On the day Liverpool unveiled two Bosman signings and a £2m youngster come reports that the club are about to pay £2.5m for 31-year-old Aston Villa right-back Luke Young.

Not only would the deal signal a record fee for the Anfield side this year, it would also be a sign that Roy Hodgson is finally getting a little bit of say in the transfer dealings of this summer. What also has to be said is that the fee will be dwarfed by the overall profit made on transfer fees by Liverpool in the last year. [Read more →]

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Roy Hodgson spoke to the media this afternoon as part of a press conference at Anfield staged to unveil the three signings to arrive so far in what Tom Hicks promised would be a “big” summer. What Hicks didn’t specify was whether it was “big” for transfers in or transfers out, and that was the kind of question most fans wanted to hear answered, in particular relating to the futures of Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano.

The total outlay so far this “big” summer is £2m, the fee paid for young defender Danny Wilson (with more to pay should certain targets be met). The other two signings unveiled were Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovich, both signed on free transfers.  One signing made just before the end of last season was Jonjo Shelvey, not part of today’s show, he cost £1.7m.

What’s far more worrying for Liverpool fans is where all the money from sales has gone to. Obviously there’s still some work to be done in the transfer market, because if the Emiliano Insua transfer to Fiorentina goes through there won’t be a recognised left-back at the club. Christian Purslow and Martin Broughton have both insisted that any proceeds from player sales can’t and won’t be used to “pay down debt”, but have yet to explain where all the money has gone.

The club’s current financial year ends next week, and in that 12-month period the club have spent far less than they have brought back in on transfer fees. Assuming Insua’s sale goes through at the reported £5m fee, Liverpool will have made a profit on transfer fees of £32.1m since August 1st. [Read more →]

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When Liverpool Football Club announced the departure of former manager Rafael Benítez “by mutual consent” they added the name of club legend Kenny Dalglish to the statement. Kenny was to help Christian Purslow in the search for a new manager.

It’s believed Kenny didn’t know his name would appear on the statement, it’s also believed the club hadn’t even discussed the idea with him to help out in the search for a replacement. They assumed he’d help, and they clearly needed his name to appear on the statement. It not only gave an impression he would be heavily involved in selecting the new manager, it also implied he approved of the decision to part company with Benítez, a decision that had been far from universally accepted.

Kenny would later put his own name forward as a candidate for the job, but the club showed him further disrespect by choosing to snub his offer for reasons yet to be explained. Despite this lack of respect, Kenny went ahead and helped the board out with the process. Not that he was actually helping in a search – a list of names was handed to him rather than him being involved in drawing up that list.

Why Kenny wasn’t asked to provide input on some potential candidates remains as unclear as the reasons why the board felt they could ignore his request to be considered for the job. [Read more →]

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It was a busy week for Liverpool last week, and it was no surprise to see that the events were hyped up as much as they were.

Joe Cole was a good signing, but he was signed on a Bosman, following on from Milan Jovanovich who also arrived on a Bosman this summer. Danny Wigolson is certainly a huge prospect for the future, but although his fee will rise substantially should he fulfil his potential the fee until he does is just £2m. All three signings are positive for the club, three good bits of business as some managers may refer to it, but they certainly don’t signal all is well at Anfield.

Although Emiliano Insua is still not a Fiorentina player his departure seems a formality now. That’s despite Roy Hodgson pointing out that the club had started the ball rolling on the transfer of the last remaining left-back before he’d even arrived at the club and that he liked the youngster as a person and a player. That suggests Hodgson would have preferred him to stay, and added to the fact that Insua will count as “home grown” when he is too old to count as a youngster under the league’s new quota rules it seems odd that the club felt they could make that decision when there was nobody with actual football experience around to help make it. Whether the reported £5m fee gets spent on a replacement remains to be seen.

Also in this busy week we saw Albert Riera follow Yossi Benayoun – the other player who complained publicly about the previous manager – out of the exit door. The fanatical reception Riera – alleged to have assaulted one of the club’s youngsters at Melwood last season – got in Athens suggests that Liverpool may still get a demand for a refund due to mistaken identity.

If Olympiacos do try to get their £3.3m back they’ll find what Rafael Benítez found out last summer and what Roy Hodgson seems to be finding this summer – where transfers are concerned Christian Purslow’s “player account” doesn’t give as much out as it takes in. [Read more →]

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By Paul Gardner

(reproduced here with Paul’s permission)

Last couple of days’ developments particularly with the rise in ticket prices has made me think more about this.

All of it simply comes down to my Dad. Everything he instilled in me and everything he taught me, not only about Liverpool FC, but about life. My Dad went home and away in the 60′s and 70′s, spending all his wages on going the match. Hitch hiking to matches if he didn’t have enough money to get to the aways, but always finding a way to go the games domestically. If he couldn’t go to an away he would go to Goodison or Prenton Park to get his footy fix. Passed his Season Ticket onto my cousin around the time I was born though so he had more time and more money for me. Took me to my first game in 1990 and a few others now and again in the years after it, but couldn’t afford to take me that much even at the lower prices then. [Read more →]

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Liverpool have today announced the signing of England international Joe Cole on a free transfer.

The former Chelsea star was out of contract at Stamford Bridge and therefore free to choose his destination from any offers in front of him, with Tottenham or Arsenal having looked his most likely destination before the World Cup.

Ultimately though it was Liverpool who said the right things and made the right offer, the player signing on a four-year deal – although he does still need to undergo a medical.

