Liverpool seem to have decided on a new transfer policy this summer which makes the same impact as Real Madrid’s lovelorn chase for Ronaldo. Liverpool seem to be using their local paper, The Echo, to release transfer target information into the public domain to unsettle players at other clubs. Gareth Barry became the first and now it seems that Liverpool are targeting Tottenham’s Robbie Keane in the same way. Whilst I know this kind of thing has gone on for years, Manchester United have been accused 19 times in the last 10 years of tapping up players, Liverpool seem determined to lose any face they have in British football by simply announcing which players they covet and seek to recruit them in this way.
What makes this situation worse is that Liverpool seem to be a little hard up and this new policy seems designed to get their targets to request to leave rather than match clubs valuations of players they desire. Stories began to be circulated yesterday that Keane had requested a transfer, which Tottenham and the players agent quickly denied.
Gareth Barry meanwhile has been fined and told to stay away from Villa Park after criticising Martin O’Neill and Aston Villa in an unauthorised interview.Barry is desperate to join Liverpool but I’d understood it more two years ago, Villa are in the best shape they’ve been for ages. If anything, Villa have more chance of winning the Premiership than Liverpool do at this current time, financially they’re far more robust and have a chairman that cannot put a foot wrong for me coupled with an exciting squad that has bags of potential.
The Barry saga hasn’t done the player’s reputation any favours though and I think it’s a shame that a lad who has spent his entire career at a club and rose to club captain at an early age should treat the fans who adore him like this. I think it’s a real shame, Villa have certainly made him feel special and given him everything he wanted but it’s still not enough.
Barry was quoted as saying“There’s no going back, it’s time for me to move on, I’m desperate to play Champions League football and that’s why I have to leave Villa. Villa kept saying they wanted me to stay but I have not heard from the manager for weeks. It’s seven weeks now since the season finished but while the gaffer’s found time to be a pundit at Euro 2008, he hasn’t found the time to speak to me. Have Villa offered me anything to try to persuade me my future is at Villa Park, not Anfield? Not a thing.”
Do we believe that? Can you see Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill being like that and ignoring this stituation. No-one believes that at all. Why can’t Barry be honest with the Villa fans who used to idolise him? Why not simply say “I want to play with my best mate Stevie G, earn more money and go out with a clothes horse”? because everyone knows Gerrard will have played a major role in negotiations to get Barry to jump ship, it’s a fact that they are best mates and have been for nearly 10 years. Honestly, do we think they’ve not talked about it at all? O’ Neill, to his credit, has said Barry can leave as long as Liverpool pay the price tage they’ve set and not a penny more.
Good luck to Villa though, I hope they hold out for every last penny of the £18 million they’ve set as his price, Liverpool need to realise it’s not 1988, they’re not the best club in England and haven’t been for 18 seasons, teams can’t be bullied by them anymore and it bothers me far more than the Madrid/Ronaldo/United love triangle that they seem determined to destroy any good will opposing fans have for them. As for Keane, I’ll take Torres or £25 million, other than Rafa, you’re wasting your breath.
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all you people who think liverpool are a peice of shit you are wrong if manchester united didnt have ronaldo they wouldnt of won the champions league of the premier league so get fucked thank you
funny article , had me in stitches “villa are better prepared to win the premiership” ha ha ha ….. thats classic stuff!!!!
little club with a little manager with notions of granduer.
Why do you all hate liverpool with such venom. Jelousy certainly is a green eyed monster. How can A V be compared to LFC. They won more in tropheys 2001 than villa have accumilated in their history. Sort ya nappers out……… Aston Villa “my arse”…………
Okay, If someone actually bothered to write an article, he or she would also bother to look at all the facts before laying down the marker. First of all, Liverpool made their offer to Aston Villa without making any fuss what so ever, even when journalists were questioning Benitez on the official website’s video content, he didn’t make any statement in regards to Barry that indicates he’s going gung-ho for him, then, MON out of no where, bursted into flames and said how come Rafa made this public, and to my surprise, non of the papers actually stated that back then, to add more salt to it, the Liverpool Echo reported that Liverpool made the bid from the burst of MON! But sadly people look at it from other corners…
Then, MON kept blaming Liverpool for looking at Barry. Okay, I know you’re working with a squad as small as the head you have, but to come out and start publicly slating a club that has done the whole deal with utmost respect is just shameful and disrespectful, and his actions for this transfer have been nothing short of crap to be honest.
