Ryan Babel Leaves, Joe Cole’s Still Here, and Other Tuesday Notes

By: Noel | January 25th, 2011

Go fish.

This transfer window, and trying to sort out posts while half expecting breaking news to come barreling along at any minute, has officially got me all turned around. Yesterday’s morning offering was originally going to be yesterday’s morning and mid-day offerings, but fearing breaking news it all got welded into one big entry with a tacked on and vaguely, tangentially relevant video even if it really wasn’t a news and notes link sharing type post that would normally get that sort of treatment as a matter of course. And then no news broke, but at least no news breaking leant itself to a poll (and have you voted yet?). Which in a meandering way brings us to today…

* So, remember that part where Babel was sold to Hoffenheim only then it was just that they had permission to talk to him, and that seemed a really odd thing for the club to have made a big deal of? And then it was whispered that it might have just been an attempt to set his price as part of the ongoing discussions with Ajax? And then nothing at all happened for a few days until yesterday Kenny Dalglish said that Ryan Babel wouldn’t be leaving after all?

Well, now he’s going to Hoffenheim again, having apparently agreed to terms. Though perhaps it’s dangerous to assume he’ll pass the physical, or that his helicopter won’t land somewhere in the Swiss Alps by accident. Depending on who you ask this could either mean that the Suarez deal is, A) dead because they clearly don’t want Babel; or, B) that the Suarez deal is definitely happening because the Babel money will be diverted mid-flow to the Netherlands. But Babel will definitely be plying his trade in the Bundesliga. With Hoffenheim. Unless something else happens.

* Meanwhile, friend of the blog Nate over at OYB got it into his head to compare the passing statistics from the Blackpool, Everton, and Wolverhampton matches this season under Dalglish and Hodgson, and the results might surprise you. It appears as though under Hodgson, Liverpool had both more attempts and more completions in all the fixtures under our former manager than they have had in the return legs under Dalglish. Which I never would have expected given that Liverpool to all appearances has looked much better under Dalglish and my gut expectation would have been that that would go hand in hand with more robust passing performances–you know, the Liverpool Groove and 31-pass moves and all that. He’s got some interesting charts and graphs, and does a good job picking apart just what it all means, so go, read.

* Elsewhere, also friend of the blog steven. from Paisley Gates wonders if Joe Cole might be the solution to Liverpool’s needs in the transfer market, which would be conveient seeing as the club wouldn’t have to come to an agreement with any other side to have him start playing for LFC. They might have to sort out his injury problems, lack of match fitness, and that he hasn’t had a real run in close to three seasons now, leaving some to wonder if the player some think of as “Joe Cole” still exists in any way, shape, or form. But hey, every transfer is a risk, and if we’re already paying the guy £90k a week I suppose we might as well try to get some use out of him.

In the meantime, while we ponder the fact that nobody actually has the slightest bloody clue what’s going on…

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Category: Premier League, Team News, Transfer News

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steven.

i thought you said i was a friend of "the blob" .. he was always my favorite movie monster....
Noel

Well, there's always next time to look forward to.
LivFan

Anyone has voted???
Sagan44

In Portugal they are voting the best team of the century. Vote for Liverpool 1978 here:

http://www.abola.pt/melhorequi...
Justin

It seems like the Jova to Wolfsburg story is gaining some steam. The £6mil for his services could be used in combination with the Babel funds to make a stronger Suarez bid.

I hope this is true. While Jova had some promising moments this season, I don't see him staking a regular place in the first team, especially if we pick up some players in the summer months to occupy the wings.

Any thoughts?
Noel

My main thought is wondering how on earth it makes sense for Wolfsburg to pay £6M for a player we got on a free and has done nothing to justify anybody paying half that price. But hey, if it happens, great. Still, as best I understand it, FSG isn't in a situation where getting £6M for Jovanovic would make them able to pay £6M more for Suarez--they have the funds to pay that much more than whatever they're currently offering him (which nobody knows because all the leaks are coming from the Dutch side as a negotiation tactic) but aren't about to be treated like sheiks by paying what they feel is an overly inflated price on their very first major deal. Sets a bad precedent, and all that.
Justin

I think the fee is a respectable one, the player is under contract and £6M is hardly an astronomical fee. It was purely incidental that we got Jova on a free (after all his contract ended). I do agree, however, that the dutch media leaks are simply negotiation tactics.

