Trending Topics

      Next match: LFC v Brighton [Premier League] Sun 31st Mar @ 2:00 pm
      Anfield

      Today is the 28th of March and on this date LFC's match record is P26 W11 D3 L12

      Raheem Sterling (Liverpool -> Man City)

      Read 313172 times
      0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
      what-a-hit-son
      • LFC Reds Subscriber
      • ******
      • Started Topic
      • 16,466 posts | 4816 
      • t: @MrPrice1979 i: @klmprice101518
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #897: Mar 29, 2015 09:26:57 am
      With the push for qualification and all the timing of this could have been much better.

      First Stevie saying he would have signed had a contract been set in front of him (when he retired from international commitments) and now this. Surely, rather than opening talks when they did, a wiser head would have approached Raheem to tell him, come May, we would be happy to talk pay rise? This is bound to have an effect on the lad which, in turn, can impact on the team.

      If we learn nothing else from this - learn that timing issues need to be more considered.

      Maybe, maybe not with Sterling. I think last Summer he will have had three years left on his contract. If so, is the club trying to get things done during the season them trying not to leave it too late?

      What is certain though is that he will have seen us give an injury prone striker a £150k a week contract while he was actually injured. He will have then took into account the amount of games he was playing and his importance to the team.

      He'll also notice that in the last two seasons he has played 81 times for us whilst Studge just 49 times and that will rise as he is now injured once again.

      It's easy for us to say he doesn't deserve X amount because he is only 20 years old and has a lot to learn but if you look at it strictly from the 'importance to the team' point of view then I can see why he is asking for that much. Coutinho didn't and to be fair I'd actually have welcomed him getting a contract like the one Raheem is asking for but he didn't go for it. That is not Raheem's fault.

      It's complicated but I think we'll see again his worth to this team now that our £150k a week striker is back on the sidelines.

      God knows how this will pan out but if we don't pay it he will go in my opinion. It seems that money is doing all of the talking here and his agent, who has got form, is rumoured to have met with Brian Kidd this week.

      Andy Heaton from the Anfield Wrap seems quite sure Raheem has been tapped up by City and had his head turned.

      If we want him, we pay him. If we don't want to pay a player, who is as important to the team as he is, the amount that he is asking for then we lose him.

      Me personally? I'd take into consideration his overall availability. Is he injury prone? No.

      How much has he cost the club? F**k all really.

      How important is he to the side? Very, judging by the amount he plays.

      He is also tactically superb, can do a job in a variety of positions, is English, will get better and seems to have matured.

      I'd give him it.

      The flip side to all of those positives is if somebody is thinking about how much profit they could get from them.
      5timesacharm
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 4,507 posts | 948 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #898: Mar 29, 2015 02:13:47 pm
      Maybe, maybe not with Sterling. I think last Summer he will have had three years left on his contract. If so, is the club trying to get things done during the season them trying not to leave it too late?

      What is certain though is that he will have seen us give an injury prone striker a £150k a week contract while he was actually injured. He will have then took into account the amount of games he was playing and his importance to the team.

      He'll also notice that in the last two seasons he has played 81 times for us whilst Studge just 49 times and that will rise as he is now injured once again.

      It's easy for us to say he doesn't deserve X amount because he is only 20 years old and has a lot to learn but if you look at it strictly from the 'importance to the team' point of view then I can see why he is asking for that much. Coutinho didn't and to be fair I'd actually have welcomed him getting a contract like the one Raheem is asking for but he didn't go for it. That is not Raheem's fault.

      It's complicated but I think we'll see again his worth to this team now that our £150k a week striker is back on the sidelines.

      God knows how this will pan out but if we don't pay it he will go in my opinion. It seems that money is doing all of the talking here and his agent, who has got form, is rumoured to have met with Brian Kidd this week.

      Andy Heaton from the Anfield Wrap seems quite sure Raheem has been tapped up by City and had his head turned.

      If we want him, we pay him. If we don't want to pay a player, who is as important to the team as he is, the amount that he is asking for then we lose him.

      Me personally? I'd take into consideration his overall availability. Is he injury prone? No.

      How much has he cost the club? F**k all really.

      How important is he to the side? Very, judging by the amount he plays.

      He is also tactically superb, can do a job in a variety of positions, is English, will get better and seems to have matured.

      I'd give him it.

      The flip side to all of those positives is if somebody is thinking about how much profit they could get from them.

