SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 7 hours ago, Batard said: Christ. It’s about to start again. “We are ready to buy Coutinho in the winter market or any player the technical staff request” Said Grau. I think I’ve begun to see this for what it is. Cultural. In England, there’s a level of humility, no doubt what fuels the need to be the under dog and to dislike elitism. Which in itself is a paradox given how elitist it is by class system. However this ongoing behavior from Barcelona is undignified. I know some will disagree but I don’t see other clubs behaving quite as flagrantly as this when it comes to tapping up players. There’s a saying in England, airing your dirty linen (or is it laundry) in public. Perhaps there is an equivalent in Spain but the behavior suggests otherwise. I would say now that attempting to exert pressure on a club this way brings the game into disrepute. There’s no need to publish or broadcast this nonsense. If the player is going to force the move and strike and club sells, it’ll happen regardless of this media maelstrom. Undignified. Classless and arrogant. I might fancy Jennifer Lawrence but I won’t be having stories published how I’m going to acquire her for my own (yeah, fuck your Chris Pratt) and then constantly following it up with; I’m certain she’ll be mine soon. Yes. She will be mine. Soon Jennifer. Yes it will happen. And on. And on. And on. Dear God. Make it stop. Someone tell Barcelona football club that ‘more than a club’ should actually hold values beyond vanity and self indulgence. I love how things are published and manipulate... Those were questions asked by the press at the end FC Barcelona's annual financial year presentation. It adds a whole different picture on things when that quote came after a journalist whipped out; "So you'd be able to sign Coutinho then?" The only classless arrogance that's being demonstrated in European football is coming from the capital of France mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Batard 2,535 Posted October 12, 2017 Administrator Share Posted October 12, 2017 39 minutes ago, SirBalon said: I love how things are published and manipulate... Those were questions asked by the press at the end FC Barcelona's annual financial year presentation. It adds a whole different picture on things when that quote came after a journalist whipped out; "So you'd be able to sign Coutinho then?" The only classless arrogance that's being demonstrated in European football is coming from the capital of France mate. I’ll be honest buddy, Part of me was being a little mischievous here looking to kick start the debate. I stand by what I said, I don’t like this new face of football, it’s disingenuous and odious. No doubt a product of the greedy and slobbering money funneling cunts that adorn suits at UEFA & FIFA. I have zero love for PSG. Outside of Paris you’ll find little endorsement for PSG too. The Qatari involvement still rankles. These things always ‘burst’ though so don’t be surprised when the investigation commences and all manner of oddities and financial foul play is announced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 37 minutes ago, Batard said: I’ll be honest buddy, Part of me was being a little mischievous here looking to kick start the debate. I stand by what I said, I don’t like this new face of football, it’s disingenuous and odious. No doubt a product of the greedy and slobbering money funneling cunts that adorn suits at UEFA & FIFA. I have zero love for PSG. Outside of Paris you’ll find little endorsement for PSG too. The Qatari involvement still rankles. These things always ‘burst’ though so don’t be surprised when the investigation commences and all manner of oddities and financial foul play is announced. I know you profoundly dislike PSG mate as many proper French football fans do, but it's taking things out of context on what has actually occurred when we are fed the whole picture. There's no doubt though that football clubs (like Barça and various others) are disassociating themselves with real football fans all over the place. But that's a different debate and one that I would join in and my contempt for Barcelona and others would be more visible. It's the fact that this (a small proportion of the reason why that comment came out) being added to this thread with a small caption doesn't show the whole picture. I get some Liverpool fans in this particular situation being sensitive to it all. But things aren't exactly how their pictured overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick 2,276 Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Thing is Balon, people employed by Barcelona continue to make these sort of public statements. Whether it was an answer to a journalist or not, it's arrogant and disrespectful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 45 minutes ago, FOYM said: Thing is Balon, people employed by Barcelona continue to make these sort of public statements. Whether it was an answer to a journalist or not, it's arrogant and disrespectful. They didn’t make a statement mate. I know what you mean but the context is different. This was a presentation of the annual financial figures which is done every year before the members agm which is held in December. When they finish giving the numbers, the press ask questions and curiously enough only one journalist asked about Coutinho seeing as the financial year hit record highs... It was a journalis from The Guardian and the CEO (Óscar Grau) answered the question. Now, whether or not he should’ve answered it and in any particular manner he answered it, that’s another issue. What this wasn’t, was a press conference of any type and neither was it a situation surrounding the club’s board members using a press slot to talk about possible player targets so as to destabilise any particular player. Remember that the press are also very clever in being able to relate issues ao as to acquire headlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burning Gold 599 Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 1 hour ago, SirBalon said: They didn’t make a statement mate. I know what you mean but the context is different. This was a presentation of the annual financial figures which is done every year before the members agm which is held in December. When they finish giving the numbers, the press ask questions and curiously enough only one journalist asked about Coutinho seeing