First to comment on my daughter’s 10th birthday.

A tricky test for the boys at Wet Spam today.

Three points is a must. 1-0 will do me.

It would be great if the points are shared between chel$ski + spurs and in the manc derby.

Great blog as usual Gerry, I hadn’t thought about the amount of letters in our new sponsors name, if rafa does get all the lads to fatten up at least then we’ll be considered true premiership heavy-weights! (bum-bum, thank you i’m here all week)
I agree with Leshark a win tomorrow is a must, I’m going for a 0-2 win with Gerrard and Torres to score. If my facts are straight we’ve scored in every one of our last 16 league games, which I believe is a premiership record, so we’ll hopefully keep that momentum going tomorrow. Come on red men.

Well, if Yossi can play today and Masch and Glen Johnson also play, that’ll be three ex-West Ham players in our team.

Talking of records, we have now scored in our last 21 CL matches, just one away from Bayern Munich’s record of 22. By matchday 3 we could be setting a record that will be very difficult to match.

LOL Gerry, so the gripe you had with Standard Chartered was because it had too many letters?

Surely you don’t think StanChart would be so stupid as to request huge jerseys just to accomodate their name? (Though I suspect FS might be the happiest around with this idea, of finally having a comfy jersey that actually fits his size. )

They would have simply just discard the name and smack just their logo on the jersey. Or they could just separate their names into two rows, with “Standard” on top and “Chartered” below it.

Gerry, great blog as usual. I think you are a bit harsh to say that Standard Chartered is a bad sponsor because of its long name. So long as they give us a great sponsorship like Stg20 million a year for four years, I think we can live with it surely.
Carlsberg has been sponsoring for 17 years without us winning the league. Maybe, just maybe on this last year of sponsorship we just might. Time for a change of sponsors anyway, especially when others can pay better terms.

Torres 16 and Kuyt 52 to score.

My team sheet for today’s match:

—-Pepe—-
Glenn Jamie Martin Fabio
—Javie Stevie—
Ryan Dirk Albert
—Fernando—

Form my understanding Yosi will not be playing due to religious observance, so Ryan might take his place on the right. This is contingent on Stevie stays central and dirk on top!

Without Aquaman in the squad, I believe that Stevie should play in the middle where he can orchestrate our attack and dominate possession of the ball. When he plays behind Torres he seems to rely on his outside shooting, I believe he will still get those shots if he plays centrally.

Dirk also works very well off Nando in the second stiker role but will stay closer to the box than Stevie, hopefully his constant presence will help create more space for Torres. Kuyt is able to come up with the poacher’s goals for our club then Stevie.

On to our opponents, I have a lot of respect for how the Irons have run their club and all the first team players they have brought through the youth squad and academy. I don’t think we will win this going away, but we should win a hard fought 2-0 game.

This game represents the type of chance that in recent years LFC has not taken full advantage off. We have a match where we should be favoured to win and the people around in the table are playing one another. We can’t control the outcome of the other matches (we’re not the fuckin’ Mancs and don’t have other managers and referees looking out for our best intrest) but as long as we win any other results should see us move up the table! Draw or losses and we let the teams in front off the hook!

On to fashion matters

If there is a liverbird upon the chest, I’m not too concerned about what else is on the front. I’ll never been one for buying/wearing replica kits for any sport especially in this day and age when any “fan” can buy one right before kick off to go with the new scarf.
If you must wear something to a match or simply out, go with a t-shirt. It’ more creative/original and H&G won’t get any more of your hard earned money!

Gerry, just to let you know, I finally got the “world wide kop” shirt to Nigeria so I’ll be wearing it for the first time today during our match!

YNWA

I FUCKIN HATE THAT WASHED UP JUNKY BASTARD PAUL “THE YAPPY FAT FUCK” MERSON. He really hates us,i no the paper is a rag but andy townsend usually gives good tips so i was flicking through the daily star an came across his article on us. It was truly unbelieveable the drivle he spouted i dont even want to go into it, coz it’ll piss me off again but wot i will say is just like ur mate tony cottey(who said last week how bad we were before predicting at scrappy 2-1 against burnley) i hope ur eating ur words or in ur case snorting coke off ur wifes fat ass at 7:45 tonight.

P.S LeShark happy birthday to ur little girl my mate had a little boy in the early hours today and not only is he a fanatical red but a very jammy bastard so im hoping his first child is gonna help give us a big win.

come on the pool

Knight – It was just meant to be a bit of humour, mate.

Roarin Red Little tip mate stop buying newspapers you can get 36 toilet rolls
for £3.50
In fairness to Carlsberg the 7 million a year would probably have bought a Kaka
type player 18 years ago but 20 million wouldnt buy one now.But a 4 year deal
is much better because £100 million for some players is not that far off.
LB Their was a few boo’s when Babel came on but he got a round of applause
when he won a corner which spurned him on to play some good football.
All this talk of a new stadium well i noticed a lot of empty seats the other night
maybe this recession is taking effect.
YNWA

One of My favourite Shankleyism’s…
“I like going to West Ham. We’re always guaranteed a good game of football…. and two points.”

Let’s hope it as kind today. I reckon we’ll scrape it 1 – 2.

Here you go lads, bit of a giggle here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yMirJPi_mI

Couple of lads I know in that. Looks like it’ll be good.

Just announced, here’s the 11…
Reina

Johnson
Carra
Skrtel
Insua

Masch
Lucas

Kuyt
Gerrard
Benayoun

Torres

Babel’s on the bench.

Rafa, Rafa, Rafa… tut-tut-tut. Becoming so predictable nowadays. Time he played Pepe up front with Sammy Lee just behind him.

FS, is that video a piss take or does it really exist?

Carra is playing very badly in the first half.
first in the first few minutes for that lack of concentration that nearly resulted in a west ham goal

then the penalty push….

sigh…

our Carra getting old…

GReat Torres goal BTW

Turned on my telly to watch the match but for some reason the Benny Hill show is on. Have we conceded a goal from play yet this season lads? Sigh….. its just soul destroying looking at those 2 unguarded posts whenever a corners being swung in. I mean we cant defend corners anyway so why not stick 2 men on the posts and call the posts zones? Everyones happy then eh?! Sad to watch Jamie deteriorate before our eyes too. Oh well, chin up Digger, we’ll just have to outscore em in the 2nd half!

Btw LB your mates brother aint half bad is he?!

I have mentioned this before but for all of Carras heart he is becoming a weak link. He was never fast but he has become even slower and is making rash challenges to make up for it. I said before that I wanted to start to see the Agger Skrtel combo and like most people see those two as the future combo. I just thought that Carra would make it through this season and first choice in CB. He will certainly be an asset for us if he would take over the role of utility player like he did for England.
I liked Babels attitude today. Ofcourse its only 30min but he seemed like he was trying and didnt do to much ball watching. We made it difficult for ourselves today and it started with Carra penalty. But all in all an ok effort.

I can’t be arsed getting into an argument, but I have to say this… FFS lads, neither goal had fuck all to do with zonal marking. The commentators might have gone on and on about it, but I could have told you they would do that before the game.

On top of that, Carra is still the best centre back that we have at the club. He made one mistake today… Yep. One. He didn’t realise just how fast that kid is. Then he got done again for pace by the lad – who didn’t?

I seen him blast past Carra, Johnson, Skrtel, Insua, Masch, Lucas when running at them.

When Carra turned him over for the pen – he done exactly what he’s done all his career. He just never got away with it this time. Yes. It was a pen, but how many times have you seen them not given?

Well, I’ve seen Carra get away with it dozens of times. Watch the game again, here’s the problems…
West Ham played like they was the away side – 10 men behind the ball, except when they was on the break. Then they sent the Heinze kid blasting after any ball that Cole knocked down or held up. We had the same problem as we had all last season with them sort of teams – but we was away and we won.

Also, something has to be done about the treatment Torres is recieving. That lad is getting kicked to fuck week in week out. He’s brave. He’s hard. He still mauls them. But will his body hold up to that for the rest of the season?

I seen him getting punched at least twice today. And how many times did he get kicked and wrestled?

Anyway, I’d like to say something here, but will leave it as it will only end up in argument that will go on for days.

But here’s a bit of fun… We’ve had zonal marking all season. But when the defence gets it’s act together, starts attacking the ball properly from crosses, and turns back into the mean reliable machine it has been for the past few seasons, what is the next thing the pundits will start to bash us and Rafa for?

I’ll go for no depth in the squad. Which is the second favourite bashing stick of late even though the bench looked strong today and is only going to get stronger.

LB… that kid has a big future if he keeps that up. He’s fast as fuck. He’s got a nice touch. He’s really lively. And he’s got good positional sense. He roasted some big names out there today. Thank fuck he ran out of gas in the second half.

Good lad him. Keep him away from the bright lights and temptations of that Lahndan.

I have full belief in the zonal marking and dont get sucked into the whole media hype. We have had a rock solid defence for the past few seasons. I´m only stating that Carra is becoming a liabilty. Maybe a bit harsh because he is a solid defender but if we are to make the step forward then Carra has to be the one to step down. His pace is worrying, not the best in the air, no goal threat and almost no ball ability, alot of hoofing of the ball. Dont get me wrong, I love Carras heart and dedication and I believe he has alot of experience to pass on but just as with Hyppia he is getting on. It doesnt mean he´s turned rubbish, its just that the Skrtel, Agger combo must be the way forward and with our lack of cover in defence and Carras ability to play across the line it just seams logical. I do agree with you FS that the Torres treatment is getting ridiculous. But after this whole diving campaign where for some reason Torres name got thrown into the mix I wouldnt hold my breath on anything changing in that regard. He just has to take it and do what he does best.

I don’t think the Carlton Cole goal had anything to do with zonal marking at all, watching the replay, we had 3 players leaping and matching his height, meaning they saw the threat, but yet Cole still managed to overpower all 3 of them. Seems like we lack that aerial power which Sami used to constantly provide, plus Carra had a bad day at the office today.

Perhaps that’s why Kyrgiakos was bought, though he might need some match fitness first, and the League Cup game with Leeds is a good place to start.

Great to see Aurelio on again, I hope to see more of him this season.

And Babel must be praised for improving on his performance from this Wednesday. Keep it up, lad. As long as you stop moaning, you will get all the support you’ll get.

Stevie’s passing today was extremely sloppy, so is his receiving of the ball, where he was very lazy and unwilling to run a few steps forward to get the ball, and many times the ball gets intercepted because of that.

Still, 3 points is all that counts and we’ve now climbed up to 2nd. I’ll be more than happy to see the Mancunians and Chavs draw tomorrow, though I wouldn’t mind seeing them lose as well.

well done lads thats without doubt the hardest match we’ve played all season.we had to dig deep an thats what we did, an a well done to babel i was actually hoping he’d come on coz i thought it was a good chance for him and although it could have went terribly wrong for him it didnt, so well done u gave us a bit of what we needed. Carra did look a bit suspect this evening i’ve been noticing it recently(tail end of last season included) dont thnk he’s done but he could do with more breaks. Its shit to see a legend getting on but this is gonna become a big topic for us at kop blog this season. Anyway im ecstatic were celebrating three points. I’m away to wet my mates babys head.(if he can play the beautiful game like his da he may one day pull on our famous jersey) welcome to liverpool f.c Padraig caelan rooney. YNWA

Red lad, Carra is still the best center back at the club. I’ll tell you right now what will happen if you throw Skrtel and Agger in right now… Well, if you think the defence has lost it’s way now. What do you think would happen without Carra there to organise them?

Because I’ll tell you right now, neither Agger or Skrtle could do it. So what you’d have is four rudderless players with probably only Skrtel holding his position.

Yes of course Carra is getting old. But a liability. Behave yourself. We’ll be fucked when he goes and I hope Skrtel is doing his best to learn the job, because Agger – for all his talent – will never be able to do the job.

I can’t wait until Carra finally has to hang up his boots. Well, no. I’m dreading that day. But like Stevie, you will see all the people who have knocked them in the past and now, moaning and wailing at the loss.

FFS. He bollacked Arbie last season and all the shrinking violets was in up in arms because nasty Carra had a go at him. What a load of tosh.

This season, he has been our only defender doing his job from set pieces and all hands have either neglected their duties or got in his way. So much so that he’s had to hurtle through them to win the ball at times, but then he’s been the one who’s been getting the stick for doing his job while the others ball watched.

I’ve been upset with him once this season – when he had a go at Insua for losing his man from a corner in the Wigan game. That was Johnson’s fault. He left Insua out to dry.

