I think you got it spot on Gerry. We’ve discussed it to death about Babel’s lack of toughness but I would easily wager a paycheck that Reira will knuckle down in practice and earn his next start before Babel does.

I would love to see Babel show some of that grit but I don’t know if he’s got it in him. Such a shame because the lad appears to have all the physical attributes.

Totally agreed Gerry.

Babel frustrates me because he has so much potential and talent but doesnt seem to have the work ethic or hunger to knuckle down and do some hard yards.

I think for the Cup games we play Babel up front. Rafa should say “you want to play up front, well here is your only chance to do it”. You never know, he may come good there and provide a tiny bit of cover for Torres. I just cant see him working hard enough to play on the left, because Babel doesnt seem like the type of lad who would sacrifice himself to do defensive duties.

Ace blog as usual Gerry.

Spot on about Babel. But unfortunately, me thinks he’s set his mind on a move away from Anfield. It would appear he has convinced himself that he is NOT good enough . . . or worse, its the gaffer’s fault that he isn’t shining like Johan Cruyff.

Shame about Trezeguet. Would have put a lot of supporters at ease. Instead, we’ve got 9 months of anxiety everytime our boy Torres goes to ground under a heavy challenge.

So what gives about the news we’ve tried to ilegally pinch a 15-year-old away from Crewe? Are we next in line after Chelsea to be made an example of?

Great blog Gerry and right on the money.

I think that Rafa may also pop in here for some advice now and again.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/09/08/rafa-benitez-tells-liverpool-fc-wing-duo-stop-moaning-and-start-proving-yourself-92534-24630908/

Just read Aurellio is available to play after returning to full fitness etc. I think Fabio is important in a sense that he is experienced/intelligent and also provides some potency with set pieces.

When Babel was impressing on the pitch he found himself on the bench every week regardless. During the few occasions he was given a start he was hauled off after 60 mins regardless of how he or anyone else in our team was performing. We remember the glimpses of good play from Babel. I also remember him being benched or left out of the following game.

Not too dissimilar (though not identical) to the Crouch and then Keane situation. Now his confidence has disappeared out of sight and is no longer enjoying his football he’d like to fuck off back home.

If Riera or Mascherano or Gerrard or even Torres for that matter had spent as much time as Babel on the bench or in the stands watching I am sure they would want to leave and would not be shy in going public with it.

Babel has had so many chances? What? The odd 20 mins here and there and a start once every 5 weeks? Can’t say I agree.

It is very disappointing that he hasn’t fulfilled his potential and a lot of his performances have been very poor indeed. Moaning in public is not doing anyone any favours. However a 20 year old full international leaves his home town club to go to a foreign country, he spends 2 years on the bench, starts the first game in his 3rd year and is the only one singled out for being poor, he’s then left out of the next 3 games. He’s then left out of the Holland squad for the first time since he won his first cap – and during a world cup year to boot. None of you guys would feel a bit disillusioned in his position? All this knuckling down and getting on with it is a load of bollacks and doesn’t take the real life situation into consideration.

As for Riera, the guy played every week last season even when he played shite. He hasn’t been fit this season until recently and is running his mouth with Rafa and telling the world about it. But he gets a pat on the back because he hasn’t mentioned anything about wanting to leave the club. Mark my words if he was on the bench from now until December he’d be begging to go back to La Liga. Same goes for Masch and others.

If I was Rafa I wouldn’t pick Babel either, not while he is performing the way he has been recently. So I don’t blame Rafa for not picking him. But I understand Babel’s position. He wants to play football and right now Ajax must seem like an Oasis.

Another thing that annoys me is the perception that Babel is lazy and is not bothered, can’t be arsed. Even when Rafa comes out before the season starts and says he’s happy with the hard work and commitment Babel is showing in training. Supporters dismiss that statement from Rafa as him just bigging up the player – that surely it can’t be true.

Someone like Dossena who is in his mid 20s and a full international comes to the club and is absolutely fucking terrible. He’s so bad he comes out saying he is working hard on his game in training. Easy thing to say but gets many pats on the back for being an ‘honest’ pro. Even though his performances remain awful. So bad that Rafa considers selling him after just one season. The player himself says he’d run to Juve given the opportunity. However our Doss gets a pat on the back because he huffs and puffs on the pitch and can make a slide tackle.

LB,

Let’s examine the players’ situations.

1) Crouch:
==========
Remember he was being laughed at by the press for being unable to score for the few months as an LFC player? Who stood by him? If I’m not wrong, it’s Rafa. So Crouch’s case is not similar to Keane’s. The reasons (I think) he was benched many times the following season despite playing well are: (a) Torres, and (b) Rafa’s idea that Kuyt was better suited to partner Torres than Crouch.

In fact, it turned out later that Gerrard became Rafa’s preferred partner since the end of that season, and Kuyt somehow played better on the right.

2) Keane:
=========
I thought he would be a good addition to the squad, with good game intelligence and a strike rate. However, a combination of him not being able to combine well with the team and the terrible press hounding led to his early departure, a move I see as Rafa minimising his losses after a bad decision.

Why did I mention the press? Do you see them hounding Fergie after he dropped Tevez time and again, even with good performances? Do you see the press hounding Redknapp for benching Crouch?

But I believe Rafa judged that it’s the Gerrard Torres combination that he should keep rather than Keane.

3) Dossena:
===========
He’s had a few howlers early on, but Rafa had not much choice (then) with the young Insua and the injury prone Aurelio. But Dossena had improved after that IMHO, even scoring against Madrid & Scum near the season’s end.

While I don’t think he can be termed as awful, we’ll see less of him this season, with the left back a straight fight between Aurelio and Insua.

4) Babel:
=========
He did quite well in the beginning of his LFC career, even earning the reputation of super sub.

We all know he prefers to play as a striker but who is he up against? Gerrard and Torres again.

What about left wing? Benayoun and Riera, who both are more effective than him. Right wing? The indefatigable Kuyt, who I don’t think he can replace unless Rafa decides to rotate or Kuyt gets suspended/injured.

I agree with you Babel is not lazy, but just lacks the game intelligence that Rafa likes his players to have. He just tries his best to bulldoze his way through to beat defenders.

In fact, I think he should learn from Benayoun. He didn’t start much during his first season, even after fantastic performances like the hattrick against Besiktas in the 8-0 drubbing. His talents only got recognised at the end of last season, after he bucked up and produced some of the best performances I have seen from an LFC player.

This, to me, shows that Rafa gives his players chances, contrary to what the press might have said.

LB some good points there, an it opens up the picture a bit when you look at it that way. However it just seems to be the wrong place at the wrong time for babel. I was so confident he was gonna be the next big thing for us and i looked forward to every time he played but it got to the stage that on the opening day of the season i seen his name on the team sheet an thought(he should not be starting) for me its this simple he’s not getting a chance on the left or right unless theres a injury to benny,riera or kyut his only hope is to get a few chances up front if torres is injured or being rested and as shit as it may seem thats maybe all he has to look forward to as i said wrong place,wrong time. In saying that it would be amazing if he could come in as sensational forward an start banging them in but with the way its panning out it doesn’t look good.

Great blog as usual. Trezeguet? Now that would be a good addition of firepower. However, it was not to be.So far, it looks like Johnson is better than Arbeloa. But Hercules needs to settle down to do better than Hyypia. As for Aqualung hopefully he gets to be better than Alonso in going forward, setting up goals if not making some himself.

I think all Babel really cares about is getting enough first team action so as to even maintain some peripheral involvement in the Dutch squad which will in turn get him more money when he’s looking for a new club next summer. Make no mistake this guy’s primary motivation is money and I would imagine that when he arrived at Liverpool and suddenly realised he’d have to train and work a lot harder in England, he wasn’t best pleased. I assume many people have seen his rap video? what a creep… the sooner he’s gone the better I say.

Sam

Super stuff Gerry,

Treseguet would indeed have been a good addition to the squad,maybe in jan?Wouldn`t hold my breath with the two pricks around though.

Babels confidence has taken a battering since the start of last season with going to the olympics and getting injured and therefore not getting a decent pre-season behind him.Admittedly he hasn`t had a substantial run of games in a row to show what he can do but when he did play he was little more than a passenger most of the time.

Rafa might have said he`s working hard in training but a blind man can see that he hasn`t taken this on to the pitch.

Even from the first pre-season game his performances have been lacklustre and seems he`s not playing with any passion for the team.

I`m afraid after his latest comments it seems he has given up himself so i`d be very surprised if he turns it around at Anfield.

I`m open to some humble pie though.

Another interesting read Gerry, I had no idea about the Trezeguet link, and I would agree that he would have been a handy lad to have in our forward ranks. Weren’t we linked with him a few years ago, in the Houllier era?

There have been some very interesting points made about Babel. My own opinion is that will probably go in January, probably in an exchange deal but I would still like to see him turn it around.

Cheers Gerry,

Babel, for me he would be great if he were the star man, let’s say, for arguments sake, a Stevie G type figure. If the team were built around him (don’t laugh), he got a start every week in his favoured position then I really could see him banging in the goals. He has pace, power, a good shot and, at times, good touch. If he didn’t have to think too much and was ego-boosted every week by front page headlines and interviews and man of the match awards then I think he could be …. well as good as he can be.

But that ain’t the case at Anfield. The starmen positions are already taken and so are the public glorification awards and media interest awards etc etc… How manay kids have new jerseys with Babel on thier backs ? Have a guess !

You could call it timing, (Gerrard and Torres there and pretty much indispensible when available). Call it bad luck (the injury at the Olympics). Call it lack of game intelligence (see kuyt, once bought as a center forward now re-invented as a goal scoring, defensive, right-sided midfielder come full-back). Call it lack of confidence, or an inability to generate will and confidence in the face of perceived baffling managerial decsions and indifference (but then see Benny O and how he’s forced his name onto the first 11 frequently ). Call it what you will but he’s not developed or developing at all, for me this is his last season at Anfield. Mind you I hope I’m sharing Timmy’s humble pie too.

I just want to throw this one out as well. Steven Ireland (how ironically he is named) won’t play for Ireland at all. Instead, legend has it, he’s running up dale and down mountain and taking lessons from Thai-boxing champions etc when all the rest are on international duty. His goal is to become the best and have edge …. Whatever, but you can see the difference it has made in him. From a purely footballing point of view he has become “indispensible” for Citeh, mega-stars or not. Just about everyone else in the club has been shifted on but not our Steven.

Now I am not advocating every player stop playing for their country (like Carra did) but why don’t the top frontliners, for us, Torres, Mascher, Stevie do a bit of picking and choosing ? Mr Ferguson pretty much worked a deal out with Giggs and the Welsh F.A and no-one really complained about Giggs neve showing for “a mid-week friendly in Helsinki”. I cannot understand why Rafa and the players don’t sort something out. Play the big games ok but leave the messy bullshit friendlies for guys who need a game.

You look at Torres for example. He has been on the go since he joined Liverpool. it’s 3 seasons without a break and now a World Cup coming as well. That makes 4 seasons without a proper break. The clubs pay the wages, rafa ain’t stupid and neither are these guys. Or maybe they are ….
It amazes me. Before anyone comes back at me with FIFA this and that just look at Giggs and Mr Ferguson.

Thoughts ?

dougle, #14 is just about the funniest thing I’ve read in ages mate

“If he didn’t have to think too much…” after that statement, I think I see a post-playing career in TV punditry in the lad’s future!

Am I the only one or is this whole mess reminding anyone of the Collymore situation!

The lad has skill… unlike some other squad members, I doubt there’d be much argument about that… but to suggest he hasn’t had ample opportunity to express that skill is disingenuous to say the least.

I really hoped he would come good this season, and was willing to forgo “splashing out on a big name” in order to give the lad his last chance saloon… but so far I’m not encouraged.

LB is right when he says there were plenty of uderachievers out on the field vs Spurs, but to my mind, Babel wasn’t just poor, he was a virtual passenger… and given 2 poor results already… can we really afford to field a player that far off the boil? …in the hopes he’ll wake up?

As far as comparisons to Dossena go… right now, I’d sooner see Dosser loping down the left flank than Babel… how sad is that given the disparity in natural talent between the two.

See…. and just like Rafa…. we have to wait another couple of days for everyone to get back from the International break, I guess….

So will Rafa give Babel a chance against Burnley this sat or will he opt fer Aurelio or Reira?

Thoughts anyone?

Ok Aitch, good to give someone a laugh. I’m after an “up all night with a teething baby” so laughing ain’t on my agenda right now !

As i’m here in glorious France I have not really been clued into the world so has Babel played for Holland this weekend ? Will he be playing tonight ? A couple of games would do him good I reckon. What about Lucas ?

Right now Puchong, in my complete ignorance of what has been going on I would go for Riera myself.

I’m glad the international break’s done one positive thing for us. This year seems to have brought some opposites for LFC. What with a poor pre-season, sluggish league start, negative growth player-wise, and an unbelievably terrible financial position. The break’s timing couldn’t have been more opportune.

Babel continues to disappoint. I wonder why he’d like a step backwards in his career. You rarely play better than at Anfield. The Dutch league’s been in shambles for a while, turning into a version of the SPL with only a few regularly fighting for the title. No Dutch club has won anything major in Europe for a while now - not Ajax, Feyernood or PSV. This player has a chance to be a legend at a major institution, to be adored by the most passionate fans anywhere but he chooses to whine?

I’ve asked severally where Riera went to and I’m glad he’s now making the right noises to be played. I wish Babel would follow suit in the noise making department! Look at Lucas who’s playing his best with far fewer gifts at his disposal. Shame on you Babel! Forget the stories of him being played “out of position”. Who isn’t? Kuyt, a striker previously (and more effective than given credit for) is now an established right winger for both club and country. Gerrard, who once played at Back has undergone several metamorphoses to end up as a trequartista, with one memorable season seeing him score most from right wing. Benayoun has had to adapt from his former playing position, and so has Aurelio, Dossena and anyone else you care to mention. What makes Babel different?

One truth you’ve captured well Gerry is more playing time for all players due to relatively limited personnel. In truth, we can’t be everywhere. We need to focus on the PL/CL goal to maximize our playing resources. We also need, perhaps more than ever, to utilize our Academy products to supplement our first XI. This will gain them invaluable experience and test them much better than at present.

Something else, we need not be rigid with playing formations. Wins and three points are paramount in our title aspirations. Let’s move from our now patented (if somewhat predictable) 4-2-3-1 to try other formations, working to maximize our arsenal of players and their areas of gifting. We can use Lucas as Masch’s backup here, use him a bit more forward/offensive there; play El-Zhar wide alongside Riera/Benayoun/Kuyt, play GJ or Aurelio (even the Doss) forward more; play with three CBs and use Reina as a sweeper. We can employ a hybrid of man to man and zonal defending, all to confuse and confound teams. We do have the playing personnel.

Above all, let our voices as fans be heard loud and clear, with the world knowing who Kopites truly are. No whining. Produce the goods on the field, the only place it truly matters.

As always, let’s keep the faith, encourage instead of cutting down our own and never allow each other to walk alone.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=674442&sec=england&cc=4716

Any good news to lift the mood is better than none, I guess. Anyway, it is reported Michael Shields, wrongfully imprisoned for murder in Bulgaria for 4 years, has now finally been freed.

Just read that as well Kinny. Good news indeed!

It looks like we should start getting used to life without Carlsberg on our front after this season. Just as well, we haven’t won the league with them on the shirt.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article6826488.ece

Kudos to our marketing guys (Ian Ayre) if they can double our current sponsorship deal and put it on par with the Mancs and Chavs.

