13 Nov 2014

Anfield Boost: 'Wonderful' £60m star wants to 'win trophies with Liverpool'. Will sign lucrative new 5-year deal soon

Over the last few months, speculation over the future of Liverpool star Raheem Sterling has intensified to the point that Anfield legend Jamie Carragher blasted the youngster's agent for allegedly 'feeding' stories to the press in a bid to exert pressure on the club. The Reds seem determined to hold onto Sterling, even if it means paying him a ridiculous amount of money, and new reports suggest that the club will protect itself with a mammoth release clause.

According to The Mirror this week:

"Sterling is poised to sign a lucrative new five-year worth £100K a week. Liverpool are to insert a £60m buy-out clause to fend off interest from Real Madrid".

£60m? That's grossly over-valued (IMO), but it's to LFC's benefit, so who cares.

When asked on Tuesday where he sees himself 'in five years', Sterling - recently hailed as 'wonderful' by Brendan Rodgers - told LFC.com:

"Hopefully winning trophies with Liverpool, doing well for England and trying to be at the peak of my game at that time"

I've made my view on this clear many times: At the age of 19, Sterling is not worth £100k a week, and if Liverpool give him that obscene contract, it's a dangerous enabling act that will inevitably lead to further problems in the future.

What happens in a year if/when Sterling improves even more - rip up the current contract and give him £150K a week? £200K? There's no smoke without fire, and although there's no irrefutable evidence to prove that Sterling is holding the club to ransom, I submit that there's a high probability that this is the case, especially given the greed-culture inherent in modern football.

If Liverpool keep kowtowing to player-power, it will simply embolden other players to do the same in the future, and the vicious circle will continue.

To be honest, I'd rather see Liverpool sell Sterling right now for £60m. I may be in the minority here, but I genuinely don't believe he has any real loyalty to LFC. If he did, Sterling would be happy with what he's being paid now, and he wouldn't be holding the club to ransom for a massive pay-rise.

Additionally, reading between the lines, it seems this contract issue may be affecting his performances. It's no coincident that the regression in Sterling's form has coincided with this ongoing contract issue, which (IMO) shows that the money aspect - and not football - is a priority for him.

Some may feel I'm being harsh on Sterling, but football is a cynical business, and teenagers are not immune to the rampant culture of greed and self-interest.

Author:


118 comments:

  1. Yes, sell him for 60 MP and move on!

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  2. Playing Sterling out wide in a team where not one player actually knows what to do with the ball. Bravo Brendan, bravo :-o

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  3. He is not world class yet.. 100k is quite too much for him.. v/s Real madrid he could not produce anything..

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  4. V/S Madrid he only played 30 minutes...
    As did Gerrard. Gerrard didn't create anything but he is world class.
    A bit harsh!

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  5. Gerrard isn't world class anymore mate. Both played against them at Anfield too.

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  6. Am referring to the first match v/s real at home.. both sterling and gerrard was poor.., the second match also they were poor.. v/s chelsea Gerrard and Sterling were poor.. this is the facts.. admit it or not..

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  7. Why should what you get paid be based on your age? It's what you do on the pitch that counts. Sterling is one of Liverpool and England's best players already and he should only get better over the next couple of years.

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  8. Nevergonnacrackthecode5:54 pm, November 13, 2014

    Why do you care its not your money ?

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  9. Nevergonnacrackthecode5:55 pm, November 13, 2014

    Sign doumbia
    ................................................sturridge
    sterling.......................lallana...................coutinho........................domubia
    ................................................can
    moreno......................lovren................skrtel.............................manquillo
    ...............................................mignolet


    .

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  10. When people pay for shares, when people pay to watch their team play, when people buy logo of LFC, when people around the world pay tv licence for football to watch their team play, they are directly and indirectly contributing for the club.. and you say that its not my money.. you pay players because of the clients you have..

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  11. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:11 pm, November 13, 2014

    so we as fans should contribute
    to keep our best player here


    torres,suarez,mascherano,alonso,owen,


    all dumped us because we could not offer them enough wages

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  12. Off topic...


    What do the English folks on here think of the FIFA judgment that came about today?

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  13. Ask them if they left for money.. they left for frame, celeb, to win trophies.. and yes sterling is not a world class for now..

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  14. Sterling's wages should reflect his value to the team. Nobody's saying he's too young to play for the first team, or the national team for that matter so why should he be earning a quarter of what everyone else is? Ultimately if we don't pay him competitive wages then someone else will

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  15. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:19 pm, November 13, 2014

    still
    why do city and chelsea players never get attracted to real or barca ?
    hazard and augero ahve no intention of going Spain


    but us and arsenal two teams with a wage structure
    keep losing our best players

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:21 pm, November 13, 2014

    give this man a cookie , genius!

