just an interesting piece i have read
OFF THE FENCE: Liverpool FC should re-sign Peter Crouch and Craig Bellamy
Jul 9 2010 by Ben Thornley, Daily Post
WITH Roy Hodgson seeking signings to take Liverpool forward this summer, the first place he should look is to the club’s recent past.
If it’s relatively cheap, experienced British players who understand what it means to play for the Reds, Peter Crouch and Craig Bellamy tick all of the boxes.
Selling both men represented two of Rafa Benitez’s biggest blunders in the transfer market, their exits contributing to Liverpool’s current striker shortfall.
Hodgson now has the chance to right Benitez’s wrongs.
Adding to his depth of forward talent will be among the former Fulham boss’ priorities, and at around £6m a man Crouch and Bellamy wouldn’t eat up too much of his budget.
Selling flop Ryan Babel, who was purchased with the money from the sale of Bellamy to West Ham, alone would finance the transfers.
Their arrivals would also go some way towards convincing Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to stay at Anfield.
Reds supporters never got to see the best of the under-used Wales captain during his brief stay in the 2006/07 season.
But he was among the Premier League’s outstanding players on Manchester City’s left wing last season, a role he could excel in at Anfield, supporting Torres or providing back-up to the injury-prone Spaniard.
Given the 30-year-old’s own struggles with fitness, he also would be happy to be rotated and has ruled himself out of international friendlies to concentrate on his club career.
Despite the infamous Barcelona altercation with John Arne Riise and a golf club, the Welshman was a popular figure at Anfield – as was Crouch.
With the loss of the 6ft 7 England man, Liverpool lost a Plan B, but Crouch would offer far more than that to Hodgson.
A proven goalscorer with a delightful touch, he formed a great understanding with Gerrard, with the Liverpool skipper singling him out for special praise in his autobiography.
While a similar relationship with Torres was never allowed the chance to flourish, on the few occasions the two men did play together goals almost always flowed.
Hopefully, though, that partnership will get a second chance next season.
l THE way Kenny Dalglish was treated in Liverpool’s search for a new manager this summer highlights how little the men running Anfield understand the club, its fans and history.
When Chelsea-supporting, one-day-a-week chairman Martin Broughton insisted last Thursday that Dalglish had never been a candidate for the job it felt like a public rebuke for the Reds’ greatest living figure.
The Scot deserved much better.
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