Puchong Red,
I think either Reira or Benayoun will play on the left. both are better than Babel so far. Let’s leave Babel on the bench and get him on 20 minutes before the end.

Well done michael shields an family. Hope you all the best in the future. Some wanker hit my car yesterday while it was parked,though this type of thing puts it well into perspective.

YNWA

Sorry Sam, I have to pick a bone mate, you said:
“Let’s move from our now patented (if somewhat predictable) 4-2-3-1 to try other formations,”

but that is exactly what we have been doing.

Yhe only time we have lined up in a “predictable” 4-2-3-1 was against Spurs and we didn’t start the game that way… we reverted to it after JC and Skrtel reenacted their Keystone Cops bit!

People have been saying this because we are essentially fielding the same personnel. Lucas and Masch played the 2 holding mids last season…they are on the team sheet… therefore we must be playing 2 holding mids again.

But watch the games… Lucas has not been lining up, or playing as a holding midfielder, he’s been playing further upfield with every game.

..and.. dougle, I don’t know if Babel played, but he only got into the Dutch squad coz someone else got injured… he’s not even a first choice squad player, so its pretty rich of him to be expecting to go to the World Cup.
… and I wouldn’t expect Babel to be in our squad for Burnley… but then again, this is Rafa we’re talking about and “no one expects the Spanish in position!”

I’m glad we’ve moved sponsor - its pretty irresponsible having a beer brand plastered across our shirts for millions of kids to see, and wear.I hear standard chartered are going to pay £15 million a year which is about double what carlsberg were paying.

Yeah and Financial and insurance companies are a staple of morality. Kids looking at AIG will set a great example.
Anyway fuck the kids all they should be concerned about is the name on the crest and the back of the shirt!
Really you think AIG Samsung and Carsberg are really aiming for children.

Look we all want a noble cause on our shirts and if ’standard chartered’ are paying double the money they are getting our sponsorship it’s for one reason and one reason only…………….money!!
Teach that to the ‘Kids’!

God its great to have a banter again (not saying Dougles trans-france trip or Aitch’s chicken weren’t worthy subjects!)

Over and out

agreed, cynical though.
Why cant hitatchi come up with £15 million a year - now that would be a worthy sponsor eh!

Also..Thanks for the blog Gerry

Have nothing to add to it so I just want to wait for certain players and see how it pans out

but I agree Babel will return to ’super-sub’ status (if he’s lucky) and we can get some points on the board

Good to have Aurelio back and it’ll be interesting to see where he plays although I have a feeling it wont be left back

Over and out

Van I was cynical for banters sake bro!!

Guinness would be my preferred sponsor but then again I am a drunken Irish man!!

Over

donal, as a shareholder of Standard Chartered meself, I must vouch for their innocence.

Being a self-confessed fan of Warren Buffett’s long term strategy on good companies only, I don’t touch crap companies with bad ethics, and StanChart certainly isn’t crap.

Compared to the scumbags like AIG, Morgan Stanley and RBS, StanChart are quite the angels in the financial sector, as they’re completely untouched by the sub-prime garbage that caused this financial mess in the first place, since they have none of it to begin with.

They and HSBC are some of the few to bounce back in this current minor revival, and are certain to ride out this storm better than anyone out there, no matter what the bears say. (I’m neither bull nor bear, just a rational Vulcan when it comes to finance. )

That said, I must say, StanChart’s logo colour (blue and green) is a complete mismatch with Liverpool’s red jersey. Perhaps they’ll use an all-white logo?

I’m in complete agreement donal… though I don’t think its cynical…

Carlsberg - espouses being the best in the world at what it does.

AIG - promotes lies, false promises, investing in “financial products” (oh what they have done to the English language) that aren’t really products at all and when found guilty of ripping off millions of people for billions of dollars… summarily reward those at the top that made all the bad business decisions!

—-
On a personal note I actually lost a school coaching job because I always wore my LFC shirt to practise and games… despite being the most successful coach in the history of that school district let alone at that particular school… for the two consecutive seasons we dominated.
And it wasn’t just the success on the field, I actually have letters from parents thanking me for teaching their kids that their was more to sports than just winning.
Tell me that makes sense!

And if you wanna go there…

Since Hitachi make consumer products, they not only affect the environment during their manufacture process, but think about how many hitachi products are currently sitting in landfills…a nd how much of that material is actually toxic (phospor in the screens, zinc and metal oxides and such in the circuit boards etc.)

Unless we’re going to be sponsored by World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, or some such entity, there’s always going to be some sort of downside.

Cheers Aitch

I only put in the ‘I was cynical for banters sake bro’
To recreate the banter that has been missing since the start or this International break.

Sure a pic of Mother Teresa would be great but will never happen cause??……Money

Anyway as a kid I’d prefer a beer label on me jersey than a bank, maybe I’m fucked-up!

Over

Bring back Crown Paints!!

No no no…..best sponsor name possible. Winalot!

Tabloids would go bonkers with dog food puns though

Candy all the way for me.My best years supporting the reds in the early days.

If Rafa ever gets sick of the shite he has to put up with….Aitch pack your bags mate your coming home!
Just imagine Babels mother writing Aitch a letter “Oh thank you so much Mr Aitch for making my Ryan pull his finger out of his ass and become a superstar”

Kinny,get on to your gaffer,there`s no blue going on our jersey!

Bill would turn in his grave!

Aitch-I just had a similar experience yesterday.

My wife just finished her schooling and was going in for her first day of student teaching. She is teaching 1st Graders (6 & 7 year olds) and her mentor sent her a text right before she’s supposed to leave saying she needs to wear something red and white (the school colors) for the first day of school. It didn’t need to be dressy or professional, just something red and white.

She of course doesn’t own anything red, so she dug into my stuff and pulled out our home kit. She threw it on and was getting ready to walk out the door when I saw her and told her she couldn’t wear that to school.

When she asked why not, I said you can’t wear a shirt to school with a beer company advertising on the front of it. She says “Oh, Carlsberg’s a beer?”

Love her to death, but how is it some people just don’t have a clue?

Donal i`m just watching the Ingerlund game there and the tv camera took a shot of all the larger louts jumping up and down and right in the middle of the lot was this mad man waving a tri-colour !

That’s wives for you lvcjmac,
… having said that though…that’s just it mate… I have to admit I was a bit clueless in the situation myself. I never even gave a thought to the fact that I had Carlsberg splashed across my chest.

I wore my LFC shirts coz all the kids knew I was from Liverpool and that I was a MAD LFC fan and that every minute I ever played on rock hard ground or soggy swamp, in College or amateur Sunday leagues, was played as though I was playing in the red at Anfiled with a title on the line… and so should they!
I promoted the idea that they watch as much footy as possible, increase their knowledge of the game as well as their physical skill and just generally promoted the idea of having a passion for footy and an allegiance to your team and teammates.

Surprisingly, Yank schools are all about their allegiances to their school… so I found the whole thing somewhat ironic.

but as I said, I never thought about the Carlsberg logo… for me wearing a red shirt is all about that crest, with the goofy bird, the eternal flames and the banner! Carlsberg, Candy, whatever… that’s just some other shit that’s on there too, like the Reebock or Addidas logo… who gives a fuck?

My athletic director used to always make comments like “we’ve got to get you out of that red shirt” (our school colors being yellow and white… urgh!) but never once mentioned why.
So my response to him was that I wore it because Liverpool were MY team and I was trying to instill that loyalty in my players to the school and their teammates.
You’d think he’d have said something… but no… only after they axed me (despite a petition signed by more than half my players and their parents) and I asked why, did they say it was because of the Carlsberg logo!

Fuckin idiot! I see their point about wearing a shirt “promoting beer” around 15/16/17 year olds, but as I said, I never even looked at it that way and they didn’t see the point I was trying to make… so there you go!

I sort of like donal’s idea of putting Mother Teresa on the front of the shirt.

A good performance from Glen and Stevie tonight and no reports of any injuries
As for that football legend that is Andy Bellend so called pundit slagging
Johnson for the Croatia goal when Teary and Upson allowed a free header
then failing to clear the ball,was quite frankly “beyond the pale”.
Just what qualifies him to be a commentator oh yes the 2 league cup winners
medals compared to johnson’s 2 prem 1 league cup 1 FA cup and 1 charity
sheild and the fact England have won 8/8 since he got the RB position.
Maybe it’s it’s because he can talk sh*t for hours that he got the job because
he knows sweet FA about football.

That’s a tough break Aitch.

One of the few things we’ve got right in the US is the lack of sponsorship on the jerseys (aside from MLS) in our professional leagues.

It would be great if it was that way in Europe. Just the badge, a number, and the players name; but those days are long gone.

Our kit is one of the most famous in the world, but I often get asked what league the “Carlsberg” team plays in while wearing our kit around. It happens to me every weekend.

There is a fanatical football community here in the States although we are still in the minority of sporting fans.

Hey lvcjmac, im sure that would annoy you sometimes: “what league does the team carlsberg play?”

Maybe it has something to do with the naming of a MLS team : “red bull new york” :p

timmy, that was why I suggested StanChart’s logo should be white if it were to get on the red jersey. Carlsberg, whose logo is actually green, is also white on our red jerseys.

Aitch, the American concerns about the big Carlsberg logo on the jersey can be solved by wearing one of those special edition European away jerseys.

As some countries like France have laws that ban alcohol advertising, when visiting teams in those countries for European matches, Liverpool got around that law by wearing jerseys with no Carlsberg logo on it at all. I think these jerseys can be found on eBay.

RE: Carlsberg as shirt sponsors

Good riddance to that!

Am sorry, but we need a sponsor who knows how to use that space & support LFC & club-related activities WORLDWIDE!

Me used to be a publican & ran a LFC bar. Me was trying to negotiate a deal with the local Carlsberg rep & imagine me horror when he told me “Carlsberg Malaysia is a GOLF beer!!!”

Fooking HELL!

Fooking wanker didn’t even know Carlsberg were sponsoring the local chapter of the club. And me was reliably informed that the organisation was similarly arrogant back then from top to bottom. Lager fer the upper classes it would seem.

These fooks only took notice & began “supporting” LFC in its ad campaigns post-Istanbul.

Yeah, fook that.

If Standard Chartered came on board & offered a LFC redit card where a portion will go towards Anfield, me will be the first to apply.
We need sponsor activities that help give LFC more prominince & help make our club’s presence felt across the globe. Full page ads that show it is PROUD to be our sponsors.

Me is of the opinion the battles OFF the pitch will help us win the ones ON it.

Morning Gents, haven’t read all the comments yet, but have read the blog and as many comments as I could before getting the urge to comment myself…

First of all, yes Gerry. Barnes, Beardsley, Aldrige, and the way we signed them and went about our business… The good old days indeed.

Then you look at what we have now. A crying shame. And this, is the only real thing that concerns me now.

I couldn’t give a shit about some millionaire Dutch lad, who whinges at every opportunity. In fact, I couldn’t really give a toss about anything going on at the club except the removal of the owners.

When Gerry kept mentioning the new signing, I kept hoping against hope that he was right and I was wrong. I know Gerry would not have said such a thing without being convinced it was truth, and, because of Gerry’s faith in his source, I also believed the source wouldn’t be just spreading rumour and gossip. And the fact is, none of us really knew what was happening, so, like we always do as LFC Fans, we kept the faith. And though I can’t comment for someone else, I think that’s probably what Gery’s source was doing.

But now it’s proven beyond doubt, the only faith you can have in H&G is knowing they are here only to milk the cash cow of LFC for as long as they possibly can.

And the fact that Hicks has recently raised his head above the barricade is worrying me greatly. But here’s the rub… there’s no point in even discussing it really. There’s nothing we can do about the situation at the moment, so I will keep shut on the matter and talk about things like Babel until there is something to report.

Defeatist? No not really. Just can’t see the point in constantly bringing doom and gloom to the discussion in here. But I will be keeping on top of things, and will report anything I hear.

So, I’m off to read the rest of the comments now, and no doubt I will become involved in the discussion meself. But when talking all things LFC I think there is one thing we should all keep in mind.

Gerry, for happier days stick the h on the front of these two…

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjIgizeNc4&feature=PlayList&p=C8B541C21AC320C6&index=0

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onUuVNUXqRo

The first one’s mainly for Jack, but I’m sure you’ll all enjoy it. And Gerry, I reckon the second will take you back to better times.

As for the sponsorship, and who is ethically right…
If you was the boss of an ethically ran company, would you want to be associated with Hicks and Gillette?

I’ve just read that Masch and Lucas are due to arrive into melwood sometime tomorrow afternoon.

I wouldn’t be surprised if rafa rested one/both of them for the burnley match. I can see Gerrard being dropped back into midfield on Saturday. Come to think of it maybe Aurelio, Plessis, or Spearing could get a start on Saturday.

BTW, thank feck the internationals are over, for now.

From what I can gather Lurgan, all the lads have came home okay. The only worry was, Milan Baros elbowed Skrtle in the jaw. But I think you’d have to hit that lad with a sledge hammer to stop him.

So, if everyone is able to play, I’d go same again trying to get a bit of continuity going and, hopefully, a winning run.

Aurellio is also back in full training, but I don’t know if he’ll be match fit enough to throw into this one. So, it’s probably the bench for him, which gives Rafa some nice options if needed.

Aqualani, well, it depends on what report you believe… near to full training, still at least 8 weeks away. So, I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see.

Other than that, Torres had a bit of an off game, by his standards. But the lad is bound to hit form soon. So, I’d say things are looking a bit better. And hopefully the lads will grab this game by the scruff of the neck, give Burnley a bit of a hiding and make a statement… Our Season Starts Here!

Just read that post over, and it looks as if I’m just discounting Burnley so I think I need to add this…

Burnley won’t come to park the bus. No doubt, they’ll be forced back and have to put 10 men behind the ball for long periods. But that won’t be the full game plan.

Burnley like to have a go. They’ll all be fit and rested, and they’ll be on a high after recent results.

Their fans will be bang up for this an all. It’s their Wembley sort of thing. Which worries me a bit, because after our start to the season, I can already hear the moans and groans if we’re not ThirtyTwelve Nil ahead after ten minutes. And Lucas might be advised to wear his ear muffs if he’s playing.

I hate saying things like that, but sadly that’s the way it’s going at Anfield nowadays and there’s no point in hiding from it.

But anyway, that big horrible bastard Bikey will be playing for Burnley. You must remember him…
Well, there’s no doubt in my mind, that he’ll be out to kick the shit out of Nando again - just like he did when he was playing for Reading.

So, all in all, this isn’t a game I’m looking forward to. But having had me moan, I think we should win it handily enough and, like I said, I hope the lads get that old, “The Season Starts Here” mentality going.

PS… Last time Bikey kicked the shit out of Torres, the lad scored a hat trick.

Came across a piece on an Aussie site stating that Viduka may end up @ Anfield on a 1 season deal.If he lost 3 stone, he could be handy to spring from the bench.

Am I misreading that?

You’d prefer to put your faith in a guy who needs to lose 3 stone before he could be a handy weapon fromt he bench…

…over putting faith in a young and eager Ngog, or orronin, who clearly has a point to prove. (Babel too for that matter?)

The mind boggles!

Perhaps if he DIDN’T lose the 3st simply by placing him at one end of the bench the act of him standing up would spring others onto the pitch

A Classic, MTMMC !

