Très intéressant article dans le Times d'aujourd'hui. Tout va très bien sauf pour les actionnaires ! Vivement qu'une solution soit trouvée
From The Times April 4, 2009
Liverpool buoyed by Steven Gerrard deal
Oliver Kay
It is barely a month since Steven Gerrard trudged off the pitch in despair at the Riverside Stadium after an abject 2-0 defeat by Middlesbrough that left him wondering whether Liverpool would ever mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title.
Five extraordinary weeks on, Liverpool have the opportunity to return to the summit by beating Fulham this evening, buoyed by yesterday’s announcement that Gerrard has followed Rafael Benítez yesterday in committing his long-term future to the club.
Florentino Pérez, who is expected to be the new president of Real Madrid, had made known his interest in Gerrard, who led Liverpool’s destruction of the Spanish champions in the Champions League first knockout round, but the midfield player was interested only in staying on Merseyside. He and his representatives agreed a new four-year contract worth £120,000 a week late on Thursday, which should keep him with Liverpool just beyond his 33rd birthday, and, with Fernando Torres one of several others who are close to signing new deals, there is a growing sense of stability to underpin the excitement that has built up at Anfield over the past month.
Benítez, the Liverpool manager, was in buoyant mood at his pre-match press conference yesterday, illustrating the difference a month makes by confirming that he had wondered whether his future might lie away from Anfield before he finally signed his new contract on March 18. He is now fully focused on the long haul.
With Benítez’s role secure, Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt have become the first players to agree new contracts, and with deals for Álvaro Arbeloa, Fábio Aurélio and Torres likely to follow swiftly, as well as renewed hope of ending the stalemate over Daniel Agger’s future, Liverpool are making swift progress both on and off the pitch.
Speaking on the day that he also appeared in court to deny charges of affray in relation to a nightclub brawl, Gerrard said: “It’s a fantastic feeling to have agreed the deal. I want to see out the rest of my career with Liverpool. I have said all along that, as long as the club wanted me, I would stay at Liverpool. I’ve been a fan all my life and it’ll be fantastic at the end of my career to look back and say I have been with Liverpool all the way through. The main priority is to be successful and I want to achieve success at the club I love. If we can win more trophies together, I will be really happy.”
Victory away to Fulham would enable Liverpool to reclaim leadership of the Barclays Premier League and, while Benítez concedes that Manchester United remain favourites to win the title — they play Aston Villa tomorrow and will still have a game in hand — the Spaniard believes that winning at Craven Cottage, where Sir Alex Ferguson’s team fell to a 2-0 defeat a fortnight ago, would send out a powerful message.
“I think we are in a good moment,” Benítez said. “We have a lot of confidence and also we have great news regarding Gerrard, which is a big boost for everyone: for him, for the fans and for the rest of the team. Clearly, winning would be another positive message.”
Benítez was asked whether he was familiar with the phrase “squeaky bum time”, which was coined by Ferguson six years ago to sum up the anxiety and nervousness of a title race. He replied that he was unsure what the word “squeaky” meant. An elaborate explanation followed, to which Benítez responded: “I can only talk about myself. I am really happy.”
If there are squeaky bums at Anfield, they are in the boardroom. Reports emerged from the United States yesterday that Tom Hicks, the co-owner, had defaulted on an interest payment on one of his sports group’s loans. The loan has no connection with Liverpool, but the report is indicative of Hicks’s difficulties in a financial climate that has already led him and George Gillett Jr, his co-owner, to seek out potential buyers for part or, in Gillett’s case, all of their stakes.
Home 
A qui le tour? 
![[Transferts officiels] 2008 - 2009 - Page 5 04050910](https://i.servimg.com/u/f64/09/04/56/86/04050910.jpg)
Ton premier post en minuscules, si je ne m'abuse... 