You can see his frustration at every goal. I’m surprised he hasn’t chinned a few others this season. I’m sure he’s let them have it at Melwood.

As for today, he made one mistake. He dwelled on the ball when the Heinze kid ran at him. I’ve already explained what happened there. I think he got the shock of his life when the kid got to the ball that quickly. But then Skrtle shouldn’t have sold him short the way he did.

As for being a goal threat and hoofing… FFS man. This is exactly why I said, I didn’t want to get into this. I’ll end up spouting off like Carra left hung out to dry from a corner kick and I will be seen as being nasty in here.

FFS lads. Get a grip.

I agree with you FS that Carra is the commander in defence and the fazing out period for no better term will take a little time. But resting Carra and playing Skrtel and Agger will benefit us twofold. One it will give them better understanding between them and build the confidence and it will give Carra the rest he needs and hopefully prolong his career. Like I said I dont want to see Carra dropped out or anything like that but the transition has to begin in my opinion. But I am no mastermind of the game, far from it, its just been my take of the situation since last season. But Rafa ofcourse is the man that has infinite more knowledge of the game and will know better then most when the time is right.

Sorry. I just noticed that I said Wigan there when I meant Bolton. But honestly lads, have a little look at some clips of the season so far…
Yes. The defence has been a bit shaky, but it certainly hasn’t been Carra’s fault.

Now, I’m honestly not Carra’s biggest fan. I see his defecincies, and I’m not blinded by the fact he’s Scouse like some people are.

But if we hadn’t have had him in there this season we could have been in far worse shape. If anything, he is the one who is holding the defence together.

He’s never had great pace. He’s never been a goal threat. So it’s not as if that part of his game is falling apart. And he’s been our best defender this season – even though Johnson has probably been our best player so far. I’m talking defender.

We have not give up a single goal from open play. Who’s been the one getting his foot in and stopping that? Although I must say, Skrtle made a couple of terrific tackles today on Cole and the young lad.

As for the goals from set plays, well you don’t have to take my word for any of this…. Rafa has said it himself many times already – “It has nothing to do with zonal marking. The team have not been attacking the ball from set plays.”

This will not last. It’s one of the easiest things to iron out in training. And as Kinny said… The goal today was simply because Cole got there ahead of them and out powered his markers. It happens. Ask Dixie Dean or Nat Lofthouse or any other big powerful centre forward who can head a ball… and it’s been going on long enough not to worry about it happening once today!

Red of course there will come a time when Carra has to be let go, but it’s not now. I agree that Skrtel and Agger should get more game time together. Carling/FA cups would be a good time to do it. But if we want to win the league, do we really want to overplay either of them and chance them getting injured for league games?

It’s a hard one mate. We will have to solve it and yes, solve it pretty sharpish. But throwing the baby out with the bath water isn’t the answer.

A well-deserved three points and a much improved performance from Torres.

LB, the Hines kid was my MOTM, especially in the the first half, when he was nearly unplayable. He has a bright future, if he joins us

FS, I am worried about the Carra situation. You have to admit that he has not been up to his own standards. Hopefully it is just only a blip!

Lurgan, it’s not a blip. As I’ve said, and even said last season, he’s getting old. He’s going to need replacing sooner rather than later. But it will be a sad day when that happens. And I tell you something… if we hadn’t had him this season our goals against column would be looking a lot worse.

He’s still the best centre back at the club mate. Watch the game as a whole, don’t just concentrate on the ricks. He’s actually teaching Skrtle, Insua and Johnson at the moment. He’s holding us together, and if he’d have been unavailable today – despite him getting caught napping when the kid hit the post and giving away the pen – we would have probably lost that game.

FS mate, went through the comments & u r like the carra of this blog.I was also pondering on carra’s replacement after his dreadful first half show- but when I saw others getting skinned also & carra’s no-nonsense defending in the 2nd half, it told me he still rulz! But some polishing about his pace & positioning won’t harm. Our defence seems to DWELL ON the ball for TOO LONG. Spot on digger mate, why o why our two post are guarded by opposition players instead of ours during corners? Sammy gone- our SET PIECE threat is gone? Torres, u Beauty! Voronin-hines swap deal anyone? Win did the job, but I would still prefer higher tempo & swift passing.Babel responds solidly. … Saw the last 15 mins of 1st half against debrecen, riera & co were fabulous & gerrard didn’t have shooting boots on. So, fuck media. By the way, u can’t but love burnley.They are also roasted by the media & written off like us.

Alright, I’ve tried but I just cant stay out of this debate any longer! Come on lads, how can ye say Coles goal had nothing to do with zonal marking when he ran unmarked and untracked from in front of Pepe to the edge of the 6yd box where he ‘overpowered all 3′ of them because he was in motion and using his momentum to out jump those who were standing stationary marking space. He’s the biggest man on the pitch and he’s running around our area unmarked. Fucken ridiculous. C’mon lads, eyes, open, please.

Dreadful? Worse than anyone elses? Sorry Max, don’t think any of them was at the races in defence today, but I know this much… it would have only been worse without Carra. Or would you have prefferred that little speed demon up against The Jolly Greek Giant?

The posts are left unguarded because that’s the system Reina prefers and it hasn’t served him or us so badly in the past has it?… even though the dickhead pundits went on about it today.

As for our set piece threat being gone now that Sami is gone… FFS we actually took decent corners today – Gerrard even scored directly from one!

In fact, Bennayoun and Aurelio’s corners (when he came on) was one of the big bonuses today – even allowing Gerrard to be where he should be – in the box getting on the end of them.

Think some people need to watch the games with no commentary – the unfair, unfounded bias is rubbing off.

And I know I look like a prick for that. But ffs lads… have a go at anything the performance, the team, individual players, the manager, the tactics but put a bit of thought into it first.

Yes. Carra is not the player he was. Yes. He needs rest and yes he will need replacing soon. But if were going to have a go at anyone in our defence – let’s get the culprits right.

That is from a man who has slagged Carra in the past, and will do again when he deserves it. But today wasn’t the day. And yes. I was screaming at the telly when he gave away the pen and when he got the ball nicked off him. But I swear if you watched that game again with a critical relaxed eye, you would see it differently.

It’s hard not to just see the glaring things during the game when your emotions are running high. I have to recheck things all the time – especially when I’ve been at the game. Believe me, Carra wasn’t at his best today but he wasn’t crap and he’s still by a mile the best centre half we have at the club.

Yes. I agree Skrtel and Agger are the future, and if they get it right that’s some future. But it’s not yet.

Did we see the same goal Digger? Running? No one marking? Overpowered? The fucker leapt like a salmon from an almost stationary position, rose above 3 players that were all around him and got a nod on it that was enough to take it over the line.

It happens. Like I said ask Dixie Dean and every centre forward since

I don’t care if we struggle like hell to grab all 3 points another 25 times this year. A win is a win and we just need to keep figuring out how to grab 3 points everytime we go out there.

For all the doom and gloom about our start, we are 1 point behind last year’s pace through the corresponding 6 fixtures. Plenty of season left to play.

Hopefully we’ll see a couple of draws in the Sunday matches (Spus-Chavs, Citeh-Mancs). Nothing wrong with any of those teams dropping points.

I am still concerned with how many goals we’ve conceded. I’ve mentioned this quite a few times in earlier blogs, so sorry to keep drumming on the same point but we need to get it figured out.

It’s great we haven’t conceded from open play through the first 6 games, but that stat means fuckall when you concede consistently from set pieces.

The numbers don’t lie; 2 vs Spurs, 3 vs Villa, 2 vs Bolton, and 2 vs West Ham (to go along with just 2 clean sheets). I don’t care if it’s man marking or zonal marking, but these boys have to find a way to get the ball out of danger.

My heart comes to a stop everytime a ball is banged into our box. You can say it has to do with lads not attacking the ball in the area, but this problem has been omgoing for quite a while, not just during our slow start. It’s the main reason Chelsea twatted us at Anfield in the first leg of our CL tie last spring.

Yo Fatty, love the video !

Could only see bits of the game today due to a crap feed on the computer so I’m on second hand info here. Saw the highlights with RTE and one Ronnie Whelan. No he didn’t freak on Liverpool today. One thing he did say was that Mascher was playing a lot more adventurously and spraying the ball around, good, I always reckoned he had this quality in him and he nedded to step up and produce.

I can’t talk about details because I didn’t see enough but in the overall context it’s a great 3 points, away against a very tricky outfit and we’ve still not put all the pieces together. That’s ok by me.

Oh he leapt like a salmon alright FS, the kind of prodigous leap you execute as you push off at the end of a run using your momentum to propel you into the air. Watch the goal replays again. One angle in particular highlights Coles run beautifully. He begins in front of Pepe and continues, alone, to the exact point of the balls delivery. Its almost a carbon copy of Cahills goal at Anfield last yr. It looked like training ground routine in fact. The goal was a premeditated exploitation of zonal marking imo.

Dougle I got tangled in this argument. I did mean to say how well Masch played and how he was much more adventorous….
Wonder if that might, maybe just might, have something to do with Rafa putting a rocket up his arse last week and demanding more from him?

But apparently what Rafa says isn’t good enough round here. Apparently though he’s told us it has nothing to do with zonal marking – and our past record showing how well it’s served us – it is down to exactly that.

And apparently it has nothing to do with the fact that our players aren’t attacking the ball. Must be that zonal marking because the pundits say it is.

Do you lads think that zonal marking just means standing like a tree in a certain area? Cos I assure you it doesn’t.

I will watch the replay on MOTD Digger and I will stand corrected if you are right. I didn’t see that angle you mention. All I seen was Cole shimmy into a position between all 3, leap, get up really well, and then steer it in with no real power on it.

But I’ll watch it again later. And with the Mancs and Chelsea not playing until tomorrow we mightn’t even be the last match on and get more than the usual 2 or 3 minutes that it takes the pundits to pull Rafa and the team apart.

Fuck me. I’ve missed match of the day. I thought it was only about 10 o clock. Fuck sake

And anyway, you’s keeping odd hours lately Digger. Must be 5 am over there. You back on the crack pipe?

Oh Digger, I’d love to give you some gyp here. But I’m honestly not trying to be a twat…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fQjncy597A

I could go on but I’ll leave it at this…
Don’t believe the hype

Heh heh! Nah I’ve laid off it til you come over and then we’ll break it out in Central Park!! I’m 5hrs behind ye, it’s only 7.42pm here mate. Round about the time Digger starts getting thirsty actually….so I’m off out to sit smugly with a pint and see if I can rise a few of my manc mates; ‘fuck me that Torres is some player, probably best striker in the world’. Generic manc reply; ‘hes fucken shite ya soft twat’. Digger: ‘aye, he is that yeah, looked shite running past Vidic in March too…’ Hee hee!

Listened to the match on 5Live yesterday and Mark Bright did nowt but criticise us the whole way through. We’re too cautious. We have no strength in depth. We’re nothing without Gerrard and Torres. Zonal marking doesn’t work. Lucas isn’t good enough. Last year was our best chance and now we’ve gone backwards. Rafa shouldn’t have gotten rid of Alonso. Both times they equalised it was deserved.

I thought the Beeb was meant to be balanced and impartial.

Nice one FS!

Went the game today lads and it was bloody brilliant! The lad Zav is impressive isn’t he? Didn’t expect him to be skinning our defenders like that at all. Looked bloody electric. Did indeed run out of gas after about an hour. He’s still gutted about hitting the post and not scoring. Says his foot is still sore after the kick from Skrtle and the Torres challenge bloody hurt. I think the funniest part of today was going back to my mates mum’s for dinner and Zavon being told to make sure he washes his hands before going in the fridge!

I thought we played very well today apart from the lapses in defense. In time though I think those will be ironed out. We started last season similarly.

Went to the player’s lounge after the game but didn’t see any Liverpool players. Did walk past the team coach though, saw Sammy Lee and was tempted to gate crash the coach.

Oh and I got Johnson’s match shirt

We’re definitely trying to keep the lad’s feet on the ground FS. It’ll get difficult as he is moving out of his mum’s soon into a posh flat in Essex. He’s being asked for 100s of autographs already, he had to dodge interviewers while we were making our way to the car park. His next contract will probably be huge. He’s always being invited to parties by Carlton Cole and Kieron Dyer. He’s naturally a quiet, shy lad so hopefully that stands him in good stead. We just keep trying to drum into his head to keep striving to improve and to work his bollacks off. The rest looks after itself.

