Topic: Steven Caulker - Welcome to Liverpool FC

[XabiAlonsosBeard]

Please can you do this? 100 players, better than Caulker, and available now...

Not just available now. You also have to include willing to accept minimal game time and sitting on the bench quite a lot in your search criteria.

That this loan doesn't appear to have a future fee term in it really does emphasise the nature of the deal. Short term. To cover an unprecedented injury situation.

[Not that Gareth]

Well this escalated fast!

Much needed cover at this stage. Goodluck Steven!

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

Not just available now. You also have to include willing to accept minimal game time and sitting on the bench quite a lot in your search criteria.

That this loan doesn't appear to have a future fee term in it really does emphasise the nature of the deal. Short term. To cover an unprecedented injury situation.

Which surely makes the statement even more ridiculous!

[OLDIE]

I could list a hundred plus players at this point as there's that many out there better than Caulker.

Go on then lets see the names.

Remember though they have to be available to right now - so turn the clock back 24 hrs and start naming names - ALL OF WHOM must be better than Caulker - This should be interesting

[Funky_Gibbons]

I could list a hundred plus players at this point as there's that many out there better than Caulker.

Our first choice centre halves aren't good enough, we need more than a stop gap, we need a new first choice centre half with those out injured now becoming the back ups. The worrying thing for me is that Klopp has not been allowed to spend money on someone he wants who could address this problem in his first transfer window.

I'm not sure our first choice centre-halves aren't good enough (depending on who you call first choice) and I'm not sure it's an area we need to worry about too much.

Looking at our goals for and goals against it looks pretty obvious to me where we need to concentrate our resources.

[lionel_messias]

He is here to add cover so thats ok but screams to me as a committee signing, like most of them. He isn't very good but if called upon then lets hope he can surprise us.

This talk of "committee signing" is an utter nonsense and you need to educate yourself, Killer. Every club has some sort of "committee" structure looking at players, scouting and potential deals. This continual bickering about who signed who is counter productive, banal and a complete waste of bandwidth (for a normally good poster).

You know what Steven Caulker is? A Liverpool Football Club signing, and a short term one at that.

[Jules77]

I'd have liked Matip, but if he's all that's available then fine at least it's just a loan if he's not up to scratch.

I'd rather him than Lllori, enrique or a midfielder in defence. He's got premiership experience and is (currently) fit.

Better than nothing.

[planet-terror]

hello and welcome aboard the good ship lollyklopp

[KennyDaggers]

This talk of "committee signing" is an utter nonsense and you need to educate yourself, Killer. Every club has some sort of "committee" structure looking at players, scouting and potential deals.

They don't though.

At many clubs managers get free reign to manage and sign players they want. Wenger has it at Arsenal, Ferguson had it at United to name but 2.

[Durlmints]

Can anyone confirm the rumours that he's pulled his hamstring walking in to Melwood?

[amirani]

just imagine having Caulker at CB against likes of West Ham, Watford or whoever scored against us from set pieces, corners etc. I have a feeling he would have been very useful in those games! Klopp definitely recognizes and has even said in interviews that we suck defending set-pieces. this signing can't get any more practical.

Wish our new short term signing all the best! YNWA Stevie C

[jwill2127]

Of course all clubs have a committee. The scout , manager and person in charge of the money at a  min.

[lionel_messias]

They don't though.

At many clubs managers get free reign to manage and sign players they want. Wenger has it at Arsenal, Ferguson had it at United to name but 2.

You've named two clubs in Europe, and 50% of those managers have retired from football, it is VERY much the norm.

And a very very boring discussion now.

[Magz50]

Welcome Stevie! Hope you find some form and help us out of this injury crisis!

['Mondzz']

  

I'm sold.

[MNAA]

"A lot of you simply know too much about football. It's much easier to let people like Klopp make the decisions and then judge with your own eyes once the player plays for us"

Les Willis wrote this on the Transfer thread. Just so apt that it needed to be posted here.

Welcome Steve! Show us your Swansea form lad ...

[joezydudek]

If Paddy McNair can cover at United as he did in the first half of last season, surely we have someone who can. What about Lloyd Jones? Surely we could've recalled him like we did with Ilori and Ward.

Why is there a guarantee we have a young centre-back as good as McNair?
Lloyd Jones struggles to get a game at Blackpool. Are you telling me Caulker would too?
Maybe Klopp has a better idea than you of our youngster's capabilities.

