Who would have expected that.....

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[andeeeee]

kop ticket here and no bloody baby sitters for wednesday , not happy at all . as peters and lee would sing `welcome home , wellllllllllcome , your home once more`

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Fowler Interview - http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.ph..._Interview.wmv

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Andee - chuffed to bloody bits I am!!!!!

Shame that we're at Pompey then Wigan etc in next few games. Wont get a proper Saturday debut at Anfield for a while

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When Robbie Fowler was sold to Leeds Utd for £12 Million in late 2001 there were many tears shed amongst the ranks of the Anfield faithful. Despite being plagued by injury for the previous couple of seasons and unable to dislodge either Michael Owen or Emile Heskey as one of the first choice centre forwards, Fowler had something unique which no player aside from possibly Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard has had since, a tight emotional bond to the fans. Much of this adoration was of course down to his goal scoring exploits on the pitch, but what took that bond to a greater level was Fowler’s understanding of the issues that affected those fans, what made them tick, shall we say. Fowler wasn’t your typical footballer. He wore his heart on his sleeve and we all know his heart was Liverpool red (at least from the age of 10 upwards)

Despite this, most fans at the time also recognised that we had probably already seen the best of Robbie Fowler and that £12 million wasn’t a bad piece of business. Many also had a huge amount of faith in Gerard Houllier, having won the cup treble 6 months earlier this was something the manager had a right to expect. If it came down to a choice between player and manager, most backed the manager and rightly so.

It’s often said that the heart and soul is gone from modern football. To a certain extent it does appear that with the advent of sky and the amount of money in the game, modern footballers are motivated by selfish dreams. How do you motivate someone on £50,000 a week? It must be hard for the players as well, how do you motivate yourself to perform when you know that regardless of a result you’ll still be picking up your big fat pay check at the end of the week. Perhaps this is what helps the great players stand out from the good players. A bit of heart and passion. Bob Paisley once said of the fans “The whole of my life, what they wanted was honesty. They were not concerned with cultured football, but with tryers who gave one hundred percent.” So whilst some of the passion and emotion may have gone out of the game forever to be replaced by scientific, methodic coaching and cut throat business dealing, it hasn’t gone out of Liverpool football club and its fans and hopefully never will. I’d even go so far to say that emotion has got this club to where it is today. It certainly had a huge effect on the events and success of last season. Perhaps we even have a Manager, Chairman and Chief Executive who recognise its importance.

So we come to the events of today. I for one am absolutely delighted at Robbie’s return. He may not play much, he may not score many goals, but one thing is for sure. He’ll give the club a lift in a way far less tangible. As an emotional, some may say too emotional (though not I) set of fans, the reception he’ll get on his return will take the roof off. Think Xabi being announced on the bench for the first leg of the Juve game last year only ten times bigger. This type of effect cannot be measured, the feel good factor around the club. You only have to read the message boards to get a sense of the delight amongst the great majority of fans. The club store will no doubt be bustling over the next few days with all talk of the return of ‘God’. Although some may remain sceptical about the transfer and some may have inflated ideas about what Robbie will do football wise on his return, personally I cannot see the downside. If he flops, so what, he cost nothing and has, in an instant brought a buzz to the club.
Quotes such as
“People can talk about having a lot of money to buy players but we've just signed a player with a passion and a heart for this club that no amount of money can buy.”
from a manager as scientific and as clinical as Rafael Benitez then make you sit up and take notice.

The bottom line is that yes, the re-signing of Robbie Fowler is a nostalgic decision, yes it is an emotional decision, yes godammit it may not even be a rational decision, but it’s the right decision at the right time for this football club. Robbie is an emotional bloke, we are an emotional set of fans and football IS an emotional game.

Welcome back lad.

More Reaction Here

[andeeeee]

i read his book over chrimbo and i had a feeling he`d be back in a red shirt, i`ve been telling my mates this week he`d be back . we need a natural born striker who`s not played in europe and he`s free , AWESOME signing by rafa .15 goals at least from him .

