Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has admitted he will have to reduce the size of his first-team squad before he can bring in any fresh faces this summer.
Bruce spent heavily during the last off-season to bring the likes of Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole, Fraizer Campbell and Michael Turner to the Stadium of Light.
But with the wage bill at the Wearside club in need of trimming, Bruce has admitted he is looking to offload some fringe members of his squad when the transfer window reopens in July.
"There's not much I'm certain about when it comes to the transfer market, but one thing I do know is that, by the end of it, there will be more players going out than coming in," he told the Sunderland Echo.
"It'll be nothing like last summer when we had stacks of players going out and stacks of players coming in.
"I can't ever envisage doing anything like that again in my time here at this club.
"We're in an area at the moment where we are going for quality rather than quantity, so you are looking at a handful of players, who won't come cheap, but will hopefully take us onto the next level.
"Part of the overall strategy, though, is to ensure that we don't carry surplus players who would have more chances elsewhere.
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"I don't want to go into detail, but there would be a significant saving in wages if we were able to move on a number of players who are free to find other clubs.
"The owner has been very generous with his funding but we can't expect him to keep putting his hand in his pocket. "Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Mick McCarthy has denied reports linking his club with a move to sign former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant.
The 27-year-old currently plays his football in Spain with Real Zaragoza, but is rumoured to be keen on a return to England after falling out of favour during the second half of last season.
However, McCarthy says that talks over a possible deal have not got underway as yet.
He told the Express & Star:"It's an interesting one, but I haven't been offered him or spoken to anyone about him.
"That doesn't mean to say I'm not interested in him."
Pennant was once the most highly-rated youngster in the English game, moving from Notts County to Arsenal for £2million shortly before his 16th birthday.
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However, has since failed to live up to his potential at the likes Birmingham City and Liverpool.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
I’ll admit it, I’m a bitter man. Like most who write on this site, or have a blog anywhere on the world wide web, I would love to write for a living. To be paid for putting words onto a page, for expressing an opinion. That’s not to say I think I deserve this role, or that I have an astonishing talent that is going to waste (though as it happens…). But feeling like this can make you very cynical. I see the drivel served up by very, very highly paid journalists and columnists (I’m looking at you Richard Littlejohn), and think, “I could do better than that”. And the fact is I could. My mum could. My best friend could. My work colleague who has never fully understood the role of apostrophes could.
But the fact is that those who do write and comment on our most popular sport are so poor, so knee-jerk, opinionated and biased, that it makes my blood boil, in a metaphorical sense.
There have been so many excellent blogs on the terrible standard of TV punditry at this year’s World Cup that I cannot add anything more to the debate. From Alan Shearer’s BAFTA winning expose of apartheid in South Africa to Alan Hansen chiding Lee Dixon for knowing who one of the Slovakia players was, it was an appalling rolling example of how viewers are treated as idiots with very low expectations.
But in print, we consumers fared little better. Having shaken off the nightmares from seeing Terry Venables dance, Chris Kamara and Ian Wright wearing eye shadow and Peter Crouch dancing in Pringle adverts, I turned to the newspapers for some sanity. And failed.
Of course, I knew I would. The summer started with the Triesman affair and a newspaper trying to undermine England’s World Cup campaign before it had even begun. It was ever thus –sex scandals, fake sheikhs, it’s all fair game. In the public interest, innit?
All journalists were up in arms at Triesman’s faux pas, desperately trying to funnel all attention to what he had said and divert away from how we had found out what he had said, because at the back of all their minds was this little thought going round and round saying “we’re all shits really aren’t we?”.
Still look on the bright side – with England not hosting it, they will all get a nice little jolly somewhere nice and warm. Good work at the Mail, though they were probably more concerned about a World Cup in England meaning a huge influx of all those nasty foreigners. We’d probably had to have cancelled Christmas or something so as not to offend them.
The Sun did what it does best – urging the nation to get behind the England team, before doing its level best to undermine, criticise and ridicule them, spending a week mocking Green, with a series of hilarious comments and captions.
Many of these people are nothing more than buffoons allowed to write down their thoughts and be paid for it. It’s so bad, I think I’d rather hear the opinions of the men in the Betfair front room – they look like a right barrel of laughs.
Take Shaun Custis for example. In the Sun he called for David Beckham to replace Fabio Capello as England coach.
Custis, made the case for the former skipper to take over, with arguments ranging from ‘He looked good in that suit’, to ‘he’s quite famous’ right through to ‘the players like him’. Custis is the chief football writer. Of the biggest selling newspaper in the UK. And he advocates making David Beckham the next England manager. And there in a nutshell is the quality of sports journalism in this country.
