Andy Carroll... well that was a cracking idea wasn't it.

It may seem a little premature to be writing the obituary for this young man's Liverpool career just yet (although maybe not as it looks like he might be out of the door already), but it looks on the cards. He seems to morphing into the proverbial square peg in a round hole for the Liverpool first team with Brendan Rodgers in charge.

Emile Ivanhoe Heskey

Personally if it gets us playing football where the grass is, then I am in favour of this development. It turns into an easy of an option to try and pick out Carroll, or prior to him Crouch or Heskey and watch balls skim off the top of his head (Heskey) for a goal kick. Easy option, but also one that didn't work.But Heskey did have the greatest middle name in history and he did have his (occasional) moments.

Much better to keep the ball and progress up the field that way. If you're passing to feet it's easier than pinging the ball up the pitch to let someone fight for it. Don't give the opposition the chance, pass it quick on the floor and you will get results - if you get good at it.The odd long ball can be deadly at the feet of the right person.. If your name starts with an 'X' and you are spanish then this is usually a good sign.

This is part of the reason that I am not keen on the whole Andy Carroll situation. While he is at Liverpool I don't think we will get the best out of him. I do not think Carroll will slot in too easily to Rodgers plans.. and whilst he is a decent plan B if it starts to get desperate, that is a very expensive plan B. Best to cash in £20m-ish and get a couple of players in to decrease the need for a plan B as Plan A is nailing it thank you.(doesn't look like this is happening either).

I was never happy with the original transfer... it was the ultimate panic buy. One of the most ridiculous transfer deals in Liverpool history. Liverpool have historically done things on the cheap.Certainly in terms of goalscorers, we usually end up making a profit on them. Ian Rush bought for £300,000 from Chester, sold for £3.2m and bought back the season after for £2.8m. £100k profit and 346 goals into the deal - that is how you do business. More recently we had God (183 goals) and Michael Owen (158 goals) who we made profits on their transfers by not actually buying them in the first place. Even Torres who we made £30m on still got us 65 goals in 105 games. By my reckoning that's 752 goals with a profit (in transfers) of just under £40m.That's not including Steven Gerrard, but we haven't sold him yet (?) so that doesn't count.

Now this is obviously cherry picking on a grand scale, but I think the point stands. When you consider what we have got out of Carroll for £35m (6 goals) and some decent performances when he tried a bit harder.

Now it seems he's off to West Ham, for £2m with a view to signing him next season for £17m if he keeps them up. A good deal for them if you consider what 2 seasons in the Premier League is worth, considerably more than £17m.

When you look at this deal at the present time.. Liverpool will be £33m down (or £5.5m a goal). If you thought the original deal was crackers, well this one is turning into some kind of farce. And let's not forget the Aquilani saga is rumbling on. Although to be fair it is quite easy to forget as it has been going on for some time now. Not far wrong in saying that's the fat end of £60m wasted, probably more when you consider wages, but if I do that I will probably start crying.

I do hope we get a grip with this squad sooner rather than later. We cannot compete financially with the likes of City, but we certainly won't if we keep giving money away at the rate we have been. And let's not forget, the reason that this upsets me is that this is our money. Edging towards £50 (FIFTY POUNDS) a ticket, which you have to buy all in one go, well two goes.. but it's getting a bit steep.

If we carry on like we have been it will only get steeper.

Brendan Rodgers - A New Dawn at Anfield.. yes another one.

Things have been changing rapidly at Anfield over the past few years.. the turn over of managers is approaching chaotic Chelsea levels of incompetence.

Rodgers is the 4th manager at Anfield in the 2 years since Benitez left in 2010. Obviously the turmoil relating to the owners that's meant Liverpool have been on the front pages of the papers rather than the back during this time hasn't helped.

But hopefully, we can now put that behind us and get a bit of stability. It's worth noting that it took Liverpool 32 years to go through 4 managers between 1959 and 1991. A period that it's fair to say had it's moments of success. You only have to look at Man Utd (as much as it pains me to say) that show that constantly changing your manager, is not the way forward if you want to be successful. In today's demand  for instant success would have meant that Ferguson would have probably been sacked long before they started winning things - so I suppose in that instance, a trigger happy owner would have been more beneficial to Liverpool, but I'm getting off the point slightly.

Rodgers has come in and as always with a new manager (except with Hodgson) there is a new sense of optimism. Swansea were impressive last season. Especially in their performance at Anfield. During the various draws at Anfield last season - it could be argued that that was a point won for Liverpool than 2 lost. They kept the ball well and had the chances to win the game, which they were possibly unlucky not to in the end.

A lot has been made of the new system that Rodgers will bring in. His Spanish connections have made it sound as though he will install a brand of tiki-taka football and we'll suddenly start playing like Barcelona. it's a nice idea, but I wonder how feasible it is.

Player from North-East of England

The reason that Barcelona (and Spain) can play that way is because they have been playing that way since the age of 10. They get taught to play the ball around properly which is why they are so obscenely good at it. Suddenly saying that were now going to play like that when your side is made up of players from all over the place that haven't been brought up like that (especially in the North-East of England).

Hopefully Rodgers can change things round. If we can get playing properly and more importantly - Effectively, then we have a real chance of getting towards the pointy end of the table when April and May come along.

Transfers will obviously play a big part in this and if we learn to negotiate a bit more then we won't have to spend quite the eye-watering sums of money that we have been doing over the past few years.

Hopefully some of the players we signed last year can step up a level. Once they actually get used to the idea of wearing a Liverpool shirt then it is feasible that the likes of Henderson, Downing and especially Carroll can start to deliver. That is of course if Carroll hasn't been sold, because of the face of it he doesn't look like a Brendan Rodgers type of player. Although he could turn out to be a rather expensive plan B on the bench.

We signed Fabio Borini on Friday the 13th, which I understand is also when we signed Ian Rush. If you attach significance to such nonsense this is probably a good thing, so I think we will. To be honest I don't know that much about him but I suppose Rodgers does so we'll have to see how that pans out. we will have to hope that he is a little more successful than our other Italian signings, none of which have covered themselves in glory - apart from the 4th goal at Old Trafford from Dossena which was fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skoafqqLlJk&feature=related < always good to watch this again.

There was also the interesting rumour in the week of Fulham offering us Clint Dempsey and £9m for Andy Carroll which seems like a pretty good deal, even considering Dempsey's age.

To be honest I get a bit tired of all the rumours flying around - we'll see who we've got at the start of the season and with a bit of luck we'll get somewhere near fourth spot, which if Van Persie and Modric both leave their respective clubs will suddenly become a slightly easier prospect, but only slightly.