Rick Parry - PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

PARRY: Good afternoon. I haven't got much to say, I don't think a lot needs to be said. It's Robbie's day.

Really just a couple of things. First of all, how delighted we are to welcome Robbie back again. It's a football decision, it's not a sentimental decision. It's a decision taken by Rafa because he thinks Robbie can contribute to the team and obviously Robbie thinks he can contribute to the team.

And the other thing just to touch on is the degree of commitment that we have seen from Robbie. As I've said before, I've certainly never seen a player so excited to be signing a contract. Infact I don't think I've ever seen anybody quite so excited full-stop.

We've always known about Robbie's love for the club which goes back many, many years but if anything it seems to be getting stronger and for me I think it's perhaps best summed up that he was with us in Istanbul, not as a pundit, not as a VIP but just there as a supporter, that's Robbie.

Rafael Benitez - PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

REPORTER: Well Rafa, congratulations. You've brought a legend back to Anfield. What did you know about Robbie Fowler before this week even happened. Did you know how special he is to this place?

RAFA: Yeh. We knew the player. We have seen the game against Alaves, also a good game. He is a legend here, a player who can score goals. You know, when you try to sign a striker, normally you see the statistics and then my idea is if a player scores double figures as you say in English, more than ten goals every year, it's a good striker. Sometimes you can score fifteen, twenty but if you score every year more than ten then you are a good finisher and Robbie is a good finisher.

REPORTER: So when did you come up with the idea of bringing Robbie back?

RAFA: The last weeks we start thinking about how to improve, how to go one step forward and then in my opinion to have another alternative, another possibility in front, it means that you can use the players in another positions. Yesterday for example we decided to use Cisse as a right winger and we can find different positions for the strikers that we have and the competitiveness between them will be better for the team.

REPORTER: Did you speak to some of the Liverpool players who were here when Robbie was here, friends of his, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher about Robbie the person as well as the player, before you moved in?

RAFA: I think the most important thing is to know the quality of the player, what can he give to us. He is a good finisher, this is the first thing. The second thing that you need to know is how is he as a person, as a professional. We know... we have all the information. We know he's now 30 years old, he has more experience and he is clever. I was talking with him clearly and he was talking with me, and we say before he wanted to come and I am sure he will give to us a lot of things. I don't know if he can score one, two or fifteen goals but in terms of the dressing room and in terms of the passion I think he's a good player, an important player for us.

REPORTER: And no concerns about injuries he's had because in his time at Manchester City he's had a bad back, he's had other problems. Is he past that or are those things.. (Rafa cuts him dead).

RAFA: We know all the situation in terms of medical problems and we are working with him. He has specific training sessions and now he's working with the physios and the physical coach and we are working with him now. The most important thing is his quality. His main qualities. He's a good finisher, he's a player that can score goals in five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes or ninety minutes. We need to work with him to try and put him as fit as possible and after to see what he can do for us.

REPORTER: Is he in the right sort of condition, shape, fitness to go in from the start. Could he play against Birmingham?

RAFA: No. For playing ninety minutes, no. But he can give to us things. In the first training session he scored one or two goals, it was easy for him. Yesterday he was training in Melwood and the reports that we received were really good. The movements, the goals that he scored and the passes, everything was really good. And now we know that we need to improve with him in terms of physical condition.

REPORTER: And what have people around Liverpool said in the last four days to you. I guess a lot of people have said thankyou to you?

RAFA: (laughs) Yes, a lot of them! They say to me congratulations you have done a very good signing. I think that people is delighted.... we are waiting now, we are excited, waiting the first day or the first goal he can score in front of the Kop.

REPORTER: Have you known a deal like this one. Mr Parry talked about the smiles and talked about the speed of it. Have you known a deal like this to bring a player back again?

RAFA: I say in an interview I say he was so happy. I was talking with him and I saw he was very happy. He say he was over the moon and I didn't know the expression. I am learning more expressions. One of the things... because I decide to go forward with Robbie was the passion. When we were talking with him, you could see that he was talking with the heart and not the brain.

REPORTER: It's assumed that one in means one out and everyone was speculating that maybe this was Djibril Cisse yet you played him last night. Does that mean he has a big future here still?

RAFA: Yes. I say before that Cisse can play as a right-winger if necessary. He's a good striker. We are trying to use our players in the best positions for the team. In this case if we play with Robbie for example with Morientes we can use Cisse in the right position, also Crouch. We can manage with the players we have now.

REPORTER: And is he ok in his own state of mind after the last few hours over the weekend. It's been a difficult weekend.

RAFA: Yeh I was talking with him before the game and he was ok. No problems.

REPORTER: Not long now until the transfer window closes. There's talk of another player coming in, Victor. Is there anything in that?

RAFA: It will be difficult. We were talking with Deportivo but at the end there were some problems so we decide to go forward and to use the players that we have at this moment.

REPORTER: So there might be something that perhaps happens not now but in the summer. What's the situation?

RAFA: No, no. Now we are talking with Deportivo. Sometimes you try to do things and it's not easy. In this case we were talking about Mark Gonzalez in a swap for Victor but at the end we had conversations with Real Sociedad about Mark and now Mark can go to Real Sociedad.

REPORTER: But those things could happen perhaps in the summer?

RAFA: Ah ok, now I understand. No, in this moment we are thinking about this month, these games, this part of the season. At the end of the season we will see but at this moment we don't have an agreement and we don't have any idea about the summer.

REPORTER: You're learning English. You have another Scouser now (in the squad). So learning English with Robbie is not going to....

RAFA: (cuts in) No but in one week I learn 'over the moon', one expression, ok, maybe every day or every week I can learn some expressions (smiles).

REPORTER: Another question Liverpool fans want to know is are you going to sign Ian Rush, Kenny Dalglish?

RAFA: (laughs).

REPORTER: How surprised are you Rafa by the reaction from everybody at the club from the supporters, everybody about his return. Has it surprised you at all?

RAFA: No because the last season after the Chelsea game in the Champions League, we went to a pub to have a drink and he was there... drinking coke! (grins). We were talking and you could see everybody considered him a hero, you say God, it's true. After one year you could talk with a lot of people, a lot of supporters.. oh you must sign Robbie Fowler, you must sign... you knew that it would be a fantastic news for everyone.