Let's say we finish 5th

4th place was 79 points last season we have 14 so we need 65 points from 28 league games so more than 2 points a game......not a chance.5th place was 72 points so we would need 58 from 28 games still more than 2 points a game so we are about 6 points down already at this rate we are on for about 50/55points.

4th place was 79 points last season we have 14 so we need 65 points from 28 league games so more than 2 points a game......not a chance.5th place was 72 points so we would need 58 from 28 games still more than 2 points a game so we are about 6 points down already at this rate we are on for about 50/55points.

Thats the reality of it .....

I don't think they will sack him mid season but if at the end of the season we have looked no where near achieving Top 4 then that journey back from Boston may be a long one.

Not a chance in hell.

Thats the reality of it .....

it is mate some think we are going to go on a run of games but I don't see it.For one teams are not scared of Mario Balotelli,they where scared of Luis Suarez.
Just keep banging high balls into the penalty area and we will concede goals and points

Chelsea buy Fabergas, Matic and Costa, bring in Courtois & lose no one of significance.
UTD buy Di Maria and Loan Falcao & lose defenders.
Arsenal bring in Sanchez and Welbeck.
We bring in Lambert and Balo, lose Suarez.

We literally have shown no desire to stay at the top, on the pitch and or before the season started.

Showing desire would have been to either a) match your competitors in signings or b) keep your best players.

Simple as we havent and we will suffer for it.

Yes we went for Sanchez, who is brilliant, but if he was the main man to replace our 200k/wk striker why didnt we offer him 200k... No chance Arsenal are paying him that.

F**k this for a shambles - 5th would be doing well.

Thats the reality of it .....

Grim reality. And what's worse we are a good few games away, at best, from sorting this mess out. I fear for us.

But which world class players did Brendan try to sign in the summer but fail to get (excluding Sanchez)?

The manager has to take the failure of our transfers (thus far) on the chin, surely?

I did not say he was blameless, Scott, I said he's only part of a wider systemic problem at the club. Changing managers without changing the transfer policy will achieve nothing which in turn will achieve nothing if the players are unwilling to apply the mental fortitude necessary to dig us out of slumps like this, which on recent evidence, they do not. By extension, if we're willing to change the transfer policy then should the manager not be judged by what he does without the constraints placed upon him?

I did not say he was blameless, Scott, I said he's only part of a wider systemic problem at the club. Changing managers without changing the transfer policy will achieve nothing which in turn will achieve nothing if the players are unwilling to apply the mental fortitude necessary to dig us out of slumps like this, which on recent evidence, they do not. By extension, if we're willing to change the transfer policy then should the manager not be judged by what he does without the constraints placed upon him?

But what exactly are these constraints that everybody is now banging on about? Does anyone know? Clearly we are not competing at the very top table when it comes to transfers, the owners aren't going to spend the sort of money the. Mancs shelled out on Di Maria and neither will they match the fees that Barca and Madrid can go to. I can live with that. Some pretty heft fees have been spent at the club since the owners came in have they not? I know that the biggest buys have generally happened after a big sale (Torres, Suarez) but both Kenny and Brendan spent plenty in the market. You can rattle off a list of big money buys over the past 4 years (Downing, Henderson, Carroll, Suarez, Sakho, Sturridge, Allen, Lallana, Lovren, Markovic, Balotelli all topped 16 million I believe)

Im not buying this 'poor Brendan imagine what he could have done if he could compete in the market' story that is suddenly doing the rounds. The suggestion almost seems to be that he wanted to buy all these older more experienced players but he was told no because they have no resale value and their wages are too high. I'm not sure there is any real basis for it? Gerrard made a few comments earlier in the week about us not going out and buying a Fabregas but I suspect we would have gone for him if the manager had been keen.

I'd say if this did happen then at the very least FSG would try and get in a Director of Football for the club. This would piss off Brendan of course but if he wants to keep his job he'd have to accept it or he'd resign. All hypothetical of course but I could see that happening.

But which world class players did Brendan try to sign in the summer but fail to get (excluding Sanchez)?

