Thetownend.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4651003.stm

fook me 32 mil,they are going to want that Parkin money for sure now :D

And its rumoured they're buying Shaun Wright Phillips for £20mil ish..

The chelsea bid has been turned down [at the moment].There is no way he's worth 32 mil.I hope he goes to Real,cause it would be good for his game and that would be good for England.Plus his bint of a girlfriend would'nt be in the papers all the time [hopefully].

i would rather he went to madrid aswell. if he goes to chelsea their 'fans' will be even more up themsleves than they already are

I really hope he goes to Chelsea 'cos it is good for England that he goes to the best club possible and Chelsea are the best in the world.

If Mourinho gets Lampard and Gerrard combining well and Joe Cole too, England's midfield will be the best in the world, no question. If he goes to fucking Madrid I'll be pissed off. :evil:

Are you doing a J1mmy and defecting to Chelsea BWB? nothing like a bit of glory hunting eh?

I have nothing against Chelsea and I'm not going to hate them just 'cos they're good, I hate Arsenal and Man United so it's great to see another team winning something and pretty much whoever it was I'd be happy.

I wouldn't mind seeing them do the quadruple next year to be honest unless Spurs have a chance of winning something.

As for defecting no, I only support Swindon and England but it is vital for England he goes to Chelsea.

I hope he stays at Liverpool, if only to prove that there might just be a bit of loyalty left in the game... Did you hear Benitez saying he want's 'Steve' to stay at the 'Pool for life? The begging isn't a good sign for 'Pool fans I don't think.

Like I said, I hope he stays where he is, but I think he'll leave.

It's going to be a bit of a choice between BWBs point about playing with Lampard and Cole and picking up £90,000/week or of playing with Beckham, Owen and Woodgate and picking up a reported £150,000/week.

The smart money has got to be on Chelsea really.

I dont think its vital for England at all really. Its not like the standard of coaching at Madrid as really bad and he'd be playing with Beckham, Owen (and Woodgate if he ever gets fit)

With him and Gravesen in the centre of midfield and the other quality players they possess, Madrid would start to look a bloody good side again.

Thats a good point,i didn't think of that. :oops:I just think that going and experiencing different footballing cultures can have a good effect on players.

There could be another side to the argument of him going to Chelsea.  

If they also sign Wright-Phillips then they are going to have Gerrard, Lamps, W-Ps, Robben, Duff, Makelele, Smertin, Jarosic, Cole, Tiago and whoever else I've missed out.

Now Gerrard and Lamps will be 4 of the first names on the team sheet every game (add to that Terry and Cech), that means that Cole will have to compete very hard with Robben, Duff and W-Ps in order to get into the team.  

For England to have success in Germany I think we need Cole to be playing an important part this season to build on his success of last season.  If Gerrard goes to Chelsea it gives Cole a smaller chance of being involved (sure they wont be competing for the same spot, but it will have a knock-on effect).

If Gerrard goes to Real then, as said before he will link up with Becks, Owen and Woodgate - and more importantly will not really have to compete with any of them.

I'd like him to stay where he is to be honest though.

Real aren't up to Chelsea's standard and they don't have a manager of Mourinho's standard. Gerrard and Lampard combining together in the best league in the world would be great.

Beckham and Owen's careers have arguably gone downhill since their switch to Madrid, I don't think they would get the best of him, I think it would be a very bad move whilst Chelsea would be the perfect move. If they could just get Owen as well the world cup will be ours!

There's no doubting whatsoever that having him line up along-side Lamps week in week out would benefit England no end, but as I say Cole could suffer, just as he looks to have a strangle hold in England's first eleven.

Real Madrid will win La Liga next season by the way.  (I really hope they do at least)

Gerrard reportedly turned down £100,000 a week!!!!  Fucking hell., that's unbelievable!!

That's more than I've made in my lifetime so far. :shock:

It's a disgrace really, clubs going down the pan for money equivalent to Steven Gerrard's monthly wage

It is in a way, but the laws of supply and demand dictate that those who can perform to a level that few others on earth can manage will be paid the most.

No to what?

Gerrard's a prick, like most footballers.

The amount of money floating around in the top tier of the game is sickening.  To read what Gerrard has turned down and what Chelsea have offered particularly in the week of Live8, is obscene.

I don't know about Sir Bob and Bono canvassing the G8 leaders, they should take their collecting tins round the Premiership clubs.  Those tossers could wipe out Third World debt without any help whatsoever from the world's leaders.

It is disgusting and immoral.

Cunts.

just heard hes NOW STAYING!! .. i wonder if it was the money?? :mrgreen:

This is starting to bore now, I'm staying, now I'm going, now I'm staying.....  Just fuck off.

Chelsea are not the best in the world.

Yes they are Dave.

They finished with the record ever points total in the premiership which is undoubtably the best league in the world. They made the champions league semi final and deserved to be in the final only losing to the eventual winners who only finished 5th.

So name a better team then.

Shame Gerrard seems to be staying with Liverpool now. :evil:

Barcelona.

I hate Barcelona - one of my mates has a Barca shirt aswell as a couple of Real Madrid ones, I give him grief for it.

Barcelona! Come off it! Didn't you see Chelsea put 4 past them in the champions league, Chelsea were the better team that night no question and Chelsea got further in the champions league and were champions of a stronger league, so how are Barcelona better?

