Another Drive4show 'Anything goes' thread

[kwinigolfer]

First topic message reminder :

Sr,
1).Correct. Wonderful is right. Though in the American order of things behind the NFL, College Football, High School Football, NBA, College B'ball.
2).Not much of a market: 21,000 per home game.
3).But no other nations pay their players a fraction of this sort of bounty. He'll probably end up using PED's, just like his predecessor as highest paid.
Ridiculous money!

[kwinigolfer]

Striker?
A year ago we'd all have been taking about Negredo . . . . !

[pedro]

Man City through! That was pretty damn close but a sign of character to travel to Rome and pull it off!

[McLaren]

A club should assume that on any given week a player could suffer a career ending injury or decide to leave. And for every position have a list of 2/3 top players that they have already thoroughly looked into and could enter negotiations immediately.

There is no excuse for clubs not finding replacements.

[MustPuttBetter]

How is that relevant Mac? Should Brendon Rodgers have had the next Suarez up his sleeve that he'd been keeping a secret all this time?

[pedro]

Maybe not 'up the sleeve' but at least on the bench. If they think mid/long term they should have a contingency plan - or simply just a plan.

[MustPuttBetter]

Yes but no one who could come in of Suarez's quality....

Hence unless he took a punt on someone and that paid off big time they would always be weaker this year. It amazes me that fans are surprised about this

[McLaren]

mustputt

It is relevant because clubs have the resources to make such contingency plans.

[MustPuttBetter]

The fact that they can identify players doesn't have any relevance to this discussion

[McLaren]

So you think that liverpool not preempting the departure of Suarez has nothing to do with them now having no decent replacement?

Would you reject the idea that if they had someone in mind should Suarez go they would have been easier and quicker to replace him?

They should have had a Suarez leaving plan and it should have started the moment Barca put a bid in.

[super_realist]

When you've got a player like Suarez, both mentality and talent wise in your team, and especially a team for which he is far too good, you'd be an idiot not to anticipate he'll leave. How naive would you be, not to have several players in the pipeline to replace them.

I keep hearing how Balotelli is on a sticky wicket, last warning etc, but it's the manager who should be taking flak for his signing.

[MustPuttBetter]

Of course you can plan for his leaving and I'm sure they did. They brought in replacements. But the crux of the discussion is that Liverpool have become worse because of the replacements made and I'm saying it was inevitable.
Just because you plan for someone leaving doesn't mean you can replace him quality wise. If you disagree I'll ask the question again,who should Rodgers have brought in as good as Suarez?

[super_realist]

Absolutely inevitable. Liverpool have zero chance of attracting world class players because they aren't one of the fashionable and big teams partly due to their insistent on living in the past.

They were lucky to get Suarez in the first place.

I think the question is not who Liverpool should bring in, but how can anyone expect a team as mediocre as Liverpool to have the ability to attract a credible replacement for Suarez.

They should be happy they ever had him, not despondent that they can't replace him. It's not Rodgers fault Liverpool are small fish.

Liverpool are nothing special and so, they should be realistic as to their position in the game being around the 6-8th position range.

[MustPuttBetter]

Exactly, completely agreed

Everyone forgets that Suarez was himself a bit of a gamble when they bought him, in the Balotelli mould. He had an excellent record in Holland but was a bit volatile and unstable mentally and for that reason other clubs had stayed away. Liverpool took a gamble on him and it paid off, at least until he did them no favours by making him staying there untenable.
They, Dalgleish I think, got that one right. The Balotelli one hasn't worked out. Just a bit of luck one way or the other.

Replacing Suarez was impossible. Liverpool were always going to be a worse side, in the short term, without him. There was no way this could be mitigated. If it was inevitable, then the manager cannot be expected to be taking the flak for it. The best he can do is move on

[McLaren]

Mustputt

By offering £300K a week liverpool could have had pretty much any striker that moved in the summer or came close to leaving their club. By thinking small they missed the chance to get a decent player.

Hell, they should have had a punt on RVP and offered 40 million or something. Or indeed something else similarly bold.

[MustPuttBetter]

They could have yes Mac but none of them would have been at the same level as Suarez, hence they would still be a worse team.
Better off taking some time to get the right guy, possibly someone younger, than shelling out a ridiculous £300k a week or £40m on RVP which is hilarious! He's worth about £4m these days!
Thankfully for LFC I believe Rodgers thinks a bit more long term than you do!

If your answer to my question 'who should they have got' is RVP - well, say no more

[GunsGerms]

The idea of replacing star players with like for like replacements in any sport is nonsense. Your aim should always be to build as strong as possible a squad as possible, get the training and tactics right and play to your strengths.

[MustPuttBetter]

Clearly, Guns
Having good players helps though......

[pedro]

LFC have the same amount of money as the other big teams. Plus they have a glorious history. They could build an equally strong team if they wanted.

