I watched the game yesterday, and was once again frustrated with the lack of any real ideas in attack once they went behind. This has been our downfall for a while – the lack of a decisive pass forward, and, more importantly, someone on the end of that pass who knows where the goal is. I lost count of the side and back-passes in the second half, a sure sign of lack of confidence, and, as you rightly point out, this is our best eleven! I have no suggestions, it’s all been beaten to death over the last few months, but I really hope that these guys get a better idea of what wearing the Liverpool shirt means. Right now, I see no way forward with this squad of average players (apart from a couple)and foresee another 2 to 3-year rebuilding program. It’s tough on an old guy who has been used to watching the best…

I will be RED no matter win or lose…

I think Rafa should now let loose and drop one of the two holders and put in Aqua behind Torres and Gerrard and Masch in the middle. Benny on the right and Albie (if fit) on the left. We were scoring goals for fun last season near the end and that I believe is our way out of this mess. Instead of worrying about clean sheets we need to start thinking of out scoring our opponents.
Of course, easier said than done… but like Gerry said, things can’t POSSIBLY get any worse!!

Gerry, it was a pleasure reading your well thought-through column. I agree with most of you points. The second half lack of performance betrayed the poor fitness of many of our players, due to the recent injuries. We should be getting stronger soon. I hope Rafa and his boys will keep their spirits up. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

BC, I didn’t see any lads out there who didn’t want to play for a Red Shirt, I saw 11 lads who were broken when they didn’t win. Fair dickum mate they may have been shattered but they never give up.
.
Things will turn around, these lads won’t be kept down for long. Great to see Xabi at the ground watching his former team mates. If we can attract Xabi on a freezing cold Merseyside night to watch his former team mates, then that tells me the team and club have spirit.
.
Lets never give up they at least deserve that!

We may have started with our best 11 …but we didn’t start with our 11 AT THEIR BEST.

Where’s the fuckin mystery? These guys are not yet fully fit. gerry I think if you get the chance to watch a rebroadcast, you’ll see we should have been 3-0 up at half-time for all the effort and graft we put in… and would have been at least 2-0 up with any other ref…
… but the high tempo of our first half efforts meant that things were always gonna get dodgy for the walking wounded in the 2nd half with only a 1 goal lead… especially against Arshavin… err… I mean Arsenal.

We were carrying a half-fit SG, BennyOnion and Torres and now people want to drop our two best, strongest and most consistent midfielders and add another walking wounded to the fuckin mix… just so we can see some flix-n-trix…
…mystifying and aggravating in equal measure.

Aitch, I couldn’t agree with you more. Although it was what could be considered our strongest eleven, they are short of being at their best. Just because they take the field does not mean we would start playing like the back end of last season.

Now about Aquilani. Yes he was the ‘big money signing’ and yes he has the talent and potential to be a great player for us but at the moment Lucas and Masch just piss all over him. Just because Lucas cost less and has a lower profile(at the moment) doesn’t mean he just moves aside for Aquaman. Each place in the side has to be earned and Lucas has improved so much and is actually playing really well at the moment (so is Masch).

I do believe we lost more momentum and bite when Aquaman came on. Given time, I hope he will be the player we all hope for but at the moment reputations don’t win us matches.

I don’t know if it was by choice or as someone else suggested, through lack of fitness, but it appeared to me that when we came out for the 2nd half, we sat much deeper than we had in the 1st, as though we were going to try to defend the 1 goal lead and try to hit them on the break. This allowed Arsenal more possesion than they had in the 1st half and allowed them to get their passing game going. Arshavin hardly saw the ball in the 1st half, yet once we allowed them to start playing he was a constant torment and once we had gone behind we didn’t seem to be able to rebuild the momentum.
I don’t believe this is the 1st time this has happened this season, once we get a goal we seem to take the foot of the gas and let a game we have been dominating slip away from us. If this is the way they are being coached, then this is definitely down to Rafa, if it’s not being coached then it’s up to Rafa to spot the problem and tell the players to keep pressing the way they were prior to the goal, the way we were doing at the end of last season.
I agree with Aitch, a lot of the players appeared to be at best half fit, Gerrard seemed to be hobbling at times and appears to be reluctant to run at full speed, however I don’t know that this excuses some of the passing that we saw in the game, some of it was woeful, however I do think the more we can get all these players playing together again the better the understanding will be, we need to try to get a settled side now and, injuries permitting, we should see some real improvement.

