midds

Can't blame them for wanting to keep him even though they know he wants away. They know the endgame is imminent and just want to be in the best position they can be. They're not daft and they're not bending over either. If we want him then we're going to have to play the game.

There comes a time when 'experienced' becomes 'old'. He looks and plays like an old man now and I really hope we're not going to have to rely on him ever again. Give him a Rolex and let him go ffs.

This may need an airing somewhere else on the internet.

Think he only wants to come to us........Ashley sure isn't going to blink first. Time to see if Liverpool have the bottle not to. Precisely, dear boy.

There's a fucking surprise.

He's going to dig his heels in isn't he? It's a £12m game of chicken.

I'm not totally against getting him back up here, he was, and still can be, a really good striker and he's unplayable on his day. He's a big strong lad who ruffles feathers and makes things happen around him. My concern is that the £15m (or whatever) we spend to get him would be better spent elsewhere. For us it's still a massive amount of money and i think we'd get better value for money if we looked elsewhere. If it happens then fair enough, if it doesn't then we move on.

Would love to know how they can afford this kind of sum. Didn't think the porn merchants were particularly flush. Buy now, pay later favours them as the new tv deal money could be used.

Honestly think we agreed terms (unofficially) ages ago, that's not the sticking point. The biggest hurdle is going to be agreeing a fee. Everything will fall into place quickly once we thrash out a number with Lille.

What they offer is irrelevant if Carroll doesn't want the move. The club could accept any offer but if he digs his heels in then he goes nowhere. Literally.

The Clock was my local in 1997. FACT.

I've genuinely not seen much of him, but even when I watched Swansea last season he was hardly miles above the rest. What are the stand out attributes that make him a 12 million pound player? He's got a British passport. Ah, that must be it. I know statistics are hardly the be all and end all, but in this link a Liverpool fan has compared Allen to Henderson, Adam and Modric. To me, he doesn't seem a step up from the former 2 based on these stats: http://www.theliverpoolword.com/2012/07/liverpool-transfer-target-joe-allen-what-would-he-bring-to-lfc/ He looks neat and tidy but nothing out of the ordinary from the little I've seen of him. £13m is just ridiculous.

I've genuinely not seen much of him, but even when I watched Swansea last season he was hardly miles above the rest. What are the stand out attributes that make him a 12 million pound player? He's got a British passport.

Bantersaurus-Rex.

All good things...

Losing Ba at this stage in the pre-season would be a massive blow, no point sugar-coating it. He's proven to be a fantastic striker and a very good footballer in the final third for us. To lose him now, coupled with letting Best go too, would be a big headache for us. We need another quality forward/striker in as it stands now, losing Ba means we need 2. And quality forwards are hard to come by.

The article goes on to say we should sign Rhys Williams...

If Pardew is canny this season he can use the Europa League to give players like Abeid, Vuckic, Bigi, Tav, Gosling, Sammy, Ferguson etc lots of experience whilst resting a few key first-teamers each game to keep them fairly fresh throughout the season.

So this afternoon's episode of 'Pointless' was replaced by women's football. Irony?

Exactly. In 9 months time he'll be worth zero. No point going in high straight away, he knows we're interested and can let it ride for a month. See how things work out as a better CH may become available? Who knows.

Yep. Although having Carroll on the bench to come on and change a game would be a nice option.

It's a pretty ruthless and cut-throat way to sign/keep players but that's for Ashley and Llambias to deal with. I'm glad we're not a soft touch but we can't complain if selling clubs play the same game and we lose out on targets we go for. Turnabout's fair play.

I think it'll start ok but once the 'top 4' begin to pull away from them the pressure will increase. They can't really afford another couple of seasons without CL football having already missed out for the last few years. As that pressure increases then I think he'll struggle and can't see him shifting them forward as a club.

Fairly sure the club know he wants to play his football here next season and have been taking the piss all summer. We'll offer a decent amount of money soon and he'll fly in to sign shortly. It's inevitable.

Looked a good prospect, certainly worth a million quid. First time I've seen him play but was impressed and considering he's only 18 he's only going to get better. Got a bit of bottle and didn't appear to have any nerves which bodes well. Only one game but he looks like a rough diamond. Let's see where he is in 2 years time.