Moneyball won't win the Premiership 2012-13

will fit right in at stoke

Clattenburg 'cleared', Mikel charged despite never making any allegations in the first place or at any time iirc

charged for his postmatch antics

Rafa Benitez on his returning to the Premier League after a three-year absence: "Out of the game is not out of the game."

Vintage Rafa

I'm soothing my pain with the knowledge that they'll *hate* that stuff at Stamford Bridge

the priest on the mountain of sugar has not been excommunicated FACHT

He's written an extraordinary number of match analyses in the past year or so, for whatever that's worth.

We never should have let him go. He wasn't the problem, it was everybody else.

i often wonder if rafa supporters would have taken the THIS IS ANFIELD sign and rafa in a swap for everything else

<3 that sign

I suggested one for our house, but the missus nixed it.

She was happy enough with a boot room though

i've got a white hart lane road sign she got me but i'm not allowed put it up in a rental

if she thinks that'll get me to buy, she's fuckin cracked and i've said so

Just thought, does this mean the January window is a final opportunity for Stevie G to go to Chelsea? He could justify it as joining up with Raja rather than leaving Liverpool.

A lampard Gerard midfield is what the country is crying out for tbf

what on earth would chelsea want with him

lol pandemic

Wouldn't be a Rafa transfer window if he didn't pay over the odds for someone nobody else rated, plus he can convince Abramovitch it's what he needs to get the best out of Torres.

I know just the Liverpool player for that mission

Lampard going to China would make room in the squad.

It would be pretty great if Rafa did somehow get Gerrard/Lampard to work, for just a few glorious months before they retire

Lamps is gonna be the new Beckham in LA

Beckham has charisma

Lamps has Christine Mahogany.

had to google that!

I'm busy this afternoon, but could somebody maybe trawl the old epl threads and put together a definitive timeline of Torres' winding down at Liverpool? Thanks.

mean, if someone wanted to pay a fucking massive fee for torres you have to look at how often he's injured imo

have a look at his games/season stats at atletico madrid, a lot better than eg rooney's injury record

fat cunt playing him whilst not properly recovered from hamstring injuries in order to save his job during periodic crises probably not unrelated here

― nakhchivan, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 10:47 AM (2 years ago)

torres had it coming w/ all those ridiculously premature returns from injury to save the day for liverpool

there was one game vs arsenal where he could hardly move, but was still preferred to whoever else they had

― nakhchivan, Saturday, July 3, 2010 10:00 PM (2 years ago)

they should sell torres in january if they get any big bids

they're not going to qualify for cl or get relegated so it's more a question of developing a stable side in the interim

― entrylev leviev (nakhchivan), Sunday, October 17, 2010 5:13 PM (2 years ago)

the big ac certainly belonged in a stable side amirite

Torres will be amusingly rubbish and this year's Shevchenko. Six goals in La Liga = lol massive flop in the Premiership.

― Matt DC, Saturday, 4 August 2007 00:29 (5 years ago) Bookmark

ouch

Ahead of the game, that's all.

PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Anthony Le Tallec believes he could have emulated the feats of Fernando Torres or Carlos Tevez had he not wasted the opportunity he had as a young striker at Liverpool, he said on Friday.
Le Tallec, now 28, moved to Liverpool, under French compatriot Gerard Houllier, from Le Havre when he was still a teenager in 2001 after excellent performances for France's Under-17 World Cup winning team.
But he told sports daily L'Equipe that he regretted having asked the then-Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez to leave the club in 2004 when he was still only 20.
He now plays for Valenciennes in France's Ligue 1 but explained why it did not work out in England when he was younger.
"I had an agent who kept telling me St Etienne wanted me. Benitez was recruiting Spanish players. I told myself I would not have my chance.
"It hurts when, after Liverpool, you play in smaller clubs. I did not realise that I was in a great club. I have regrets. When I see Torres, Tevez, who are of the same generation, I say to myself 's***'.
"My agent tells me: 'Torres stole your career!," he added, laughing.
"I'm not jealous but I say to myself that I could have done like him."
While on Liverpool's books he was loaned to St Etienne, Sunderland, Sochaux and Le Mans, signing a permanent deal with Le Mans in 2008 before moving to AJ Auxerre in 2010 and Valenciennes this season.
He has scored five goals from seven Ligue 1 appearances with Valenciennes, who are sixth in the standings ahead of Friday's trip to St Etienne.

Posted in full because nobody's going to click on a link to an Anthony Le Tallec article. His agent sounds like a grand fellow.

He had everything a striker needs apart from being able to ever score any goals ever or not be fucking shit.

"My agent tells me: 'Torres stole your career!," he added, laughing

Oh man, I just got this.

Rumours circulating that Hughes is out this morning.

Tony Fernandes was presumably raising money for the January window by laying against Hughes being the first manager to go on Betfair.

confirmed

bobby in

McNeill? Moore? Gould?

gillespie

Now you're talking

Always knew he was a Rangers fan

Anyone who does a QPR team talk in an imitation Bobby Gillespie voice gets an instant ban from this thread by the way.

I'm sure Mark "Sparky" Hughes will not be out of work long, what with his reliably pleasant demeanour and easy going charm. Wales job will be up soon, I reckon.

he's got a good agent

Seems kinda funny to keep Hughes in his job all week and then sack him the day before a game.

Lofts Road too noisy for Bobby G, I imagine he's more of an Emirates man

Yeah he can catch up on his reading of "Steppenwolf" there