      This is the problem. In my opinion, and apparently many others, you're over stating his importance to the team and if he is as important as you say, it's a symptom of a failed transfer policy. If we'd signed a top, top striker last Summer rather than Balotelli and Lambert, one who'd hit the ground running and scored a sh*t load of goals for us this season, Sterling would be perceived as no where near as important as people like you seem to think. Some people on this forum are making Sterling out to be the second coming of Pele. He's good but no where near as talented as many seem to think.
      reddebs
      • "LFC Hipster"
      • Forum Legend - Paisley
      • *****

      • 17,980 posts | 2264 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #899: Mar 29, 2015 11:18:31 pm
      This is the problem. In my opinion, and apparently many others, you're over stating his importance to the team and if he is as important as you say, it's a symptom of a failed transfer policy. If we'd signed a top, top striker last Summer rather than Balotelli and Lambert, one who'd hit the ground running and scored a sh*t load of goals for us this season, Sterling would be perceived as no where near as important as people like you seem to think. Some people on this forum are making Sterling out to be the second coming of Pele. He's good but no where near as talented as many seem to think.

      This is very true mate, as you say his importance to the team is the fault of the board/tc for failing to bring in adequate level players, not Raheems.

      Of course the alternative to your other suggestion is that if he'd had a higher level of team mates around him he wouldn't have had all the pressure of being the main man, so rather than fade into the background he could possibly have had another rise in performance levels, as he did last season whilst playing alongside a fully fit Sturridge and the irrepressible Suarez.
      5timesacharm
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 4,507 posts | 948 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #900: Mar 30, 2015 12:14:21 am
      This is very true mate, as you say his importance to the team is the fault of the board/tc for failing to bring in adequate level players, not Raheems.

      Of course the alternative to your other suggestion is that if he'd had a higher level of team mates around him he wouldn't have had all the pressure of being the main man, so rather than fade into the background he could possibly have had another rise in performance levels, as he did last season whilst playing alongside a fully fit Sturridge and the irrepressible Suarez.

      Yes, I agree but that does not take away from the greed of wanting £150K a week which is above the going rate for a player that has yet to realise his potential. This problem isn't going to go away even if he leaves. It will rear its ugly head again in the future so long as our current transfer policy remains in place. There's no getting away from it, we bought poorly last Summer, over paying for too much potential and not enough experience. Not one of the players we brought in was a step above what we already have.

      That's not how you should build a squad. You bring in players who are better than what you have so last season's first team players become this season's squad players. Year on year you seek to improve on the talent base within your club. We don't do that. Year on year we bring in more young players with the same level of potential as the young players we already have. All we're doing is running to stand still, all the while the rest of the top six will continue to disappear over the horizon. It's completely barmy.
      reddebs
      • "LFC Hipster"
      • Forum Legend - Paisley
      • *****

      • 17,980 posts | 2264 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #901: Mar 30, 2015 12:25:06 am
      Yes, I agree but that does not take away from the greed of wanting £150K a week which is above the going rate for a player that has yet to realise his potential. This problem isn't going to go away even if he leaves. It will rear its ugly head again in the future so long as our current transfer policy remains in place. There's no getting away from it, we bought poorly last Summer, over paying for too much potential and not enough experience. Not one of the players we brought in was a step above what we already have.

      That's not how you should build a squad. You bring in players who are better than what you have so last season's first team players become this season's squad players. Year on year you seek to improve on the talent base within your club. We don't do that. Year on year we bring in more young players with the same level of potential as the young players we already have. All we're doing is running to stand still, all the while the rest of the top six will continue to disappear over the horizon. It's completely barmy.


      In John Henrys world you always spend the big money on potential as it's cheaper to hire and whilst ever Brendan can keep improving them to the level of Raheem, he'll continue to sell anyone asking for more money than they're prepared to pay to make a profit.

      Have one of those every season or so and the bank balance improves without the playing level worsening.  We've lost 2 of our best talents in Torres and Suarez since they arrived for a massive £115m add another £50m or so for Raheem, why would they change no matter how the fans feel.
      what-a-hit-son
      • LFC Reds Subscriber
      • ******
      • Started Topic
      • 16,466 posts | 4816 
      • t: @MrPrice1979 i: @klmprice101518
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #902: Mar 30, 2015 01:50:53 am
      This is the problem. In my opinion, and apparently many others, you're over stating his importance to the team and if he is as important as you say, it's a symptom of a failed transfer policy. If we'd signed a top, top striker last Summer rather than Balotelli and Lambert, one who'd hit the ground running and scored a sh*t load of goals for us this season, Sterling would be perceived as no where near as important as people like you seem to think. Some people on this forum are making Sterling out to be the second coming of Pele. He's good but no where near as talented as many seem to think.