Cole is the club’s third new arrival of the summer, joining Jonjo Shelvey and Milan Jovanovic – both of whom signed before the previous manager left but will play their debut season under the new first team coach Roy Hodgson.

28-year-old Cole was a product of the West Ham youth academy, before moving onto Chelsea where he won the league three times along with two FA Cups. He was recently on duty in South Africa with his England and now Liverpool team-mates Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, and also his former Chelsea team-mate Glen Johnson.

Of the four players signed by Liverpool in 2010, Cole is the third one to be signed on a free transfer. There will undoubtedly be a hefty signing-on fee to pay, not to mention a contract that is more lucrative than it might have been had he been signed for a fee from his former club, but in terms of straightforward transfer fees Liverpool’s transfer fund is heavily in profit since the turn of the year. [Read more →]

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Roy Hodgson will take charge of his first game as Liverpool manager tonight and finally there’ll be something other than his CV to judge him on.

Except judging him on the performance of a team made up mainly of reserves and youngsters against the champions of Saudi Arabia, in pre-season, is obviously unfair. If it was the whole of the first team squad in action it would still just be a practice match that had more to do with getting players to fitness than trying out new tactics. It wasn’t set up on the basis of finding the right kind of opposition at the right time for the squad to get into the swing of pre-season. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to work out some of the reasons why “the Club” might want a bit of exposure in Saudi Arabia.

The Club seem more determined than ever to paint over the cracks in order to present a picture of harmony and professionalism that is most certainly still not there at the club. It must be stressed that this is not the fault of Hodgson; there is absolutely nothing to suggest he’ll be anything less than professional in his role as “manager” of the Reds. He’s determined to do his best with whatever resources and control he’s given and that is how he must be judged.

What might prove difficult is working out exactly what those resources are. We know the club have lied and misled us in the past and absolutely nothing has changed at the club to make that any less likely to happen again. Roy’s willingness to work with whatever he is given undoubtedly did him no harm when being considered for the job, but were the club also hoping he’d “keep ‘mum’” about anything that they might prefer to be kept quiet?

Well maybe that’s where it starts to get interesting. It’s early days yet but already there are signs of Roy standing up to those above him in the Club’s hierarchy. There are signs he is making sure he’ll not be the puppet or patsy that so many people predicted he would be. And if that is what he’s doing, he’s also doing it without fuss. [Read more →]

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Liverpool fans should be forgiven for being cynical about comments from Roy Hodgson today in which he stated Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard weren’t for sale.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s opening pre-season friendly with Al Hilal the new manager explained that he’d now held conversations with both players, but was yet to speak to the club’s Argentine captain Javier Mascherano.

Mascherano has made no secret of his desire to leave, and it seems has also made no effort to talk to his new boss. Hodgson isn’t ready to condemn him yet, but hasn’t said a word about wanting him to stay: “I have tried to contact Javier. I have left him voice messages and sent him texts but had no reply. To be fair to him, that’s not unusual because he’s had a tough World Cup and I believe he’s gone back to Argentina. It’s not always easy to get in touch with people. I have tried to reach him to make clear I am happy to talk with him at his convenience.”

Hodgson had more luck speaking to Gerrard, who he met at Melwood before the club captain went on his holidays. A new manager at any club will want to speak to the club captain as soon as possible, but there is little doubt about what one of the main topics of conversation would have been.

A disillusioned Gerrard, feeling unwanted by his club, almost left for Chelsea in 2005 in the wake of that legendary night in Istanbul. Jose Mourinho was Chelsea’s manager at the time and as the new boss of Real Madrid has been linked with a fresh move for a player who is still waiting for investment in the club that has been repeatedly promised but never delivered for most of his professional career. Real Madrid would be the most likely destination should the captain leave, but a number of clubs would be interested should there be any sign from Anfield that the player could leave. Roy Hodgson wants him to stay.

“I’ve met with Steven,” he said, “and I thought the talks were positive.” He is obviously aware of the speculation but says there haven’t been any offers: “We’re in a situation where we hear our players are being courted by other teams but it’s all just rumours. What we haven’t had is a club wanting to buy Steven Gerrard.”

Hodgson says he told the captain exactly how he saw his future: “Steven Gerrard is not for sale – I made that clear to him.”

The new boss also referred to what he has been told is the “club’s policy” on players and said he told Gerrard he supports it, and that “we don’t want to sell our best players and have to start building again. We want to build our team around these players.” [Read more →]

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Anfield Road ran a story last week in which we reported how we had been told a mural depicting Rafael Benítez and players celebrating the victory in Istanbul had been removed. We had been told it had been removed by Paul Tyrell, the club’s head of press, and that the suggestion made to us was that he was acting on the orders of Liverpool’s MD, Christian Purslow. [Read more →]

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When Liverpool supporters argued and debated about Rafael Benítez and whether he was the right man for the manager’s job,  there was an unspoken assumption that the arguing was all for football reasons and the good of the club.

Sadly, as time went on, fellow Liverpool supporters were starting to hate each other even more than the owners.

But Rafa’s sacking saw unity start to return. Supporters looked at the sacking of Benítez and the appointment of Roy Hodgson, including the contempt shown to supporters and the legend known as King Kenny. They realised that football had very little to do with those decisions.

The club is being run like an ailing supermarket chain, and that tends to get fans’ backs up. [Read more →]

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