Custis writes: ‘He was sat on the England bench, jacket off, chin resting on his up-turned hand, brow furrowed, locked in concentration…As the camera panned in it was easy to forget that this was actually NOT the England manager…Beckham has been learning fast and though he has always said he wasn’t interested in management, looks to have got the taste for it at this World Cup.’
So looking the part whilst sat on a bench now seems the criteria for one of the leading jobs in world football. I’d best get some practice in.
Inevitably, Custis cites the example of Diego Maradona, who’s Argentina side are one of the favourites to lift the World Cup.
‘When the decision was made to appoint one of the world’s greatest ever players, Diego Maradona, as Argentina boss it was met with howls of derision back in his homeland and around the world…
‘But in the finals in South Africa, Argentina are playing with freedom, enjoying their football and Maradona has fostered a bond between himself and his players which appears unbreakable.’
And here Custis shows his utter ignorance of anything outside premiership football (if not all football). Maradona’s qualifying campaign, which I followed with the glee of a young boy late on Christmas Eve, was an utter fiasco. Maradona seemed to try everything he possibly could to derail the campaign, before the team limped over the line. And we all know what happened in the finals – utterly outplayed by the first decent side they came up against.
But back to Beckham…
‘His very presence commands instant respect. He knows what makes English footballers tick and what works for them.’
‘…on the surface he would seem a high-risk successor.’ I think the phrase I’m looking for is “no s**t, Sherlock.”
Then the Sun put forward Sam Allardyce as the next England manager. I’ll repeat that – the Sun put forward Sam Allardyce as the next England manager.
As sure as night follows day, there were calls that the next manager must be English. Harry Redknapp wasted no time making himself available, like the media-friendly whore that he is.
Tony Cascarino suggested that Alan Shearer should become the next manager. Yes, that’s correct; Tony Cascarino suggested that Alan Shearer should be the next manager. Stan Collymore argued that all premiership teams in future should have at least 5 attacking players in the starting lineup BY LAW.
Inevitably there were calls for a winter break to be introduced, as England’s poor lambs were tired. No one seemed able to explain why the non-English premiership players such as Tevez, Kuyt and De Jong seemed to be so full of energy.
Of course by now the recriminations had long begun. Hypocritical journalists went back on what they had said pre-tournament and educated the world on how it had gone wrong and how it could be solved.
Apart from deliberate handball on the line, there’s little worse than hypocritical journalists. Especially if they are dodgy cockney wide-boys, and thus media darlings.
Oh and look, here’s Terry Venables slaughtering Fabio Capello after the defeat to Germany.
‘What a shambles. And while, like the rest of the nation, I was stunned by yesterday’s defeat in Bloemfontein, I must admit I was not altogether surprised because, in my view, it had been coming for months. Or, to be more precise, since Wednesday March 3rd.
‘That was the night we played Egypt at Wembley in the final friendly before Fabio Capello named his provisional World Cup squad. It was also the night I first began to have serious concerns about the Italian’s tactics.
‘Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Gareth Barry were overrun in midfield. And as they chased shadows, our central defensive pairing of John Terry and Matthew Upson were left woefully exposed. That sounds familiar doesn’t it? The writing was on the wall and remained so throughout our unimpressive build-up to the finals.’
Interesting. Presumably Terry was being sarcastic when giving his predictions for the tournament on June 7.
On who would win it: ‘That’s easy, England. Brazil and Spain might be favourites but I tip England to win every time. If we go into big tournaments believing we’re not going to win then we won’t. The whole nation has to be positive.’
On Capello’s selection: ‘Picking 23 players from the talent we have at our disposal is always a pig of a job. But Fabio looks to have selected the strongest squad he could have.’
On England’s strengths: ‘Our back four. I hoped they would all stay fit, but even now Rio Ferdinand is injured we have more than adequate cover in Upson, King, Carragher and co. We also have a world-class striker in Rooney.’
You were saying, Terry?
There was no sitting on the fence for Paul Merson:
In his ‘Who’s On The Plane’ column for Sky Sports.com, May 30:
‘Emile Heskey – IN – He hasn’t done anything in the Premier League all season, but he’s never let England down. Defenders don’t like playing against people like Heskey and Crouch. I would take him.’
From his ‘Team talk’ column for Sky Sports.com, June 4:
‘I would have taken Darren Bent ahead of Emile Heskey. If you’re not playing for your club team you shouldn’t play for England. It’s been that way for 100 years, so why is it changing now?