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  17. Will do. Must say I never knew you thought so highly of me.

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  18. There will be players at LFC who earn more than him and have half the ability, so you have to accept you pay them what their talent or status in the team is regardless of age. If i saw Glen Johnson was earning 2/3 times what i earnt i would expect a considerable pay rise as well since GJ is terrible IMO.

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  19. Sterling will make any top teams starting eleven. Make him one of your high earners makes his contract a very expensive one for another team to take away from you.


    It is the same FSG did with Suarez last December. Made him the clubs highest earner and went for a hefty fee. He was our prized asset so we had to treat him that way.


    I mean if Madrid had to come knocking which they probably already have and see Sterling earning £30-£40k then they will laugh us off and pay us peanuts for his signature if Sterling decided to leave us. If Sterling is earning £100k a week plus then it is a totally different story.


    Where it totally blows up in our face is paying Johnson a £100k plus a week when he will leave for free at the end of the season. At least we will not have to pay him a loyalty bonus.

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  20. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:40 pm, November 13, 2014

    Augero 250 k a week no performance based
    same with hazard
    they have no interest in real or barca as they already earn so much

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  21. Nevergonnacrackthecode6:42 pm, November 13, 2014

    I DO
    but i know you think more highly of me
    remember when you said i was the most knowledgeable man in football

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  22. Yes, but I am the *least* knowledgeable man in football. My praise as such is pretty much worthless ;-)

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  23. If another club had to buy Aguero how much would they need to fork out. Peanuts?

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  24. Sterling will make any team's starting XI? Nonsense. Based on what? Who will he displace at Real Madrid: Ronaldo? Bale? Benzema? Rodriguez? Isco? What about at Barcelona, or Bayern? He won't get in ahead of Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Robben etc.

    Sterling is overrated, and statements like that continue to overrate him. He's achieved practically nothing in the modern game. Take Suarez and Sturridge out of the team last season, and Sterling wouldn't have pushed LFC into second place; this season proves that.

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  25. JK you make some good points and obviously like a controversial opinion but you seem to ignore simple facts which blow some of your points out of the water.
    Firstly Sterling has lost Suarez and more importantly his "big bro" Sturridge in front of him terrifying defenders and creating acres of space for him which leaves him as the main target man for defenders.
    Secondly his dip in form has come at the same time as his club and country both treating him like a 100k a week player and pinning all there hopes and piling all the pressure on him to be the main man. The boy is 19 and 1 of our top players, is it wrong for him to want a contract which reflects his importance to our team? In my opinion no its not and it does little to indicate his loyalty one way or another as he only realistically has another 12-13 yrs to make his money before he will be ruthlessly tossed like so many before him. If we consistently rely on him like we do then i have no problem with 100k a week x

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  26. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:06 pm, November 13, 2014

    you do not get linked with real madrid if you have done nothing in the game


    it is well documented they have sent scouts to watch him so they must think he can displaces james,ronaldo,bale

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  27. What importance to the team?!

    What exactly has Sterling done to warrant £100K a week? How has he pushed the team to greater heights? What is his specific, measurable impact on LFC's progress?

    Last season, he rode on the coat-tails of Suarez nd Sturridge. This season, the pressure is on for him to step-up and cover the loss of SAS, and he has abjectly failed to do that.

    Yes, the pressure is on him, and I've argued repeatedly that this is wrong, but, when fans are constantly going on about how he's some kind of saviour, there needs to be evidence to back it up, and there is none.

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  28. Because Chelsea are a plastic club, and Man City have a buttload of money. I'm glad we haven't fallen to the players' knees yet, offering them hundreds of thousands of pounds a week to stay at our club - unlike Man Utd who have Falcao, Van Persie, Rooney and Di Maria sitting all dandy with their 300k a week contracts. But then again, not all players are like that; you mentioned Torres, who said he wanted to win silverware - which we weren't getting, and Mascherano simply didn't like living at Liverpool. Loyalty is hard to come by players in these days, unless they are winning trophies (Real and Barca) or the money is coming in (Man City and Man Utd).

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  29. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:09 pm, November 13, 2014

    3 times vs chelsea he got in the box
    balotelli was sandwiched sterling had nothing to aim for




    modric is the best midfielder in the world
    but eh would be useless if he had to be feeding zamora and crouch


    no suprising he looks more dangerous with sturridge as he got something to feed

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  30. Sterling has done next to nothing in the game. He's scored and created a few goals, but that is his job! He is an attacking midfielder, is he not? Why does he deserve £100K a week for basically doing his job? Plus, it's not like he's overachieving (like Firmino, for example) and scoring/creating an incredible number of goals.

