Liverpool set sights on Town star

[Jürgen4PM]

Liverpool set sights on Town star
By Elvin King
Thursday, 21 October, 2010

LIVERPOOL have emerged favourites in the Premier League chase to sign Ipswich Town super kid Connor Wickham.


The struggling Merseyside club have the 17-year-old striker very much on their radar and see the England Under-19 international helping them become a force again.

A representative from the troubled Anfield-based outfit was at Watford on Tuesday when Wickham showed his best form of the season after coming on as a 57th minute substitute in a 2-1 Championship defeat at Vicarage Road.

When Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson was at Fulham he will have known all about Wickham through the teenager’s exploits in the Under-18 ranks.

And with Wickham being a fan of the once mighty Reds a chance to play in front of the Kop every other week would no doubt appeal.

While Arsenal are still keeping strong tabs on Wickham and likely to make a bid in the region of £10million either in January or the summer if the youngster’s potential looks as though it will be fulfilled, their north London neighbours Tottenham have dropped out of the race.

Spurs no longer have Wickham in their sights after being reported to have a £6million bid turned down last close season.

With Wayne Rooney seeking a much-publicised move away from Manchester United, Wickham’s name will inevitably be linked to a move to Old Trafford, but he will need to advance considerably to be seriously considered as a replacement for England star Rooney.

Wickham is on contract to Ipswich until the summer of 2012, and his mentors including his influential father Stefan have no desire for the boy to leave Portman Road.

But every player has a price, and Liverpool are believed to be considering making an offer so that they can take onboard one of the best up-and-coming players England currently has to offer.

Wickham, who helped England make progress in an Under-19 tournament in Belgium last week, sustained an ankle injury in pre-season, and has yet to show his best form this term although he is expected to start at Nottingham Forest on Saturday after causing Watford all sorts of problems towards the end of Tuesday’s match.

 

[TheBunnyman]

£10m for a 17-year-old sounds a huge risk, but if he's good enough, then this is the kind of deal that our new owners should be funding.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe?]

Bales' certainly reaped rewards..

 

[manwithnoname]

The chatter about Wickham has been building for a while now, so despite having never seen him play, I want us to sign him.

Hopefully our world-class, inspirational new manager can start building a new Anfield dynasty under our magnificent new owners and boardroom team.

*spreads positive vibe*

 

[Fabio]

Least now we'll have a target man for when it's pumped up field

Roys tactics you see

*drags down vibe*

 

[keniget]

He's also a boyhood red.

If that doesn't doom any potential Liverpool career to failure, I don't know what does.

 

[Fabio]

[quote author=keniget link=topic=42355.msg1202618#msg1202618 date=1287654483]
He's also a boyhood red.

If that doesn't doom any potential Liverpool career to failure, I don't know what does.
[/quote]

Oh fuck. :angel:

 

[Bernowatson]

If hes a fan, then we need to get him......

Enough of these useless, no hearted, pussyfooting foreign players who couldnt give a shite about our club...

Glad to see we are reverting back to signing decent British players.

If Shelvey, Wilson and the other young British players Liverpool have on the books can step up to the plate in the next 4-5 years we could be well set....

All we need now is a manager with the inspiration to get them playing together and turning them into class acts....

 

[manwithnoname]

[quote author=Bernowatson link=topic=42355.msg1202650#msg1202650 date=1287657015]
If hes a fan, then we need to get him......

Enough of these useless, no hearted, pussyfooting foreign players who couldnt give a shite about our club...

Glad to see we are reverting back to signing decent British players.

If Shelvey, Wilson and the other young British players Liverpool have on the books can step up to the plate in the next 4-5 years we could be well set....

All we need now is a manager with the inspiration to get them playing together and turning them into class acts....
[/quote]

Who cares where they're from?

 

[Bernowatson]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42355.msg1202651#msg1202651 date=1287657066]
[quote author=Bernowatson link=topic=42355.msg1202650#msg1202650 date=1287657015]
If hes a fan, then we need to get him......

Enough of these useless, no hearted, pussyfooting foreign players who couldnt give a shite about our club...

Glad to see we are reverting back to signing decent British players.

If Shelvey, Wilson and the other young British players Liverpool have on the books can step up to the plate in the next 4-5 years we could be well set....

All we need now is a manager with the inspiration to get them playing together and turning them into class acts....
[/quote]

Who cares where they're from?
[/quote]

Well, I do for one....

Because its pretty obvious we need some British grit / backbone to our team.....

We cant really rely on Stevie and Carra for much longer now can we.....

And half these foreign twats (such as the much maligned Lucas etc) havent got a fucking clue about English football......

