BOF Posted May 24, 2005 Moderator Share Posted May 24, 2005 Anyone else think O'Neill's expected resignation from Celtic could be a big boost for us signing Bellamy (regardless of whether you actually want him or not) ? Up to now one of the 'pulls' of playing for Celtic has been the prospect of playing under Martin O'Neill. Without him there, and playing instead for the mighty Gordon Strachan, Celtic surely become a little less desireable as a destination. Hopefully it bodes well for us. Put it this way, it'll hardly do them any good the fact that he's now leaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 I asked the question earlier on about how well he got on with Strachan at Coventry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted May 24, 2005 Moderator Share Posted May 24, 2005 If precedent is anything to go by, not very well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanPabloAngel Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Richard...Google, it's a marvellous thing. I found this: Gordon Strachan Friday January 28, 2005 The Guardian I've been following the Craig Bellamy business since Sunday with particular interest, having managed Craig for a season at Coventry. I don't know exactly what brought things to a head at Newcastle so I can only go on the information we all have, but it seems Craig still needs to take a few things on board. During the year Craig spent at Coventry I have to say he was never a bother to me. I had players who kept me up at night but he wasn't among them. On the training field he was a great lad to coach. I think I might have had him in my office once and it was over and done with in 30 seconds. Craig has a lot going for him but he needs to learn that, for all the weapons he has - pace, goals, hunger and a great engine - what you need most as a footballer is your team-mates with you and the respect of people round about you: the manager, coaches and players. They are your biggest weapons in being successful and what holds Craig back sometimes is his relationship with those three parties. Every top player I know is a right good lad and no problem to deal with and it looks as if Craig has got to be more player-friendly, manager-friendly and coach-friendly. Those people don't have to like you but they need to respect you. Then if you make a mistake they'll cover for you. If you have a problem off the field they'll look after you and you'll be part of the group. There becomes a bond between you and the rest of the team. I'm not suggesting there's no bond between Craig and the players at Newcastle. I'm not there so I can't know that. But in my experience the problem for Craig was the way he got on with players. He wasn't very political and his interactive skills could be better. Craig swears a lot, for example. That's not just him on the field, it's the way he speaks all the time. Also at Coventry he didn't understand that not everybody is as good as him. A lot of players are like that when they're young. They think: How can he not do that or how has he not seen my run? But not everybody has that vision or ability. You have to be able to talk to your team-mates. Craig did annoy the players at Coventry now and then with his bickering but you laughed at him after a while. Then he grumbled even more, but it wasn't a big deal. When any player grumbles you can turn it on them and have a laugh at their expense. I might say something like "It's a bad time of the month for him." It just needed a light-hearted comment so everybody knew Craig wasn't at his best and we had to get on with it. Craig was gobby with plenty of people but then smaller lads generally are. He always talks a lot but the trouble at the moment is he seems to be saying things that will alienate him from the coaching staff and supporters at Newcastle. The falling-out seems to be about the position he's playing in. But if Craig wants to be at Newcastle he has to put up with certain things. You can't have the world being great for you all the time. It's not as if Graeme Souness has picked two strikers and asked Craig to play on the wing. Newcastle are playing with one striker and then him on one wing and somebody else on the other side. I played Craig wide lots of times at Coventry and he had some wonderful games there. I said to him that if it went wrong I'd take the blame because I pick the team and the system. He was OK but he was a young man then and wanted matches. He was also a great trainer. He loved to get information, whether it was about his game, somebody else's game or the game in general. He's a decent student of the game and intelligent enough to pick up things that you pass on. I also found him an honest fellow. I felt that if you talked to him you were all right. In this situation at Newcastle the only person Craig will really harm in the long term is himself. Newcastle will survive, Graeme will survive and football in Britain will survive without Craig. But he needs football. It's the one thing he really likes doing. I can imagine what it's like at Newcastle now. Every time Graeme and Craig are close together the players will be looking for the reaction. There will be an uneasiness in the dressing room and players will wonder what will happen on the training field. So this is a big test for Graeme. In the end the manager has to win by making Newcastle a better team. If Graeme takes them into the Champions League next season he's won, whether that's with Craig Bellamy or without him. Judging by that, he'd be happy to take Bellamy back and Bellamy never had any run ins with him, so he probably wouldn't mind playing for him. O'Leary should set Mellberg on Bellamy if he gets too mouthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobbysmate Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 malbranque is the creative midfielder we require. the mere fact that we're arguing about what part of midfield he actually plays in shows his versatility. the fact is, he does pretty much cover the centre and right of midfield and has the skill and creativity that we so need and miss. imagine our right half of midfield with him and solano!!!!! GET HIM!