Today's Banter: Hicks/Gillett show their true colors & more

What the hell is going on? I'm not really angry about the issue and I can't honestly say I'm surprised, but the recent action of our owners is just witless. Why would they come out with this statement? It makes no sense. Rafa hasn't voiced any complaints to the press concerning transfers, the closest he did was talk about wanting to sign Mascherano permanently and that wasn't even recently.

If that wasn't enough, Tom Hicks made more statements to the Liverpool Echo, which in my opinion is starting to make this sound like an anti-Rafa PR campaign. Here's what he had to say: "After the Champions League final in Athens, Rafa made certain demands of us and we responded to those demands in the summer... We brought in some good players and spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club. We now have some crucial games coming up in The Premier League and the Champions League and we want to see if we can win these games with the players we have. This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this. We told him to concentrate on the games coming up and nothing else and I guess he didn’t like that. George and I will be over in mid-December and that is the time to talk about other issues. It is really time for Rafa to quit talking about new players and to coach the players we have."

Let's take a closer look at these words, since Hicks appears to make some distorted allusions. First off, Liverpool "spent more money than has ever been spent before at this club." We only spent a net of £21-25m after you consider the amounts received from transfers. That's nothing compared to what Man U spent and nowhere near the boatloads Abramovich had to payout to make Chelsea competitive. Then he says, "This was the message we gave to Rafa recently and I think during the international break he must have grown a bit frustrated about this." Really? If he was frustrated, why are we hearing it from you? Rafa made no statements in this regard. To say such things is irresponsible and unprofessional. The owners clearly know nothing about football and furthermore, I actually think they believe we supporters aren't smart enough to assess our own club. If they aren't in it for the money, as they claimed when first purchasing the club, then they are the ones that need to shut up and start handing over the transfer money.

It's not like we'll need much anyhow. If we sell Carson and Crouch, that's at least £20m to spend right there. That covers Mascherano's fee and puts a little toward a centre back, hopefully Ezequiel Garay. We could also use another forward, but it's not a dire need with Babel capable of playing up front. If Hicks and Gillett think they can get away with just spending £25m and then blame Rafa for not bringing success to our club, they're sorely mistaken. Give him the players he needs or sell the f**king club! It's not as if he's spending insane amounts. Give him Man U money and we'll win the league, I guarantee it, but until then, they are the ones that need to shut up. Okay, so I did get worked up a little over that after all, but I'm not going to take any bullshit from our owners.

It's looking more and more likely that Hicks and Gillett had no idea what they were getting into when they bought the club. This isn't the Texas Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, or NASCAR. Even though Rafa has done phenomenal with the minimal funds provided and is slowly building our youth and development programs, the financial practices of their American sports franchises just won't cut it in the Premiership. There's no chance of parity curbed by a salary cap or luxury tax and it's going to be at least five years until we'll see the fruits of Rafa's youth movement ripen, but there's no guarantee of that either. If we don't see an investment of at least £60m in the next two transfer windows, I wouldn't blame Rafa for walking, and if that happens, there'll be hell to pay.

Speaking of which, in the now famous press conference from earlier today where Rafa said, "I am focusing on coaching and training my team." Thirteen times (!!!) in all, as response to questions other than about the Newcastle match, he also said he would consider the England job if he received an offer. It gave me a bit of much needed comic relief, but in reality, he'll never be offered the position and if so, would never accept. Rafa running England would be a disaster and both parties probably know it. It's not as if he wouldn't be successful, because I'm pretty certain he would, but most of the matches they would win would be utterly tedious 1-0 and ultimately that would be bad for England and the sport itself. I'm sure Rafa was just sending a message to the owners that he could go elsewhere, but they should already know that. Valencia and most La Liga clubs for that matter would love to have Benitez as their boss.

In transfer news, Ryan Flynn has joined Hereford United on one-month loan. He joins fellow LFC teammate Robbie Threlfall at the Edgar Street. Flynn was part of both the 2006 and 2007 FA Youth Cup winning sides. He'll be with the Bulls until the 22nd of December. Cheers.

Today's Banter: Latest on Riise wageslip leak, Sick Sissoko may miss Blackburn, Xabi back in a fortnight?, & more

Though the Merseyside police have stated that they will look no further into how John Arne Riise's wageslip was leaked to the internet due to lack of complaint, Liverpool FC have decided to take matters into their own hands by launching an independent investigation. The first anecdote to emerge involving the controversy is that a group of Everton fans co-conspired to rummage Riise's vehicle after spotting the 27-year-old Norwegian in a pub. While other Toffees fans kept watch on Riise, another co-conspirator allegedly searched out his SUV where the wageslip was apparently within plain view of a camera phone. The problem with that theory is: a)there was a hand clearly in one of the leaked pics, b)how did they know which vehicle was Riise's?, and c)the plot sounds a little too fantastic and definitely too intelligent for a group of Everton fans to pull off.

Rafa has revealed that the only reason Steven Gerrard played yesterday was because Momo Sissoko is still sick. Had the 22-year-old Malian been available, Stevie-G would have more than likely had the night off. Momo has been diagnosed with a virus of some sort and had trouble keeping food down earlier this week. His condition will be evaluated ahead of the Blackburn match on Saturday, but prospects of him playing are not looking good. Thankfully Mascherano's injury wasn't as severe as first thought as the Argentine played in the closing minutes of yesterday's match.

Speaking of injuries, our current crisis appears to be becoming less grim. Turns out Xabi Alonso's foot injury is not as disastrous as originally anticipated. The 25-year-old Spanish International was expected to be out up to two months, now it's looking more like two weeks. That means with a little luck, we could have a full and fit squad in a fortnight with Agger and Torres expected back by then as well.

Jack Hobbs and Nabil El Zhar have garnered loads of praise for their efforts versus Cardiff City yesterday. The 19-year-old Hobbs received acclaim from teammate and fellow centre back, Sami Hyypia. The legendary Finn went as far to say that he believed Hobbs was better than him at that age. Wow. Meanwhile, El Zhar, who scored an absolute cracker of a goal to give us an early lead has been getting his fair share of attention. In a post-game interview, he stated that he would play defender for us if it meant more playing time. Now that's the kind of attitude we need.

Finally, Hereford United has received permission from Reds management to FA cup-tie Robbie Threlfall. It looks as if the young left-back will be getting some pitch time for the Whites. Cheers.

Threlfall loaned to Hereford United

Robbie Threlfall (pictured, center above) has been sent out on one month loan to League Two side, Hereford United. The 18-year-old left back was on both FA Youth Cup winning sides in 2006 and 2007. He scored the goal in the second leg of 2007 final with Manchester United to send the match to penalties, where Liverpool prevailed 4-2. He was named Man of the Match for his efforts that night at Old Trafford.

The U19 England International also saw action with the first team in preseason matches against Wrexham and South China FC. I got to watch the latter match and was quite impressed with the youngster's pace, composure, and toughness. Hopefully the local lad will continue to progress and one day follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and fulfill his dream of becoming a first team regular.