      Talking out of your arse.

      Whether you or I rate him or not he IS important to the team as the management play him a lot. I am not overstating jack sh*t as he plays. A lot. Just as he played a lot last season. Now if the club want to go and offer and then give somebody who doesn't play as much as him £150k a week while he is injured after Raheem was also integral in getting us CL by playing as much as him then the club has made a rod for it's own back. Just because the club may say it's about age it doesn't mean every player and agent will think the same.

      He is important to the side in his view because the manager plays him.

      It's not an argument it is a cold, hard fact even if you might think he is sh*te.
      fishpie
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 3,570 posts | 212 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #903: Mar 30, 2015 02:44:03 am
      Talking out of your arse.

      Whether you or I rate him or not he IS important to the team as the management play him a lot. I am not overstating jack sh*t as he plays. A lot. Just as he played a lot last season. Now if the club want to go and offer and then give somebody who doesn't play as much as him £150k a week while he is injured after Raheem was also integral in getting us CL by playing as much as him then the club has made a rod for it's own back. Just because the club may say it's about age it doesn't mean every player and agent will think the same.

      He is important to the side in his view because the manager plays him.

      It's not an argument it is a cold, hard fact even if you might think he is sh*te.

      As highly as he's rated there is no way on this Earth he should command 150 thousand pound a week, 90 yes, seems weird even floating numbers like 90 thousand around.
      Coutinho should be on more than Sterling if we're going on what they actually play like day in day out.
      Good problem for us to have, talent in abundance. No complaints here.
      Above station comes to mind so lets not let his ego take over the club, it's already been a problem.
      -LFC-
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 4,136 posts | 1192 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #904: Mar 30, 2015 02:59:05 am
      It would be nice if one of these days a player decided to buck the trend and say ''you know what, even if I could get an extra twenty or thirty grand playing for another club, I wouldn't take it because I absolutely love playing here, at this club, under this manager, and I'm extremely well rewarded anyway. Even if others don't follow suit, these values are the ones that matter to me and that's why I signed this contract''. Is it really asking that much? I hear people all the time saying ''well you'd try and get as much as you could, so why isn't he entitled to do the same''? That to me is just validating the same ethos which I thought most supporters regarded as being corrupting of the true spirit of the game. If we all simply accept that money is king and nothing but money matters, well then surely those beliefs are going to take hold in the players.

      I think this is why I am put off some of the posts which emphasise so much the primacy of market forces and the unavoidable reality which means we must spend in order to achieve success. Yes, we must. But does that mean there is literally NO room to affirm any other values? I don't think it does. Whilst we have to be realistic about the present state of the game and pay players reasonably competitive wages, we also ought to have an expectation that playing here, at this club, is worth something in itself. If we don't make the case, who does? The agents and money men will then truly have stolen the narrative.
      crouchinho
      • Forum Legend - Shankly
      • ******

      • 42,508 posts | 2620 
      • TU TA LOUCO? FILHO DA PUTA!
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #905: Mar 30, 2015 03:37:35 am
      Interesting discussion being had.

      End of the day, looking at the likes of Alonso, Suarez, Torres, all running around Anfield again made me realise we need to retain our best players to become consistently competitive. I don't want us to sell Raheem for whatever fee and be left back at square one again. It's a feeling we have all felt for a very, very long time. We take one step forward and two steps back each time we have a good run in the league. Buy and sell and be left to look around for the next big star.

      If it means giving him 125k+ a week then, F**k it just do it. I don't usually like this policy but ultimately it's talents like Raheem that will make us the best on the football pitch. He may be a greedy little sh*t right now, but we do need him. He isn't playing his best right now, but he still is on everyone's team sheet each week seen as a game changer.

      Lost a lot of respect and admiration for him this season but i'm not bitter enough to feel betrayed and want him out. He makes us a better team and hasn't spoken ill of the club or fans.

      Get him signed and move on to winning games.
      LFCexiled
      • Guest
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #906: Mar 30, 2015 08:29:25 am
      Daily fail stirring the sh*t today saying that even if we offer £180k a week Raheem would turn it down.