Was funny watching match of the day earlier “I should have fucking scored” he muttered to himself while seeing himself hit the post. And he is blaming himself for our first goal as he gave the ball away in our half to Insua who passed to Torres for the wonder goal.

Benny is looking like a great player so far this season. Babel looks more comfortable on the right. Generally looked a bit more bright and his cross for the winner was excellent. Johnson couldn’t really get forward due to the threat from Zavon. Insua had a better game than he did on Wednesday I thought.

Good game today Torres still doesn’t look 100% but he still got 2 goals
Carra got a bit of a shock from LB’s mate who was their MOM i reckon he’ll do
well .
As for the penalty, if thats a penalty there should be 50 a week in the Prem
alone. He also touched the ball twice while taking the shot.
They were unlucky with injuries but we still deserved the 3pts, and someone’s
dropping points on Sunday so a good week really
YNWA .

That’s sound that LB. Glad you had such a great day. And yeah… the boy done good. Very difficult to judge on one game, but I can see him going far. The pace is there for all to see. The stamina will come with full maturity. But he seems to have something you can’t teach… awareness and good positional sense. He really did take up some great positions.

Is his mam Jamaican? If so, he’s probably going to be okay. They’re worse than Scouse mothers. But do have a word with her and make her keep him away from the likes of Dyer and Cole. Shame to see a kid like that go wrong.

But anyway, didn’t mean to doom and gloom over such a great day for you and the lad. And he should have scored… he done everything right. Got his foot round the ball, swinging it out and curling it back in. Thank fuck it didn’t come off. But I wish the lad well, until he’s back at Anfield and I’ll be keeping an eye on his progress. West Ham and Zola should be good for him, probably one of the best clubs and managers he could be at. Good history of developing youth and a manager that likes the game to be played in the right manner and spirit. So good luck to the lad.

MTMMC: take out Mark Bright, insert any pundits name. They are all the same, lazy bastards who form no opinion of their own but just regurgitate the same old shit over and over and over.

What annoys me is when some of our own supporters are influenced by it, believe it and then start to regurgitate it themselves.

Have a look through the post since the match. I’m not trying to be a smart arse, but I sometimes feel like Canute trying to hold it back.

Do you get Talk Sport over there? Try listening to Mickey Quinn. He’s great. Loves the Reds. Hates the Mancs. And comes right out with it. Funny as fuck to have such bias on our side for a change.

Digger don’t forget to do the Salmon fishing when you come in and watch the vid!

That’s the thing with Torres – can look out of sorts at times and still win us the game with some magic. When he is on form he is unplayable.

Top strikers all have that in common LB. And they all go through rough patches/droughts. Some bloody drought that… 5 so far.

Now if people will just learn to have the same sort of patientce with the defence, we could be in for a very enjoyable season round here

It’s a bit unreal seeing a kid you’ve seen grow up out of nappies signing autographs and getting stuck in on the pitch with your heroes. Difficult to explain.

Kieron Dyer seems to have matured quite a bit. Came up to me and a couple friends, shook our hands and had a brief chat. Cole however and his mates seem like real Jack the lads. Very much enjoying his status if you see what I mean.

I’m sure the defense will be sorted in not too long. Regards the Carra debate. Some of my mates reckon he is finished now. I’m not so sure. I have thought that in previous seasons and then he has gone on to be our best defender for the season. So I will reserve judgment. I do accept the observation that Carra can look dodgy when certain players are not doing their job. Carra then tries to do 2-3 people’s job and it can look like he is in a bit of a panic and losing it. Like when he broke Skrtle’s jaw for example.

LB Did you do your celebration when we scored, I can’t keep quite when we
score which is why i’m NOT going to the Leeds match with a few mates who are
Leeds fans,too many idiots running around with sticks ( and thats just the WYP )
PS I bet you’d have still cheered if your mate had of scored.
PPS I wanted Benny to score today just to show Adebeyore what class is.
YNWA

Well, I’ve got to get to bed now LB. But yeah. I know what you mean. I have a few friends who made it in glamour jobs, footy, music, film/telly and that. It’s really strange to see who you think of as ordinary in the limelight eh. Try being my age and seeing the lad’s sons and grandsons doing it… fucking wierd mate, especially knowing they think they know it all and look at us like some daft old duffers who know fuck all nothing.

Oh well, youth eh. But it sounds like Zavon won’t be wasting his.

Here you go, youll get a laugh out of this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yMirJPi_mI

There’s a couple of lads I grew up with in that. I only ever see them now and again, sometimes years apart. Weird. They never age in my head then I see them and they’ve got gobs like Ghandi’s flip flop.

Oh well, the ravages of time. Best go put me teeth in the glass and get some kip before I fall off me zimmer.

Night night.

Rome, I very nearly lept out of my seat when Torres scored the winner. I held it down and just did a little fist pump. Then I looked over to the Liverpool fans who were going fucking crazy jumping up and down and I wished I was with them.
We were sitting in an area when most of the people around us were friends or relatives of players so it was far from hardcore. But still I thought I wouldn’t risk a proper celebration.

PS… I said earlier about Carra crashing about into other players and people blaming him for it in here. But if they’d been doing their job he wouldn’t have been carrying on like that.

He’s 32 in January. So obviously the curtains on it’s way down on his career. But as frustrating as it’s been shipping goals this season, before casting blame lads… imagine how bad it would have been without him.

I’m telling you now, the goals against column would have been in even worse shape. I just hope Skrtel is learning as much as he can while he’s got him there. That physique and raw talent, coupled with Carra’s nouse and we’ll have a leader for years to come. But there’s still only one boss at the back…..

Pepe Reina.

Now bugger off

FS, funny video! I’ve seen that guy on LFCTV and always enjoyed his interviews etc.

FS Funny clip that ” he smokes he drinks he use’s pot ” classic.
Makes you think what did he say at H/T or was it the fans singing YNWA

Fatty I’m sat in the bar and watched that clip on my phone. Bit blurry but I think you are indeed right. I thought the player that made the untracked run got the header. My sincerest apologies mate and to you too Kinny. My mistake lads. And Fatty you can give me gyp anytime, love our jousts! Great stuff LB, what a day for you and your mates. Right I’m off to watch this Mayweather fight….as Fatty would say tatty bye

Very good and exciting game, if a bit nervy for us. Great goals from Torres. I liked the first because it was such a narrow angle. And the second because of Babel’s cross. Aye, Babel is performing better on the right.
LB, you lucky devil, interesting that you know the Zavon lad so well. He played brilliantly, gave us loads of problems. Outrun everyone, including Johnson, eluded Carra for that penalty and nearly scored as well. We should sign that lad, honestly in January. Then we will have a surplus of players on the left.

Nevertheless a great fight and fright but a cool three pints and temporarily in third place.

I meant three points. Must have been because I have had three pints.

Gerry,Your jest noted. I thought you were serious there. LOL!

Fair play to Dion Fanning once again. Another good article by one of the few decent football journalists who actually seems to know what he’s talking about, and the fact that he is Irish is also another big plus point!

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/hicks-emerges-with-little-credit-but-city-still-bank-on-bellers-1891596.html

Donal,

the I Know The Score table, what does BB stand for?

Dion is also a liverpool supporter by the way.

LB – sounds like a great day. To have someone you like and are related to, whose family is like your own, playing the game you love, albeit against your team, is something very special. I also think it’s interesting tho’ sometimes very disillusioning to be on the inside and meet these guys in the flesh.

Upton Park was the first Football League ground I was ever at. My Dad brought me to see Manure there back in the days of Stapleton. It was a great experience tho’ obviously I was impervious to the charms of both teams. It was also the first ground I went to when I was living in London some years later. I remember cos I had to keep my gob firmly shut watching the game. “Home” Terraces in the early 80′s were not the place to go shouting for the Reds.

By the way Gerry, another great blog. You are spot on with the media bias and laziness and the fact we picked up another 3 points while still not functioning is fine .. just fine.

Much and all as I would love for ‘Nando and especially Stevie to be playing to their best every game it can’t be. In fact I would go so far as to say that it’s better this way. Others including Lucas, Benny and hopefully Mascher etc.. are and have to, rising to play at a higher level.
Stevie in particular, in my opinion, is mercurial. Even when he is off rhythm and mis-timing passes and moaning he is likely and regularly comes up with something brilliant to turn a game. When he’s good he’s brilliant but often fades out of games for periods of time at that. I’ve not ever seen him dominate games (like for example Xabi does) week in week out. I don’t think it’s his style or maybe it’s the pace he plays at which tends to be high.

Anyway it’s great to be yakking on about this and that with 3 points more in the bag. We’re coming along nicely under the radar.

Top article that by Dion Fanning. Unfortunately Fatty for your breakfast read I’d leave it out as it’s another take on our 2 Muppet owners and their particular version of Reality and the new Anfield vision, puke.

Kinda lookin’ forward to the “Highlights” of the Citeh-Manure Dogfight today. Either way Mr Ferguson has a new well-stacked Apha Male on his patch. I think a win (however unlikely ?) would be great for Mark Hughes and wouldn’t it be wonderful to piss off the entirely flappable Mr Ferguson.

Delicious, albeit nerve-wracking victory yesterday at Upton Park. We won without getting out of second gear, with a team that clearly lacked width (esp. on the left), and with usual dodgy defending at set pieces. We allowed the Irons back into the game when we ought to have killed it altogether. What’s that about Torres losing his shooting boots?

Babel might be beginning to dig what it means to wear a Red shirt. His hustle and bustle (amidst the usual infuriating loss of possession) really came in handy, as was his pace. He showed pre-season like commitment to defending.

Are we evolving into some version of Arsenal? I’m drawing comparisons with their scoring CB, Vermaelen. Our defenders are either creating or scoring. Full credit to Insua for his interception and charge forward that created goal #1. Babel’s cross for #3 had come from a blocked GJ shot.

It was good to see Masche seize the midfield in the second half. One major negative is how we consistently seem to fail to pick up the likes of Charlton Cole during setpieces. There was no single Red on the keeper’s line during WHU’s corner for their second goal!

Has anyone noticed we are either winning or losing? Have we already improved, I wonder, from last season’s draws? We seem to just keep going on regardless of any setback we receive at the back.

[On sponsorship] As usual, it’s kudos to Christian Purslow and the commercial team for landing StanChart as a sponsor. The worry remains though that Messrs G & H will dip their fingers into our kitty and starve the coach of funds for new players. Do we need new players?

Everytime we’ve played Masche-Lucas we do lack a dimension from the middle. We lack guile in passing, something we seem to have when Gerrard drops into central midfield to play alongside one of #s 20 and 21. By so doing, we lose playing the captain off Torres, although I’m beginning to think it might favour crafty Benayoun, esp. when the Israeli’s played slightly to the left.

I’m still amazed that Carlsberg only gave us 7m pounds annually! And this for all of 17 years! That was one terribly negotiated contract.

Kuyt continues to be underrated and his contributions understated. We do have class at the back in Reina and our defence (I’ll still give them a chance while acknowledging Carra had an awful yesterday). We have a much better team than I’d even thought, with even better mentality.

We got three and it’s what matters right now. Last season saw Man U struggle to hit the heights they obviously can, grinding out much-needed wins, points that helped them overcome our impressive unbeaten record that was full of draws.

Let’s keep the faith. YN(Ever)WA(Ever)!

Great link about the 15 minutes that shook the world. Favourite bits is Kewell with the blow-up doll and Traore in a box with his legs hanging out the side. Classic!

Have watched the carlton cole goal again and it is not a matter of zonal marking or man to man marking. If you have a monster like Cole and the delivery is excellent, any team will have a problem defending them.

Like most of the lads, I hope we get another couple of seasons out of Carra but it will be interesting to see who is the central defender partnership by the of the season, if all 3 remain fit. Personally, I see dagger as the man who should take over the mantle.

LB, great to hear that you had such a great time and that nipper Hines looks to have what it takes to make it, if he keeps his hands clean

Must have been weird to see him on the same pitch playing against ‘your’ team though. Did you have a word with him about joining the reds?

MTMMC, BB is your banker bonus. Every week if your banker game wins, it adds 5 points to the bonus but it can only get up a maximum of 20. If your banker game does not win then it gets reset to zero, unless you put your insurance on the same match.

Basically, if you play your cards right, it’s a possible 20 bonus points every week.

Great Blog as usual Gerry, interesting to see the money being talked about fro the naming rights of the stadium, they are really on a publicity drive. I has to be a charm offensive incase an investor comes to Anfield with them.