Away from the world cup, every article regarding transfer gossip – every single one – would end with “Manchester City are known to be interested”. Teams heroically “fought off interest from Manchester City”, whilst an array of world stars snubbed us despite the fact we had never enquired about them in the first place. But enough moaning, if it helped them get a better contract, I’m glad we could be of some assistance. We are now the go-to club to get agents better deals for their players. City had killed football yet again. Burt what was more illuminating than anything, was that little old City were controlling the upper end of the transfer market, as other clubs waited to react to our trading.
Hey, for a while it looked like the World Cup would have to be suspended for two weeks so that every player could negotiate with them.
The worst offence was still to come though. Something so terrible, I struggle to write about it. Something so disrespectful, so uncaring, so brutal in the disdain shown by the participants. Yes, that’s right, after England’s exit, some of the players were seen not only chatting, and relaxing, but even, and it pains me to say this – laughing.
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A nation was shamed.
This is even worse than to be seen smiling when reminiscing at a funeral. The nation demands no England player is allowed to do anything remotely fun or even attempt a weak smile for at least 3 months. Hey, I don’t make the rules.
There was much spluttering over at The Sun, when they found out.
‘And with feet on tables, the group looked remarkably relaxed at their HQ…despite not even coming close to lifting the tournament’s glittering trophy.’
Relaxing! Imagine! The sheer cheek of it. Look at them SITTING DOWN in their fancy TRACKSUITS drinking their DRINKS! If you squint a bit and turn your head to one side, you might spot a couple of them LAUGHING and – this one is really disgusting – CHATTING.
A few days later, and the Sun had uncovered even more shocking, sickening behaviour.
‘England’s football flops jetted off on their hols yesterday – with a seething nation still wishing they were out in sunny South Africa.’
And look at this. Wayne Rooney has been SPENDING TIME WITH HIS CHILD! Surely the pleasure of seeing his gurgling offspring is one that should’ve been taken away from Wayne. Personally, I’d have banished him from child-caring duties for at least two years.
It gets worse .Frank Lampard was soon off to Sardinia with HIS GIRLFRIEND, where they both LAUGHED and SIPPED ROSE.
But most shocking of all Alex Curran, wife of Steven Gerrard…oh god, I feel sick…HAD HER HAIR DONE.
But as inevitable as a Pete Doherty court appearance, was the news that began to filter through – it was all Manchester City’s fault. In three pieces of 24-carat drivel, Brian Woolnough, Brian Reade and Des Kelly all associated the blame for England’s failures, and the bleak future they faced as being linked to moneybags City and their splashing the cash on fancy foreigners. The famed academy was given the last rites. And the true facts about why England have struggled for decades, why they struggled before foreigners invaded our shores, why they can’t pass to each other, the fact City employ many English players and are pursuing another, the fact our academy never provided much to the England team anyway, well all this was ignored for a cheap swipe. I spoke to Kelly, and other City fans spoke to Woolnough about their pieces. They denied they were just about City despite having our name all over them, having pictures of Garry Cook, and despite the fact they opened the pieces blaming just City. Woolnough admitted he chose City because they were “topical”, Kelly said only 7 of 32 transfers in Premier League has been English players, like this has any relevance to anything. Woolnough’s admission said everything about modern sports journalism – writing to get hits, a response, and a reaction. Forget the quality, feel the quantity. And there’s no one better to write about at the moment than City, and thus the world’s ills are laid at their feet.
And this is what we are presented with by way of sports coverage. Winston Smith had it easy – we get an endless stream of drivel, pumped straight into our brains. There is no escape, and soon you’re booing all English footballers, blaming Manchester City for killing football, blaming everything else on immigrants and setting up Facebook pages declaring what a legend Raoul Moat is, because you believe everything you read in the newspapers.
There is another option though. It’s tough, but the quality journalism is out there, and with a couple of exceptions (Samuel and Conn for example), it’s away from the newspapers and written by normal people like you. People who can analyse failures, can see where the problems lie, can see where the solutions may be, can see beyond rhetoric, the bias of journalists trying to keep in the good books of managers they want stories off, and the PR of the clubs themselves. Good luck. You’re going to need it.
Mark Schwarzer’s proposed move to Arsenal has proved that there is no age limit for top quality goalkeepers. At 37 he is not a signing for the future, but as someone who can come in and make an immediate impact on first team affairs this is a shrewd move. In his fifteen years in England he has made over 550 appearances in the Premier League and has made his name as one of the most consistent players in the league.