RedManiac, I think we lost our momentum right after the OG… I can’t blame Aquaman, actually, I think he even brought some positivity into the match… he tried one touch passes, tried to move the ball to the flanks
now, one moment in the middle of the 2nd half was very demonstrative to me, after which i sort of knew that we will not score another goal. Stevie G was cutting in from the left, send the ball past Arsenal defender, but then suddenly stopped and started complaining to Webb that he was held, although the contact was minimal… and at his best he would’ve just rammed through and got into the shooting position, probably scoring a screamer or sending through ball to Torres
anyway, i wasn’t so much upset by the score, more by our play in the second half…
personally, i think 1st half was exemplary, both defensively and offensively… we were stretching arsenal defense, creating chances. I mean, Arsenal have hardly seen the ball, we were pressing them all over the pitch, Masch and Lucas were tearing them apart, Torres looked like his old self, and Stevie was very sharp
I’d say that Wenger was very lucky in the first half, i actually heard that he started tearing his players apart during HT, saying that they do not deserve to wear the club colors, screamed at them and etc…
now second half was weak, you can generally see that our players were tired, fatigued, lost concentration, especially GJ after own goal, although i rate him very high as a player
anyway, it’s time to walk on with our heads up high… season ain’t over yet

Hi Gerry, I was holidaying too on a Malaysia island but managed to see the game with a friend who is not keen on football and does not normally follow the PL. He saw Gerrard being tripped and when the referee did not blow for a penalty said that the referee was clearly on the take. Can’t say I disagree with him.

I think we had two holding mid-fielders in Lucas and Masch. Would have liked to see Aqualani start instead of Lucas, since this is almost a do-or-die match as it would have taken us up a few notches had we won. Pity.

Gerry, For all the pain we have endured following losses due to last minute goals, beach balls and poor refereeing decisions, you have kept a bright and balanced outlook for our Liverpool.

Keep up your positive writings mate. And don’t you dare jump naked from your rooftop into the neighbours’s rubbish bin even if our results are against us.

Here’s wishing you and your wife and family a Merry X’mas and a Happy New Year.

Separately but equally important is to wish all friends and contributors -especially FS and Donal both of whom I had the opportunity of meeting and having a fun time with- on this blog a Merry X’mas and a Happy New year to you and your families and loved ones!

Gerry – Can you please add an All of the Above to the Current Kopblog Poll…its impossible to pick the worst…they are all equally shite…:-)

Sorry to do this… I haven’t even read the blog or the comments yet. As usual, I have been in the old one not realising there is a new one.

So appologies for this, but I’m sure Gerry won’t mind. In fact, I’m sure you’ll want to see this mate…
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Sunday-13th-December-_-Protest-Video.html

Here’s my comment from the last blog cut and pasted, because it has another link in it. And I think it’s important…

Why has this not appeared in the media…
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Protest-Review-_-Hicks-turned-away-from-ground.html

You’d think the owner of a football club being kept out of his own stadium by the club’s supporters would be a major story. But not a peep. Why?

I suppose if they had reported it they would have only twisted into Benevolent Owners Assaulted By Scouse Thugs.

But why no mention at all, when whenever you turn on the telly, or the radio, or pick up a paper all you get is LFC in melt down, Rafa’s lost the dressing room, the fans and the plot.

All I can say is…. I suggest anyone who still believes the media isn’t out to get our club and our boss, should have a re-think.

They will not report anything that doesn’t fit the agenda.
********************

AS I said, appologies for not reading the blog or comments before posting. I’m off to do that right now, but was sure some of you would want to see that.

we’ve just got to roll with the punches for now and see where we are in may.. then the club has some massive decisions to make but with thoses clowns in charge what are the chances of them making the right ones???
Gerry dont know if ya heard the newstalk talking history slot on sunday on the history of LFC but its well worth a listen its up on itunes now in the podcast directory>>newstalk 106>>talking history, yer man from off the ball is on it though he can be a pesimistic twat at times.

Gonna catch up on comments later,just want to say great blog and thanks again gerry. You and most of the posters in here have kept me from going insane. The constant shite being mouthed about the club is so hard to take and like FS says it is a little oasis of sanity for me.

cheers

YNWA

In my last post I asked, is it a coincidence that the Reds have failed to win a trophy since Pako Ayesteran’s departure?.I discussed this with some Kop season ticket holders who possess a functioning brain and they agreed with the idea that Ayesteran was a major reason for Rafa’s success.Rafa didn’t become successful until he employed Pako as his assistant and the trophies have dried up since his departure.Same thing happened to Gerd after Patrice Berges departure and ditto Cloughie and Taylor.In every walk of life, you get hammered when things go wrong-Tony Blair being a classic example.Win the title this season and Rafa could of kicked his detractors in the nuts.How long more does Rafa need?.Houllier was lambasted because he had a 5 year plan!.Why pay so much for Jono?-Mourinho could see that his defending wasn’t great and offloaded him.

Right sorry for my rude interuption, but I’ve read the blog and comments…
I posted Wenger’s reaction to the game in the las comments. He had it spot on.