That being said, I believe it is, overall, part of the Comolli-FSB agenda to offload deadwood and bring in as much talent as possible. Considering that FSG haven't owned the club for very long, they probably have yet to generate a profit from owning the club. Their current modus operandi seems to be to reinvest profits made from their clubs back in to the clubs in the form of players/infrastructure/etc. So, seeing as how they have yet to really make any money back yet, it would seem logical to me that they would want to move out as many players as possible (those identified as surplus or just not fit for the red shirt or not part of the long term plan as decided by Kenny/Comolli) before bringing in new talent.

Nevertheless, the clock is ticking and I wouldn't be entirely surprised if we didn't bring anyone in during this window, but I've always been the type to prefer pessimism in these types of situations only to later be elated when something good turns up.

I keep dreaming of a world in which Liverpool own Llorente, Suarez, and Torres....droooool.
steven.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if we didn't bring anyone in during this window

me neither....such high expectations for nothing at all. kind of like prom night...
Red2death

I'm surprised at 6m for Jova (though definitely not complaining). There are few players in their 30s out there who can command in excess of that sum. Ronaldinho, Van Bommel two recent ones. And Milan Jovanovic is nowhere near that level, he's not even in the same class.

I'd be surprised if we don't bring anyone in. The cynical side of me says that FSG should do just as an insurance policy in case everything goes south and we end up finishing the season horribly. If they don't bring in anyone, the pressure on them at that time would be unimaginable. But if they sign Suarez or some other reasonable name during this window and he flops, at least no one can accuse FSG of not trying.
Baldrick

...but you gotta admit he's entertaining even compulsive viewing!! Plus he is only looking after his own interests over Adam who I do rate yet can't really see the need for his style in our current set up. Don't think you can blame him for being on the defensive. His criticism of Comoli seems to have echo's of the recent Suarez fiasco, I'm beginning to wonder if the bloke is screwing things up with his style of negotiation?
Yann

Agree he’s perfectly entitled to be pissed off but FFS, can’t he voice his displeasure to LFC behind the scenes and get on with private negotiations. Relax with all the hoohah. Managers can’t use the media for leverage when it suits them and then complain when the hungry beast turns on them, which it inevitably does. And yes, it does sound as though Comolli is under pressure to deliver. No worries Baldrick, I'm sure he has a cunning plan.
Khaine

Meh, Comolli obviously made the 4,5 mill bid as a ploy to unsettle Adam, and it's worked. No less nefarious than using the media to make light of things that. IMO, Holloway is just saying it like it is, as usual. He may be a little direct for some people, but again, he always is, not only when it serves his cause.

Also, don't forget this quote: “My speech then was all about us helping him to look as good as he can be and earning him his move to Liverpool. They are not trying to patronise us with their bid – I just don’t feel they have seen enough of him."

Hardly disrespectful.

As has been pointed out here earlier, Adam is worth a lot more to Blackpool than he is to Liverpool, and if I were Oyston, I wouldn't let him go before the summer window regardless of the offer on hand.
Yann

I will concede that LFC making an offer, the precise quantum of which had already been rejected by Blackpool from other suitors, was a touch strange and yes, destined to fail. Nevertheless, Holloway has been all over the shop, throwing haymakers with his eyes shut, and in the process he’s alienated his gun charge. So if anything, he’s playing into our hands.
Yann

I don’t know much about Ian Holloway, other than that an anagram of his name is ‘ah, a wily loon’ or ‘ah, loyal wino’. To me he seems a muppet. I thought he spoke well when Dalglish was appointed and even after Blackpool beat us. But with the disrespectful way he’s been carrying on lately, I’d like to bitch-slap him.

Some of his recent quotes regarding this Adam saga include: (1) referring to Comolli's talks with Blackpool's chairman, Holloway said: "He ummed and aahed and apparently did not make much sense.” (2) In a call to Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston Comolli asked for a valuation but Holloway suggested that Oyston was unimpressed with that approach. "Damien Comolli rang my chairman faffing about," he said. (3) “I’ve spoken to Charlie and he said, ‘It is doing my head in’.” Holloway said. “I told him, ‘It ain’t me who is doing your head in, son’...I just feel sorry about one thing - that Liverpool don’t rate him that much”, and (4) “Are we the only sane ones? Why should we say, ‘You can have our captain, go on take him”.

Right after our second defeat by Blackpool, and what I’d seen of Adam, I wrote in this blog that us picking him up for £8 – 10M would represent good business, and I still think we’ll land him, but Xabi Alonso he aint, at least not yet. Holloway’s high pitched raving like a media slut is pathetic. He should take a leaf out of the Liverpool way (pre- and post- Hodgson), keep his mouth shut and do business behind closed doors. Only then might he have some shot at getting fair value for Adam.