Look at Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham..... Buying young English talent or developing it is better than taking a gamble on more foreigners. Look at Alonso and Mascher, we all knew they wouldnt stay here for life.... At least with English players we have more hope they will stay for the long haul.

The trouble with our club has been the revolving door in which players have joined and left at this club over the last 5 years. We now need stability and a nucleus of a team which will stay together a while.

Sometimes its great to keep wanting the next best player to come along, but really it is to the detriment of building a team mentality. A "TEAM" cant form when its component parts change every fucking year.....

 

[Avmenon]

Top players want to play in top teams; I think that has more to do with it than not being British,tbh.

 

[Bernowatson]

[quote author=Avmenon link=topic=42355.msg1202661#msg1202661 date=1287658275]
Top players want to play in top teams; I think that has more to do with it than not being British,tbh.
[/quote]

I wasnt meaning all our Foreign players of course.....

But when we spunk god knows how much over the last few seasons on certain players and even say 15 - 20 million on Robbie Keane..... It makes you wonder what planning is going on behind the scenes.

I mean, look now, It would be a fucking godsend to have Keane, Crouch or Bellamy at our club right now.....

 

[manwithnoname]

Well, I do for one....

Because its pretty obvious we need some British grit / backbone to our team.....

Look at Arsenal, Man City, Tottenham..... Buying young English talent or developing it is better than taking a gamble on more foreigners.

What the merry fuck are you talking about?

I'd be quite happy to have the sort of "backbone" and steel that players like Alonso, Hyypia, Hamann, Henchoz, Riise, Babbel et al have supplied us over the years.

As for quacking on about fucking Arsenal, stop emabrrassing yourself. Remind me again how many English players they have had in their best teams, or indeed their current team?

CLEU: Their first XI last week had 10 foreign players in it, and two foreign subs were used.

Man Shitty have bought Milner, Johnson, Barry and Lescott in the last two or three transfer windows...and also Tevez, Santa Cruz, Toure, Toure, Adebayor, De Jong, Kompany, Boateng, Zabaleta, Silva, Balotelli.

Stop me when you've had enough, I've got plenty more abuse for you if you fancy it.

 

[RolandG]

We are an English club, I would still like to see a few British players in the team. That is important and helps us retain our identity. However, its not an overiding factor. I don't really care where the players are from, so long as they are good enough and serve the club with distinction.

 

[Bernowatson]

As long as we buy some British players and they turn out like the likes of Bale, Johnson, Wilshere etc then I will be happy.

 

[dmishra]

Is he that good? He's supposed to be a powerful and pacy striker but I believe we have that sort of player already in Ngoo. In fact, I seem to remember reading that Ngoo has been preferred over him for the England u-19s. Surely not worth splashing 10 million on then?

 

[Jürgen4PM]

I don't know much about the lad, but i did see him put in a impressive performance at the start of the season. Considering how easily he was manhandling the defenders and the size of him, you'd never think that he is 17.

 

[peterhague]

i've never seen him play, but have heard his name quite a bit and know he's up there with that mceachran ladat chelsea as one of the best english youngsters. in general, though, it does at least appear that more often than not these gambles on precocious talents tend to pay off, especially if signed at 17/18. there's ramsey (poor lad), walcott and bale off the top of my head who all look excellent - but i'm guessing there must be another side of the coin that i'm glossing over?

 

[Pesam]

Whenever I do get to see Ipswich he's either injured or brought on as a late sub so I'm still a bit in the dark regarding his talent. I believe he changed the game on Tuesday night - Ipswich were losing 2-0 at Watford and Wickham came on in the second half and apparently Watford were lucky to hang on for a 2-1 win.

I'm sure I'll get a good look at him some time soon but until then I've no idea if he has £10m worth of potential.

 

[gene hughes]

He's had a few injuries since last season and apparantly he'd not been himself so far this year. That's something I read or heard somewhere.

 

[ibromurph]

Saw extended highlights of an Ipswich game at the start of the season. The kid has something about him. He was missing chances left, right and centre, but what impressed me was how he was in those positions to miss in the first place. He was running through players and handling himself really well for someone very young. His work rate was also great (but I guess that comes with the enthusiasm of youth).

Oh and I agree with Bernie. I like us to have 3-4 talented British players in our first team.

 

[jason]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=42355.msg1202596#msg1202596 date=1287652655]
The chatter about Wickham has been building for a while now, so despite having never seen him play, I want us to sign him.

Hopefully our world-class, inspirational new manager can start building a new Anfield dynasty under our magnificent new owners and boardroom team.

*spreads positive vibe*


[/quote]Who would be your first choice after Mourinho then?

 

[Squiggles]

Looks like another Dalglish proposal to me...

