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Rafa alerted to Taylor new contract rejection By Scott Wilson LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has been placed on red alert after Newcastle centre-half Steven Taylor turned down the offer of a new five-year contract at St James' Park. Taylor, who is the most successful player to have emerged from Newcastle's Academy in the best part of a decade, was in Montenegro last night captaining England Under-21s. But, in his absence, his father and representative, Alf, confirmed the defender had rejected an offer that was described as "disappointing". The news has been greeted with interest at Anfield, where Benitez has long coveted arguably the most promising young centre-half in the English game. And while the Liverpool manager opted not to make a formal offer for Taylor's services during the summer transfer window, sources on Merseyside suggest he will attempt to sign the North-Easterner if the current impasse is not resolved by January 1. With Sami Hyypia approaching retirement, Benitez is understood to regard Taylor as an ideal back-up to his preferred defensive partnership of Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger. Taylor's current Magpies contract runs to 2009 but, after making 44 senior starts last season, the 21-year-old is looking to secure an improved deal. James Milner and Charles N'Zogbia have both re-negotiated pre-existing deals recently, and Taylor had been hoping to follow suit. But while he insists he has no intention of leaving Newcastle, he is clearly frustrated at the club's unwillingness to meet his demands. "I only hope they are not trying to force Steven out," said his father, Alf. "He loves Newcastle United and it is the only club he wants to play for, but he is most disappointed at what they are offering." Taylor is currently one of the lowest-paid first-team players on Newcastle's books. While summer signing Abdoulaye Faye is understood to be earning around £30,000-a-week after completing a summer move from Bolton, Taylor is believed to be commanding less than a third of that figure despite earning a call-up to Steve McClaren's senior England squad last month. "Fans seeing the likes of Albert Luque and Jean-Alain Boumsong coming into the club with massive wages must think Steven is on big bucks, but that is not the case," added Taylor senior. "He is not playing for Newcastle for the money, but because he loves football and the club. "But having said that, it is a short career and the financial aspect is still important. "Fortunately, while he is disappointed, Steven has never - nor ever will - let it affect his performance on the field. "He is a local lad who only wants to play for his local team. "But perhaps that is why his contract offer is not in the same category as those players who are coming in from all over the place. "Yet I do not see this being a problem at Liverpool with Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher." Taylor was not the only Newcastle player on Under-21 duty last night, as Charles N'Zogbia was making his bow for France's junior side against Wales in Grenoble. The versatile left-footer has been rewarded with a lucrative deal after his impressive start to the new season and, while France are hardly short of talent on the international stage, he is already eyeing a promotion to Raymond Domenech's senior squad.

Can I just add that it is awesome to finally have a real manager in charge! If Roeder was still here we would have given Taylor a £100,000 a week deal and got rid of Zoggy and maybe even Milner! Even if Sam does see somethign in him, I think this is a brillaint mvoe as it makes Taylor really think about how good he really is and how good he really wants to be. A lot of love being thrown his way at the moment with the under 21 lovefest from the media and the full England cap. A little knockback won't be a bad thing at all. Taylor definitely needs to show more desire and drive for me. He needs to dominate more and be more commanding. Push a few peple around out there. It's what every great defender does. I just don't see it in him ...

30,00 a week? 40,000 a week? Isn't this the type of money Berbatov is on at Spurs? What are people takling about on here? The most I would give Taylor is £15,000 a week. He has achieved nothing in the game. Always been more of a showman who plays to the crowd, I just have never been able to take him seriously in a way. Is he really a no nonsense hard nosed defender? Not in my opinion. People constantly compare him to Terry, but he doesn't have the aggression and fight in him at all. Just has a similar build that's it ... Let me tell you something Onuoha and Richards at Man City are real no nonsense defenders who are both far better than Taylor at this point in my opinion. It was Onuoha I constantly saw doing everything in the under 21s but due to Taylors gallant play on one foot Oscar performance he got all the plaudits. Onuoha's quiet personality meant he wasn't even mentioned.

I know a lot of people have said that too much is being read into these quotes and that Shay doesn't deserve any criticism; however, being the senior pro that he is, should he not know that the media live off these kinds of quotes and twist them to their utmost. Why would Given voluntarily talk to the media about the fact that he wants to speak to the manager regarding his place in the team? It's quite dissapointing, and it does come accross as though he is throwing the toys out of the pram. He is clearly not very pleased which is fair enough, but to throw it out there instead of keeping it private is really poor.

Spoken like a true captain.

Please follow the following instructions: Open eyes. When you realise it is dark try to turn head. After finding it difficult, put your hands upon your neck and try to feel your head. When you find something is stopping your hands from travelling further up your neck to your head, feel what is blocking your way. When you realise it is soft and skin like, again place hands around neck and pull your head out of your arse! Ha ha ha ha ... nice one. Just having some fun with the story. However, I wouldn't write it off completely. I'm sure Given would have liked to lpay against Wigan last weekend.

