The College Dropout

I think that's being kind to us. We've been fortunate enough to have at least one excellent striker at the club during every season under Pardew, and we've relied on them near-implicitly. That's not to say other teams don't, but saying we're 'talismanic' suggests it's a concious gameplan when, really, it isn't. It's just good fortune that we've had such good strikers who've had the ability to conjure something out of minimal attacking cohesion. Disagree tbh. The one thing Pardew seems to be consistently good at - is getting maybe just a couple players to really shine. The way he sets a team up is for one or two individuals to really shine and the rest just work hard for them. Other managers - Moyes for example struggles to get a #9 firing consistently. I think that style damages us in many ways but it's probably Pardew's only redeeming feature as a manager. It's hardly a massive skill to get one or two match winning players to win games from nowhere. I'm sure Moyes could do it as well if that was his only remit. Not claiming it's a massive skill. But I do think the way Pardew sets teams up will make 1 or 2 attackers look better than they are.

I think that's being kind to us. We've been fortunate enough to have at least one excellent striker at the club during every season under Pardew, and we've relied on them near-implicitly. That's not to say other teams don't, but saying we're 'talismanic' suggests it's a concious gameplan when, really, it isn't. It's just good fortune that we've had such good strikers who've had the ability to conjure something out of minimal attacking cohesion. Disagree tbh. The one thing Pardew seems to be consistently good at - is getting maybe just a couple players to really shine. The way he sets a team up is for one or two individuals to really shine and the rest just work hard for them. Other managers - Moyes for example struggles to get a #9 firing consistently. I think that style damages us in many ways but it's probably Pardew's only redeeming feature as a manager.

I think he's better in the air than all of them, personally. Fantastic at the leap/run up... but Shearer at least was able to score more types of headers.

Yes, then complained about it.

He also struggled to get Brighton to score goals too. They never had a prolific striker during this time there either. Rarely picked up points from losing positions. He's a defensive manager no doubt.

I count 6. 1. You're assuming the tea doesn't need fresh blood to even remain the same level of competitiveness. 2. Valdes not leaving. 3. Xavi declining won't have a massive effect. 4. Neymar playing better. 5. Messi not having a successful world cup 6. Messi being even better because of the failed world cup.

I'm just saying they're both better than what you have to put on the pitch this season at times. Really don't see this team declining to much next year from this year even without signings unless Valdes leaves. Pretty much same team with maybe Xavi an extra yard slower, but compensate that with Neymar hopefully having adapted and Messi possibly having revenge for a failed WC and I think you're team is still far better than most clubs in the world. A lot fo assumptions beign made here.

Aye, they'll be confident of getting at least 1 away goal.

Good for them. I imagine they'll pour every penny back into transfers and wages.

Who said Barcelona would walk it against Atleti?

It's so helpful.

These are getting relegated. That's it.

GOOON!!!!!

The ball boy looked so innocent. "I'm just doing what I was told Mr. Mourinho."

They spent another £35m or so after those accounts didnt they? Osvaldo & Wanyama were nigh on £30m on top of the outstanding transfer debts but with the new TV money they should be ok in a few years. I think those two signings are why Cortese got the boot. Those are Leeds/Portsmouth signings for sure. The home-grown players are a life saver.

Considering they are running at an operating profit - Southampton will be okay if they stick to what they can afford in transfers. They'll probably cash in on one of their home-grown assets however. Shaw would be the best move. Leftbacks don't tend to be the difference between relegation fight and midtable.

L'pool board are thinking long-term. Get them back in the CL and competitive. Invest in young exciting players with serious potential, move stadium and they'll reap dividends in the long haul.

Most top teams need their central defenders to be good at atleast 1 of the following - in the air, fast, strong. Colo ticks none of those boxes. He' actually the best defender I can think of that doesn't have at least 1 of those attributes.

150m in three seasons is f***ing loads. http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premiership-transfers/liverpool-transfers.html We've spend 51m in the same time They have a net spend of 90 million over the last 5 seasons: http://www.transferleague.co.uk/league-tables/transfer-league-table-last-five-seasons.html Which sounds like a load until you see that over the same period Man City's figure is 480 million and Chelsea's 282 million! They've spent less than Stoke and only 4 million more than Villa. Over that period we've made 45 million PROFIT Net spend is misleading when you get £50m for one player. Spurs have spent bucketloads. They are one of the clubs in the PL that are being run at a loss.

He's far better than Sherwood and should have been given more time. Sherwood a glorified interim. He'll be out in the summer for a long term target. He needs to learn how to improve managing upwards (AVB) that is.

AVB has been horrible in England tbf.

I don't think we where any better individual for individual. They may have had a better goal difference than us too. ? Not sure the point your making We had better results but our performances, style of play, quality of player was arguably inferior. I don't think we where P4P a top 5 side. Yeah I agree with that, certainly. The fact is though they recognised what they needed to do and made the change. They are now reaping the benefits They changed manager but that's not the biggest thing. They continued to invest in the squad and had a plan to break into the top 4 within 3 years. Our biggest problem is that we have a owner content with midtable finishes and turning a profit. The owners of L'pool are trying to maximise potential revenue. The 100mil KD spent suggests that they could have thrown money at him till they were blue in the face they wouldn't have gotten into the top 4 Rodgers is the primary reason for Liverpool's current position The aims and objectives of the owners have remained exactly the same. The transfer policy has remained largely the same as KD's reign - young players. The manager is one piece of the puzzle and they've done brilliantly to secure Rodgers but it is the owners/board who are the driving force behind the success. We couldn't even attract a manager like Rodgers. We don't have ambitious owners. The aims and objectives of Ashley is secure league standings and turning a profit. Changing the manager wouldn't change this. They wouldn't be given the money for us to consistently challenge for the top 6. Our best periods in the PL have come under owners that thought of Newcastle as a Rolls Royce club. Pardew is just a symptom of our problems. Ashley is the root cause. A manager like Brendan Rodgers couldnt' reach his full potential at a club run by Mike Ashley. Neither could Bobby and obviously Keegan couldn't. There's aims & objectives (the vision), the strategy (how we get there). We have the first part wrong. L'pool only had the second part wrong in terms of manager. They largely had the right idea.

If it's down to GD they'll probably only need the 5 and win by 10.

I don't think we where any better individual for individual. They may have had a better goal difference than us too. ? Not sure the point your making We had better results but our performances, style of play, quality of player was arguably inferior. I don't think we where P4P a top 5 side. Yeah I agree with that, certainly. The fact is though they recognised what they needed to do and made the change. They are now reaping the benefits They changed manager but that's not the biggest thing. They continued to invest in the squad and had a plan to break into the top 4 within 3 years. Our biggest problem is that we have a owner content with midtable finishes and turning a profit. The owners of L'pool are trying to maximise potential revenue.