25 May 2015

No-Brainer? Liverpool to swap 'brilliant' star for £30m powerhouse with 62 goals and assists in 100 games

Last week, Reds legend John Barnes insisted that Christian Benteke will be a 'great signing for Liverpool' this summer, and with Belgian striker reportedly 'keen' to join the club, Brendan Rodgers is reportedly set to use one of the club's bit-part players as bait in a bid to seal the deal.

According to The Mirror today:

* Liverpool will 'offer Rickie Lambert' as bait to tempt Villa into parting with Benteke.

* Benteke is allegedly one of Liverpool's 'top transfer targets' this summer, and Chelsea also interested.

In February, Lambert - hailed by Adam Lallana this season as 'brilliant' (when, exactly?) - admitted that he came 'very close' to signing for Villa:

“The deal was agreed, but in the end, there just wasn’t enough time to say ‘yes’. It was too big of a decision to make in the short amount of time I had".

Even with Lambert included in the deal, Benteke - described by recently deposed Villa boss Paul Lambert as 'absolutely world class - will still cost a pretty penny, with reports suggesting that the Midland club will demand a £30m transfer fee.

Lambert had plenty of chances to make a difference in the first half of the season, but his inability to score regularly contributed to Liverpool's poor pre-Christmas form.

In the second half of the season, Lambert has barely been given a chance in the first team, but even if he'd played regularly, it's doubtful he would've weighed in with the goals needed to propel the Reds into the top four.

Stoke basically bullied Liverpool out of the game on Sunday, and the chastening 6-1 defeat exposed the soft-centre at the heart of the team, especially up-front, where the Reds once again had zero physical presence. It's been that way all season, and Benteke would partly solve that particular problem.

Last month, Reds legend Dietmar Hamann claimed that 'awesome' Benteke is the 'best Liverpool can get this summer', but after such a disastrous season, the club may have to revise its expectations downwards.



After 13 goals/assists in his last 12 games, Benteke is sure to be in demand this summer, and Chelsea is obviously a more enticing destination. Additionally, with Didier Drogba leaving (again), and Diego Costa injury-prone, there's clearly room for another top striker at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool are currently 13/8 favourites to sign Benteke this summer, but like so many other deals over the last few years, I fully expect this one to fall by the wayside.

Author: Jaimie K


61 comments:

  1. Oh my word, yesterday was awful.

    Was hoping to awake to news that BR had been sacked. Maybe later.

    He's guilty of a lot of mismanagement, all of which combined to see him not just lose the dressing room, but lose the dressing room in the most embarrassingly humiliating way possible.

    There a few good articles around expounding on Brendans reign of BS and how damning his words and actions have been and the effect they have had on the players. I'll try to find the links.

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  2. Found one:

    http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpools-defeat-stoke-shameful-brendan-5756005

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  3. "Even throwing a generous pinch of salt in with the gossip leaking from
    the dressing room there are far too many in there who have lost all
    respect for him. Forget the nice PR-friendly stuff churned out through
    official club outlets, far too many players are left baffled at his
    decisions and disappointed at his treatment not only of them but of
    their teammates."


    As the above alludes to, BR's reign of BS words and actions has led to the players not having any faith in him (being kind)...
    ...with the resulting loss of faith played out to visibly on the pitch.

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  4. "Listen back to interviews past players have given about the way they
    left, players like Pepe Reina and Daniel Agger, listen to how they talk
    about being told one thing by the manager, only for him to do another.
    Word from the dressing room is that this is still going on now, and
    Rodgers seems oblivious to it."

    The players aren't stupid, they have to work with this guy every day.

    We laugh at the things Brendan says, but the players must cringe. They are the ones whose careers are in his hands and I guess they have reached their limit with him.

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  5. Last excerpt, gots to get moving, big day today.

    "Look at the performances on the pitch today. Not just today either,
    but especially today. Which side was playing for their manager? Not the side wearing black.

    Rodgers is out of his depth. A club like Liverpool expects to be challenging near the top of the table and putting in a good show in Europe. Rodgers complains about there being too many games."


    The Rodgers experiment has run it's course.


    LFC, the 8th richest club in the world, deserve a better manager.