      At the end of the day, the best place for the lad to be and to develop for the next four/five years is at LFC. Anywhere else and he'll become a bit party player who MAY progress but that's the gamble.
      Michael-2015
      • Forum Erik Meijer
      • *

      • 35 posts |
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #907: Mar 30, 2015 08:48:13 am
      At the end of the day, the best place for the lad to be and to develop for the next four/five years is at LFC. Anywhere else and he'll become a bit party player who MAY progress but that's the gamble.

      If he was to leave for Arsenal he would get 70%-80% of the playing time and plenty of it would be CL football. He'd also be training under one of, if not the best developmental coache in world football, and with players like Sanchez + Ozil. At worst he would develop at the same rate.

      Joined this site because I love the banter with real fans and to ask a single question, If we offered LFC Theo + say 10-15 million, what would the reaction be from the fans? Genuinely curious because most of the reliable Arsenal transfer sources seem convinced that's what we will do.

      Cheers.
      RobieSlick
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 2,758 posts | 259 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #908: Mar 30, 2015 10:00:24 am
      Sell him for £50 million and buy another footballer.

      No one holds Liverpool to ransom, however good he is (or not).
      Lio Varadkar
      • Forum Emlyn Hughes
      • ****

      • 785 posts | 66 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #909: Mar 30, 2015 10:00:50 am
      There is zero chance Sterling will join Arsenal mate. Its City or Bayern, you cant stand a chance when these two are sniffing around player. As for your proposal of injury prone, mercenary like, headless speed merchant Wallcott in exchange for one of the best young talents out there.. well, we are stupid but not that stupid. Sterling goes to the highest bidder then FSG buy a 16-years old Sterling v2.0 if we´re lucky.
      Michael-2015
      • Forum Erik Meijer
      • *

      • 35 posts |
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #910: Mar 30, 2015 10:10:10 am
      There is zero chance Sterling will join Arsenal mate. Its City or Bayern, you cant stand a chance when these two are sniffing around player. As for your proposal of injury prone, mercenary like, headless speed merchant Wallcott in exchange for one of the best young talents out there.. well, we are stupid but not that stupid. Sterling goes to the highest bidder then FSG buy a 16-years old Sterling v2.0 if we´re lucky.

      He's been at Arsenal since 2006, almost a decade, and has sought a pay-rise once in that entire period. He was offered 150k a week by City before he last signed a contract extension with us and he is "only" on 100k a week with us at the moment so the mercenary tag is complete rubbish. I suppose with Liverpool I am curious, at what point do you stop looking for potential and start buying what you actually need, i.e. Someone with a decade of PL experience, all the pace in the world, and the ability to score 15-20 goals a season if given the playing time. Personally I think Theo would be an incredible signing for Liverpool, but I don't want us to sign Sterling, granted he could and likely will be world class in the next few years, but we have a collection of talented attackers who can't get regular playing time as it is. If we signed Sterling it would probably end Chamberlain and Gnabry's Arsenal careers and no Arsenal fan wants that.
      Hollywood Balls
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 3,802 posts | 469 
      • PhD, School of Hard Knocks, University of Life.
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #911: Mar 30, 2015 10:16:38 am
      Talking out of your arse.

      Whether you or I rate him or not he IS important to the team as the management play him a lot. I am not overstating jack sh*t as he plays. A lot. Just as he played a lot last season. Now if the club want to go and offer and then give somebody who doesn't play as much as him £150k a week while he is injured after Raheem was also integral in getting us CL by playing as much as him then the club has made a rod for it's own back. Just because the club may say it's about age it doesn't mean every player and agent will think the same.

      He is important to the side in his view because the manager plays him.

      It's not an argument it is a cold, hard fact even if you might think he is sh*te.

      But just because he plays doesn't tell us what he is worth to the team in terms of opportunity cost.

      Maybe if he wants to move somewhere to get 150k a week the manager would prefer to reinvest the transfer fee and thos ewages on a different player instead.

      Money lie that might be enough to land Pogba for example. Could we guarantee that Sterling would be making the team ahead of a Pogba? I'm not so sure.
      insideanfield
      • Forum Sami Hyypia
      • ***

      • 472 posts | 22 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #912: Mar 30, 2015 10:32:16 am
      At the end of the day, Raheem Sterling is not worth £100k a week let alone £150k per week.

      He is currently on £35k p/w and the reported offer of £100k is amazing when you think about what a jump it is. Just take a look at Coutinho and how he signed a contract in next to no time for far, far less. RS needs to have a reality check and sign the contract in front of him in all honesty.
      what-a-hit-son
      • LFC Reds Subscriber
      • ******
      • Started Topic
      • 16,466 posts | 4816 
      • t: @MrPrice1979 i: @klmprice101518
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #913: Mar 30, 2015 11:16:34 am
      But just because he plays doesn't tell us what he is worth to the team in terms of opportunity cost.

