Liverpool FC Forum

[Ciggy]

I think we should get him off the wage bill in january personally, I know he signed on a free but if he sees out his contract he will cost us about 14 million in wages, he is one of the highest earners 90, 100 grand a week.

Hes getting older and is injury prone, doesnt seemed to have settled down in the North either.

Young hungry players is whats needed to take us forward, Chelsea wanted rid for a reason.

[Ben Patrick]

I think we should get him off the wage bill in january personally, I know he signed on a free but if he sees out his contract he will cost us about 14 million in wages, he is one of the highest earners 90, 100 grand a week.

Hes getting older and is injury prone, doesnt seemed to have settled down in the North either.

Young hungry players is whats needed to take us forward, Chelsea wanted rid for a reason.

the part where you have said he doesnt appear to have settled in the north, where have you got that from ?

[crazyhorse]

Cole played the best football of his career for Chelsea, on the left hand side of a front three. He has also done a decent job for England on the left on occasions.

I would love to see him behind Torres with Stevie with two behind them.. class.

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

So Lets get this straight posters can claim Torres's  lack of form is one of our biggest contributors to a so far disappointing  season ....and in the same breath the same posters can defend the hapless Cole to the hilt ...am I missing something ?  .....

[Ciggy]

So Lets get this straight posters can claim Torres's  lack of form is one of our biggest contributors to a so far disappointing  season ....and in the same breath the same posters can defend the hapless Cole to the hilt ...am I missing something ?  .....

ENGURLUND, ENGURLUND 

[parchpea]

When we purchased Cole I thought he would be fitting into a system and Hodgson would build a team around him with Torres at the spearhead but its  just not materialised. If you are going to bring a lad in for £90k a week you have to play him and have some idea where hes going to slot in the system but its been a right mess all round. Either play the lad up there and just let him roam around or get shut and for christ sakes dont start putting him on the flanks or have him tracking back into midfield. He hasnt played well no doubt about it but we have to give him a proper run, but when you chop and change the side every week and have everyone filtering back into your own half its like pulling teeth out there.

[dundreamin]

its like the keane saga all over again. I surprised theres not a queue of top class players wanting to come here 90k a week dont play and after 6 months you get sold! Laughing all the way to the bank

[RED BEERGOGGLES]

So Lets get this straight posters can claim Torres's  lack of form is one of our biggest contributors to a so far disappointing  season ....and in the same breath the same posters can defend the hapless Cole to the hilt ...am I missing something ?  .....

ENGURLUND, ENGURLUND 

[Zidane]

He's past it it seems, I never watched him much prior to him joining Liverpool but from all the high praise he was given I expected much much more, disappointing to say the least.

[7_Kewell]

He's past it it seems, I never watched him much prior to him joining Liverpool but from all the high praise he was given I expected much much more, disappointing to say the least.

i don't think he's had a fair crack at it to be honest. He's been injured, suspended or out of match fitness for the most part this season. I expect to see big improvements.

[Zidane]

He's past it it seems, I never watched him much prior to him joining Liverpool but from all the high praise he was given I expected much much more, disappointing to say the least.

i don't think he's had a fair crack at it to be honest. He's been injured, suspended or out of match fitness for the most part this season. I expect to see big improvements.

Honestly I don't expect him to really hit his stride this season, perhaps next yeah when he has a fresh start but players in his sort of rut can be there all season long.

[worcester_red]

He's past it it seems, I never watched him much prior to him joining Liverpool but from all the high praise he was given I expected much much more, disappointing to say the least.

i don't think he's had a fair crack at it to be honest. He's been injured, suspended or out of match fitness for the most part this season. I expect to see big improvements.

Honestly I don't expect him to really hit his stride this season, perhaps next yeah when he has a fresh start but players in his sort of rut can be there all season long.

So that's good value for £90k a week then isn't it. 

personally I don't like him, he should be chomping at the bit to impress at LFC but he seems disintrested and lazy

[boodiddy1]

He's past it it seems, I never watched him much prior to him joining Liverpool but from all the high praise he was given I expected much much more, disappointing to say the least.

i don't think he's had a fair crack at it to be honest. He's been injured, suspended or out of match fitness for the most part this season. I expect to see big improvements.

Honestly I don't expect him to really hit his stride this season, perhaps next yeah when he has a fresh start but players in his sort of rut can be there all season long.

So that's good value for £90k a week then isn't it. 

personally I don't like him, he should be chomping at the bit to impress at LFC but he seems disintrested and lazy

All these comments are pretty laughable.

I will not back him to the hilt, because his performances really do need to improve. But, there are many issues as to why it hasnt worked yet.

Injury and suspension, im sure all would agree have been the underlying problems for Joe not performing yet.

However, our form, style and reluctance to play throught the midfield make Joe disappear. Allay to that, that Torres and Stevie (again) have been missing for various parts of this wretched season and you can see the team has had no continuity.

We need a balanced, settled side. We just havent had it. We hit it long because of our inability to play it from the back. When Agger (if ever) is fit, then we have the opportunity. Same with Aurelio when fit.

That allows Raul to look for the ball in areas that are more dangerous. Ths, movement by Cole and Gerrard allows more options. Hopefully, (i aint Mourinho) this will create more attacking options for us and allow Joe, Fernando etc the chance to perform better.

