Barclays Premier League Season 2009/2010

[gregb0b]

It appears the liverpool fans are in hiding :\

[rajputwarrior]

Alonso was only top class in his first and last season at Liverpool Football Club.

When Rafa tried to sell him in 2008, after another average season, Juventus wouldn't even pay £14 million for him. If anything Rafa should be praised for kicking Alonso up the arse with Barry and then getting £30 million for the lad.

While you are right about that, we sure as hell missed him this season. Some games Gerrard looked lost without his support and it didnt' really seem he clicked really well with anyone else this season.

You're right though, it is not Rafa's fault. Not EVERYTHING anyway. Rafa has made mistakes this season, but how can we be expected to build on 2009 (2nd place) and challenge for the title by only weakening our squad?

Get rid of the Yanks, give Rafa money... and see what he does with it.

Either way, our fans have short memories. Rafa has turned us into one of the best teams in Europe, we have beat Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid in the last few years and appeared in two European Cup Finals. So you really think we were in a better position under Gerard Houllier?

You are right about that, i know it's not all his fault. But i think the team needs a rebuilt at this point. Obviously keep the core (gerrard, torres, mascherano, carragher (hopefully...) ), but a nice rebuilt with a new manager, new owners and new jersey ( :( gonna miss the carlsberg jerseys) could be the fresh start this team needs.

Im not saying Rafa hasn't done good, for christ sakes the greatest soccer game i've ever watched he was the manager of the winning team ;) (i'm sure you know which game i am talking about). But the way things have been going i think a new face, a new attitude and a new approach is what this team needs. And obviously money would help a lot to keep up with the other big 3 and man city.

It appears the liverpool fans are in hiding :\

can you blame us? i don't see you on the hockey forums anymore either. i wonder why that is... :whistle: (his favourite team is the tampa bay lighting, and they suck... A LOT)

[Rappy Veteran]

It appears the liverpool fans are in hiding :\

probably because they expect the chelsea fans on here to rub it in their faces and they don't really want to start a flame fest over something so petty ;)

[Macsen]

This amused me :p

Where did you find this?! :laugh:

[gregb0b]

hahah raj :p

[Martyn]

It appears the liverpool fans are in hiding :\

Not really, I've been posting as normal at least. If anything, there are less Mancs around.

But i think the team needs a rebuilt at this point. Obviously keep the core (gerrard, torres, mascherano, carragher (hopefully...) ), but a nice rebuilt with a new manager, new owners and new jersey ( :( gonna miss the carlsberg jerseys) could be the fresh start this team needs.

Reina, Johnson, Carra, Agger, Skrtel, Mascherano, Aquilani, Gerrard, Benayoun, Rodriguez, Kuyt and Torres are the only players I would keep out of the current squad (obviously the youngsters - Pacheco, Ecclestone etc we would keep as well).

We need to add a little more depth to the squad, but this depth has to be top class quality. We need four or five quality, quality players who can knuckle down and play the Liverpool way. We need a left back, a creative player (although maybe Aquilani will step up next season), a winger and a striker.

The left back position has been between Insua and Aurelio this season. Aurelio plays about 20% of our games and is out of contract in the summer, and whilst a very good player when fit I doubt we will see him in a Liverpool shirt again.

As I said, hopefully Aquilani will be able to step up a gear next season with a good pre-season behind him. The lad has quality, everyone can see that. His passing, vision, movement and technique are all on Alonso's level... I just think he has struggled to adapt to the pace of the English game. Next season will be key for him.

Albert Riera has practically left the club. Ryan Babel is the most frustrating player in our squad; he is an athlete with a powerful shot, not a 'football player'. Hopefully Rafa will bring in a top winger who can complement Rodriguez and Benayoun. Jovanovic has already signed for the club, he might play on the left or replace Torres when injured.

Obviously we have struggled this season in the absence of Torres. We need a top player to take the pressure off his shoulders, and whilst N'Gog is a good player with potential (heck - he cost ?2 million, is 21 and gets SLATED when he plays for us), we need another forward who can bang them in.

Honestly though, unless we can get rid of our owners soon then we will be falling into administration before we are in a position to mount a title challenge. Don't get your hopes up for a squad rebuild this summer.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Congrats Chelsea!