Back to the game and it was great to se Torres looking more like his old self, more energy and movement and looked very sharp. I see there is quite a bit of unrealistic comments flying around. Carra is no worse or better, playing wise than he has been for the last few seasons. He seems to love giving the Hammers a penalty and does it regularly. Very sloppy in the opening minutes and we were lucky not to go 1 behind. LB great prospect that kid of yours, any chance of convincing him to come to Anfield? I thought Skertal was as sloppy as Carra on a few occasions and LB’s mate skinned everybody that tried to take him on so to blame Carra for him getting past, yes bad push for the penalty, is a bit harsh and I have to agree with FS on that point.

I thought we played really well and again Lucas had a very good game in the middle. His passing and distribution is getting better and better as the season progresses. For those who say he only passes backwards or sideways watch this game again, he was the catalyst for a lot of our attacking moves.

Very pleased in deed to see the change in Babels attitude and play. He really had a good game and a great impact. He is perfect to come on for Kuyt and start when Kuyt is rested on the right. The only slight disappointment for me was Gerrards reaction a couple of times when he did not get the perfect ball played to him. Bit of a dummy spitting reaction that was not needed. Masch also had a better game and I cannot understand the gripe about our midfield, we dominated possession and controlled the game totally. We gave away to sloppy goals and it seems we struggle against a big physical forward like Cole without Sammy. Drogba also gives Carra a hard time. To be out jumped by this monster is understandable and it is almost impossible to stop if the cross is perfect no matter what system you use. The reason we have no one on the post is to stop the rebound or tap in from a header. The forwards on the line are automatically off sides and you could see Pepe having a go at Johnson at one corner when he did drop back. 3 golden gloves and a second place in 5 years bear testimony to that system. We have to realize that no system is 100% perfect and shit happens occasionally. Great game, good win and I would like to see the youngsters play against Leeds.

Cav, Degen (Darby/Kelly for 20 min), Hercules, Ayala (Agger for 30 minutes) Dossena
Spearing, Lucas (Aurelleo for 30 to 40 min)
Babel Vorinon Reira
Ngog

Morning chaps… I’m going to do something very unfooty fan like here – try to be logical, reasoned and un-biased.

From a few of the comments, you can see the media have done what they never fail to do… get right up the noses of Reds. I suppose we should give them points for consisitency at least.

But do you know Mancs fans even believe – and yes, really truly believe – that the media is against them and The Tramp. That really is mind-boggling, but they do.

Well, here’s the thing… ask me to give you a real proper report on any other team, their players, their manager and the situation at their club, I couldn’t really make a proper job of it and that includes the other top teams. And most of what I would say would be tinged by what I see, hear and read in the media.

It’s because, I don’t study any other team the way I study Liverpool (Which I do far too much for a man of my age). Well, journalists are just the same. Ex-footballers are even worse – most of them kunts are thick anyway and just picking up an easy few bob. They give even less time and thought to any of this than any of us do. All they do is, turn up, regurgitate the conscensus (Good word Fatty lad) take the few bob and fuck off…
Mancs: not firing yet, but will be there. They have the squad. They have the manager. They have the experience. They’ve done it all before.

Chavs: the machine, grinding out results, no matter how badly they play, boring but efficient, relentless and will be there at the end.

Arse: Lovely to watch but shite really. No grit. No steel.

City: will it gel?

Liverpool: Rotation. Zonal marking. 2 man team. Arrogant idiot of a manager. Terrible man manager.

In fact, just take that man management thing for a moment… Every single player that I have read their thoughts on Rafa say the same thing – Rafa is relentless. He’s obsessed with football. I have never had a conversation with him that doesn’t involve football. And he’s always asking for more from me. But – and this is a huge but – He has turned me into a far better player and is still not happy, still demanding more from me.

Torres and Bennayoun have just said that exact thing this week. But what do the press say… Passionless idiot, sitting on the touchline making his notes.

Yes. They even slag him for not jumping up and down the touch line like the rest of them and doing his job more professionally than the rest.

It’s fucking ridiculous, but it’s understandable. IT’s human… fall in with the pack, just agree with the party line and don’t go against the shared agreement.

Well, I thank god we’ve got a man that rises above all that. Thinks for himself and is determined to do his job to the absolute best of his ability no matter what is thrown at him.

As for pundits, I’ve been listening to Mickey Quinn again this morning. Try listening to him. HE’s on Talk Shite Saturday and Sunday mornings. He’s funny as fuck and always a good laugh. But I tell you what… he’s the most biased fucker I have ever heard in my life. This morning he has done nothing but slate the Mancs, the club, the team, the players, the fans and most of all the manager. It’s hilarious. His co-presenter just even said to him… Your amazing Mickey. No matter the subject, you manage to turn it into an attack on the Mancs and a eulogy to Liverpool.

And you know what, he is right. Mickey does exactly that. So, of course, I love him. Don’t think the Mancs would agree though.

But anyway, here’s the important bit… I don’t care who you are, you can’t help but be affected by all this. Have a look at what me and Digger said about Cole’s goal last night. (Not having a go Digger just trying to prove a point). Digger said one thing. I thought another. But when I was told I was wrong, despite knowing I wasn’t, I started to believe I was.

I got that into the argument that I even lost track of time, missed Match Of The Day, and then had to root round youtube. I even had to watch it a few times over to prove to meself I had seen what I knew I had seen. (Imagine poor refs in real time, seeing things once).

But anyway, it just shows what happens when you are looking at something but influenced by what you are hearing. I admit, I look at things through my LFC tinged glasses. I think it’s fair to say, some other’s in here look at it from the other end of the scale.

So anyway, all I can say is… don’t believe the hype. And now fuck the logical reasonable bit back to footy…
Will watch todays 2 big games. I will be hoping all 4 teams get beat. I will be wishing for 44 red cards and 44 broken legs – it’s called being a footy fan!

PS…. City can win it.
I was about to read that article but on better advice I’ll leave it until at least after me wash, cup of tea, ciggie and shit shave and shampoo.

Fantasy league….
Watch out. Chubby Chasers on the rise and I don’t even know what I’m doing. You’s lot must be rotating, zonal marking and not man managing.

Alright Keith, missed your post…

Rafa bollacked Mascher last week and demanded more from him. Funny how that coincided with Masch’s performance yesterday, eh?

The week before he bollacked Babel and made it plain that he needed to shut up and grab the chances that came his way… funny how Babel has just managed to have his best 2 performances in a long time.

Should we have a player on the post for corners against us? I don’t really know. But I bet Rafa does. In fact, I bet it’s all – statistics, data, fact – written down in that little black book of his that the media seem to think he’s writting a shopping list in.

But like he said himself when quizzed about it after the game….
Sometimes you have to give credit to the attacker!

FS, Keith, perfect posts and posted just at the right time, for me anyway. Because when you were writing that, I was reading this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/19/premier-league-west-ham-liverpool

I was starting to doubt what I had seen with my own two eyes yesterday, even though it was only on the tele.

Either this guy is a clampet or has an agenda against LFC and Rafa. Or, in fact, both.

more from the PSB:

http://www.tribalfootball.com/liverpool-fans-left-fuming-after-being-bumped-sponsors-anfield-328901

It’s only going to get worse and worse. Anyway, less moaning, I need to make me kids some grub.

I thought the game was pulsating and all you want from an English football match. I also thought we played wonderful and deserved our win. Alas though it’s not a spectical unless both teams want the same result, so well done West Ham.
.
I always believe if a player continually slags of an opposition player it’s usually because their brilliant. To a great striker and defence that continually fouls or snipes is a backhanded compliment. So regardless of what the papers say, it’s a backhanded compliment, hard to take for years and years, but still it’s how good we are that causes them to bite.
.
I thought Mash was tenacious and brilliant today, loved the way he tackled the lad who flattened Insua late in the game. then had a push and shove episode. Well done Mash. Torres scores two then starts chasing back, wow he looked good.
.
Babel looked lethargic but still showed how good he could be. He could really be something to this team.
.
Happy with the game, good on both teams.

Great spotting that Lurgan #74.

See what I meant now, lads? And it’s just going to get worse and worse. Next thing H&G will break up the Reclaim The Kop blocks and that will be that… atmoshphere completely fucked, everything Anfield used to be completely decimated.

Just watching the Mancs Derby, laughing me head off at the game and the punditry/commentary. Good game. City defo the better team.

As for the commentary all the usual shite is there… Rio and Vidic best centre halves in the history of the world ever.

I can’t even be arsed going on, but here’s a whopper. Ben Foster makes an absolute howler as he usually does – he gets the usual excuse… Young goal keeper’s often make mistakes of this nature, but don’t worry. He’s good. He’s the future of England goalkeeping.

FFS he’s about 6 months younger than Pepe Reiner. And have a guess what would have got said about him if he’d made such a balls up against an old team mate who he knows quite well will not give up on any sort of opportunity that’s given to him.

In fact, Foster had already made one of them ricks and near give up a goal anyway.

But anyway, here’s me point…
Nevermind all this shite in the papers… “Money doesn’t buy titles. They won’t gel. They’ll get 4th spot and maybe challenge next season.” And all the other shite they spout.

I’ve been saying this for weeks, I’m even more convinced now…
City will be in there at the end. They could well win it. But whatever happens they are more of a danger to us this season than Utd.

Just keep playing until United win Mr. Referee

Just saw the Manchester game. I cannot believe the added time. Why does the scum always have things go their way??!

I’m sorry…but when is there going to be an inquiry to match fixing. This is getting ridiculous. City would never have gotten 6 minutes of time in the reversed positions. Disgraceful. It’s absolutely absurd
the advantage the scum getfrom the fa.

I don’t know why this keeps surprising me. We should all just expect it by now. It’s a good thing for the ref that the mancs scored after 5 minutes of injury time, that means he didn’t have to figure out how to take it to 10 minutes. Because that ref was not blowing the whistle before the mancs scored. Unbelievable.

And Fungusface’s behaviour after the goal – disgraceful. He had the nerve to go the 4th official and crack jokes with him!!!

There really should be an inquiry to referee fixing.

They win in the 6th minute of 4 added minutes, go figure. City deserved a draw even with Hughes inept attempt at trying to be a Manager. His players have to plead with him to go back to the formation that helped them dominate the first half. These teams are even United worse than people think and City better than people think. I defiantly think we have the edge over both.

FS as much as I hate H&G its UEFA’s fault for this relocation, mind you Plantini runs our two twats close for being a prize prick, it’s a bloody disgrace and surly illegal.

What can you say Lads, Martin Atkinson is a twat.
I love how the 4th official was trying to justify the extra 1.40seconds.

I cant believe making a sub adds an extra 2minutes of injury time (carrick).

Fergie having a cheeky laugh and joke with the 4th official at the end.

Just to add. If i was Hughes id go buy “Manager for Dummies”. You had a fucking formation that kept you on top of United and then you change it because some shit kicker named Valencia came on. Bellamy would have torn him a new one anyway. You cant allow United to hold posession and not have any yourself, dont these people fucking learn.

Ohh, and If I was Hughes, I would have rushed over to Atkinson and given him a massive spray!.

Bulgar, just before the Tramp and the 4th official enjoyed their little love in, Mark Hughes tried to have a word with him. The 4th official literally elbowed him away.

Will anything happen?

HA!

Business as usual.

Not being a smart arse, but here’s the truth…
A mate of mine came round when it was 2 – 2. He asked me what was happening, I said it doesn’t matter. The referee will play it until the Mancs win, probably from an offside goal by Micheal Owen and then blow the whistle immeadiately.

Can’t say it took Nostdramus to say though… board said 4 extra minutes. Where did they get that from?
They actually played 6 minutes 45 seconds after full time.
The ref blew the whistle 16 seconds after United scored.

What’s the point in going on. It’s nothing new. But I do want to say this… if you think Carra is finished would you swap him for Ferdinand?

I’ve been saying this for 2 seasons, the greatest centre back in the history of the universe and game ever is fucking finished. Nando will rip him and his big Spassie mate apart again this season – unless the ref allows them to behead him.

So, in a way, I’m glad Utd won because City will be more of a problem this season.

Fucking absolute disgrace, and not one pundit asked where the time came from. So like I said… business as usual.

Fatty, I know it’s normal. But it gets on my nerves every time. Seriously, referee fixing aside, could the reason for United’s luck be that they are playing in front of such a large crowd? Willing the players on, as well as the refs?

I’m glad I was out having dinner with my relatives while all this fiasco happened, or I would have popped a few blood vessels and have to be hospitalized due to blood loss.