There are direct quotes from Given to be fair. If Given is demanding to play then that is shocking. Especially considering how long Harper has waited for his chance and has played backup to Shay without complaint.

Along the lines of what the Crumpy one said, Shay isn't very good with corners/set pieces as he isn't very good at coming off the line to punch the ball away when it is in and around him. We all know Sam hates nothing more than being bad at defending and executing set pieces. Not saying there is anything in this but Crumpy mentioned something along the lines of Sam prefering a bigger keeper ages ago, even before Sam was hired I believe! Doesn't Jussi's contract run out at the end of the season too? Hmmmm ...

Geremi will only get better. I'm sure he is re-adjusting to not only being a first team player again, but also being back in the holding midfield position (where he began his career at Real Madrid). We all saw how much Butt initially struggled when he moved over here. I have no doubt Geremi will get better and better, and I already happen to think he has been solid already anyway.

Not surprised to hear all this really. Like I said he is a lot like Gilberto, a very disciplined holding midfielder who stays on his feet and wins the ball by being in the right position at the right time. Not as noticeable as the occassional crunching tackle by Butt, but far more effective. Geremi plays the position the right way if you ask me. Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira, Gattuso? None of them play/played the position the right way do they? Are these guys holding midfielders like Gilberto and Makelele though? I'm not so sure. Keane and Viera were more box to box players who broke up play all over the pitch, than holding midfielders who protected the back four. Wasn't Viera partnered with Gilberto afterall? To be fair, those three players I listed are as good as it gets as DM's and are a little more all-action than someone like Gilberto. But I'd consider them DM's definitely as they do their best work when the opposition has the ball. It's beside the point anyway, as Geremi is nowhere near as good defensively from what I've seen of him as Makelele or Gilberto. Just because he doesn't throw himself into tackles doesn't somehow make him a cleverer player than Butt or anything, and Bolton's goal in our first game of the season is a good indication that his defensive mind isn't all that great, needlessly commiting himself to a ball that wasn't really there to be won. Butt has over committed himself on a number of times too, so I think you are bieng a bit unfair to Geremi for that one mistake. Also, the stats apprently show he has won more balls than Butt and has a far higher pass percentage according to the Telegraph thingy.

Not surprised to hear all this really. Like I said he is a lot like Gilberto, a very disciplined holding midfielder who stays on his feet and wins the ball by being in the right position at the right time. Not as noticeable as the occassional crunching tackle by Butt, but far more effective. Geremi plays the position the right way if you ask me. Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira, Gattuso? None of them play/played the position the right way do they? Are these guys holding midfielders like Gilberto and Makelele though? I'm not so sure. Keane and Viera were more box to box players who broke up play all over the pitch, than holding midfielders who protected the back four. Wasn't Viera partnered with Gilberto afterall?

Not surprised to hear all this really. Like I said he is a lot like Gilberto, a very disciplined holding midfielder who stays on his feet and wins the ball by being in the right position at the right time. Not as noticeable as the occassional crunching tackle by Butt, but far more effective. Geremi plays the position the right way if you ask me.

Wow ... Butt has given the ball away a hell of a lot this season, and is a bit too reckless in his tackling for me. Geremi does a great job of getting the ball from the back four and kickstarting our forward play. He also takes up good positions defensively, but isn't as noticeable because he doesn't go flying into tackles like Butt. Geremi plays like Gilberto at Arsenal. I prefer my defensive midfielders not to go flying into the tackle like Butt and Parker, which isn't disciplined and can often lead to gaps in midfield when a tackle is missed.

So which three would be in the midfield & upfront then? I find it hard leaving out Butt/Faye or Geremi in a midfield four let alone having a midfield three. We seem to play our better football in a 4.4.2 formation in anyways. What about when Duff comes back too? I think it would be Geremi, Smith and Barton in the midfield three. As for the front three only God knows. That is going to be complicated because we don't know how Sam would use Owen in this formation. I would love to see Owen, Viduka and Martins upfront but not sure if it would work. If it did though we would be so exciting to watch. Hope Sam figures out a way to make it happen.

I think Sam has gone with 2 DMs because we have had Carr and Zoggy at right back and left back. Zoggy is inexperienced in this position and carr is just crap. When our back four settles into Beye Cacapa Roz and Enrique I imagine two of the midfield three will be given more license to get forward. These two players willprobably be Smith and Barton. By the way, when Martins came on in the second half, over the weekend, did we switch to a 4-3-3 with Martins, Owen and Shola upfront?