So, not completely blaming Cole, we can look at Roy, injuries, lack of personnel (lets face it, we have some truly ordinary footballers on the books just now) to reasons as to why Joe Cole isnt performing for Liverpool.

It amazes me that he isnt given a role similar to Modric at Spurs. That lad isnt the strongest or fastest but is allowed more freedom top play in the final third. I dont know why? Maybe, its because of Konchesky's lack of pace that we need to have our left sided midfielder closer to him to help out defensively.

Anyhow, long winded, but definitely not a knee jerk reaction.

[maypaxvobiscum]

agree with Boo's post above. there's been rumors flying that Chelsea are courting Modric.

[stmichael]

LIVERPOOL'S JOE COLE MUST FIGHT TO KEEP UP APPEARANCES

Thursday December 23,2010

By Paul Joyce

JOE COLE was sitting in a media tent in the build-up to England’s opening match at the World Cup when he was asked if Fabio Capello’s disciplinarian outlook, and the sparse and isolated surroundings of the team’s Rustenburg base, might take away some of the enjoyment of being involved in the biggest show on the planet.

“You can’t suck the fun out of football,” Cole shot back, his response instantaneous.

With his own personal annus horribilis now weighing heavily on his shoulders, his attitude may have changed in the months since.

From Chelsea cast-off to England reject to bit-part player at Liverpool, Cole is facing arguably the biggest test of his career as he attempts to coax the smile back on to his face and force himself back into someone’s – anyone’s – starting line-up.

One thing is certain: the new year represents a new start.

“Joe has to come to terms with the fact that he has come here after an unsuccessful period at Chelsea with high hopes of taking Liverpool by storm and unfortunately it’s not happened. That’s life,” said Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson yesterday.

“He should have great confidence in his ability as he is a very good footballer. As far as I am concerned, everything he has to say should be said on that patch of green grass.

“He should be convincing me and everyone watching that this is a player who can help Liverpool win things. And you couldn’t say that has been the case so far.

“I don’t care how many things are written or said, you can’t make black into white.

“What I’m saying could be transformed into ‘Hodgson criticises Cole’, but it’s not that. I’m just analysing the situation.”

Having only recently returned from a hamstring injury, the postponement of the Fulham game and the threat which hangs over the Boxing Day fixture with Blackpool fits neatly with a year of frustration for Cole.
He made as many substitute appearances for Chelsea in the second half of last season, 11, as starts and was restricted to two cameos lasting just 44 minutes in total at the World Cup, despite John Terry’s very public lobbying for him to be shoe-horned into Capello’s starting line-up. Therein lies part of the problem for Cole, whose sole goal for Liverpool against Steaua Bucharest after just 27 seconds has at least earned him a place in the record books as the club’s fastest goalscorer in Europe.

Cole believes he is best deployed just off the striker. Yet after a handful of appearances in that role, stymied by his opening-weekend red card against Arsenal, Hodgson quickly moved him to the left of midfield.

Hodgson currently favours Maxi Rodriguez there and Dirk Kuyt on the right and, with Steven Gerrard also ready to return from injury, the competition for places will only become fiercer. “Joe is a midfield player and what’s the right position for a midfield player?” said Hodgson. “Gerrard has played all over midfield for as long as I can remember because he’s a good player.

“I hope Joe remembers this from the conversation we had in the summer when I made it clear I could not promise him a certain position.

“I made it clear Steven Gerrard was staying and the competition for the one spot, if it was the one spot he wanted, was going to be tough.”

It is interesting to note the way Hodgson speaks about Cole’s situation compared, for example, to the newly found warmth for someone like Lucas.

Liverpool’s interest in acquiring Cole after his Chelsea contract expired had been plotted long before Hodgson was appointed, but the club maintains that the manager approved, rather than simply inherited, the signing.

“It’s a difficult one for me to answer,” said Hodgson. “I was involved in the discussions with him, but the initiative and the desire to take Joe did come from Christian [Purslow, then managing director] perhaps more so than myself because I wasn’t in the position to say these are the players we should be targeting as I hadn’t been offered the job at that point.

“He’s not so much a player I can take responsibility for. I’d have to share the responsibility for Joe, less so than people like Poulsen, Meireles and Konchesky, who are players I was happy to bring to the club.

“Our competition for places is getting stronger, so the only thing I can say to him is, ‘We’re happy to have you here, Joe, but I can’t offer you anything more than a chance and you have to take it when it comes along’.”

Cole will be anxious to do just that.‘Joe has to take his chance when it comes along’

[url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/219000/Liverpool-s-Joe-Cole-must-fight-to-keep-up-appearancesLiverpool-s-Joe-Cole-must-fight-to-k
eep-up-appearances#ixzz18v8nICcw]http://www.express.co.uk/posts....v8nICcw[/url]

Yeah  cheers again Roy. That'll get him onside and playing better. Why not just keep these thing inhouse ffs? Tell me exactly how coming out and saying this is going to help Cole in any way, shape or form.

This was a guy considered to be a 'safe pair of hands' who came to 'steady the ship'?.

And he didn't even sign him either. What a shambles. Another strand of that leech Purslow and his legacy at LFC.