Next season should be more interesting if we can get rid of Berbaflop.

[Kralik]

On a separate note.. 3/4 clubs in the top 4 are from London

Balance of power shifting to the south?

[nothuman]

Congrats Chelsea. Overall you were better.

10 sloppy days cost us the title.

[acnpt]

Byebye Zola, West Ham

[Martyn]

On a separate note.. 3/4 clubs in the top 4 are from London

Balance of power shifting to the south?

Have a club from London ever won the European Cup? :whistle:

[Macsen]

The closest they've come is runner-up. Both Arsenal and Chelsea.

Tottenham Hotspur has won the UEFA Cup/Europa League twice.

[Rappy Veteran]

Byebye Zola, West Ham

yep good riddance, now bring in Hughes (Y)

[Kostaz]

Byebye Zola, West Ham

Just showed him at his house bringing out tea and coffee for the reporters outside.Absolute gentleman

[Martyn]

A lovely man is Zola. Cracking footballer too.

With the resources he has had at his feet I don't think Zola has done that badly.

[Martyn]

Stolen from The Rattle.

While "senior sources" at the club (Christan Purslow) try to facilitate a smear campaign against the manager, pretend everything is rosy at the club and briefs the press to headline the Rick Parry pay off on the day the club's financials are tactically released on election results day; here's what's really going on at Liverpool Football Club:

The figures released on Friday 8th May 2010 indicate that Liverpool FC is in net debt to the tune of ?351m; an increase of ?52m from last year?s figure.

A total of ?233.996m is owed to RBS, in addition to an inter-company loan of ?144.441m owed to ?Kop Cayman?; a company owned by Gillett and Hicks based in the Cayman Island for tax reasons; a company that have loaned Liverpool FC ?144.441m at an interest rate of 10%. This is the ?own money? that Gillett and Hicks claim to have put into the club. In reality, they?re just charging the club 10% interest for lending that money through an offshore limited liability company that they aren?t even personally liable for ? Liverpool FC are.

Liverpool FC are not paying the interest off on that ?144.4m however. It is being charged as a ?compound interest?, meaning the interest isn?t paid, but is instead ?rolled up? to the grand total. For example, this year (if I?ve got this right):

?144.4m @ 10% interest = ?14.44m payable this year.

Instead of paying that ?14.44m, it is rolled onto the total making the outstanding debt owed to Kop Cayman ?158.88m. The following year this is then charged at a further 10% interest:

?158.88m @ 10% interest = ?15.88m payable next year.

Instead of paying that ?15.88m, it is rolled onto the total making the outstanding debt owed to Kop Cayman ?174.76m. The following year this is then charged at a further 10% interest:

?174.76m @ 10% interest = ?17.76m payable next year.

Instead of paying that ?17.76m, it is rolled onto the total making the outstanding debt owed to Kop Cayman ?192.52m etc etc etc...

The debt soon spirals out of control, as you can see; and don?t forget, this only concerns the ?144.4m owed to Gillett and Hick?s Cayman Islands company ? it doesn?t concern the huge ?234m owed to RBS.

The financial figures released last week are for the 2008/09 season.

Those figures declare the club made a loss of around ?52m for that year, due to the interest repayments on the loans and another ?22m spent on the new ground; on what that was spent on we have no idea. There?s nothing to show for it anyway ? and the total spend on the new ground now exceeds ?50m. To put that into perspective ? Sunderland managed to build the 48,000 seat Stadium of Light for a lot less than that. We have a few fences up at the back of the Anfield Road End!

Anyway ? we made a loss of ?52m that year despite finishing 2nd in the league and reaching the latter stages of the Champions League. The accounts also declared a profit made on player transfers (despite Purslow telling us we don?t need to sell players to balance the books and service debt, and Rafa being accused of wasting millions on players ? the accounts prove otherwise).

What are next year?s figures (which will reflect the financial state we?re in today) going to look like with a 7th place league finish and an early elimination from the Champions League? We will also have an increased debt to service as explained above.

Then what about the figures for the next financial year when there?s no Champions League money at all coming in?

