Ooooh, could misawa and kobashi disagree for the first time ever?

It implies they are fantastic players - and suitable for the PL and for us - I cited several examples of that type of player who did not work out in the PL - and I 100% stand by my view that I do not want Ramos at LFC - for the reasons why read again my post above.

Of course others may disagree and may be gutted that we are not in for him - that is their right - quite a few posters have said as much - personally it does not bother me one iota.


The one who bothers me far more is Konaplyanka who is available on a free and wants to come to the PL - with Sterling going or at least very likely to be going for me it is a no brainer to go for him. However, it seems someone - the unknown person (or persons if it is still a committee) who decides our transfer policy - thinks not. I suppose with Ibe and Markovic at the club it is not a priority area so maybe that is the reason why we have not shown an interest - if Markovic goes which is rumoured to be possible then of course that all changes.

Re Shaqiri I cannot help ask the question why are Inter letting him go after such a short time there?

I know some will disagree on some of the details but roughly how I see us lining up next season is

Mig

Clyne
Sakho
Skrtel
Moreno

Hendo
Can

Firmino
Coutinho
Milner

Sturridge

There does not seem to be much width there cos most peoples first choice teams have no Ibe or Markovic - it'll be interesting how it all pans out. Lallana is another interesting one - I want to see him as a regular but I am not sure he will be with the line up being as I originally said. I guess we want the fluidity that we had with Suarez to return so players are free to be more creative and go wherever needed to make things happen - with the Brazilians central to the plans that could mean a far more exciting style of play - lets hope so.

It implied nothing to do with suitability. I've no idea if Ramos would work out if he ever came here, but it's clear he's one of the world's top CBs.

Lallana sat next to Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington at Wimbledon.

He should give Brendan advice on how to avoid a mutiny...or just don't own an expensive watch that people will go to extremes for.

Our first televised fixtures have been announced.

August
Sun - 9 Stoke City A 16:00
Mon - 17 Bournemouth H 20:00
Mon - 24 Arsenal A 20:00

September
Sat - 12 Manchester United A 17:30

All of the above fixtures will be on Sky Sports

The two Monday night matches will be a total nightmare for the away fans, I see Sky still doesn't give a dam about them. BT sport are not doing LFC for a couple of months, so I can now happily ditch them and save a few quid, quite a few in fact due to their new pricing.

Tbh both the Premier League and Sky are both equally as bad for not giving a damn about the fans on the Monday fixtures, yes Sky are bad for asking the fixtures to be moved to a televised slot, but the Premier League could put on a stricter stance and refuse. I guess that it all falls down to the money at the end of the day.

With these fixtures I am surprised at the 17:30 kick off for the match at Old Trafford

Just because it's been picked in that slot doesn't mean it'll be played there. Sky have done the same trick a few times by picking a match in a slot that they know it won't be allowed to go ahead in, only to swap it with a different game nearer the time. It could well go ahead at 5.30 but if I was a betting man, I wouldn't gamble on it just yet.

Konaplyanka turned down the EPL with spurs to sign for Seville.

Considering reports say real Madrid have offered ramos £280k a week to stay can we all just accept that kind of player is way beyond our pay scale.

Yet another season of hardly any Saturday 3pm kick offs, thanks to Sky, BT and the Europa League.

But would Kon have turned us down? - I have no idea. We never put in a bid as far as I am aware so we will never know. I got the impression he was fairly keen on us and less keen on THFC who it seemed did actually try to get him. Mind you I would have to say that maybe Seville are currently a better option than us having seen how well they did to win the EL - I hate myself for saying that but I think we have to be honest - that is why when we were allegedly after Bacca it surprised me that he was rumoured to have said he was up for coming.

Ramos? - it was all a hypothetical discussion anyway as it was never going to happen - even if we had bid he would not have come. The other interesting thing I have seen is that over half Real fans polled were happy to sell him which should tell you a lot - imo there are good role models among the so called top players like Aguero for instance who I think any club would have in an instant but others even if they were good on the field would bring baggage that you could do without - and for me Ramos is in that category.

How high would be prepared to go wages wise for the right player? - I think 280k as was the rumour per week is probably too high but I would like to think we would go highish if we felt the player would help us win on the pitch. Sadly I tend to think FSG have a limit over which they would not go - but again this is also probably hypothetical as those who command the 200k+ wages would be wanting to play for CL clubs and there would be plenty of them in for them so even if we tried to bid for them we would never get them until we can offer CL. Does anyone know what Suarez would have been on if he had stayed? - did it ever get up to 200k or was it more like 150k in that new contract he signed? What are we going to pay Firmino?