I really don’t understand some people’s comments… they seem to understand that we are physically and mentaly under the cosh at the moment. But wonder why the team couldn’t keep the first half performance up?

Bit strange to say the least.

And as for a “squad of average players,” baffling indeed.

In the last comments, I also posted Rafa’s response to the Arsenal game… there was no excuses. He told the truth as usual, while supporting the players.

There’s one way out of this… hard work. No magic wand. No nuclear formula. Just plain hard graft.

That will lead to fitness. That will lead to stringing a few wins together.

In the meantime, Rafa can speak to them until he’s blue in the face. He can throw wobblers. He can kick them up the arse or wrap an arm around their shoulders. But in all reality only a string of results will start to remove the nervesouness and anxiety which leads to mistakes and panic, which leads to sloppy goals, which results in heads dropping and tired legs becoming even heavier.

If you watched the game on Sunday, and even have the slightest inkling about the game, you surely seen all that happening once the OG went in.

If he’d clipped that round the post and out, he’d have wellied the second chance up the pitch before Arshavin got anywhere near it.

It’s all a knock on effect, but the good thing is… it works in reverse too and once a few wins are put together the confidence comes back and then the performances after that.

And a few wins will also change things dramatically. Look at Arsenal, just two weeks ago they were 11 points behind Chelsea.

BM… I would answer that. But I suppose I’m a Kopite without a functiong brain in your own legendary grey matter. And the fact is… I have given up on you and all the other toss pots.

I’d hate to be like you. In fact, I pity you. It must be awful going through life under a cloud of doom and gloom, always searching for more weapons to beat the one you profess to love.

If you dig deep enough, you could blame John Houlding for all this…
Go on, I’ll give you time to Google the name and find out why I said you can trace it back to him.

In the meantime, I’m still patiently waiting for the master plan from you and your gang.

Burger and chips. I don’t remember Pako being here last season, forgive me if I’m wrong. However I don’t remember him being here, I do remember however, best points haul and second place. I guess that means nothing.
.
Ps when are you going to answer the question, how do you fix our current situation.

ah! BM you finally said it – “In every walk of life, you get hammered when things go wrong”

But i dont hammer my friends when the chips are down, my parents dont hammer me when i am down, my family doesnt hammer other family members when things are low. Actually they do quite the opposite.

My boss hammers me when i dont succeed.

Ask your “Kop season ticket holders who possess a functioning brain” what i might be getting at.

YNWA

Pako wasn’t @ Anfield last season and once again the Reds finished trophyless.Rafa’s success has depended on having Pako as his assistant.That is the opinion of some of the players @ the club and one I agree with.Give him Rafa’s job , he couldn’t do much worse.Problem possibly solved.

Which players?

BurgerBaby crapping his nappies again … its getting boring …

I’ve just figured out who Burgerman is in real life. The love of Arsenal, the hatred of Rafa..

Jermaine! How are ya? Are you enjoying Real Zaragoza? I hear your crap performances got your manager sacked at the weekend.

Isn’t it just Dizzy. These people have no shame whatsoever. There is no depths they won’t plunge to… they constantly move the goalposts to fit their agenda. They dip back in the past when it suits them and they are constantly looking for new sticks to batter Rafa with.

It’s bloody disgraceful…
And the nearest we’ve got to a plan, well even a suggestion…
Give Rafa’s job to Pako.

Nevermind the fact that the man has never managed a club or even has the credentials. Never mind that he walked out on Rafa and wanted to return to Spain. Nevermind that we went within 2 goals of winning the title last season when Pako wasn’t there. Nevermind that it is the defence that has us in this position and Pako wasn’t even our defensive coach.

Come to think of it… never mind that we’ve played 24 games in all competitions this season and had to feild 17 different defensive combinations already.

Mind you… I’m looking at the plan unfold. Up to now, we’ve got bringing back Larson even though he’s had to retire due to old age and injuries. And play Nemeth upfront, even though he’s playing in Greece. And let Pako manage them even though he’s not a manager.

Well, excuse me for not having a brain that functions on that level. But I think I’d prefer to stay the way we are. Thanks for the suggestions though. I’ll file them under B where they belong… in the bin!

Burger Man this Pako business is a load of horse shit. A truer reflection is this. We have not won anything since H&G bought the club with borrowed money.

Hang on LB, that’s common sense you’re using there. It doesn’t fit the agenda.

Look at that clip I posted mate. How come Sly never filmed that?

They have no problem setting up camp outside Anfield everyday and finding a load of tourists coming out the club shop, loaded to the gills with official merchandise, and then cajoling them into agreeing that the club is going into meltdown and it’s all Rafa’s doing.

Sort of strange to say the least.

I must be mental. I come in here, post facts, dig up important news items, and give reports on what is happening amongst supporters at the games.