as the financial year hit record highs... It was a journalis from The Guardian and the CEO (Óscar Grau) answered the question. Now, whether or not he should’ve answered it and in any particular manner he answered it, that’s another issue. What this wasn’t, was a press conference of any type and neither was it a situation surrounding the club’s board members using a press slot to talk about possible player targets so as to destabilise any particular player. Remember that the press are also very clever in being able to relate issues ao as to acquire headlines. It's the exact issue we're discussing mate I get that he was asked a question, but there are ways of answering that without being arrogant and disrespectful. Almost every other club in the world manages it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 15 minutes ago, Burning Gold said: It's the exact issue we're discussing mate I get that he was asked a question, but there are ways of answering that without being arrogant and disrespectful. Almost every other club in the world manages it. Anyone else says they won’t comment on another clubs player. Barcelona make it world wide news. Shit head club. im sorry Balon, I like you and your posts are usually cool, but where Barcelona are concerned you’re like that protective parent that would defend his kid who’d just raped the queen. Barcelona have been at this now for 12 months, so just admit, they are cunts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Back to this story it seems... This time it's not FC Barcelona but Paris Saint-Germain who's technical team at board level have apparently been meeting in person with Coutinho and his representatives according to French sports medium Téléfoot. One of Coutinho's representatives, Kia Joorabchian only yesterday met with the PSG director for football, Antero Henrique. According to information from some French sources, PSG also met with the player himself in London on the 23rd of October. I wonder if this is constituted as tapping? Maybe Liverpool FC have given permission for this though and PSG aren't doing anything wrong. https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/telefoot/videos/mercato-psg-coutinho-priorite-psg-cet-ete.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry 1,437 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Bleh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Batard 2,535 Posted October 31, 2017 Administrator Share Posted October 31, 2017 Think it’s reached the point where selling him and buying two centrebacks and a goalkeeper is moot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 24 minutes ago, Batard said: Think it’s reached the point where selling him and buying two centrebacks and a goalkeeper is moot All the way back at the start of this thread I was alluding to this with the Liverpool fans on here. The money was more than Coutinho is really worth and important issues in the team should've been addressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry 1,437 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Except that we chose not to sign new defenders not because of funding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Batard 2,535 Posted October 31, 2017 Administrator Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, Harry said: Except that we chose not to sign new defenders not because of funding... Which makes the situation all the more bizarre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 1 hour ago, Harry said: Except that we chose not to sign new defenders not because of funding... Boards play poker like everyone else mate! Had you sold Coutinho for more than he was worth with the apparent added factor of funds not being in question, then where would the excuses have come from for not addressing critical issues surrounding a balanced team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burning Gold 599 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 40 minutes ago, SirBalon said: Boards play poker like everyone else mate! Had you sold Coutinho for more than he was worth with the apparent added factor of funds not being in question, then where would the excuses have come from for not addressing critical issues surrounding a balanced team? Where are the excuses now? The fact is we had the money to spend, but we wouldn't consider any defenders other than van Dijk, and we weren't in the market for a goalkeeper. That wouldn't have changed if we'd sold Coutinho, and most of the fee for him would've been spent on a replacement, probably Thomas Lemar, for whom Monaco accepted a bid of £90m. I can't remember the base fee we were offered for Coutinho but it wasn't much more than that. Anyone who says we should've sold Coutinho to strengthen the defence simply doesn't understand what's going on. That's fine for fans of other clubs, but it does start to grate when I hear it from professional football pundits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnisExcubitor 678 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 The club has been badly burned in recent past by signing terrible alternatives after missing out on the main signings. Balotelli was the peak of that. That, and that alone, was the reason why we didn't sign any other central defender after missing out on Van Dijk. I can understand their fear of wasting money, but at this level, however, it's a terrible strategy. At this level, with so much at stake, the club's scouts should have at least scouted two other options as back ups. They didn't need to be great but better than the ones in the squad. As for Migs, it's a strange one. Everytime his position has been under threat he goes on a decent run. And the alternatives to challenge him have been poor themselves. I had (and still do) hopes from Ward. But the poor lad got injured. This has, however, nothing to do with Coutinho's transfer, who I reckon will be off in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo 8,191 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Regardless of our failings to identify alternatives to VvD - or the amateurishness which led us to getting caught tapping a player up, which ultimately killed any hopes of that particular signing this summer - both of which are big failures on our recruitment staff... I think it would have been madness to sell Coutinho that close to the window ending. Look at Barca after selling Neymar, everyone knew they were desperate for particular