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THURSDAY 6 |
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Reds linked with Cudicini
Liverpool have been linked with Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo
Cudicini.
Cudicini has been out of favour at Chelsea since the signing
of Petr Cech and is hoping for a move. The Italian wants to
stay in the Premiership if possible and Liverpool could be a
possible destination according to his agent.
(LFC Online)
Biscan will remain at Liverpool
Liverpool midfielder Igor Biscan has told Liverpool he wants
to stay with the club to help their injury crisis.
Biscan, 26, had been linked with a move to Southampton and was
left out of Liverpool's squad for the victory at Norwich
earlier in the week.
But the Croatian international has insisted he does not want
to leave.
Manager Rafa Benitez confirmed: "Igor will be staying with us.
He has said he wants to remain here and I am happy with the
player's attitude."
(BBC Sport Online)
Bolton confirm interest in Liverpool star
Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed that he
is interested in signing Liverpool defender Stephane Henchoz.
The Swiss international is wanted by a host of clubs and
Bolton are hoping that they can win the race to sign him.
Allardyce said: "Stephane Henchoz is a player we admire and if
we can find the right financial package, I'd like to think
that we could be in a good position to sign him.
"We would be competing against a number of other clubs but we
can offer him the chance to stay in the North West.
"Getting a deal done will be difficult as with any transfer
target".
(Kop Talk)
Clarets star hopes to shock Reds
Resurgent Burnley will be looking to cap a remarkable
transformation in the club's fortunes with an FA Cup shock
over Liverpool at Turf Moor on Friday night.
A year ago, Burnley were teetering above the First Division
drop zone, and more worryingly were on the brink of going into
administration.
The Clarets did not have the money to see out the season but
thanks to a round of cost-cutting and fund-raising
initiatives, kept the wolves from the door.
The televised cup tie against Liverpool and an anticipated
full house have further eased the financial burden, and
long-serving striker Ian Moore is delighted to see light at
the end of the tunnel.
"I've played in a few important games in my career but growing
up a Liverpool supporter makes it extra special for me, and
for the rest of the players. We're looking forward to it."
(BBC Sport Online)
Boss on Morientes: We have other options
Rafael Benitez has revealed that Fernando Morientes is not
Liverpool's only option when it comes to signing a striker
during the January transfer window.
Benitez has made no secret of his desire to sign the Real
Madrid striker and the player himself has admitted that he'd
like to join the Reds.
"It is still a possibility but we will know more in two or
three days. We also have other options and they (Real) know
that. It's best not to mention names in the press though
because the players concerned will then end up being more
expensive."
(LFC Official Website)
Henchoz backtracks on Rangers
Stephane Henchoz appears to have had a change of heart about a
possible move to Rangers. Yesterday the player was quoted as
saying:
"Rangers have made me an offer but actually I would like to
stay in the Premier League." Today the Swiss international
insists he has not ruled out a move to the SPL.
"I haven’t made up mind yet," he stressed. "There are two
clubs from the Premiership interested, but all three are
interesting offers.
"My agent is dealing with the negotiations with Rangers. I
need to see
what is the best option."
(Goal.com)
Clarets confident cup tie will go ahead
Officials at Burnley Football Club are confident Friday
night's third round FA Cup tie will go ahead as planned,
despite heavy rain falling on the Turf Moor pitch over the
holiday period.
The Clarets' home fixture against Leicester on New Years Day
was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch but ground staff are
working hard to prepare it for the eagerly anticipated visit
of Liverpool.
Contrary to some reports, no official pitch inspection is
planned at the moment and the Coca Cola Championship club do
not foresee any problems.
A Clarets spokesman told Liverpoolfc.tv today: "The pitch is
being 'sponged' and spiked today. The covers will go over it
later and stay on overnight until tomorrow. We are definitely
confident that the game will go ahead."
(LFC Official Website)
Morientes move in doubt?