And then end up having a bloody cyber argument with a mischevious slightly retarded lad, who gets his kicks from dropping negative bombshells and reducing this place to absolute banality.

I must get another hobby, maybe even take up that croucheting melarkey. At least there’d be an end product.

FS, I read about that yesterday. It’s a bloody good question you ask. Why is this not reported in the mainstream media? A club the size of Liverpool have owners who were denied access into the stadium of the club they own due to a demonstration. And this is not reported? When Glazier was buying everyones shares at Man Utd and their fans were demonstrating I saw it on sky sports news every day. Main sports writers in ever newspaper covered the story daily.

I recon BM works for sky sports.

Some Kop season ticket holders who possess a functioning brain actually discussed things with burgerman?

Why would they bother doing that?

Exactly FS … and you need to ask this BurgerBaby wat exactly is Pako winning at the moment wherever he is??

I think the last season’s High came at the wrong period of time… if it wud have come at a point where we already have a decent and settled squad (playing & bench)we wud definitly be building on that … But, unfortunately, it came at a point where we have to actually SELL to not only buy but worst, to pay the wages and renew contracts.. It had our hopes up… it had TITLE no. 19 Coming Up written all over it… But wat happened since july is there for everyone to see … but sadly few of the “supporters” dun see everything that clearly and find pooping in here very comfortable …

If Rafa had made blunder of a signing in this season, i wud have thot abt slagging him … If he had been putting all teh moeny given to him for transfers into his own pockets i wud be slagging him .. But wait a minute, did he do that ?? He had his hand tied .. He cudnt even get a friggin 6 odd million to sign that Turner guy and had to make wid a scrappy replacement of Hercules for mere peanuts …

I had my reservations on Aqualani’s transfer .. but then once i discussed it here and read few stuff regarding the ACTUAL facts regarding financial/transfer kitty (absence of) i had admire Rafa for taking the chance wid Aqualani.. Ths mite turn into another quality buy.. that too wen his injury provided the chance to get him on a “Bargain value” .. I knew it wud be hard for him to settle in rite away and it will take him atleast a few games to get into teh groove, to gel in and to link up perfectly wid the Gerrard-Toress Duo.. SO far, if he hasnt lived up to everyone’s expectations, he hasnt disappointed anyone either .. He has performed perfectly normal for a player coming after an injury and into a different league ..

As every INSANE and ILLOGICAL (pun intended)minded fan in here has mentioned already, the real reason for our slide this season has been more due to the fact that we have had to use a dozen different defensive combinations so far … starting form the day one clattering of heads between cara and skertl ..

But we did see our real game, or i’d say a glimpse of it, as it lasted for one half only against arsenal .. but for me, that was the sign of the real liverpool spirit and display returning … and if it wasnt for that asshole webb, who knows wat have been in teh second half ..

Anyways, as Tomkins put in the otehr day, we just need a couple of hard-fought clean sheet wins under our belt and we wud be back on track … COnfidence is the key …

FS thats a great link to the SOS video. Not only should we spread the link, but in my opinion also the point that this was not reported by any English media. If this doesnt get Liverpool supporters thinking, i cant fathom what will. And thats all i really want to start with – get our own to realise whats happening.

I had lived in the far east for many years and it is very easy not to know the real issues faced by any club when living far away. But vidoes like these, right outside Anfield, should bring fans all over the world a little closer to the real problems.

Any plans by SOS to spread word of this protest?

YNWA

Yes mate. It’s an on going thing.

Sadly though, I think it won’t get any media courage while it’s peaceful and actually working.

The only papers it’s been in is the Liverpool ones. And understandably, they can’t make too much of a big deal of it as they have to tow the owners line really.

Tell you when it will get reported… when the police try to stop them and it gets violent. Then the SOS will be reported as a gang of Scouse thugs, denying the owners their legal rights.

Dizzy… it’s like the old story of the boy trying to block the holes in the Dam. Each time he plugs one up, another appears and he hasn’t got the tools to keep shoring them up.

And as long as H&G remain, it’s only going to get worse. I hate to be a doom and gloom monger, but it has to be faced… Carra, Gerrard, Kuyt, Benayoun will soon all be on the downward part of their careers. There’ll be no money to shore up the squad.

Rafa’s no dummy. He knows this. That’s why he invests in all the kids, hoping a few will make and knowing he will make money on the ones that don’t.

In fact, only last week he beat the Mancs, Arse and Chavs to some young lad from Iceland. The idiots will tell you the world wide famous scouting system that Rafa and Eduardo Macia have built is crap. But the truth is… The Mancs are so worried about our system that they are setting up their own schools and academies in Brazil.

I agree with the tramp, given time Rafa’s youth policy will bring through good young players to fill the gaps and reduce the need for major money on established players. The problem is some people aren’t even willing to go past a one match setback without calling for the manager’s head.