I’m not even buying into this “Gerrard’s a best mate with Barry”, like this would just bring any player to Liverpool, right?… Henry has been truly a great friend of Trezeguet, yet we haven’t seen him telling him to come to Barcelona, even though the Spanish club have been rumoured for the Juve striker’s signature!
And what made me lose it was “Villa have a better chance of winning the Premiership than Liverpool with the potential of players they have”… sorry mate, but I’ll take Babel anyday ahead of Harewood, Agger any long day ahead of Curtis Davis, and no need to get even close to Gerrard and Torres on that point. enough said
What a Wally! Are you a professional? If so, you should be sacked for your in correct information. But hey, thats part of a journalist job isnt it? You have a problem with LFC, get over it. We ARE the MOST succesful team in English football and the greatest. You ALL know it and are jealous. Get a life
villa hv more chances than liverpool? in your dream mate. you sucks! villa hv gained best league table last season with lucks.. n dont forget scottie carson was our keeper playing ur rearguard! try next season without him. i hope rafa will cancel the deal if it exceed 14m. i rather keep xabi or use the transfer money out of him to get d.silva and/or d.villa. good luck u villans next season. i reckon barry will play with half of his heart where the other half belongs to liverpool.
well when your best players wants to leave for a better club, that should tell you something.After 11 years why should’t the poor chap have a go at another club. As for money and playing with his best pal, hmm lets be reminded we all do have a live and to make the best of it while you can. AV wining the title, well you will always have our blessing and if you can’t actually win it,at least in your dreams.
Even though Liverpool has not won the EPL since 1990, but I always like to remind everyone of the following facts:
1. Man Utd waited 26 years to win the league title since 1967
2. Fergie waited 7 seasons to win his first English league title since 1986
3. Aston Villa only won one league title for the past 98 years
4. Chelsea waited 50 years to win their 2nd league title
5. Spurs has not won a league since 1961
6. Gunners have waited for 18 years since 1971 to win the league in 1989
Conclusion: What’s wrong with Rafa to win the EPL in his fifth season with Liverpool?
I have not even mentioned the Champion league and FA Cup.
I think i speak for all Liverpool fans when i say
Paul, your gay! Your article is gay, even when our messages are diplayed in the same font, same coluor same size , yours look……yes you guessed it gay!
Pathetic article. One sided too. Villa haven’t won a trophy for over 10 years, in that time Liverpool have won more than any other English team - yes, I know that doesn’t include the Prem title, but do Villa fans really believe they’re more likely to win than Liverpool? They’re in dreamland. Why wouldn’t Barry want to better himself? The price tag is ludicrous.
I agree with many of the other rebukes of this article, and also wonder why it’s such a big deal that the unwritten constraints on ‘tapping up’ are such taboo, especially given that most clubs are guilty of it. In every other profession it’s quite acceptable for other potential employers to show interest in someone, yet in football there’s a massive fuss and convenient suggestions of dishonour when actually, honour is uniformly absent in the game. The reason Villa are so bothered by Liverpool’s interest isn’t because the way they approched it, it’s because someone wants to buy their best player. I have great respect for Martin O’Neill, but his recent actions appear as something of a childish tantrum. I don’t know why GB would make up that story about nobody contacting him(?) Why would someone say that if it weren’t true? If he is lying about that then it’s very strange behaviour but I can’t think of one reason why he would.
How does this guy get to write for a ‘reputable’ outlet when his opinion is clearly bias and largely based on dodgy information..? Is it for the drama? As a genuine football fan, I’m not interested in transfer soap operas and doubt anyone with half a brain could derive entertainment from the endless, excrutiating speculation.