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  31. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:11 pm, November 13, 2014

    you can have your fake pride of not being plastic and not being respected by anyone in the game


    while chelsea and utd enjoy winning titles


    whats more important?

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  32. I just don't get this view. He is along with Sturridge our best attacking player. Why would you sell him now way before his prime? To avoid problems which may never arrive. It makes no sense. The way you see it him improving would be bad because he'd want more money. That doesn't make sense. How can having a player improve be a bad thing. This is the way of modern football. Players who improve get better deals and rightly so.

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  33. ill be honest Jk sterling IMO is our best player and should be payed as such......hes never injured and gets stuck in and is expected to carry and lets be honest here a lot of dead wood this year......

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  34. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:13 pm, November 13, 2014

    you have to see the potential
    we all knew when ronaldo was 19 he would be the greatest ever
    even though we had wingers with more output at the time






    plus 100k is nothing at the top level of pl

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  35. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:14 pm, November 13, 2014

    thats my point
    ib agree with you a million times

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  36. im not stalking you jk but what has most of the liverpools team done to warrant there wages this year Gerrad is after a new contract and he has been garbage but no doubt carra ( media coward ) will be saying pay him a million a day and give him the keys to the city

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  37. Nevergonnacrackthecode7:15 pm, November 13, 2014

    sell ourselves to arabs

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  38. for the last 3 months of last season he was head and shoulders better than sturridge and suarez

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  39. I agree with you - none of LFC's team deserves their ridiculous wages, but most of them are older than 19, and have proven themselves over a number of years (i.e. Gerrard). Sterling is 19, and is being rewarded to an obscene level for basically doing nothing in the game.

    What happened to rewarding players when they've actually achieved something concrete? Suarez and Sturridge deserved their new contracts due to their incredible contribution to LFC's forward progress. Sterling doesn't deserve it.

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  40. Here is a stat for you. Better goals per game record than Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age. Now I'm in no way saying he's going to be like him. Also it's not his fault if he gets a 100k at 19. As the saying goes don't hate the player hate the game. This is football's problem not Sterling's.

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  41. any drop in the form of sterling is down to rodgers and his ludicrous tactics and transfers...hers a dilema for sterling ...how much are players like lallana and lovren getting paid one who cant make the team and the other doesnt deserve a place , if i was sterling id be saying if you can pay them that i want this and he would have every right to d

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  42. i wasnt aware we where running a charity where players where paid on previous efforts ....i thought the whole buisness of football was buy cheap sell dear pay a player what his current and future worth is ....sterling could well be a 60m player in two years hes far superior to what bale was at his age

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  43. If he's not worth the money, sell him to someone who thinks he is.


    If you don't want to pay him, that's fine. In fact, I agree with you from the perspective that the wages are ridiculous.


    But be prepared for someone else who is ready to pay him what he wants, and for LFC to subsequently lose him if the club doesn't pay up.

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  44. JK it comes down to this, we pay him or another team will. END OF. Its a flaw with modern football and not with Sterling. He is a young man with huge potential and although it is all good and well saying he isnt worth that money, the reality is that he is because another team will pay him that and worse, he will go on to be a great player for them.

    Going back to my earlier "you seem to ignore simple facts which blow some of your points out of the water" In a previos post about Nuri Sahin you wrote:
    "It was clear then and it's crystal clear now:
    Rodgers didn't have the balls to move Gerrard out of the holding
    midfield position, so he sacrificed Sahin to keep the captain happy."

    Once again completely ignoring the fact that Gerrard was not moved into the DM position untill around this time last year. Joe Allen was the player most played as DM in Nuri's time at Anfield.
    So....do you write what u believe to be fact? or do u just write what u think will inspire disagreement and discussion among fans?

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  45. Sterling is being burnt out by Rodgers. Do you really think Sterling was messing about when he told Hodgson he was tired?


    Then Hodgson being inept Hodgson goes and tells the world Sterling is trying to make excuses.

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  46. Sterling is not LFC nor LFC is Sterling

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  47. JK if you take the two top players out of ANY english club, the team seems average. Take Costa and Fabregas from Chelski they struggle like last year, Ramsey n Alexis at Arsenal they struggle, Van Persie n Rooney from United they struggle, Aguero and Toure from City they struggle.

    So by taking Suarez and Sturridge out you expect that to point to Sterling not being good enough coz he cant drag us single handedly to the top?? in my opinion.....nonsense.

