Whats your feelings?

[redhorizon2]

I have more mixed emotions for the coming seasons than any other? Yes, we are being linked with players - but we are not being linked with players of the calibre that our rivals are being linked with. Carroll situation on the face of it does not look great and we still have no real pace.

On the flipside, this manager is talking a good game and has players excited.

 

[Mersey86]

I fell very positively about the manager. I did about Kenny last year, so no change there. Rodgers does impress though. I feel less expectation than I have for a long time, though I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
The Carroll thing depresses me though. We have an England striker, a young man who has struggled, but shown signs of proving his value (not the inflated one we paid perhaps), and I hate the thought of him being pushed out for some other team to profit from.

 

[hmmmmm1]

Its the same every season, we say we want 2/3 quality players and dont get that, whilst our rivals do.

 

[red_maradona]

midfield midfield midfield - we need massive improvement.

 

[OLD_Lewy]

i like that its importat for rodgers thaat his players work hard, if we get a good work ethic goin then we should do quite well, eve if we sign no-one else

 

[moron]

I feel very excited about next season, and as with every season I expect us to win PL, FA Cup, Carling Cup, and European Trophy - that is win everything. Of course we won't but as a Liverpool fan I expect.

The original poster "redhorizon2" - I have no doubt you have created this thread because like me and many others - you are both excited about how the team is going to perform under the new manager, and also sh*tting your pants in-case it all goes tits up, and we see arrivals go onto more glory.

The truth is - that a lot of people on this site are underwhelmed by the signings we are linked with and no doubt redhorizon2 - you are too and probably don't expect much from such players. However, I would ask many of you to take your minds back to Rafa in his first season, and also to GH - both those managers had to assemble a whole new set of players at some stage - I knew f*ck all about Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia but we won a CL with them, I also knew very little about Sami Hypia and others that GH signed but it turned out OK didn't it ? as for us not getting signings we have gone after - well I beg to differ under Rafa we signed pretty much most of the players he wanted, and I suspect GH signed most of the players he wanted. The truth is - its hard for any manager to make a precise judgement on our team based on our league position last year as on many occasions we took the top teams on quite well - what that shows is that we are more than able to compete with the top sides in this league - BUT for some reason we lack consistency. I have a feeling that Brendan can get the players we have playing football like Spain - and we will be in the top 3 next season provided we don't sustain long term injuries to key players.

As for making great signings - well there is no guarantee in football that these big names outside the PL will do well in this league - f*ck Kenny found out that even PL proven talent does not always do well. I actually don't believe there is that much to go for within an affordable bracket abroad or domestically at the moment, the quantity of those types of footballers that one could call world-class is just very low at the moment.

 

[irishred]

I am 100% positive for the new season, because I have yet to disagree with anything Brendan Rodgers has said, I trust what he does, he seems to have a plan, even the way he praises the players in interviews, they also seem to be enjoying training and he has integrated the reserve and youth players into his early pre-season training sessions giving them the motivation to show their worth, whilst at the same time it gives him a good look at them aswell.

All the top teams are going to have their queries and worries at the start of the season:
Man City - Can they cope with the pressure of retaining their title? Had City not got those two goals at the end of the QPR game they could possibly have got rid of Mancini as he would have been trophyless and were very poor in the Champions League, now he's been given a 5 year deal.
Man Utd - Last season was a disaster, going out of the Champions League group stages for the first time in God knows how many years and throwing away the title, losing to Wigan and drawing with Everton. They won't want to go through another season like that again.
Chelsea - How will Di Matteo fair knowing that the job is his permanently? Before it was like a trial for him, surviving game-to-game. Will the Chelsea fans demand a more attacking style of football? Also, Dider Drogba is going to be a huge miss for them no matter who they bring in.
Arsenal - How will they deal with losing another star man in successive years? You could argue that if van Persie wasn't in their side they would have struggled as much as us last season.
Tottenham - Will Villas-Boas be able to do any better than did at Chelsea? Going to be losing his star man soon, possesses arguably a weaker squad than he had at Chelsea but possibly a more cooperative one to his ideas.
Newcastle United - Will the demands of Europa League football be too much for them with such a thin squad?

 

[redhorizon2]

On paper the 5 teams you cited above the toon are stronger than us. Lets not forget they have pace too. I would be more at ease if I thought we would have width and speed. Now, it maybe in BR's plan to buy wingers but how many decent wingers can you get for less than £10m?

