Steven Gerrard

[Ronaldinho10]

Stephen ist ein echter Liverpooler.

[x] er bleibt.

Steven Gerrard bester Mann der Welt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom.]

Langsam wird's fad.

[Rui Costa]

who cares?

[moasta]

[X] gar nirgends weil liverpool ihn eh nicht gehn lässt, selbst wenn er wollte

[FAK-masteR]

ich glaube er bleibt

[Joki]

[X] gar nirgends weil liverpool ihn eh nicht gehn lässt, selbst wenn er wollte

denke ich auch.

[Tom.]

Sieht nach derzeitigen Medienberichten in England deutlich nach Abschied aus. Gerrard verweigert weitere Gespräche mit Pool.

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/LIST.A...D=289647&CPID=8

[MILANISTA]

Quelle: dpa

Kapitän Gerrard will FC Liverpool verlassen

Steven Gerrard will den FC Liverpool verlassen.

Das teilte der Kapitän des Champions-League-Siegers dem Club am

Dienstag mit. Der 25-Jährige, dessen Vertrag an der Anfield Road bis

2007 läuft, schlug am Montagabend ein nachgebessertes Angebot der

«Reds» über umgerechnet 150 000 Euro Gehalt pro Woche aus.

Für Gerrard könnte nun der Weg zum FC Chelsea frei sein. Die

«Blues» hatten bereits 47 Millionen Euro Ablöse für den

Mittelfeldspieler geboten. Auch der spanische Renommierclub Real

Madrid ist an Gerrard interessiert.

[ianrush]

"For a player to be good enough to play for Liverpool, he must be prepared to run through a brick wall for me then come out fighting on the other side !"

Bill Shankly

Er wird gehen. Und damit hat er es in Rekordzeit geschafft vom Helden zum Hassbild zu werden, vorallem sollte er innerhalb der Insel wechseln. Geld, Geld und nochmals Geld, um etwas anderes scheint es ihm wirklich nicht zu gehen.

I am not a great one for predictions, as they are the airborne egg ready to impact with the face. But last season I made two particularly bold ones, which, fortunately for me, proved true. (I won't mention a couple that didn't!) In March, before the Juventus quarter-final, stating that Liverpool would go on to win the Champions League. And before then, last summer, when the news stories containing the words 'Gerrard' and 'Chelsea' broke, that the Liverpool captain was going nowhere.

He stayed.

However, the saga rumbled on throughout the season, to the point where it began to overshadow the club, and disrupt the team's preparations for key games. He stayed, but was it just temporary? He also came far closer to leaving last summer than I anticipated; I underestimated the lure of Chelsea. Where Everton found freedom in losing Rooney, Liverpool found a media circus surrounding Gerrard.

But now Chelsea are back, and this time –– actually for the first time –– with an official £32m bid. (It's amazing how close a player can actually come to leaving in order to join a club who hadn't actually bid for him.)

And this time the situation is more delicately poised: two years remaining on a contract is make-or-break time. That's when big players need to sign new contracts otherwise, as seen with Michael Owen, their value more than halves in twelve months' time, and twelve months after that they are 'worthless'. Keeping Gerrard until 2006, without him signing a new deal, would effectively wipe £15-25m off his value. Either he stays or he goes –– there can be none of the 'in-between' of last season. Sign up, or ship out. It really is that simple. Time to put sentiment aside, and look at it in cold, hard terms.

[Edit: within 90 minutes of publishing this, news broke of his transfer request. I didn't expect an answer quite so quickly. As I said: it really was make-or-break time. At least the club has a decision, and can now plan for its future with enough time to sort replacements].

Touch and go

One of the great dilemmas when writing "Golden Past, Red Future" was how to handle the Gerrard saga, given it was one of the main themes of last season. Documenting what went on was mostly simple enough; as was stating how good the player himself is, including listing his myriad qualities. But how to conclude it? At the time the book went to print, it looked like he was staying: he had said as much himself, albeit in the heat of an emotional moment in Istanbul. But I wasn't foolish enough to categorically state, in writing, that he would be at Anfield next season. Football changes too quickly. And negotiations take place in cold blood.

