In theory you are probably right but I cannot see too many teams being interested or putting up the money for him…I am a big fan of Gerrard but apart from Man City I cannot see any other side that would pay the money for him
If Mourinho goes to Real Madrid they might bid for him, Milan might bring him in to lower their age profile slightly! Could anyone serioulsy see him joining Man City?
TBH i cannot see one of the big teams on the continent signing him for big money as he isn’t the most tactically disciplined of footballers and would struggle to fit into their systems
Thats a good point Puke, he and Torres are so important to Liverpool that the team is built around them. Not sure that Milan or Inter wouldn’t take a gamble on him, they are struggling to attract the really high profile players with La Liga deemed a better/ more lucrative proposition.
If he was available on a Bosman then no doudt he would have plenty of suiters but I cannot see too many teams who would be willing to cough up the bones of 30 million for him outside of City
They won’t get £30m for him. £20-22m max. The real isssue is; if they sell him can Liverpool possibly hope to hold onto Torres. Can they in any event if they finish worse than fourth? Could you really see Gerrard moving to another English club? There is no way he will join Man City. He’s had strife from Man Utd fans while at Liverpool, imagine what he would get as a city player!
Sure he was a hair’s breadth from signing for Chelsea twice. I’d say he’d sign for City quick enough if they offerred him enough cash (I mean offerred a more realistic chance of success of course). I’d say he could give a fuck what strife he gets from United fans, though I do think the reaction of Liverpool fans would at least impact on his decision. They’d have got a decent price for him even last summer I’d say. City probably are the only ones that would stump up for him now. You wouldn’t even know who their manager will be in the summer though if they don’t finish fourth.
Short bit on Assou-Ekotto in the Guardian today. He sounds like an interesting lad. I always like to note the footballers who are a bit “different”. The German centre-half at Fulham for instance. Or Gaizka Mendieta the Velvet Underground and Galaxie 500 fan.
During Tottenham’s victory over Stoke City on Saturday, Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Vedran Corluka almost came to blows, a brief flurry of chest-high pushes ending when Stoke’s Ricardo Fuller, who knows a thing or two about fighting with team-mates, pulled them apart. It wasn’t a major incident, but it was an interesting one – yet on Match of the Day that night it wasn’t even mentioned. Sky Sports News, on the other hand, showed it repeatedly the following day.
“We had a seven-minute edit, and the key issue without a doubt was Tony Pulis’s problems with the referee,” explained a BBC spokeswoman – Pulis had attempted to have Mike Dean removed from the fixture, and he promptly sent off his third Stoke player this season. “We didn’t have a camera angle that showed what caused the fight. What we did have is five seconds of footage that showed two players swearing a lot. There was no context to the story and because of the swearing, and because we also go out at 9am on Sunday morning, it wasn’t something we felt we could put in.”
At the end of the game, Assou-Ekotto left the field alone. His performances may have improved over the last year or so – leading to him signing a new four‑year contract last summer – but some doubt about his temperament must remain. Earlier this season, after Spurs’ home defeat to Wolves, he confronted a fan – “There was no violence or anything,” Harry Redknapp said at the time. “Joe [Jordan, the assistant manager] pulled him away and his girlfriend pulled the other guy away, whoever he was.”
After Saturday’s game, Redknapp was asked again about the French‑Cameroonian full-back. “Benoît is a strange boy,” he said. “He’s a bit highly strung and hardly speaks English. If you say something to him he’s hard work. He hasn’t improved his English in the couple of years he’s been here.”
Asked why his left-back had walked off alone, apparently unhappy, Redknapp said: "He didn’t know the result. He probably thought we’d drawn. He’ll turn up Wednesday and play great, but he won’t know we’re playing Fulham until someone tells him. That’s how he is. He’s unreal. He walks off and he’s thinking about the music he’s going to play when he puts his headphones on."
Just gone through the remaining fixtures and had a stab at predicting the remaining fixtures, doesn’t make for a pleasant outcome:
Man United – current points 69
Bolton (a) – 3pt
Chelsea (h) – 1 pt
Blackburn (a) – 3pt
Man City (a) – 1pt
Tottenham (h) – 3pt
Sunderland (a) – 3pt
Stoke (h) – 3pt
Final points – 86
Chelsea – current points 65
Portsmouth (a) – 3pt
Aston Villa (h) – 3pt
Man Utd (a) – 1pt
Bolton (h) – 3pt
Tottenham (a) – 1pt
Stoke (h) – 3pt
Liverpool (a) – 1pt
Wigan (h) – 3pt
Final points – 83
Arsenal – current points 67
Birmingham (a) – 1pt
Wolves (h) – 3pt
Tottenham (a) – 1pt
Wigan (a) – 3pt
Man City (h) – 3pt
Blackburn (a) – 1pt
Fulham (h) – 3pt
Final points – 82
A bold prediction, I wonder what odds you’d get ont the top three remaining unbeaten until the end of the season.
I can see Arsenal winning every game except the Wolves one at home, it would be typical of both them and Wolves to draw that game.
John Giles believes in carrying out the very same exercise as you Tinnion.
Lovely stuff by Kevin Doyle there. I thought he went through a period of stagnation for a year or so but he was superb on Saturday and took a lovely goal just now. Granted, I haven’t seen much of him this season other than these recent games and the Ireland matches but this is very encouraging form.
indeed he’s in good form but doesn’t score many. i’d imagine he’d be a twenty goals a season striker at a better club giving him the right service.
Smashing finish alright. I’d expect better from England’s first choice keeper if I didn’t know they had such shit keepers.
Kovac has really regressed as a player - should have been a penalty against him earlier for a ridiculous and needless challenge. Shocking refereeing though. Perfect view of it, just decided not to give it because Wolves aren’t at home.
Turned that off for a few minutes and West Ham are taking a bit of a hammering here. Don’t like them and don’t like plenty of their players.
A loss at home to Wolves would have West Ham in big trouble, no matter how easy their run-in, and Wolves will really fancy their chances of staying up.
Two well worked goals - delighted for Mick McCarthy.
Don’t suppose you’ve been counting the second half corners Bandage?
Backed Wolves at half-time at 10/11 and then over 6 second half corners - expecting some West Ham pressure. Think they’ve still had 1 or 2 despite the Wolves lead.
Haven’t noticed but I’m getting concerned at your betting.
Fucking idiot Hahnemann should have knocked that around the post.