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pidgeGULL

Listed below are comments made by pidgeGULL between Sunday, 13th December 2009 and Wednesday, 23rd December 2009.

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Paying a heavy penalty 2:34pm on 23 Dec 2009 "huge buys that are guareenteed to do well"

surely there's no such thing.
Paying a heavy penalty 12:14pm on 23 Dec 2009 @Glenn

"I'm quite bored of people defending Liverpool's useless transfer policy."

I'm quite bored of people attacking it, people (pundits and the like) still misquote the spending on Aquilani (which is staggered across three financial years) and the debate has been used as a stick to beat Liverpool with all season. It's dull and both sides have juked the stats in their favour, comparisons between clubs are moot as every clubs is different, with different revenue projections and ambitions etc.

Everything you have said seems to be fair enough and I won't even try to argue over the main point, however, but Rafa's ridiculous complaints, were regarding Lee Cattermole if I remember correctly.

Having emerged from a decent (combative, but fairly unremarkable) season he really came into his own at the u21 championships (I watched them and thought he was by far our best player), which is when Rafa started to voice an interest. At that point we had already spent on Johnson (so that was most of the initial transfer kitty), then (afterwards) we lost a central midfielder for 30 million and arranged an outlay of 9 million this season for Aquilani and reportedly had a 12-16 million deal lined up for Cattermole (a 25 million outlay this season - 5 million profit, on the top, and two players seems good business to me), which the owners withdrew funding for. So post-Xabi sale they didn't reinvest in the team in a way they should have - and I'd have to question the acumen behind not wanting the asset of a promising u21 international at the club. The reason? They have gotten the club into a lot of debt and ultimately screwed us on that deal. My backing of Rafa has wavered severely since he picked Dossena last weekend, and this one issue cannot be held as the root cause of our poor season, but H&G didn't back the club as they should have.
Phil McNulty Q&A blog 10:02am on 23 Dec 2009 "He ought to get his head down, do what he is paid so handsomely to do (namely win silverware!) and after this he can entertain us with his wit / poor sarcasm and endless 'FACTS'"

Ha, those 'endless Facts' were in a single press conference almost a year ago, it's not Rafa who keeps bringing it up. You seem unfamiliar with how managers tend to get interviewed after games (I'd say it's almost a convention of professional football ;)), it's not Rafa's preference or arrogance that means he has to answer stupid questions after every match, at least he is man enough to face his detractors, he could have picked up his ball and gone home and sent Sammy Lee out every week.
Phil McNulty Q&A blog 1:41pm on 22 Dec 2009 Who else wants to see us buy Murphy in January... maybe I'm just being sentimental.
Phil McNulty Q&A blog 1:39pm on 22 Dec 2009 dan spendler - Keane played, not really the same thing.
Phil McNulty Q&A blog 1:18pm on 22 Dec 2009 Leighton James?

Torontored - yeah, me too, I know that the Utd fans will always be ready for a pop (especially when we had the temerity to actually challenge them last season - which is when I started getting it in the neck from Utd friends of mine, as soon as we were a threat), maybe Birmingham Blues have just cause this season, but otherwise I can only guess that a lot of the abuse is coming from fans of clubs who are looking to supplant us in the top four (or Chelsea fans who just want to get top billing on an ECL night for once :P).

The ridiculousness of it all is the cliche-ridden method they all seem to take, I've never even bothered to discuss net spend, but have had it brought up to me on multiple occassions this year and as for this squad of ordinary players idea, yes Voronin, Dossena, Plessis, Kyrgiakos and Babel are not good enough (and others who I don't think it's fair to say - jury's out on El Zhar), but the reason why we are in such dire straights is because our big players (Reina aside) have had poor seasons (by their standards).

Gerrard pops up once or twice a game but he has not commanded the ball like in previous seasons, Carra has been off the pace (although he has improved greatly of late), Mascha has been gunning for a red for weeks, Torres has whinged and kicked his way through matches since returning from injury, Yossi disappears against small teams, I haven't seen Agger have a shot yet - a sign of his wavering confidence, Kuyt has been lost without Aurelio providing him service, Aurelio is out of position or dropped (not his fault, this one). Lucas, Insua and N'Gog have improved over the year because they have played more than they should have and all have potential, although Insua's form fluctuates at an alarming rate (another reason why Aurelio needs to start more games back there). Aquilani, I can understand not playing him against Everton, it would maybe have been a baptism of fire to far for a touch player, but he should have at least played against Blackburn and Wigan.

Biggest disappointment for me over the last few weeks is the lack of Pacheco on the bench... an attacking midfielder/striker who had a lively, energetic and enthusiastic cameo in the ECL (and linked brilliantly with Torres), give the kid a chance Rafa, he could liven up the place!
Sabella excels as coach of Estudiantes 3:29pm on 21 Dec 2009 How about against Chelsea in the 4-4 last season? He was our outstanding performer and his movement in the channels resulted in a goal for us. Also, while I can't vouch for everyone I only cite his training performances as an indicator of how he is determined to improve. As for his positional sense being poor, was it against Wigan? when he was all but abandoned in the middle of the park and broke up several counter attacks while spreading the ball well, no one is saying he is a world beater, but he is improving and could become a very useful player for us.
Sabella excels as coach of Estudiantes 2:46pm on 21 Dec 2009 Tim, what about our other Brazilian (Aurelio), do you see his chances of making the world cup diminish with every game left out or played out of position? Or do you think his impressive performances when actually played in his natural position will keep him in contention (providing he can reach full fitness soon).
Sabella excels as coach of Estudiantes 2:03pm on 21 Dec 2009 Lucas' hard work is what has kept him at the club beyond his initial indifferent performances. As a young player I think he feeds off the confidence of the rest of the team more than most and when things aren't going well or we have been a bit nervous his performance suffers (although notably less-so in recent weeks when he has been more reliable than Mascha at times). But when confident his effort and commitment has impressed me, it was great to see his runs at corners and free kicks scaring the brown stuff out of Almunia in the first half against Arsenal, but in the second half we seemed to neglect the option to get him to attack that space as freely.

He runs the channels well (although, as mentioned, needs to work on his finishing), but is maybe weighed down and deterred from doing that when the team appears vulnerable, which is a shame as it's his natural game.

At this stage he's better than - say - Darren Fletcher was at the same point, so it's far too early to pass definitive judgement on him, but I think it may also be too early to pile such responsibility on him. Which is another reason why we need to start Aquilani more and bring Lucas on when needed, he'll still get plenty of play when Aquilani's fitness wavers or when Mascha is gunning for an early bath.
Christmas Movie Magic 3:33pm on 13 Dec 2009 I totally agree on The Incredibles, I loved it in the cinema, it was big and the action sequences came to life on the big screen, but I bought the DVD and haven't seen it all the way through since, it is baggy and I have fallen asleep or just gotten bored every time.

As for Mary Poppins I watched it the other day (recorded from the TV in 1990) and it is still brilliant, a true classic.

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