Mediawatch: Gerrard worth £70m in 2015?

Daniel Storey

Steven Gerrard was worth £70m when he left so Brendan Rodgers couldn’t have done any better. Plus why Liverpool don’t buy players aged over 24 (apart from those), and aren’t women moody? Bless ’em…

 

It’s an age thing
Martin Samuel is very angry at Liverpool for getting rid of Brendan Rodgers in his Daily Mail column. It’s all the transfer committee’s fault, you see.

Never mind that Rodgers was part of that transfer committee, or that he repeatedly stated that he had the final call on signings. He never had a bloody chance.

‘Kenny Dalglish was 26 when he joined Liverpool. Sami Hyypia and Didi Hamann were 25. They all left the club with a European Cup winners’ medal as a souvenir.

‘So what have they all got in common: Dalglish, Beardsley, Hyypia, Hamann, Kuyt and, particularly, McAllister? They wouldn’t get through the door at Anfield now, apparently. Too old. One of the general principles of the famous committee that rules on player signings at Liverpool is that the club do not spend significant money on players over the age of 24.

‘It explains why they ended up with a teenager from Charlton Athletic, Joe Gomez, and not Ryan Bertrand at full back when the season began; and why Ashley Williams is still the centre half at Swansea. It may also explain why Liverpool are, as yet, unable to unveil Jurgen Klopp as the man who succeeds Brendan Rodgers.’

Few things, Martin:

1) If Liverpool don’t ‘spend significant money on players over the age of 24’, someone better have a word with Adam Lallana, Simon Mignolet and Dejan Lovren. Lallana is older than anyone on Samuel’s list of heroes, while the aforementioned trio cost £55m. That’s the premise of the argument gone.

2) If you’re wondering where the age 24 comes from, Mediawatch guesses it was selected by Samuel deliberately, given that Rodgers signed Nathaniel Clyne, Christian Benteke and Mario Balotelli all at the age of 24.

3) Is this apparent refusal to sign players over the age of 24 the real reason why they haven’t yet appointed Jurgen Klopp? Or is it more the case that they only sacked their existing manager less than 28 hours before you wrote your column?

 

And that’s maths…
‘If Carragher was one of the greatest defenders in Europe at his peak, Gerrard was one of the greatest midfielders in the world. As the going rate for John Stones right now is upwards of £35m, it can be presumed that would have been the rough sum to replace Carragher, like for like.

‘Gerrard is a £70m player, a Paul Pogba. Add to that Suarez and Sterling. Rodgers lost in the region of £230m worth of players’ – Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail, struggling to get his head round the concept of ageing.

Mediawatch wonders why Samuel didn’t have more sympathy with Louis van Gaal when he wrote in March that results were ‘chiselling away at the rapidly emerging cracks in Van Gaal’s regime’.

After all, Van Gaal had lost Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra the previous summer. That’s ‘in the region of £230m worth of talent’, sold for just £1m.

 

Analyse this
Said Chris Sutton on BBC 5Live’s Monday Night Club:

“There’s no point analysing why a team lost because a team can lose.”

One wonders if Sutton should have tried analysing one of his 23 losses in 50 games as Lincoln City manager. He hasn’t been employed as a manager since.

 

The (in)glorious return of acewatch
‘Key evidence as Prem ace fights conviction’ – Daily Star.

Premier League appearances made by Ched Evans: 16 (13 as a sub), 1 goal…in the 2008/09 season.

Mediawatch calls him something very different.

 

In the frame
In The Sun, David Coverdale reviews the runners and riders to be the next Sunderland manager. It includes a certain Brendan Rodgers. Optimism is not dead on Wearside just yet.

‘Pros: Has a chance to rebuild career after Liverpool sacking.

Cons: Does he want to jump into a new job so soon?’

Yes, it’s the fact that the Sunderland gig has come round so soon that’s stopping Rodgers taking it. Not the fact that Sunderland are more than a bit s**t and look to be heading to the Championship.

 

Slight difference of opinion #1
‘Klopp is none too keen on having a word with the committee every time he wishes to buy a player’ – Martin Samuel, Daily Mail.

‘Jurgen Klopp is happy to work under Liverpool’s transfer system and looks certain to be unveiled as Liverpool manager before the end of this week’ – David Maddock, Daily Mirror.

 

Slight difference of opinion #2
‘David Moyes rejects Sunderland after approach over vacant managerial job… as Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche also say no’ – Daily Mail.

‘Sam Allardyce set to replace Dick Advocaat at struggling Sunderland’ – Daily Express.

 

Tinker, tailor, soldier, scout
‘Arsenal spies have been instructed to identify potential striker targets ahead of the transfer window’ – Sami Mokbel, Daily Mail.

The word you’re looking for is ‘scout’.

 

Ask a simple question
‘Brendan Rodgers’ 31 Liverpool signings rated: Did he hit or miss on £292m worth of talent?’ – Mirror Football.

Miss.

 

Audience Participation
– Keep your tweets coming in! Is Louis van Gaal adopting the right style of play? #SSNHQ’ – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 10.44am, October 6.

– Is Louis van Gaal adopting the right style of play at Man Utd? Yes or no – let us know why using’ – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 10.23am, October 6.

– How does Tim Sherwood fix Aston Villa? Let us know using #SSNHQ’ – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 10.19am, October 6.

– Keep your tweets coming in! What is next for Brendan Rodgers after departing Liverpool? #SSNHQ’ – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 9.58am, October 6.

– What is next for Brendan Rodgers? Let us know using #SSNHQ’ – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 9.22am, October 6.

– This morning on Sky Sports Now we want to know what Jurgen Klopp would bring to Liverpool? Use #SSNHQ’  – @SkySportsNewsHQ, 9.14am, October 6.

Keep those questions coming out!

 

Adrian Durham analogy of the day
‘Supporting Arsenal must be like being married to a moody woman: you never know what you’re going to get, it could be brilliant, it could be horrible, it’s always unpredictable, but you put up with it for the good times’ – Adrian Durham, MailOnline.

Yeah women. Why are you so moody?

 

Headline of the day
‘Gunners are Coq-sure’ – The Sun.

 

Weirdest headline of the day/week
‘Will Barcelona have to do this unusual thing to stay at the top?’ – Metro.

That ‘unusual thing’ is for Luis Enrique to rotate his side. Deary f**king me.

 

Non-football story of the day
‘An air hostess reportedly earned around £650,000 in just two years by having sex with aeroplane passengers in the toilet.

‘The woman’s illicit activity went unnoticed until she was caught in a compromising position in the lavatory and subsequently sacked. It is reported that she was working for an airline in the Middle East.

‘A source speaking to the Saudi Arabic language daily Sada said: “She admitted that she had sex with many other passengers during flight and that she preferred long distance flights between the Gulf and the United States.”

‘Airline sources said the woman charged £1,500 (Dh7,400) for each mile high liaison, and found someone willing to pay her the sum on every flight.

‘The airline has not been named specifically, but Sada has reported that the flight attendant was immediately sacked and then deported’ – Daily Mirror.

 

Thanks to today’s spotter Paul McGrady. If you see anything that belongs on this page, mail us at theeditor@football365.com putting ‘Mediawatch’ in the subject field.