The most important thing is the that a club's best players are its best-paid players. A player will have less of an issue if he's earning £50,000 a week –– despite knowing he could earn £60,000 a week elsewhere –– if his current teammates are only earning £30,000 a week. He feels duly valued and rewarded.

The problem comes when an average player is earning more than the best. That's not a danger for Gerrard at Liverpool: he will be the best paid player at the club, whatever the club chose to offer him. No one can expect to earn more than him, and no one would demand it. So that's not an issue. [He was offered £100,000 a week, and that wasn't enough.]

So then there is another potential problem: when another club can offer so much more money that you end up talking not about an extra 20%, but the ability to double a player's salary. Then it gets confusing, as the pound signs ker-ching. How many of us, however content we are, could turn down the chance of earning twice as much money? Even if we don't need the money, we'd be tempted –– it's a human failing. And if our careers were ten years from ending, would we not be even more tempted?

But it has to be balanced with contentment in one's personal life, and happiness on the pitch. We might be tempted by more money, but only because we think it will make us happier; if we knew it would upset our home life, and lead to a miserable time professionally, we'd stay where we are. Footballers and optimistic, opportunist and ambitious. The sport is all about taking your chance when it comes your way. Do we want them ruthless on the pitch, but lambs away from it?

Much of the problem lies with the agents. As much as we hate them, agents have a job to do. Ideally they wouldn't exist. But in order to make their cut –– and here we're talking about millions of pounds –– they need to do their job a certain way. Sometimes an agent has to stir things up, as it leads to a richer client, and more money in their own bank accounts. It stinks, to a large degree, but it's the way of the game, and few players are honourable enough to steer clear of such shenanigans. (Someone like Paul Scholes is a rare exception.) Clubs also use agents to procure players from other clubs, so clubs can hardly cry foul. It cuts both ways.

It gets much trickier when the player is more than just a player, but a local icon. It becomes so much more emotive. Gerrard, and his agents, have a right to try and get the best deal possible from Liverpool; but not to get the impossible. (Or to use the failure to get the 'impossible' as an excuse to leave.) As the local hero, you cannot play the games other players and their agents indulge in. Or rather, you can, but you can't expect fans to feel the same way about it. Gerrard may never have asked to be the local hero, but he got a lot more adoration with that being the case. It was a role he clearly enjoyed.

Are SFX trying to turn the club into the villains, to 'smooth' an exit for their client? [This now appears to have been the case: blaming the club before the transfer request arrived within 48 hours].  Clearly the press are being fed one version of events, and that is not the club's version.

Fan uproar is clearly one of the major factors stopping Gerrard from leaving. He is bound to Liverpool in a way that Xabi Alonso isn't, and can never be –– even if we come to think of Alonso as the better player (many now do). Some players we see as blessing us for a year, or five years, before moving on to pastures new, with our reluctant best wishes. Others are seen as part of the furniture, and again, that expression cuts both ways: we want them forever, but we also might also take them for granted.

Trophies

So Gerrard wanted to win trophies at Liverpool. The Reds won the biggest. As much as Gerrard would love the league title, the European Cup is the trophy all players dream of lifting. It's the 'rare' one –– nearly five times as rare at Anfield as the league title going into last season (and about eight times as rare at Old Trafford). If he wanted evidence that the club was moving in the right direction, that was undeniably it, even if doubts exist in other areas: it is not a finished project, but only the start. But what a start!

Being part of a Liverpool side that achieved a kind of immortality, and which can go on and achieve more –– even if it will be a struggle –– has to mean something to Gerrard. He wanted to win things at Liverpool, and he's won five cup medals, including the biggest in club football. But of course, now he can turn around and say: I gave you the European Cup, so I'm on my bike. [This appears to be his thinking, following his decision to up and leave].

Gerrard is a very important player. Clearly. But no player is bigger than the club –– a cliché, but never more apposite. He was the club's joint-top scorer last season, but stats also seemed to suggest (rather surreally) that the team did fractionally better without him than when he was in the starting XI. His value to Liverpool is skewed slightly by his status as 50% of the Scouse heart of the side, and there are no Scousers waiting in the wings to fill that void (Welsh has a long way to go). But that's only relevant if Gerrard's heart is in the job. Better an eager and committed Spanish or Dutch or German heart than a dissatisfied local one.