But of course he is not the first goalkeeper to play successfully at the highest level past 35. The likes of Friedel, Van Der Sar, Hahnemann, James and Jaaskelainen are just some of the goalkeepers aged 35 or over who played in last year’s Premiership and all appear to have a good few years left in them. It’s not just a case of new diets or training regimes that is the reason why goalkeepers are playing until around their 40s. Zoff, Shilton, Ogrizovic and Southall are just a few examples of players having extended careers in the past.
Obviously though, the nature of the goalkeeper is slightly different from any other. As on-field players get older and they lose that yard of pace or those last 10 minutes of fitness they are looking at slipping down the leagues in order to prolong their careers. These attributes are not so important for goalkeepers; all a goalkeeper really needs is agility and judgement. It has been proved that both things of these can be maintained at a high level well into your thirties, and far from declining, they seem to improve with age. It makes you think how good Joe Hart can be in 10 years, or how good Chris Kirkland could have been if he’d not been ravaged by injury.
So when Arsene Wenger felt like he needed a new goalkeeper he didn’t want to take any chances. An experienced goalkeeper will not only benefit Arsenal and their title push, but the move must also be irresistible for Schwarzer who has been playing most of his career in the obscurity of the Premier League mid-table. It is notable also that, should Schwarzer sign, it will be a signing out of trend with most of Wenger’s wheelings and dealings – young players with bags of promise being the usual arrivals seen at the Emirates. So the train of thought that goalkeepers improve with age is a valid one, especially bearing in mind the mistakes Fabianski made in crucial games last year.
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The relative tranquillity of this summer’s transfer market has disguised the fact that Premier League revenues are up. This rise in revenue is attributable to the value of overseas television rights which have doubled to exceed £1 billion over three years. The twenty Premier League clubs have asked its chief executive, Richard Scudamore not the reveal how much the new deal is worth. Another rise in income may seem positive news but this will have far-reaching implications for the future of television rights and the ownership and financial management of clubs. In the spirit of openness should fans be made aware of their club’s share of the pot? Knowledge of the figures would allow fans to better hold their respective clubs to account and scrutinise their decisions.
In the midst of a global economic downturn Premier League clubs are reluctant to have details of their wealth made public. The desire of top flight clubs not to reveal the details of this new agreement is also motivated by a wish not to give any rival clubs or agents an advantage in the transfer market. All valid reasons but fans may wish to know more about the financial health of their clubs. The distribution of overseas television money is more equitably distributed than in Spain and Italy where the elite sides negotiate their own deals. The appeal to make this information confidential may not be due to the discrepancies which occur between Premier League clubs but because of the financial mismanagement it would reveal.
The figures that Premier League clubs do not want fans to see have huge implications for the future of the league. Overseas fans are the main driving force behind these increased revenues. This has maintained the Premier League’s financial advantage over Serie A, the Bundesliga and La Liga. This goes some way to explain the cosmopolitan profile of Premier League owners. The Chinese financier Kenny Huang is vying to become the latest foreign Premier League owner, recognising the unlimited potential of overseas markets. What does this mean for the average fan who attends games and watches their club on television? The ability of the domestic fan to bolster their club’s profits has long been in decline.
In an effort to attract overseas fans we have already faced the rescheduling of league games and the widely criticised proposal of the 39th game. The prospect of each side playing an extra game abroad was received sceptically by managers but less so by club chairmen. The argument that overseas markets have altered the focus of Premier League clubs is hard to dismiss. Arsenal has recently signed a deal with MP & Silva, an international sports media company. Anticipating a move towards the internet becoming the dominant medium for football the club are intent on revamping its media output so it can eventually interact with fans across the globe, for a fee, via the touch of a button.
Such decisions may make business sense but for the humble, domestic fan are the investments of clubs misplaced. A paradigm shift in how clubs raise revenue and how we watch football may be occurring. These changes may mean greater revenues still for top flight clubs and yet financial mismanagement still afflicts the league. Manchester United and Liverpool fans protest about the scale of debt at their clubs and Portsmouth became the first Premier League side to enter administration this year. With so much money sloshing around the system questions need to be raised about clubs’ investment in youth and coaching, paying down debts and reducing the cost of attending matches. Greater freedom of information would allow fans to question their club’s actions and guard against financial short-termism.
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With the PL season nearly upon us, let’s see the WAGS that will be keeping the players on their toes. Click on image to VIEW gallery
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Like a bottle of Sir Alex Ferguson’s finest red, midfield veteran Paul Scholes seems to get better with age.