Chris Walker, are you a Villa fan? If you are please follow me to shout ‘Viva Villa’… for proudly won a league title in the past 98 years.
how poor is this guy really needs to be sacked terible writing.
you are a baised ****.
liverpool have won champs league 2005 and finished second in 2007. we have also wo the fa cup 2006. villa have not won a league title in 98 years, liverpool have won 18 pl’s, villa haven’t won a trophy in the last TEN yearsASTON VILLA are in good shape, yes, but they are miles of liverpool. villa’s best player is barry. do you honestly barry is better than torres gerrard babel reina mascherano agger skrtel carragher and last but not least the great xabi alonso. villa haave got no chance at the title but liverpool are in the mix
is billy-boy paul bestall?
BOLLOCKS
Hey guys, I hope you realize that Barry’s valuation isn’t based on that of Mascherano, it’s based on that of his fellow England holding midfielders, Carrick and Hargreaves, and what Man U paid for them. Barry is ahead of Carrick in the England depth chart and level, if not ahead of, Hargreaves, so it would follow that Villa has priced him at the same level as those two.
Look Aston Villa reported that Liverpool had bids rejected, officially Liverpool have not commented on the matter although Rafa has come out in defence of his actions or inactions as the case may be, he simply said, “yes we have made a bid” thats it really.
i think that this article was written more in favou of Aston Villa rather than liverpool. i don’t agree with the writer’s presupposed conclusions. all the managers declare their target annually. We know the targets of each manager every year. We know the targets of liverpool in the same way as we know the targets of chealsea. why? because the names of those targets appear on the media. you have to realise that the barry saga is still on because liverpool never meets the asking price even it was liverpool’s third or fourth bid already. the same is applied to keane. rafa mentions his target on the media, but he is not alone. fergussion and scolari also do the same. the difference is that liverpool is broke. don’t feel biased against rafa!
The most funny thing is the mancs ’supporters’ coming to talk about the barry saga, when they will surely be without that wanker ronaldo. I never thought that these mancs would fall so down. Poor mancs, happy days it seems are going, especially when it was revealed that they have all that debt (and you talk about us having debts!) 200million only on player purchases. No wonder how you win the league (Ferdinand 30 million, et al) Muppets
Rubbish.
thats to put it nicely.
SH*T
I love what these manc/chelski/villa supporters are saying. They can’t handle our club being the most decorated in England and they know that our dry spell is coming to an end and they are scared shitless. So what do they do, they hang on to the last thread of hope that we will go longer without a title so the mancs can CATCH UP, but they all know it’s not going to happen. This article is rediculous, but refreshing because it shows that they are aware that success is soon to be ours and that no club will be able to catch our achievements. YNWA
to the mancs….
We won it three times
we won it three times
in 81!
We won it three times
I thought this must have been a comedy article. “Villa have a better chance than liverpool of winning the league” - god, that was a good one. I’m still laughing writing this.
Mr Bestall what a superb bit of s##t stirring.
Boy do the scousers take themselves serious.
Get over yourselves, your team won nothing this season and after seeing your strength in depth goalkeeper Charles Slack -handsja blow it to little old Barnsley in the FA Cup you need to spend far more to strengthen your squad than you think. I can see a lot more years of frustration to come I’m afraid.
As a Man United fan I agree about Villa. They are defo a bigger threat to the real league contenders than Liverpool. I hope Villa screw them for every penny they have, they are a club without any class, they have the scruffiest trakkie wearing fans in the country although to be fair the vast majority of them are Irish.
if you put a high asking price for barry, what happens if liverpool puts a high price any every player Martin O’Neil (MON) wants from liverpool? that means aston villa could not trade with liverpool any more. we will put a high price for our players as well. i think MON is too greedy!
I love Liverpool fans. “Villa finishing above Liverpool? You’re having a laugh. We’ve got fourth or fifth place sewn up!”
I’m glad they’ve set their goals so high.
Also, I think it’s been well-established that the Barry valuation is based on Carrick and Hargreave’s fees - comparable players and behind Barry on the English pecking order. You lose a bit of credibility if you criticize an article for bad information with bad information of your own.
I’ll be laughing when Liverpool have to sell off their players to pay their debts and join Leeds in the Championship (assuming they can get promoted to the Championship in the next three years).