    Better to be on the bottom rung of a ladder that might lead somehwere, than halfway up one that doesn't...and after 3 years of "work," we can now see BR isn't the man who should be managing our great club.

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  6. Yeah, sadly he has floundered this season.

    The author of that article put it well when he said, being kind, "the job has come too soon for him."

    He has no history of success and quite frankly, did well to talk his way into the job.

    Another damning indictment is, it's not as though Swansea have suffered through not having him as boss. They're only 6 points below us.

    It was a risky strategy for FSG to hire such a young, unproven manager at such a massive and prestigious club. Hopefully they will have learned from it and will now hire someone with even a tiny bit of previous success.

    I think Brendan is young enough to go to a lesser team, learn some managerial skills and then have another crack at a big club in maybe a decade or so.

    I wish him well, as I would wish even my biggest enemy well, but he has no right being in charge of our club at the present time.

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  7. I dont want to hear about transfers until there is a new manager at the club

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  8. I dont think FSG had many options back then. The world has seen now that they will back their managers financially and that they are ambitious so they have been able to raise our profile so that guys like Klopp will be interested again.

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  9. LvG was in play, an infinitely better choice for LFC.

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  10. No time to take transfers !

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  11. LvG stated that London has good wine , not sure what the wine is like in Liverpool ?

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  12. Stuart Downing complained about being played out of postion .
    Why did Gylfi Sigurdsson and Michael Vrom not follow him from Swansea ?

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  13. Benteke is awesome. Hope we sign him.

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  14. Oh yeah, good call, I'd forgotten about the Gylfi thing. I couldn't understand the snub at the time, now it makes sense.

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  15. BR says He'l resign if the owners want him to... Come on fsg make the call

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  16. I officially would understand if Brendan Rodgers were to be replaced. In fact, if we get Klopp I would be very happy. I'm not calling for his sacking yet, but like JK, if it happens then so be it.

    In fact, I will go as far as saying that I prefer for him to be replaced rather than give him £75M is transfer budget so he can buy on dross.

    These are my personal reasons, feel free to share yours:

    - Poor signings throughout his reign (Aspas, Alberto, Markovic, Balotelli, Borini, Lovren, Lambert, Cissokho etc...)

    - Mismanagement of players: he keeps playing players out of position. As an example we had Sahin who is an excellent footballer, but BR decided to play him out of position as usual. So he left. Our loss.

    - Constant gross over praise of players (he is one of the reasons for the whole Sterling fiasco, and is doing the same thing to Ibe. You don't hear Mourinho etc... Constantly ego massaging his players to the press)

    - Not enough discipline

    - Tactically naive (many tactical blunders this season. Especially in the CL. No experience)

    - Takes too long to adjust/change non-working tactics (took him too long to ditch the 4 at the back for a 3 then when clearly 3 at the back had been found out he was not pro-active enough to change things around)

    - Has wasted a tremendous amount of money

    - Cannot motivate players

    As a result my trust in him is gone (for the moment).

    We need clarity of how transfer are being decided at the club. I'm sure certain signings were not down to BR: Balotelli, Moreno etc...

    The fact is BR has limited experience and this shows, he has a very "youth coach" approach to managing and treats his team like so.

    FSG, show your strength and do what is necessary. What Neville said about is is true, as a club we've let this "emotions" drag us back. We are to sentimental and we expect our players to win us the league when we have not done so in over 20 years, the fact we are at the same level as Tottenham, and they are much better than us.

    Stop being so sentimental and let's start taking a business stance / approach like United, Arsenal, City, Chelsea etc... Their approach may not be the "Liverpool way" but it's the "Liverpool way" that has held us up for so long.

    Also, let's us stop this whole nonsense of buying a marquee singing, Liverpool have seldom done this in their history. The only "world class" player we bought was probably Dalglish who was already at Celtic.

    Players like Mascherano, Pepe, Torres, Alonso, Suárez, Hyppia... Were not "world class" when we bought them, they became "world class" or showed consistent "world class form" while at Liverpool. Historically we do not buy world class players, we make them... Them sell them on.

    Ps Sell Sterling to the highest bidder.

    Preferred managers: Klopp, Ancelotti, Conte.

    Rant over.

