Stoke City Message Board

FAO Ian Harris, St George was Greek not Turkish.

You're another one who is as thick as two short planks and claims to be educated, a bit like your buddy, that choc ice Wise Son.

"what is a hard cold fact is the 24 point gap between utd and arsenal."

Which, if your assertion were true, would make Arsene Wenger the worst manager in the world.

Colin, i think you're right, Yahoo couldn't have f*cked up these boards any more than they have. Anyway in reply to your post.......

I don't think Fergie is a great example for you to pull out of the bag here. He didn't develop that mentality, he had it from the start, and yet his team didnt and was not successful in the league for 7 seasons. That's right -7! They were so behind us for a few seasons after he took over you needed a telescope to see them. Now the roles are reversed.

Rodgers hasn't even had a season and yet you are expecting miracles that even Jesus would find hard to do! We will stumble, we will fall on our @rses sometimes, but if the league started at Christmas, wouldnt we be third? The problem for us this season was the transition at the beginning, and we are suffering for that still. Like I said, Fergie FAILED in the league for 7 years. In fact, if it wasnt for Mark Robins - may Satan have special tortures in place for him when he pegs it - Fergie would have been sacked. He wasnt, the board at that sh!thole were patient, and look at them now.......Rodgers has exactly the same brief Fergie had, but on an even more uneven playing field (coz of the finances). I am prepared to give Rodgers at least one more season because of this, but you don't seem to see the benefit of patience were Rodgers is concerned at all. Listen, if we change managers every 5 minutes, then we will NEVER get into the top 4, let alone have a decent pop at the league.

Loki mate, just like you and everyone else, I read that, and it was simply something stated in one of the silly papers like the Star, and ironically had us spending all 20M (of that so called amount) on one player, maybe Ericksen of Ajax or that ridiculously stupid rumor of Coentrao for 18M. The most expensive left back in world history who cost Madrid 28M, coming to Liverpool for 18M to back up Enrique.. Nuff said..

Without working in the FSG offices, and not being privvy to any informataion, at least not until we hit the summer, that is absolutely a load of nonsense, and every time the papers talk about us, they state "modest fee" of some lowly nominal amount.

Just look at this year when they said Rodgers would only get like 25M. He spent 10M on Borini, 15M on Allen, 12M on Sturridge, 3M on Assaidi, 1M on Yesil, 8M on Coutinho, and the loan for Nuri Sahin probably cost another 2-3M. He also wanted Ince for 6-8M, and Dempsey could have been done for 6-7M. All those and maybe 1-2 I'm not thinking of, or youth, come to almost 60M, not to mention who he was allowed to re-sign to lucrative new deals, Suarez, Agger, Skrtel, Lucas, Sterling, Suso and others.

So, I'll go down on record as saying that is absolutely a pile of rubbish, and while I'd expect Sofa, and some others to take that number and run with it, complaining until the kick of the ball for the 13/14 season. We will spend far more than 20M, and it won't just be dependent on selling players. Rodgers has stated clearly he wants 4-5 and quality, not quantity and has the full backing. Now for some those 4-5 should be Cavani, Falcao,Damaio and anyone on Barca and Madrid, but in real life, they will be of a good quality, that fit his system, while providing new starters, depth, competition and experience along with "quality". I'm not ready to throw out a number yet until we get closer and I can dig up some things over here, but 50-60M wouldn't shock me, and while that will be less than whatever City, Chelsea, Utd and perhaps even Arsenal do, it is still decent amount, presuming everyone/thing stays intact, aside from those who need moving..

For those obsessed with what those teams spend, also keep in mind the amount of players they HAVE to sell because of WAGES to be in line with FFP. City still have to sell Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz, then probably wastes in Sinclair, Maicon, Garcia, Lescott, Kolarov, Dzeko (god knows why), and the same for Chelsea with Torres, Benayoun, Romeu, Malouda (yes he's there), Ferreira, Hilario and possibly Cech to make room for Thibault on loan at Atletico, and to bring back Lukaku as well.

We're going to be in a position of buying, and adding, with only a little bit of selling, and we all know who those players are, but of them all, only Carroll represents anything monumental that would count towards re-investment, and 15-18M would be a miracle.

True , he was supposed to be Greek, but born in Palestine. He did live in Constantinople( Istanbul) . Still a long way from your BNP friends Geordie girl

Interesting about him being Greek. I'd only heard about him being Turkish, but I checked, and you're right.