I’m amazed still no one, besides Rafa, dares to challenge Mr Feguscum and his FA cronies for blatant match-fixing.

Lets hope Hughes has some balls and gets stuck in at the press-conference

BTW, is it me or are these 3D digital girls on these Ebony online-game ads attached to the side of Gerry’s blog getting more and more scantily clad in a desperate attempt to attract more horny customers to play their nonsensical game?

http://i1.hk/u/attachments/day_090920/20090920_3f9373703be4f69fc85f1VlyJWexSiYF.jpg

The new formation for the Scum: 4-4-2-4. No, the numbers are correct, they add up to 14 “players” – 4 defenders, 4 midfielders, 2 strikers and 4 officials.

This just came in.

Some of my mates said they were watching TV with some folks, who are only into footy just for betting purposes, so they aren’t into any particular team.

Being the gamblers they are, most bought the Scum to win, and yet amazingly, though they have won their money, even THEY were cussing at the Scum in the manner how they won.

Can you believe it? Even gamblers are swearing obscenities at the Scum’s match fixing, despite being the unexpected beneficiaries of it.

This is how despicable Ferguscum has become, when even “immoral” gamblers look down on them.

I remember saying last year that Scum get at least 12 points per season from
“favours” and that its been going on since the Prem started but a few people
thought i was exaggerating .Then look at the points that their main rivals will
get f*ucked on and you start to see why they have won the Prem so many
times.Basically they’ve been running the FA for years and while David Gill is
in charge they will continue to do so. As for these freindly managers at the
LMA they know how it works but dont say because they dont want to be left
out in the cold, Lets face it they wouldn’t exactly walk in to another top job in
Spain or Italy because they ain’t good enough. So what do they do, toe the
line and hope that one day they might get the job at the Old Toilet.
And that my foreign freinds is what the English game as become corrupt to
the core.

Knight… I just got me Manc ticket sorted. So, I will be up there to see you.

Can’t say no more on that debacle today.

Matchfixer-United at their best …

Did anyone else see how did the 4th official behaved with hughes wen he was trying to show him the watch and then the same official sharing a laugh with that tramp ….

absolutely sickening how they get away wid such points …

And i just read Hughes’ reaction …

The 4th official told him that he had added on time for their celebration abt the 3rd goal in the 89th minute…

I think its absolutely absurd…dunno if its just me or does this really happen in every match wid a 90th minute goal??

Unbelievable, yet another piece of anti-Rafa propaganda by soccernet, also known as scummernet.

This time the clown’s name is Harry Harris.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=677951&sec=england&root=england&cc=4716

Kinny Riddle – If HH knew any less about football he’d be on a par with an Australian Rugby Commentator…Ignore the fuckwit…or else you’ll go insane like me…

And fucking Owen – in the 197th minute of extra time…

I was up in the air on how Citeh would perform this season but they look the real deal this season. They’ve got a big squad and no European distractions to worry about.

Say what you want about the Mancs, but you’ll don’t see them conceding 3 at Old Toilet very often.

I can picture them in there at the end of the season as well as a nice Cup run or two. This will be the year that one of the Big 4 will miss qualifying for the CL. I hope it’s Arsenal.

Nice to see Judas bagging the winner in the 197th minute. Great way to fuck up my day.

I’m thinking it won’t be the last time this season he scores late to grab them some points.

The free kick that City won should have been their last kick of the game (even commentators agreed for once) considering it was already the 95th minute. Once City won the header and it went back almost to the half way line they seemed to turn off and think it was over.

That should read “The free kick that United won”

If carra is finished, then, rio cokehead, gallas and carvalho would have been gone by now. I just think we should give LB’s friend the credit rather than say Carra is finished. He basically skinned every single one of our players he was up against.

As for the manc game, I expected it to happen, but it is just disgusting. I am surprised the city players did not react so much after the game, but it was in a sense a nice touch, because it highlighted the difference between the arrogant, bullying, foul-mouthed twats most of the manc players are. When you have an ugly man like fungusface at the helm, it is no wonder, but, really.

Can’t write anymore I am so pissed off.

Maybe they have instigated the golden goal rule without telling anyone but Man U and the referee’s association. 6 minutes is a very long extra time for one half of football.

FS, Many thanks! Glad you got one ticket for the Man United game for yourself. So the beers will be on me, whichever pub you choose to go to. Can’t tell you enough how happy and grateful I am.
I shall be with five other Malaysians, three of whom are setting foot for the first time in England. They hope to watch both the Lyon and Man United games. They are coming all the way despite having only 4 tickets for the Man United game and 2 tickets for the Lyon game, hoping to get the balance of tickets whilst at Anfield.

I know it is difficult to get tickets and I as you have got mine for me, I don’t want to trouble you any more. But if there is still some way of getting anymore tickets ( 1 for Man United and three for the Lyon game), this will be most appreciated by my friends. Let me know if it is OK or a bit of bother and I shall let my friends know of the situation. Thanks, mate!

I did not see the Manchester derby, only saw the highlights. The extra minute of extra time for Man United to nick the game is truly disgraceful.
Then again you may remember that happened also to Chelsea in their first game against Hull or was it Burnley?

Interesting, positive article on Torres.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/6211892/Fernando-Torres-story-is-brimful-of-superlatives-as-Liverpool-defeat-West-Ham.html

Hiya Knight. I will try mate, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. And tickets for the Man Utd game will be going for up to £500. Which is disgusting but there’s people who will pay that.

If I can’t help, and I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to – I only got the second ticket because my cousin is letting me use his season ticket – don’t let your friends use the touts. They will rob them blind.

I’ll make some phone calls but the only chance I have of getting anymore will be at the ground before kick off. It’s United mate, but even Lyon is going to be tough. All euro tickets are quickly taken. Even if the people aren’t going to that actual game, they grab the tickets because they need the loyalty credit for games later on in the competition. So european tickets are just as hard to get hold of as tickets for the really big league games. But as I said, I will do my best.

I’m off to New York in a week on Wednesday. I get back on the 8th of October. I will start really trying then but there’s no point just yet. So leave it with me and I will get in touch with you then. Put your email address up so we don’t have to keep putting the lads through this in here.

That was a complete disgrace yesterday. As you said FS the pundits an sky just breezed past the fictional added time an move straight to praises of the scum and their tactically astute manager. wankers. I mean there was no reason for that added time,none what so ever how are we meant to win a league with this shit going on. To put it into perspective in the spurs/Chelsea game that spurs player(cant remember his name) knocked himself out cold he was down for over five minutes plus all other stoppages an injury’s and there was rightly eight Min’s added on, the manc games went into the 97minute and for what???? disgrace.

Roarin lad, it’s the way it is. No point in even thinking about it. It’s nothing new or surprising.
And the fact is, nothing can be done about it as there’s always a legitimate excuse.

FS, Fully understand the difficulty in getting the tickets. STG500/- a ticket for the Man United game? wow!
Anyhow, Carlsberg Malaysia still has four more tickets for the Man United game and hopefully they can spare that extra one which will do it.
If you can’t get the Lyon ticket, not to worry. I will tell my friends to go to the grounds early and get them there.
Those fellas are cutting it fine. They arrive at Manchester airport after a 15 hour journey including a 3 hour stopover in Dubai, get to the Liverpool Hotel (where i am holed up with them) by 2pm have a short rest and go to the match early by 5.30pm or so. Crazy!
Good idea to be in contact by e-mail. My e-mail is [email protected].
Thanks, mate!

just went onto to the offical everton web site coz i wanted to hear what they had to say about our fantastic win and low an behold its being cancelled due to abuse. lol thats cheered me up no end. magic.

P.S thats their blog not the web site.

My Torres 16 and Kuyt 52 prediction was close to the mark.Jermaine Beckford could be a handful tomorrow night.

Tactically astute manager! That’s a laugh if Hughes had not gifted them a free pass in the second half with his inept attempt at being tactically creative then he would have out thought Taggart. As it was Fungus did nothing and Hughes helped him out by changing City’s formation. All Fungus can do is throw on another attacker when things are not working.

Keith, you forgot about the ‘next goal wins’ rule that Slur Alex has at old toilet.

Also, hughes equals an astute manager is not an equation that I buy into either. FFS, his own players were begging him to change it because they were being overun in the middle of the park. When David Pleat, of all people, can see it and hughes can’t… I rest my case.

Watched MOTD just now and it was the usual story. Liverpool are a one-man team again, only it was Torres this time, and defensive problems will mean we finish bottom of the league. Complete tripe from Hansen and that lass he sits besides!

Where are you at Timmy? Still sick after yesterday’s defeat?

Hanson claims ManU should have won by 10! What game was he watching? City out played ManU in the first half and it was only Hughes blunder that let them dominate in the second. I could not believe how the players had to beg Hughes to revert back to the formation that helped them dominate.

As for the usual shit ion the media, Carra finished, Liverpool defensive frailties and even Bollocks has come out and said it’s a two horse race with Chelsea and ManU. The way ManU played I can see us giving them a football lesson again this year and the clash at the Bridge is going to be very interesting. I just wish Aquilani was fit as I can see him giving the bigger and slower Chelsea players a real torrid time the way he dominated the midfield against them in the CL. I still think we can beat them there; Rafa will come up with something that will throw Sir Lottie.

Knight, as I said, the thing with Champion’s league tickets is that the earlier rounds count towards getting tickets for the knock out stages. It’s a loyalty scheme, which is fine. People go to all the games should count before anybody who just wants to turn up for the quarter finals on.

But the thing is, it’s really done to ensure all the tickets get sold. Put it this way… there might have been some empty seats the other night at the Debrecen game, but all the tickets will have been sold. People buy them and don’t even turn up just to ensure they have the credits when the tickets go on sale for the big games.

Wrong, but the way it is. And sadly that will mean your mates will probably struggle to get tickets without getting ripped off.

I’d say this in an email but it might be handy for other lads to know. If you ever have to deal with touts, ask them how much for the ticket, then, when they tell you, tell them to fuck right off and walk away. They will follow you. They will then ask you how much you are prepared to pay. Tell them to fuck off again and walk.

They’ll know you then. They all know one another. Then just before kick off, go up by the shop. They’ll follow you. They’ll offer you them again at a cheaper price. Haggle with them and as kick off time approaches, they will come down to about double the price. Tickets are no good to them once the game has kicked off. They don’t want to be stuck with them. They’ll have already made their money by then and will let them go for about 50 quid.

But if you’re lucky, you’ll get genuine fans who have spare tickets and won’t expect anything more than face value. Maybe a few pound over to cover their expenses and buy a pint. That’s fine. There’s no harm in that. But them touts, well put it this way, everyone hates them but the days when you could threaten them, take the tickets off them and give them to proper fans is sadly gone.

And yes, Hughes did balls that up. He must have thought that Valencia fella was Ronaldo. But if he’d just stuck to how they was playing, they’d have won that. Bottler.

Problem is Keith, Carra is quickly losing the little pace he did posess. I stick by what I said earlier… Carra is still our best centre back and we need him there marshalling the defence as Skrtle and Agger can’t do it yet.

But they need to start getting that sorted quickly. I think Skrtle, even though he’s not as good a footballer, should get the nod ahead of Agger for that job as he does like to roam our Daniel.

But at the moment, Skrtle’s own positional sense isn’t up to scratch, nevermind getting every one else into the right shape.

Carra has developed a great footballing brain over the years. No doubt it’s came from compensating for his defencies, but don’t forget before he became our main center back, he played all over the defence and in mid-field. Them lessons are priceless and not easily learnt.

I’m sure Skrtle will pick it up. I’m sure he’s learning all the time in training and on the pitch from Carra. But that’s the thing, he needs to work on his own game a bit yet – especially his distribution. But he’ll get there and hopefully quick as Carra certainly isn’t anymore.

Dunno about the rest of you, but I haven’t seen anything from Manure that scares me? VanDerSaar in goal will bolster them, but they have been leaking goals so far this season. Nando will skin their back four, and I can see Benny being brought down on the edge of the area if he runs at their plodders – all depends if the ref will award us the free kicks/penalties? Chelski can be had as well. I thought Spurs could have been up at the interval – they had a few pops at goal & looked fairly lively. Again, Torres should skin JT & Carvalhio. They are both getting on and haven’t looked at all solid at the back. Again, the ‘pundits’ don’t agree though. Stating the obvious, but the games against Chelski are going to be huge – pity we won’t have a pop at them during the African Nations though.

