Liverpool FC Forum

by **Dundalk** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:58 pm

Guillem Balague - Respect or disrespect

Taken from This is Anfield

Theres nothing like an insider during the transfer window, especially if its the gaffers mate and somone who is supposedly ‘in the know’ worldwide and who also posseses a good footballing mind.

Guillem Balague came onto the scene earlier on this year with his off-the-cuff remarks about players we are linked with and seemingly respectable views on our team. We know full well Guillem is a fan to an extent, of Liverpool Football Club, and of Benitez, and this has helped boost his credibility through fans worldwide (being seemingly the opposite to Chris Bascome who since joining the News of the World has been not much more than a doom and gloom merchant).

In recent weeks however (especially now the Ronaldo saga is over) Guillem has been throwing bad news at us from all angles. He had little to say about the signing of Keane but yet has managed to have his fair share of opinions on Degen, Dossena and the mystery ’south american youngsters’ who have yet to arrive.

On Friday he released a blog posting about Rafa ‘wanting to leave Anfield’, and while it is highly possible this actually happened, don’t you feel its just a little bit of a kick in the teeth the day before the opening day of the season? Of course it is also highly possible Benitez engineered this statement so he could come out in the press confrence post-sunderland and quash the rumors while also re-affirming his commitment to the fans (and note its the fans, not the club - which is important) and boosting team morale at the same time.

This is the time we need to start winning things, the season everyone has focused on as the one where we at least challenge for number 19 - but regardless of our hopes and whether they pull through we could do without the bad press constantly trying to put another nail in our coffin, especially from somone who is a ‘fan’ of the club.

I for one, am sick of Guillems comments, his shady replies to questions that quite honestly dont tell us anything we didn’t already know aside from the odd one now and again. Reading his garb and regurgitating it all over the forums (not just TIA - about every Liverpool site going) is getting to a point of silliness where his word is taken as gospel. I imagine if he said Benitez bought Ramos on FM2008 we’d probably beleive his spin and take it that we ‘are signing Sergio Ramos’ or some crazy story like that.

I thoroughly enjoyed his book on Rafa and LFC ‘A season on the brink’, he had some great insights to Benitez’s managerial and tactical mind and it is one of the greatest LFC reads i’ve had aside from ‘43 years with the same bird’. And up until his recent website launch and endless rumors of this that and everything inbetween I really had respect for him and did feel he spoke a lot of truth but also thought he respected the fans and what he thought Benitez would want us to hear. Now I just think he is jumping on the back of his inside information from LFC and leaving a trail of dirt through the centre-circle en route to bigger fame.

I don’t like our club and us fans being his launchpad - we are only here to support one thing, and thats the team of 11 men that run out on the pitch - not the managers bessie mate. So it has to be said, is Guillem respecting that the fans want to know everything happening at the club and telling us every inkling and murmur he hears however devastating it could be, or is he disrespecting the club by using it as a ticket to fame?

by **account deleted by request** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:32 pm

I think Rafa uses Balague in the same way that Parry uses Bascombe....... to broadcast the things they dare not say "officially" for fear of the repercussions. It also gives them deniability if things don't go the way they expect and the reaction isn't favourable.

The sad thing is that these "journalists" are quite happy to toe the "party line" as long as the stories keep flowing, but once they have served their purpose, they use the reputation they have attained through their sources to continue supplying stories, only now their stories become guesses and theories rather than facts supplied by genuine sources.

by **account deleted by request** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 7:33 am

Latest blog from Balogue :-

17/08/2008
Time to bury the hatchet at Liverpool

As expected, Rafa Benitez has issued a form of denial to the story we published here last Friday. He began by telling me yesterday that: 'I am not thinking of leaving' - which is different from denying that he had thought about it a week ago - and later, in the press conference post Sunderland, he used similar language to publically affirm his current commitment to the club.

However, Rafa DID think about leaving the club - probably in a rush of blood - but subsequently decided against it. Whatever the case, it is time to move on and consider the bigger picture: there is a situation at Anfield involving differences between key figures at the club and it is a situation that needs to be resolved.

Sources at the club suggest that the manager should not feel the need to participate in transfer negotiations and that this is one of the root causes of the problem: because Benitez' believes his position to be the opposite, and sees it as an integral part of his job, particularly if he is able to help the club reduce the fee and to eventually get the player he wants.

Meanwhile, key players at Liverpool feel disappointed that the beginning of the season has been marred by new conflicts within the club. Yet they should understand that this mini civil war was inevitable: the board again wants to consign Rafa Benitez to his place as a coach, while Rafa feels he is being undermined in his wish to sign the players that he believes can improve the side. I have the impression that Rafa sees this conflict as a personal thing, while, on the other hand, Rick Parry thinks he is doing a fine job as go-between between the owners and the manager.

Although the tensions have been present for many months, as has been publicised in the past, the failed transfer of Xabi Alonso and the Gareth Barry saga has made the situation worse.

Some sources at Liverpool say there was never a bid from Juventus for Xabi Alonso - others would tell you that there was a meeting, at Melwood, where Juve offered around £12 million for the player. Arsenal also offered £12 million. The player was told, by the board that, for that figure, he could go. However, Rafa then decided that this was not enough money: after all, if Barry costs £18 million, then who was going to understand Xabi being sold for just £12 million. Needless to say, for £18 million, Xabi Alonso could go to the London club.