Excuse me, Jeremiah, actually if you’d bother to read all the comments, you’d see that most people were saying Barry’s price was based on what Liverpool paid for Mascherano.
You lose a bit of credibility for being ignorant, because I wasn’t criticizing the original article at all; in fact, I was trying to clarify something that many people didn’t seem to understand.
Before you spout off again, make sure you read everything written first. Thanks.
liverpool wants to sign barry.
barry wants to join liverpool.
Martin O’Neil puts too much price on barry.
Mr.Martin O’Neil is too greedy.
too greedy
too greedy
too greedy
idiot!
hey walter im irish what was that suppose to mean united fans are glory supporters they hibernate until they win something then there everywhere with there jerseys and there shitetalking filthy mancs why is it that nearly every man u fan i know is a gobshite is that the criteria to be a man u fan also shite article who ever wrote this isnt good enough to write a school paper
How can Villa have more chance of the premiership than Liverpool. You finished 16 points behind us. As for using the Echo to unsettle players by letting them know they are interested, what bollocks. They have made 3 bids for Barry. I am sure he knows from this that Liverpool are interested.
I’ve changed my mind!!!
What a great article! It’s so bad it’s stimulated so much debate through the paucity of its content.
Let’s be quite clear since the turn of the century Liverpool has won
2 x FA Cup
1 UEFA Cup
1 European Cup (Champions League)
2 x Super Cup
2 x League Cup
That’s an average of one major trophy every year. In fact the only trophy Liverpool haven’t won and what appears to be what the main argument is based on seems to be the Premier League Trophy.
Liverpool outside of Chelsea and Manchester United are the most successful side in the English Premier League. Arsenal have been quite baron. And in European competition Liverpool are not just the most successful English side over the past five years, but the most successful football side in European competition over the past five years…FACT.
Villa on the other hand is the most successful football side in Birmingham!!!! WOW!!!
Now there are three types of football fans! Realists, optimists and pessimists!
Villa fans you certainly are optimists. However although your fantastic 6th place finish offers you hope and non-necessity to be pessimistic, I think you really need to be more realistic. Liverpool has only finished outside the top 4 twice since the turn of the century and will be stronger again next year! Villa have lost their best player and captain, have also lost one of their best defenders and have still to buy replacements. You have a very small squad which consists of no world class players and have a manager who outside of Scotland has only won 2 League cups! Is this man capable of taking you to the next level? Which may I add is still a couple of levels short of where Liverpool are!
The top 4 will remain this year the same as the top 4 last season, which order will be decided by transfers, injuries and a little luck. Everton will remain a strong competitive side. Spurs will be a lot stronger (Ramos is a very good proven coach at the top level in a top league). As will Middlesbrough, Manchester City, Newcastle, Portsmouth and perhaps Blackburn (depending on who’s sold).
Villa will do very well to finish 6th again this season – Remember Villa finished the season quite poorly and the INTO TOTO Cup has a history of finding clubs out at the end of a long season. Especially small squads!
Wow, the Plop fans really seems to have some sort of inferiority complex. Constantly rehashing all the things you have won. How about looking ahead instead? That’s is the way to better yourself, not going on about some past that really doesn’t matter much.
Villa knows that some serious work has to be done to challenge the top 4. Villa looks ahead. While the scousers somewhat steadily hangs on to their fourth spot, Villa’s curve the last to PL seasons points very much upwards. Add to that the MON factor, a healthy economy, a role model chairman and a very exciting young squad and the assertion about Villa being more dangerous than a bankruptcy-threatened Liverpool doesn’t seem quite that ludicrous.
Sorry to say, I see a very frustrating future for the scouse fans.
All scousers are criminals.
Think i have made my point
Isn’t it splitting hairs to say that Barry’s valuation is based on Carrick/Hargreaves rather than Mascherano? All of those players cost somewhere in the £16 - 19m range in transfer fees.