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  48. What's that saying about never letting the facts get in the way of a good story. There appears to be a lot of that going on in the articles here. Facts are just ignored.

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  49. is that the dude from Street Fighter?

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  50. I would rather Liverpool be a respected club that can earn their success without kneeling to the needs of their players, than the latter of your points. If you want to win titles, consistently complain about how Liverpool as a club should be and how we should be more like the kinds of Chelsea - I don't think Liverpool is for you, (IMO).

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  51. Lazy Journolism as far as i see it, just trying to annoy people enough to comment and argue is one opinion.

    Another would be that he believes what he is writing and just doesn't actualy know that much about LFC.

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  52. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:01 pm, November 13, 2014

    "Liverpool be a respected club"?


    please don't give me this alongside spurs we are the biggest joke of the pl we are laughing stocks every fan reminds of how long it was since we last won a title and gerards slip


    respect is gained by victory and world domination


    we all respect real madrid and bayern because they win stuff real ahve fyi spent more then chelsea


    I want whats best for the club that is why i am a fan i want liverpool to be the best not second best the best like how real are right now if we have to spend a billion so be it


    liverpool fans should want to win stuff


    not be happy with mediocrity because of fake respect and pride if you want that maybe liverpool is not your club maybe you should support everton

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  53. The thing, is lazy is fine. Everyone writes lazy stuff at times but this isn't so much lazy as wrong. Consistently wrong. Earlier in the week there was an article saying see should sell Sturridge. Not it's sell Sterling time. If the idea of selling your best players is best for Liverpool makes sense to Jaime, then fine but it is in no way backed up by logical argument. Ever.

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  54. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:07 pm, November 13, 2014

    " success without kneeling to the needs of their players"


    has the rejection of costa,sanchez,mkhitaryan,willian, siggurdson,dempsy,
    not taught you anything
    and torres saying we are not a "high level" club


    footballers do not care about our history they are employees football is the only thing they know and they need to earn as much as possible in their short career

    ReplyDelete
  55. Stop bitching about the site/articles. If you don't like it here, don't visit. Any further posts like this (and the others you've posted, which are now deleted), will be deleted. If you disagree with an article, submit a counter argument.

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  56. You are the one who is wrong here, not me. In 2012-13, Gerrard did not play further up the field; he played as a deep-lying midfielder, and was often the deepest of all LFC's mids, including Allen. Many times, Allen and Lucas played higher up the pitch than Gerrard.

    The point is that Sahin should've been given Gerrard's deep-lying midfielder role. The label 'holding midfield' is just a label - what matters is what happens in practice.

    I write what I believe - it's not about 'fact' - I don't profess to be the absolute authority on LFC. So, why don't you just stick to debate the issues and stop moaning about irrelevencies?

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  57. The counter argument to selling Sterling is there to see. Why sell your best young player? What would that say about the club and the direction it's going? Sterling is worth what the market is willing to pay. That's the way it is whether you like or can accept that is irrelevant. Someone will pay it. Why blame the player for getting paid to much. Why do you find this so difficult to accept? It's football. Plain simple.

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  58. What are you on about? You just can't hack the fact that I don't see things the same as you. I have a different opinion to you; I do't rate Sterling as highly as most, and I don't care if LFC sell him. Get over it.

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  59. It is only irrelevent if its not relevent, which in this case it is. Gerrard played the position that Henderson plays now. I'm only saying you would gain alot more respect and probably lose some of the more abusive of commentors if you researched how factual your article is before posting it.
    As far as Sterling is concerned his form has been bad but his potential and quality has never been in question. There are two options either we become a selling club and look to by players with potential and sell them to the highest bidder BUT never win anything. OR we cough up the money when pushed to keep certain players and try to push for trophies. Of course we will need to sell every now and then but we need to show some ambition to keep our best.
    After selling Suarez you feel we should let Raheem go??? who do we keep???? Rossiter??? we will be a mid-table team very soon with that attitude.

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  60. So the argument for selling both Sturridge and Sterling is what exactly? And will improve Liverpool how exactly? Where is your reasoning bar saying I can't handle what your saying. That's not a reason.

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  61. your true colours are shown, everyone else can see the metaphoricle knife edge liverpool are on, we could easily be back fighting for 7th if we dont do what we can to keep our best players, not only so we can try and perform on the pitch but also so we can attract other talent to the club. Selling Sterling before he has even reached his potential makes ZERO sense to any football club/bussiness.

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  62. It seems that if you really don't agree with someone else's opinions then they are either "moaning" or "can't handle it". That's interesting. As you stated you are not an absolute authority on LFC.

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  63. Whether it makes sense or not is irrelevant - it's my opinion, and I've backed it up many times with reasons. You are another person who can't hack it when fans don't have the same views as you.