On the zonal marking debate, it dosn’t matter what system you deploy as long as you do it properly.
There is no doubt other teams are analysising the way we defend set-peices and looking at ways to counter-act it, we just have evolve a little, and like last Sat. I would have players on the post though.
Another thing, any time any of our players are on international duty, please ignore any interviews and shit that are written, Babel is now saying the stuff about going back to Ajax in Jan is a lot of bull-shit.

Cork lost the All-Ireland final yesterday, I was at the game, luckly our result on Sat is keeping my mood up.

Mate of mine just made a great point… United/Owen wouldn’t have scored that goal on Sunday if Carra played for City – because no way would he have allowed his team mates fall asleep like that.

Couldn’t argue with that.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=678245&sec=england&root=england&cc=4716

Unlike that clown Harris, this anonymous journo says it like it is, summing up the ref’s performance for yesterday’s Manc derby in 5 simple words: Keep playing until United win.

Kinny mate, as annoying and horrible as it is, Man City had the same amount of time to win the game too.

FS, thanks for your comments on #118. Quite useful to learn how to deal with touts.Cheers!

I agree that Carra is not finished, just having a difficult start to the season that’s all.

I think he will be rested for the Leeds game along with Stevie, Nando, Dirk, Yossi, Glen, Emiliano and Pepe.

I think Agger will partner Skrtel in the heart of defence in this game, with Aurelio and Deggen getting full back starts.

A good opportunuty for the likes of Babel, Riera, Voronin and Ngog to shine me thinks. Ayala could even feature if Agger is not quite ready yet.

I agree that the kids should play this one Steve, but I think Rafa will be going for it for 2 reasons…
1: Revenue
2: Trophy. It’s been a while.

Meself, I’d play

Cavalieri
Deegan, Aurelio
Kryiagos, Skrtle (hopefully bring on Agger at some stage).

Masch, Spearing
Babel, Riera
Vronin,
NGog.

But if Rafa is going to play some more of the senior players, I hope he starts with them on the bench and at least gives Carra, Gerrard and Torres the night off.

And hopefully give Pacheco a run out at some time an all.

FS, is Pacheco fit again?

Yeah, I think you could be spot on with that line-up FS, but we shouldn’t be suprised if Rafa does something to suprise us.

Leeds have been flying at home and although they are a Leauge 1 side Rafa won’t be taking them lightly. As you say, he will want to win this trophy and the more games we get in this competition the more some of the lads who don’t usually make the first team will get more experience.

Think so Lurgie. I think he only got a bit of a dead leg. Can’t be arsed checking. I’m gonna flock out in front of the telly. Worked hard today. Thank fuck.

To give my 2 cents on the Utd extra extra time again situation. I watched the match of the day last night and even the last minute before Owen scored Man C had loads of opportunities to control the ball and finish out the game. A bunch of idiots they are. Giggs with one perceptive pass and Owen with his intelligence of movement and simple finish … game over. Maybe Rafa can show that minute alone to our own bunch. That’s how you finish a game (Utd) and how you don’t finish it (Idiots). Keep your head and focus, that’s the lesson there.

My 2 cents on the game vs Leeds. There is no point in putting a side out with a bunch of youngsters for the sake of it. There are squad players who need a game e.g Dosser, Deegan, Agger if fit, Aurelio, Cavaleiri, The big Greek, Babel, Spearing, Riera, Ngog .. I’d be looking to give these guys a runout with maybe a Pacheco & Ayala thrown in and win because it does no harm to keep winning and they need compeditive games.

That’s 4 cents, bye!

Ummm, that’s pretty much what fatty said, sorry ’bout that.

dougle,

I agree with FS & you. The more games they play, the sharper and more ready they get

Think it’s pretty obvious to all of us lads that we should run out some of the secondary players and the kids. But will Rafa be forced to take it seriously and chase the dosh?

It’s just come out this morning that Platinni wants to ban all clubs in deep debt from all UEFA competitions. Sort of a bit sticky for his pals at Real Madrid, but it’s obvious what he’s trying to do.

He reckons that couldn’t be implemented for another four years or so. So, it mightn’t seem like any big deal, but to me, it’s the perfect opportunity for H&G to start hanging on to all incoming money under the pretence of clearing the debt.

Worrying development.

And I swore to myself, I’d say no more about this, but…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/22/manchester-united-goals-stoppage-time

It doesn’t prove anything, but at least it shows all LFC fans aren’t paranoid conspiracy theory nutcases.

Oh and I hope Dosenna gets a run out tonight, even if it’s only to put him in the shop window for a transfer in January. But in all truth, I still think this lad can do a job for us if he settles.

Should be a nice game against Leeds. Would love to see the some of the Senior players we do not see often (Ngog, Voronin, Babel, Cavaleri, Spearing, Dossena) and a few Academy players in the game: Ayala, Daniel Pacheco, Lauri Della Valle

Here you go Knight. You’ll like this. The good old days indeed…
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leedsunited/PETER-LORIMER-Reds-are-classiest.5666839.jp?articlepage=1

Any clues as to the formation and who plays where tonight?

Cav

Degen Carra Kyrigakos dosenna
Babel. Masch spearing aurellio
Riera
Babel

Sorry, ngog is up front not babel again

Bit suprised with carra, only because I thought he just needed a rest as this season will be long.
But I guess you need someone to teach the rest of the defenders.

30min in and Spearing has been my motm. Not missed a pass and some of his passing has been superb. Got the gerrard feel about him. Being all over the ground and playing passes in all directions.

Ngog lively aswell.

Ps. Massive bench including: torres, stevieg, johnson

So far some of the passing has been shite. Especially the penultimate and the final ball.

Great turn and finish from ngog. He has done a lot of hard work today and stood up to the physical challenge, deserved goal.

Sorry to hog the comments but I’m really liking Spearing.
Looks like Degen picked up a knock, so its glenda to finish the night at rb

Akka there must be some mistake ? How could Deegan pick up an injury ? Surely not ! That incredible piece of news apart it’s very good to see we won.

Glad to see Babel, Riera, Spearing, The Greek, Cav, Ngog, Deegan and Dosser get a run out and more importantly win. That means another game for them all in a few weeks time. Good stuff.

By the way how’d the game go ? I’m at home, I’ve banned myself from going to mid-week pub games as I was putting a curse on the team. I decided to watch this on the internet … hah hah .. footie for free .. no dice.

with ya on cursing the team, dougle. And my local is quite scum infested

Good result and Leeds are better than most league one sides so I would not get overly worried about the performance. Some good performances and some very average performances. I thought Spearing had an excellant game and so did Ngog, defiantly ones for the future. Babel showed some good touches and commitment and it really is a positive step forward for him. If he carries on in this vain he could have a good season. The jolly Greek giant played well and so did Degenlwith some great runs and attacking play. It relives a few concerns I had if Johnson should pick up a knock. Cav was solid for most parts in goal, but Riera was sloppy as was Masch. Dossena had a bit of a mare and was skinned and caught out of position to easily. If he plays like this he will be on the bench or out the squad for the entire season. Carra is way of the pace at the moment which is getting a bit concerning, he looks unsure and is far from the confident assuring presence that we are used to. Aurellio did not do too much wrong but did not make his presence tell to any great extent, but it was his first game back so I would not read too much into it. Good work out for the fringe players I am just a bit disappointed that Rafa did not play my little pony along side Ngog as I would have thought that would have been better for the first team squad going forward and Ngog could have done with more support and creativity because Reira was very selfish and wasteful.

Neville gets away with it . . . again.

The double standards is quite sickening.

Sorry definitely, automatic spell check has it’s draw backs

I agree that Voronin should have got a run out. I thought the whole team was pretty much crap except for Kyriagos and Degen.

Kyriagos brings something to the back four that none of the others have – real aerial presence and heading ability. Whether that’s enough to get him more games, I don’t know. But none of our centre forwards are that big for that position and they aren’t the greatest headers of the ball.

I think that’s more of a reason for us getting caught out at set pieces than zonal marking. In fact, I think it’s one of the reasons why we use that system. Well, maybe. But the fact is, we need to compensate for the lack of height with organisation and attacking the ball before centre forwards can get to it. We haven’t been doing that, maybe Kyriagos could help out there until we settle properly.

As for Degen, he’s sound gong forward. We sort of knew that anyway. But he’s not that bad at defending the only times I seen him fucking up at the back was because of…
Well, let’s put it this way. The man looks to be a bit of a fanny to me. Carra might annoy some people with his attitude, but give me a fighter back there anyday. Did you see Degen when it got a bit rough. Fuck me, he was like Henry Kissinger, smiling, appologising, trying to calm things down whenever it looked a bit nasty – which it wasn’t really. So, I’d hate to see him in a Derby match. And sadly that’s something you can’t coach or put into a player.

NGog was not bad and took his goal well. Aurelio obviously needs games. Riera did indeed think he had to win the game on his own. And sadly, to me anyway, Babel looked like he thought he only had to pull his boots on to win it.

Dosenna was the biggest let down of the night. His defending was shocking. He got skinned far too often and his tackling was attrocious – powder puff stuff that any winger or midfielder worth his salt will just keep blowing past as if it’s not there. Well, it barely was there anyway.

Shame that. I’ve seen enough in this lad to think he can do a job for the club. But – like Babel -he has to make more of his chances or he won’t get many more.

Biggest let down of the night Mascherano. He needs a boot up the arse that fella. Where Degen shit out of anything and everything, Mascher went and caused it. There’s being hard and giving no ground, but running around like a mong, slapping players, constantly arguing and squaring up to them, fouling and worse of all – constantly arguing with the ref and swearing at him – isn’t hard nor clever. It’s fucking ridiculous. It turns one of our top players into a liability. And make no bones, other teams will target that and try to get him sent off. He really needs to be spoken too.

But anyway, this wasn’t meant to go on so long and turn into a player report. I just wanted to say, it’s pretty obvious we need to keep our first 11 on the field for as many league and Champion’s league games as possible. The odd one or two changes here and there shouldn’t hurt too much, but wholesale changes are something we will have to avoid.

But we all know who’s fault that is. The first 11, even 14 or so, are good enough. And this summer Rafa should have been able to add some real depth to that, instead of replacing lost players and so not really strengthening from last season. So if we run out of options and possibilities, you know who to blame.

FS, Absolutley love your post No 137. How the heck did you find such a gem of an article?

Ngog looked good last night, he impressed me. Was strong, showed good movement, held the ball up well and his finish was classy. Babel showed commitment and skinned the fullback a few times. I think he looks more comfortable on the right. When he and Riera switched wings in the 2nd half he didn’t look as dangerous. Riera was quite careless in possession and a bit greedy. I think Masch can do a lot more – he seems to pick and choose which game he’ll play at his top level. I hoped Spearing would have imposed himself on the game more. The guys in midfield he was up against shouldn’t be above his level so I had hoped he would show his stuff. Dossena is just having a mare isn’t he? You’d expect an Italian international to be able to handle a League 1 winger. Anyone with a bit of pace and cleverness seems to have Doss in all sorts of trouble. Degen is a bit of a pussy or as scousers would say a ‘shithouse’.

As FS has just said its not about the zonal marking it’s about the players doing their job properly. Attacking the ball and watching the runs from the attackers. When we had Hyypia, Crouch and Momo the zonal marking worked a lot better. Them 3 have been replaced by Torres, Skrtle and Masch. So we’ve weakened the side in terms of aerial presence unfortunately.

A friend of mine emailed it to me Knight. We do like to wallow in the past a bit us old fellas, but it was a nice change from the stuff we get nowadays…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/22/harry-redknapp-spurs-gary-neville

There you go. That will wipe away the nostalgia, and get a few people fuming. I’m past being surprised by this sort of thing nowadays, but I just can’t see why the media fall in line with it and don’t point out the hypocrisy and disgraceful nature of it all. Mind you, it seems, credibility has never been a requirment for a job in the English media.

Good result though another nervy game. Leeds was good and it was rather unfortunate to have their goal disallowed. Babel played well. But our back four did have problems, Carra included. I do like Jay Spearing. Ngog looks like he needs a few more games to get his confidence up, his goal notwithstanding.

Gary Nipple will be Gary Nipple. He will celebrate even in his own bed and dreams. Let’s just leave him alone to his eccentricities

Missed your post LB and I’ve got to go now. But yeah. NGog is a far better footballer than he’s given credit for. I’ve been saying it for awhile, but he might just turn into a gem that lad.

Degen, sadly seems to be like his country… nuetral, peace loving pacifist. Well, blessed are the cheesemakers and all that, and the meek may well inherit the world. But they don’t win many bloody trophies.