Well, that’s a fair amount of money first of all ($6 million US), and second of all, I don’t think it’s splitting hairs at all. The reason Carrick and Hargreaves are in the same general range as Mascherano is simply because they’re English, not because they’re as good or better than Mascherano, and neither is Barry. However, when you take into account the English nationality which drives up the price, you should mention that Barry isn’t based on Mascherano.
Listen Knowone!!!
Villa finished 11th and 6th in the last 2 seasons…WOW
Spurs finished 5th, 5th and last season a healthy 11th in the last 3 seasons.
Spurs have spent more money in that time than both Liverpool and Villa and I feel have a much better squad, more potential and a better manager than Villa. Last year they still couldn’t make the jump from pretenders.
VILLA ARE NOT EVEN PRETENDERS YET!!! THEY DIDN’T EVEN QUALIFY FOR EUROPE (TOTO CUP ANYONE)
LIVERPOOL HAVE BEEN IN THE TOP 4 TEAMS IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE AND IN EUROPE FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS!!!
You have neither the size of squad nor quality to finish above were you finished last season and possibly won’t finish there but lower down the table.
THAT’S WHY BARRY WANTS TO JOIN LIVERPOOL. CONSISTENTLY WIN CUP, CONSISTENTLY IN EUROPE, GREAT PLAYERS AND POTENTIAL TO WIN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.
WHAT FORM HAVE VILLA SHOWN OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS?
ONE VERY AVERAGE SEASON AND YOU START SPOUTING RUBBISH!!!
HOW MANY VILLA PLAYER WOULD GET INTO THE LIVERPOOL SQUAD? 1 ASHLEY YOUNG (Barry already liverpool player).
How many Liverpool players get into the Villa Team? Any of the 4 central defenders (Agger, Skertal, Hyppia and Carragher). Any 5 fullbacks (Finnan, Dossena, Aurelio, Insua and Deggan) Any 6 central midfielders (Gerrard, Macherano, Alonso, Barry, Lucas and Plessis) Crouch, kuyt, Babbel and Torres.
We have to ask the same questions about how many of the Liverpool team would get into the Utd or Chelsea side/squad! That’s how we gauge were we are!
Villa are an insignificance
I am a Villa supporter. Villa and Liverpool currently have the same level of chance of winning the premiership that being very low! Only thing I would say is that Villa have a sound financial base and a first class chairman to work with rather than a feuding board and no cash!
Regarding the valuation of Barry …. the valuation needs to be the cost it takes to replace Barry… name a player that could fill Barry’s shoes at Villa for less than 18m? Barry has displaced Hargreaves and Carrick from the England Team - they would attract a simliar…. .Villa want to improve and move forwards we must get a player at least equal that of Barry …. .
Anyway the rights and wrongs of this could be argued forever without conclusion ..bottom line is Barry has been valued by the club at 18m, Liverpool either pay or dont pay …their choice. We are in a position where money is not the be all and end all to moving forward and improving the team ….
Hull City has as good a chance of winning the Prem as Liverpool. It’s amazing for all the arrogance of the Liverpool fans, since the formation of the Prem, Leeds and Newcastle have put up more of a fight in a given season to win the Prem and Blackburn has actually won it!
Crow all you want, but Rafa is a poor manager who got lucky in the CL his first year, and your side has wasted so much money on transfers its not even funny.
Spot on article, Villa have more chance than the scousers of winning the league. Liverpool fans are deluded, one proper trophy in 18 years and they still bang on about their history! They won’t win anything next season either. 3 seasons with no trophies equals another manager to try an lock horns with Fergie. Fergies seen off Dalgleish,Souness, Evans, Moran, Houillier and Benetiz is next to go. Sad whiny scousers.
Im a Liverpool fan and one that chooses to reply in a civil manner.
When we stand next to Villa, we are ahead of them and past form can give a good reflection on what is to come but, it is not certain.
With our club in the hands of Americans, i can only see us slipping away and most Pool fans will agree with me that we need to get shot of them pair yesterday.
I would give my right arm to have Randy Lerner as chairman at pool, He could take us to the title once more. Within the next 3 - 5 years i can see Villa replacing us and Arsenal if something doesnt change soon, there is always the threat of Spurs and Everton to. We wont win the League with current circumstances and we have always fell short. im disapointed, but unlike other pool fans im not letting my pride get in the way.
