[lfc-news] Shearer, Ronaldo, Bowyer & Weir

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We made move to land Shearer and £4m Ronaldo fee saw United offer £12m Oct
21 2005
By David Prentice, Liverpool Echo

PHIL THOMPSON has played alongside, coached and managed the greatest
players in Liverpool's history.

Team-mate of legends like Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish, he helped
nurture talent like Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen Steven Gerrard.

But Thompson, whose autobiography is out next week, can also provide an
insight into players who came close to pulling on the red jersey.

Alan Shearer

WE needed an immediate impact at the start of that 2003/04 season and one
player who came to our attention was the opposite of our two young hopefuls
Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Anthony Le Tall-ec," Thompson explains.

"He was a tried and trusted superstar, one of the great players in the game
and a man whose stature could give everyone a lift - on and off the pitch.
His name was Alan Shearer.

"Of course, Alan was still a god at Newcastle, but he had not signed his
new contract. Gerard (Houllier) came to me and said: 'Do you fancy Alan
Shearer?' I said 'Of course!' although I felt there was little or no chance
of securing his services because of his ties to the North East.

"Gerard felt he could be another Gary McAllister for us, a great pro who
could spark things with his approach, attitude and quality.

"It would also have revived the Alan Shearer/Michael Owen partnership that
had ben so successful for England in the past. The boss said that he had
this feeling that

Alan would come to Anfield. "Contact was made, although Newcastle were
obviously not keen to let him go.

"We said we would like to be kept informed, aware that it would be a major
coup to capture someone of Shearer's stature. We also knew that it would be
a massive negotiation, but early indications were that he would come.

"Nothing happened over a period of 10 days and then all of a sudden the
Geordie hero got the contract at St James' Park that he had wanted.

"That had been my only fear, that his advisers might have used Liverpool's
interest to force Newcastle's hand, but Alan Shearer is as honest and down
to earth as they come and Gerard was convinced that his interest in joining
us was genuine.

"The boss had been in talks with Bobby Robson about a possible deal and we
know that Shearer didn't use us. In the end it was his sheer love of all
things Geordie that kept him in the North East."

Cristiano Ronaldo

ONE star who got away in surprising fashion was Cristiano Ronaldo, who
shocked us when he signed for Manchester United in 2003, for an astonishing
£12m. I say astonishing because we had been offered the player for £4m.

"I was invited to watch Sporting Lisbon play Porto in the last game of the
season. Ronaldo was playing for Sporting. Tony Henry, the former Manchester
City player and agent, was on the phone on a regular basis to see if he
could take us to watch him.

"I met Tony at the airport and travelled to Porto. I met the player's
Portuguese agent before watching the game. Ronaldo was quite good, but not
as impressive as the first time I saw him. Tony was pushing the boy and
saying he was a talent. He was saying: 'He will only cost £4m.'

"He added: 'It can be paid over the course of his contract, £1m a year.'

"He also said that the player wanted £1m tax free. I said: 'The boy is only
18. That is a massive problem,' but Tony suggested it was negotiable.

"I returned back the following day impressed with what I had seen
andmentioned it to Gerard. He said: 'I will ask Rick.'

"We had just signed Florent SinamaPongolle and Anthony Le Tallec, both on
far less than Ronaldo's aspirations. And we would have had anarchy if the
other players had found out how much we were considering paying for an
18-year-old kid.

"We looked for a compromise. Ten days later I was sitting in a lounge at
Anfield having some lunch and looking at the big TV screen. Up came the
news United had signed Ronaldo from Lisbon for £12.2m. Gerard and myself
nearly choked on our food.

"Gerard said: 'Contact Tony Henry,' and I went straight out and rang him. I
said: 'what happened? More importantly, what happened with the price?' He
said: 'After you had been with me, I got a phone call the following week
and was told to drop everything on the deal. Hand on heart, I really don't
know what happened.'

"I went back and told Gerard the story. What happened, God only knows. For
the fee to jump from £4m to £12m, especially as they seemed so desperate,
was surprising to say the least."

Lee Bowyer

WE knew our move for Lee Bowyer would cause some controversy amongst our
fans because of the off-field headlines he had been involved in. We knew
our bid would cause a stir, but we thought it was a risk worth taking for
the team.

"Gerard offered Leeds £8m which was a lot of money and Bowyer came over to
talk to us. He arrived with a mate and his agent. I had to take care of him
in the players' lounge at Melwood where Bowyer and his pal played umpteen
games of pool while the agent discussed terms with Gerard and Rick Parry.

"When that meeting broke up I asked how things had gone. The response
surprised me. 'We are still far apart,' said Gerard. We thought Lee Bowyer
would be keen to move on his career with a club like Liverpool and I
thought a deal would be struck quickly.

"Rick said: 'We are still miles apart on the salary.' Bowyer left and a
series of phone calls followed between the club and his agent. It finally
appeared that we were close to agreeing a deal. We went as far as having
his new kit numbered up in anticipation as we prepared to leave for our
pre-season training camp in Switzerland.

"As things moved on I rang the player and said: 'Get yourself ready. Once
the deal is done and dusted we will fly you out to Switzerland.'

"He was saying 'Yeah, okay.' But there was no emotion from him to suggest
that a deal was imminent. Rick and Gerard had another meeting with the
agent, but they still failed to agree terms.

"I spoke to Bowyer again, once again asking him to be ready to travel
should everything be sorted. His response was: 'I don't know where my
passport is,' and added: 'I'm not in Leeds, I'm in London.' He was with Rio
Ferdinand.

"I said: 'This is all wrong. It's clear he is not committed to us and this
must be getting through to our fans. To me, we need to pull it before Lee
Bowyer and his agent come back and say the move is not right for them.'

"Rick and Gerard decided that we would tell the Press that night. I
couldn't believe Lee Bowyer had not jumped at the chance to play for
Liverpool FC. Better players than him would have walked all the way to
Anfield. We had made a big commitment on our side, but it had been all one way.

"His career went down the pan after that. In the end it was the right
decision for us."

David Weir

WHEN I became Liverpool's assistant manager, most of the potential targets
I looked at early on were centre-backs.

"Merseyside fans will be fascinated by one scouting mission north of the
border to see a promising Hearts defender who had been recommended. His
name was David Weir, later to become captain of Everton.

"We'd heard good reports about him and treated it seriously enough to take
a scouting delegation to Edinburgh that included Gerard Houllier, Peter
Robinson, Ron Yeats, Norman Gard and myself. We were all in Gerard's car.

"We drove and we drove and it seemed the journey was never going to end. It
took nearly five hours and by the time we found the ground the match had
kicked off.

"We eventually got into our seats, but we were in different rows. Gerard
was two in front of me and Peter was to our left.

"We eventually settled at 7.52. At 8pm Weir was sent off. A ball came over
his head and he was done for pace. He pulled the guy back and got a red
card. We knew he wasn't the quickest, but he had good defensive qualities.

"Gerard turned round and mouthed to me: 'Should we go?' I don't think Weir
had touched the ball. We giggled and indicated that we would give it to
half-time.

"We picked ourselves up and slipped out for a five-hour journey back home.
Of course, we discussed whether we should look at David again. Did anyone
fancy another marathon? We all looked at each other and agreed his pace was
a problem and that we should leave it there."

* 'Stand Up Pinocchio' is published by Trinity Mirror Sport Media at £17.99.

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