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  64. I've explained my reasons at length in various articles. I'm not going to waste time repeating myself here.

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  65. For selling both? At the same time? I don't remember that article. It really would be some argument to put forward, how that would be in the best interest of the club.

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  66. Your simplistic, inaccurate interpretation of my views is hilarious. I've never advocated selling both at the same time, so stop twisting my words. I also never stated 'sell Sturridge' - I argued that due to his unreliability (with injuries), LFC may have to replace him with a striker who is available most of the time, as you can't build a team around a constantly injured striker.

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  67. JK are you sure that last comment doesnt conflict with the;

    *
    Good-natured banter is fine, but posts containing personal insults,
    belittlement, sniping, deliberate antagonism etc (directed at fellow
    posters, players, managers, rival fans etc) will be deleted.

    or the;

    * Attack the argument, not the person. Repeat offenders will be banned. rules??????


    I can hack it, but when i am cosistantly hit with arguments and reasons that don't add up i will raise an eyebrow at it and question it.
    You are right, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it but it seems to be YOU who cant hack it when someone calls your opinion, after due consideration and examination of all the facts, a load of shit.

    ReplyDelete
  68. If I stated your view was simplistic you'd delete my post. This is a one sided agreement. It's impossible to argument with you on your site. You censor what you don't like but feel free to have a pop at others. I can only assume this post will also be deleted.

    ReplyDelete
  69. 'Head and shoulders above SAS' in the last three months of the season? Sorry, but that is just not true at all. When it comes to specific, measurable impact on LFC, SAS were well ahead:


    * Suarez: 16 goals/assists
    * Sturridge: 14 goals/assists
    * Sterling: 9 goals/assists

    On what basis was Sterling 'head and shoulders above' SAS?

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  70. JK please explain why you are now deleting my posts which comply with the rules, but dispute quiet successfully your arguements?

    ReplyDelete
  71. Reminder: Comments that bitch and moan about the site will be instantly deleted. Stick to discussing the football-related issues. If you don't like this site, or the author, you're free to ignore this site and go elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  72. then you have to follow your own rules, none of my comments included any content which your previous posts to me did not. you cant go deleting posts simply because they refute your own argument

    ReplyDelete
  73. JK are you sure that last comment doesnt conflict with the;

    *
    Good-natured banter is fine, but posts containing personal insults,
    belittlement, sniping, deliberate antagonism etc (directed at fellow
    posters, players, managers, rival fans etc) will be deleted.

    or the;

    * Attack the argument, not the person. Repeat offenders will be banned. rules??????

    I can hack it, but when i am cosistantly hit with arguments and
    reasons that don't add up i will raise an eyebrow at it and question it.

    You are right, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it but it
    seems to be YOU who cant hack it when someone calls your opinion, after
    due consideration and examination of all the facts, a load of rubbish. Stick to your own rules JK.



    Sterling right now is our leading goalscorer is he not? he is being burned out because he is our main threat without sturridge and we cannot afford to rest him. Coutinho has not showed up so Sterling is our only true threat and you want to get rid, that is fine but you must accept that alot of fans will passionatly disagree with you.

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  74. Steven Gerrard played the 2012-2013 season in the position Jordan Henderson plays now.

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  75. Wise words indeed :-)

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  76. mate if you didn't pull this crap maybe u wouldnt get abusive stalkers, if that indeed is what u have and its not just a cover to deflect the truth.

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  77. No wonder you have a (holy) ghost writer for your books.

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  78. your opinion you are entitled to as i am entitled to call your opinion whack.
    Sterling is our top goalscorer and our main man without sturridge and coutinho failing to find form so most LFC fans worth thier salt would fight tooth and nail to keep him. So you must be aware that you saying the opposite will encourage passionate disagreement and many questions.
    You can have your opinion but you must let others have thiers and not delete all the comments which successfuly refute your points.

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  79. The only reason Lucas and Allen played higher up the pitch than Sahin was a rotational system in the mid and BR being slightly unsure of his best mid at the time. Stevie G played the majority of the season as the middle man in midfield.
    Sahin would have been more successful at anfield had he shown more fight for the club i.e. requesting to be subbed after he broke his nose against Udinese in the Europa League. if he had shown desire to fight BR would want him at LFC.

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  80. wow didn't realise you had pissed someone off that much JK, do you never learn?? maybe the "stalker" is a previous poster whos posts you repeatedly deleted to make it look like you were winning the argument. Maybe being a bit more tolerant of your opinion being shot down by fact would lead to people not threatening you. just sayin man.