 

[irishred]

Newcastle have a pretty good first-team and were for once very lucky with regard to injuries but if they do receive a few then they are delving in the players of the quality of Ameobi, Marveaux and Obertan.

 

[Avmenon]

It's silly to state the obvious, but it all depends on how shrewdly we purchase players.

This Borini transfer is a very good example of the kind of player we should be be getting in as many positions as possible; fairly expensive, but very promising and at a transfer fee taking into account he hasnt really done anything massive yet.

Newcastle bought very shrewdly and we're left in a position where we're looking on enviously at teams who've assembled quality squads at less money than we've spent.

Still, I'm hopeful that this transfer is a statement of intent as to the kind of squad we intend to build.
Perhaps it might take a bit longer, but after year upon year of expensive transfer flops and mediocre journeymen on high wages, its worth a shot.

 

[Hyena]

I feel great.

We clearly have a worse team than Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal and we don't quite have the money to catch up as fast as we'd like to.

But for once, I just know we're heading in the right direction...

I also think a lot of the promise that we have in the squad may finally be realised...

 

[hmmmmm1]

Hoping fsg back BR like they did kenny

 

[Vlads Quiff]

I feel great.

We clearly have a worse team than Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal and we don't quite have the money to catch up as fast as we'd like to.

But for once, I just know we're heading in the right direction...

I also think a lot of the promise that we have in the squad may finally be realised...

Do we clearly have a worse team than those two? Take Modric VdV and EVO out if the mix, and they would have struggled almost as much as us last year. I think we had a squad that punched well below its weight, key injuries, Suarez's problems - that were nit just confined to the ban, some bizarre managerial decisions and a bucket load of shit luck.
This time last season I was trying to tempre everyone's expectations by saying fourth was a reasonable stretch target, so clearly a lot if people thought that both Spurs and Arse were not that good, and if they lose two of the players mentioned that will not help.
Anything higher than last season is progress, but I still don't think fourth is out of our reach.
.

regards

 

[Woland]

Yesterday at around 1pm I started getting excited for the new season.

Yesterday at 12pm I wouldn't have been arsed if someone told me the league had folded, but then something clicked and I got all 'oooh, I can't fucking wait.'

So that's how I feel.

 

[FoxForceFive]

I have more mixed emotions for the coming seasons than any other? Yes, we are being linked with players - but we are not being linked with players of the calibre that our rivals are being linked with. Carroll situation on the face of it does not look great and we still have no real pace.

On the flipside, this manager is talking a good game and has players excited.

Our rivals?

Spurs have been linked with eve player we have & actually stile one from under our nose, & their our main rival, so I don't get your point.

 

[Fabio]

Our rivals?

Spurs have been linked with eve player we have & actually stile one from under our nose, & their our main rival, so I don't get your point.

Tbf they've got vertonghen and Adebayor

Quite up market

 

[mark1975]

I don't think we have to have a team of World beaters, though clearly having a few players who are top quality is more than ideal. We have Suarez, who's up there with the best, Gerrard on his day still can be quality and we have a good back four and keeper. I think this Summer seems more about us becoming the sum of our parts a bit more, we've bought a so called finisher, if we can add an intelligent central midfielder and a couple of wide attacking players that compliment what we already have, then the team itself might start to take a bit more shape. The problem we've got in the Premiership atm is that we're competing with a couple of sides that don't necessarily have great managers, but the team has had that much money thrown at it, the big players have enough about them to be match winners that can overcome any tactical issues. I'd happily see us become a good unit again with a team you more or less know picks itself, promoting continuity and cohesion, something we've severely lacked for years.

 

[Rosco]

Our rivals?

Spurs have been linked with eve player we have & actually stile one from under our nose, & their our main rival, so I don't get your point.

United bought Kagawa and some kid I've never heard of.

Arsenal bought two strikers nobody really cared about.

Man City haven't signed anybody

Chelsea got Hazard.

I don't think we're missing out on much.

 

[Squiggles]

Remember how excited the site were through parts of last Summer? Splashing out a lot. Dishing out 'statements of intent' everywhere.

Well it was all a load of shite. We built the England B team and we finished eighth. It failed.

Now we've just hired an exciting, attack-minded coach who can work on a budget and has just made what is, what most people cautiously agree, is a decent signing. We're definitely doing things more modestly because the money isn't there, but we're being sensible. It may not be as fun or exhilarating, but it what we need to be doing to getting back to the top.

 

[Rosco]

It's too early for me to really have an opinion, but Borini is the type of signing that shows we're moving in the right direction for me.