If Mascher and Lucas are only arriving in tomorrow then who plays where ?

Usual suspects at back and Pepe,

Kuyt, Gerrard, Mascher, Riera,

Benny O

Nando

Gerrard drops back, benny plays off Nando, Mascher patrols ?

Agreed Doulge,

The need for a defensive midfielder will not be as great on Saturday.That is no disrespect to Burnley but i`m confident the reds woll have the lions share of the posession.

Burnley will pose a threat at times.Wins over our two favourite teams(we love to hate) show that they`re not here just to make up the numbers.

So we must treat our opponents with the respect they deserve or else it could be a very sticky game.

That was probably me nephew Timmy
He’s from Brighton and was there in his new Stevie G kit I got him for 4 dollars in Thailand.
Burnley will be tricky but we are at home and I expect the lads to come out flying.
I have no idea what the team will be though
Nice one MTMMC that gave me a good laugh before work

Mr. Schmidt im gunning for you in the Kopblog head to head this week

Over and out

Paraguay 1 v Argentina 0

Is masch in the right frame of mind fer the Burnley challenge? The fact he’s had a shite week on international duty may just convince Boss Man to give him a rest.

Anyone else agree with this?

And if ye do agree that masch deserves a rest, who would ye like to see in midfield?

Stevie G & Aurelio would be me choice while Yossi to play behind Torres.

Morning lads, oh well nearly here again. Let’s hope the break done our lads good. At least they’ve all come back un-injured.

I agree Masch will probably be the most affected by the journey but not too sure we can afford to rest him.

Lucas never played for Brazil, but I don’t think that will make much difference. It’s the travelling that does them in. So, he’ll probably be just as knackered as Masch. And we’re already too light in the CM department.

Aurelio went back into full training this week, and I think he even had a run out with the reserves last night. Not sure about that, should have checked it before writing. But anyway, even if he did, I don’t think he’s going to be up to speed just yet.

And I don’t like the idea of dropping Gerrard back in there. So, I think we’ve got no choice but to go with the same again, Lucas and Mascher.

Masch may well be needed anyway. Burnley are no mugs, look at their results last season and this. On top of that, they are a footballing team. There’s usually one that comes up every season - West Brom, Derby, etc.

They normally end up going straight back down and take some hidings along the way. But they usually get pannellled by Stoke and the likes that just bombard them. They do better against the footballing teams.

Did anyone see Burnley at Chelsea? They gave them quite a scare until half time, when Chelsea came out for the second half, dropped the football, and bombed them. Well we haven’t got a Ballack or a Drogba. We will have to play them football.

I don’t expect nothing but a win, but we need or best 11 on the pitch. We need to take them very seriously, and we need to try and keep them penned back as they will try to hit us on the break.

So, to me, that means Masch should play to stop any break aways and Lucas should be pushed further forward to stop any attack before it starts.

Riera should get the nod over Babel. He can get behind his full back better, and play Torres balls to run onto. That Bikey fella will have a harder time with Torres running at him instead of playing with his back to goal and having to turn.

Anyway, can’t be arsed going on. But in a nutshell… same 11 again for me.

Right what’s the crack with this fantasy league? Do you have to change injured players about or can you get transfers? I know at least one of mine is crocked, Modric.

So I just sub him out? I’ve got some right shite on the bench. Me and poor Rafa just had to save funds and gamble on the first 11 staying fit.

PS… I meant to say, with Burnley being a footballing side, I’m hoping this could go like the game against Derby a couple of seasons back - the 6 nil job - a game of footy for half an hour or so, then the lads hitting their stride, and ripping them apart.

Feels like the start of the season to me, so I’m hoping the lads feel the same and are determined to make a statement.

FS, if you have injured players you can sub them out, particularly ones with long term injuries.
I agree with the same 11 approach, just hoping for an early goal to calm the nerves and the crowd.
The only thing that might sway rafa is the CL game on wednesday, I know its only Debrecen at home, but a good start is essential in the group stages.
I watched the highlights of the dutch game, great to see dirk playing so well for them and in the same role he plays for us, obviously they see the merits in the role created for him by rafa. One of our most invaluable players now.

FS, I actually meant sell instead of sub, you can always buy him back later.

Can’t believe I’m 135/195. Apparently I know nothing about picking players…I’ll stick to the funny and sarcastic comments

John Terry as been murdered http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8249166.stm

Masch is not playing. he took a knock in the game against Paraguay and palyed two full games. Rafa will likely rest him and drop SG back to pair with Lucas. Aurelio may start as left back.

My team for tomorrow:

Reina
Johnson, Carra, Skrtel, Insua
Kuyt, Gerrard, Lucas, Riera
Benayoun
Torres

I’m assuming Skrtel will be alright. Masch likely to miss out through injury (I’d have benched him if fit anyway).

My prediction: 4-1

Not a bad team LondonBarnes - would be interesting to see Lucas and Gerrard in middle

LB (#68),

That’s my choice for the team as well. Aurelio should be used as a sub in the game…

Yeah if we go 3-0 up we can throw Fabio on.

I’d be wary of using Fabio - the man is made of glass so we should ease him back into action methinks

I have seen a you tube clip of Aquilani in action for Roma. I know you can’t read too much into these clips, but fucking hell he certainly knows how to hit a ball and his passing was exquisite. Rafa has apparently pencilled in a first team start for mid October for him.

Good team LB, I’d start Fabio ahead of Lucas if he’s fit enough though. Man we’ve missed his set pieces and he’s been superb in the centre for us in the past. I suppose its a redundant thing to state, not least because of the opposition, but because of the potential for dropped points by the mancs and gunners, which is why this is an absolute-must-win-at-all-costs-3pts-essential-game. These were the teams we couldent beat at home last yr. Nothing less than a win redmen. My prediction: 2-0, Nando and Stevie.

Yeah. It looks like Mascher is out. Me mate was at Melwood today, got a glimpse of the lads training. Said they was playing 11 a side with both Agger and Aurelio playing but no Masch.

So, to me, dropping Gerrard back next to Lucas and playing Benny ahead of him is the only real realistic choice we have.

That should be okay though. If we have to lose Masch for a game, this is a good one… the sort of game that many people want to drop him for anyway. So, we’ll see how that works if nothing else.

I wouldn’t rush Aurelio back though. He’s only had a kick about last night that was arranged to give the lads a run out. So, it’s a bit much to expect him to got straight back in, but it would be nice to see him on the bench.

Such a shame that lad’s body isn’t quite up to the rigours of top class footy. I reckon he’s a cracking little player.

Anyway, here’s the latest thing I saw…

Journalist: How much of a boost is it for you to have Fabio Aurelio available again?

Rafa: Fabio trained yesterday and he hasn’t got match fitness, but we can use him if necessary. He has been training well and he knows exactly what is expected of him.

Cheers Galway mate. I just subbed him out for old Super Danny Murphy.

Oh and Aqualani is 3 weeks away from full training. Suppose he’ll have to get match fit then an all, so I reckon we’ll be seeing him in about 6 weeks or so.

Can’t wait. I’ve talked to a couple of Italians about him and read a few things they have to say about him. Seems Rafa might have found us another gem.

If you haven’t seen the youtube clip of Aquilani FS, give it a viewing, it’s well worth a look and only about 4 mins long.

It does indeed look like Rafa has found another gem, but like Aurelio,

(I started so I’ll finish)………. but like Aurelio there’s a suspicion that this lad might be made of glass as well. Also, let’s not forget he has to adapt to English footbal.

Let’s hope he turns out to be as good as we hope.

Yeah. I’ve seen it Steve. Seen a few of them. I get me haircut off an old Italian boy, he’s well into his sixties and loves his footy. From what he’s said to me, we look to be on a good thing.

And I said in here awhile back, Roma fans went bonkers about selling him. They rate him as highly as Kaka. Yep. Hate to say it, but that’s the type of player they reckon he is.

As for the injury problems, I’ve seen this reported over and over again… He’s been out that long because Roma kept playing him when he wasn’t properly fit. They just kept rushing him back after every injury, and then throwing him in the team again when he really should have had this operation ages ago. And from what I’ve read, the op he’s had should solve his problems once and for all.

So, keeping fingers, toes, bollacks, legs, arms, and, like the lad himself’s, eyes all crossed.

Indeed FS, I remember reading an article soon after Aquilani signed where he said that Roma kept changing their medical staff and the lack of continuity resulted in his problem not being properly diagnosed, and as a result he kept being rushed back into action too soon, as you said.

He went on to say that he could see already that the medical staff at Liverpool would be much better equiped to to ensure he made a full and proper recovery before he plays again.

The old saying goes that the best things in life are worth waiting for and I certainly hope this is true in the case of Roberto Aquilani.

Where do you think he will fit into the side when he does make his debut? As a direct replacement for Alonso meaning he will take Lucas’s place? Let’s wait and see, should be interesting.

So it looks like SG will drop back into midfield tomorrow. Even Rafa would not have the set of nuts to put Plessis in or would he?

Hopefully Aurelio will be fit enough to be given a place on the bench. Will be good to see him back in action.

Just checked me fanta footie and it seems I am in a 69 position just behind some Huge Jarse fella. Don’t get downwind of that!

Anyway, this made me laugh. Otherwise crying was the only option.

“The club is in outstanding shape,” Gillett said. “Economically, it’s never been stronger. We just paid down our debt very substantially. We have less debt per dollar than any club in the league.”

Snake in the grass who is only marginally worse then THicks; or maybe just smarter and knows when to keep his gob shut.

Internet, internet my kingdom for a connection, sitting in my favorite spot at Lagos airport, swilling Star larger and finally catching up on the comments and adding to it. Great blog as usual Gerry and MTMMC I am worse off than you, granted your comments are funnier, but I must admit I have not had the time to pay much attention.

The Babel issue is beyond a joke, shut up and perform is my motto, bitching to the press will get you nowhere, only performances on the field count make it impossible for the manager to leave you out. Super stars of today! It does not matter if you get 20 or 60 minutes make them count, who said life was easy force yourself into the reckoning and you can only do that by performing.

A good solid win on the weekend will do us a world of good coupled with a good team performance. Don’t take Burnley lightly no match in the Prem is a walkover.

Wonders our finance’s are robust and far better than most Prem teams. Do we win the prem because we have a better debt ratio than Chelsea? If they are that good why did Rafa have to spit the dummy out just to get 1.5 mill cover and have a 0 spend balance in the transfer window when we are supposed to be in the best position in 19 years to win the Prem. I would like to swot that Midget. I think I am in for the long haul unless somebody with bags of money comes to the party. I would like to bag him and throw him in the Mersey. Wankers both of them and its all about the money fuck all else, Rafa can expect no support if it takes money out of their pockets. Cheers Parry, Cheers Moors you have done us proud really looked out for the best interest of the club.

Sorry for the rant it was one of the first articles I read.

Steve if this is true:

The old saying goes that the best things in life are worth waiting for…

then Degen will be a feckin superstar!

Hope you are right though

Nice one Lurgan. Problem is in Deggen’s case we need a miracle to go with it!

I have a friend over here who is a big Rome supporter and he is devastated, he reckons Aquaman could walk on water if it was not for the holes in his feet. As for the injury concerns FS is right he has no history of injury problems, he has just been rushed back to soon over the last few years because of his importance to Rome’s campaign.

69 with Hugh Jarse, fuckinell…. for once in me life I’m stuck for words. So in a big manly voice, swerving that sharpish. Although I did laugh.

As for Gillette, well, looks like he’s playing a bit of fantasy football himself.

How fucking stupid do these bastards think we are. How much money disappeared this close season alone?

Reminds me of another old joke… How can you tell the LFC owners are lying?
Their lips are moving.

I know. I know. It and them are about as funny as a tumor.

But why the fuck are the pair of them spouting off again? Mark me words, something’s going on and it’s not good.

As for Aqualani, that’s probably one of the same articles I read, Steve.

I know they are not going to say anything bad, but it seems about right from all I’ve seen and heard.

As for where he’ll play… Rafa already has that marked out for him. And I think you might get an early glimpse of the role Rafa has in mind tomorrow, because, after giving tomorrow a bit of thought, I reckon if we see Gerrard and Lucas in centre mid tomorrow, Lucas will play the Masch role and Gerrard will do what Rafa sees Aqualani doing…

Sort of playing in the hole ahead of the holding mid and behind the second striker. And from what I’ve seen of Aqualani, he’ll be brilliant at it. He’s quick. He’s direct. He can play the killer pass. He loves to get in the box, and he can belt one from distance.

If you think about it, the one real flaw to Xabi’s game is he has no pace. That’s why he always used to give, but instead of go he would fall back and open himself up for the return ball. Which is fine if you have the sort of passing game Xabi has. Molby was pretty similar in that way.

But this new kid will play much higher up. He will run with the ball. And he will pass it and move to collect the forward ball.

In all honesty, I just can’t wait to see him.

I think I’ve just broke the world’s record for saying tomorrow the most times in one sentence. Well, I suppose Papillon said it more on his but you get me drift, and I haven’t even had a drink.

Which leads handily into… pretty busy in here for a friday night. Looks like there’s only Keith on the ale. I’m on a months dry out. Got the first 3 days in and it’s doing me head in already.

I think it was a Keven bloody Wilson’s song about giving up booze and after bitching and moaning the punch line was “ It was the worst two days of me life. “

He is defiantly one of the better cultural exports from the land of OZ and I am always surprised that he has never been invited to the Royal Performance concerts.

The good thing about Nigeria they sell the beer in quarts so it does not seem that you are ordering every five minutes or drinking a lot.

Well, looks like your drinking on your own Keith my old friend… I’m off.
Night night.
Safe trip.

Sleep well

well it looks like everyone’s gone to bed but I’ll carry on anyway…
I was just going say about Aqualani; if he was injury prone in serie A (just going on hearsay) how on earth is he going to survive the blood and guts of the premiership?
And the more worrying news (this is one for the scousers) apparantly Aqualani’s nickname is Aqui, pronounced Akki, as in purple…need I say more?

It’s late night and I’m armed with a few pints of lager and too much time on my hands. Always a deadly combo.

I’ll start with the depressing news first. This is from the Guardian. It’s an interview done by Sid Lowe with Pepe.

___________________________________
It was the most short-lived title challenge in history. In eight days, Liverpool lost as many league games as they had in the previous season, their title chances gone in the blink of an eye. Beaten at White Hart Lane, a home defeat to Aston Villa, and they could forget it. A Guardian poll captured the mood by asking if it was all over; almost half of those who voted said that it was. It wasn’t even September.

Small wonder Pepe Reina rolls his eyes. Sold by Barcelona after just 30 first-team appearances, he knows about snap judgments but as summary trials go this verdict takes some beating. Over? No, he says, Liverpool’s season won’t even have started until they face Burnley this afternoon. More importantly, those who have sentenced them have focused on the wrong evidence. Rafael Benítez’s side may not win the Premier League – in fact, Reina describes the title as an “unrealistic” objective – but it will not be because they lost to Tottenham Hotspur and Villa.

Those results are a red herring. Last season, Liverpool became the first side to lose just two games and not win the league. Their failings must be sought elsewhere: if Reina talks of “resignation” it is not over early defeat on the pitch but defeat off it. “Everyone has a right to say whatever they want,” he concedes. “But judgments should be made at the end, not now.