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  81. wow didn't realise you had ticked someone off that much JK, do you never
    learn?? maybe the "stalker" is a previous poster whos posts you repeatedly deleted to make it look like you were winning the argument.
    Maybe being a bit more tolerant of your opinion being shot down by fact would lead to people not threatening you. just sayin man.

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  82. a player who is able to step up and cover the loss of SAS would be worth at least 300k a week. Suarez and Sturridge, the two best strikers in the league, arguably the world last season and you think Sterling has to cover the loss of those two to be worth 100k a week?? very very very harsh and unrealistic.

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  83. He always struck me as a bit of a pansy

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  84. Unfortunately it's the most sure way of buying elite players though

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  85. He's been ordinary because he's been played out of position for most of the season

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  86. I think his name is Vega without the Vince.

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  87. I see you trying to provoke, but honestly, he was our best player much of spring 2014 when Suarez form faded somewhat. He may be overrated by Logantic but he deserves praise for that he started this season playing extremely well and fronted a poor Liverpool team. That he has got a slight decrease in his form is no more than natural. He is 19 (!), and one of the absolute greatest talents in the world.

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  88. John Travolta's character in pulp fiction

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  89. Hazard will end up in Spain watch this space .......

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  90. Ronaldo is not the greatest ever and at 19 no one was saying it.

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  91. No one in this team has been outstanding this season 100k p.w is outstanding money no way.

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  92. I disagree that if a player likes it at a club he should just accept his current contract and be happy. Would any of us say the same about any job we've ever been in? Even if you like your job, you have a great boss and you enjoy the work you do, if you see other people around you earning more money then you're going to feel slighted. Call it greed if you like, but there are very few people on this planet who wouldn't feel the same way. And no matter how much you earn, it's the circles that you are in that are relevant to you. Raheem is surrounded by football millionaires, so that's who he has to compare himself to. If he's less well paid than his peers then how is he supposed to be just happy with that? It would take a rather extraordinary 19 year old to have that kind of maturity and perspective on life.


    I actually agree that 100k a week is too much for someone of his stature, he indeed hasn't achieved enough to deserve it. But I have a real problem with the assumptions and the spreading of stories that he's greedy, that he's manipulative and that he's not loyal to the club. It's all speculative and I think it's highly irresponsible to publish views like that without having proper supporting evidence. It's an example of where the internet has blurred the lines between opinion and journalism where someone can feel comfortable publishing speculative personal opinions about someone else and yet just claim that they have no responsibility for how that is received. There is a reason why professional journalism has a strong ethical component and unfortunately the casual blogger can seemingly bypass that, no matter how popular their site becomes. You can delete this comment if you like but I think it's a perfectly valid criticism to make and I'm certainly not just "bitching and moaning".

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  93. IMO, there's winning and then there is winning the right way. Dont get me wrong, I'd still 100% support the team if some oil-rich consortium came in and bought us out, brought in Mourinho, Klopp and Guardiola as 3way co-managers, turned Anfield into a 100,000 capacity stadium and signed the best 22 players from Bayern, Real, Barca, City, Chelsea and Dortmund, but I wouldnt feel good about it. I would prefer putting up with 'slippy G' calls for the rest of my life than face the constant mocking that I give Citeh/Chelski fans about their bought trophies and soulless clubs (a hobby that I keep up even today). That's essentially been the only thing that we've had on them for the last few years. Take that away, make us one of them and we may win titles, but will have lost the soul of the club and would be even more of a laughing stock for becoming the very thing we have been abusing for the last 10 years. If what you said is true of footballers, why did Gerrard stay with us in 05 and beyond? Why doesn't Sterling go to Real, where he would be guaranteed more money? Why did Balo take a pay cut to come to us, when he was sitting pretty at AC, scoring goals in his home country? Why did Markovic, who based on his performances and hype prior to signing, sign for us instead of holding out for a RM/Barca/City bid? Why did Hendo want to stay at the club on the back of a poor first season, being offered to Fulham and being sniped by fans the whole time who can't wait 5 minutes for a player to get his first hattrick, otherwise he's a flop? Why does Joe Allen continue to put in 100% every game despite being the butt of many jokes and getting limited game time? Why is Skrtel still at the club despite various offers coming in, no doubt for massive wages (the likes of Zenit and Anzhi offered him squillions)? Why would Agger only leave for his home club and no-one else, taking a massive pay cut, despite having a good few years left at the top level and being very in demand? I dare you to watch John Flanagan's volleyed goal vs Spurs from last season and tell me that those players were only playing for money. Look at their faces, the pure joy not only on the scorers face, but on Luis, Stevie and the rest of them that one of the local boys got his goal in such style. Personally I could watch that moment over and over again, all day, as it reminds me why I love the game, and in particular our club. We have the most mighty history, have had some of the most iconic managers, some of the most memorable nights, some of the world's best players at our club and we have done it without selling plastic flags, without poking people in the eye, without getting blasted for time wasting during a whole 90 minute game, without having extra extra time named after us, without having a referee in our employ, without getting rich off oil money, without shifting to a new stadium, and without completely selling out the team to the extent that there are no local or at least home grown players in the squad. We are Liverpool and to me, that is enough. We could not win another game in my lifetime and I would still wear my Liverbird tat with pride. Winning is great, but getting to watch this team every week is privilege enough for me. Please don't confuse this for a lack of ambition to win, as nothing makes me happier than seeing us come out on top, but I love this club for its soul, not it's trophy cabinet. In todays age of FIFA managers, that kind of thinking may be considered old school, but thats ok, it's just my way of supporting the club. Sorry for being a bit of a romantic. Peace, YNWA

