Twas the night before deadline day, and on Merseyside
All the creatures were stirring, with Jim White as our guide
Carroll was loaned out, Liverpool's cupboards were bare
But everyone knew soon a striker'd be there!
The ITKs logged onto Twitter and said
Rodgers promised a signing, we'll get a new red!
That he has found himself sailing too close to the wind is something Andy Carroll has been
accused of before, but Brendan Rodgers' recent comments have left the towering striker closer than
walking the green mile to the precipice of the Anfield cliff.
'A flop; useless'. Just two of the descriptions applied to Andy Carroll during his time at
Liverpool. That is, until his week of "glory", when he managed to snatch two late winners for the
Reds, much to the delight of fans who like to watch football live.
Andy Carroll may well have just enjoyed one of the best weeks of his torrid spell on Merseyside,
following his high-profile and widely ridiculed £35 million transfer from his boyhood club,
Newcastle, where he was thought of as the long-term number nine for the team.
"He was the best person we could have got in to play the number nine shirt." That's how Liverpool
manager Kenny Dalglish described the £35m capture of Andy Carroll shortly after the striker's move
to Anfield last year. It was ...
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Senegal striker Papiss Demba Cisse will team up with international team-mate Demba Ba at Newcastle
United after signing from Freiburg for a fee thought to be around £10m.
Cisse has signed a five-and-a-half-year at the club and will wear the much-coveted number nine
shirt. The 26-year-old will have to wait for his Newcastle debut due to his involvement in the
Africa Cup of Nations.
Steve McManaman has backed Steven Gerrard to set Liverpool striker Andy Carroll on the path to
becoming a "number nine superstar".
Carroll has scored just five goals in 30 appearances since his £35million switch from Newcastle
and this season he has appeared bereft of confidence.
But former Anfield favourite McManaman believes Gerrard, who is back in action after an
injury-dogged 2011, has the quality to bring the best out of Carroll.
Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain would be an ideal January signing for Liverpool, according to
former Anfield star John Barnes.
The Reds have been tipped to reinforce their goalscoring department during the transfer window,
having found the net only 18 times in as many league outings so far this season.
Reports linking Liverpool with a shock move for Barcelona striker David Villa have been rubbished
by SkySports' Spanish correspondent Guillem Balague, who took to his website to comment on the
speculation.
According to Valencia-based paper Superdeporte, the 29-year-old Spaniard is unhappy at the Camp Nou
because of the problems he is having playing alongside Lionel Messi.
There is little not to love about Luis Suarez. His infectious work ethic and outrageous ability
instantly endeared him to the Anfield faithful upon his arrival from Ajax, and in the short time
that has elapsed since then he has dazzled with a brilliance not witnessed since a certain Spaniard
graced the hallowed turf in full flow.
Liverpool 1-1 Norwich City | Premier League match report
Finally at Liverpool, the big number nine was sent on from the bench and saved his side's
afternoon with a powerful header at the Kop end of the sort that would have made anyone from Tony
Hateley to John Toshack proud.
Attacking Fluidity: Is Carroll starting to fit in?
AnfieldIndex Liverpool FC Stats | Liverpool FC Blog | Liverpool FC Forum Fluidity. That's the
word on every Liverpool fan's lips and how we soon hope to be able to describe our attacking play
on a regular basis. Pass and move is part of Liverpool's footballing heritage and it is just as
important to supporters that we start playing the ‘Liverpool way' as it is we start giving the
trophy room manager a selection headache again, and with Kenny Dalglish at the helm anything is
possible.
The reintroduction of Kenny Dalglish as manager of Liverpool Football Club has welcomed an
entirely new brand of football. The philosophy of a pass and move game has seemingly been drilled
into the entire squad, and everybody plays within that ideal.
Van Persie, Rooney, Welbeck, Hernandez: Manchester United's attacking options now equal of Man
City's is a post from: Just Football
by Jake Meador
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Manchester's blue half should be feeling pretty
chuffed right now.
Last year Manchester City won the Premier League on the strength of a half
dozen prodigious attacking talents regularly cycling into four attacking roles, a
sturdy-but-not-spectacular holding duo and an elite center half.
The Biggest Winners Of 2011/12: Manchester City, Newcastle and more - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
A fantastic last day of the season capped off one of the most memorable Premier League seasons
in the recent memory. 2011/12 has had it all; a topsy-turvy title race that literally went down to
the wire, a bitter battle for the top four, heroics in the Champions League and a breathtaking
relegation battle.
Papiss Cisse: My Signing of the Season! - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
For me, Newcastle's number nine has been the best transfer for not just this season, but the
past few years.
Yesterday evening, Cisse produced two goals of the highest quality to keep Newcastle United
firmly in contention for a place in the Premier League's top four with victory at Chelsea.
Good signing from Newcastle today, who completed the signing of Freiburg striker Papiss Demba
Cisse for around £10 million. Cisse has signed at five-and-a-half-year deal with Newcastle.