Not sure what you're getting at with the "choc ice" comment, though.

NBR,
I didn't find the Pool game that disappointing - the result was - but I thought the way we played belied the result.
I must admit that I don't follow some of AVB's decisions - they do seem a bit odd - but again as I don't know the causes and 'reasoning' for the decisions it's hard to judge.

I know we keep revisiting this, but I really think we've missed a trick by allowing Bale to roam. I'm not so sure the strikers goal tally would have been so low at this stage, had we played with two wide men. And I still think Bale would have got 10 goals from wide anyway (OK that's a guess). Maybe that's simply because I like seeing wingers in full flow - and I like the options it gives. It must make it difficult for the 'creative' players like Glyfi and Dembele, when the wide options become restricted.

I had hoped that AVB would sort the post-Christmas goal drought - and maybe he has, as it looks like we have roughly the same no of goals after Christmas as we did from the opening games (although I'm not sure that that doesn't possibly point to a poor start rather than curing the slump!). So as long as we knock in another 20+ goals in the remaining games then we should be ok - it looks like we'll need the average of 'win the homes, draw the aways' (ie two points per game) to get us to the magical 70 points.

Good discussion here being effed up by this forum format. Scream!

I certainly hope Rodgers did. To his credit he did it after the Oldham debacle. It reminded me of Kenny saying that players wont be here long if they turn up like that. I hope he was right.

I too never want to see or hear of another performance like that. People may say that there's nothing to play for. Rubbish. They have a / HAD a real opportunity of pushing for a European spot. That was largely in their control, something they could aim for. It just needed the application and effort. It's a missed opportunity and that riles me more than anything. Nothing hurts me more than upon reflection you have the question of "if I'd only" lingering in your mind.

I just get a horrible feeling that there's a nasty little under current running through the squad somewhere. We've seen and heard hints of it and I think we've suffered some poor performances beacuse of it.

I'lll hold my hand up here. I saw it in the media and put it up on here and quite honestly I should have rubbished it there and then. I'd be very disappointed if our transfer budget is still being leaked like it was when H&G were around. It puts you on the back foot from day one.

We know the club is sorting its finances out so ther will be some pain there but on the other side there's the new PL deal, sponsorhips and other stuff. A lack of European football might bite though.

Short answer is we don't know, and we shouldn't.

Loki...Im prepared to give Rogers time Ive posted that up but what Im not preparedto accept and Im being specific here is performances the like of that at Southampton again. Quite seriously mate Ive been supporting our club more than 55yrs and can honestly say I never saw such a pathetic performance as I witnessed v Southampton last weekend. Please dont think Im one of these fair weather fans who is happy when we winning and instantly critical the moment any result just doesnt go our way. Of course there are going to be ups and downs but it was the manner of this particular down that has so upset me....with perhaps the exceptions of Louis Suarez (who's head NEVER seems to go down) young Couhtino and Brad between the sticks none of em looked proud to wear the shirt and frankly there were certain culprits I think Id be VERY tempted to demote them to the reserves and let them ply their trade their until the appetite and skills of top professionals returned and if it didnt become apparent that it was returning theyd be shown the door ! I have to say this display actually made me feel angry that our lads could put on the shirt and then fail so abysmally to perform ....did u not at a certain point in the game suspectthat we justmight be in for a cricket score club record drubbing ? If that had happened what is that going to do to the confidence of some of these young players ? BUT they must be made fully aware that this kind of thing can NEVER be allowed to happen to a Liverpool side again.
Rogers job is to make sure it doesnt happen again and he must be held at least partially responsible for the fact that it did. SAF came from Aberdeen as Im sure u know and had created there a side that finally broke the monopoly of The Auld Firm no easy job back then particularly when it had to be done on a shoe string budget. SAF's first seven seasons at Old Toilet brought final placings of 4th 11th 2nd 11th 13th 6th 2nd and finally The League Championship . This was in the old First Division comprising 22 teams. Im not confident Rogers is going to be our SAF I feel we still have to find thatman but I will support his ideas for the club but I suspect that he just isnt a good man manager andcertainly isnt feared by the players which any great manager should be imo...canu imagine coming off the pitch at Southampton last weekend knowing the man waiting for u inthat dressing room was none other than the great Mr Bill Shankly !!! Do u think u would have been reflecting on just who might among u have played worse than u self inthe hope that u werent to be viewed as the worst culprit ? of course during the reign of Bill Shankly we would never have seen a display like that.