Typo of the month… media courage.

HA. Sorry lads, coverage obviously.

more crap from Sly sports i couldn’t stand it so i responded!! doubt they post it up!!

http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,15196_5773850,00.html

Yet more propaganda from the lets bash Rafa and Liverpool sky sports camp. The consensus might be that Rafa Benitez is a cold calculating machine, with little or no people management skills, but i believe all is body language show is the depth of his feelings for the club and disappointment at our present predicament. It is reflective of everything that all Liverpool fc supports were feeling on Sunday directly after the game….shock and disbelief at how we could boss a game so much in the first half, that if it had been a boxing match (to use Mr Shreeves’s own analargy) a ref would have stopped it. To losing from an unbelievable own goal that you couldn’t have scripted, and a contender for goal of the season!
So Mr Shreeves and Sly Sports, do us all a favour and lay off our Rafa! Your dagger comments and underhand agenda, does nothing to help a team already struggling for form and a fragile bank of confidence! Your antics might sway the fair weather supports, but not those true Liverpool fans out there!! YNWA!!!

Truth is Rafa hasnt been the same with out Pako,yes he came close winning the EPL trophy in the absence of Pako but no one recognises 2nd best,he won the champion league trophy and FA cup with half of the squad he inherited from Houllier and pako as his back bone,Pako left and offloaded most of the players and there is nothing to show as success at Anfield since then.

If we keep losing games,believe me pressure will finally mount and the fans will lose their trust in him,every thing that has a begining has an end,we can say whatever we wanna say but at the end of the day what happens at the pitch determines the fate of the club!

now they are using pako as the stick to beat rafa. sigh.

Loved the SOS demo. I remember when the Mancs did the same and built a rickety wooden road block that the car just smashed through when all the mancs ran away. It was all over the media, they loved it.
A real shame that it isnt getting any coverage. Has anybody e-mailed the top liverpool supporting journalists?
It would be a pity not to use it. I remember e-mailing a letter to a Dallas newspaper (cant remember which one) but true to their word they printed it and sent me a copy. It would be pretty uncomfortable for Uncle Tom to read about this in his local newspaper when hes eating his cornflakes.

“believe me pressure will finally mount and the fans will lose their trust in him” just like you have you fuckin knobhead, if you are going to comment, try and be a bit more educated on LFC and all it stand’s for, failing that fuck off out of here we dont need the likes of you when we have mancs and chavs to contend with as well.
FS they have knocked the Bluebell down and the Hilly.
YNWA.

sula – “but at the end of the day what happens at the pitch determines the fate of the club”

really?

and what determines what happens on the pitch? maybe the players, maybe the manager, maybe the owners, maybe the board, maybe the fans.

other than bashing the manager, can you see where else we might be going wrong?

YNWA

Wonderful… the stage is set for the greatest premiership comeback glory EVER!
All we have to do now ( since most of the other teams consider us goners already ) is to attack like there is no tomorrow.

————–Reina————-
————–Carra————-
—Degen————— Insua—
————–masch————-
Johnson——Stevie G——Reira
——–Benny——————-
——————Torres——–

This line up will GUARANTEE the premiership returns to its home at LFC come may 2010. Its unstoppable, its destructable, its so devastating the other teams will shit in their pants.

The problem is only the manager will not play this team. We always perform better with a 3 man defence and 2 overlapping attackers. Remember Istanbul, we can win this. All we need is to go out there and scare the shit out of these people with our strengths in attack now.

If Aquilani is up to it then play him beside Masch and push Stevie G further up with a free role supporting Torres. So SIMPLE.

When we are up then take out Reira and put in Agger and we have our 4 man defence back. Even if we do not take out Riera we still have a strong defence as we have Masch and Stevie G tacking back in the centre while we can trust Johnson to track back on the right. We shud be more than fine in defence. SO SIMPLE.

Get this team out and see the wins pile up all the way to the title.

“Its unstoppable, its destructable, its so devastating the other teams will shit in their pants.”

Degen, Carra, Insua as a back 3…. I think I just shit MY pants.

Off topic here.

In a year where there has been 3 new British boxing World Champions and a British Formula 1 World Championship. How the fuck did Ryan Giggs win BBC Sports Personality of the year!!?

Now now LB,
thought i was the one for the sarcasm,anyway just came in to paste this.

http://www.footballfancast.com/football-blogs/boy-skills-liverpools-gerardo-bruna?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ffc_Premiership_Blogs+%28FFC_Premiership_Blogs%29

And I forgot to mention the Gold medal winners at the Athletic World Championship….

FS,
just read that the great Alan Acourt passed away today aged 75, what a shame i cant really remember him playing and i should.
YNWA.

