I think you should watch him play sometime. He made an impact when loaded out to Blackpool by as he featured regularly for the first team. I think you may have mistaken him for Spearing or something. Shelvy plays with a lot of confidence for a 19 year old some have even  likened him to a young Steven Gerrard. He is definately one for the future. He also did not cost a fortune to acquire. 

    From the clip presented of Joe Allen you can tell that he brings a lot of pace to the team, and he can win the tackle and break up the opposition's build up. I feel I still haven't watched enough of him to get a real feel about his true playing style and quality but i have to admit I like what I see. Unfortunately we do have enough people who can play in that position and we all know that Brendon Rodgers would have to pay out the nose to get him since Swansea  have a clause in place preventing  Rodgers from poaching his former club for any of his former players. 

    I am happy personally with Jonjo Shelvy and I think that in him we have a future star already on our hands. Just depends on the manager with how many minutes he will get on the first team.

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  22. Basing your preference over Henderson due to "extreme self-confidence" is a little bit of an exaggeration because self-confidence is not something you are born with (unless you're a psycho or a narcissist). Self-confidence is something that you can work upon and it does not boil down just to personality, but also to your team-mates and your environment among other things. I'm sure Henderson will gain more self-confidence and that Rogers will construct the right environment for the players to express themselves in such way without being cocky.

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  23. no, adam is worse than mediocre....much,much,much,much,much,much, worse.

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  24. if it meant dumping that waste of space, i would swap him with gerry adams

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  25. prepare to be shocked, craig.

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  26. I think that a lot of people should look back 18 months and see what people were saying about Lucas Leiva. There were so many people slagging him off and wanting to get rid of him. Then last season when he hot injured we missed him so much that most of them people had to eat their words.

    Now we have the same situation with Selvey and Henderson (and Spearing to some people) where some people write them off before they have had a chance to shine.

    Why dont we get behind Brendan Rogers and whatever squad he decides to keep and give him a chance.

    YNWA

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  27. Have we sunk so low that we now look to Swansea for talent?? oh.. that's right..we have..

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  28. I seriously could not agree more, Shelvy is the roughly  same age as Hendo and is twice the player, people need to wake up Hendo is the most overrated youngster in the EPL today.
    He is piss weak, if someone says again he needs more time i will get myself banned from here, telling them exactly what i think of them.
    Here we have another youngster who has more talent and more fight then our overrated signing.
    Someone will say hey but Lucas needed time, well heres news for you Lucas imo is not as good as everyone makes him out to be, unfortunately we have Hendo and Shelvy now so to bring in Allen would be silly unless we offloaded one of our midfielders, i bet you can guess who i would get rid off.

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  29. The boy looks fantastic unfortunately we already have to live with the overrated Hendo, shit why didn't KK look at getting him, before Hendo.
    This kid has pace and has great read of play for someone so young, not to mention he actually can tackle, would have been a better signing than Hendo by far imo.

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  30. I voted for Hendo just because that is a stacked question, just so you can say in a later article that a large number of liverpool fans prefer someone else to Henderson. I would quite like to see them both in the team for years to come. Remember Lucas? Everyone wanted him out too.

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  31. I voted Henderson. Confidence is a big issue. Maybe he'll be a Downing and never get over it but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt based on what he has achieved so far.

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  32. I am Welsh and would love it to happen BUT it wont - BRENDAN will not break his word - the only chance is if Everton accept a big bid from another club first and then it would be game on - I advvised this buy 2 years ago

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  33. Only problem is that we can't sign a Swansea player in the first 12 months of Rodgers contract I think was reported

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  34. We had Jordan Henderson for one whole season that wasn't very good but it wasn't a disaster either. 

    He was great for Sunderland in the previous season but not as good for Liverpool.

    Now you're saying replace him with Allen who was good at Swansea?

    Maybe Liverpool should not be giving up so easily on players. 

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  35. Allen has something hendo has not ...confidence...How is he going to gain any,when all you so-called fans of the beautiful game cant say his name without spitting.

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  36. Pointless article.  Another hopeless headline with poor grammar.  Reads like a 12 year old's text message.

    We CANNOT sign any players from Swansea for a year.  Would we really want to....... and even have players trying to influence the manager's transfer targets?
     

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  37. APOLOGIES RE ABOVE - MEANT TO WRITE SWANSEA - its those toffees again

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  38. What a snide poll at the end. Henderson and Allen aren't even the same type of player. Yes both Mids but play totally different roles, and Henderson was stuck out right most of last season which isnt his best position in the first place.

    Henderson is a good player that will get better and better. So called LFC fans jumping on the Sky Sports bandwagon saying he isn't good enough don't have a clue. Were saying the same about Lucas for 3 seasons, he's been a top player for ages but only got the recognition from the media last year and suddenly every one changes their mind.

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