Loki...Im prepared to give Rogers time Ive posted that up but what Im not preparedto accept and Im being specific here is performances the like of that at Southampton again. Quite seriously mate Ive been supporting our club more than 55yrs and can honestly say I never saw such a pathetic performance as I witnessed v Southampton last weekend. Please dont think Im one of these fair weather fans who is happy when we winning and instantly critical the moment any result just doesnt go our way. Of course there are going to be ups and downs but it was the manner of this particular down that has so upset me....with perhaps the exceptions of Louis Suarez (who's head NEVER seems to go down) young Couhtino and Brad between the sticks none of em looked proud to wear the shirt and frankly there were certain culprits I think Id be VERY tempted to demote them to the reserves and let them ply their trade their until the appetite and skills of top professionals returned and if it didnt become apparent that it was returning theyd be shown the door ! I have to say this display actually made me feel angry that our lads could put on the shirt and then fail so abysmally to perform ....did u not at a certain point in the game suspectthat we justmight be in for a cricket score club record drubbing ? If that had happened what is that going to do to the confidence of some of these young players ? BUT they must be made fully aware that this kind of thing can NEVER be allowed to happen to a Liverpool side again.
Rogers job is to make sure it doesnt happen again and he must be held at least partially responsible for the fact that it did. SAF came from Aberdeen as Im sure u know and had created there a side that finally broke the monopoly of The Auld Firm no easy job back then particularly when it had to be done on a shoe string budget. SAF's first seven seasons at Old Toilet brought final placings of 4th 11th 2nd 11th 13th 6th 2nd and finally The League Championship . This was in the old First Division comprising 22 teams. Im not confident Rogers is going to be our SAF I feel we still have to find thatman but I will support his ideas for the club but I suspect that he just isnt a good man manager andcertainly isnt feared by the players which any great manager should be imo...canu imagine coming off the pitch at Southampton last weekend knowing the man waiting for u inthat dressing room was none other than the great Mr Bill Shankly !!! Do u think u would have been reflecting on just who might among u have played worse than u self inthe hope that u werent to be viewed as the worst culprit ? of course during the reign of Bill Shankly we would never have seen a display like that.

Bill Shankly actually stated its on archive film check it out..."For me a player not giving 100% on behalf of the team and his team mates is a disgrace in fact hes far worse than that and if I could Id put that man in jail because thats where he belongs !"

Yep, he's got a double to win....Far more important!!

Why not re-read my post on the subject Jimmy #$%$.

It clearly states the origins of the article at the foot of the post.

It wasn't my article...I was quoting from somebody else's work.

I wish people would read stuff properly. There would be a lot less confusion.

Top four yes.

Beating Spurs is never a target, just an inevitability.

:-)

It's still to win titles and put trophies on the table but if you asked any Spurs supporter what they would rather have, a league cup trophy or to finish above Arsenal, they would take the latter.
This goes both ways!
You have to take in to account the value of the competition and prioritise, hence all managers value a top four finish above winning a cup comp other then CL that is.

Hi Colyn,

I agree, though I hate it, because you always have Chelsea or Arsenal who are pretty open about who they're looking at, and what the prices are. But, unlike previous summers, and while not many share my view, I'm excited as always, but confident that we'll get players of a much higher calibre technically, physically, & creativity wise. No more one trick ponies(tails)

There's no chance any media source anywhere outside of a stone's throw from Boston (let alone anywhere) would have any idea, because I'm sure they don't have a full idea yet, and the only chance 20M is even worth saying would be as a Gross figure, if we were to end up selling 1-2 players we don't want to, or might not expect to, and get high fees for them, like Skrtel and/or Reina, perhaps a Shelvey or Henderson. I'm not for selling any, though, whatever's happened to the ironman Skrtel, is just shocking after his impeccanle 2012.

Rest assured, we'll have more than 20M to spend. Especially if you consider what the owners see Brendan did with 20M in January on Philippe and Danny (while exploring Ince & Cuenca from Barca), and where they may still be in the know and have belief in Assaidi who's an enigma, and Allen who now and fallen apart, needing surgery. Borini, will really have to have a great summer, even if to gain re-sale value.

Never mind, it won't turn blue.
H