NAMING RIGHTS THREAD: Liverpool really won't win the Premiership 2010-2011

plus from commoli's point of view a basically untouchable fan fave who's been out the game long enough to probably take his advice on player recruitment is ideal - most other managers are gonna tell him to do one

may well also be that clarke's always been an overrated wilkinsesque "link to the players" type chancer (not like he really sorted west ham out much) and pool will continue to suffer

think kenny's basically sensible management on sunday will ensure an improvement either way though, albeit perhaps not massive

Dunno, another half-season of chugging mediocrity might be enough to take the shine off Kenny. They're not going to go down, but in those circumstances its hard to see too many people objecting to replacing him with someone else. Liverpool fans don't have the same monomanaical obsession with favoured sons as Newcastle. No idea who that someone else would be though.

yeah depends on the exact kind of mediocrity i guess - if there's a couple of wins vs top 6 sides and a thrashing of some goners in there the other failings will prob get put down to hodgson/benitez/london media mafia/12 foot lizards etc. if there's no flicker of anything there then new broom ahoy.

huh?

Clarke & Zola were dope imo, esp. considering what they were working with.

half a season of some good play, rest was shite. v fragile throughout. inconclusive.

especially so wrt clarke who's meant to be the respected defensive coach. plus mourinho seems to have done aight without him.

defence looked better on sunday already. aurelio obv ten times the player konchesky is and agger looked well hungry too. can't believe he was planning to leave, since alonso left he's the only half decent passer through the middle of the park, plenty of the time.

Reina-Johnson-Agger-Skrtel-Aurelio still way better back five than most Premiership clubs, even if Steve Clarke isn't the defensive messiah that lot shouldn't take *too* much sorting out. That's not really been the problem though.

Kenny's said he won't have a problem stepping down if NESV find someone else. The general reaction to Sunday's defeat is one of immense optimism, and has brought about more positivity than any of our wins under Hodgson. Fingers crossed it continues.

agger still planning to leave?

xp thank you mr club spokesman.

johnson as a right back is bollocks and woy was wight to chew him out. thought kelly was pretty solid. agger talks a better game than he usually plays but is worth persevering with obv.

i am his agent, didn't you know?

wasn't it only like last week when he was talking about leaving? or did i imagine this?

Has Agger ever been tried in midfield? Long-legged striding about, pretty passes and a bit of steel, sounds alright to me.

can cunt a 25 yarder too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/10/michael-owen-liverpool-manchester-united

LFC's secrets are safe with Michael Owen.

The general reaction to Sunday's defeat is one of immense optimism, and has brought about more positivity than any of our wins under Hodgson.

goes to show how hodgson wasn't the problem, really?

my thoughts exactly

"Maybe there have not been enough Liverpool players over the last 10 years."

Just need the money for four or five more etc etc.

Hodgson maybe not the problem.....except he did a crap job.

Wins under Hodgson didn't bring optimism because wins and semi-decent performances were the exception.

false pessimism, great concept

Babel has been charged so speedily and yet a player who not only admits to cheating by diving but tells us he joked with the referee about it is ignored by the FA?

606 point at the side of the articule otm for once

articule? wtf is wrong with me?

You can't articlate what you mean?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/11/steven-pienaar-everton-tottenham

70k a week? everton paying arteta 75? jesus.

don't think he's that far inferior to arteta

i'd guess he'd get around £50k in a contract renewal / normal transfer situ, but if it's a free or a cut price transfer he'll get more

plus it's Harry, not shy of throwing about a few bob that he has no responsibility for

don't think it's necessarily a bad signing, i mean he was linked to inter milan! can always sell him at a profit

redknapp is a damn nuisance but levy et al have done a good job of clipping his wings, as is their responsibility

Man City's new signing Edin Dzeko taunts Man Utd

"I have heard a lot about the fans and that most of the people from Manchester are Manchester City fans," the 24-year-old said at a news conference

Pick that out, Fergie

pienaar to replace kranjcar, pointless enough really unless we get decent money for the latter

krancjar is probably also on good wages because he had only a year left when he signed for tottenham in a cut-price transfer

that's probably why he's difficult to shift....

40k iirc, going enough rate for a player of his quality. Right back to everton i reckon

buying pienaar might allow redknapp to sell bentley and dos santos in addition to kranjcar, which makes sense.

edin dzeko speaks english relatively well, gently trolling the y'nahtid lot

would have thought pienaar paved the way for the release of jenas, dos santos and kranjcar, but dont think i've seen him play on the right.

Preponderance of left sided midfielders now, rly.

Rumours of utd bid for thudd, anyone else heard this? Not havin carrick back i hope.

"What model waits for a knight rider on a horse and then rides away?" said Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino.

I don't know, what model does wait for a knight rider on a horse and then rides away?

"I have heard a lot about the fans and that most of the people from Manchester are Manchester City fans," the 24-year-old said at a news conference

Just in case anyone's interesting, there was a study of this a few years ago. They analysed the addresses of season ticket holders at Man Utd and Man City and found that a greater proportion of City supporters were Mancunian (40% as opposed to 29% for United), but that there were slightly more United supporters than City supporters in Manchester (because United had more supporters full-stop) - of Mancunians who were season ticket holders at one of the two clubs, United led City by 54% to 46%. This depends on how you define 'Manchester', though - this study took it to be anywhere with a Manchester postcode, but there are plenty of places with M postcodes (like Salford, Stretford and Old Trafford) which are not technically in Manchester (i.e. in the borough) and these places are more United leaning. If you confine it just to places within the borough of Manchester then City edge out United.

If you extend the area to the whole of the north-west (which they've defined as Lancashire, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cumbria) then 78% of City's support is 'local' compared to 72% of United's.

For both clubs, the bulk of the non-Mancunian support is from the north-west:

Woops. That last sentence isn't supposed to be there.

Just in case anyone's interesting

i'm interesting!

Pienaar can play on either wing, right? Would he stand a chance of replacing Lennon on the right? He might be the long term option for when we inevitably sell Bale in the summer I suppose, otherwise just adding another attacking midfield option for an already stocked bench does feel kind of pointless.

pienaar is a neat, efficient possession player of the ajax school and played with van der vaart there

tottenham's success is more about directness on the flanks and possession players in the centre

see him as less obviously an 'attacking' midfielder than modric, bale, kranjcar, vdv or lennon, tbh. We dont really have that many centre-circle options, as evidenced by jenas still playing every now and then. Pienaar definitely a little more of that type of player than modric or vdv, and less cumbersome than thudd with it.

Does he ever actually play in that role for Everton?a

             Gomes
Corluka  Dawson   Bassong
                           Bale
         Sandro   THUDD
Pienaar              Modric
          van der Vaart
              Suarez

fucking awes team imo

for next season when sandro has settled obv

Except we'll sell Bale in the summer, and Bale can't defend. And that centreback pairing is still ropey. And we'll still be playing Hutton at RB. And we won't sign Suarez. Apart from that, great.