Newcastle will partner Cisse up-front with his international team-mate Demba Ba, whichh should
end rumors that Demba Ba is leaving Newcastle anytime soon.
The questions remain about Fernando Torres. Until he gets on a run those questions will continue. I
honestly believe that Fernando Torres will soon prove all the doubters wrong.
Will he start today and will he score? I think he will and am hoping he puts in his biggest
performance in a Chelsea shirt so far this afternoon!
Newcastle v Tottenham: Champions League Qualification A Step Too Far? - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Tottenham Hotspur travel to Newcastle United as the race for fourth spot in the Premier
League heats up. The Magpies have enjoyed a promising start to the season and sit proudly where the
London club is desperate to be.
For the second time in a row: it's D-day for Oranje. But this time, they REALLY need to win this
match. Last Wednesday the high hopes they had didn't result in a victory. After a good start for
the Dutch NT they couldn't finish it and the German team won with 1-2. Today that result won't be
enough.
It's D-day for Oranje. This is THE match, not only because of the disappointing start but also
because they are playing rivals Germany tonight. After the disappointing loss last Saturday
(Denmark beat them by 1-0) the Dutch guys have to be at their best behavior today. It will take a
lot of effort, skills and luck to beat Germany tonight.
Euro 2012 kicked off with a bang as the opening game served up something for everyone. Two goals
from comedy goalkeeping errors, a controversial sending off, a cast-iron sending off, a saved
penalty and an inspired substitution gave more memorable moments than most opening games put
together.
Spain v Venezuela Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds Friendly 29 February 2012 - The
90th Minute Soccer Blog
Defending champions Spain continue preparations for Euro 2012 with an international friendly
against Venezuela. The match will take place at Estadio La Rosaleda Malaga, Spain on Wednesday,
February 29, 2012.
NUFC Season Review Part One. Following on from part one of Newcastle United's 2011 / 2012 season
review, we begin at the start of the new year with a home tie against Sir Alex Ferguson's
Manchester United... January Man Utd humbled / A Nightmare at the Cottage / The new number nine...
A [...]
We have no idea why the African Cup of Nations is every two years rather than every four years, and
of course it takes place again next January as they have decided to switch to play in the odd years
from the even years. Cheick Tiote - wore the number nine shirt for the Ivorians [...]
Another Ba-rgain buy? Newcastle obviously think they've hit on a successful transfer formula, so
they're sticking to it. They've brought another Senegal international striker called Demba with a
history of playing in the Bundesliga. Papiss Demba Cisse has signed from Freiburg in a
five-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region [.
And then there were two Scotsmen! While we were still wrapped in all the controversy and tension
from the Valencia fiasco it seems like the Timbers FO was able to quietly get the third designated
player deal all wrapped up in a nice little package. In an abrupt press announcement today, the
Timbers announced that Kris Boyd will join the team as the third designated player, joining the
likes of the Los Angeles Galaxy and New York Red Bulls as having used all three spots.
Villa lost for season during Club World Cup victory of Al-Saad (Photo: AP Photo)
When is a victory considered a loss?
Barcelona's 4-0 demolition of Qatar's Al-Sadd Sports Club advanced Barcelona to the Club World
Cup Championship against Santos, but the victory came at one hell of a price.
Ryan Kinne looked set to head home as the hero after scoring what looked to be winner for his
hometown CFC Azul, but the Seacoast United Phantoms' Dylan George had other ideas, stunning the
visitors with an equalizer deep into stoppage time. George's 95th minute strike gave the Phantoms a
1-1 draw at Portsmouth High School on Sunday night and kept the New Hampshire-based club unbeaten
on the season.
In British soccer, the number nine takes on extra significance for an elite attacking player.
Historically a center forward, at certain clubs the number has a legacy all its own. Previous
Everton #9 Duncan Ferguson had a tattoo of the number and it's normally associated with the player
most representative of the club.
We're in the holiday spirit here at the Free Beer Movement. For us, it means more time off, a
return to the FBM motherland (Wisconsin), and a chance to try all sorts of tasty Midwest brews.
That doesn't mean we've jumped away from our soccer minds, though. Our little ditty covers some of
the biggest American soccer stories of 2011 and a few hopes for 2012 and you may recall the ditty
as "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
It had been hoped that the rumours linking Spurs with a move for Juventus striker Amauri would
go away but there are many stories around at the moment suggesting that a January fee of £20m for
the striker has already been agreed.
Much has been made of the player's bright start to the Serie A season with his loan side Parma
but seven goals in eleven matches at the beginning of 2011-12 do not mask a disappointing career
overall.
Guest writer Ryan McCarthy launches an impassioned defence of under-fire Liverpool striker Andy
Carroll, charting his career from his start at Newcastle, through his loan period at Preston North
End and then onto the heady heights of Anfield.
The day was almost over when the silver Mercedes pulled past the throng of fans paying homage at
the entrance to Melwood, many of them long past bedtime on a January school night, transporting
their newest hero, a purchase that had - even in the final hours of the final transfer day - caused
surprise among the nation's football journalists, Geordies and hardened Kopites.