We were linked with him a while back, and FWIW, I'm all for spending money on young players who are intent of proving themselves. It's got to be better than the uninspiring muck we've got playing for us now.

We just need to make sure of their mentality before we sign them. No more Babel's, please. (Sorry Once)

 

[Ryan]

I've seen this lad play a few times now. He really does look proper quality.

But then I thought John Welsh was gonna be all that too.

 

[My_Blood_Bleeds_Red]

So what ?

What's the point buying all these 'prodigies' when we hardly get a chance to see them play ?

Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Pacheco, Pongolle, Le Tallec and many, many more whose names I don't even remember now.

 

[Ryan]

[quote author=My_Blood_Bleeds_Red link=topic=42355.msg1203187#msg1203187 date=1287701186]
So what ?

What's the point buying all these 'prodigies' when we hardly get a chance to see them play ?

Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Pacheco, Pongolle, Le Tallec and many, many more whose names I don't even remember now.
[/quote]

They don't get a chance cos they're hardly ever good enough.

Proof of that usually comes from the fact that they move on to shit clubs like Leicester, Notts County and the fucking like after leaving us. And sit on the bench there too.

 

[peterhague]

[quote author=My_Blood_Bleeds_Red link=topic=42355.msg1203187#msg1203187 date=1287701186]
So what ?

What's the point buying all these 'prodigies' when we hardly get a chance to see them play ?

Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Pacheco, Pongolle, Le Tallec and many, many more whose names I don't even remember now.
[/quote]


i think the point, as i hinted at above, is that there seems to be a good return in going for the really outstanding british youngsters when they reach 17/18 or so because they're well developed enough to give a good indication of their prospects while still being much cheaper than they would be a couple of years down the line. in a word, 'value'.

the 3 signings of this ilk i can think of recently, ramsey, walcott and bale, all went for around £5m, all look excellent players now, and let's face it, all looked like excellent players then as well. there might be a load of similar signings that haven't worked out that i'm forgetting, but from what i've seen it does look like a wise policy.

 

[TheBunnyman]

[quote author=peterhague link=topic=42355.msg1203216#msg1203216 date=1287705687]
[quote author=My_Blood_Bleeds_Red link=topic=42355.msg1203187#msg1203187 date=1287701186]
So what ?

What's the point buying all these 'prodigies' when we hardly get a chance to see them play ?

Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Pacheco, Pongolle, Le Tallec and many, many more whose names I don't even remember now.
[/quote]


i think the point, as i hinted at above, is that there seems to be a good return in going for the really outstanding british youngsters when they reach 17/18 or so because they're well developed enough to give a good indication of their prospects while still being much cheaper than they would be a couple of years down the line. in a word, 'value'.

the 3 signings of this ilk i can think of recently, ramsey, walcott and bale, all went for around £5m, all look excellent players now, and let's face it, all looked like excellent players then as well. there might be a load of similar signings that haven't worked out that i'm forgetting, but from what i've seen it does look like a wise policy.
[/quote]

I think the catch is that we all tend to forget the ones who don't go on to make it. I'm racking my brains now - who was the kid who was a 'starlet' at Southampton after Walcott left, and was generally considered to be even better?

EDIT: Oh wait, that was Bale wasn't it?! Way to destroy your own argument...

 

[Avmenon]

[quote author=peterhague link=topic=42355.msg1203216#msg1203216 date=1287705687]
[quote author=My_Blood_Bleeds_Red link=topic=42355.msg1203187#msg1203187 date=1287701186]
So what ?

What's the point buying all these 'prodigies' when we hardly get a chance to see them play ?

Jonjo Shelvey, Raheem Sterling, Pacheco, Pongolle, Le Tallec and many, many more whose names I don't even remember now.
[/quote]


i think the point, as i hinted at above, is that there seems to be a good return in going for the really outstanding british youngsters when they reach 17/18 or so because they're well developed enough to give a good indication of their prospects while still being much cheaper than they would be a couple of years down the line. in a word, 'value'.

the 3 signings of this ilk i can think of recently, ramsey, walcott and bale, all went for around £5m, all look excellent players now, and let's face it, all looked like excellent players then as well. there might be a load of similar signings that haven't worked out that i'm forgetting, but from what i've seen it does look like a wise policy.
[/quote]

Well, yes..but I think the main problem with that is that we just end up with a whole bunch of players who're never going to be good enough but can be sold for some profit.

Perhaps we would be better off focusing on real talents with potential and avoid cunts like Babel.

 

[peterhague]

> bunnyman the slack-jawed yokel.

> avy: errrr, right yeah. bale, ramsey, walcott - 3 players who are obviously never going to be good enough for liverpool. oh no, actually now i think, 3 players who are more than good enough for us *right now*. but, whatever, you get the general idea.