Now let's push for title FLBuild: Fidolook 2002 SL 6.0.2800.94 542005 11:39:16

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Now let's push for title Jul 8 2005

By Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

JAMIE CARRAGHER penned a new four-year deal at Anfield and declared: "We'll go from strength to strength under Rafa Benitez."

On a day of double contract joy for the Reds to end all the week's turmoil, Carragher and skipper Steven Gerrard committed themselves to Liverpool until 2009.

Now the duo are determined to complete their impressive medal collection with the Premiership title to become the main focus for the years to come.

"I'm absolutely delighted to have agreed this new contract," said Carragher today.

"This is the best club in the world with the best fans, so I'm very proud to be a Liverpool player for the next four years and hopefully even longer.

"We've had some fantastic times recently and winning the Champions League was the biggest achievement of my career.

"Now we've done that, all of us have got that hunger to bring even more success to the club.

"Both Stevie and Didi mentioned in interviews recently how they have won every medal except one since 2001.

"I'm in the same situation. Now we're going to make winning the Premiership title our top priority.

"We know how much it means to everyone here to get the Premiership trophy. I don't know how soon we'll be able to do it.

"It's going to be tough to close the gap, but there's no point us being defeatist about it. We proved in Europe what we can do on the big occasion and we've got to produce the same on a consistent basis in the league.

With Rafa Benitez improving his squad and planning more swoops before August, Carragher is sure the top three will soon be fighting off a stronger Anfield challenge.

"The manager has been working hard to strengthen the squad and he's as determined as anyone to make sure there's a big improvement in our league form," added Carragher.

"I'm sure we're going to go from strength to strength under Rafa Benitez and I'm delighted he sees me as an important player over the next four years. There's nowhere else I want to be."

Chief executive Rick Parry added: "We're delighted to have agreed the deals for both Steven and Jamie today."

'20 Kop deals and Gerrard's has been the only mess-up' Jul 8 2005

Chris Bascombe talks to Struan Marshall, the agent at the centre of the Steven Gerrard transfer saga.

By Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

DURING those dark hours on Tuesday when Steven Gerrard looked bound for Chelsea, Struan Marshall found himself firmly cast in the role of big, bad wolf.

Conspiracy theorists pointed arrows firmly in the direction of the skipper's agent, oblivious to the ongoing drama where Marshall was engineering his client's return to the Anfield family.

After revealing his decision to stay, Gerrard took the unprecedented step of releasing a statement defending his representative.

Like Gerrard, Marshall can enjoy his image change on Merseyside since Wednesday morning. His close friendship to the legends of Liverpool's recent history exposes deep flaws in any argument suggesting he was working against the club.

While Marshall understands why fans often view the 'advisor' as the bad guy in these cases, he believes his track record dealing with players at Anfield proves he belongs firmly in the camp of more sincere agents in the game.

"My job is to carry out the wishes of my client," said Marshall.

"You've got to remember the clubs are send negotiators and it's only fair the players have someone experienced working on their behalf.

"I know football can be a murky business and agents are an easy target for a kicking. Sometimes clubs can be outside forces making it that way, not just agents.

"It's inevitable you're going to get that in a case like this because you're talking about one of the most wanted players in the world and the biggest clubs wanted to sign him."

The transfer of Wayne Rooney is probably the most high profile case in recent history where the extraordinary payments received by Paul Stretford

Liverpudlians were ready to sling a similar amount of mud in Marshall's direction before the dramatic u-turn.

"On Wednesday morning I took a call from one BBC correspondent following Stevie's decision to stay, and his first question was 'are you disappointed?''" said Marshall.

"That probably sums up the image an agent has. People think we're just trying to get money out of these deals. Of course I'm not disappointed. We've managed to reach the agreement which Steven wanted, so I'm happy.