#43

Speechless
(and this from a guy that usually types 23 paragraph missives)

Nah, simply can’t leave it at that.

The question is … do YOU remember Istanbul?

What turned the tide, was not SG bombing forward… but the introduction at half-time of Didi Hamman… A FUCKIN HOLDING MIDFIELDER… who put his foot on the ball, shored things up at the back, and provided the platform required to allow SG to get forward and do some damage.

FOR FUCKS SAKE… try actually watching some football will you?

… or better yet, put down the FIFA08 game controller, log off Champ Manager, get off yer arse, get yourself some fuckin boots and get yourself into a league team and learn something… anything… about the game.

Yeah I know Red. I was in Huyton not long back. I stay in Bootle when I’m at home though. And I only really bevvie in town… I do the Punch, Coopers, Winey route. Miss them mad Mondays mate.

Well, there’s one plan. As I said earlier, I’ll stick with Rafa’s.

Still waiting on Sula The Not So Magnificent’s. Come to think of it, I’m still waiting on any useful suggestion from any one of them. Don’t think I’ll be risking holding me breath on that though.

What a gyp LB, I thought he was a shoe in for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Oscar too.

Oh and Red, I missed A’Court too. He retired just before I started going. I sort of remember him from when I was a kid, and I’ve read about him. He was from Rainhill you know… A place you know well isn’t it?

I dunno how much Burgerman’s talk about Pako is true. I would like to leave it at that.

Whats the activity on the trasnfer front? Are we being linked to anyone in the Jan transfer window? I meant anything happening on a serious note?

yep, we give 3 million to Roma by the 4th Jan and then we have no more money for transfers!

Oh and then we give another 7 million to Roma by the end of june and at least half (probably all) of the summer transfer budget is away!

Thank God I have been so hectic, despite being part of the benefit brigade, to actually read and catch up with everything. I did not have the heart to read the post on the last blog and have been pleasantly surprised at the tone of this one except for the usual CBC pathetic drivel. Great Blog Gerry and it is a pity you did not see the game. The first half was great to see with the Arse not even at the races, we dominated in all facets of the game except where it matters most the sharpness that comes from having games under your belt. Both Torres and Gerrard lack any real match sharpness. We are a good team and time will prove me right. Johnson looks to be struggling with a fitness issue as well. Aurelleo had a good game and Masch (my man of the match) and Lucas made the world famous Fabregas and co look ordinary. Who was it for the CBC who said what team in the top four would Lucas play for. Well we have dominated both the Mancs and the Arse in the midfield so that should answer your question. I was gutted at the result, felt sick to my stomach, it was a game we should have and deserved to win and my heart went out for all the lads who gave it their all. Yes they ran out of steam in the second half, understandably so seeing most of them are half fit. We just need a bit of a break to get the confidence levels up. It will happen, we have to keep faith, the lads and Rafa deserve it, it’s the least we can do to help them. It will turn, luck and form is temporary, class is permanent and this team and Manager are pure class. YNWA, it time we as supporters stand up and live our motto and stop with the knee jerk responses, while ignoring the reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Get behind the team or fuck off.

I agree it’s a disgrace the way the main stream news ignore the reality of what is happening at Liverpool.

LB #44 I am still laughing thanks it put a smile back on my face.

‘unstoppable’, ‘indestructable’, ‘devastating’ – high praise indeed for a 10 man team Saty!!

In regards to the silly comments about Pako being manager, since leaving us he went on to be physical fitness coach at Benfica and has since joined Valencia this year in the same role. Obviously he’s ready to take over from Rafa any second now.

As far as the game goes, its disappointing because, as Gerry said, the weekends other results set it up well for us but when you’ve been effectly playing with a half injured team for a while, its unsuprising results havn’t been going our way. It’s frustrating but the only other team with a bigger injury list than us is Everton and look how that’s effected their season so far. But hey, I’m confident we can bounce back. A few wins later and who knows where we’ll be especially as we’ve already been written off by all the media world of bitter ex-footballers, failed managers or journalists who’ve never even managed to play for a pub team. So in a way, these vast collection of money-grabbers have taken most of the pressure off already.

Regardless, I’m still confident Rafa’s the man for the job and maybe we’ll even get something at the end of the season for our troubles. There’s still somethings to play for after all. I could be being too optimistic (I don’t have the managerial knowledge of Graeme Souness after all) but when thing’s aren’t going your way, at least we get to see who’s really behind the team and who isn’t.

Like Gerry said, keep the faith.

YNWA.

#54… …er… NO .. let’s not leave it at that. That’s what Emus do.
Let’s not leave some snidey little sideswipe at rafa hanging out there unchecked!
Let’s not let some half-truth (and that’s being inccredibly generous) go undisputed!
NO… let’s not do that, let’s not leave it at that…
…coz quite simply Burgs statement was at best uninformed and inacurate …and at worst a bold faced, shit-stirring LIE!