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  17. What a waste of a season!!I think BR will be given one more season we like it or not.More than BR sometimes I feel Liverpool's transfer committee is always low balling things , always taking too much time to negotiate.For example we missed out on Salah for that reason ; he himself told that although he knew there was more possibility of game time at Liverpool he just couldn't wait.And I am sure hes a way better signing than say a Markovic.Look at Daglish's tenure ; apart from Suarez we landed all complete duds with so much money.Having said that I believe if the transfer situation gets better ; Liverpool ll do much better.We need quality players with a spark who are not so hyped ; a defensive midfielder like Wanyama can do a world of good.No matter what people might say I have faith on FSG in the long term.They got the club at a difficult period ; got the club at an even keel financially , implemented the plans to extension of the stadium etc.I think they can do with LFC what they did with Boston Redsox; as I feel although its all business FSG are highly competetive and winners and they know winning trophies can only sustain a brand cause history can do it for only so long!

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  18. Mike you seem to forget to mention in all of this that until this season BR team had no cup run or European run to contend with . We have won nothing and will win nothing with this team of average Joe's. Whoever replaces this idiot has a massive job to do as we have a squad full of dross that nobody else wanted. The man has left our team bereft of any top class players and the squad is worse than we have had in the last twenty years having had the biggest budget of any Liverpool Manager . He has won nothing and when it mattered last year his ego took over and he and his team failed to win. KK won a trophy and got to another final. RB his record speaks for itself and RH well least said the better. Disgraceful showings against Stoke , Palace, QPR, Villa, MU , Hull tell you that the team are not good enough. His players his signings no excuses

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  19. Priceless absolutely . No reason why we cant challenge !!


    Another deluded BR supporter

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  20. Great post and you feel the same as I do , disgusted and ashamed by this Manager and shi.. players.


    Shame on them for letting SG go out with a whimper!!

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  21. We cannot afford not to sack him !!

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  22. You don't need to saying this anymore. I assure you of good news in the next 48hrs

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  23. Let it all out, man!

    Good points.

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  24. Origi named in worst side for Ligue 1 2014-15

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  25. There is no way Rodgers staying put is going to take the club forward, although I feel some of the blame is on the hands of FSG, Rodgers signed the majority of players on the field yesterday that put on the worst performance from a Liverpool team easily in my lifetime and then some, people might blame the players but at the end of the day who signed them and you also have to ask your self why are these players performing so badly? Why did Rodgers play a team without a striker? Rodgers and FSG failed to capitilise on last season and sign the quality players needed after spending £210m since he joined if we can't beat Stoke let alone get absolutely stuffed by them on Gerrards farewell he clearly has lost the team and most of his signings have failed to produce and that is Rodgers and FSG's fault because they signed them. But in truth our decline is far from all of Rodgers doing it runs deeper, the boards restrictive and blinkered transfer policy of signing just young prospects has choked the clubs progress, Alan Hansen said you can't win anything with kids and the Manc's went on to win the league but people forget they had a strong older and more experienced core 'Parker, Bruce, Pallister, Cantonna, McClair, Hughes, Robson where all experienced and old Rudolph himself Fergie knew without that core of experience it wouldn't have happened with kids alone, Gary McAllister springs to mind on the advantages of experience too, so on this choking policy FSG have put in place I feel for Rodgers as experience is essential and FSG need to change this stupid policy. It breaks my heart to say it because I am a supporter who adores this great club but Rodgers has failed to manage the troops. FSG need to back the next manager or if Rodgers is still in the hotseat back him and allow more freedom in the transfer market and they need to realise experience is a vital ingredient in a team.

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  26. I hope so but FSG need to change there transfer policy and allow the next manager more freedom to sign experience and proven quality as signing just young players hasn't helped Rodgers. We are in dire need of experience especially now that Gerrard has gone.

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  27. Atleast those above mentioned managers showed some fight when in a losing position. Under Brendan we're toothless (Lwro once described "Rudderless").To be honest, i don't bother watching any of our game under br anymore.Tactical unaware!

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  28. He can be world class - BR

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  29. Um, how about Drogba?

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  30. I feel it's a waste of paper to simply type comments for the sake of breaking a record, like the one that was broken yesterday.

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  31. Just to emphasise, there's no way I'll comment here just for the sake of adding to the mass of comments on this thread.

