Quote:Allegedly he wants 90grand a week either to stay or from whoever buys him. No way is he worth that much. Rumours that QPR could be sniffing around now as well, I think it would be madness if they paid him that much, especially if they still went down!
Personally, I think Cisse is the better all round striker, he's just having a lean spell, maybe if Ba goes, and Cisse becomes the main front man, it will give him more chances and he'll find his form again.
Ya I heard Ba wanted to double up his ages, but I don't think he is worth it and it may be a bit risky. I say sell him to anyone, who is willing to pay the release clause and just be done with him, as I can't stand his pestering agents. I feel sorry for Cisse, as I think he is better than Ba and works his socks off for the team. Pardew is giving him a job he doesn't want to do on the wing and its draining his confidence, which is evident when he missed that opportunity to equalize against Man City. Ba being sold will be a blessing in disguise for Newcastle.
Quote:Don't know about magic, but I certainly think Harry has given a bit better organisation to the team on the pitch. That and a bit of self belief can go a long way, on paper the squad isn't as bad as their position suggests. The big problem for QPR is that they need 3 other teams to perform worse than them, as well as getting some good results themselves. That's where the difficulty comes, currently only Reading look consistently worse, the other teams in the mix all look capable of picking up points and maybe putting a run together at some stage, so it could be very difficult for QPR to get clear of the danger zone whatever they do.
Well the important thing for QPR is that if they are still in touch of survival then they will be able to attract 2-3 players to help strengthen the squad. When January does come around then Redknapp needs to buy a couple of defenders and a striker, as they probably have the worst strike force in the league. I still think they will go down, as I said previously and the fact Taarabt is going to the African Cup of Nations will be a big loss for them in their quest for survival in the Premier League.
Quote:After Rodgers talk of top two, it was pretty embarrassing to lose at home like that, to a team like Villa, who I still think will be in the relegation battle this season. Liverpool are vulnerable at the back, they can be ordinary in midfield (Gerrard is clearly not the player he once was), and we all know the problems up front. That means they will have days like yesterday, as well as days when it all comes together and goes gloriously well. This season is really all about survival, just hang in there, do the best you can, and build the squad for next year, they blew this season in the summer transfer window. Any talk of top two is just pie in the sky, and makes Rodgers look more stupid than visionary!
Rodgers really shouldn't of said anything about competing for a top two finish and even before the game against Aston Villa it was a silly thing to say. If Liverpool were 3th or 4th and only 4 or 5 points behind Man City then he may have had licence to say what he said, but before the game they were like 9th or 10th and 11 points behind Man City.
Just focusing on Aston Villa for the moment, I agree despite the great result they got at Liverpool, they will be fighting relegation this season. They have been fairly inconsistent this season and have one of the youngest squads in the league. They look like the type of team that would beat someone like Chelsea one week and then lose to Wigan the following week. They are in good hands with Paul Lambert in charge and they will eventually become a very good Premier League team under Lambert. Benteke is looking like one of the buys of the season and his back heel for Aston Villa's second goal was beautiful.
Back to Liverpool again, I disagree about them being poor at the back, as they have some good defenders in their team. I think as soon as Lucas gets up and running then they will keep more clean sheets as the season progresses. I still don't understand why Sahin isn't getting more game time, as he should be walking into that team, as he is quality. This won't go down well with Liverpool fans here, but I think Liverpool's midfield three would be better if Gerrard was moved to the right wing and have a midfield three consisting of Allen, Lucas and Sahin. The January transfer window is vital for Liverpool and if they bring in the right players then they will rise up the table in my opinion. A striker is a must for Liverpool to take the goal scoring responsibility off Suarez.
Also just more thing, I believe Norwich are on a 10 game unbeaten run, which is currently the second best unbeaten run in Europe and is only bettered by Barcelona.