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  94. Agreed, very much so. Wanting more money isn't necessarily greed, but it's just wanting to be treated fairly, relative to those around you. If Sterling is on less than Lucas or Lovren, that's just wrong and he should complain. The fact that he is actually giving the club a chance to increase his salary, and not just holding out for a move to one of the giants, who could offer far more than us and promise titles and such, speaks alot about his character. The press is really trying to do a number on Raheem, they tried with his personal life, they tried the 'sleepy' saga, now this. Next someone will photoshop a swastika tattoo and a hitler moustache on him. There are still some journalists out there reporting on real sports happenings, but I could count them on one hand. The bulk are just shifting rubbish back and forth. A quick look at Newsnow, which I'm sure youve all run across, shows the following headlines:
    Coutinho Agent Says He's Set for Manchester United Transfer Talks - misleading article talking about a different Coutinho.
    £150,000 a week Chelsea star urged to complete shock move to Liverpool - an article with Aldo saying Costa is a good player, very misleading article and a non-story.
    Various articles have headlines making them look like they are talking about a prospective signing, when they are talking about contract extensions. There was one case where during the transfer window, they announced Liverpool's first signing with an eye grabbing headline, only to contain a story about our new sponsor. Journalism is dying very quickly and knee jerk reactions are fuelling them, because people buy in to the crap and give it the same level of credibility as they do to the proper ones, or even less so because the honest, proper journos dont use the flashy headlines, they rely on truth and transparency and fact. It's a sad state of affairs, but one that will only get worse.

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  95. I have to disagree with you and IMV80, and side with ol mate Kanwar here. Honestly I love Sterling and Sturridge, and I dont vote to sell them however there would be business sense in doing so. at the moment, we are in need of immediate fixes, as we have plenty of future planning, but lack real 1st team quality in terms of World Class players. The sale of a much hyped and renowned Sterling along with a proven scorer in Sturridge would bring in big £'s and allow us to really reinforce the squad, which makes business sense as better players means the youths will be made to look good, which means better development. At the end of that however, I vote against selling them as I believe that they have far more to give to the club.

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  96. Same goes to our captain, "No Money No Talk! And btw Sterling has been under performed lately, most likely due to the contract again! Sigh....

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  97. And how easy is it to attract top stars to Liverpool. You can't ignore that fact. Have we in anyway been able to replace Suarez? How would we manage to replace the lost goals?

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  98. Makes sense most definitely!!!!!!!!!!

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  99. First, it's totally disingenuous to compare the earnings of a footballer with the average man on the street. There's absolutely no comparison - elite footballers earn obscene amounts of money, and if the average office worker earned the same, I'm pretty sure he/she would be perfectly happy with £50k a week.

    And your criticism of not 'valid' - it's hand-wringing, self-righteous, and completely misses the point. This site does not profess to be a professional news source, nor does it hold itself out as such. It is very clearly and unambiguously an opinion site, and this is endlessly made clear in various ways.

    I'm perfectly entitled to make inferences based on available evidence, and people don't like it, then tough luck. If I was stating this as fact then it would be a different story, but that's not the case; and anyone who reads articles here and takes opinion as fact is clearly incapable of comprehending simple written arguments.

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  100. Who says Ronaldo is the greatest ever??

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  101. If that's the case, they're wrong.