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  32. Judging by the season loic remy has had, playin off the bench. I'd say he's done well, no heart problems to speak of. I said we'd regret not signing him & I think £10mill could have been a nice bit of business. Benteke would be great but the duds need to go too.

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  33. The question to ask is, why sign Markovic at all? Why not this guy right away? The answer is, this guy is just as much a long shot as every other Rodgers signing.

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  34. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva1:36 pm, May 25, 2015

    I have read and listened how you can't blame the manager and the players, it's got to be one or the other, what a load of crap, BR bought badly whether he had the final say no one knows because LFC only does business behind closed doors (crock of shit), if he didn't then he needs to say so and if he did then it goes to show that he has no idea how to manage a young up and coming footballer let alone an experienced one.
    As for the players they too need to take responsibility for their piss poor effort against stoke and for the season past.
    Now for the Suarez season previous, before anyone jumps the gun, BR had fuck all to do with Suarez, he did what he wanted and everyone around him just tried to keep up. Cortinho is now carrying a lot of the burden on his shoulders cause he is the only creative minded footballer we have, yes we have some talent but that's only when they have been kick started by someone else, Gerrard and Suarez yes im still talking about the previous season.
    DS, Sterling need players like Suarez because it takes the spotlight off of them. If people don't believe that a manager like Klopp can make a difference than i say you are living in another world. A good manager in any sport, business etc is judged by his/her followers, experience, and previous records, We need a serious overhaul because our owners are playing money ball with our club while others are just doing the business they need to do to win.
    For some to say we can't blame BR i say if a footballer has his limits then so to does every manager, and we need someone who has limits beyond Brendan Rodgers limits.

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  35. Mike Aitcheson1:38 pm, May 25, 2015

    So why aren't their results better?
    You are too one eyed. There have been plenty of rudderless displays under all 3/4 managers.
    Don't watch the games?
    What a great example of how to be a fan. Ignore the team because you don't rate the manager
    Bravo

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  36. You don't even sound like a supporter, honestly. "I don't bother watching any of our game". Well done.

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  37. Mike Aitcheson2:05 pm, May 25, 2015

    There are quite a few inaccuracies and holes in your argument. We didn't spend the most in the PL Chelsea (£118m)and Man Utd (£145m) spent more.
    I've NEVER seen that quote from Suarez. I think you won't be able to prove it with a link. Let's see.
    Agger never part of such an embarrassing loss? Barnsley 2008 lost in FaA Cup. Oldham 2013 likewise. Agger played in both.
    Mourinho were beaten by us just last year. We had Saurez. He had 7 or 8 top players worth upwards of £25m
    OK blame the manager. But then you have to credit him when it goes well, not cop out and change it to credit 1 player.
    I feel your pain though. Get rid, but only IF a top manager replaces him . Your Ramsey quote is just plain daft

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  38. Yeah, I have supported this club for more than 15yrs.. Brendan has to be the poorest manager in history. He do a lot of strange . What pains me most is after watching a game where we're outmuscled, outclassed, outplayed., you expect him to have a go at players.. He will instead state what he normally does

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  39. I still think Rodgers stays unless the owners can get Klopp.

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  40. Understood.

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  41. I respect your integrity, sir.

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  42. It was sarcasm

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  43. Stan Dinaround4:00 pm, May 25, 2015

    I heard it said from numerous players who have left... Downing a great example..

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  44. Muhammad Ibrahim4:01 pm, May 25, 2015

    Awful against Stoke. I am sure we can defend but not in BR style of play. We from what has been seen last two seasons at least defend:


    - without any real positional prowess collectively,
    - anarchy is seems to be the order, to get the ball back quick,
    - and when we the ball as a team generally we lack the technical capacity, the passing knowledge or accuracy to break down teams that sit back.
    - some defender think they are like messi or ronaldo, thus at times error prone


    In midfield we lack the legs needed for BR's style of play and more importantly we lack the physical strength this was the case about 3 seasons ago and still is
    - Hendo cant run everywhere - in reality is a good squad player for a top 4 team
    - allen good enthusiasm, but not strong and big enough for the types of team in the PL. He is a player for a top 10 team
    - Lucas good positioning but cant be left exposed too often which he often is in BR system, he needs a CDM partner...