While the current owners are in place, we are going to continue to fall further and further into debt. We cannot meet the repayments on the loan as it stands now, and with our revenue due to fall with the lack of Champions League football, we?re on the brink of going into administration.

Anyone with hopes of making any signings in the summer or any future transfer windows needs a reality check. We are going to be very lucky to be hold onto the players we?ve got, never mind being able to bring anybody else in.

Gerrard and Torres don?t want to leave because they don?t like the manager (Purslow is feeding this story to the media to whip up the ?Rafa Out campaign?); they want to leave as they know there is zero chance of any new players of any quality arriving at the club in its current state. They also know there?s zero chance of any top class manager coming to the club if Benitez decides to walk or is pushed; no manager worth his salt would come to work at the club under these conditions. They know the club is only going one way.

Until Gillett and Hicks are removed from the club, we?re only going to decline. It really is as simple as that. Nothing else matters.

And remember ? these debts haven?t been accumulated through overspending in trying to buy success and compete like was the case at Portsmouth, Leeds and various other clubs ? they are entirely generated through debt loaded onto the club just so Gillett and Hicks can own us and bleed us dry with expense claims, management fees, arrangement fees for every refinance deal and wasting over ?50m of the club?s money on a non-existent new stadium.

This isn?t the result of bad individual club management as Richard Scudamore of The Premier League claims; it is the result of a leveraged buyout that has loaded the cost of buying the club onto the club to repay. Something The Premier League, The FA, UEFA and FIFA should be doing everything in their power to prevent ever happening again.

2007: ?44m debt (?3m per year to service)

2008: ?350m debt (?36.5m per year to service)

2009: ?378m debt (?40m per year to service)

2010: ???

Those are the levels of debt on the club, with it being only ?44m before Gillett and Hicks bought the club. Therefore the club?s profits were able to be invested back into the squad, allowing us to compete on the pitch. We?re now crippled by debts we cannot service, when that ?40m leaving the club each year in interest repayments should be being spent on new players.

?76.5m has left the club in interest repayments alone in the past 2 years ? and in that time ? the manager has not spent a single penny on new players. It?s been a sell to buy policy, with profits being made on transfers in the past few transfer windows as the books needed to be balanced; all while the clubs around us are spending to strengthen. How can we be expected to compete under those conditions?

The debt is growing with every passing day. As a result of the lack of investment in the squad (as well as bad luck with injuries / poor decisions / players out of form etc), we?re paying the price on the field with declining performances which will therefore reduce the club?s revenue even further ? giving us even less money to service increasing debts. A vicious circle. It?s unsustainable.

Liverpool FC is paying ?110,000 every single day in interest repayments to service a debt we should never have in the first place. That?s ?110,000 a day of the club?s money that me and you generate, that we should be seeing spent on new players or developing the club; instead ? we are standing back and watching the club being raped in front of our very eyes.

YANKS OUT!

[Kralik]

A lovely man is Zola. Cracking footballer too.

With the resources he has had at his feet I don't think Zola has done that badly.

I feel sorry for him.. and I agree.. he is a very nice man..

Here are the candidates for his job:

Slaven Bilic

Avram Grant

Mark Hughes

Glenn Hoddle

Gregorio Manzano

Who would you prefer? Avram Grant can be a good choice.. except Bilic all the others can be good in EPL..

[Rappy Veteran]

I would like Hughes he has a good track record

[wolfman1380]

Whoever West Ham get in the 2 Porn Kings will undermine them, they did at Birmingham and they've done it here with Zola.

[Rappy Veteran]

Whoever West Ham get in the 2 Porn Kings will undermine them, they did at Birmingham and they've done it here with Zola.

I hope in a way they get a man who they can trust to do the team and back financially because boy do we need some new players who actually give a damn.

[Rappy Veteran]

I am hearing that Avram Grant could be taking over after the FA Cup final of West Ham :blink:

[Rappy Veteran]

Avram Grant just resigned at Portsmouth! it's a done deal it seems then!

[acnpt]

Common Cardiff!!, don't want to see Blackpool in the Prem.

[Kralik]

What is this news about Pompey talking to David James about coaching job?

[Rappy Veteran]

What is this news about Pompey talking to David James about coaching job?

it's just that news, he has no coaching badges so it would be utterly ridiculous to give him the role