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deffo andee. I have no doubt he is past his best (that was some 'best' mind) but he will score. Stick him in the 6-yard box and he will nail chances that cisse and morientes miss. Perfect to play alongside Crouch. All the knockdowns from corners and set-pieces at the moment are wasted because Cisse cant score.

Take that chance against United last week that he sky-ed whilst he was having a kip. Fowler would have buried it whether on his arse or not.

I am off to see if my old shirt still fits - 38" chest so I am very much doubtful. Remember wearing it on Stan Collymore's debut against Sheff Wed - happy days...

[fasteddy]

have to say I;m surprised as well...but it is a great piece of business by Rafa, and lets be fair to Psycho Pearce as well...he helped it happen.

Robbie has always been a player to watch no matter who he played for...he''s just one of those rare breeds ..exciting, unpredictable, bit of an arse at times...but great skill and passion...everything you want in a modern player!!

Loved him to have gone to Celtic mind...Kenny Miller??!!

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Fowler has taken a 50% pay cut to join Liverpool

Fowler is merely delighted to be back. “I’m so happy it’s frightening,” he said last night, still shaking with excitement after signing a contract worth about £20,000 a week. “I can’t believe it’s happened. It hasn’t sunk in yet. If I’m honest, I didn’t ever really believe I would come back. Leaving was probably one of my biggest regrets I have had in football.

Was on a reputed £40k a week at City.....

Oh and the best bit is yet to come, Leeds are paying a proportion of his wages

Official story HERE

In their desperation to sell him, Leeds were even forced to contribute to the player's wages – a scenario which will continue until July of this year and will not be affected by the player's switch to Merseyside.

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Thats mint isnt it, a legend returns, on a free transfer and we dont pay all of his wages too.........

Brilliaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaant

And people say rafa doesnt know what he's doing eh!

[Winrew]

Liverpool are reportedly close to signing winger Sanchez del Amo Victor from La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna.
Victor, 29, who has been pulled out of Deportivo's side for the game with Atletico Madrid, is expected on Sunday to discuss terms and have a medical.

The winger is expected to sign a three-and-a-half-year deal

[Kop66]

Robbies back

[slick]

Just read it Was

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/...ide/4655478.stm

Wonder if it was to do with Fowlers arival?

nope its more to do with this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...ty/4658660.stm


Personally i would never have touched Fowler from the off once he rejected us the first time but Keegan being the nob that he is cannot see beyond his perm and still signed him up 6 weeks after the initial rejection even though Leeds were reputed to be paying half his salary.

They could have paid the fcuking lot for all i cared as the initial rejection showed he was in it for the money and not the club and even had the cheek to sneak his m8 Mcmannaman into the club and bleed a bit more off.

I've never been a big Fowler fan as he is far to inconsistant for my liking but i know Pool fans think the world of him and if its a consolation then the last few games he has played for us i've never seen him as sharp for a long while and i can see him doing a job for Liverpool, its hard to believe he's only 30 yrs old as he seems to have been around so long.

Releasing him gave us the extra revenue to bring in Samaras who ever the fcuk he is, Arsenal were supposedly following him but i doubt that very much as they ended up snapping his team mate up from what i recall and Heerenveen may have used this as a decoy to get a better price on Samaras but 6 million on a player Arsenal supposedly offered 3.75 million for only to buy his m8 does seem hell of a jump.

But saying that we've been here b4 with Macken and surely lightning doesent strike twice, Oh fcuk i forgot all about Steve Daley

[Kop66]

Is there any money still owed for the Anelka deal Slick? I cant believe we got him for fcuk all

[slick]

I don't think so Kop but that was a strange one as i believe were still owed cash for him that is expendale so i summise were paid up.

Anelka was and is his own worst enemy if it wasent for his and his familys greed he could have become one of the worlds best strikers without a doubt.
One day he'll regret wasting the talent he has, as all he will be remembered for is a Journeyman and a carpetbagger.