    Up front we are a shambles right now:
    - Sterling thinks he has outgrown his boots - this is partially due to BR publicly massaging his easter eggs too often.
    - balotelli is balotelli, we took THE gamble and now have burnt buns
    - sturridge need a partner, he is decent in size but somehow lacks strength to hold up the ball against most top teams, not forgetting his injury record.


    Our keeper is OK. He is not good, brilliant, outstanding, awesome or world c___ but just OK. Which is not good enough for a team what supposedly wants to be in the top 4 constantly.


    This is not a game, its our club and we need real changes.


    Out for me:
    - BR and staff - if nothing changes in his overpraising and he does not learn the tactical lessons from his shortcoming this season
    - Transfer committee


    - brad jones,
    - sam mignolette
    - g johnson
    - coates
    - enrique
    - lucas
    - allen
    - luis alberto
    - iago aspas
    - borini
    - balotelli
    - lambert
    &
    - sterling to the highest bidder if he wants to go.


    In:
    - Simone Scuffet / Bern Leno
    - Mattia De Sciglio
    - William Carvalho
    - Mateo Kovacic
    - Youri Tielmans
    - Roberto Firmino
    - Heung Son Min
    - Alexander Mitrovic
    - play the likes of Illori, Widsom, Rossiter, Ojo, Sinclair, etc as squad player that will be rotated, maybe a game every so often or in the cup games.


    We have to be honest and stop being fixated with some marquee signings, we seldom buy complete players. We make players and it they think they are too big for us. we have always sold.


    I just had to get that out their!!

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  45. Liverpool end of season sale ;)

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  46. Stan Dinaround4:08 pm, May 25, 2015

    I was am with you on these comments flippant or otherwise....

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  47. I merely slated that we are back to where we were in his season.I dont why you went into Professor mode to explain me all that.

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  48. You may take it that way. I was once a man Utd supporter, it was my dad that persuaded me join lfc before i left UK. Since then, i carried this club with my heart... Now Brendan took over (I never wanted him in the first place ), watching lfc score is like watching a paint dry.so not watching his so called tiki-taka does not mean how much i love this club

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  49. Lfcfansickofseeinghisteamlosin5:32 pm, May 25, 2015

    Brendan Rodgers has been exposed. He is a charlatan who duped FSG into believing in his 'revolutionary football strategies' with a 180 page dossier. His inexperiece, last season went unnoticed thanks to the genius of Luis Suarez...
    Drastic changes need to be done if we want to progress n not fall further behind the top 4.
    For starters the manager need to go. If FSG does not sack him he need to hv the balls to accept his failure n resign like a man instead of desperately trying to hold onto the job.
    Then we need a manger with real class n good pedigree. No more overhyped british managers like roy hodgson n brendan who had one decent season with their small clubs n r suddenly deemed geniuses n good enough to manage a club with the stature of LFC.
    Finally we need an overaul of the entire scouting system/personal at the club.
    Markovic at 20 million ? What did he do at benfica to warrant such a transfer fee ?! He scored only 7 times if i remember correctly and this was in a small league. It was obvious to me he would flop just looking at his stats n a video on youtube. Why wasnt it obvious for those so called scouts ? Are they retarded maybe? This was the same with downing, andy carroll etc to name a few. Their strategy was supposed to be buy em CHEAP n YOUNG n turn them into stars or sell em at a profit. Thats a nice strategy but you need to do it correctly.
    We are doing the complete opposite buying them YOUNG but EXPENSIVE which totally defeat the purpose. And they r not even buying correctly. Their critetia/stats used to choose those potential stars are BoolSheet. This need to change otherwise we will end up relegated n bankrupt at the same time...