The manager has to take the failure of our transfers (thus far) on the chin, surely?

Yeah sure he should Scottie but what we hear in the media and who we actually go for seem to be different. If it's true what  Bascombe was saying about it being us that pushed the whole Sanchez wanting to live in London thing then it's obvious the supporters are getting the wool pulled over their eyes about who we are in for. We're always linked with these elite players but the rumours always fizzle out like a wet fart.

Apart from missing out on the CL money what's the difference between finishing 2nd and finishing 5th? 

We've still not won anything so if not winning last season was good enough, why is not winning anything this season so bad that Brendan needs to be sacked?

CL means attracting better players apparently and it is where this club should be as 5 times winners.So 2nd to 5th is a massive fall and has other implications too.

Yeah sure he should Scottie but what we hear in the media and who we actually go for seem to be different. If it's true what  Bascombe was saying about it being us that pushed the whole Sanchez wanting to live in London thing then it's obvious the supporters are getting the wool pulled over their eyes about who we are in for. We're always linked with these elite players but the rumours always fizzle out like a wet fart.

Regardless of what Bascombe may have said let's take a look at the transfer, had Sanchez come it would have been as a part X in the Suarez deal so I find it difficult to believe it was about money up front for the transfer, particularly given that all the funds from the deal were spent on bringing other players in (with three of them being for 20+ million). And as for the wages, the club are already paying higher wages than Arsenal so I don't believe it would have had anything to do with that either. Maybe the player did prefer to go to Arsenal because of the location, because of their 20 year Champions League background, because Wenger is one of the most respected coaches in Europe? I dare say the club did make a big deal of the London factor, who wants to admit that the player may have simply preferred to go to Arsenal.

What I find bizarre it that during the previous year we tried to buy players who were (or less likely) unlikely to come because of our lack of Champions League (Costa, Mickitwhatsisname, Willian) and then 12 months later when had qualified we spend on players like Lallana and Lovren who probably would have come regardless of Champions League.

I dont know where we will finish.
Although the points per game example is indicative .... after 10 games we could still go on a run and turn it around.
However ,after those 10 games and a quarter season already gone , I am disillusioned with the majority of the new signings , disillusioned with the tactics employed and cant see any change coming.
Is Brendan waiting for Saviour Sturridge to come riding into town?


It appears sadly that it is the only trick he has up his sleeve.

Champions League takes a lot of energy. It's normal to lose a few points before or after the European games.
Beyond the summer transfer window, from the games I've seen the team lost mainly confidence and fluidity.
It's difficult to replace a champions like Suarez, who wasn't at all adequately replaced.
The Premier is still long, but in January you need to go back on the market to secure a place in the top 4.

CL means attracting better players apparently and it is where this club should be as 5 times winners.So 2nd to 5th is a massive fall and has other implications too.

If you're in the CL regularly, it attracts better players but if we won't pay CL wages to new players they won't come anyway.

When you look at 2nd to 5th some would say it's a massive fall but according to the powers that be, we were a year ahead of schedule last season.  In other words last seasons 2nd place was not expected but maybe 5th or possibly 6th was, so I doubt they'll be worrying too much about it.

And my views have nothing to do with backing Brendan blithely but a realisation that 'our owners do not see things how we do' and regardless of Manager, this is how it will be and I would rather give Brendan that opportunity to prove them wrong "like he did last season" than start all over again with someone else.

Champions League takes a lot of energy. It's normal to lose a few points before or after the European games.
Beyond the summer transfer window, from the games I've seen the team lost mainly confidence and fluidity.
It's difficult to replace a champions like Suarez, who wasn't at all adequately replaced.
The Premier is still long, but in January you need to go back on the market to secure a place in the top 4.

I couldn't give a sh*t if we went out and lost every game after the champs league... If we showed desire, passion and willing. Yeah I wouldn't be happy but at least there would be a bit of passion involved.

F**k I wouldn't have cared if we lost to newcastle yesterday if we lost actually trying to win, but the sad fact is... We went to st james park and tried to keep tight and hit them with a counter attack. No taking the game to them, no aggression, just sit back and hope to not concede and hit them on the break.