“It’s difficult to take and of course it creates anxiety because it’s not normal to have lost twice already. It’s hard to come off the back of two defeats and trail to Bolton, a side who aren’t exactly virtuosos with the ball. But we’re experienced enough to keep our heads, we turned that game round, and what’s really not normal isn’t the two defeats already this season – what’s really not normal is that it was only two defeats in the whole of last season.

“Our opponents weren’t poor teams – Villa and Tottenham will be near the top at the end – and what cost us last season weren’t the defeats but the draws, struggling at home against teams that closed up. This season the champions will have fewer points, there are more strong teams, and if we can win five or six and lose two or three of the 10 we drew, we’ll actually be much better placed.”

There is logic in the argument. Liverpool have already won 4-0 against Stoke City, who cost them four points thanks to two goalless draws last campaign. Never mind five or six wins and two or three defeats, four wins and six defeats across those 10 would leave Liverpool better off than last season.

The difficulty, claim Liverpool’s critics, is winning those five or six; that there is little evidence of Benítez having found the solution. Xabi Alonso has gone, his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, is not fit and Liverpool’s only other major signing was Glen Johnson, a full-back. Some believe the problem is Benítez himself; one player intimated that the relentlessness of a coach who pulled Jamie Carragher aside to criticise his marking as the players celebrated reaching the 2005 European Cup final is tiring the squad.

Put that to Reina, though, and the response is swift. “Rafa is very demanding but the player that grows tired of having demands made upon him no longer deserves to play for Liverpool. We’re there to win things. And by signing Johnson, Rafa was looking for a Dani Alves figure, someone to add depth to our attacks, who can overlap and go beyond defences – someone to unlock those games when we couldn’t find a way through.”

As for Alonso, there’s a sigh. “Whenever you lose, the best players are the ones who aren’t playing,” Reina says. “I admire Xabi and he achieved a huge amount here but he’s gone and I don’t want to talk about him any more. To be able to play for Real Madrid is a unique opportunity and his decision is perfectly justified. It’s rare for a player to be at the same club for 10 or 12 years, especially a foreigner. It’s hard for a Spaniard to say no to Madrid or Barcelona.”

A Spaniard like Reina, for example? “I hope to be here for the long haul. Liverpool is special. When things go well, it’s a phenomenal club and when things go badly it’s not as bad as others.”

Trouble is, that’s the point. There’s no disguising that things are going badly. For all the bullishness about Liverpool’s short-term start, when Reina speaks there is a sneaking pessimism about their long-term future. Early defeats are not the cause, something deeper is. As the Spaniard analyses the draws that cost his side dear, one theme keeps returning: what Liverpool lacked. A season later they still lack them.

“Teams like Manchester United have lots of players who can tip the balance; we haven’t got the individuals,” he says. “There are games that get congested and we haven’t got the vision other sides boast. Chelsea have Didier Drogba who can bring down any ball.”

Johnson’s arrival is a palliative but Liverpool have still not bought the creativity they require. The dependency on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres remains acute. “That is a problem,” Reina admits. “We have to hope that they don’t get injured because they’re fundamental.”

It is, in short, all about the money. The nagging feeling remains that Benítez’s side have not progressed. And with the manager able to spend just £1.5m of the £10m profit he made on selling Alonso and buying Aquilani, the tension and frustration surely grows.

“There isn’t frustration, there’s resignation,” Reina says. “The buying power of clubs is very different. You can’t sign players if you don’t have money and if there is no money, that’s it. As a player, there’s nothing you can do. We know what’s in the squad; we can’t do anything about it. All we can do is roll up our sleeves, work hard and try to win matches.

“It would be good if the owners made an effort economically, if they pushed. It would be lovely if we could find ourselves in an economic position where we can bring players in and build a squad that can compete with other sides. But it’s up to the owners to try to bring players in, not us. It would be nice if we had enough money to build a squad that can compete with Chelsea, for example.

“Can we win the league? I think so but there are other teams that are very capable of winning it – Chelsea, United, Arsenal, Manchester City. We can’t set ourselves objectives. We all want to win the league but right now it’s not a realistic objective. Right now, all we can do is beat Burnley and keep winning. Then we’ll have time to see if the objective is the league, the Champions League slots or a Uefa Cup [Europa League] place.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/12/pepe-reina-liverpool-premier-league
___________________________________________-

Good to see my two compatriots Dumb and Dumber appear to have really fucked with morale in the changing room by not spending any coin this past transfer window.

That was refreshing honesty from Pepe, and I don’t think he’s too far off the mark. Definitely not something to lift our spirits.

Here’s the latest update on our new shirt sponsorship from our buddy Tony Barrett at the Times.
__________________________________

Liverpool have secured a new shirt sponsorship deal that equals the most lucrative in football history after signing a four-year agreement with Standard Chartered, the London-based international bank, worth £80 million over four years.

With their present deal with Carlsberg due to expire in mid-2010, Liverpool’s commercial department, headed by Ian Ayre, has been looking for a money-spinning agreement in keeping with the club’s status as one of the most recognisable brands in world sport. Until July, an exclusivity accord with Carlsberg prevented them from entering into talks with any other interested parties but once that had expired, Liverpool moved swiftly to tie up a new deal.

Carlsberg has enjoyed a 17-year relationship with Liverpool, one of the longest-running associations in world sport, but was unwilling to match the £20 million a season offer made by Standard Chartered, which equals the deal struck by Manchester United with Aon Corp, the American financial giant, in June.

Liverpool have long been criticised by their supporters for punching below their weight when it comes to commercial opportunities but the sponsorship deal struck by Ayre, the commercial director, is an indication that the club are beginning to make the most of their glittering history and worldwide fan base.

The fact that the Merseyside club have secured a sponsorship arrangement on a par with United’s is also hugely symbolic, with Liverpool having trailed some way behind their North West rivals for several years in terms of commercial enterprise. Liverpool’s deal with Carlsberg, for example, is worth just £7.2 million per annum, a figure that fell short of United’s £14 million income from AIG, the American insurance corporation.

The deal with Standard Chartered will be confirmed by Liverpool imminently, with George Gillett Jr, the club’s co-owner, having admitted during a radio interview that he expects a formal announcement to be made on Friday. “I think people will be pleased and surprised,” Gillett said. “It will be one of the great, worldwide corporations. And I think it will be a sponsor people will be pleased and surprised to be [associated with].

For the first time since he bought Liverpool along with Tom Hicks in February 2007, Gillett has admitted that he could be willing to sell the club “if someone gets beamed in who’s got bags of money”.

But the revelation was tempered by the American’s admission that he would “probably” be at the helm for the long term.

“The club is in outstanding shape,” Gillett said. “Economically, it’s never been stronger. We just paid down our debt very substantially. We have less debt per dollar than any club in the league.”

Liverpool, meanwhile, have sealed a £250,000 deal with Southend United for the transfer of Michael Ngoo, a 16-year-old centre forward who was also being watched by Manchester United. Ngoo, who is 6ft 4in and has been likened in style to Peter Crouch, impressed during a recent trial with United but Liverpool have beaten their North West rivals to his signature after meeting Southend’s asking price.

In a departure from the recent furor surrounding the transfers of a number of teenagers, the deal for Ngoo has not resulted in acrimony between Liverpool and Southend, with the Coca-Cola League One club praising their Barclays Premier League counterparts for the way negotiations were conducted.
________________________________________________

Kudos to Ian Ayre; just goes to show how poorly Rick Parry handled the marketing of our club. That’s a £13 million increase per year over our current deal and should help with the cash flow situation at the club.

The pessimist in me says it’s just another £13 million per year to mysteriously disappear into Dumb and Dumber’s pockets and not go into the club.

Just to show how crazy things are getting and how we may quickly fall behind, the Times is reporting that Citeh actually paid £47 million to acquire Carlos Tevez.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article6831582.ece

-£15 million up front
-two future installments of £16 million
-£3.5 million if Citeh win the CL
-a salary of £7.5 million a year, or just under £145,000 a week

That shatters the British transfer record and is the fifth highest of all time, behind the Tranny, Kaka, Ibrahimovic, and Zidane.

I know he’s an ex-Manc, but I do rate Tevez as a player; he scored some huge goals for them over their past two seasons and he was single-handedly the reason West Ham stayed up three years ago.

Having said that, I’m not sure he’s that much better of a player than our own Dirk Kuyt. Lots of endeavor, not a ton of finished product.

How are we going to be able to compete with them over the next few years when they can shatter the British transfer record for a player who struggles to get into his own national side? That youth system of ours really needs to begin producing some first team players quickly.

Fuck me.

Keith it seems you just go to Lagos airport for the beer!!
Good reading mac, Thanks

Noting valuable to add so….

Over and out

Oh cheer up lads. What’s with the doom and gloom. Don’t forget…..
“Economically, it’s never been stronger. We just paid down our debt very substantially. We have less debt per dollar than any club in the league.”

And if that’s not enough to cheer you up, what about our great new sponsorship deal…
“It will be one of the great, worldwide corporations. And I think it will be a sponsor people will be pleased and surprised to be [associated with].

FFS. Wish Akki would squeeze more than Gillette and Hick’s biceps, eh Van Lefo?

Well back in the blog after my yearly down under skiing trip. Great weather and plenty of the white stuff. Anyway since I haven’t been near a computer it appears, not much has changed. I say that considering all the shite about Rafa leaving, seems it didn’t happen.
.
Last minute buys same story.
.
Sale of the club, continues on, only with a new name, some lad from France. Bernard someone or other. I guess with this club if you can’t get a column in a newspaper, write some shit about LFC. It’s in their lad.
.
Thought SG and Johnson had good games for Ingerland. SG certainly likes playing for them.
.
Anyway glad to be back and happy everything was just as I left it. Still grizzling about the owners but a fans gotta do what a fans gotta do. Grizzle about the paychecks.

Oh we’re not grizzling Gaz. What the fuck have we got to whinge about. George Gillette has just kept his promise…
And signed us the missing link, by really pushing the boat out and spending all of 250 grand on that all time great that he’s always promised us…
Snoogy NGoogy.

So, that’s that then… problem solved.

Seems like good news about Standard Chartered and perhaps it’s not a coincedence that the club might be changing their sponsor at around the same time that the government have announced their future intentions to ban alcohol advertising in sport.

Interesting views on Aquilani FS, and it certainly does look like this lad knows how to provide the killer ball which Torres will just love. We will not make the mistake that Roma made and he will not be rushed into action, no matter how much we might think we need him or how tempting it may be, Rafa just won’t make that mistake.

Once the injury is entirely healed, Rafa will want an asurance that Aquilani has the fitness in his locker before he puts him in the first team. I imagine that his first appearance will be as a sub, with Rafa building it up slowly until he feels he can easily handle 90 minutes. Like you, I can’t wait to see him in action.

lvcmaj, thanks for the article about Pepe. It’s good to see Pepe defending Rafa and the team from all the distortions that the press make, even in some paragraphs of that article itself.

That cheeky bastard of a Guardian reporter just couldn’t resist slipping in one or two sentences in his Pepe interview about how “Rafa is the problem” or how “bullish Liverpool are” (hidden meaning: unrealistically optimistic and we should be giving up already). Seriously fuck him and fuck the Guardian.

Good news on the StanChart front, Carlsberg never gave us anything, all Rafa’s (and perhaps even some of Houllier’s) on-pitch successes was in spite of Carlsberg, not because of it.

Ok lads, Robbie Fowler just scored a cracker for his team over here. 4th goal in 5 games. Goal of the week for the second time in a row. Half of the Sydney crowd was wearing Red shirts even though their blue. Wonderful strike from 25 yards. Nice interview afterwards, said he can’t wait to watch Liverpool tonight play Burnley, tipping Liverpool to win well.

Not to be a twat lads, but I couldn’t give a shite about the new sponsorship deal. In fact, I’m against it…
Main thing, the money will only disappear. It’s the exact same thing that both Hicks and Gillette have done when involved in sports… up the commercial side, milk it to fuck.

You only have to think back to Hicks’ infamous, to be a success, it doesn’t mean to be a success on the field.

Second thing… the logo is shite. It’s massive. AND IT’S BLUE! Lovely. All hands taking the piss out of our walking advertisment board fans and players.

I’ll be seriously tempted to rip it off the back of anyone wearing it over the age of 25.

A fucking disgrace.

Maybe Jerry Lewis can switch his fund raising focus from finding a cure for MD to finding a cure for H & G.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn-bXSlPlMo

Anyway, just looked at some stats and here’s something good for a change…
We’ve actually had 37 more shots on target than any other club in the prem this season.

Just goes to show, when it finally goes right some teams are in for a terrible tonking.

And this is an amazing strike rate…
Out of 32 games he’s played at Anfield, Torres has netted 30 times.

That’s practically a goal a game gauranteed. Some player that lad.

No mascher, benny in, Skrtyl in .. any other news ? Is Riera in ?

Skeat, where are you my man ?

Pepe, Johnson, Carra, Skrtel, Insua, Lucas, Gerrard, Kuyt, Yossi, Reira, Torres.

Burnley with a real good attempt inside the first 45 seconds. Fingers crossed, hopefully we can grab all 3 points.

Thanks Ivc, gonna be a good game here. we’ve got too many attackers and that looks like how they’re gonna play too. Ah well, i gotta an 16 month old to entertain so keep me informed.

I was told that this is a blog, and I am not supposed to flood this section with “live commentaries”

So, I would rather comment after the match or during half time

Skeat, you weren’t told by me. I love your live commentaries. One of the great features of this blog. Get back to your keyboard and f*** the begrudgers.

Leading 2 goals…

We could have scored more..
Good game by Benny, scored one created one

Elsewhere,
Stoke leading the chavs by a goal, and Citeh led by 1 goal due to an Almunia own goal…

Off for a half time snack

Good 1st half. Yossi with a nice 1st, Dirk with a bit of a gift for the 2nd. Scoreline doesn’t indicate how the match has gone. Burnley with a real good spell of possesion and pressure shortly before our second.

I’m hoping we’re able to keep a clean sheet in the 2nd half and grab another goal or two.

Yossi MOTM thus far.

and ohh, Chavs equalized in the 45th minutes.. shit

Cheers lads !

Hey Degen on for Johnson…
Pleasant surprise

Benny Hattrick!!!!!

our first this season…

Who is this.#27 lad playing at RB?

Yossi with the hat trick, 4-0 in the 82nd min.

Chavs won with a malouda goal in the 90th…

Hmm….

dougle, Skeat was just beginning to behave and peace and order was about to be restored here in Kopblog, and you just had to give him license to roam.

Like I said, if you want live commentaries, there’re plenty the football news websites out there for those. That’s my take on this issue.

Anyway.

Benny definitely deserved his MotM today, he should have 4 goals under his name today if not for the linesman, whose vision was blinded by two red shirts (Kuyt and Torres) in front of Benny. Seriously, why are there still only 2 linesman for football in this day and age, when we have like 10 for tennis?

I wonder if taking Masch off (due to fatigue) was actually a blessing in disguise. The formation actually looked better today without him, who’s still struggling with form and perhaps needed some good rest.

And screw the refs in the Chav game for giving them 5 whole minutes of stoppage to score against Stoke.

Once again the Chavs get 5 minutes time added on when they should have received 3 at the most … then they score at 3 minutes 30 seconds and then celebrate until the 5 minutes is up and the ref blows for time.

Oh and sorry for going off topic to mention that God, who has descended into Down Under, has scored yet another stunning goal, and a winning goal as well for North Queensland.

That’s 4 goals in 4 matches for Fowler, if I remember correctly. Can someone from down there correct me please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj95N5ue5ew

Amusing to see quite a lot of Liverpool shirts in the audience.