players and demanded outrageous fees. And it's not like Barca don't have huge pulling power with players... we've got less pulling power and clubs would demand a premium price because they'd know we'd be flush with cash after the sale. I also agree Coutinho is off in the summer though. But at least that will give us a lot of time to identify players to bring in with the money - although I don't have a lot of faith in us properly addressing our defensive issues. I think it's both a problem with the players we've got in the squad as well as our system that doesn't place a lot of emphasis on defending, and quite frankly relies on a lot of individual talent from our defenders rather than defending as a unit. And we don't have those super high quality defenders, and are unlikely to sign them given how this season looks to be panning out as I don't think we'll come close to a CL spot. We've also got Mignolet and Karius, who are both pretty fucking shite imo. Keepers are supposed to organise the defense - Mignolet doesn't do that and Karius looks questionable far too often, though I don't think we've seen a whole lot of him and maybe he will come good. I think Keita will ultimately replace Coutinho's role in the side as our midfield playmaker - and I'm sure some of the funds will go to attacking players, where I have full faith in Klopp to sign quality. It's the centre of our midfield and our defensive/keepers I really worry about, especially in the system we play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 29 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said: Regardless of our failings to identify alternatives to VvD - or the amateurishness which led us to getting caught tapping a player up, which ultimately killed any hopes of that particular signing this summer - both of which are big failures on our recruitment staff... I think it would have been madness to sell Coutinho that close to the window ending. Look at Barca after selling Neymar, everyone knew they were desperate for particular players and demanded outrageous fees. And it's not like Barca don't have huge pulling power with players... we've got less pulling power and clubs would demand a premium price because they'd know we'd be flush with cash after the sale. I also agree Coutinho is off in the summer though. But at least that will give us a lot of time to identify players to bring in with the money - although I don't have a lot of faith in us properly addressing our defensive issues. I think it's both a problem with the players we've got in the squad as well as our system that doesn't place a lot of emphasis on defending, and quite frankly relies on a lot of individual talent from our defenders rather than defending as a unit. And we don't have those super high quality defenders, and are unlikely to sign them given how this season looks to be panning out as I don't think we'll come close to a CL spot. We've also got Mignolet and Karius, who are both pretty fucking shite imo. Keepers are supposed to organise the defense - Mignolet doesn't do that and Karius looks questionable far too often, though I don't think we've seen a whole lot of him and maybe he will come good. I think Keita will ultimately replace Coutinho's role in the side as our midfield playmaker - and I'm sure some of the funds will go to attacking players, where I have full faith in Klopp to sign quality. It's the centre of our midfield and our defensive/keepers I really worry about, especially in the system we play. Bang on. It doesn’t matter what defenders we have, it’s a systematic problem that leaves us exposed time and time again. Even the best goalkeeper in the world that has to face 2-3 one on ones every game would struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Batard 2,535 Posted December 7, 2017 Administrator Share Posted December 7, 2017 I can’t have been the only person who found Coutinho’s general lack of goal celebration last night noticeable. Today he’s talking about his future again. Professional he may be, but in my opinion scoring a goal for your employer ought to be celebrated. In my opinion, it’s quite disrespectful to the fans celebrating his goals to see him so ‘meh’ about it. He scored a hat trick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick 2,276 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Yeah, that pissed me off too tbh. I can't deny that he's putting the work in, but it doesn't look like he wants to be here at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Gonzo 8,191 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 He's already disrespected the club & fans by handing in his transfer request right before our first game of the season and trying to force the move so late and without time for us to find our replacement and not some shite panic buy with the newfound cash. I want him to do well with us while he's with us, but I fully expect to see him off in the summer. He's a good player, but not a favourite of mine after this summer at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMike 3,012 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 From what I remember, Coutinho has never really been one to over celebrate unless it's a huge goal (his one v City a few years ago springs to mind). Anyway, who's arsed how he celebrates as long as he carries on doing the business? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirBalon 2,692 Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 This whole Coutinho saga is so boring now to be honest. I hope he just goes and plays in the Solomon Islands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Batard 2,535 Posted December 7, 2017 Administrator Share Posted December 7, 2017 6 minutes ago, LFCMike said: From what I remember, Coutinho has never really been one to over celebrate unless it's a huge goal (his one v City a few years ago springs to mind). Anyway, who's arsed how he celebrates as long as he carries on doing the business? He’s playing well. But if he was happier, imagine what level he’d be on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCMadLad 2,080 Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 6 minutes ago, Batard said: He’s playing well. But if he was happier, imagine what level he’d be on. If he carries on this this form he’ll be too good for Barcelona They can’t afford him anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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