If the goal is to be truly competitive in three years time, then every signing we make should be a player who can be part of that truly competitive team in three years time.

 

[Mystic]

Im not writing Spurs off, but they're going to have to try hard to keep the same strength of side they had last season yet alone strengthening it. They've kept Bale, good start, they look to be signing up Adebayor for a decent price and top wages, good again but they're having to use this years kitty to keep the squad up to the same strength. Keeping hold of VdV and Modric will be key for them, however I think both will go. Thor was a good signing for them but not at the expense of them two, im also not convinced that AVB can get the team playing as well as Harry did, not this season anyway. They have a challenge on there hands and if we click, we really have a good chance.

Arsenal im not sure about, I've never fancied their defence or midfield, signing Podolski and Giroud will be great for them, but at the expense of RVP? Im not so sure, they always find a way though Arsenal, they cannot be written off. Chelsea with there signings will be too much, 3rd place for them, 4th is for us, Arsenal and Spurs to fight for, my guy says Arsenal will have it though. For us to have a chance we need more signings like Borini and we need to sign them quickly to give our players the best chance of clicking and getting the Rodgers style from the start.

 

[FoxForceFive]

United bought Kagawa and some kid I've never heard of.

Arsenal bought two strikers nobody really cared about.

Man City haven't signed anybody

Chelsea got Hazard.

I don't think we're missing out on much.

I don't think utd city & chelsea are our rivals though. Arsenal perhaps. Spurs definitely. Jury's out on Newcastle but they may well be.

 

[peterhague]

I think we've got a reasonable shout of the top 4 as long as we buy fairly well. There's question marks over Spurs' and Chelsea's managers, and Arsenal aren't likely to do significantly better after again losing their best player.

I like Rodgers, and it's the first time I've truly felt confident in a manager since Benitez left. I will say, though, that I'm not all that happy about some of the transfer targets being mooted. I've never been a slavish supporter of having a DOF, but on the evidence so far I think I'd be happier with one than having Rodgers make the choices. They're disappointingly parochial so far, either well known PL players or ones he's worked with before. I'm not confident we'll be seeing any really inspired Newcastle-style signings any time soon.

 

[red_maradona]

if we don't get off to a good start then I feel we are in for a very long long season.

my concern is the lack of quality in midfield.

 

[Molbystwin]

Its the same every season, we say we want 2/3 quality players and dont get that, whilst our rivals do.

Maybe.... you cant say they didnt throw enough cash at it last time out its just Kenny and the frenchman ( whose name has gloriously left my mind already!) fucked it right up.

I do find it worrying that Carroll is being linked with a loan move, you would have thought we would have learnt our lesson during the Aquilani debacle.

I think losing Maxi is a big blow but unaviodable after last seasons treatment, but you cant blame anyone at the club for that, after 3 weeks of high summer without sun it must be tempting to go home....

I dont like reading that we will be looking to trim Bellamy off the wage bill either.

 

[gene hughes]

Hoping fsg back BR like they did kenny

Ha ha ha

 

[Boozer]

I think we've got a reasonable shout of the top 4 as long as we buy fairly well. There's question marks over Spurs' and Chelsea's managers, and Arsenal aren't likely to do significantly better after again losing their best player.

I like Rodgers, and it's the first time I've truly felt confident in a manager since Benitez left. I will say, though, that I'm not all that happy about some of the transfer targets being mooted. I've never been a slavish supporter of having a DOF, but on the evidence so far I think I'd be happier with one than having Rodgers make the choices. They're disappointingly parochial so far, either well known PL players or ones he's worked with before. I'm not confident we'll be seeing any really inspired Newcastle-style signings any time soon.

We should get some different ideas from all the new scouts we've taken on. There're the two coming from City and Cannigia in South America hasn't had a spending window yet.

 

[Rosco]

I think we've got a reasonable shout of the top 4 as long as we buy fairly well. There's question marks over Spurs' and Chelsea's managers, and Arsenal aren't likely to do significantly better after again losing their best player.

I like Rodgers, and it's the first time I've truly felt confident in a manager since Benitez left. I will say, though, that I'm not all that happy about some of the transfer targets being mooted. I've never been a slavish supporter of having a DOF, but on the evidence so far I think I'd be happier with one than having Rodgers make the choices. They're disappointingly parochial so far, either well known PL players or ones he's worked with before. I'm not confident we'll be seeing any really inspired Newcastle-style signings any time soon.

I think all the average managers do that.

So I'm not getting too excited yet.