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRL Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Viva La Villa BAROS BLAST LEAVES KOP IN TURMOIL From David Maddock in Istanbul MILAN BAROS revealed last night that his Liverpool career is almost certain to be over after the Champions League final. Baros is now facing the axe from the showdown with AC Milan because the revelation that their main striker has been in talks with other clubs on the eve of Liverpool's biggest game of the season has not gone down well at Anfield. The Czech has been linked with Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Fiorentina, but will end up at Valencia, who are in an advanced stage of talks with the player's agent over a four-year deal. And that will open the door for Djbril Cisse to complete a fairytale comeback after a horrendous injury by starting against Milan tomorrow night. Baros has admitted that his agent is in talks with several clubs over a potential £5million move at the end of the season. Advertisement It now seems certain that he will join Valencia, after falling out of favour with Liverpool boss Raphael Benitez. That should give Cisse his chance to make up for what has been a painful and frustrating season, much of it immobilised in plaster after snapping his leg in one of the worst breaks ever seen in football. The French striker was just minutes away from losing his leg because the blood supply was restricted by the break. There were fears he would never play again. But the 22-year-old overcame all the odds to force his way back into the reckoning and now looks like realising his dream of playing in the final. Baros made it clear yesterday that his days at Anfield are numbered - and that his agent, Pavel Paska, has already opened talks with other clubs. "I've had several offers from other clubs, and it is now the job of my agent Pavel to talk to them," Baros said. "I am calm about my future and I can concentrate fully on the Champions League final. Maybe I will leave Anfield, maybe I will stay. We will listen to what is offered. "But my main aim at the moment is that I can keep my place ahead of Cisse for the final against Milan, and I will do my best to make that happen." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobbysmate Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 so why don't u post that on a valencia message board??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRL Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Thought it would end all speculation regarding Baros... Keep on dreaming if you want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobbysmate Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 very true, i beg your pardon :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted May 24, 2005 Share Posted May 24, 2005 Thought it would end all speculation regarding Baros... Keep on dreaming if you want to. I certainly will - Baros moving to Valencia almost certainly means that Marco Di Vaio will leave; snap him up DO'L! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-67 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Baros has just won the european cup with Liverpool, why would he take the step down to join Villa now ?? Sorry to talk Villa down but we have to be realistic. DOL talked about gettable targets, I take this to mean that he has players in mind who are surplus to requirements, available for the right money (a la Hughes) or Bosmans. I had a look through some of the premiership squads and came up with this list of who may move his summer. Let me make it clear that I am not suggesting that they all move to Villa or that we may move for them. Edu, Cygan,Garry Flitcroft, Henrik Pedersen, Parker, Geremi, Kezman, Carlton Cole, Leon Osman, Malbranque and Boa Morte(for the right money), Henchoz, Smicer, Hamann, Vignal, Biscan,Diouf, El hadji, Quinton Fortune, Kleberson, Hugo Viana, Kluivert, Bellamy, Lauren Robert, Darren Huckerby, Dean Ashton, Kevin Phillips, Robbie Keane,Rob Earnshaw and Andy Johnson. Personally, I think out of this list Phillips will come to Villa and I feel that Smicer would do a good job for two years. I would like Malbranque too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted May 25, 2005 Moderator Share Posted May 25, 2005 smicer is going to france and baros - althought constantly rumoured to be on his way to vp - is headed for valencia which I reckon will mean aimar at liverpool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted May 26, 2005 Share Posted May 26, 2005 smicer is going to france and baros - althought constantly rumoured to be on his way to vp - is headed for valencia which I reckon will mean aimar at liverpool Indeed, Malbranque please and there are a few players not mentioned in the list, of whom Alan Smith or Louis Saha would be included Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozvillafan Posted May 27, 2005 VT Supporter Share Posted May 27, 2005 Aussie Craig Moore has left Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany. He's long in the tooth but has CL and international experience (he's captain), is decent backup for our central defenders and would come cheap. Worth the gamble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ligs Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Well if he wasn't when he left Rangers last summer (or was it the one before) then I doubt he would be now. How about John Aloisi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Didn't Craig Moore leave Borrussia due to him turning up pissed to training??? I think he'll retire or go play back home in Oz..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwheels Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Rafael Benitez is ready to break up his Champions League winning team as he looks to begin a new Liverpool dynasty. Benitez is believed to be closing in on Villareal goalkeeper Jose Reina and Steven Gerrard looks set to sign a new deal, but several others are set to go. That would include players like Smicer and Mellor who could do a job for us. Mellor as a back-up striker would be a good compliment to the players we have. There are others - Benitez only wants to keep about 7 or 8 of the squad from this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Smicer is too hot or cold IMO and wouldn't be a great purchase and it looks like Hammann will return to Germany As for Mellor - no thanks, he couldnt cut it in the Championship let alone the prem and we have (for the time being :winkold: ) Luke Moore as our 'back-up' striker.. Out of the Liverpool 'clear-out' I'd hope we put in a bid for Kewell, Kirkland or Baros (dreaming about the last though!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Would like kewell and baros for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 I honestly believe Kewell is gettable - he desperately needs to resurrect his career after a poor show thorughout his Liverpool stay and following the Champs league final I think he'll be shown the door.. He would add a more attacking dimension to our game and could fit in either midfield or upfront behind JPA... Imagine a line-up with him on board:- ...............Sorenson Hughes, Mellberg, Laursen, Samuel .................McCann .......Davis...............Barry Solano........................Kewell .................JPA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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