[super_realist]

They have nowhere near the funds of Man City, Chelsea or even Man United, whilst I think that Arsenal are probably a more attractive destination.
A glorious history is irrelevant. Plenty teams have "glorious" histories, but it does nothing for a new player coming in. Teams like Liverpool live in the past.

[pedro]

super, don't agree that a clubs history hasn't got anything to say. Plus global shirt and merchandise sales would be far more significant for LFC than many other clubs. LFC have a significant larger fan base than Arsenal, don't tell me that's irrelevant.
And although their total wallet may be smaller than Chelski's et al they still have sufficient funds to pay the highest salaries in the EPL.

[super_realist]

Why does no one of any note want to join them then? Why do they all go to Chelsea, Man U , Man City and Arsenal instead?

Fan base and history obviously isn't important, if it were, they might attract more players of note and have achieved more seeing as you say paying wages isn't an issue. They look like they still try to dine off Istanbul and Hillsborough sympathy.
Time they moved on and actually tried to challenge the top teams instead of being under the misapprehension that they are one of the big teams.

[McLaren]

super

Without the fan base that exists because of Liverpool's history their budget would be around the Newcastle or Aston Villa level.

[MustPuttBetter]

Anyone watch Jessye Norman on HardTalk on BBC tonight? What a fantastic woman

[kwinigolfer]

One of the finest to hail from Augusta, Georgia.
Wonder if Billy Payne knows her.

[McLaren]

Anyone fancy a gmac hand drawn Christmas card

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Graeme-McDowell-hand-painted-Christmas-Card-/171579494478?pt=UK_Collectables_Memorabila_RL&hash=item27f2ef504e

Can't help but think they should have got Donald to draw it instead.

[incontinentia]

Have you bid already mac?

[McLaren]

No, have you?

[raycastleunited]

MPB,

I understand your view. But Who could Liverpool have signed: Ibrahimovic, Falcao, Benzema, Alexis Sanchez, Tevez, Cavani. Maybe some of them?

Next tier down, Remy would been much better than Balotelli.

[MustPuttBetter]

Don't agree I'm afraid Ray.
Ibrahimovic, Benzema, Tevez, Cavani - why would any of them leave where they are to go to Liverpool. It's easy to name good forwards, no sign any of them could be signed. I'm certain some of them would have been tried.
Sanchez also, why would you go to Liverpool over Arsenal?
Falcao has been a success at United has he? One goal. He's been no better than Balotelli, who at least is fit. Plus rumour is he chose United over Chelsea so again no sign he'd have gone to Liverpool.

[pedro]

You can add Higuain to the list.

Balotelli (and Sterling) had a few chances to silence their critics but De Gea with clutch saves.

It seems the only thing De Gea can't save is Brendan Rodgers behind? Or is he safe do you think?

[McLaren]

Sadly only a matter of time until Real persuade De Gea to head to madrid.

[navyblueshorts]

MPB,    

I understand your view. But Who could Liverpool have signed: Ibrahimovic, Falcao, Benzema, Alexis Sanchez, Tevez, Cavani. Maybe some of them?

Next tier down, Remy would been much better than Balotelli.  

Ibrahimovic - complete and utter w*nker, doesn't fit LFC mould and why on Earth would he leave PSG for LFC in any case?
Falcao - good job LFC didn't get him; lame duck and looked anything like the player alleged when on show.
Benzema - would have been worth it by why, on Earth, would he leave Real as they are now for LFC?????
Sanchez - would have been a good buy as he's showing at Arsenal.
Tevez - proven but worth the hassle?
Cavani - long since shot his bolt, looked abysmal in World Cup last summer.

As MPB is suggesting, Balotelli is capable of being good enough. A gamble but at £16m, probably justified. One thing I though was very odd was to get Divock Origi (who looked a real prospect at the World Cup) and then send him straight back to Lille(?) on loan. Bizarre, although to be fair, he's not really lighting it up there is he??!

[MustPuttBetter]

Let's also not overlook the fact that the question was who could they have signed at the same level as Suarez. Good players as all those in that list are, none as good as Suarez, so Liverpool would still have dropped a level this year even if they had pulled off one of those impossible signings

Agree by the way re the Origi loan back NBS. I'm assuming that's the only way Lille wold do the deal.

[McLaren]

mustputt, I think we might find out that in la liga Suarez isn't quite as good as Benzema.

[MustPuttBetter]

Ha ha ok Mac

[McLaren]

Benzema has scored 13 goals already this season. I will admit he is a little dodgy in terms of passing but he does score quite a few goals.

[MustPuttBetter]

Ibrahimovic 33
Falcao 28
Benzema 26
Tevez 30
Sanchez 25
Cavani 27
Balotelli 24
Origi 19

Maybe Rodgers is more of a forward planner than he's being given credit for.....