Fernando Morientes' proposed move to Liverpool could be in
doubt after Real Madrid coach Wanderley Luxemburgo admitted he
did not want the player to join a 'rival'.
"I don't like reinforcing the rivals," he stated. "Morientes
joining Liverpool will be like helping an enemy."
(LFC Online)
Injured Duff ruled out of Liverpool tie
Michael Duff has been ruled out of one of the biggest games of
his career by injury. The former Cheltenham Town defender, now
with Coca-Cola Championship side Burnley, where Steve
Cotterill is manager, has a calf strain which will keep him
out of tomorrow night's FA Cup third round clash with
Premiership Liverpool.
"I was looking forward to it and I haven't missed a game
through injury for about two years," said Duff (pictured), who
joined Burnley for an initial £30,000 in July.
"It's a pain because I had a lot of family coming over from
Ireland, but it's just one of those things that happen."
(Gloucestershire Echo)
Pellegrino happy to be at Anfield
Mauricio Pellegrino has expressed his delight at completing
his move from Valencia to Liverpool.
The 33-year-old defender has signed a six-month contract at
Anfield with the option of another year.
"I feel very satisfied," Pellegrino told the club's official
website.
(ITV Football)
Blunder officials handed Turf Moor tie
Jerzy Dudek has no reason to fear dropping the ball three feet
behind his own goalline at Burnley on Friday - as blundering
officials Mark Clattenburg and Rob Lewis are in charge of
Liverpool's FA Cup tie.
Clattenburg, and his assistant Lewis, were yesterday put in
charge of the third round clash at Turf Moor just 24 hours
after causing outrage at Old Trafford.
The pair failed to spot Manchester United keeper Roy Carroll
dropping a speculative 55-yard effort from Tottenham's Pedro
Mendes over his line as Sir Alex Ferguson's side gained a
fortunate point and calls intensified for TV replays to be
introduced to aid match officials.
Ferguson was quick to sympathise with the official's
predicament on Tuesday night.
But their appointment for Friday's FA Cup tie means Liverpool,
incensed by Mike Riley's performance against Chelsea last
weekend, must continue to share the spotlight with
controversial referees.
(Daily Post)
Man United striker targets Liverpool
Manchester United striker Louis Saha is targeting his side’s
match with Liverpool for his comeback.
The former Fulham favourite has been missing since United’s
victory over Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup in November.
Saha is currently recovering from a knee injury and both
player and manager are hoping that a return against local
rivals Liverpool will be possible – especially considering
United’s injury problems.
(Pink Football) |
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WEDNESDAY 5 |
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Pellegrino joins Liverpool
Liverpool have completed the signing of Valencia defender
Mauricio Pellegrino, the player's agent has admitted.
Filippo Cavadini has revealed that the 33-year-old Argentinian
has signed a six-month contract with the option of another
year.
Cavadini said: "He has passed his medical and is very happy he
is going to Liverpool - a great club."
(Sporting Life)
Diouf incident closed
Both Bolton Wanderers and Birmingham City have dismissed
claims of another El Hadji Diouf spitting incident.
The Liverpool striker, on loan at The Trotters, was claimed to
have spat at Birmingham fans after scoring the first goal of
the game.
But CCTV footage revealed that the claims were inaccurate.
"Bolton Wanderers Football Club has been in contact with
Birmingham City today regarding the alleged spitting incident
involving El-Hadji Diouf," said a club spokesman.
"Birmingham City confirmed that they have not received any
complaints and the stadium's CCTV system has no evidence of
the allegation.
"Both clubs will not be taking further action and the matter
is now closed."
(LFC Online)
Henchoz 'no' to Gers
Rangers are set to miss out on signing Stephane Henchoz after
the Liverpool defender insisted he wants to stay in the
Barclays Premiership.
The Ibrox club made an offer to the Switzerland international
but the 30-year-old does not want to leave England.
Henchoz said: "Rangers have made me an offer, but I would like
to stay in the Premier League.
"My girlfriend and I are expecting our first baby, so this is
a very bad time for moving.