Described as ‘a master of his trade’ by his manager following Scholes’ man of the match display in United’s 3-0 opening victory against Newcastle last Monday, the ginger magician rolled back the years to deliver a midfield master class in touch, timing and technique at Old Trafford.
Little wonder his evergreen team-mate Ryan Giggs has lauded the United craftsmen as the best player he has ever worked with at Old Trafford, putting him ahead of talents such as Roy Keane, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo. Giggs enthused:
‘‘I have played with some great players during my time at United but I would have to put Paul Scholes down as the best.”
Yet it is the assessment of French legend Zinedine Zidane, considered by many as the outstanding player of his generation, which is perhaps the most telling evaluation of Scholes’ supreme talents. Zidane revealed he regrets never having played with Scholes during his career and branded him ‘in a class of his own’ despite his growing years.
“There is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own,” revealed Zidane.
“He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play. You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get.
“One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.”
Scholes, with nine league titles and two Champions League medals, is certainly one of the best-ever players to grace the Premier League. His pin-point passing and movement is unmatched, while his technical skill and ability to control a game elevates him alongside the best player’s of his generation. And the one man who certainly appreciates such talents, and qualified to make these judgements, is the outrageously gifted Zidane.
The season may be just two games old but the diminutive former England international shows no sign of slowing down just yet, despite his contract running out at the end of the season. Sir Alex may yet persuade Scholes to stay on for another season if he continues to deliver such exquisite performances in the heart of the United midfield this term. The 35-year-old was up to the same old tricks at Craven Cottage on Sunday, firing The Red Devils into the lead with a rasping 25-yard rasping shot which nestled into the corner of David Stockdale’s net, marking his 150th goal for the club.
Despite no longer possessing the pace he once had when he first broke into the United first-team an astonishing 17 seasons ago, his quick footballing brain keeps him one step ahead of his often beleaguered opponents. The midfield veteran was the division’s most accurate passer last term with a remarkable 89.58% of his passes reaching their intended target. Scholes also was the Premier League’s top passer over the opening round of Premier League matches with 104, streets ahead of nearest competitors Yaya Toure and Michael Essien.
United and Ferguson’s next task will be attempting to replace the seemingly timeless Scholes when he finally decides to call it a day and hang up his boots. Yet with Scholes continuing to deliver at the highest level, I wouldn’t bet on this being his last season at Old Trafford.
Do you agree with Zidane’s assessment? Leave your comments below
VIDEO: Pass-master Scholes
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Steve Bruce accused referee Stuart Attwell of gifting Liverpool a “joke” opening goal during Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Anfield.
Dirk Kuyt put the Reds ahead in the fifth minute after latching onto Fernando Torres’ pass to sweep the ball home.
However, it was a controversial lead as Torres had seized on Michael Turner’s free-kick to run unchallenged on goal.
Turner nonchalantly back-heeled the free-kick back towards Simon Mignolet in what he later described as a pass back for his goalkeeper to restart play.
But Attwell agreed with Torres and Kuyt’s assertion that Turner himself had restarted play.
“The first goal is a joke. The only person who knew it wasn’t intentionally taken was possibly the referee,” said Bruce.
“However I watched him and he went to his whistle three or four times, he even looked for the linesman.
“Everybody in the ground knew Turner was kicking it back to where the free-kick should have been taken from.
“But to respond the way we did I couldn’t be more pleased.”
Two goals from Darren Bent – the first from the penalty spot – had put the Black Cats ahead at Anfield only for Steven Gerrard to rescue a point for the home side.
Attwell has found himself back in the spotlight again but a post-match statement from Professional Game Match Officials backed their controversial referee.
“According to the Laws of the Game, having stopped the game for any infringement the referee is required to ‘indicate the restart of the match’,” explained the statement.
“In practice, in the majority of cases, referees indicate for the re-start by gesturing to players to take the kick. These gestures can be minimal.
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“For the more important ‘ceremonial’ free-kicks, which also involve control of the defensive wall, referees can indicate by using the whistle. However, there is no requirement by law to use the whistle to make the indication.
“The ball is then in play when it is kicked and moves. So, in this case, the ball was in play as soon as it is kicked by a Sunderland player.
“Also, the laws state that the free-kick must be taken from the place where the infringement occurred. Again, in this case, the referee correctly determined that the free-kick was played from the right place.”
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Ahmed Elmohamady has given Steve Bruce a welcome boost by issuing his desire to move to Sunderland on a permanent basis.