So Somnath, allow me to clue you in.

Pako Ayesteran was a terrific assistant coach. He was Rafa’s right hand man, and to suggest he did not contribute to the cause would be a disservice to the man.

BUT… the truth is… G&H used him as a pawn to unsettle Rafa and what he was doing… for their own financial gain (something not at all related to our success ont he field.)
G&H set these two long-time collaborators against one another, and there was only ever gonna be one outcome.
In U.S. sports, they’d have probably gotten away with it, but it is just one example of how G&H just do not have even the remotest fundamental understanding of Football… particularly English Football and its associated culture.

Such a power play was only ever gonna end with Pako walking amid the destruction of a long-standing collaborative partnership.

… but make no mistake… while Pako was a good first team coach, Rafa was the brains of the outfit!

So now you know…
… but we can’t even leave it at that!

You’ve used burgerman’s quotes to substantiate opinions you hold before… I caution you again to beware who you afiliate yourself with… not because I want you to agree with me… but simply coz you won’t get the opportunity to press any case you think you might have, if you use BM and his postings to support anything you have to say.

His posts are invariably…
1. Unsubstantiated
2. Often utterly ridiculous
3. Generally inacurate
3. Frequently not thought out
4. just plain nonsense

you do yourself no favors tacking yourself to his mast… and will learn nothing from anything that particular individual has to say.

Aitch, take no notice of it. The kid is doing what he’s always done since coming in here… crying, whingeing, moaning, reducing the place to days of pointless arguments and banality, then mellowing his stance, seeming reasonable for awhile, but as always will start it again at the first possible opportunity.

He’s done it so many times, I’m amazed he’s still getting away with it.

What none of them have done is come up with anything positive whatsoever… not one single suggestion of what should be done.

And the fact is, if they was any sort of LFC fans they would be used to years and years of this over the last 20 years… let’s face it, it’s far less than we had to put up with in the past.

They really have no clue mate. I go back to what I said earlier…
they constantly clutch at any straw. They have no shame. They go back and forth from the past to now, looking for sticks to bash Rafa with, and they don’t care how many goalposts they shift to achieve this aim.

And despite being asked time an time again to come up with some sort of answers to their whinges, they steadfastidly ignore that and just press on with their squalid little agenda.

It’s a disgrace really. It’s nothing I’ve ever seen from proper Liverpool supporters in nearly 50 years of supporting the club.

Tomorrow we celebrate 50 years since the day Shankly came to this club and built it into what we know today.

I lived through his times. I loved the man like a second father. I’m not exagerating or being overly sentimental. That is how I, and thousands upon thousands like me, felt about the man. We would have walked to the ends of the earth for him.

I have also read everything I could about the man and feel qualified enough to say, if he saw the state of some of our support nowadays, it would break his heart.

He knew failure. He went 7 years without a trophy. He knows exactly what it takes to drag a sleeping giant back on to it’s feet. And I’m sure he would have some great advice for Rafa, but without a doubt he would have nothing but empathy and even sympathy with the man.

As for the backstabbers and traitors, he would probably do his best to have them banished from the club. Well, knowing Shanks, he’d probably want them flogged.

They really have nothing to do with this club. They have no idea of the solidarity it was built upon. They just attached themselves to Liverpool. I assure you Liverpool wouldn’t pick them.

They disgrace all that’s gone before, and they muddy the present and future. They are just as much a tumour on this great club of ours as Hicks and Gillette. In fact, they are worse in many ways…
H&G just want to make as much money as possible. That is the nature of the disgusting type of people they are. They care for nothing but profit. But these scabs that have attached themselves have no excuse.

They bring absolutely nothing to the club. They are told they aren’t wanted. They just mock the people who tell them that and carry on regardless. They can’t even plead ignorance because people have taken the time to try and educate them… they just chose to ignore it all and carry on with their agenda while bringing absolutely nothing – not even a positive encouraging word – to the club.

Shankly had no time for people like that. And neither do I. If it was a war and they was on my side, I’d have them bloody shot for treachery.

I know it mate…
Like you FS, I’ve traveled the world and there are Liverpool fans out there today because of it.

I’m like one of them daft fuckin Mormon fellas in their white shirt, black tie and bicycle, when it comes to LFC… I’ve converted people to the one true God of LFC on 4 continents.

I was in Africa 3 years ago. (Nothing but Chav and Arse shirts as far as the eye could see in Kenya and Tanzania… very sad.)
I spent 13 days working with a group of local lads in Tanzania… all Chav and Arse fans to a man… but when I left 3 of them were Reds, and when I got back home I sent them each an LFC jersey out of my collection.