No worries Kinny. I happen to like “Skeat Sports”.. I can see the enthusiasm there, it’s his groove and well I’m a bit of roamer myself !!

Anyway to the (pleasant) serious stuff. Fatty, Keith and many others have been wondering about the change we saw today, Lucas for Mascher in games with the “less talented” somewhat difficult to break down. It means a more positive approach. Lucas, to my mind is a quicker mover of the ball and instinctively a one-touch passer. Thus (theoretically) the ball is moved faster and with more direction out both from the back and around and through mid-field. Now I did not see the game today and I look forward to our analysts here giving me their thoughts as to how he fared. Indeed I really look forward to hearing how the whole team set-up.

I had 5 live on the internet until 3 o clock today and I nearly puked at the cliched, lazy, incorrect analysis of Craig Burley egged on by the presenter. Crap and stupid, of course it just serves to keep all the other muppets smug in “their” own “expert” opinions.
One of the cliches spouted out was the usual Liverpool being a 2-man team blah blah Blah…

Well they didn’t do too bad today with neither of their superstars hitting the net. What a bunch of f**kwits on the radio.

I wonder what the “Rafa must go” 606-ers will say tonight.

Hello everyone,

Watched today’s game, and was quite impressed with the team today, especially mid-field. It was awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the match. The team’s attacking display showed colors of our performances of last season. The team looked composed and settled. It was good for the team that an international break came in the way. Lucas and Gerrard were pretty solid in the middle. Benayoun played brilliant. Scored a hat-trick and provided an assist.

What I was quite surprised to see was that, less opportunities were being created for Torres. I mean Benayoun, Gerrard, Kuyt, Johnson were all attacking a lot without Torres. It might have been a strategy. Torres and Gerrard are usually man-marked in every match. While Gerrard was playing a free role in the mid-field Torres was left with Benayoun in attack. The opposition marked Torres in order to stop goals, but a surprising Benayoun hat-trick silenced Burnley and our critics.

If the team keeps playing like this, I suppose Rafa would have a lot of options in the future with the return of Masch and Aquilani. Benayoun with that performance cannot be ignored.

I think we should go with the same team next week to see if changes are necessary.I think the team looked good and balanced.

Cheers!

Well, Dougle to answer your Lucas question in one… great.

The lad had a very decent game indeed, and was unlucky not to nick a goal on a few occasions. He went close once, and he got himself into some excellent positions but the lads on the ball failed to pick him out.

And there was more to him than that, but I can’t be arsed going on. I’ll just leave it as the boy done good.

40 would have seemed a bit flattering, if you’d only seen the game until half time. But by full time it could have been six or seven.

No doubt you’re right about the phone in dickheads. Read a funny piece about them in the Daily Mail today, will try and dig it out for you. Cretins to a man.

I saw some comments screaming about the quality of our bench today… Cavalieri, Degen, Dossena, Spearing, Ngog, Voronin, Kyrgiakos.

But they ignored the fact, that there will soon be Aurelio, Aqualani and Agger to add to that. Also, the three lads that came on done very well.

I don’t think anyone really watches Vronin. They’d prefer to moan and whinge, and go on about other team’s benches. But the fact is, Vronin is a very intelligent footballer. He had some lovely touches today, and was always in the right place. Problem is, he just isn’t that much of a goal scorer. But he’s not the shit on a stick some of our own like to make out.

NGog… I get more impressed with this kid every time I see him. But can’t be arsed going on about it now, so will just say if he develops well, he’s got every chance of becoming a top notch player.

Degen… Hard to say because he had no defending to do by the time he came on. But he got forward well and linked up well with the other lads. Put it this way, we lost nothing by taking off Johnson. Which is a big compliment from me, cos I think Johnson is the dogs.

And I know it’s easy to come on when the team is 3 up and coasting, but you can only comment on what you see. So, in a nutshell… I wouldn’t be too happy if any of them was the main carriers of our hopes, but as back up, well… I think some of our fans would be better rethinking things rather than moaning. And should also take into consideration that the 3 that came on cost us all of 1.5 million quid.

Where the fuck would we be without Rafa, eh?

But anyway, good team performance, and all the lads done their bit.

Let’s hope our season starts here.

PS… that should say 4 - 0 would have been flattering.

But as I said, it doesn’t matter as it could have been a proper bag full by the end.

As expected from Redknapp, when he scores 1 against the Scum, he gives them 3 more in return. When he scores 3, he concedes 5.

Thus, I now put Redknapp in the same category as Moaning O’Neill, Fat Sam Allardyce and Steve Fucking Bruce in the “Ferguscum Cocksucker” category - Go all out and make Liverpool’s life miserable, but slack off and make Ferguscum’s task as pathetically easy as possible.

Of the other 19 clubs, the only ones who can take points off the Scum are probably us and the Chavs. Arsenal will have to wait till for the second league round, and hope they aren’t demoralized till then.

Man City is an unknown factor, so I’ll cautiously place them in the “wait and see category”.

As mentioned above, Spurs, Villa and Sunderland are now considered “Scum Subsidiaries”.

West Ham is the only other mid-table club I can think of that has a knack for being the Scum’s bogeyteam, but I wouldn’t bet my fortune on them.

Teams like Burnley, which generously give us points while take them away from the Scum, are really a rarity.

Degen really did well to attack… Glen johnson can nowplay right midfiled with Degen at right back.

Team played really well today but Benny was brilliant when he plays like that
he reminds me of Messi. But without Torres pulling his markers away i think
he’d only have scored 3 instead of the 4 he really scored.
Gerrard played well back in midfield which was probably a surprise for Burnley
who have spent 2 weeks working on how to stop him and Torres up front .
Kinny i watched that Manc game the main problem was Happy Harry not
realising his formation was wrong at H/T. When you lose Modrich dont be
throwing 3 striker on the pitch because you’ll get hammered in midfield
Its a bit like Whiskybreath “tactics” throwing money on the field to paper over
the lack of tactics.
But in all fairness Vidick should have been off along with Scholes but ref’s
often bottle it when Scum are playing and Berbatoss shamelessly dived
against his old teammates for the first goal.
Anyone see the Arsenal game? Stamp on your old teamates face then run 90
yards to celebrate in front of you’re old fan’s after scoring.No class
YNWA

Saty I see you have a sense of humour.

Boys did well today. Very impressed with Benny O.
I think Lucas did well, very physical and wasnt pushed off the ball, liking the lad at the moment.

FS have to agree with you on Voronin. I hate the usual “he is shit” “what a waste” generic comments. Especially whent hey come from those who barely watch a game and follow the trend of bagging a player who was free or isnt Torres.

Voronin’s strenghts is his knowledge of the players around him and his movement.

Anyway, impressed with all the lads so ill leave it at that for our game.

Nice to see chaves getting 5 min ET, and scoring late on again. (like in their first game). Harry is just a moron really, you have O’Shea who has a turning circle of a bus and you put Keane out wide on him.

Nice win and great for Benayoun that he scored a hattrick. Could have been four if not for the wrong call on offside.

No one has mentioned this yet, but glad Rafa did not even put Babel on the bench for the noises he was making. Serves him right.

Agreed knight. Normally rafa would have given him 20min and the freedom to run at the defence (being 3-0up). I’m glad he didn’t, to show that just because u throw ur toys out of the pram and request a move that all of a sudden things will be done for you just to keep yoy happy.

Knight/Akka, Babel being left out of the squad is hardly a new thing is it?

Rome, I watched highlights of the City v Arsenal game. There is no excuse for stamping on a player but I fully understood the goal celebration. I think it’s rather pathetic that grown men who call themselves football supporters can abuse Adebayor for a year while he is playing for their own team, then abuse him throughout the game yesterday - singing songs about his Dad washing elephants and his mother being a whore. And when he celebrates in front of them they behave like taunted 7 year old bullies in the school playground. Can give out all the stick they want but cant take a player sliding on his knees in front of them? Do me a favour.

I remember the Robbie Fowler goal celebration against Everton when he snorted the line and then celebrated in front of the Everton fans. I loved it.

My best mate’s younger brother made his debut for West Ham yesterday. Zavon Hines. He might be playing against us next weekend. It’ll be weird. Hopefully we win 4-1 and he scores. I’ll be going to the game but will be sitting where the West Ham players have their family and friends perched.
I hope we play the same XI that played yesterday but Masch will probably come back. Anyone know how bad his injury is?

Great hatrick from Benny, I hope that has nailed down his place in the team for the foreseeable as he deserves it.

LB, I do not recall a match, this season or last season where Babel is not even on the bench, except where he played in the Beijing Olympics.

Knight, Babel was not in the starting line up nor on the bench against Bolton 2 weeks ago. And there were several matches last season where he was not in the squad.

Kinny, thank’s for that link for Fowler’s goal down under. It reminded me of this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf9RbaFPxM0&feature=related

He was my hero/idol in bygone days and it’s good to see him still knocking them in and enjoying himself.

Top class bloke by all accounts.

LB I didn’t realise the Arsenal fans were giving him so much grief which
probably shows they have even less class. Couldn’t imagine our fans treating
a ex- player so bad ( apart from Owen ) or any ex-player even celebrating a
goal, never mind running 90 yards to do so.
YNWA

Lads, let’s have it right… footy fans aren’t exactly known for their tolerance and logical thought out actions.

Let’s face it even in here, we go on one about the Mancs, or the Chavs, or The Arse, or the Refs, or uncle Tom Cobbley an all, for the slightest reason when if we stopped and looked it logically we’d know we were acting like right knobs. Just the way it is.

Yep some fans are a disgrace, but Adebayor is a highly paid professional. He should have let his performance - which was brilliant - do his talking for him. Having said that, I don’t blame the lad for giving the Arse fans gyp. No doubt, they thoroughly deserved it. But he can’t be seen to get away with it. He just can’t. And when you add that to the head stamping - he needs fucking for that alone, the dirty bastard - he has to be hit with the book.

The powers that be really need to start getting a grip of this game again. Did you see the carryings on of The Mancs? Absolute disgrace. And in my opinion, all this shite needs stamping out - end of.

Have a walk round your local park and watch the way kids are carrying on now in training nevermind in games. As for the parents on the side lines they make The Tramp look like a nice, jolly, well balanced chap. You have to stop it at the top. End of sermon.

Clocked that kid yesterday LB. Looks like he’s got a very bright future ahead of him. I hope he does well but not against us. I was going to go to the West Ham game. I’ve got a ticket. But I’ve got New York a few days later, and the old wages aren’t what they used to be so something had to give. Sadly, it’s the West Ham and Fiorentina games.

Sick about that to be honest. Rather go to a couple of games than NY anyday, but Missus FS needs a holiday. Oh well, what can you do.

Rome77, spot on about the Mancs Spuds. What the fuck was Droppy Gob playing at? This is the sort of thing that drives me mad and makes me see the conspiracies everywhere… Spuds fought us for every ball as if their lives depended on it and then rolled over for them bastards.

Did you see Harry before and after the game?

Big beaming smile, heary handshake for The Tramp before and after the match, and did you see his interview after the game?

Fucking disgrace. Complete and utter bum licking of the worst possible kind, no doubt followed by a couple of nicely cooled Toilet Ducks in Appy Arry’s Hoffice.

Disgrace.

And LB, whether Babel has been dropped in the past when playing good or not, Knight is completely right… Him not being on the bench was a definite message from Rafa.

And you know what, I don’t care anymore. A few short weeks ago, I was hoping the lad grasped the chance and done it. Now, I’d rather see Ngog get the nod ahead of him as he’s the future while it looks like Ryan hasn’t got one at our club.

Shame. But there it is… wrong player at the wrong club for him. Best he just moves on when the time is right for the club - not him.

Fine performance from the lads yesterday but the opposition werent up to much so I wont go overboard. Motm is obvious but I think Stevie deserves a mention. He was great in his old role and really put in a shift. Lucas had his best game of the season, a much more composed and effective performance from him. Hate to point out the obvious but Masch and him does not ‘work’. Myself and LB been saying that since the Fulham game last yr. So would like to see this 11 at West Ham. Lucas would be unlucky to lose out

What a surprise harry singles out Fletcher as having had a great game the same week Fungus and Wenger have been talking about the player. Good to see the old boys club in full swing.

Bang on Digger and the other lads who singled out Gerrard.

We’ve all, me included, had our moans about Our Steven over the years. But I tell you something… I love the lad. I’ll probably shed a tear when he has to hang his boots up. Because, in my opinion, he is most definetely the best all round footballer to ever play for LFC.

It was a great performance not because we beat them 4-0 and it could have been 7 or 8 but because of the way we played, the inter changing of positions, the movement of the ball, the collective closing down of the opposition when we did not have the ball. It was a very good all round performance. Some of the comments amuse the shit out of me. That old adage that the opposition was not up to scratch, yes maybe there is some truth in that, but it was the same opposition that took all three points against the Mancs. Lucas had one of his best games, yes he did but he has played like that since the beginning of the season and to be honest in preseason as well. Just maybe he is starting t get the credit where credit is due and for once we put away some of the chances, still missed quite a few, that we should have done against Villa and Stoke.

Yes we created 16 shots on target and 11 off but we did that against the other teams as well, with Spurs the exception which was just a bad day at the office and still we should have drawn that one. I like the idea of Lucas in for the buss parkers and Masch for the tougher games. Benny had a blinder and deserves all the credit, the whole team played well.

LB you need to get off the soap box and defend someone who deserves your loyalty. Babel must shut up and put in the hard yards he doesn’t deserve to be on the bench with his attitude. Benny was in a similar situation and let his performance demand his inclusion, Babel take note that how a professional handles himself, Benny take a bow. I hope this is the start of a role I think this team, if we stay mostly injury free, can deliver the goods this season. However we are thin squad wise if we pick up more than our fair share, especially when the games come thick and fast. I defiantly think we should play the kids and fringe players in the cups and save the best for the Prem and CL. Agree with you FS with regards to Vorinon and Egg Nogg

Donal mate Alcohol is the only way to cope with Lagos International Airport, copious amounts.

Nothing to do and bored, so I’m gonna have a little say here…

We’ve had rotation. Then zonal marking. The one man team. And the 2 man team. Now the media stick to beat Rafa with has become - lack of depth in the squad, and to prove a point they kept going on about yesterday’s bench…

Cavalieri, Degen, Dossena, Spearing, Ngog, Voronin, Kyrgiakos.

They convieniently ignore the fact that next time we put that team out the bench could be…
Cavalieri, Agger, Aurelio, Aqualini, Mascherano, Babel.

Not a bad bunch. In fact, better than any other team in the league could have getting splinters.

Then there’s the fact, that the lad’s who came on done well and aren’t as bad as some scapegoaters love to make out.

Oh it’s only Burnley they say. Yep. That’s right. It is. It’s the same Burnley that have beaten Everton and the Champion’s of the Universe and given Chelsea a hard time for an hour until Chelsea bombed them like Wimbledon. It’s the same Burnley that knocked Arsenal and Chelsea out of cups last season. And the same Burnley that gave us a good game until we over powered them.

But why let fact get in the way of a good bit of bias.

To prove the point that our squad is too weak the media always falls back on the same old chestnut…
Where’s the goals going to come from if Gerrard or - yes, or not even and - Torres get injured.

Well, I suppose they’ll come from the same place as last season when we went a long period without both of them and still ended up the top scoring team in the league.

In fact, seeing we’ve added a more attacking central midfielder and full back to the squad, I’d say they’ll probably come from even more positions.