They've got good defenders tbh, Jol's just useless at organising the team to defend a lead.. King and Chimbonda are good but the rest aint that good, Dawson is utter s***. Alot has been said about Bale but defensively he is very average, Going forward he is very good and in time i can see him becoming a regular LW player. Their best signing this summer. Saw a lot of Gareth Bale at Southampton and he is really quality. However, against the tougher and more acomplished teams in the premiership, I'm not sure if he will perform as well. He will certainly get there, but at the moment against the likes of the top four, or Everton, Villa, Blackburn etc he'll have a very tough time. ;D What do you base this rubbish on? The fact that he is 17, and he is not going to be going up against Northern Ireland defenders who came in from the championship and league one every week. I seem to remember him being one of our better performers against a certain premiership winning team the week before tbh. Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I am talking about when he is eventually moved back to left-back as Jol says he doesn't see him being used as a defender did he not? From what I recall he played as a left-wing against Man U. I think if he is kept there for now he will be fine. At left back though, I think he will struggle against better teams.

They've got good defenders tbh, Jol's just useless at organising the team to defend a lead.. King and Chimbonda are good but the rest aint that good, Dawson is utter s***. Alot has been said about Bale but defensively he is very average, Going forward he is very good and in time i can see him becoming a regular LW player. Their best signing this summer. Saw a lot of Gareth Bale at Southampton and he is really quality. However, against the tougher and more acomplished teams in the premiership, I'm not sure if he will perform as well. He will certainly get there, but at the moment against the likes of the top four, or Everton, Villa, Blackburn etc he'll have a very tough time. ;D What do you base this rubbish on? The fact that he is 17, and he is not going to be going up against Northern Ireland defenders who came in from the championship and league one every week.

They've got Ledley and Dawson to return and Kaboul looks alright. However in midfield, Zokora is a nothing midfielder. Doesn't defend well and doesn't attack either. He's just kind of there ... Huddlestone is talented and passes the ball well, but then he doesn't quite work in a 4-4-2 as he doesn't quite get around the pitch well enough, and so it leaves them exposed. The left wing is just weird too, they constantly rotate random right wingers into the psoition and it just never quite works. On the whole they also seem to lack character and toughness. They have no real leadership and are a pretty quiet team. When under the kosh they will always crumble. Could you imagine them fighting Chelsea the way villa did today? Powder Puff Pansies tbh. You mean like last season at the Lane? I can't really recall that game tbh. Was it a battling victory or were you fortunate on the day? I'll go along with you for now because I can't remember. However I'm not convinced and you just aren't a strong team consistently enough. Look what happened when we played you at home last season. Crumble city. How about when you played Chelsea in the cup!!! Up 2 goals, crumblitis all over again. Against Fulham this weekend and numerous other times you guys just seem to fold when you face tougher teams. However teams like Villa, Everton and Blackburn are always going to be tough and hell to go up against. The difference this season is they have all added quality options that make them more dangerous going forward. Young is coming into his own at Villa and Reo-Coker allows them to get forward more as he offers better protection in the middle. Yakubu will be a terror at Everto. Santa Cruz is already fitting in excellently at Blackburn. You guys on the other hand have ruined a brilliant attack (Berbatov and Keane are telepathic!) by confusing things with the addition of Bent and keeping Defoe, and you are no stronger in midfield.

They've got good defenders tbh, Jol's just useless at organising the team to defend a lead.. King and Chimbonda are good but the rest aint that good, Dawson is utter s***. Alot has been said about Bale but defensively he is very average, Going forward he is very good and in time i can see him becoming a regular LW player. Their best signing this summer. Saw a lot of Gareth Bale at Southampton and he is really quality. However, against the tougher and more acomplished teams in the premiership, I'm not sure if he will perform as well. He will certainly get there, but at the moment against the likes of the top four, or Everton, Villa, Blackburn etc he'll have a very tough time.

They've got Ledley and Dawson to return and Kaboul looks alright. However in midfield, Zokora is a nothing midfielder. Doesn't defend well and doesn't attack either. He's just kind of there ... Huddlestone is talented and passes the ball well, but then he doesn't quite work in a 4-4-2 as he doesn't quite get around the pitch well enough, and so it leaves them exposed. The left wing is just weird too, they constantly rotate random right wingers into the psoition and it just never quite works. On the whole they also seem to lack character and toughness. They have no real leadership and are a pretty quiet team. When under the kosh they will always crumble. Could you imagine them fighting Chelsea the way villa did today? Powder Puff Pansies tbh.

How are your knees, in other news? Eh?

To think Tottenham could have had Reo-Cokers grit and toughness in midfield and Ashley Young on the left for the money they blew on Darren Bent! Could you imagine how much better they would be. From what I have seen so far this season there is no way Tottenham are in the top eight or even nine. They are way too soft. After the top four, in my opinion Blackburn are better, Villa are better, Everton are better and we are better than they are. Man City could be added to the list also.

Blackburn are lethal. When you have Santa Cruz and McCarthy lurking around in the box, with Pedersen and Bentley whipping balls in it's going to be hard work for any team.

I think Gelson Fernandes will eventually take over from Hamann. Also, Ireland will most likely be displaced by Geovanni on a more regular basis.

Arteta plays on the left & right.