      Maybe if he wants to move somewhere to get 150k a week the manager would prefer to reinvest the transfer fee and thos ewages on a different player instead.

      Money lie that might be enough to land Pogba for example. Could we guarantee that Sterling would be making the team ahead of a Pogba? I'm not so sure.

      I don't agree with his demands, lets put that straight. He is being greedy but he and his agent have an argument for him to be on the level of wage that they are asking. That has been the point I have been trying to get across.

      It would be nice if one of these days a player decided to buck the trend and say ''you know what, even if I could get an extra twenty or thirty grand playing for another club, I wouldn't take it because I absolutely love playing here, at this club, under this manager, and I'm extremely well rewarded anyway. Even if others don't follow suit, these values are the ones that matter to me and that's why I signed this contract''

      A la Philippe Coutinho.
      GeorgeRed
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 3,590 posts | 324 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #914: Mar 30, 2015 12:00:20 pm
      Maybe he feels he has to leave to further his career, what's so hard to accept ? He's not the first player to seek a move out.
      reddebs
      • "LFC Hipster"
      • Forum Legend - Paisley
      • *****

      • 17,980 posts | 2264 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #915: Mar 30, 2015 12:01:55 pm
      I'm genuinely starting to think some of our fans have been in a coma for the last few years when they say, let's sell him and use the money and wages to buy ready made, proven talents who won't need to be developed or time to settle.  The type of players who are better than what we have, the type of players that every other top club wants.

      It just doesn't happen under these owners, so yes let's sell him in the summer so we can all get excited about bringing in the likes of Pogba then we can all lose our sh*t again when we sign another young talent whose just starting to break through.  Then when we've raised their profile enough for them to ask for a pay rise we can do exactly the same again.

      Yes there are players who are happy to stay, who won't rock the boat, who will sign whatever contracts are put in front of them because they love the club like we do but then at least we can all lose our sh*t again when they're pushed out of the Club because they've outstayed their usefulness to the squad.

      Hollywood Balls
      • Forum Legend - Fagan
      • *****

      • 3,802 posts | 469 
      • PhD, School of Hard Knocks, University of Life.
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #916: Mar 30, 2015 12:15:03 pm
      I don't agree with his demands, lets put that straight. He is being greedy but he and his agent have an argument for him to be on the level of wage that they are asking. That has been the point I have been trying to get across.


      Fair enough. Equally we have an argument to tell him to do one.

      Unfortunately I think a lot of fans are gong to be disappointed if we do that but he is adult enough to handle his own business even if makes stupid choices.
      andylfcynwa
      • LFC Reds Subscriber
      • ******
      • 9,318 posts | 1611 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #917: Mar 30, 2015 01:20:14 pm
      This all goes tits up which I feel it will then the owners thread will swell considerably over the summer , knowing our owners as we do cannot in any way see them backing down , im in the camp of dont think he is worth it but then again I dont trust them fckers to buy anyone decent I just think its a lose lose situation for the fans yet again .
      reddebs
      • "LFC Hipster"
      • Forum Legend - Paisley
      • *****

      • 17,980 posts | 2264 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #918: Mar 30, 2015 01:40:58 pm
      If the rumours are true about him being tapped up by City, I wonder how much the owners will hold out for?

      They basically refused to sell Luis to a top 4 rival when Arsenal wanted him but was that more to do with the offer than not wanting to strengthen a rival? 

      Would they keep him but still refuse his wage demands, despite it possibly causing a rift in the dressing room?  I guess it all depends on how much they want to protect their asset and how much Raheem wants a move.

      If he puts in a season like Xabi and Luis did when they wanted out we'll have plenty of takers at top dollar values and we'll all get to be insightful and critical of them not doing enough to keep him.
      chats
      • LFC Reds Subscriber
      • ******
      • 31,018 posts | 2741 
      Re: The Raheem Sterling Contract Situation
      Reply #919: Mar 30, 2015 01:41:32 pm
      Starting to think he's off if I'm honest.

      Expecting City and Bayern to come in with big bids in the next few months (no way is he going to Arsenal and I doubt Real have any interest). Don't think the former would be career suicide either, if City play one up top he walks into the team and even with two up top he'll only really be competing with Nasri for a place.

      Quick Reply