It's the same every year pretty much so you should be used to it by now. With each new 3-year deal, the 3pm's get less depending on the maximum quota and how well the team is doing. Our 2nd placed finish saw us with the least amount of 3pm's, but at the same time we're still shown as many times as the big boys were a massive ratings draw.

2014/15 - 13
2013/14 - 10
2012/13 - 16
2011/12 - 15
2010/11 - 15

The maximum quota goes up from next season but it'll only take off one 3pm so if we were shown on TV as many times as possible, we'd have 9 matches at 3pm with 29 matches shown live on TV.

For me personally, I love Sunday afternoon footy and Monday nights, especially in the winter. I like to watch a few different teams so wouldn't like everything to kick off simultaneously like the old days.

Looking highly likely that Van Persie is off to Turkey with Fenerbahce and I can only hope this news encourages Trabzonspor to keep up with their old rivals by making a bid for Balotelli!

Problem with the Man Utd away is England v Australia ODI at Old Trafford the following day, BT have the Saturday 12.45pm slot which would have been natural other slot, so not much options other than 8pm Monday there have been 8pm Monday Man Utd v Liverpool games in recent years, think 2004 is the last of the recent ones.

I don't think Firmino's wages would be that high. £100k Max. He wouldn't be coming from a huge wage at Hoffeinhiem

Whether the cricket was on or not, it'd still have to kick off on the Saturday and Monday isn't an option either. It's the first Champions League group matches on the following Tuesday/Wednesday so to ensure the 3-day gap is kept, it has to kick off on the Saturday. Notice how Chelsea, City and Arsenal all play on the same Saturday for the same reason.

BT do have the Saturday early slot but that can still be swapped for 5.30 on police instruction if need be - it'd just be a straight forward swap, provided BT agree of course. Considering it's a far better slot than 12.45 I wouldn't imagine they'd have much issue with it.

James Milner confirmed to be wearing no.7 next season.

Not a bad choice. I'm sure he'll be a better no.7 than the likes of Robbie Keane, Harry Kewell and Vladimir Smicer.

Luis Alberto loaned to Deportivo.

Suarez?

I don't quite understand that to be honest. If he's going to be good enough for us, he should be playing British football. If he's not going to be good enough, he night as well be sold asap.

The way it's looking he's got some way to go to get into our midfield: Ibe, obviously, and even Ojo look to be well ahead of him.

Listen I am boring when I talk about Luis Suarez - who is one of my favourite players of all time - some may say I was boring otherwise as well - so you do not want me to start on that topic

Lets just say that yes he does have some bad qualities - biting opponents when he loses his cool on the football field being the worst one!! - but I could do a very long post listing all the good things he brings to a club - and have done on DS in the past. To save boring the pants off you and saying things some may disagree with thus creating arguments I won't do it again now.

But I think you only have to look at where our club was when Luis joined just after the sacking of Hodgson and look at it when he left having unluckily failed to win the PL scoring 101 goals in the process to see the positive effect this guy had on LFC and if you are not convinced by that look at the season Barca have had after he joined them to see the mans qualities

Ramos has a few decent qualities too, World Cup winner, Euro 2012 winner, Champions League winner, don't really see how Liverpool wouldn't benefit from having a player with that on his CV. It isn't exactly the worst baggage.

Smicer was a poor number 7 but his contribution as a number 11 is legendary

Negotiations between Burnley and Liverpool over a transfer fee for Danny Ings look set to go to tribunal, according to reports.

The 22-year-old moved to Anfield on the expiry of his contract with the Clarets.

But due to his being under the age of 24, Burnley are entitled to a fee to compensate for their role in his development.

Liverpool’s attempts to settle the agreement beyond the jurisdiction of an independent panel have so far failed.

On the situation, Mike Whalley of ESPN writes: “Liverpool have offered around £6 million for the England under-21 international, while the Clarets are looking for a fee of closer to £10 million.

“They accepted a bid of £12 million from Tottenham for Ings in June, and that would be taken into account by a tribunal committee when setting a fee.

“It means that Liverpool face the prospect of paying substantially more for the player than they had hoped.”

A tribunal will take precedent and the player’s ability into account when deciding on a fee.

However, while Tottenham Hotspur’s supposed £12 million valuation could hold sway in this situation, the Reds could argue the initial £3.5 million Chelsea paid for Daniel Sturridge following the expiry of his Manchester City contract in 2010 as a further benchmark.

Sturridge is now one of Liverpool’s key figures, having scored 35 goals in 58 Premier League games since his move to Anfield in 2013.

Reds bosses can argue that Sturridge had more talent and higher potential than Ings at the time.

Despite this impasse, Ings is set to join up with his new team-mates for pre-season training on Wednesday, following a short holiday.

LINK