Watching the game yesterday, I noticed something we don’t usually do much. It might have came from Gerrard playing deeper, but anyway did anyone else notice how Kuyt and Yossi kept constantly switching sides?

In fact, they were everywhere - outside, inside, left, right, hanging deep, in the box. And with both Gerrard and Lucas pushing up through the middle and Insua and Johnson getting high and wide, Burnley just couldn’t pick them all up. And better team’s than Burnley will struggle with that kind of movement and flowing attacking football.

So, in short - we aren’t quite as fucked as the media would like to make us out. I wish some of our fans would stop believing their hogwash, but I’ve given up on that.

But the fact is, this team is ram jam full of options with goals all over the pitch.

Not quite the doom and gloom some would like to make out. Now if we could just get shut of them pair of cu….

Missed your post Keith. I must have been writing as you posted. But bang on… the movement yesterday was like the good old days.

PS… Not to kick the Babel thing off again. But Keith, did you see Rafa’s post match interview?

He said exactly what you’re saying. Well, he was praising Yossi but I couldn’t help but think there was a message in there for Babel. I can’t think of the words verbatim but he went on about Benny always giving a good performance when coming on from the bench and forcing his way into the team.

I’ll have to find the interview. I’m in no doubt it was mainly for Ryan’s ears. Hopefully the lad, will listen - even better if he thought fuck you Rafa I’m going to show you and played his bollacks off.

But you know what… I’m starting to think he just hasn’t got it in him anyway.

Good one FS! We’re just not given the credit we deserve. Back home in Singapore, I have to endure nonsense from a dumb reporter saying things like “What is Riera and Insua doing in the game? They’ll be found out by better teams..”

Like you, I hope our fans understand this too. I’m sick of all these knee jerk reactions about zonal marking and lack of squad depth, or even worse, we’re crap without Alonso.

I believe the press is really scared of us, which explains their relentless efforts to dismiss us after 4 games, and even “quoting” Reina has given up on the EPL. As fans, we should hang on and believe in the team and Rafa, for I’m sure we can see the season ending form is no fluke.

I hope the Burnley win is the beginning of another such run again…

Mate, Pepe was just having a swipe at The Yanks. I even think Rafa gave him the bullets to fire.

As for our fans looking past all the shite in the media, that’ll never stop.

I’d love to say it’s just daft young kids but the fact is, I know fellas my age from Liverpool who are no better. Mindboggling, but something we have to endure I suppose.

Good point on the bench situation Fatty. It’s a valid point for our critics; as you mentioned our three subs yesterday cost us a combined 1.5 million in transfer fees.

The entire bench yesterday cost us 14 million (Cav 3, Degen free, Doss 7.5, Voro fee, N’Gog 1.5,Zorba the Greek 2, and Spearing through the youth set up), with Doss accounting for more than 1/2 of it. It goes to show how thin we are.

I mentioned a few blogs back about what a smart player Voronin is and he’s impressed me each time he’s made it onto the pitch this season.

His two flaws are his lack of speed and his finishing. I think bringing him on 60+ minutes into the match helps to offset his lack of pace.

He did miss a sitter late in the game, but his movement and his passes in the final third were brilliant. He could have had at least three assists yesterday with some of the smart little touches he made.

Off the top of my head I recall the back heel he played to Stevie which Jensen made a great save on, the assist on Yossi’s third, and a cheeky little 10 yard chip to N’Gog that went just over the last defender.

I think he’ll be a valuable asset coming off the bench for us and we can use him if we’re tied or losing to help us create chances or if we’re ahead in the match and need to take the air out of the ball.

Fuck me, just seen the Adebayor stamp and I think that it will be Adebyebye for a few weeks, at least.

As for the Burnley game, I thought that SG had a pretty quiet game in the first half - although I did already have a few beers by that time. Anyway, I thought that he was playing the holding midfield role and Lucas was given more license to roam. They seemed to take turns going forward in the 2nd half but, at the end of the day, the bottom line is, it was a game of two halves and we deserved 3 points. Overall the movement from the lads was 1st class. Pass and move inc.

This just popped into my overhung head. Where will Stevie G, Onion and Aquaman play when they are all fit. For me, it seems that Aqua would be perfect just behind Torres. So would that mean that SG will be moving back into midfield, at the expense of the monster/Lucas?

Thought that this was funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBPhiUM5jY&feature=related

fatty # 146, music to my ears .. or eyes. This is exactly what many here and you in particular, have been banging on about ever since the rumours of Xabi’s possible move started to circulate last May/June.

We can’t and couldn’t replace Xabi directly. There is no other player around to do it. Those that say Aquilani is his replacement i.e the muppet media and the parrots, are wrong, again, as usual.

Rafa knew Xabi was going a long time ago and he had plenty of time to figure out his strategy. It is now beginning to take shape. Instead of a slow, metronomic, centrally focused and channelled game-plan with all the relevent chess pieces in their respective places it has fragmented and become more dynamic and much harder to defend against, (it seems, I did not see this game).

Simply put instead of everything going through Xabi now it can come through a mix of fullback-winger plus midfielder combinations. benny’s on the right no.. he’s in the middle, kuyt is right, middle, behind or in front of Johnson. lucas is anchoring or in front of Gerrard or breaking through the middle. I love it ! Just wait till we have an Agger and Aurelio and guess who added to the mix. This had to be the way because we were too predictable and too many players were “hiding” in their positions too often last year (I think).

Now funnily enough I have not seen this kind of analysis of the team in the mainstream media. In a way I kind of hope we don’t see it actually. Quietly quietly Rafa changing the pace and intelligence of the team. I’m delighted some of you guys are getting to see it. I said it at the start of the season but if we aren’t out of it after 10-12 games then we are looking good to be in the shake-up at the end. We’ll only get better as the season progresses.

Yep I feel good !

Lurgan, in answer to your question in 154 I’d say there is no definite answer. Rafa will decide game by game and leave the others to get a headache figuring out just what combination of whom they will be facing. they’ll all get games.

Dougle, I agree with you and that’s why I asked the question, to get a few other opinions.

How’s your hols in France going then?

FS I totally agree with what you were saying about Voronin, I don’t feel people have given him a fair chance to show what he can do. He did pretty well last year in the Bundesliga and I’m sure he’ll start scoring when he’s confident and got the faith of Rafa and the fans. (the real fans I mean, not the ones who fold their arms at games and tut when a player has the audacity to make a mistake). One thing is for sure I prefer to have a player on board who is determined to fight for his place and work hard rather than a player who has been shown a lot of faith and has consistently underachieved and whinges to the press.

Fuck the media Dougle. But you are spot on, and I hope they don’t realise it either. Hopefully it will be too late by then and we’ll be getting the silver polish out.

And you’re right about Xabi an all. He’s a tremendous footballer. I’m not renaging on anything I said about the lad and I’m still sorry he left. But, having said that, I think not having him in the side will see us add another dimension to our play - mainly pace and more aggresive attacking - or as Rafa loves, more options.

Valencia Crushing Machine Part II?

In fact, here’s something for a laugh but it doesn’t half prove the point…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfClLdlC8bo&feature=PlayList&p=872E3D78FF0D1033&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=36

Funny the soft bastards can’t see it now, eh?

What you will also notice about our formation is Lucas’ passing game. Many think he’s more a shuffler of the sideways ball, rather than an injecter in the attacking mode. Well let me suggest, it’s because he’s Brasilian. One thing that typifies the Brazilian way of football is over lapping and attacking fullbacks. Therefore there team always contained two shufflers and one attacking machine, there were there 3 midfielders.
.
Two of their midfield spent their whole day bringing fullbacks into play. Well since we now have two going forward fullbacks, I think Lucas’ game looks much better. Xabi was and is a wonderful player but his forte was pinpoint long distance passing, and workrate of course.
.
Lucas is work rate and shuffling those fullbacks down the line. We’re a different team and so we should be.

What are they like them fucking footballer superstars and their bloody celebrity lifestyles, eh….
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Exclusive-My-secrets-by-Fernando-Torres-article154499.html

It’s good that people here are beginning to realise Voronin is an intelligent player. He’s 29 and I dare say over the course of this season, he’ll prove better than the other 29 yr old England player wannabe over at Old Toilet…

My current favourite liverpool team;
Reina
Carra Agger
Degen Insua
Monster
Glen Stevie G Reira
Bennayoun Torres

Bench;
Cavalieri, Skrtel, Aurelio, Voronin, Babel, Spearing, Lucas.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N165741090914-0000.htm

It’s official. Hello Standard Chartered and 20m quid a year, and good riddance to Carlsberg. As I’ve said before, most of Liverpool’s on pitch successes were in spite of Carlsberg’s meagre support, rather than because of it.

Managing to get StanChart to secure 20m rather than Carlsberg’s measly 7m, and in an economy that hasn’t fully recovered, is yet another demonstration of Prick Parry’s ineptitude in the accounting department.

Here’s what the new jersey would look like, with StanChart’s logo in white to match Liverpool’s red.
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6237/lfcz.jpg

With 20m from StanChart a year, coupled with 20m from Champions League prize money, 15m for Premier League prize money and about 10-20m from player sales should theoretically give Rafa a 65-75m transfer kitty.

Of course, the borrowers would no doubt want to use them all to pay their dirty debts, so Rafa must make sure at least 30-40m are not touched by their filthy hands.

The fuck man? I wrote a long post and it’s disappeared. Lemme try again.

OK, here’s the post again. This time I’ve removed the “h” from the links, simply add them to view the links.

ttp://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N165741090914-0000.htm

It’s official. Hello Standard Chartered and 20m quid a year, and good riddance to Carlsberg. As I’ve said before, most of Liverpool’s on pitch successes were in spite of Carlsberg’s meagre support, rather than because of it.

Managing to get StanChart to secure 20m rather than Carlsberg’s measly 7m, and in an economy that hasn’t fully recovered, is yet another demonstration of Prick Parry’s ineptitude in the accounting department.

Here’s what the new jersey would look like, with StanChart’s logo in white to match Liverpool’s red.

ttp://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6237/lfcz.jpg

With 20m from StanChart a year, coupled with 20m from Champions League prize money, 15m for Premier League prize money and about 10-20m from player sales should theoretically give Rafa a 65-75m transfer kitty.

Of course, the borrowers would no doubt want to use them all to pay their dirty debts, so Rafa must make sure at least 30-40m are not touched by their filthy hands.

yeah, good luck with that math Kinny!

and satry…
er… you have Deggen at right back and Kuyt doesn’t even make your bench?????
WHAT THE F**K???????

The mind boggles!

Kinny, having looked at that shite, sorry shirt, all I can say is, Thank fuck I’m too old and fat to wear footy shirts.

Hicks and Gillette are trumpeting the new deal all over the place at the moment as if it’s something we fans should thank them for. I might if they just came over, stuffed the money in their private jets and fucked off with it never to be seen again.

But don’t think Rafa will be seeing any of it, nevermind 30-40m. Do you realise they charged the club more for personal expenses - i.e. for travelling to games in their private jets - last season, than they actually gave Rafa for transfers in this last window?

Don’t get conned mate. 80 million pound or 80 million brass washers, it will make no difference to us on the pitch.

But what I came in here to say… Adebayor has apparently said he doesn’t deserve to be charged for anything by the FA.

I sort of agree though…
He should be charged by the Greater Manchester Police Force with Attempted Bodily Harm.

What a fucking idiot that lad is.

Here you go read this…
ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/13/emmanuel-adebayor-manchester-city-arsenal

This is one of the things I absolutely hate about modern day football. The hypocrisy is beyond belief.

Hughes needs to take a long hard look at himself for coming out with this shit. Defending Adebayor for running the length of the pitch and going on about how quickly he appologised for it… Yeah and Hughes never had anything to do with that. Honest. He never told him to get on camera and appologise straight away.

Maybe Hughes would have been better having him appologise to the Steward who was knocked out for 5 minutes.

But having said all that, I’m not even bothered by the goal celebration. It’s the thing that Hughes swerved commenting on, the face stamping that needs sorting out.

I remember back in the 70’s playing Arsenal at Anfield and we’d given them loads of stick the way you used to and John Radford, their centre forward at the time, scored, ran to The Kop dropped his shorts and mooned us.

We loved it and Radford after that. I remember everyone laughing when it happened and then singing Radford, Radford show us your arse, Radfor show us your arse. And he got that welcome every time he come to Anfield and always did.

But sadly that sort of humour has gone out of football now. Hughes knows that better than most. And he also knows that Adebayor was having a dig at Arsenal fans in the papers all week. So he should have had a quiet word with his player before the game and told him to not to react to the knobs in the crowd. Obviously he never. Obviously he made the player appologise right away. And he is now swerving the main issue to defend him on the lesser one.

I shouldn’t be that arsed about it really. But I do hate a lot of things that are happening to the game. And having just read that article, then heard Hughes on Talk Shite and seen the stamp again on Sly I had to comment.

People will laugh and say oh you see far worse every week in Rugby. Footy players are big fannys and all that. But the fact is… that stamp was an absolute disgrace. It was deliberate. It was aimed at the face, and then even went for the hand when it came away from the face. It was cowardly. It was mean. It was a shithouse trick. And it could have very easily had the lad’s eye out.

Shitbag. He needs binning for weeks. I know he’ll probably have a mystery injury for the return game in London. Where there is now going to be a lot of hatred and trouble between 2 clubs who have got on well for years.

Fucking modern day footy, eh.

Anyway, I’m off out now, so I’ll leave you with something far nicer. Here’s me mate Harry who I’ve mentioned in here before…
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/09/14/liverpool-fc-fan-to-ride-around-every-champions-league-club-on-clapped-out-motorbike-100252-24679710/2/

It doesn’t really give the coverage this deserves. But take a look anyway. A great lad on a great cause.

PS… I don’t know how clapped out the bike is, but the rider’s pretty knackered!

I’m done with the Babel debate lads so lets leave that where it is. Big well done to Benny, I thought he showed a lot of heart last season and has carried on.

The Adebayor celebration – fantastic. The stamp – disgrace. He’ll get the book thrown at him for sure. If it was Wayne Rooney however we all know f**k all would be done about it. Ahh guess who Man City play next? Man Utd. So you can guarantee Ade will be banned for that game. Tevez and Robinho are injured. How come the mancs always get to play against a side with all of their best players out injured?

Nice one FS, I didn’t even realise Zav Hines was in the starting line up until I heard the half time match report on Sly Sports. He looked quite sharp in the highlights I saw. Under Curbishley he wasn’t getting much of a look in. And wasn’t allowed to go out on loan either. Then when a couple of loan deals looked like they would materialise he got some niggling injuries. Since Zola has arrived his fitness has improved and speaking to him and the back end of last season he said he loves training with Zola – that it’s been an education. My mate just drums it into his head “Work as hard as Dirk Kuyt and when you get in the box shoot at goal like Defoe”. Not exactly coaching genius talk but he seems to be getting the message. Work your bollacks off in training and games and be confident enough to go for goal when you get a chance. I’m looking forward to talking to him after the Liverpool game if he does play. After the Wigan game he said he was bloody knackered after 70 mins. I told him to watch his legs around Skrtel and Carra

Aitch and Fatty, that was why I said THEORETICALLY Rafa should get that amount. I have no illusion whatsoever about how much he’ll actually get as long as the borrowers are around.

LB I think Adebayor will be available for the Utd game. I’m sure they can’t act that quickly, but then it is the Mancs so… but no, really they can’t ban him that quick.