[KennyDaggers]

You've named two clubs in Europe, and 50% of those managers have retired from football, it is VERY much the norm.

And a very very boring discussion now.

I could name many more however I only had to name 1 to prove wrong your point that EVERY club has a committee.

[Zend...en the clowns]

Let's give the lad a chance eh?

If Klopp thinks he'll make this situation better, then i'll run with that.

Welcome to Liverpool FC lad where you'll be judged before kicking a ball and then revered as an 'I told you so' hero if you play well.

[MNAA]

They don't though.

At many clubs managers get free reign to manage and sign players they want. Wenger has it at Arsenal, Ferguson had it at United to name but 2.

You have no idea what you are talking about ... Even fucking Brentford has a DoF. The train has left the station a long time ago. Get on board or you'll be left stranded

[-HH-]

Just a reminder to everyone that our last game saw us playing Enrique and Ilori (on the back of not a single first team minute this season) at centre back.

Like some others here I remember Caulker at Swansea. He was superb that season. Has completely lost his way since then but there's talent in there and I can't think of anyone better to try and bring that back out than Jurgen Klopp.

Either way, if you consider him a better centre - back than Enrique he's improved us.

Welcome Steven. Please ignore the bellends and give it your best effort.

[exiledintheUSA]

Lets all be honest here, he's going to pull a hamstring isn't he?

[Flaccido Dongingo]

Can anyone confirm the rumours that he's pulled his hamstring walking in to Melwood?

Don't tempt fate lad!

[Jookie]

Oh for Daniel Agger - didn't Sammy sign in the January ?

Daniel Agger signed January 2006 and played 4 games that season. He didn't come in and start playing straight away.

Sami signed in the summer of 1999 and was boss straight away.

These 2 are not examples of centre halves who were bought in January and were boss straight away. Martin Skrtel is the best example of a centre half we bought in the January transfer window who came in and played regularly straight away and was also part of the team long term.

Reality is that in Jan it's going to be difficult to buy centre backs you want long term unless you want to throw loads of money at the situation OR the player is playing in a minor European league OR they are completely out of favour at their current club. If they are playing in a minor European League it's likely to be a young player (e.g. Agger) and is likely to need a period of time to acclimatise to a new country, league and higher standard of football.

I understand the transfer strategy of the club has wounded people and everyone has a high degree of skepticism about any signing the club makes. However, this signing is a low cost insurance policy. The club would have looked at long term alternatives but they must have either been unavailable or unaffordable at the moment.

Honest question for the people upset with this signing: who did you want/expect us to sign in January? I'm not overjoyed with the Caulker signing but I'm not seeing many other alternatives either.

[eryder]

Perhaps Klopp asked if there are any good replacement available backs we could sign. Someone says there is a Caulker availble, and Klopp who understood this to mean a great player said "ok we go for ze Corker"

I'll get my coat.

[Aceldama]

Caulker was considered as a potential signing under Rodgers wasn't he? The scouting department should be familiar with his attributes.

[El Lobo]

I could name many more however I only had to name 1 to prove wrong your point that EVERY club has a committee.

No, you're wrong. Every single club will have a team of people, feeding information into certain people. Just because it isnt labelled as a 'transfer committee' doesnt mean it doesnt exist. Of course Wenger has a 'committee' helping him with signing, he's managing one of the biggest clubs in world football. If you think he does everything by himself, with no input from anyone else, then you're being massively naive.

[Kopenhagen]

Perhaps Klopp asked if there are any good replacement available backs we could sign. Someone says there is a Caulker availble, and Klopp who understood this to mean a great player said "ok we go for ze Corker"

I'll get my coat.

 

[rafathegaffa83]

Maybe Klopp has a better idea than you of our youngster's capabilities.

Given Klopp has shown he's not adverse to using young CBs (Hummels and Subotic), I think if he rated what we have in our reserves as good enough to fill-in, then we wouldn't be signing Caulker.

[thisyearisouryear]

Any Klopp comments on the signing ? Would be interested to hear his views.

[ArthurDent]

Transfer logic :

   There's no-one left, we must do something.

   This is something.

   Therefore we must do it.


.....


Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

[OLDIE]

Daniel Agger signed January 2006 and played 4 games that season. He didn't come in and start playing straight away.

Sami signed in the summer of 1999 and was boss straight away.

These 2 are not examples of centre halves who were bought in January and were boss straight away. Martin Skrtel is the best example of a centre half we bought in the January transfer window who came in and played regularly straight away and was also part of the team long term.