Bit harsh to judge the lad like that on the one performance. He didn’t do much wrong. In fact, he done some really good things. I loved the meg he played in the box. But I hope if we have to rely on him for any amount of time this season, he shows a bit more bottle than that last night.

Yes, me knows, Knight. But the point is once again (as many have pointed out here before), its another case of fooking double standards . . .

Gary Nipple…what a wanker huh? Remember the CL Final where he came out publicly & said that he was actually supporting AC Milan on the night? What a waste of oxygen.

For over 15 hours without a new post. Now that’s a record. ARGH! For fuck’s sake, WE NEED A NEW BLOG, GERRY! The boring silence is killing me!

On to Hull. Should be an easy win, 4-1.
And yes, Gerry, need a new blog please. We need some fresh comments from you. Cheers!

Ohh Knight don’t go counting Hull out like that. It’s bad voodoo.

Haha. OK, sure, FS. Well, we shall have to struggle to win the game. Huff and puff despite the rest many of our first team players were having. We leaked in a goal where Carra was again outrun by the competition but neverthelesss won by 4-1. Howszat, FS?

I have a friend Knight who before a game always says… “We’ll t**t these.”

I now avoid him before matches because whenever he says it to me we usually have a nightmare struggle of a match and end up with a draw or even lose.

I think writing anybody off is bad Ju-Ju mate.

The Leeds game was never going to be easy, and even if we had started with our strongest 11 we still wouldn’t have trounced them.

Leeds may be a Leauge 1 side now, but they had also won their last 14 or 15 home games before we turned up. Let’s give Leeds some credit, and remember they had a perfectly good goal ruled out.

Next up is Hull City and Everton have just beaten them 4-0 away!

Before we get carried away let’s remember that Hull drew 2-2 at Anfield last season.

I was suprised that Voronin didn’t get a run-out at Leeds, and can only think that Agger still needs to build up more fitness before he can be considered.

something i have been thinking about for awhile and wholly agree with…….
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/09/steven-gerrard-should-be-banned.html

Just read that article. He didn’t mention Benny as a possible corner taker. He’s been talking a few corners recently and a lot of them have been very good. So I think Benny should continue to take them on the right side. Aurellio from the left. The short corners against Debrecen were doing my head in.

Come on Gerry you’re slacking!

Gerry I would not mind a blog about how you see the 20 mill cap on transfers for the next 4 years, which includes any wage increases as well. That’s presumably why we could not bring in more cover and options because all the funds where taken up with the better contracts we offered our key players. So if we want to keep Masch he will get a new contract with a large increase and that will leave us short in the market again. We all have top four ambitions with the aim on the Prem title but the bottom half of the Prem division are know outspending us by a considerable margin let alone the top half and our major rivals for the title. Our owners are parasites and will suck us dry.

We had better hope our youth policy bears fantastic results or we will be the next Arsenal and breeding ground for the wealthier clubs. Who ever has Aladdin’s magic lamp better start rubbing frantically and wish for a decent owner before Rafa walks. If he does I can see us going into a terminal free fall.

Just want to add my two penneth worth on the Leeds match the other night. I haven’t been to a game let alone an away game for a while and had a good view (from the John Charles stand). I was dubious about FS’s comment on Carra being the best centre back in the club but after seeing the team in the flesh the other night I now agree; Carra got his head to everything (unlike Hercules and degen) and his positional sense is top notch. I thought Reira and Babel were completely useless and it’s a disgrace they can’t take on a league one defence. Spearing had a good game although he had acres of space in the middle to work in, Aurelio played well considering he is short of match fitness and Ngog played his best game in a red shirt, he was quick tenacious and full of trickery. I thought Leeds played well and were unlucky not to get a least a draw considering their goal was perfectly legitimate.
On another note, I was disappointed with the away support, the atmosphere was electric and the Leeds fans sang their heats out throughout the whole match with very little response from the Liverpool fans.
Furthermore why does Rafa always wear trousers that are too long for him, is it any wonder opposing fans always sing ‘you’re just a fat Spanish waiter’ to him.

I heard the Liverpool fans pretty loudly from my TV set. Especially in the first half. That’s unless Leeds fans also sing fields of Anfield Road.

Show’s how opinions differ from fan to fan. I thought Kygriakos played well and looked more assured than Carra at times. I didn’t rate Spearing’s performance really. I think he gets the benefit of the doubt because he is a young local lad. But for me he wasn’t really impressive. I thought Babel was decent – especially i nthe first half when he was on the right. Agree Riera was pants. I’m not sure why rafa had Riera and Babel switch wings for the 2nd half. Both seemed uncomfortable with it.

I don’t think the length of Rafa’s trousers has anything to do with idiots calling him a Fat Spanish Waiter. I’d be surprised if his tailoring has anything to do with those moronic insults.

First thing you have to remember, this was Leeds first game against a big traditional enemy since 2004, and they knew they was more than likely to be going out of the competition. So, it was no wonder both players and fans gave it everything they had. It was their Wembley.

I always hated going to Leeds. I could tell you some scary stories about that place, especially getting back to the train station, coach or car in one piece after the match.

But anyway, it was always going to be a tough game, especially when you consider most of the players had hardly ever played together before, most of them were match rusty and it was a step up for quite a few of them.

When I saw Carra’s name on the team sheet, I knew it would be a struggle as the only reason I can’t see him getting a rest was that Rafa didn’t trust the others without having someone on there to organise them.

I know Carra’s been going through a rough patch. But he is the best we have at organising the team and making it keep it’s shape. The sort of experience he got throughout his career – palying all across the defence and midfield and remember he started as a centre forward – isn’t easy to pick up.

True, he isn’t the player what he was. But he’s far from finished and it will be a sad day when he has to hang his boots up.

Have to agree with LB (This is becoming annoying) Spearing gets cut a lot more slack than others because he is a young local lad and people really want him to succeed.

But anyway, I hope it’s back to a full best 11 for Hull. We can’t afford to take anyone lightly. It would be good to pick up maximum points before going to Chelsea. And it could be a good idea to try and rack up the goal average, as it could be very tight at the end this time round.

Oh, and I was most disapointed by Babel again. When is he really going to grab his chance and impose himself on a game?

To be honest, I said it a while back – I don’t think the lad has it in him. But I’m still hoping he proves me wrong.

Off subject, but got to be mentioned… what an absolutely disgusting man that El Hadj Diouf is, probably the worst fella to ever pull on an LFC shirt. I hope he gets tossed out the game. A shite like that doesn’t deserve to be earning 40 odd grand a week off the tax payers and football fans of this country – who he obviously detests.

And what a twat that Allardyce is. BIG SAM – Big Sam my arse. Poor little dear, ever so upset by Rafa’s arm waving yet backs that shite and says he won’t be taking any disiplinary measures. It would be funny watching him squirm now the police are involved, but the man is obviously beyond feeling shame and will just turn on Diouf to save his own skin.

When are these hypocrites in the media going to grow a back bone and start telling a bit of truth. They have been backing the disgraceful fucker all day.

An absolute disgrace.

LB is it strange (but in a good way cos its always good to get another point of view) when somone has a different reading of a game to you, I obviously can only make a judgement on what i could see from where I was seated and from where I was hercules didn’t get his head on anything and degen was useless.
I’ll also re-iterate that I think its telling that neither reira or babel could find a way through a league 1 defence – what hope against chelsea , arsenal or manure.

been mighty busy but here are my two cents worth, from what I got to watch on a crappy internet feed.

#1 – Degen was very good going forward at times and looked solid enough in defense but did whimp out a bit after a heavy tackle

#2 – Spearing looked good but had tons of space

#3 – Wouldn’t have said that Carra was head and shoulders Hercules

#4 Dossena, dodgey feed or not, had a stinker

#5 Babel looked interested and put in some effort and keep going

#6 Riera was trying to impress too much

It’s really wierd how views are skewed depending on your views on footie and where/how you watch the match but that will never change.

Best sentence of the day: ‘why does Rafa always wear trousers that are too long for him’

FFS, I had a bad hair day today and cracked a fingernail

Alright lads,
just wanted to go on record as stating that the Liverpool-kop article that red-rebel posted the link to in #165 was NOT written by me

(you know… in case some of youz wuz wondering )

I think babel should be given a run in the team on the right wing.i seem to remember that ronaldo was heavily criticized as being all flicks and stepovers and somehow it was coached to a degree out of him.if you look at babels cross for the winner at west ham it shows you the potential of a confident babel if he was getting a regular chance.its up to rafa and sammy to get the best out of him we spent a lot of money on him.babel is definitely more of a threat than kuyt.kuyts main reason for keeping his place seems to be his defensive qualities .Would dirk get into any of our rivals team at right wing i dont think he Would.he has definitely made the most of his limited ability he reminds me of keegan in some ways.I think given the right backing babel could make the difference for us.he’s not gazza or maradona a Player who though stupid has a brilliant football Brain.He needs COACHING ASAP

rafamuffin,

Your description of Kuyt seems anchored in his worst season, the one that his father passed away, labeling his hard work as his only strength.

Kuyt has since improved. His form (together with Benayoun’s, and the fitness of Torres) at the end of last season was one of the main reasons why we looked unbeatable. This season, he is already the second highest goalscorer and I think he deserves much more credit than you give him.

He is our club’s third highest Champions League goalscorer after just (I think) 3 seasons and going into the 4th. I don’t understand why you rate him so lowly.

There’re many types of players that make a team tick. Kuyt’s play doesn’t look pleasing to the eye, but I don’t think anyone should underestimate his ability as a player. You can be good and effective without looking too fanciful and skillful. I think he’s one of our key players in the squad, able to play on the wing and behind Torres.

As for Kuyt being a right wing in the other big four, I’d definitely choose him over Valencia if I were Ferguscum, with his goal contribution and work rate.

…er… so Kuyt would not make it into a top 4 team… but… er… Babel WOULD make it into one of our rivals????

WTF??

Based on what?
Half a dozen goals as a substitute, which were mostly icing on the cake, when the game was already put away, and 30 odd sub appearances in which he did fuck all and lost the ball as soon as he received i!

The mind boggles!

Rafamuffin you cant under-rate Kuyt like that.

As for Babel, well lets not get too excite about his cross for Torres’ header. At best it was a crappy lob/dink and Fernando had to do the remaining 90% of the work for the goal.

For me Kuyt is virtually one of the fest few players i would name in a team, especially against quality oppositions.

Lads I think the comment Rafamuffin made is about Kuyt getting into our top 4 rivals as a right winger. I don’t think he has the pace for a genuine top 4 right winger. No doubting his effort and heart but he does lack speed and genuine dribbling power.
.
He’s been scoring more because he’s been slightly more central, and he never stops running, chases every lost cause, and bobs your uncle comes up with the goods. I personally would like to see Babel playing more just to see if his form picks up, he is only very young still.
.
However I think he’s a bit on the lazy/relaxed side and this may dog his career, especially under a manager like Rafa, who appears to like machine type units, as squads and players.

Oh dear, not this again. It’s enough to make me say something I’ve never said before… New Blog Please Gerry!

Babel over Kuyt, oh come on now. Based on what? Surely not one decent cross or even everything else we’ve seen this season.

Kuyt: he’s not only a runner as he’s lazily described by the media. He’s a very intelligent footballer who does an essential job for our team and the system we play. And as for not being a right winger, about the only thing he doesn’t do which you would like from a right winger, is go past a man and hang up a ball the way Babel done for that Torres goal.

And if the worse his detractors can say about him is, he reminds them of the twice European footballer of the year – well, that’ll do for me.

Of old LFC players, he actually reminds me most of Craig Johnston and I loved that fella – much like Kuyt, one of the most underated and misunderstood players we ever had.

Babel: think back to his first season – his best season at the club. Almost immeadiately he started moaning that Rafa expected too much of him. He just doesn’t have what Rafa expects of a winger – which I think is Rafa’s fault not Babel’s.

If you look at our right wing, we know have exactly what Rafa wants – a defensive forward an attacking fullback. It’s the system he employed at Valencia. It’s the system he’s tried to get going at Anfield since he arrived. It’s the system he still can’t get quite right on the left, and you want to throw away all that for what…
A fella who will not take on any defence duties and isn’t even that good in the postition when only concentrating on going forward?

The mind truly does boggle indeed.