Randy Lerner is an American as well, you do realize that, right?
Mate.
From that article i learned 2 things:
1) You don’t know your football and
2) You have a thing against liverpool
I admit that Liverpool are in need of some replacement players (after getting rid of kewell, riise and probs crouch and xabi alonso), but it would be smarter for them not to go after players who don’t fit those possies. Personally i would like to see David Villa and Xavi enter the EPL (aka Liverpool) or Jesus Navas once he gets cured of homesickness.
Villa have not got more chance of winning the Premier League than Liverpool. We have both got the same chance — NONE!!!!
lmao, liverpool fans cant stand the fact that they are not going to win the premiership yet again! The article is very well written and totally correct that liverpool are using the media to unsettle the players because they cant afford to pay the going rate for players. how liverpool are going to be able to afford Keane and Barry is a mystery. Alsono is not going anywhere because no one wants him, carson is very very average and worth only 4 million. have already spent 9 million on a goalkeeper and a full back, so with keane and barry the total spending would be 47 million. I DONT THINK SO! even with 19 million from crouch, carson and Risse thats still 26 million and where is that coming from.
I totally agree that liverpool are financially weaker than Villa, but even as a staunch aston villa fan i have to admit liverpool have a better squad, and better players. Liverpool fans are going to have to realise that they are a club like any other in the premier league outside of the top 2.
But over a period of 5 years including last year, liverpool are stagnating at the very least and Villa are improving all the time under Martin O’Neill and liverpool are getting more desperate the longer the summer goes on.
You have NO MONEY and CANT AFFORD TO PAY 18 Million for a England player, also liverpool fans would say Gerrard is easily worth 30 to 40 million so barry is defo worth 18 mill.
I also don’t see how liverpool fans think we have conducted the media games when liverpool released details of the original bid the day after they lost to Chelsea in the champions league semi final. obviously a cover for yet another average season for supposedly one of the top 4, which really is a top 2 followed by Arsenal then Liverpool.
Benitez is a very very average manager albeit a lucky one, he has spent millions on a squad full of very average players such as Pennant, Kuyt, Sissoko, Vorinin, Bellamy, aurellio, Arbeloa and Benayuon. Yes i know some are good/average premiership players but thats all how do you expect to win the league with players like that?
cant stand the arrogance shown by liverpool and their fans, all need to get over themselves! look forward to a decade of average boring football!
UP THE VILLA
GodVilla 25% of your article was good!!! the other 75% is utter drivel!!!
Benitez an average lucky manager?
2x Spanish title
1xUEFA Cup
1x FA Cup
1x European Cup
1x Super Cup
Semi finalist in Champions league 3 out of 4 years! (including another champs league final)
1x carling final (not really worth mentioning).
So because he has not won the Premier league he’s an average manager? and also because you have shown 1 season of improvement your now certain to continue the improvement into the top 4 this year?
Martin O’neill
2x league cup (though that wasn’t worth mentioning!!)
Oh I forgot he won in Scotland! - but hasn’t Gordon Strachan just won 3 in a row? So that makes Strachan a great manager!!! Didn’t Souness win in Scotland and Walter Smith!!!
arrogance; an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions.
You and the rest of the Villa fans are arrogant! One average season (poor by Liverpool standards) and you start spouting rubbish!
Tell you what! Lets just wait and see what happens! If you finish within 10 points of us next year you win!
Until then keep dreaming.
RIGHT UP THE VILLA…. LOL
Pasul Bestall has got to be a Martin O’Neil nom de plume. Every time you use ” Liverpool ” in the subjective, your subsequent word is seem. This is a ploy used by a writer who is short on facts and literary backbone. Furthermore it is gramatically shoddy. I cannot alter your obvious abhorrence of LFC because it will be borne by gealousy and I can’t change history but I can offer a tip when you put pen to your heartfelt hatred…….borrow a thesaurus.
Hey m8, this is the worst article i have ever come across. Please try to compose yourself when wrtiing an article. shit knt
http://www.lfcland.com
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