At the start of the season I was slaughtered for claiming that Rafa had lost the dressing room. Later in the season I was slaughtered for claiming that Rafa's agent was talking to Juventus about the possibility of Rafa moving there in the summer. More recently I've been slaughtered for claiming that Steven Gerrard had been made available for transfer and that Fernando Torres would consider jumping ship if we finished outside the top 4.
All of these claims were passed to be my the same source, a VIP member of ours. I would love to reveal her identity. It would be great for me and the site because I could silence the muppets but she would lose her job and I would certainly lose a very good source and friend. The majority of our VIP members and our non-members know that what I post, I post in good faith. I've been doing that on KopTalk for 11 years and that's why thousands of Reds have joined our site and that's why the majority renew year-after-year despite all the free alternatives out there.
It's good to put something out there before it finds its way into the press. Obviously we publish news articles and I throw the odd editorial up but a lot of information is dropped in our Executive Lounges on our VIP website. Even if all our articles were copied and pasted around the internet, you'd still miss out on a lot of stuff that gets dropped into our VIP forums. I'm terrible for dropping hints! Sometimes a source will keep you in the picture but insist that nothing most go on the site and that's very, very hard to do. But if you've been a member for a long time, you'll see the various hints dropped. I sometimes change my avatar picture for that reason and across KopTalk you may notice other images appear to try and lodge something in your mind.
A source isn't always someone who works for the club. I get approached by journalist friends of mine to drop something that they maybe can't put into print. A cunning game is played out behind the scenes, not only by journos, but agents, players and the clubs themselves. Rafa is a master at this. He knows how to play the press. In all the years I've run KopTalk and prior to the website when I ran a very popular LFC news mailing list, I have never seen anyone as good as Rafa play the press. This isn't always a bad thing because there's been many times when he's got things into the press for the benefit of the fans. Fair play to him I say.
The latest game of cat-and-mouse hasn't worked for Rafa. Nobody has come out to say that they want him to stay and resist the temptation of Juventus. They still could do, but everything appears to hinge on the meeting between the Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton and Rafa himself that will take place this week. Rafa will attend the meeting and demand money for serious spending in the summer. If that money is not going to come, he will leave. If there is proof that DIC or similar will come in but after the transfer window has closed, he could still stay but he clearly isn't going to wait around for much longer if he can't bid for his top targets this summer. If Broughton tells him there will be no decent transfer kitty, then he'll accept the Juventus job before the month is out, maybe even before Friday when I understand his agent is to speak to them again.
Rafa is also waiting to see if Real Madrid make an approach for him. As I've said before, while they'd love to recruit him, in doing so they could create internal problems. The Spanish giants will definitely make an approach for Steven Gerrard and my sources insists that if they pulled it off, he wouldn't want to play under Rafa again, a feeling that is also shared by Xabi Alonso who has settled well since leaving Anfield. Real are well aware of this.
Steven is considering his future. I couldn't care less what the die-hard Gerrard fans say but he is. If he leaves then who can blame him. He's been very loyal and if he's to test himself somewhere else, this is his last chance to do so and it'd also be the last time that Liverpool could get big money for him. My worry here is that the amount most fans would expect wouldn't actually be that big (just something I was told to expect).
Liverpool fansIt's good to put something out there before it finds its way into the press. Obviously we publish news articles and I throw the odd editorial up but a lot of information is dropped in our Executive Lounges on our VIP website. Even if all our articles were copied and pasted around the internet, you'd still miss out on a lot of stuff that gets dropped into our VIP forums. I'm terrible for dropping hints! Sometimes a source will keep you in the picture but insist that nothing most go on the site and that's very, very hard to do. But if you've been a member for a long time, you'll see the various hints dropped. I sometimes change my avatar picture for that reason and across KopTalk you may notice other images appear to try and lodge something in your mind.
Rafa BenitezAs for Fernando Torres, well nothing much has changed on that front. I said a while back that playing in the Champions League is a big thing for him. While he may also want answers from the Liverpool board, I don't believe he's actively looking for a move as yet. Manchester City will definitely table an offer and they'd be stupid not to do that before the World Cup finals. If Torres stars at the World Cup, his valuation will rocket and you know what, I'd take it. There is no doubting his ability but each season he's playing less and less for us because of injury problems. Not only that but the fee would greatly help the club whoever the manager.
Rafa shares the same view. He is prepared to sell Torres and Gerrard to raise funds providing the club give him the money to re-invest back into the squad. The boss was shafted when Alonso was sold and he's not prepared to let that happen again. If he's to stay, trust me, he'd be prepared to cash in, especially on Gerrard. He's in no rush to sell Torres but if a massive offer came in, even if the board let him make the decision, he'd accept it providing he gets the cash.
Javier Mascherano isn't a player that the boss would want to move on but there is a problem there. The Liverpool midfielder is stalling on a new deal and once again he is waiting to see if Barcelona come back in for him.
Basically, if you think about it, everyone I've named above is unsure about their next move. In some ways you can't blame them but there's also a side of me that wants to say "Why don't you all just **** off and we'll start again without you!". Everyone is out for themselves. Usually it's for money but in their cases, it's not. The players want to win things, the manager just wants to manage.
It is imposible to claim that I know what will happen next, I don't, even Rafa Benitez, Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard don't. But what I do know is as follows:
* Rafa will stay if he gets the backing he wants this summer, not next summer, but this summer.
* Rafa has agreed a deal in principle with Juventus but is yet to sign anything.
* I expect, but cannot confirm, that Rafa will make his decision by Friday (when his agent next meets them) and that Juve will be made aware of it.
* Steven Gerrard is available for transfer i.e. the club will not stand in his way if he wants to leave.
* Real Madrid will launch an attempt to sign Steven Gerrard this summer.
* Manchester City will launch an attempt to sign Fernando Torres (I'm sure Barca and Chelsea will too but I know City are definitely preparing a detailed offer).
* Javier Mascherano is keeping his options open. He fancies Barca but Juventus have been linked.
* Liverpool have a contingency plan should Benitez walk.
* Frank Rijkaard, Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish are amongst those shortlisted.
* Kenny Dalglish would take the job if Rafa leaves and it were offered to him - I know this as a FACT.
It will be sad if we see key names leave the club and that includes Rafa. But the way things are, unless new owners are found before the end of the month, I would support selling Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano and any other runt that doesn't want to stay on and fight for the club. Give the money to the new manager and let's start again. It can't do any harm. We'll survive and besides, even with them, we've still finished outside the top 4.
A lot of you start spitting your dummies out when I refer to your heroes in a negative way. Personally I think you should sort your heads out. They're all fully grown men, millionaires with the world at their feet. I can assure you that on a one-to-one basis, that they don't give a **** about you. Of course we support them when they're wearing the Red shirt but let's keep it real. If they want out, for whatever reasons, let 'em go and concentrate on those players who want to be at Anfield regardless of the competitions we're competing in and regardless of the transfer budget. I won't shed a tear if any of them leave. Of course I'd be gutted to an extent but life goes on.
All of them could go, all of them could stay, that's football. I'll be happy regardless, but it is absolutely essential that everyone knows what's going to happen as quickly as possible because before you know it, it will be pre-season.
YNWA
http://www.koptalk.co.uk/201005042228/Duncan-Oldham/get-rid-if-they-want-out-at-anfield.html