Liverpool went further than Chelsea, you've contradicted your own argument.

La Liga is genreally regarded as the best league in the world.

Therefore I win be default.

I have a conspiracy theory on the Stevie G subject.

Perhaps the Liverpool media team dreamt all this up in order to make Chelsea concentrate on the possibility of signing him, meaning that they would be behind in the transfer market.  I reckon Gerrard was staying all along, but was told to make it look like he wanted to go.

Far fetched I know.

No I haven't Dave as Chelsea finished 37 points above Liverpool showing they're better. I don't think there's any doubt there and in the games between them Chelsea had the upper hand with wins in the league and carling cup final where they completely dominated.

Barcelona did absolutely nothing to show they were better than Chelsea - and in the two games between them Chelsea looked the better team and won.

The fact that the team in 5th in the premiership won the champions league shows just how strong the premiership now is and yet Chelsea got a records points total and only lost once whilst Barcelona lost four times in la liga which is a weaker league.

La liga is regarded as a stronger league by who? It just isn't any more, 4 teams past the group stages in the champions league from the premiership, 2 in the semi finals and both would probably been in the final if they hadn't played each other in the semi final. I don't think any of teams from la liga even got past the quarters - it is not a stronger league. Aside from Barcelona and Real Madrid none of the teams have the quality to win the champions league. In the premiership, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Man United are all good enough to win it.

All the evidence suggests Chelsea are the better team, no evidence suggests Barcelona are the better team.

Ben, just a question.

If Arsenal really challenge next season - which I expect them to do - and win the league, will you still say Chelsea are the best team in the world?

I can't see Arsenal winning the premiership next year but if they were to finish ten points clear and do well in Europe then yeah they would be.

But I don't think they will as they're not good enough - probably 2nd or 3rd. At the moment though Arsenal are probably in the top 5 teams in the world.

They are better than the rest of the Premiership though, so as long as they do well against Chelsea then they have a chance.

I agree with you.

Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool & Man u, are all better than any european team in my eyes maybe not over one game, but stick them all in a league together and we would better them most of the time.

I always say the premiership is the best league in the world, maybe not the strongest, but as a business it makes europes leagues look stupid and our league is the most watched in the world. And as a footballing spectacle we are head and shoulders above europe.

You could say that the reason why Barca lost more than chelsea in their league is that the spanish league has strength in depth. I don't believe this, i put this down to their slower style of play. Romping away with cricket scores is not common on the continent, therefore making it easier to turn a game on its head.

Personally i have no doubts our league is the best, the standard of footbal is the highest and we make the most profit.

All the european leagues are boring, that is what makes us the best. Foootbal is entertainment, The premiership is entertaining. Serie A etc, is like watching paint dry.

Chelsea are not the best club side in the world, although they might be in a few years. FACTOID

:nono:  They are though. No-one can name a better side with any evidence to back it up.

The premiership is a much stronger league than la liga in my eyes. La liga being the strongest in the world is just a myth perpetuated by the Spanish media, it is no longer accurate, in the last couple of years the premiership has overtaken and started sprinting away at great speed like Linford Christie being chased by a rhino.

The reason some people do not favour Chelsea is because they spent and spent and spent til they had ridiculous debts, and then get som eguy to give them money and save them. I personally do not 'hate' Chelsea, and think it would be good for Gerrard to go there OR real as both have better squads and poptential than Liverpool.

Having said that, there wouold be no place for Gerrard, Lampard, Cole and Wright-Phillips in the same team, so maybe it would be better if he went eslewhere from an English point of view.

If Chelsea played AC Milan or Barcalona 10 times I would expect Chelsea to lose more than they won.  

They're a good side but you chelsea love is well over the top BWB.

i know this is a bit off the topic but i've just read somewhere that southampton want £8million from liverpool for peter crouch! they're having a laugh if they think he's worth that! he's shit!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/legodcuervo/timmy.jpg

...and he looks like timmy!

chelsea can consider it £32 million saved because having both lampard and gerrard in the centre of midfield just does not work!

not that i really care, but i think a better player for chelsea to sign would be someone like carrick, who did a fantastic job for england recently.

I can't let that comment pass,personally i find the Italian league is played with flair,skill,passion and guile.I really enjoy watching it.Maybe because the premiership is constantly being shoved down my throat[on the radio,tv ect], i find it overexposed and overhyped.Fair enough you don't like Italian football,but to say its like watching paint dry is such a trite cliche,it makes me feel so tired. :)
Besides the best and most important league in the world is the one with Swindon in it. :)

 Good points....well made.

   The good news is that the Italian FA have extended the retirement age, so that Pierluigi Collina, can have another season.

I read that too, does this mean he will be able to represent Italy at the World Cup or not?

Cheers Reg.
At the end of the day its about personal preference.All 3 of the leagues have good things and bad things about them,its a debate that runs and runs.

Personally english league 1 is the best league in the world. FACT

League one is defintely the most interesting league, no doubt about it.

If Chelsea played Barcelona, AC Milan and Real Madrid 10 times each I think Chelsea would win well over half of the games and finish top by some distance. The bookies have them favourites to win the champions league above all those teams.

I agree with Larwoord, I love the style of italian football, if I had to watch top flight footie Serie A would be it.  Personally I find the Premiership boring, again this maybe due to the Sky overload overhype tactics.