"Rangers' offer is not the only one and I will consider each
of them before finally making a decision."
(Liverpool Echo)
Alonso and Kirkland out for three months
Liverpool will be without influential midfielder Xabi Alonso
for three months.
The Spanish play-maker needs an operation on the broken ankle
he suffered in Saturday's defeat to Chelsea.
And Rafa Benitez was handed more bad news after it was
confirmed Chris Kirkland will also be sidelined for three
months.
The keeper will undergo surgery to cure a persistent back
problem.
Liverpool had initially hoped Alonso would only be missing for
six weeks, but a specialist yesterday confirmed he needs a
screw inserting into the fracture in his left ankle. He will
undergo the operation tomorrow and will need three months to
recover.
Kirkland will have keyhole surgery on Friday to repair a disc
in his back.
Liverpool spokesman Ian Cotton said: "Both players require
operations and will be out for three months."
(Liverpool Echo)
Time for Reds' young guns
Benitez is considering turning to his young guns for the
tricky FA Cup tie at Burnley on Friday.
Benitez has shown how much faith he has in his Academy
graduates by promoting the youngsters during Carling Cup ties.
Stephen Warnock, David Raven and John Welsh were all included
in the squad at Norwich, and they're set to be joined by Zak
Whitbread in the party which
heads to Turf Moor.
(Liverpool Echo)
Spanish eyes on Igor
Liverpool's Igor Biscan has emerged as a target for Primera
outfits Atletico Madrid and Valencia.
Biscan is also thought to be on the agenda of both Celtic and
Southampton, with Saints boss Harry Redknapp already thought
to have submitted a £500,000 offer for his services.
(Planet Football/Sky Sports)
Keegan: No Anelka contact
Kevin Keegan insisted Nicolas Anelka's surprise absence from
Manchester City's line-up at Highbury was not proof of an
imminent move to Liverpool.
However, the City boss admitted that the club would
potentially listen to "massive" offers for the French striker.
"I've heard the rumours," admitted Keegan. "Liverpool need a
striker but although two and two might look like four, it
could also be three or five. In this case, they've never rung
us up. I wouldn't lie to you.
"If that changes and they rang up and the offer was massive,
we would let him go, but we owe #5million on him, so they'd
better have plenty of money."
"The last contact was maybe five days before the last transfer
window closed, when Monaco phoned up and thought they were
doing us a favour by taking him on loan and taking his wages
off us. That was the only serious offer we've had."
(ITV Football) |
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TUESDAY 4 |
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Carragher off the hook
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher will not face any
disciplinary action from the Football Association in the wake
of his outspoken criticism of referee Mike Riley.
Carragher was angered by Riley’s failure to award Liverpool a
penalty for an apparent handball by Tiago in last Saturday’s
home defeat by Chelsea.
The FA closely studied Carragher’s comments but have concluded
that, despite his outspoken criticism, the defender had not
questioned Riley’s integrity.
Referees’ supremo Keith Hackett has, meanwhile, indicated that
he would be reviewing Riley’s weekend penalty decision at
Anfield with the official.
Hackett told the Daily Mail: “He’s on FIFA’s elite list and is
respected across the world. Every time a referee steps out in
the Premiership, he’s subjected to huge exposure.
“But you expect them to perform well in those games. As with
any game, decisions made and not made are analysed back at the
office. That determines what advice is given to the referee.
“I’ve already had one discussion with Mike. We’ll be looking
at things like positioning and viewing angles to see how he
made the judgment that it was ball to hand.”
(BreakingNews.ie)
Lyn claim Reds offer
Liverpool are rumoured to be ready to pip Bolton to the
capture of Oman keeper Ali Al-Habsi.
The 22-year-old has been tipped for greatness since his
teenage years, with former Newcastle keeper John Burridge
championing his cause way back in 2001.
Al-Habsi has been with Norwegian side Lyn for the past two
years and his performances have earned rave reviews.