Fair enough do something like that in the Madrid match but away at Newcastle ffs, the gaffer should be saying get out there and beat them.

If you're in the CL regularly, it attracts better players but if we won't pay CL wages to new players they won't come anyway.

When you look at 2nd to 5th some would say it's a massive fall but according to the powers that be, we were a year ahead of schedule last season.  In other words last seasons 2nd place was not expected but maybe 5th or possibly 6th was, so I doubt they'll be worrying too much about it.

And my views have nothing to do with backing Brendan blithely but a realisation that 'our owners do not see things how we do' and regardless of Manager, this is how it will be and I would rather give Brendan that opportunity to prove them wrong "like he did last season" than start all over again with someone else.

You keep saying this but so far have offered up absolutely no proof, no citation to back this claim up. Show us in writing, any quote from LFC Hierarchy that says we are not prepared to offer CL wages or any top player that has turned us down because we where unwilling to match wages with our competitors because for the life of me, I'll be damned if I can find one. I can find plenty about the 'ones for the future' bullshit but nothing on wages.

You keep saying this but so far have offered up absolutely no proof, no citation to back this claim up. Show us in writing, any quote from LFC Hierarchy that says we are not prepared to offer CL wages or any top player that has turned us down because we where unwilling to match wages with our competitors because for the life of me, I'll be damned if I can find one. I can find plenty about the 'ones for the future' bullshit but nothing on wages.

We don't really know the details but I think we have a budget for the squad and having brought in 8 players rather than 4 that will stretch the budget and leave little for big earners coming in.I think Luis was on big big money so they will pay as long as the overall budget is kept within its limits.
It why the likes of Pepe and Daniel got the push

We don't really know the details but I think we have a budget for the squad and having brought in 8 players rather than 4 that will stretch the budget and leave little for big earners coming in.I think Luis was on big big money so they will pay as long as the overall budget is kept within its limits.
It why the likes of Pepe and Daniel got the push

This is my thinking too. I feel Rodgers wanted quantity rather than quality, which as you said, stretches the budget and leaves little for big earners to come in.

You keep saying this but so far have offered up absolutely no proof, no citation to back this claim up. Show us in writing, any quote from LFC Hierarchy that says we are not prepared to offer CL wages or any top player that has turned us down because we where unwilling to match wages with our competitors because for the life of me, I'll be damned if I can find one. I can find plenty about the 'ones for the future' bullshit but nothing on wages.

Balotelli?  £90k per week basic with addons (if he achieves his targets) taking it to £160k but we won't bring in new players earning more than our existing players, they have to "prove their worth" to the team first.

So if you are a player who's already proven and you know your services are in high demand and other clubs will pay you the going rate, why would you come to us?

Balotelli?  £90k per week basic with addons (if he achieves his targets) taking it to £160k but we won't bring in new players earning more than our existing players, they have to "prove their worth" to the team first.

So if you are a player who's already proven and you know your services are in high demand and other clubs will pay you the going rate, why would you come to us?

Balotelli does not support your assumptions because of the circumstances surrounding him. According to his agent, he was on his "last chance for a big club", which put us in a very strong negotiating position. We basically had him over a barrel and any club of our stature would have taken advantage of that to get him with minimal wages. That was simply good business sense. The fact is we haven't been successful in signing any big name player yet since all of them have turned us down. As late as the Summer we tried to sign Sanchez, Cavani, Falco and Benzema, all of whom said there was no chance of them joining us. Given that we didn't even get as far as personal terms negotiations with the player's representatives we simply do not know what would or would not have been offered them. The absence of proof is not proof in itself.

Balotelli?  £90k per week basic with addons (if he achieves his targets) taking it to £160k but we won't bring in new players earning more than our existing players, they have to "prove their worth" to the team first.

So if you are a player who's already proven and you know your services are in high demand and other clubs will pay you the going rate, why would you come to us?

whatever way we try to dress this up we haven't got anything like value for money. Who is to blame seems to be wrapped up in total secrecy.