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  50. lfcfansickofseeinghisteamlose5:38 pm, May 25, 2015

    Brendan Rodgers has been exposed. He is a charlatan who duped FSG into believing in his 'revolutionary football strategies' with a 180 page dossier. His inexperiece, last season went unnoticed thanks to the genius of Luis Suarez...
    Drastic changes need to be done if we want to progress n not fall further behind the top 4.
    For starters the manager need to go. If FSG does not sack him he need to hv the balls to accept his failure n resign like a man instead of desperately trying to hold onto the job.
    Then we need a manger with real class n good pedigree. No more overhyped british managers like roy hodgson n brendan who had one decent season with their small clubs n r suddenly deemed geniuses n good enough to manage a club with the stature of LFC.
    Finally we need an overaul of the entire scouting system/personal at the club.
    Markovic at 20 million ? What did he do at benfica to warrant such a transfer fee ?! He scored only 7 times if i remember correctly and this was in a small league. It was obvious to me he would flop just looking at his stats n a video on youtube. Why wasnt it obvious for those so called scouts ? Are they retarded maybe? This was the same with downing, andy carroll etc to name a few. Their strategy was supposed to be buy em CHEAP n YOUNG n turn them into stars or sell em at a profit. Thats a nice strategy but you need to do it correctly.
    We are doing the complete opposite buying them YOUNG but EXPENSIVE which totally defeat the purpose. And they r not even buying correctly. Their critetia/stats used to choose those potential stars are BoolSheet. This need to change otherwise we will end up relegated n bankrupt at the same time...

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  51. We need a striker, why sign another winger?

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  52. Not sure if LvG would have been interested

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  53. Exactly. Have we got the same deal with Benfica that we did with Southampton and all the North East clubs before that? I'm actually starting to suspect money laundering.

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  54. Carroll and Reina another. Sahin yet another. Agger again another.

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  55. Well Suarez is the missing element so yeah. And he's still doing alright for himself.

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  56. You might be right. Who knows what went down in his meeting with the club. Was gutted when we ended up with BR and not LvG. I mean, the CV's are worlds apart. But, I gave Brendan a chance, just mortified at how we've completely unravelled under him ever since the pressure came back at the ManUre game.

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  57. Anyone who watched United all season would have known that in reality 4th place was there for the taking. Especially after the Villa loss a decent manager would have got the team winning winnable matches to get 4th place. Seeing how Man United desperately tried to give their place up winning what only 2 out of their last 7 games, it is indefensible that in our last seven games since the Arsenal game (Newcastle, West Brom, Hull, QPR, on holiday Chelsea, Crystal Palace at home and Stoke) we only managed to win two games, lose against one relegated side and manage to either draw or lose against other teams with nothing to play for. That is nothing to do with transfer policies, injuries or all that bollocks. That is to do with being the right man to make the right choices and motivate the team at the business end of the season. Forget the rest of the season, that there was unforgivable. The fact that he was talking about summer transfer plans and the lack of character of players when there was a job to be done, a season objective, shows a manager incapable of achieving at the top level when and where it counts. That alone damns him and confirms my belief that it won't get any better with him at the helm.

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  58. I (until now) have seen us in the same weight class as Athletico Madrid, Dortmund and Napoli. Yet whilst they find and sign emerging or available stars like Griezmann, Turan, Hamsik and Aubameyang we seem to end up with the likes of Markovic, Allen and Borini. As Rodgers has eschewed the idea of a Director of Football the onus is on him to identify possible signings from outside of Hampshire and thus far he has failed dismally. With the money he had at his disposal he had the pick of players within the weight class that I mentioned above but somehow we ended up with Lovren for £20M. When I read this article on Sevilla Rodgers failure (remember he refused a Director of Football so as he said himself he is the first and last person it comes to for bringing players into the club) it brings home how pigheaded and poor he has been: http://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/05/sevilla-monchi-moneyball-liverpool/

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  59. I (until now) have seen us in the same weight class as Athletico Madrid, Dortmund and Napoli. Yet whilst they find and sign emerging or available stars like Griezmann, Turan, Hamsik and Aubameyang we seem to end up with the likes of Markovic, Allen and Borini. As Rodgers has eschewed the idea of a Director of Football the onus is on him to identify possible signings from outside of Hampshire and thus far he has failed dismally. With the money he had at his disposal he had the pick of players within the weight class that I mentioned above but somehow we ended up with Lovren for £20M. When I read the article on This Is Anfield about Sevilla, (remember Rodgers refused a Director of Football so as he said himself he is the first and last person it comes to for bringing players into the club) it brings home how pigheaded and poor he has been.

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  60. Apparently the deals off as he picked up an injury that may need surgery last week. Hope this wasn't the reason we pulled out of Depay deal.

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