The Egyptian winger, currently on loan from ENPPI, has been a revelation at the Stadium of Light this season, and his performances have seen both Manchester United and Arsenal reportedly express an interest in the 23-year-old.
Ahmed Elmohamady is unconcerned about the speculation and insists that Sunderland is the only place he wants to be:
“I like the vibe here,”
“It’s a nice place and people are so friendly. Everyone has been so helpful, especially here at the club. I feel as if I’m back home in Egypt.”
“I want to keep on playing in the Premier League, not for a year or two only. I want to do well for myself and my country.
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“The gaffer is a very good manager, and he’s so respectful. He likes commitment. He trusts his players and we should repay his trust.” (Daily Mail)
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has made no secret of his admiration of Liverpool’s star striker Fernando Torres. City flirted with the opportunity of making a move for Torres in the summer transfer window but were thwarted when Torres pledged his immediate future to Liverpool just before the season started.
However, the Spaniard has struggled for form this season scoring just once while his team languish in the relegation zone with just 6 points to show from seven matches. With Torres’ struggles well-documented, rumours have been circulating that Manchester City are looking to launch a fresh big-money bid for the striker’s services in the January transfer window. But should Liverpool cash in on arguably their most prized asset?
Much has been made about Fernando Torres’ body language in recent weeks and my colleague Mark Malloy has written an excellent piece analysing what Torres’ body language says about his commitment to the club. He argues that Torres’ body language has been misconstrued by the media and that rather than expressing negativity, he is displaying passion by showing his frustrated emotion on the pitch.
Torres’ seemingly negative body language has been given as a sign of his discontent at Liverpool and desire to leave the club. More worryingly for Liverpool that Torres’ body language is the players that Roy Hodgson has brought into the club.
Torres committed his future to Liverpool after the board promised him that the club would bring in high calibre players to strengthen the squad but the signings that Roy Hodgson has made for Liverpool so far have been overwhelmingly underwhelming.
He has shown some ambition in bringing in Joe Cole from Chelsea and Raul Meireles from Porto but apart from that, his signings have failed to impress. He bought Paul Konchesky from former club Fulham and Christian Poulsen from Juventus and both have been uninspiring in Liverpool’s campaign to date.
As a result of Liverpool’s failure to really strengthen the squad, there is a good danger that if their current form continues, Torres could become disillusioned with life at Anfield and decide that the club’s ambition is not the same as his. If this does turn out to be the case, Liverpool will have no choice but to sell him to the highest bidder.
But selling your best players will only force Liverpool to take a step backwards. The sale of Torres would send a disastrous message to the fans about the club’s ambition if they sold their star striker to a league rival.
With Liverpool’s lowly league position and question marks over Hodgson’s ability to attract the very best talent to Anfield, they could have problems attracting a player of Torres’ standard who could replace the Spaniard should the club decide to sell him.
Torres has always given his all for Liverpool football club and despite all of the rumours about his future, the player himself has not said that he wishes to leave the club so it seems that a move for Torres in the transfer window could be a case of wishful thinking on the part of our nation’s media.
In any case, the future of Torres is hugely dependent on the outcome of Liverpool’s impending takeover by NESV and John W. Henry. Current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are opposed to NESV’s bid as they look to try and weasel a profit out of the sale of the Merseyside club. Hicks and Gillett have appealed to the High Court to decide whether the deal that chairman Martin Broughton made last week is legal. The case is set to be heard today and the outcome of which will be pivotal in the future of Liverpool.
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If the takeover does get the green light, it means that the financial future of Liverpool will be secured and from there, things would certainly be looking a lot brighter at Anfield.
What do you think? Should Liverpool hold on to Torres or look to cash in?
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has admitted he has no issues with the recent comments made by number one goalkeeper Jose Reina.
The Spain international suggested he would remain at the club until the end of the season at least, leaving journalists believing his lack of future planning could signal the end of his Anfield career.
But Hodgson insists he is unconcerned with his remarks.
"That is fair enough, what's wrong with that?" he said.
"There is always spin put on these things, but as far as I am concerned we are very happy to have Pepe Reina and I hope he will stay a lot longer than that.
"If at the end of the season he doesn't want to play for Liverpool anymore then we'd have to deal with that situation when we come to it.
"But I don't understand why, seven or eight months from the date, I'm being asked to give my opinion on it.
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"He is an excellent goalkeeper and I hope he plays for Liverpool for years and years to come.
"If he doesn't want to play for years and years to come we'll deal with the situation when it occurs."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email