Rodgers Signings

[doctor_mac]

I think Iqbal had bugger all to do with Remy's medical failure, though I could be wrong. Teams of top cardiologists had examined him for other clubs and gave him the OK, so if we left it to a chap whose medicals largely appear to consist of the old hammer and knee test and a bit of a listen with a stethoscope, then we deserve all we get. I suspect we had our heads turned when we were told that Mario was available for 16m rather the 25m he was originally touted for, and then excused ourselves from the Remy deal on medical grounds.

 

[mark1975]

On the subject of Markovic - he's got a lot of potential and it's been really encouraging to see the upturn in his performances of late but does anyone actually think he was worth 20M?

I understand from all the chat in the summer that he looked very good at Benfica but on the evidence of his Liverpool career thus far he looks very much a work in progress with a long way to go. Every time I watch him play I think of him as a youth player just getting to grips with things, which if you take away the transfer fee is exactly what he is, but it's hard to do that.

Meanwhile Greizmann has got 10 goals for A.Madrid at roughly the same price...

Disclaimer: I'm not saying Markovic is shit, he might end up twice as good as the likes of Greizmann in a few years time, who knows, but just wondering what people think about the price vs what we got.

I think you're right tbh, the prices for Markovic and Moreno seemed to be grabbed out of thin air. It's kind of galling that we overpaid for these lads, interms of a lack of competition for their signatures, yet we balked at other players. I'm not saying players at the top end of the market, because there's clearly a structure in place for wages, but still.

 

[Lippy]

Anyone thinks Dr Iqbal was let go because of the Remy debacle ?

No because of his handling of Sturridges rehab program.

 

[Wiberg]

I think Iqbal had bugger all to do with Remy's medical failure, though I could be wrong. Teams of top cardiologists had examined him for other clubs and gave him the OK, so if we left it to a chap whose medicals largely appear to consist of the old hammer and knee test and a bit of a listen with a stethoscope, then we deserve all we get. I suspect we had our heads turned when we were told that Mario was available for 16m rather the 25m he was originally touted for, and then excused ourselves from the Remy deal on medical grounds.

I heard they found a trace of cola...

 

[doctor_mac]

I heard they found a trace of cola...

Typical scouse rumour there.

 

[Judge Jules]

Anyone thinks Dr Iqbal was let go because of the Remy debacle ?

Not really TBH. It isn't as if Remy's pulled up any trees at Chelsea, and besides there are always going to be differences of opinion between medics. If there was more to this than the reason which was announced (i.e.the fact that Dr.Iqbal's family have remained in London all along), I suspect it's more likely to be the view apparently expressed by FSG's medical team in Boston that the treatment of Sturridge's injury has been wrong up till now.

 

[millskid]

I just looked at all of his signings since the start of his management and only two are a proven hit SO FAR, strurridge and Coutinhio.

Lallana could make the grade as a hit.

I would post the list but my stupid phone will not let me. Trust me there have been a lot of bad players, if someone could post the list as well as the money spent on each player. It would be helpful, thanks.

 

[rurikbird]

I didn't say that. And I didn't mean that. Just an observation. I like Lallana too, but we overpaid. I like Markovic, kind of: but we overpaid. Lovren, God knows how he'll turn out, but I'll tell you this: we overpaid.

Yes, and Barca massively overpaid for what they are currently getting from Suarez

 

[doctor_mac]

Yes, and Barca massively overpaid for what they are currently getting from Suarez

That is hardily our problem. At least everyone in the world has seen he is a player worthy of that kind of fee. We've just overpaid.

 

[rurikbird]

That is hardily our problem. At least everyone in the world has seen he is a player worthy of that kind of fee. We've just overpaid.

I think 20M for Lovren was viewed as sensible by almost everyone at the time and 20M for Markovic too. Only Lallana's fee generated arguments over whether it was justified.

 

[Whirly]

If I recall, Benfica barely came out ahead selling Markovic. Between a shared ownership, sell on clause, and wages they ended up with under 5M I think.

 

[doctor_mac]

I think 20M for Lovren was viewed as sensible by almost everyone at the time and 20M for Markovic too. Only Lallana's fee generated arguments over whether it was justified.

I disagree. We we paid top dollar in each case. 20m for a defender is an historically large fee for us, and must be among the top 10 fees paid for a defender ever.

 

[Whirly]

I think 20M was market value for Markovic, but 20M for Lovren was top dollar.

 

[Whirly]

Dividing them up, I would say...

Committee: Sturridge, Sahin(L), Assaidi, Yesil, Sakho, Aspas, Ilori, Luis Alberto, Balotelli, Can, Manquillo
Rodgers: Allen, Borini, Lovren, Lallana, Lambert
Consensus: Coutinho, Mignolet, Moses(L), Cissokho(L), Kolo, Markovic, Moreno, Origi,

 

[doctor_mac]

I think 20M was market value for Markovic, but 20M for Lovren was top dollar.

