This tabloid suggests that Arsene is very much interested in bringing this Irish international veteran to the club!
[Read the rest of this entry »]

Liverpool gaffer Rafa B is a big Gareth Barry fan, that much is evident. The Spaniard has been stalking his quarry for the whole summer now, and such was his desire to nab Gareth that he offered Steve Finnan as a potential makeweight. Unfortunately, Martin O’Neill didn’t take the bait.

All this, though, has left Steve Finnan feeling like an unwanted puppy. Like Xabi, Rafa had made it clear that he was more than happy to see Finnan leave, and now the deal is off (and the Irishman has recovered from his hernia op), poor Steve is left to wander around like a Shakespearian ghost…. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Sports Network reports that Liverpool full-back Steve Finnan has retired from international football at the age of 31. Finnan was a regular member of the Republic Of Ireland team, having played for his country in the 2002 World Cup.

He said:

”I’ll be 34 when the next World Cup comes around so it’s the right time for me to step down. There will be a new manager coming in soon who will have his own ideas for the future with younger players having the chance to stake their claim to be in his plans.”

Finnan is still, of course, sticking at Liverpool and Reds manager Rafael Benitez is happy with his performance. Now that the Irishman has decided to call it quits from the international arena, he can concentrate more on his club career and Liverpool will be more than happy with this.

Watch Liverpool live online

His goateed boss may still be putting a positive slant on Liverpool’s league position but full back Steve Finnan has now voiced his own, less than optimistic, opinions on the hope of bringing the title to Anfield.

After Liverpool’s tepid 1-1 home draw with Wigan on Wednesday, Finnan grumbled:

“No disrespect to Wigan but if you want to challenge for the title then you need to be winning games like this, it’s frustrating.”

And Finnan continued, claiming that despite the grimy 1-1 draw, Liverpool still have the quality up front:

“I wouldn’t say that we have a mental problem when it comes to missing chances,” he said. “We have players capable of scoring goals, but you have some games where they just don’t go in. We didn’t have a massive amount of clear cut chances against Wigan, but we had a few and they did not go in apart from the one goal. We had more against Manchester City [in a goalless draw], but we have the quality even if at the moment they aren’t going in.”

So whose opinion is worth more – General Benitez surveying his battle plans or Private Finnan, reporting back from the trenches?

Watch Liverpool live online

Read more Liverpool news on the Liverpool section.

 Caughtoffside.com – Sports blog offering Sports news & Sports articles