At this point in time I actually don't care that much if he stays or goes, as I see Liverpool being winners both ways. [Now it's official, I feel pretty much the same. I am very disappointed, but not upset. I feel let down, but not worried about Liverpool's future.]

Losing him on the cheap in 2006 or 2007 would have been a disaster; but someone paying top dollar this summer satisfies me, as it gives Rafa the chance to build a better all-round side, providing he spends that money wisely (he has tended to, so far - certainly on his major signings). If prospective players might want to play alongside Gerrard, then I feel satisfied that this will pale when compared to their desire to play for Benítez.

All I care about is where Gerrard goes. Chelsea or Manchester United, and I'd feel sick to the core, and concerned at strengthening our domestic rivals; Real Madrid and I'd see a lot of new 'possibilities' –– a better Real Madrid, of course, but a better, and more unified Liverpool, too.

This is not the end: only the beginning.

© Paul Tomkins 2005

Smarmy Sky TV Interviewer: "You could join a bigger club and win more medals, why stay at Liverpool?"

Contemptuous Carradonna: "Bigger than Liverpool? Are you kidding? Who's bigger than Liverpool?"

The King is dead, long live King Carra !

He's off! Jul 5 2005

World Exclusive by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

STEVEN Gerrard this afternoon delivered the news every Reds fan was dreading - he wants to leave the club.

It came only hours after Liverpool rejected a £32m bid from Chelsea, countering it with a proposal to Gerrard understood to be offering him £100,000 a week to stay.

The devastating blow came in a message to Anfield chief executive Rick Parry, delivered via Gerrard's agent Struan Marshall from SFX.

It marks a massive U-turn by the Reds' Huyton-born skipper, who insisted after the heroic European Cup Final win in Turkey that he wanted to remain at Anfield.

http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0500liverpoolfc/

----------

Liverpool FC today issued the following press statement regarding Steven Gerrard.

"The club has made it crystal clear we want to keep Steven at Anfield. Sadly, he has told us this afternoon that he will not accept our offer of an improved and extended contract because he wants to leave Liverpool. We very much regret the decision he has taken."http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N149253050705-1435.htm

Ein Satz ders ziemlich genau meine Stimmung trifft :

Thanks for all the memories lad, but don't expect any sympathy now, you're 'one of them' !

Creased Foreheads

Barry Glendenning

Tuesday July 5, 2005

GERRARD: I WANT TO LEAVE ANFIELD

When footballers declare their undying love for one club shortly before leaving it to earn more money at another, the Fiver is always gobsmacked. Not by the predictable actions of the self-serving mercenaries in question, but by the extraordinary reactions of gullible fans who continue to labour under the delusion that footballers care about (a) them, (b) their club, and © anything other than money. So when a statement from Anfield revealed that $teven Gerrard had refused his club's "offer of an improved and extended contract because he wants to leave Liverpool" we weren't a bit surprised. After all, here was a man who'd wondered "how can I leave after that?" in the wake of his team's Big Cup triumph just six weeks ago.

Article continues

What did knock us for six were the missives sent by gullible Liverpool fans to Fiver Towers in which they expressed their total surprise that their captain would abandon them in order to fill his boots at Chelsea or Real Madrid. "I really thought $tevie was different," wailed one hapless buffoon in an email, prompting paroxysms of mirth throughout the office.

Of course, if Liverpool fans spent less time idolising sportsmen who are bewildered by their fanaticism and more time examining the facts, they'd quickly realise that (a) if it's loyalty you're after you should buy a dog and (b) $tevie Me will be no great loss. Yes, he can trap footballs in the giant furrow that is his forehead, but in four of the last five seasons Liverpool have averaged more points per Premiership game played without him than when he's been there cannoning trademark 60-yard passes off pitchside burger vans.

The upshot? With Xabi Alonso on their books, Liverpool are set to trouser well over £30m by way of compensation for losing their second best midfielder. As to where he'll go next: the smart money says Chelsea - who today had a £32m bid rejected - although that suspicious-looking paella van parked outside Anfield could well contain spies from Real Madrid, who admit they're "monitoring the situation". Either way, having already rejected a £100,000-a-week deal to stay at Liverpool, $tevie won't come cheap.

bearbeitet 5. Juli 2005 von ianrush

[Robinho10]

gerard bleibt definitiv! keine scherz! es ist fix, steht im teletext!