Arsenal have not since returned with an improved, solid, offer for Alonso. However, Xabi knows that the manager wants to sell him and that if he stays he will have to spend time watching games from the stands: not an ideal situation for a player of Xabi Alonso's pedigree, and a last minute offer from a big club (neither Barcelona or Real Madrid have asked about him) would at least offer him a satisfactory way out.

And what about Gareth Barry? Many feel the delay in sorting this transfer out is a sign that Rick Parry is blocking it. What is true is that it was both of the club's owners who decided against the signing. Parry may then argue that their decision has nothing to do with him, but Benitez would probably think that the coach should be the only one taking football decisions, and therefore the one explaining to the owners directly what he wants, not through somebody else

Some people say that the situation at Anfield has reached a point of no return. I predict something else: football is a results based business after all, and if Liverpool can manage to get four or five early season victories under their belt, then the tensions will be swept under the carpet. Everybody can then focus their energies upon what can become a very good season at Anfield: with the realistic aim of achieving a top two Premiership finish.

by **112-1077774096** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:58 am

some of that doesnt quite make sense s@int, it says that the club say rafa does not need to be involved in negotiations about price, but the part you have highlighted says rafa put the block on the alonso sale because he felt it wasnt enough money.

seems a little contradictory that blog

by **account deleted by request** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:17 am

Yeah mate, but then again it all seems a mess at the moment, I don't think anyone really knows WTF is going on.

It seems to me that Hicks is backing Rafa, while Gillett seems to be backing Parry.

Hicks seems to be backing Rafa's transfer ideas, while Gillett and Parry seem to have their own ideas, or at least arn't too keen on Rafa's.

Rafa seems to want Barry more than Alonso , while the board seem to be happy to sell Alonso for what they can get, while Rafa wants a similar price to what we pay for Barry.

Confused ? You will be.....

Meanwhile, Alonso seemed to want to stay at Liverpool while we were selling him, but now that we appear to have a little money and his sale is no longer required, he wants to go.

While Rafa who wanted to sell Alonso to buy Barry,now seems to want to keep Alonso unless we get a big money offer, but Parry while happy to sell Alonso doesn't want to buy Barry.

What a way to run a club

by **tel** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:13 pm

Its more about personal survival than team success for Rick Parry. 2m in the way of Rafa challenging for the title. And Parry says Barry costs too much, instead of sticking up for the manager publically against scabby owners.

P**ck of a man.

by **JohnBull** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:39 pm

Parry is just looking for the biggest lifeboat at the moment. He knows the iceberg is coming and the prykes ego still makes him think he'll be able to talk his way out of this.

Raffa is the main loser in this (apart from us !) because , like him or not, he does want to succeed for Liverpool Football Club. He's about the only one who's not just looking out for themselves.

As for Alonso, doesn't this ring bells with you ? The same gobshytes started selling McMannaman behind his back and he spat his dummy out and creamed us with an out of contract deal. Must admit I wouldn't like some backstabber trying to shaft me. Xavi will need some sweet talking from the management but I don't think they're up to it. Wonder how long they've been trying to broker this deal and if Xavi heard about it last year ?

by **tel** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:59 pm

JohnBull wrote:Parry is just looking for the biggest lifeboat at the moment. He knows the iceberg is coming and the prykes ego still makes him think he'll be able to talk his way out of this.

Raffa is the main loser in this (apart from us !) because , like him or not, he does want to succeed for Liverpool Football Club. He's about the only one who's not just looking out for themselves.

As for Alonso, doesn't this ring bells with you ? The same gobshytes started selling McMannaman behind his back and he spat his dummy out and creamed us with an out of contract deal. Must admit I wouldn't like some backstabber trying to shaft me. Xavi will need some sweet talking from the management but I don't think they're up to it. Wonder how long they've been trying to broker this deal and if Xavi heard about it last year ?

Enjoyed reading this, and not far off the mark.

Rick Parry gets off lightly. He was the one that went out fishing for the Yanks money to begin with. An honourable man would have resigned long ago for getting it so wrong.

Not the first time Rafa has complained about Parry blocking transfers and taking too long to sign players.

The Barry saga is a disgrace of Parry's making.

by **zarababe** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:54 pm

JohnBull wrote:It's going to be a while before the good times return.

if we keep changing manager it will - do u not think Rafa deserves to see out his contract and deliver the title - as he did the european and fa cups

by **JohnBull** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:56 pm

It's hard to say if a change of manager would make a big difference in the short term but after four years and quite a few million pound there's not a lot to point to as an improvement.
The current fun & games were started well before Raffa or Houllier when the club was allowed to be taken over by people who treat it as a cash cow or a hobby which was a nice little earner.
If you look around the world most big clubs suffer this way and when the accountants suddenly start thinking that they can decide which players to sign then the end is not far away.
The kind of manager we need, a very strong one in the Shankley style, will never be signed by the very people who he's going to be in conflict with. That's the problem now. Parry/Hicks/Gillett would never agree to a Scolari or Mourino because there would be murder. I can see Raffa giving the impression of being easy going. He's not openly aggressive so I think the board thought it would be another smooth ride to easy life. They may have thought that he could really bring success on a shoestring. Raffa is no Wenger and we are not going to be picking up pearls for buttons like Arsenal but given the funds he could get the Prem. We just can't afford it.
I'm made up that Raffa's playing politics with the b@st@rds, it's about time, but I just cannot see a happy ending after it's all over. It is going to be a start again job, probably with a new manager.

I can still feel another 5 year plan coming.

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