Reds In The Black
‘FOOTBALL is no longer a game of two halves; its now a game of two haves, those who have and those who have not. And joining the ranks of those that have are Liverpool FC.
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| Staying put |
The Mail leads with the news that 30% of the Anfield club is now owned by Thai Prime Minster Thaksin Shinawatra.
For those of you not up on Thai politics, Shinawatra, or Shino as hes known on Merseyside, is a billionaire. Beyond that, what else do you need?
The fact is that with him on board, Liverpool have a few tens of millions to spend on players and so will be huge and massive and all those big things that money buys.
Or they might just get more of the ilk of Emile Heskey, Harry Kewell and El-hadji Diouf.
But at least the Reds wont be looking for a new striker as the Sun reports Michael Owen is staying put for at least another season.
Things, however, must improve if he is to stay longer term (not least of which is his own form).
We have taken a bit of a step back from a few years ago and now we need to take two steps forward, says Owen.
And then turn to their neighbour, slap their thigh and say how the team has been unlucky with injuries and how with the right money, the right attitude and some good fortune, Liverpool can rise again.
They might, but anyone who saw Liverpools treble win a few seasons back will be of the mind that they used up about ten years worth of luck along the way.
At least now they have another kind of fortune.
Meanwhile, other players are on the move, or at least thinking about shifting.
The Sun says that Jonathan Woodgate is ready to leave Newcastle in pursuit of Champions League football.
And that Juan Sebastian Veron, heralded as the best midfielder in the world when he went to Chelsea (source: C Ranieri), is now being shown the door.
But dont worry about poor old Seba because to break his £90,000-a-week contract, the Blues will have to pay him £2m severance.
But the biggest rumour surrounds Harry Redknapp, who has worked wonders is keeping Portsmouth aloft in the Premier League.
The hangdog one is said to be disappointed at what looks like the club chairmans decision to sack Redknapps assistant Jim Smith after two years service,
We have had two fantastic seasons here and anyone who doesnt appreciate it is a fool, he says.
The only way we could have done better would be to have spent £60-70 million. No-one could do the same otherwise.
The likes of Charltons Alan Curbishley and Martin ONeill, while he was in charge at Leicester, might take exception to Redknapps rhetoric, but hes angry.
And if he does walk out, then, perhaps, itd be time to say goodbye to Sven and get Harry at Englands helm.
The football might not be as pragmatically successful as the Swedes, but the interviews would not induce such a feeling of catatonia.’
Posted: 11th, May 2004 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