[Bretwalda]

gerard bleibt definitiv! keine scherz! es ist fix, steht im teletext!

Oh Wannsinn im Teletext, welch vertrauenswürdige Quelle, auf orf.at steht er will Liverpool verlassen. Ich freue mich schon auf nächste Saison, wenn der beste defensive Mittelfeldspieler der Welt mit Gilardino im Chelseadress spielt !

[Spain]

Wenn er geht, dann zu Chelsea.

[ianrush]

Gerrard in shock Liverpool U-turn

bbc.co.uk

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has had a dramatic change of heart and decided to stay at Anfield.

The 25-year-old told Liverpool he wanted to leave after contract negotiations broke down.

Chelsea looked set to land Gerrard after having an initial £32m bid rejected by Liverpool.

But Gerrard has another change of heart after talks with chief executive Rick Parry, who said: "He realises how much the club means to him."

Gerrard is now expected to sign the new contract on offer worth £100,000-a-week, a deal he initially snubbed.

Chelsea will be bitterly disappointed at the development after failing to land Gerrard in similar fashion last summer, when he was on the verge of a move to Stamford Bridge only to pull out at the last minute.

Parry had admitted defeat in the battle to keep Gerrard at Liverpool on Tuesday, but emerged on Wednesday morning to reveal the sensational twist.

He said: "Stevie's decided to stay. It's a little bit like last year, only even more dramatic.

"In the language he used to us, he never said he wanted to go. He never said 'I wanted to go'.

"I think in the last 24 hours he has reflected on it, he's thought it through and he wants to stay.

"There were lots of late night phone calls and early morning phone calls. I couldn't be more delighted. It is what we wanted all along."

And he added he expected no problems over the new contract, saying: "I think that's already hammered out. I don't think there is an issue with that any more."

Gerrard's discontent is believed to have sprung from a feeling that he was not wanted at Liverpool because of delays over agreeing a new contract.

And Parry admitted: "I've apologised to Stevie if I have misread his emotions."

PARRY: GERRARD'S STAYING WITH LIVERPOOL

Paul Eaton 06 July 2005

Rick Parry has this morning revealed that Steven Gerrard has changed his mind over wanting to leave Anfield and committed his future to Liverpool FC.

The Reds chief executive broke the amazing news as he arrived at Anfield today following several late night and early morning phone calls with the Liverpool captain.

"I couldn't be more delighted," said Parry. "He has decided to stay with us because he realises how much the club means to him.

"Even when he said he was going I don't think the language he used suggested he really wanted to go. He was talking about the last few days being difficult and not being able to come back, he never actually said he wanted to go.

"Over the last 24 hours he has reflected on it, thought it through and he wants to stay.

"From our point of view it's what we wanted all along. I have apologised to Stevie if I've mis-read his emotions. I guess after Istanbul I thought I knew where we were going but he clearly thought for whatever reason that the club wasn't as enthusiastic about keeping him as we might have been. He was anxious.

"There were one or two issues with the contract which he took to mean a lack of enthusiasm on our part, which it wasn't. He understands that now. We've had some emotional moments together, cleared everything up and I don't think this will happen again.

"I don't think he's staying because he was concerned about the negative reaction. I made the point on Monday to him to think of the fans in Istanbul and ask himself how he could leave that. Obviously the last day or two hasn't been easy for him but this isn't a decision for negative reasons. He's found it complicated but deep down it was always a difficult decision for him to say he wanted to go. We're all absolutely thrilled and I'm more certain than ever that he's fully committed and that this is where he wants to be."

bearbeitet 6. Juli 2005 von ianrush

[Tom.]

Also den hab ich echt schon woanders gesehen. Wär mMn das Beste für ihn, wenn er bleibt.

[CL-Sieger]

Ich sage er bleibt.Liverpool tut alles um ihn zu halten,und das weiß er!!!

Liverpool-CL-Sieger 2004/05