As for your mate’s brother, he probably couldn’t be at a better club. We all know West Ham have a great history of developing young talent. And I’m sure Zola is just the lad to keep that going. What a footballer he was, but on top of that I really like him as a fella. He just seems such a decent, honest, nice man. So good luck to Zav. He should have every chance. Make sure he bungs you some of the big bucks!

And after reading your training tips all I can say is… nevermind you’re finished with the Babel debate. He needs telling exactly the same thing.

Oh well, got to really shift my fat arse now. I remember moaning about working every day in here all the time, at the moment I’m lucky to do 4 days a week. Thank fuck for this blog and you poor bastards to harass with this cack.

Sorry Kinny missed your comment, and I’m not saying you are falling for it, but I tell you what I expect Rafa to get in the next window from the owners, exactly what he got in the last one… fuck all, nix.

And next summer will pretty much be the same as this one, only it will probably be the money we make on Mascher funding all transfers.

Fooking fantastic show by Yossi.

Have said so before & going by his mobility all over the pitch during the Burnley game, me thinks Yossi could even play in central midfield.

Thoughts anyone?

Lads, I am keen to go to Anfield again. Thinking of asking for two tickets : Lyon (20th Oct) and Man United (25th Oct). Any offers to get me tickets will earn you buckets of free beer.
I amy also go for the away game at Sunderland, where my friend lives just across from the stadium of Light. For this I shall aks for his assistance to get me a ticket.
Any help woulsd be gratefully appreciated. E mail sk.chew@maxwellpharma.com. Thanks in advance.

So it seems that the FA will be fast-tracking the Adebyor case this week and he will probably (certainly) be banned for the manure match.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/manchester_city/article6833241.ece

Slur Alex will be on the turps again with this news.

So the Arsenal fans lose it, throw missiles, surge forward etc. A steward ends up in hospital and its all Adebayor’s fault. He’ll be banned for 4 matches and receive 20 lashes. No talk about the crowd’s behaviour though. A guy running 90 yards and sliding on his knees is far more inexcusable than fighting and throwing missiles onto the pitch.

It was certainly fun in the sun on saturday.Fantastic performance at the weekend by the reds.Benny onion deserves all the plaudits he has recieved since the run in last season.He had spent the best part of two seasons as a bit-part player but he kept his head down,worked hard and never moaned to the press.He has really established himself now and long may it continue.

I hope the press continue to dismiss us.Rafa`s machine will go along nicely without being noticed by these fools and that suits us fine.

The football was a pleasure to watch and although or bench isn`t up to the press` criteria for title challenging squad,it seems everybody is up for the fight and eager to show Rafa that they should be included.

So it Debrecin on wednesday.I`m heading over for it and hope to see a few goals.The hungarians are an unknown quantity to us but i hope we continue in the same vain.

Knight Sir, I will make some phone calls this afternoon. But mate… don’t hold your breath on one for the Mancs. And don’t go paying touts either. Go up to the ground and have a few of them buckets yourself in The Albert or one of the other pubs by the ground. It’s a great craic on match days.

But I will try for both games for you. In fact, everything willing, I will meet you for the Lyon game and have a couple of them buckets with you. I’ll try for Sunderland aswell, if you would prefer to be with the reds instead of sitting amongst the day’s enemy. Sunderland lads are good fans though. I’ve never had any bother with them.

On that LB… I think you’re missing the point. Yep. Arsenal fans are totally out of order and have been with Adebayor for a long time. But the fact is, Adebayor is a highly paid professional. So, understandable or not…
1: He shouldn’t have done it.
2: He has to face the consequences or all hope is lost in regards of behaviour, respect for refs, etc.

But having said that, what two faced arses the FA are anyway. Haven’t read the link Lurgan posted yet, but I don’t need to. I wiil, but I pretty much know what it will say anyway…
Fucking disgrace. Adebayor must face the music, but like anyone else would and on the normal time scale.

Which sort of negates my respect comment. How can you respect any bloody one in this game nowadays?

FA FD, fucking disgrace, morelike.

FA…FECKIN AMATURES!

Can’t agree with you there LB, I thought Adebayor was bang out of order and should be banned for six matches. Alot of ex players don’t even celebrate when they score against a former club out of respect for the club and………. for the supporters who helped to pay their over inflated wages.

Adebayor, on the other hand, decides to run the full length of the pitch and risks starting a riot. It’s not good, it’s not professional and he should know better. Think back to the abuse players like John Barnes endured from crowds (particularly at Goodison) but did he ever do anything to encite a crowd, or wind supporters up? There’s your answer.

Adebayor is no better than Gary Neville (v Liverpool) in my book. Professionalism and responsibility are the two main reasons why players shouldn’t behave like Neville and Adebayor have and I hope the F.A throw the book at him, or more likely bottle it like they did with Neville.

you can always rely on the Jewish chronicle to tell it as it is!

http://www.thejc.com/sport/sport-news/liverpool-inspired-three-goal-benayoun

Steve, Adebayor was slaughtered by his own ‘fans’ the whole of last season. The designed a spoof brochure of him (similar to the Michael Owen one) taking the complete piss and trying to flog him. They gave him stick all season – in every home game. Their shareholders told Wenger in an AGM that he should be sold. That suggestion was met with mass applause at the meeting. So Ade finally leaves the club and you think he should show respect to Arsenal’s supporters? It would be different if a player left on decent terms and was actually supported by the fans of his previous club. But you can’t abuse your own player and then expect him to play against you the following season and be polite.

I take FS points about him being a highly paid professional etc. But I don’t agree that players should have to put up with disgusting racial abuse just because they are professionals. Just because John Barnes and Cyril Regis and the like took abuse every week in the 80s shouldn’t mean players should put up with it now. He’s not getting paid to take abuse he’s getting paid to play football. If they punish him for his celebration then the Arsenal fans should also get punished. Arsenal football club should be warned that they need to control their fans as well. They complain about the anti French songs about Wenger from other fans yet their own fans sing racist chants themselves and then cry like babies when a player slides in front of them.

There was racist chanting and missiles thrown. A steward was knocked out by a missile. Yet I haven’t read a single word against the behaviour of those hooligans.

Regarding what Gary Neville did. At the time I was seething but after calming down was it such a big deal? We hate him, he hates us. LFC fans abuse him throughout the game. They score a last minute winner and he celebrates in front of our fans. Everton fans abuse Gerrard, he scores and cups his ear to the Everton fans. We abuse Rooney, he scores and slides in front of the Kop cupping his ears.

Fans need to grow up in my opinion. If you want to give out stick be prepared to take some back. Most fans act like fucking 6 year old bullies in this regard.

The stamp on Van Persie’s face however, was well and truly out of order.

Fuck its going to snow I actually agree with LB. We as fans can say, sing and chant anything. Yet let a player do anything and he gets slaughtered for aggravating the crowd. Unless we make this a passionless sport where no celebrating what so ever is allowed, and impossibility, then where do you draw the line. The fans have to grow up and take responsibility. They give all kinds of stick, some very unsavory that has nothing to do with humor what so ever and when it comes back to bite them in the arse with a late winner, moan and rampage because somebody has the audacity to score a goal and ram their abuse back down their throats in the only way they can respond. Arsenal should be fined and there should be a suspended sentence that if they behave like this again they have to play behind close doors at home for two or three matches.

After a goal is scored - Only polite handshakes and “well done sir” should be allowed followed by a swift walk back to the centre circle.

You see lads, this is exactly what they want everyone to be talking about.

The fact remains that the stupid bollix should have been sent off after a disgraceful and potentially life-changing foul on Van Persie. He could have had the lads eye out and where would we be now? It was vicious and done with only one thing on his mind - to hurt VP.

Have another look for yourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c4A5UxzrCg

The other shit is just a side-show and should be treated as such.

awight guys - deelighted to see an all-out assault on opposition goal on Sat. Long may it continue, we’re too good to sit back.

in other news I’ve found this cracking site: http://www.bidbroo.com

You can bid for 2tix to Barca v Real - accomm, flights and limo transfers included!

If you register with ‘TOKEN09′ you get 5 free tokens to start bidding. After registering (its free) use promo code ‘TOUCH09′ and it’s a free comp for an iPod touch. Really good site!

Dose that count if we score a last minute goal on the last day of the season to win the title LB

Yes Timmy, or we could be accused of inciting Fungas and causing his nervous breakdown.

Lurgan, I think you are right. I also think Van Persie tried to hurt Adebayor in the first place. That 2 footed lunge was a disgrace and he got a stud rake in the face for his troubles.

Ban both of them.

Though maybe the Adebayor ban should be longer.

Been out and about and everyone I bumped into had something to say about this.
I’d say it was split 50/50…
Adebayor - complete cunt.
Arsenal fans - a gang of complete cunts.

But the thing is, as I said earlier, Adebayor has to face the music, otherwise you can throw the rule book, the respect campaign and probably crowd control out the window.

An example needs to be set. And by that I mean an example for the whole game from top to bottom. Have you seen the lack of referees in the amatuer game because of what they have to put up with? Even the professional game is being affected.
And the FA have to be seen to be making a stand.

Should the Arsenal fans also be punished - yep. But that should be a matter for the Greater Manchester Police and Arsenal football club. It’s easy enough to weed them out nowadays. So anyone acting violently and shouting racial abuse should be banned by the club and dealt with by the courts.

As for the stamp… Fuck me have you seen the size of the plates on that fella? It’s a wonder he never crushed he’s whole fucking head, neck, arm and hand. Nevermind just he’s cheek and the back of his hand. Cowardly shite that has no place in football.

As for the tackle, yep Van Persie went right through him. It’s the sort of tackle that you see all the time and usually results with the fella being tackled coming down on top of the tackler and doing him damage anyway. Shite amatuarish hack, sort of Paul Scholes like.

But the worse thing about all this at the end of the day is how the FA are handling it. And it might not be their intention, but the daft bastards are leaving them selves wide open to all sorts of accusations by rushing through a ban before the Manc derby.

Which by the way is now insured to be even more of a hoot….
Oh Dear Lord, let Tevez replace Adebayor, score the winner, run to the Stretford End and wave his cock at them. And then stamp on Rooney’s, Rio’s, The Tramps, Vidic’s, Barbatoss, Evra’s and Fletcher’s head in celebration!

Oh fuck it let him stamp on the whole 11 and every other cunt on the bench.

FS, I pissed myself laughing at the cock waving comment!

You make some good points about the Arsenal/Adebayor history LB and I must confess that I know little about that, not being an Arsenal fan.

I also highlighted the fact that Adebayor and the like need to remember that they are well paid professionals and also ROLE MODELS!

I think this comes under the responsibility banner and if anyone thinks that professional footballers do not have a responsibilty to the young and impressionable supporters who try to copy everything they do, then in my opinion this goes a very long way to explaining what is wrong in today’s society. Players have an enormouus responsibility to conduct themselves properly especially to the young followers and that is why I picked out John Barnes as a prime example. A professional in every sense of the word. Could the same be said of Adebayor now? I think not!

Nothing wrong with celebrating with your own supporters.

FS, a true gentleman you are Sir! No, the buckets of beer will be on me even if you just get two (Lyon and Manure). Carlsberg Malaysia has been given 8 tickets for the Manure game. Four has been given to the LSCM and four members are already going. The other four, Carlsberg Malaysia has not decided what to do with it yet and I have been waiting for a week for that one ticket.
But I guess my English friend (72 years young) at Sunderland may wish to go there with me, hence it is OK even if I were to sit with the sunderland players. He is more a rugby fan than a footall fan and says he wish to see Sunderland rub Liverpool the wrong way. Haha, if only!
Thanks again for your kind offer. Will await your good news and book the air tickets. Cheers!

Sorry, I should have said my English friend will only want to see the Sunderland game, not the other two.

Steve, of course footballers are role models and should set a good example. Nobody is denying that. However sometimes emotions can get the better of an individual. After the game when Adebayor had calmed down he apologised for the celebration when he was interviewed and said emotions and the release of frustration got the better of him. I don’t see why he should be hung and quartered for that. What did he do? Ran fast and slid on his knees while holding his arms aloft. He didn’t leave the pitch, didn’t jump into the fans, didn’t spit at the crowd, didn’t throw anything into the crowd, no offensive hand gestures…. Reading the media reports you’d think he murdered the first born of every Arsenal supporter. It’s ridiculous.

Remember the Cantona kung-fu kick? I bloody well enjoyed that at the time. For too long people think they can go to a football match and take out their life’s frustrations by abusing players on the pitch. So when that bloke got the fly kick and punch from Cantona I thought “it serves you right!”

I remember the 1996 FA Cup final where the manc players were going to collect the trophy walking up the Wembley steps. A few Liverpool fans were spitting at Cantona while he was trotting up the stairs. If he’d have given the fan in question a slap it would have been justified in my opinion. If you walked up to someone on the street and spat at them or gave them abuse you’d expect a smack or at least a response. Why should it be different if the guy getting the abuse happens to be wearing a football kit getting paid?

Whip his cock out at the Stretford End. Fuckin’ brilliant Fatty!

I thought Stevie kissing the camera was class last March, but that one would take the cake.

Knight mate, as I said, I will definetely get you a Lyon ticket. I’ve already been on the case already, but can’t get hold of my mate. Don’t worry though, I’ll definetely get that game sorted.

The Manc game, as I tried to explain earlier, is not probably not going to to happen. Them tickets are pure gold dust mate. That’s why I said just go and watch that one in a pub by the ground. Great stuff if you can get the one from the Malasyian Reds though, but here mate… well, as I said, I’ll try for you but don’t hold out much hope of actually getting one.

Anyway, I’ll get back to you in later soon as I know what’s happening.

I think Adebayor deliberately stamped on Van Persie, after he fell down. What a coward! He deserves at least a three month ban! I will rule for a six month ban and three points deducted for Man City. And to think he did it to a former fellow player. That was done deliberately in front of the referee too who did not even give him a yellow for that! I find this incredible. A subsequent yellow that was issued to Adebayor was for excessive celebration touting the Arsenal fans.

Just drop his shorts at Old Trafford, hold his meat and 2 veg… and scream “Have some of that la!”

I remember being in a pub in Liverpool. I can’t remember what game was playing, I don’t even think we were playing. But Gary Neville was in the crowd and the camera zoomed on him while he was on his mobile phone. Everyone in the pub was reacting like the Arse fans to Adebayor. I had a right giggle to myself. The level of hatred was immense! My favourite was when someone hurled a beef burger at him at Anfield. Cracked me up that!!

FS, Thanks, mate!

6 month ban bloody hell Knight? Maybe send him to the electric chair while we’re at it.

Seriously though the stamp was a disgrace and I reckon a 4 game ban and 2 weeks wage fine will suffice.