Reality is that in Jan it's going to be difficult to buy centre backs you want long term unless you want to throw loads of money at the situation OR the player is playing in a minor European league OR they are completely out of favour at their current club. If they are playing in a minor European League it's likely to be a young player (e.g. Agger) and is likely to need a period of time to acclimatise to a new country, league and higher standard of football.

I understand the transfer strategy of the club has wounded people and everyone has a high degree of skepticism about any signing the club makes. However, this signing is a low cost insurance policy. The club would have looked at long term alternatives but they must have either been unavailable or unaffordable at the moment.

Honest question for the people upset with this signing: who did you want/expect us to sign in January? I'm not overjoyed with the Caulker signing but I'm not seeing many other alternatives either.

I may be wrong but wasn't Agger injured early on and that's why he did not play so much ?

[thisyearisouryear]

No, you're wrong. Every single club will have a team of people, feeding information into certain people. Just because it isnt labelled as a 'transfer committee' doesnt mean it doesnt exist. Of course Wenger has a 'committee' helping him with signing, he's managing one of the biggest clubs in world football. If you think he does everything by himself, with no input from anyone else, then you're being massively naive.

^ Is Right.

[BabuYagu]

Based on some of the comments you would think we were replacing peak Baresi and Costacurta with Djimi Traore here.

Our options for CB right now are all either struggling for fitness, injured, too old to start consecutive games, not actually CBīs or kids. Our CB options earlier this week were:-
Sakho (injured)
Gomez (Injured)
Skrtel (Injured)
Lovren (Injured)
Toure (unavailable)
Lucas (played <90 minutes in his career at CB)
Ilori (has trained just 40 minutes with the club this season and hasnīt completed 90minutes in a very long time. Looks very raw)
Can (Our best midfielder, looks shaky also at CB)
Maguire (academy left back)
Masterson (17 year old academy kid, nowhere near ready)

Caulker had an excellent season at Swansea just a few years back, as a kid. To say otherwise is revisionism. So he is capable of performing to a high level in this league. Will he? Nobody knows. But are you seriously telling me that right now he isnīt needed? And we can all hope for the best and pronounce that everyone will be fit again in 2 weeks so he wonīt be needed but do any of you really believe that? We are rushing back players from injury and will over play Toure more than his legs can handle in the coming weeks. I donīt see our injury woes just magically stopping without adding another body that offers some relief.

This also could be a very shrewd signing. Most center backs are quite error prone until they get through 50-100 games. Its why you so rarely see them break through at top clubs and usually spend time on loan to get that experience and learn from their howlers on someone elses grass. Caulker is capable of playing at this level, as he has shown in the past. Hopefully he comes to us with experience, a new found confidence and the desire that comes with knowing this is his last shot at this level. This is exactly the sort of deal we have needed even if maybe itīs not the name many of us wanted. Anybody criticising the club for it need their neck winding in, perhaps until there is a crunch.

[thisyearisouryear]

Transfer logic :

   There's no-one left, we must do something.

   This is something.

   Therefore we must do it. Let's do it, because something is better than nothing.



.....


Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

[Bergersrightwingviews]

Very sensible short-term move. I hope this is a sign that the days of panicked signings are over.

[clinical]

Caulker was considered as a potential signing under Rodgers wasn't he? The scouting department should be familiar with his attributes.

Maybe they found Brendan's old note book?

[Gnurglan]

Honest question for the people upset with this signing: who did you want/expect us to sign in January? I'm not overjoyed with the Caulker signing but I'm not seeing many other alternatives either.

Let's first be clear, I don't have anything against Caulker. I hope he's a success for us. Just don't think we should have gone for that kind of solution, when we have our senior CBs coming back soon enough.

To answer your question: I want(ed) us to sign first picks. Players for the first team. A keeper, a CB, or a player for more or less for any position. What I didn't want us to do was sign yet another player for the squad, one who could be good to have around, just in case. We have enough of them. We saw a whole team of them play against Exeter. Nothing wrong with them. Give one or two a chance, with senior players around them and they'll do fine.

[robertobaggio37]

Some start for the lad, Arsenal & Manchester United - if he gets through unscathed he may shock a few on here and develop into a decent player for us.

He was decent at Spurs and Cardiff. Personaly think people are annoyed because BR wanted him IIRC.

There could be a player in him, depends I guess.

[MNAA]

Franz is getting old how about this up and coming lad called Franco Baresi?

Pah! Francis Benali is miles better ...