Liverpool FC Forum

[stmichael]

Liverpool's under-fire boss Gerard Houllier is to be given a £30m-war chest for new signings, say reports.
Houllier has already earmarked £14m for Auxerre striker Djibril Cisse as the club bids to get back among the Premiership's elite,.

Cisse's team-mate Philippe Mexes, Nottingham Forest youngster Michael Dawson and Ajax's Hatem Trabelsi have also been linked with the Merseysiders.

El-Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao and Djimi Traore are tipped to be offloaded.

Anfield chief executive Rick Parry admits Chelsea's new-found wealth will make it tougher for Liverpool to attract their targets.

But he insists the club, locked in a four-way battle to qualify for Europe, are determined to revive their former glory days.

"Obviously Chelsea's millions have moved the goalposts somewhat, but we are going to do everything we can to get to the top again," he said.

"It will take lots of application and effort to get there and I promise there will be plenty of that."

A big-spending strategy is a calculated risk for Liverpool, who already have a sizeable debt after two seasons without any significant Champions League interest.

And a third season with limited Champions League income would prove serious.

But Parry is adamant that a fourth-place finish in the Premiership behind Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United is not good enough and the club have appointed financial advisors to look at money-raising options.

News that the Anfield board are determined to get back in touch with the big boys will delight the club's disinchanted supporters.

A few high-profile summer purchases could also be the key to persuading England striker Michael Owen to finally commit to a longterm deal.

sounds like houllier will be here another season then
   

[JBG]

I also read that and I think that it means Houllier will be here next year.

I expect Cisse to arrive and maybe Mexes, but Houllier will undoubedly bring in a few guys from the European leagues that no one has heard of.

I expect Diao will definitely leave, and probably Dioff as well. The shock sale could be that of Didi Hamman.

I expect Traore, Biscan, Cheyrou and Heskey will be kept on by Houllier.

Its a huge gamble especially if we don't qualify for the CL next year and if we flop again it could take us years to get back to even where we are now, as I doubt if Liverpool's pockets are deep enough to finance such a large project in the summer and fail.

[stmichael]

i would advocate the sale of hamann if we could get 5m+ for him. as good a job as he does, we need to be moving forward and that means buying a creative, goalscoring centre midfielder to play alongside gerrard.

[LFC #1]

this worries me, no CL and we could get into a situation similar to leeds (perhaps not as serious), we also have to finance a new stadium if it goes ahead. Although, Moores pockets are lined so if we get in trouble and he's still here he can probably pay off the debt sufficiently.

[ckay]

It's officially. The board have confirmed it, so GH stays. We may have £45million to spend after sales.

[woof woof !]

Its a huge gamble especially if we don't qualify for the CL next year and if we flop again it could take us years to get back to even where we are now, as I doubt if Liverpool's pockets are deep enough to finance such a large project in the summer and fail.

Huge gamble is a bit of an understatement !!!
If it all went pearshaped we could end up selling our best assests (Owen, Gerrard plus others ) to bail us out.The club needs investment no doubt of that but giving it to Foolier 
Christ , we may aswell spend it on lottery tickets 

[stmichael]

yeah i wouldn't trust foolier with 30m given his past record. we know half of it is going on cisse but as for the rest, i'm quite worried. with more eastern european countries joining the EU next season, i wouldn't be surprised if he went out and brought a load of bulgarians and romanians on the cheap and labelled them the "next stoichkov" or the "next hagi"

[The Manhattan Project]

I'm not convinced that Cisse is the solution to our problems. £14 Million seems a hell of a lot to pay for this guy.

I'm also a believer that this new stadium is not a good idea. We should be using the money we'll be spending on the stadium to buy some quality players. Many of Houllier's purchases have turned out to be gigantic wastes of money.

   

[stmichael]

i've said all along, ever since the cisse rumour began that our main problems were not upfront but at the back, more specifically a lack of pace. mexes would be a good signing if we get into the champions league because to me henchoz is not the player he used to be. we also lack natural width which needs to be addressed. we MUST try and get van der meyde.

[Big Niall]

With £30 million we could buy the new "Heskey, Biscan, Diao & Diouf" believe it or not, those 4 players cost Liverpool £30m, maybe the manager should be made pay 1% of the cost of players he buys.

I think that would be a great idea, I mean would you pay £100k of your money on a guy just because he played well against France in the world cup.

It would make Houllier less careless.

[zackboxer]

Yeah I'm not convinced about Cisse, He's a good player from what I've seen of him but £14m??? Not so sure.
Even players like Henry, Pires etc. took time to settle in the premiership so even if he's a good a some claim we might not see the best of him for at least a season.

Fingers crossed Houllier gets it right if he's given that kind of money because if he doesn't we could be in the s##t!
Given his recent record it's pretty worrying 

[greenred]

Giving Houllier this much money is a disaster for the club.Even Houllier loyalists would admit he only deserves another season.So why let him gamble all the clubs spending money?Money like that should be spent by a manager who is guaranteed at least two more years in the job.Has Houllier got that long?

[SantaGiveHoullierTheSack]

I'm not convinced that Cisse is the solution to our problems. £14 Million seems a hell of a lot to pay for this guy.

Compared to the price we paid for Diouf, Diao, Cheyrou, Biscan and Heskey (combine fee of around £40M ?), I am sure Cisse will be a bargain, at least in terms of goals and contribution.

My observation are based on the dozen of games I have seen him played this season.

But of course, if I am given the type of money to spend, I might think twice about Cisse. There are better ways to spend the money. But try telling that to Houllier...I can't believe this guy is given/to be given >£150M to spend and he's still happy with 4th place finish. 

[Fowler_E7]

so my worst fears have come true then, houllier stays and will blow millions more on players. How the board can trust him with 30m is beyond me. If that report is true we are doomed for next season in my opinion, coz even if houllier gets the players we all want, what will he do with them exactly, play them out of position in negative boring tactics. A 30m transfer kitty could have been used to attract a new manager who could use the money effectively.

[ICE-MAN]

i think cisse will come good, have faith!
i think diao traore vignal and babbel are definitely out, maybe diouf and heskey as well!
i wouldnt mind seeing hamman go but were not gonna get 5m+ for him he's too old!
i would love to see mexes come to anfield he is very good!
im afraid though that latvia or some cr#p team will have a good euro 2004 and houllier will buy two of their star players, who would be world famous if they were brazilian