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  102. When did I directly compare footballer earnings with the average bloke? My point specifically applies to anyone because no matter what scale of pay you're talking about people look to those immediately around them, their peers, when they want to make a comparison. You seem to think that just because footballers earn more than you that different rules should apply, that they should behave differently. Just remember that there are literally billions of people in the world who would see what you earn and consider you as extraordinarily wealthy in the same way that you consider footballers to be extraordinarily wealthy. They might even call you greedy. Does that make a difference to your natural desire to want to earn what the market says you are worth? Of course not. You compare yourself to those around you and if you had co-workers earning more than you then you'd not simply accept as a matter of fact and be happy with it. There is no threshold at which human beings stop working that way.


    And as always you seem to be in a state of denial about what's going on here. Go check the top right corner of your own website JK ... 66 million visitors. You can say that it's "obviously" just an opinion site and you're not a professional journalist but reality doesn't care if you can morally defend your position or not. Reality says that if you run this story people will read it and that will add fuel to the fire - the idea that Raheem Sterling is selfish and just in it for the money. You can argue your moral position but reality doesn't care. When this story is published people WILL use it to make a stronger case against Sterling. If you don't publish the story that simply won't happen. Your justifications are irrelevant. It's simple cause and effect. Your actions lead to more people believing that the questionable elements of this story are true. You can say that's not your problem or your fault but reality just doesn't care. You are responsible whether you like it or not.

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  103. You seem like a nice guy, seriously, but you are definitely delusional. Not being rude but I just can't see any other reason. There are too many holes in what you wrote/think and it's so obvious that you have omitted parts of LFC history that don't correlate to your romanticised view. Supporters that go on about history are basically saying "we used to be really good but that was a long time ago so instead of talking about the here and now we'll just talk about when we were kings cause that feels better. And when anyone else wins we'll just remind them that we won more before them so that makes us better". All bloody clubs have great histories, just not winning ones to the level of Liverpool. Does that make them lesser clubs? Of course not. We don't accept people thinking of Liverpool as a lesser club because we have rarely troubled the engravers in modern times so. Clubs are out there making there own history so that in years to come their fans can remember the days when they were great and they won't be talking about how much they paid for players and what their wages were, they will simply hail their heros and remember success like we do. Having a "soul" is an excuse for not progressing as one should. It makes people feel better if they can justify failure buy extolling their invisible virtues - virtues that they undoubtedly have, but wouldn't get a second mention had they not failed to win so much.
    I say good luck to clubs, I don't care how they get their money. We had a head start on every other club because we achieved things that practically none of them ever will even in another 100 years, but we didn't take advantage of that position because we spent too long reminding ourselves of how great we were instead of trying to continue the greatness by moving with modern times - embracing merchandising, mega stores, greater match day revenue, corporate hospitality etc we laughed when others went down that road so we can't now cry and moan about them being plastic and all the othe crap losers spout

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  104. How much would it cost to buy a goal scorer as good as Sturridge who also helped with our home grown quota?

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  105. Here here. Casual blogger .......... Ha ha

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  106. Here here. I doubt there are any Real Madrid supporters who feel the club has lost its soul when they go out and pay ridiculous money for the latest hot young player and then promptly win another European Cup. I want that.

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  107. i was one of sterlings harshest critics but he was liverpools best player for a good spell last year....any way its all mash potatoes now

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  108. No offense taken Merts, but I'd prefer not being called 'definitely delusional' in future, as I'm not. Not yet anyway. Please don't confuse opinion with definition. Back on topic though, our history IS different to these other clubs, as we are the most successful club in England. No other club can claim that in the country and there are few around the world who could. We did that off our own backs, there were no oil-rich bazillionaires, no state-backing, we signed top players because we were a top club, could afford them and they were right for us. I'm obviously leaving holes in our history, or my posts would be even longer than they already are! Either way, there would be no point trying to convince you otherwise, I'm just saying I wouldn't be happy if our club became another City/Chelsea just to get wins, as I don't think it is necessary.

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  109. Thats our problem, 60m is too little. Madrid will come for him at the end of next season and by then the release clause or the buy-out should be 80m thereabouts

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  110. The whole team was poor starting from BR, no need to single out Raheem

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  111. Are you saying our wage structure is bigger than City's or Chelsea's? Check again

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  112. Check the log mate. It doesnt lie

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  113. That doesnt mean that having money means you have sold your soul. This season BR spent 100mil if that wins us trophies does that mean we have sold our soul?

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  114. I don't really know where the line is drawn to be honest, but it's more when we just go out and sign the who's who, regardless of whether they would fit with the play style or ethos of the club. I know it's a sentimental thing and hard to explain. My best example would be if we got Mourinho as a manager, because he's successful. I know he gets results but the way he goes about it is deplorable. I wouldn't want the trophies he would bring because it would be like buying a Lamborghini off a pedo. You still get the lambo, but you've just given a squillion dollars to a pedo.

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