Steve Finnan: I will fight for my Liverpool shirt
UNDER PRESSURE Reds defender Steve Finnan has a message to Anfield new boys Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena: "I'm not going easily!"
After being a virtual fixture in the Liverpool starting line-up since his £3.5m move from Fulham five years ago, Finnan found himself on the sidelines for much of last season.
He started just four of the Reds last 17 matches, then saw Swiss international right-back Degen and Italian international full-back Dossena signed in the summer.
But Finnan said: "I think every player welcomes competition. I'm no different.
"If the manager wants to add more I've got no problem with that. Obviously it benefits the team and it means those of us already here have to keep improving.
"At a club like this there will always be competition for places. We're all aware of that. Nobody can afford to take anything for granted.
"Rumours about new signings appear on a regular basis, it's part of the job.
"You look at our squad now and you can see we've got two top players in nearly every position."
Prior to last season only injury kept Finnan out of the Reds starting line-up, as he saw off new signings Josemi and Jan Kromkamp.
But 2008/09 promises to be the most challenging campaign of his Liverpool career.
The battle for Peter Crouch's signature, meanwhile, has intensified - with Arsenal surprise contenders.
Super agent Vincenzo Morabito told Italian TV show Studio Sport last night: "Arsenal are exploring the transfer market for a substitute for Adebayor. The names being talked about are Peter Crouch, Roque Santa Cruz and Germany forward Mario Gomez."
Manchester City are also reported to be in the running now, after Portsmouth had a £9m bid rejected by the Reds earlier this week, and Tottenham have also been linked with a double raid on Anfield for Crouch and Yossi Benayoun.
Liverpool, meanwhile, will kick-off satellite channel Setanta's coverage for the new season - on July 12!
The broadcasters have announced that they intend to screen the pre-season friendly between Tranmere and Liverpool, their first 'live action' of 2008/09.
It is part of an intensive package which includes 27 live screenings prior to the Community Shield between Manchester United and Portsmouth.
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Whatever happens to Steve, he deserves credit for what he's done, particularly in the past four years. Very much an unsung hero at times.
That said, I hope he finds another club if the alternative is to spend the season not even making the bench, which is possible with Arbeloa and Degan fighting for a place there.
Good luck Steve
Hats off to Stevie F - people call him an unsung hero but every Red knows how well he's done in the shirt, and for the pittance we paid for him too he's been a great servant.
His time is probably up as a mainstay of our defence as he's never been the most attack-minded of fullbacks (although Rafa seems to have got him bombing forward a bit more lately) but, unless we can get at least as much as we paid for him I'd hang on to him for at least another season as he's never let us down and can always be relied on if the new additions wobble.