[Mad for Chelsea]

Sanchez would have been a good signing (though hindsight's obviously a wonderful thing) but IIRC chose Arsenal ahead of Liverpool. Cavani and Falcao would have been lousy signings, while none of the others are remotely realistic (seriously, why would Ibra want to leave massive wages, an almost guaranteed league title, thus CL football for next year?!?! Benzema? Really? People thought he'd leave Real for Liverpool?!?!).

Yes there are good strikers, even great ones around, but none that Liverpool could afford the wages of or who'd have wanted to go there. Balotelli was a risk, but at 16M probably worth the punt. And given they'd sold Suarez they simply had to try to buy in some replacements. Unfortunately, because they sold Suarez all clubs knew this, and that they had money, so they paid too much money (same used to happen to Chelsea just after Roman arrived, not so much anymore). Even more unfortunately, the players they bought (who all looked decent signings) are struggling to adapt/not that good.

Hindsight is truly a wonderful thing in this case...

[MustPuttBetter]

Benzema has scored 13 goals already this season.  I will admit he is a little dodgy in terms of passing but he does score quite a few goals.

He does Mac.
But then by that measure Carlos Bacca has scored two goals more than Benzema in la Liga this year so we'd best get him in the list of the worlds best too

It's not all about goals, as you probably know, and I doubt you'd find many pundits etc who'd put anyone between Ronaldo/Messi and Suarez/Aguero

[MustPuttBetter]

Sanchez would have been a good signing (though hindsight's obviously a wonderful thing) but IIRC chose Arsenal ahead of Liverpool. Cavani and Falcao would have been lousy signings, while none of the others are remotely realistic (seriously, why would Ibra want to leave massive wages, an almost guaranteed league title, thus CL football for next year?!?! Benzema? Really? People thought he'd leave Real for Liverpool?!?!).

Yes there are good strikers, even great ones around, but none that Liverpool could afford the wages of or who'd have wanted to go there. Balotelli was a risk, but at 16M probably worth the punt. And given they'd sold Suarez they simply had to try to buy in some replacements. Unfortunately, because they sold Suarez all clubs knew this, and that they had money, so they paid too much money (same used to happen to Chelsea just after Roman arrived, not so much anymore). Even more unfortunately, the players they bought (who all looked decent signings) are struggling to adapt/not that good.

Hindsight is truly a wonderful thing in this case...

100% correct

[pedro]

Tbh Suarez hasn't impressed me at Barca yet. Even against weaker teams he seems a bit lost. As I can tell they usually play him on the right wing next to Messi, whereas at Liverpool he was more central.

[GunsGerms]

Ian Poulter is very disapointed that McILroy didnt win SPOTY. 2 majors, a ryder cup and world number 1. What does the man have to do?

However, at least one Irish man won a prize. Congrats Paul McGinley.

[navyblueshorts]

Benzema has scored 13 goals already this season.  I will admit he is a little dodgy in terms of passing but he does score quite a few goals.

So what? I could score 13 so far in the current RM side. Good player he undoubtedly is but his numbers are somewhat skewed, I would suggest, by those he's playing with.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Ian Poulter is very disapointed that McILroy didnt win SPOTY. 2 majors, a ryder cup and world number 1. What does the man have to do?

However, at least one Irish man won a prize. Congrats Paul McGinley.

I think everyone with a brain (or even half one, in Poults's case ) is disappointed that McIlroy didn't win last night. I mean, I'm a Hamilton fan, and have defended him on the other thread, but there's simply no way he's more deserving than McIlroy this year.

[GunsGerms]

It was an odd one. Do you think declaring for Ireland had a affect on him not getting the prize?

[super_realist]

It was an odd one. Do you think declaring for Ireland had a affect on him not getting the prize?

Not remotely. Golf has rarely done well, it's a pretty boring spectacle for your average viewer if they don't already play and the public inexplicably is fond of F1 and delight in seeing one decent manufacturer romp an engineering competition.

[GunsGerms]

F1 is immensely boring though. Beggars belief that anyone would find F1 more exciting than golf.

Anyway, it seems you are right the last golf winner was Nick Faldo. Although there have been a few runners up in '06, '11 and this year.

[beninho]

Didn't Liverpool try and sign Remy, but pulled out over his heart problem. Suppose Chelsea can take the punt on that, but liverpool looking at sell on value.

[McLaren]

Good to see all the blended ham sandwiches up the arse stopped islamists killing school kids.

Well done Dicke Cheney.

[pedro]

Good to see all the blended ham sandwiches up the arse stopped islamists killing school kids.  

Well done Dicke Cheney.

Last weekend in "Meet the Press" he said: "I'd do it again in a minute." Wonder what he'll say today? Probably "...in a second."

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