As someone said elsewhere, Griezmann went for something similar to Markovic despite being much more proven. Markovic may prove to be value, but I think that 20m was a qware whack for him.

 

[Whirly]

As someone said elsewhere, Griezmann went for something similar to Markovic despite being much more proven. Markovic may prove to be value, but I think that 20m was a qware whack for him.

Markovic is a riskier buy than Griezmann, but I think he has the potential to be a bit better as well. Iturbe is another one who you could put in that bracket of player.

I mean Di Maria cost Real close to 30M going back several years. Lucas Moura cost PSG 35M. Bernard to Shakhtar was 22M, Lamela 26M to Spurs.

I think 20M is around the going price for young wingers with enormous potential.

 

[doctor_mac]

Markovic is a riskier buy than Griezmann, but I think he has the potential to be a bit better as well. Iturbe is another one who you could put in that bracket of player.

I mean Di Maria cost Real close to 30M going back several years. Lucas Moura cost PSG 35M. Bernard to Shakhtar was 22M, Lamela 26M to Spurs.

I think 20M is around the going price for young wingers with enormous potential.

All of those players had surely done more to justify the hype? Moura was already breaking into the Brasil side, Di Maria was making a big splash and was being touted to the biggest teams, Lamela was an exciting mainstay in a good Roma side for several seasons despite his age. Markovic had played 20 odd games for Benfica.

In other words, all of those players were closer to sure things than Markovic.

 

[Mersey86]

Dividing them up, I would say...

Committee: Sturridge, Şahin(L), Assaidi, Yesil, Sakho, Aspas, Ilori, Luis Alberto, Balotelli, Can, Manquillo
Rodgers: Allen, Borini, Lovren, Lallana, Lambert
Consensus: Coutinho, Mignolet, Moses(L), Cissokho(L), Kolo, Markovic, Moreno, Origi,

Seeing that list, there is no single transfer that makes me sick to my stomach as to the fee paid versus potential/value. Nothing to remotely get near a Carroll or Aquilani.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Aspas
Alberto
Mignolet
Lovren
Assaidi
Balotelli
Allan
Borini

I'm sure there's a load of no marks I've forgotten

 

[beejay]

It's not just the players we bought, it's their positions and what the team needed.

You could make a case for all the summer recruits being good individually but the team has suffered because we did not properly identify our weaknesses or plugged the gaps after losing Suarez.

I keep saying it, but our problem is not the transfer committee or the manager, it is FSG's wage policy that dictates how competitive we will be for the top players and while they stick with this, we are relying on punching above our weight - which we did last year but are struggling to maintain now.

Losing Gerrard in the summer is a big test for the club and how we react will in my opinion, determine the direction of LFC for the next 5-10 years because we have 2 stands to build and a lot of money to pay back so we can't be languishing mid-table.

 

[Oncy]

Dividing them up, I would say...

Committee: Sturridge, Şahin(L), Assaidi, Yesil, Sakho, Aspas, Ilori, Luis Alberto, Balotelli, Can, Manquillo
Rodgers: Allen, Borini, Lovren, Lallana, Lambert
Consensus: Coutinho, Mignolet, Moses(L), Cissokho(L), Kolo, Markovic, Moreno, Origi,

Hahahahaha.
You fucking wab.

 

[Piedro]

I disagree. We we paid top dollar in each case. 20m for a defender is an historically large fee for us, and must be among the top 10 fees paid for a defender ever.

18 million for Sakho and 18.5 million for Johnson would say otherwise...

 

[MaBigTip]

It's not just the players we bought, it's their positions and what the team needed.

You could make a case for all the summer recruits being good individually but the team has suffered because we did not properly identify our weaknesses or plugged the gaps after losing Suarez.

I keep saying it, but our problem is not the transfer committee or the manager, it is FSG's wage policy that dictates how competitive we will be for the top players and while they stick with this, we are relying on punching above our weight - which we did last year but are struggling to maintain now.

Losing Gerrard in the summer is a big test for the club and how we react will in my opinion, determine the direction of LFC for the next 5-10 years because we have 2 stands to build and a lot of money to pay back so we can't be languishing mid-table.

Hah, I hate to say this to anyone on this site....but you should read that Tompkins article. We don't have the turnover to be able to spend on wages the way the 4 richest teams in the league do within the guidelines of Financial Fair Play. If we continue to grow our commercial sponsorships, increase our stadium revenue and win enough to claim some good bounties we may be able to crack the upper echelon in 5-10 years. Maybe.

 

[doctor_mac]

18 million for Sakho and 18.5 million for Johnson would say otherwise...

We paid 15m for Sakho which was an eye-watering amount and 17.5m for GJ. In both cases the sum of 20m is more, and thus the most we've ever paid for a defender. So I'm not sure what you're saying Pete.

 

[FerrisBueller]

Have you seen lovrens kinder egg collection. What have we bought!