Lads,
just on the sly sports website and there was a picture of masch above an opta stats article so i went in to it. He is the top passer of the ball so far in the league with an accuracy of 89%. Lucas the third highest amount of tackles, we are joint top scorers, second only to chelsea in shots on goal, highest amount on target, and again just behind chelsea in successful passes made.
I realise these stats don’t really tell too much, but it does show in a way how much we control games possesion wise, and how much we create. If we can keep these kind of performances going for the west ham and hull games, there is no reason we cant have two more wins and 6 points in the bag before our first big test against chelsea at the start of october.
skysports.com/story/0,19528,11979_2705370,00.html

I watched the game on saturday, thought we played quite well, but that apprehension from last season is still there until we score the first goal against the lower teams, I just hope we can keep getting the all importatnt first half goals at home for the rest of the sesaon.
Myself and my mate were then discussing Voro and Ngog when they came on, thought they both showed some great touches and awareness, but i suppose this is all well and good when we are cruising in a game, if we were still nil all i’m pretty sure i’d have been roaring at the telly at a few of the flicks and back heels!! Its a shame voro didnt stick his chance away, actually thought he did very well to get the ball over the keeper at all, that guy is a beast!! Still, all in all, he played some brilliant balls through the defence and think he warrants his 20 mins in each game to give nando a rest.
And before anyone says it, i know that the majority of maschs passes are 3 feet and backwards!!

oh, and reckon they’ll make an example of Ade, probably deserves whatever he gets, but the combination of both the tackle and the goal celebration will do him no favours.

Decent article I thought… http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8254614.stm

So we’ve signed up with Standard Chartered Bank as our shirt sponsor for £80m over 4 years. Isn’t that the biggest sponsorship deal in the country?

No. It’s equal with Man Utd as the biggest in the world.

LB, not only banned for 6 bloody games but the club be dealt with a 3 point deduction as well. Not a joke. I think Adebayor and Man Shitty should be thought a painful lesson that such despicable acts should not be condoned nor defended by the Manager. What a hypocritical prick, Mark Hughes.

I’m sorry Knight I don’t quite understand. 3 point deduction for what exactly? What lesson to Man City need to be taught here?

So it looks like Sparky has been on the toilet duck with the Tramp.He reckons that Ade`s challange and van persies challenge had “no malice” in them.

Yea right curly,Ade just seen a fly on VP`s eye and decided to kick it off for his oul mate.

Off topic,anyone see Federer last night?Some shot through the legs to give him match point.

Got me ticket too for game there this afternoon.Main stand only three rows back.Probably behind Rafa.So anyone want to pass on a message to the great man i`d probably be able to shout it at him!

Great stuff in 184 LB. Timmy that shot was outrageous! Federer called it the best of his career. Did you see Serena Williams’ meltdown the night before? Holy crap! Nice to see Clisjters win though, nice touch with her kid on the court for the trophy presentation. And for those of us in the U.S whaddabout that for an opening NFL wknd?! Farve keeps rolling, Drew Brees throws 385yds and 6 fricken td’s! And the N.Y Jets pound the Texans! Jets win the Super Bowl and Pool win prem. Ah leave me to my reverie….

LB, you have made your point well bit I’m an Immigration Officer and have to put up with alot of shit (and sometimes abuse) from people in the course of carrying out my duties of helping to protect the UK’s borders.

On a particularly stressful day, if I lost my temper (like Cantona did that night) and laid into a passenger after being abused and sworn at by that passenger, what do you think would happen to me? I’ll tell you what would happen, I’d lose my job that’s what!

So whats the difference? Well, for a start Cantona would have earnt alot more money than I do, and although he was handed a prison sentence it was overturned on appeal.

You, me, Joe Bloggs and old Uncle Tom Cobbly all have to keep our emotions in check on a daily basis, because if we don’t we pay the consequences. What makes a professional footballer any different? I know passions run high, and adrenelin runs through the roof on a sporting vein (especially in football) but at the end of the day it is no excuse.

I don’t mean to go on about the Adebayor affair lads but my post #213 was my way of putting it all into some sort of perspective.

I’ve sat there Timmy. It’s a great spot to watch a game from, but shit for atmosphere. Mind you that’ll probably be shit everywhere.

I understand what you are saying Knight. When I see footballers surrounding referees, shouting, screaming, trying to get opposition players booked, or rolling on the floor like there’s a sniper in the stadium and they haven’t been touched, even just diving, I would like to break one of their toes for every time they pulled any of that shit.

That would sort them out, nevermind deducting points from their clubs. Sadly, you can’t do either. But I do agree that Adebayor should be given the heaviest punishment possible.

But in all truth, the actual offence is only secondary as to why. My main reason being, this is one of the most high profile incidents for years. LB’s right about Cantona doing his Karate Kid impression - in the way that this will be remembered for years to come. So, the punishment should too. It wouldn’t wipe all this shit out of the game, but it might make players think twice.

That’s why I also think he should be hit with the highest possible punishment for the “Celebration” too. Make no bones about it, Adebayor had thought twice about doing it. In fact, he’d probably been working on it all week. So let him and other players realise this thing isn’t going to be tolerated either.

I sound like a right moralistic aul fart, but in all truth… I honestly get quite a laugh out of some of these type of things, and I accept them as part of the game. But it’s not right. It’s got to be stamped right out. Kids have got to be taught correctly. Otherwise it won’t be long before we are back to the bad old days. Fights at nearly every game, racist/obscene chanting and just general nastiness.

It’s been raring it’s head again for quite awhile and it’s definetely on the rise again.

And I know it’s the fans that should be blamed for that, but let’s face it if the players get down to their level, they’ve got to carry their part in the blame.

Put it this way… that’s the most noise I’ve heard from The Highbury Library Brigade in years. You have to also ask this… why does one of the most multi-cultural set of fans suddenly starting getting racist? No excuse, but I hope you see my point… if them prawn sandwich munchers can get that angry as to stoop to that sort of behaviour, what if it had happened at Millwall, or Stoke, or West Ham, or Cardiff, or… well, you get my drift.

Anyway, I think I’ve had my say on all points about that, so here’s my last word on it… throw the book at Adebayor and the Arsenal fans.

Back to footy… Galway Red, that’s what I was saying before this shit storm started. The facts don’t bear out the headlines. We aren’t the shit on a stick they would love us to believe.

In fact, the only real wrong thing we’ve done is give away 7 goals. Far too many in too few games. But all of them goals have come from set pieces… the easiest sort of goal to work on not giving away.

I saw Rafa commenting on this the other week. Of course the knobhead quizzing him put it down to the old chestnut… Zonal Marking. But Rafa just looked at him tiredly, and said No. It’s because defenders haven’t been attacking the ball.

I have to agree. Then there’s the upsets in our defences already… 2 new players, a young lad still learning his trade, 3 different CB pairings, but nevermind that. You only have to look at our defensive record over the last 3 seasons to realise we will soon put that right.

And sorry to turn this into a blog on it’s own but I want to get back to the footy and I want to say this…
Chelsea this year’s media darlings haven’t started as good as they’d like to have us believe. They’ve struggled against Hull and Stoke and only won the games deep into extra time and they struggled for an hour against Burnley. In fact, they’ve had a pretty similar start to the one they had last season - scrapping results and hanging in at the top, but we all remember how they fell away. And they haven’t really strengthened in anyway, and their all a year older.

So, I’m not saying they can’t win it, but I am saying we have nothing to fear from them.

Arsenal- if they was more interested in winning trophies rather than making money, they’d be frightening. But even with all the injured players coming back and their few new additions, I’d say we have nothing to fear from them either. Let’s see how they look in January, Febuary… slipping out of top four a realistic option for them.

Mancs - no point in going on. We all know what’s happened and is happening there. If I was a realistic Utd fan (Do any exist?) I’d see a fourth place finish as success.

In fact, I’d say I fully expect City to do them at the weekend, except for the fact that Derbies can never really be predicted. But I can still see City doing them and finishing above them in the league. In fact, I can see City being our main competition and maybe even winning it.

Of course Angry Gay and the likes would howl laughing at that, but I’ve seen a few league titles bought in that manner before.

So, like Gerry said a few blogs back… The league runs in three stages - The start to Christmas, Then Christmas to Easter, and Easter until the end. If it hasn’t started to take the sort of shape I’ve just mentioned by Christmas, I will eat Adebayor’s boots!

Oh fucking hell Steve. Now you tell me and I’m a smuggler!

Oh and I’ve no real interest in golf, but me mate stuck 500 quid on Federer to win that thing in New York before it started and got 7 to 1 for him.

I never had you down as one of those FS! (lol)

Steve mate, there’s no room in my clothing for a single ciggie nevermind a few dozen cartons.

Totally unrelated but to settle a 10p bet in work…

On what night of the week did ITV show Champions League matches last year? I say Tuesday but another guy says Wednesday.

MTMMC, it was tuesday.

Go halfers on the winnings though!

Just watched the Burnley game on LFCTV (while it’s free!).
Stevie showed a range of passing that was a par with Xabi’s, and still managed to surge in the box on several occasions and get shots on goal etc.

On Reina’s interview before the game, it makes me laugh how things get over analysised, and the fact he said we can’t win the league.
Remember Stevie said the same thing about the CL in ‘04 nad people we getting all excited about it, and we when on to win the bloody thing.

FS, does Federer play Golf as well now then?

I hadn’t seen the Adebayor tackle over the weekend, but I’ve just watched it a few times on that link Lurgan provided in #187

For all those taking the moral high ground, I suggest you have a few more looks at it.
Van Persie is flying in, trying to kick Ade’s legs out from under him. Look at his head angle, body angle and watch his feet… absolutely no attempt to go for the ball there.
he’s trying to do Ade’s leg.

So as wrong as it is to stamp a player and I’d never condone it, VP was hardly innocent in this and deserves what he got. They should let it lie there.
Unless you are gonna charge VP as well.

This explains us trying to buy English players over the past few windows and loading up the academy….
_________________________________

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=676207&sec=england&cc=5901&campaign=rss&source=soccernet

Premier League bring in home grown quotas

The Premier League has announced that from next season every team must name a squad of 25 players, of which eight must be home grown.

A home grown player is any player who has played for an English or Welsh club for three years before their 21st birthday.

At present every Premier League club already passes the test, though Chelsea and Liverpool both have the bare minimum of eight.

In addition, there will be tighter controls on the spending of top flight clubs.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore revealed: “As of next season clubs will be required to have a squad named of up to 25 players, of which no more than 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home grown.

“The definition of home grown is trained for three years under the age of 21 by somebody in the English and Welsh professional system. Clubs will have to declare their 25 at the end of August when the window shuts and then again at the end of January.

But Scudamore was quick to rubbish suggestions that the rule would encourage Premier League clubs to sign foreign teenagers to train in their Academy for three years.

“It’s not in the club’s interests to stockpile players. It will make buying home-grown talent more attractive,” he insisted. “We’re not going down the route of a nationality test but what this will mean is that you just can’t buy a team from abroad.

“We think it will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth. We think that one of the benefits will be that it will help the England team.”

The Premier League will also introduce strict new controls on clubs’ finances.

“They will all have to annually submit accounts and future financial information,” said Scudamore. “At all times the board of the Premier League will be applying a test which basically says this: can the club fulfil its fixtures, pay off its creditors when they are due and also to meet obligations to the Premier League’s contracts and partners?

“If the board believe a club is at risk of not meeting those obligations, it has to then step in and agree a budget for the running of that club. Any transfers can be embargoed. It’s absolutely crucial that these clubs are run as ongoing viable concerns. These financial rules apply immediately.

“This is tied in, and we passed the rule during the summer, to a ‘fit and proper person test’. At our club meeting last week, the clubs absolutely endorsed our position of not linking expenditure to income.”

Not sure who would be our 8 players that meet the criteria right now:

Our English players:
Carra
Gerrard
Johnson
Spearing
Kelly
Darby

I’m guessing maybe these two would be the other by the time the rule goes into effect?
Insua
Pacheco

I was hoping I’d said everything I was going to on this. But come on Aitch, let it lie there.

Behave yourself. You coach kids. You should know better.

And I was one of them banging the moral drum, but have a look at me post… I said Van Persie went right through him. You see them tackles week in week out. The tackler crashes through the player, taking everything, player’s legs and ball.

Granted Van Persie was a bit high off the deck. But sometimes they get away with them. Sometimes they get booked. More often than not, the player getting tackled comes crashing down on the tackler injuring him, sometimes purposely most times just landing heavy from the impact.

But Adebayor was cute to it. He got up and out of the way, but then what he done was a disgrace. He could have blinded that lad, and he wasn’t content with that. He stamped his hand an all.

No sorry mate. You should have another look and rethink, because that was one disgraceful shithouse trick that could have done unrepairable damage to an old team mate. No excuse… maximum ban - whether the FA charge VP or not.

No room for that sort of thing in sport nevermind footy.

Steve I’m not sure but I’m relably informed he drives one on his day off.

Nah. Arsing about aside, me mate did have 500 on him. He doesn’t bet like that. He’s the odd fiver here and there like meself. But he got into conversation with some Tennis nut, who told him if he got on Federer quick that he would get 7 to 1 and that it was a steal. Probably just chit chat but me daft mate lumped on it. Mind you won’t be that daft if he’s picking up 4 grand tomorrow.

PS… meself, I bet far more like MTMC.

And are you sure it was Tuesday’s lads? I know me bird threw a wobbler when they dropped Corrie and moved it to Thursdays so they could show the games on the Wednesday.

If I’m right send me winnings to Harry’s bike ride appeal!

Come to think of it, how come none of you miserable bastards commented on that. That’s some task for a man in his 60’s on a scabby old moped. In fact, you should send a couple of quid to the appeal… Miserable buggers.

You’ve got em all Ivjmac

FS-where does Nemeth fit into that mix?

With him going out on loan the past two seasons, does that mean he would no longer qualify as trained in our system?

It all gets confusing because even though he’s been out on loan, we’ve still held his registration the entire time.

Don’t knopw what they’d do in that case mate. Just surprised by the way this has sort of shot out of nowhere.

Anyway, off to bed.
Night night

Where it gets interesting is in the remaining 17 “foreign” players.

Taking out the 8 from above, that would leave the following squad players that are over 21 and not “home grown”:

Diego Cavalieri
Alberto Aquilani
Daniel Agger
Fernando Torres
Andriy Voronin
Albert Riera
Fabio Aurelio
Yossi Benayoun
Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Dirk Kuyt
Ryan Babel
Javier Mascherano
Lucas Leiva
David Ngog
Pepe Reina
Philipp Degen
Damien Plessis
Nabil El Zhar
Martin Skrtel
Andrea Dossena

I guess it means 3 would have to go to get us down to the minimum requirement of 25 players? Should make for an interesting next two transfer windows.

It mentions Chelsea have the bare minimum right now, but that leaves them in a tough spot over the next two windows since their banned from registering new players. Very interesting.

Digger, those Drew Brees stats dont count mate. They were against Detroit!

FS,…I added the facebook link you put up about bike ride.

Cheers MTMC. He’s some boy Harry. Lovely fella. Has got fuck all himself, but always doing this sort of thing for any Red in need. When we played Barcelona away a few seasons ago, he bought an auld knackered moped down there and rode it all the way home raising money for Ray Kennedy who fell on hard times. Then he rode round every inch of the UK for the poor young Red Kid who’s losing his sight. Now he’s off again on this one. Sleeps under bushes and all sorts - real staunch fella, and at the age of 61 a bloody miracle. Still plays footy the aul bugger.

Anyway, was near asleep when Ivjmac broke the new 25/8 rule. And I’ve just woke up so haven’t give it much thought but that’s a huge development that. Weird how it just came out of nowhere.

In fact, there’s a few things I can’t get me head round right now…
UEFA ban Chelsea from making signings for poaching kids.
FA come out with a rule that is bound to encourage it all the more.
UEFA rescind Eduardo’s ban - giving the divers carte blanche.
FA call early meeting to look into Adebayor’s antics - ban him early leaves them wide open to Manc conspiracy accusations.

Fuck sake, who are these idiots running the worlds biggest and most lucrative sport.