Reds boss Rafa Benitez is rumoured to be looking at
strengthening his goalkeeping options, with the Spaniard said
to be unconvinced by Chris Kirkland and Jerzy Dudek, and
Al-Habsi could well have caught his eye.
(Planet Football/Sky Sports)
New signing imminent
Rafael Benitez has confirmed that he is 'very close' to
bringing in a new player although he refuses to name the
player until the deal is completed.
He said: "We are hopeful of making a signing and we are very
close. But it's important that we get the right players as
it's not always about signing the best players, but the
players you need.
"I don't want to talk about names because it is always easy to
talk. I prefer to sign the player and then talk about it
afterwards.
"We would like to strengthen and we are working very hard to
do so. We are improving all the time and hopefully we can keep
moving in that direction."
(LFC Online)
Benitez: Riise has striking future
Rafa Benitez believes John Arne Riise's long-term future may
be as a goalscoring midfielder following his latest crucial
strike for Liverpool.
Riise was the matchwinner at Norwich with his third goal over
the festive period.
And Benitez revealed he'd urged the Norwegian to improve his
strike tally after watching his goalscoring exploits on videos
of Liverpool's games of the last two years.
"When I came to Liverpool I watched the videos and read the
statistics and saw how Riise scored seven goals in a season by
playing as a winger" said Benitez..
"He's strong and powerful and I couldn't see why he didn ' t
score even more goals.
"I told him to hit the target more and try, try, try for more
goals. Now he ' s improving all the time and starting to score
more goals. I think he can go and score even more."
(Liverpool Echo)
Duo eye Le Tallec
Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion are considering boosting
their survival bids by signing Liverpool youngster Anthony Le
Tallec.
The French starlet is currently back in his homeland on a
season-long loan with St Etienne but has not enjoyed his time
in Ligue 1.
St Etienne coach Elie Baup is understood to be happy to allow
Le Tallec to return to England, if there is Premiership
interest in his services.
(Planet Football/Sky Sports)
Pellegrino set for Liverpool move
Valencia defender Mauricio Pellegrino is in the process of
ending his contract with the defending Spanish champions so he
can join Liverpool.
Pellegrino's agent, Filippo Cavadini, arrived in the Spanish
coastal city on Tuesday and said: "Liverpool's proposal
arrived yesterday but we still have to bring to an end the
player's contract at Valencia before we can start negotiating
with Liverpool.
Pellegrino said in the Las Provincias newspaper: "I feel very
satisfied as it's a personal choice made by Benitez, who was
the one to tell me of this possibility."
(Sporting Life)
Henchoz in Rangers talks
Rangers have opened negotiations with Liverpool defender
Stephane Henchoz over a possible move to Ibrox.
The Switzerland international is out of favour at Anfield and
could follow former team-mate Gregory Vignal to Glasgow.
But the 30-year-old is looking for the security of a long-term
deal, according to his representative, Jorg Vonmatt.
Vonmatt told the Scottish Daily Express: "Rangers is a real
option for Stephane and he was very impressed with what Alex
McLeish had to say to him about the club.
"The idea of a six-month deal to stay until the summer is not
suitable.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense for Stephane as his wife,
Catherine, is back in Switzerland and due to give birth and he
wants to make sure his family are settled when he makes the
next move."
(TEAMtalk)
Former captain on the move
Former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp has left Tottenham on
a free transfer and looks set to join his father, Harry, at
Southampton. The midfielder joined Spurs from Liverpool 18
months ago after making over 300 appearances for The Reds in
an injury plagued career.
The injuries continued at White Hart Lane and Redknapp has
found himself on the bench more often than not this season.
Martin Jol has now allowed the 31 year old to link up with his
dad and try save the Saints.
Redknapp is joined by another ex-Red when he starts training
with the Saints; defender Abel Xavier is currently on trial
with the club after being released by German side Hannover.
Liverpool play Southampton at St. Mary's Stadium on 22nd
January.
(This is Anfield)
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Thor Zakariassen
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