Babel might be half decent on the wing if he learnt how to play the position. But it’s the same thing over and over and over… collect the ball – usually badly with only pace and strength saving it over his bad first touch – head down, charge. No thought. No vision. Just run hoping strength and speed will get him by his marker. Defence just double up on him and sheperd him back into the same blind alley that he just ran down last time he got the ball.

Even take the cross against West Ham. Go look at it… He gets the ball, bad first touch knocks it yards away into space. The only marker he has is the kid Heinze – who is absolutely knackered by then and only his youth and second wind is keeping him on his feet. So, the freshly introduced Babel blows past him into the space, gets to the ball and… does he slow down a touch, look up and pick out Torres?

No. He hangs the ball up into the danger area, and hopes. I’d say I’m really surprised he didn’t just twat it or get his head down and charge. But to be fair, I’ve seen the lad do that on a few occasions and I’ve seen a couple of similar goals arise out of it.

I’m not out to just slag one of our own. I’d love to see him succeed. But I have serious doubts, no, I don’t believe he ever will at LFC. Wrong Club – Wrong Time. I think he could succeed at a different club though. But, in my opinion, he will never fit at LFC and it’s best him and the club part ways asap – probably next summer.

I’d love to see more of Babel on right wing… especially if Glen is not playing there where Glen is more effective.

Saty=burgerman in disguise.
Why don’t we play babel in his usual position upfront when carragher is oit

I think kuyt would make the rm for chelski and united.
Unites have valencia and park, nuf said.
Chelsea have a interchanging midfield, it take kuyt over ballsack anyday of the week and that goes for malouda and kalou.
He truly is under rated. I know people who have watched a few pool games and slag off kuyt, mainly because he isn’t a ronaldo-esque player.

Babel has had plenty of opportunities.
Look at ngog ffs, head down and work hard.
Even spearing played well against leeds, he has had one start in 1million games, yet babel needs more.

more blood-sucking from H&G:

http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/_a/liverpool_to_upgrade_anfield_in_effort_to_compete_with_manchester_united/?utm_source=Syndication+Websites&utm_campaign=Syndication+Websites&utm_medium=syndication_websites

Not sure if it means that it is only for the CL matches or both the CL and EPL matches but you know which option they would prefer.

So we are back to the babel thing again. His attitude seems to be better now but the problem still remains that whenever he receives the ball, as FS says, it is head down and run like fuck towards the goal. Not what Rafa wants.

I have a solution though, put one of them neck brace thingys on him and see how he fares.

Seriously though, currently he is not fit to lace Kuyt’s boots and his best position at the moment is on the bench, to be brought on as an impact player from about the 60-70 minute mark when the defence is tiring.

What a true wanker this fucker Thicks is:

http://www.sportspromedia.com/notes_and_insights/_a/liverpool_tom_hicks_set_for_us500_million_windfall/?utm_source=Syndication+Websites&utm_campaign=Syndication+Websites&utm_medium=syndication_websites

God forbid that Rafa ever fucks off. If he does, it could be us celebrating Leeds coming to Anfied in the milk cup.

I’ve never been to Elland Road, but I remember hearing stories of away supporters getting their heads kicked in on a regular basis diring the 70′s and 80′s in particular.

As for Diouf, I totally agree FS, it’s just a shame that such a low life individual was once wearing the famous red shirt.

3-0 to the Reds tomorrow with goals from Torres 19 Kuyt 42and Ngog 78.In terms of goals per minutes on the pitch, I reckon Ngog’s stats are as good as Torres-admitedly Ngog has only made very brief appearances.

The main site reports that Aquilani may be set to make his first appearance for LFC in the away trip to Sunderland on 17th October, with his home debut coming on 25th October against……… The Mancs!

The timescale appears to be about right with Aquilani being reported to bstart training on 1st October should a scan next Monday reveal that the injury has completely healed, as expected.

“It has been a long time coming waiting for my first start but I’ve had to keep grafting hard and wait for my chance. I knew it was going to come soon and thankfully we got the result we needed. I felt I did alright and hopefully I’ve proved to the boss and the supporters that I can do it for the first team. I worked hard and just tried to show the manager what I’m capable of. Hopefully I will get another chance but I have just got to keep working hard and then take the chance when it comes.”

ALAN WYILE(FOURTH OFFICAL) ON BOSS ALEX FERGUSON!!

Lurgankop, Best sentence of the day: ‘why does Rafa always wear trousers that are too long for him’ I know this was an observation of complete irrelevance on my behalf but after noticing it I realised that for people of Rafa’s position not to be too bothered about how he looks is surely a sign of genius.

All I know is that since Rafa came to the UK he’s put on a hell of a lot of weight. I dunno which chippy on Merseyside he is frequenting but I bet their food is well tasty.

I think H&G have drove him to the Sangria.

But I just popped into ask have any of our Irish lads been to the 12 days of Christams market on the George dock in Dublin?

I might be going over to work it. So any info much appreciated. It looks well worth having a go though.

Don’t think we’ll be seeing Aqualini until November meself and then he’ll have to be bled into the team at a pace he can handle. So, I reckon it will be Christmas before he can really make an impact. Let’s just hope we aren’t too far off the pace by then. But I see no reason why we won’t be in there scrapping with the rest of them. And it will be nice to have fresh legs to introduce at that time. We live in hope.

As for Diouf, I have just heard Big Tart Sam on the radio… Diouf is an excellent footballer and available for selection. So I see no reason why I shouldn’t pick him.

Fuck me. Unbelievable hypocrisy. I don’t know who’s worse, Fat Head or Empty Head. I suppose they are just as bad as each other and perfectly matched to each other.

But it’s about time the press grew a pair of bollacks and started telling the truth instead of kissing up to the dirty bastards.

Has anyone seen the advert with Appy Arry on?… Loyalty? What loyalty? There is no loyalty in football.

Imagine if Rafa came out with that, nevermind advertised it.

The whole shebang gets worse everyday.

FS – The Christmas fair is nice – not huge but I suppose you could say it is worth a visit. Being on the docks though, it can get very cold!

Nice one Arthur. I pretty sure I’m going to work it this Christmas. I’ve worked the Rose Of Tralee years back, and I done the Ploughing Championships a few times recently but missed the last 2.

I love working in Ireland. It’s a nice change for me and they do like to spend a penny. Unlike these miserable feckers in the South over here.

So, just a few loose ends to tie up and I could well be over there.

Come back in to post this though…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/liverpool/article6848270.ece

It’s by our friend Tony Barrett but it’s not biased in our favour and it’s about the first bit of sense I’ve seen on the subject.

Barrett always talks sense. Thanks for the article FS.

The current defenders are just not attacking the ball within their zone. I still maintain that when we had Momo, Crouch and Hyypia our zonal marking system worked a treat!

Is the Echo going to replace Tony Barrett? Their recent LFC articles have been shite!!

Yeah LB. We are desperately short of height and the best headers of a ball headers that we’ve got are Gerrard and Torres. But even with Carra barking at them, they can just get in the way at set pieces.

Been impressed with Kyriagos’s heading but he’s only going to be a bit part player. So, it looks like extra training for the lads. But like the article points out (Thank fuck someone at last got it) it’s served us pretty well up till now, and should just be a matter of time before we’re back to our mean selves.

To be honest, I’m more concerned about Skrtle’s distribution and positional sense. I was hoping him and Agger would one day become the new Hansen and Lawrenson. Now I think they’ll probably become the new Hyppia Henchoz, still not a bad thing though.

FS, I think if Agger can stay fit. (And that is a huge ‘if’). He can go on to become one of the best centre halves in the world. If not THE best. That’s how highly I rate him. But one cannot improve on the bloody treatment table.

Our kid Hines made a comment on the way home from the match on Saturday. “Skrtel is not all that, he dwells on the ball and I knew to attack him any time he had possession”.
Quick, nimble, players clever give Skrtel hell. He is a very good defending but his positional play and his dwelling on the ball can be a problem. He’s young though. How long does it take a centre half to reach his peak?

I always worry when we play the mancs and Skrtle is playing because Rooney gives him all sorts of trouble. The movement and quickness from Wayne gives our ninja nightmares. And I believe Drogba gives Carra similar nightmares. Agger though when on form and fully fit has all kind of strikers in his pocket.

I think Skrtle will learn with time LB. He’s still relatively young, 25, and he’s quick. So once the ricks are ironed out of his game, I think he’ll be as good as anyone else in the division.

Agger, as you say, is a different kettle of fish, and he could go on to become an even better footballing centre half than Hansen – a Beckenbauer type player.

But as for what we’ve got on the field right now.. Carra, Skrtle or Kyriagos. I’d go with Carra and Kyriagos – just for the Greek lad’s height and usefulness at set plays.

I think that’s part of the problem – height. Why it’s become a problem this season is beyond me. It’s not as if they’ve shrunk a few inches over the summer.

Maybe it’s just time to give other teams credit. Who knows. But it’s not impossible that they’ve looked at our back line – much like we exposed the mancs – and thought high balls hit in with pace might trouble them.

One thing’s for sure, now that it’s been seen to be a problem, they’ll all try it. I even expect Hull to try it tomorrow… play a lone striker, make him play for free kicks round the area, bring the big felllas forward, lash it in hard and high. Even that tactical genius Phil Brown will suss that out.

So, it’s definetely something we have to iron out of our game quick as poss.

As for the Hines lad LB, pace like that will show up far more defenders than Carra and Skrtle this season.

PS… Skrtle should be at his peak by next season. I always think centre backs are at their best between 26 and into thier 30′s until the legs start to go.

And Agger’s only 25 aswell. Hopefully the lad doesn’t turn into a sicknote. The signs aren’t good. But he’s not out with some reoccuring injury. He’s got a bad back from that terrible fall he had. It would have probably crippled ordinary men so hopefully it’s just a case of getting over it and he’ll be fine.

I just wonder who’s going to take over Carra’s role when his time is gone. I reckon it will be Skrtle even though I’ve moaned about his positioning. In fact, it could be he ends up running the line for exactly that reason… I bet me bottom lip the coaching staff are working like mad at it with him, while they pretty much tell Agger what’s expected of him and then let him do his thing.

Oh and you might want to read this, injury update…
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N165888090925-1307.htm

Hopefully we’ll be seeing Agger very shortly, but I reckon it’s going to be awhile for Aqualani.

Perfect world… When Aqualani starts playing we are still in the Carling Cup and already qualified for the next stage of the Champion’s League. That way we can bleed him in at a decent pace and build him up for the fight ahead.

I would hate to see him just get thrown in the deep end during the depths of winter – heavy pitches, freezing cold nights. A recipe for disaster that.

Steve, I hope you are right that Aquilani will feature innthe Sunderland game as i shall be there watching it as well as the games against Lyon and Man United. Hopefully he will be fit by then, even though FS thinks that is unlikely.

Here’s what Hitler thinks about Rafa not selling Voronin:
http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2009/08/video-exclusive-hitler-discovers-rafa.html

FS, Can’s seem to contact you by e-mail. How can I get the Lyons ticket (20 Oct) from you as you won’t be there? Will meet up with you before the Man United game for some beers so no problem there..

Well lads fuck all to talk about for the last few days

Babel…etc…

otherwise fuck anything else apart from BM’s pinpoint accuracy of Goal times/ scorers I really havent had shit to say!!

Fatty I should be back in Ireland at that time and hopefully will have a trailerload of pints with ya

nothin more to say only give yer all on Sat Lads!!

Assuming we all know Nipple is a Tosser,Adebayor is a wanker and the truth that Fungus controls the world and Rafa is just a poor Fat waiter waiting for tips ( NOT!!)

Ha ha and Over and out

Knight mate it’s [email protected]

If you can’t get through to me put your’s up in here and I will get back to you.

I’m just on my way to try and arrange it all now Donal. I don’t know if I’ve left it to late to get a stall though. As for wellying into the pints, sadly it won’t be this time round if I go. The market runs from 12th to 24th of December, and it’s open from 10am to 8pm everyday. So if I can get on, it will be a case of working everyday and then trying to get home for Christmas day. If I’m not home for especially for the new grandkid – whose not even here themself yet – I’ll be paying a terrible price that would probably go on until next Christmas.

I’ve just checked the link Knight. It seems to be working fine for me. I’ll be out and about all day today. Busy time of the year coming up for me. I normally moan like fuck about that, but all I can say is, Thank God. Because it’s been an awful year so far. Poor Hicks and Gillette. This Credit Crunch has been a terrible baddie for them venture capitalists and us Del Boys. They could gladly leverage buy my business for 10 ciggies, a pint of Carlsberg, a conker and a used chewing gum – it would be nice to rob them for a change.