I’ve got 2 good Yank mates here in the States, one was already a convert when I met him, from having shared an apartment with a Scouser, the other was a Newcy fan and we converted him together.

The first lad talks some serious shit about Rafa these days and I sternly educate him every time he does. The 2nd lad frequently asks me questions about LFC (past, present and future) before forming his opinion.

Not that I’m saying I’m some great sage… people should make up their own minds, not just take what I’ve got to say… but that’s just it… the 2nd lad just recognizes someone with a bit more experience is all and is the type of lad that wants that info before he makes his own mind up (a bit like Sun King from the last blog… great first post by the way!!)

I guess I just still hold out hope that if people like you and I continue to talk some sense, maybe just maybe, it will be heard over the din of nonsense that comes from the dubious CBC types!

I ask people to ask themselves this question.
If someone’s post history has never exceeded one or two short sentences at a time… how much value can there really be in what they’ve got to say?

(of course… that could just be some self-aggrandizing shit to say, since my posts are usually 10 paragraph diatribes )

Aitch, I love that list describing BM’s posts. Number 2 is my favourite. Not sure why there are two number 3s though.

So it’s you to blame for attracting all these gobshites to the club!

I have to put it in again, Aitch. (I’ve amended the typo)

His posts are invariably…
1. Unsubstantiated
2. Often utterly ridiculous
3. Generally inacurate
4. Frequently not thought out
5. just plain nonsense

Hahaha… post of the month!

Ah shit, really LB???

All the fuckin thought that’s gone into the last 20 or 30 “War & Peace” posts I’ve made and THAT, is the post of the month???

(slinks away in a mixture of disappointment, sheer embarrassment and disillusionment.)

FS, if it takes a little pressure of Rafa and the boys, then by all means
I AM TO BLAME!

Pound to a penny… they will get sick of constantly being pulled for the shite they spout and they will go off and register on some Manc or Chave site. They will then start spouting all sorts of shite about us in here, and it will be greeted with glee. They will become some sort of keyboard star on some Manc site by slagging off LFC, LFC supporters and Scousers in general.

I wish they’d just hurry up and get on with it.

I hear you Brother, but I still hold out hope that through some civility, maybe, just maybe some of them will see the error of their ways, shun the dark side and become better people as well as better “supporters”.
The way that happens is to gain a true understanding of what it is to be LFC fan. That it is different, vastly different than following any… ANY… other team.

Praise Jesus… and pass the ammo (that was for red )

I do know its a pipe dream, though!

Maybe you do need that mormon suit after all Aitch. I’d much prefer they just fucked off meself. But honestly, mark my words, they will do exactly what I said – fuck off to the Mancs, and slag us – and so be warmly greeted with open arms.

And let’s face it… that’s all it’s about really. A desperate plea for some attention. Dogs prefer getting kicked by their owners over being ignored and left alone.

Something popped into my head when I was queuing-up in MacDonalds, after picking me dole.

They say that Rafa’s yearly transfer budget should also take into account the player’s salaries and contract negotiations.

So, for example, after signing Aquaman does Rafa have to take into account his salary for the season or is it for the duration of the contract.

I hope to feck it’s the former.

Aitch, that list could be used to describe the opinion of most football pundits. The bollocks they talk is absolute.

At the moment I blame the players. I’d like them to show that collectively they own a pair of testicles – figuratively speaking of course.

I realise there are issues with fitness but still, the white flag is waved a bit too readily whenever things do not go our way in a match.

I don’t want to pick on Gerrard and I know he has dragged us out of some holes in the past and probably will do in the future. But he fucking well got injured because he insisted he was fit enough to play in a meaningless match for England. When everyone knew he was not fit. This results in him missing several matches. Not only that. Stevie is a player that takes a while to get back to form whenever he has been out for longer than 2 weeks. I can’t remember his last shot at goal or the last time he went past a defender.

Either way, it affect the transfer budget Lurg.
One short term, the other both short & long term.

Anyone expecting us to bring in anything of real quality in January is kidding themselves.

Rafa is renegotiating Mascher’s contract and that’s gonna end up doubling the lads wages.
He’s also got 2 other senior team players and a few kids to renegotiate.
So he’s gonna have feck all left to deal with.

In January rafa has to try to:-
Get Voronin traded on a free, so we can get him off the wage bill.
Sell Dossena for as much as he can recoup, which will probably be at a loss but will free up some wage bill money.
Maybe… Try to get something for Babel (also freeing up some wage money)

Other than that… there’s no one in the first team squad we can afford to lose right now.

Which means his only other option is to sell some of the promising youngsters… you know, the ones he neveer develops like Wenger!

All while trying to stop the rot, stem the tide, turn it… in spite of some of our “support”.

Satry, why are we bringing on a sub in Agger when we only have 9 players on the field. Is it some type of shock tactic.
.
Talk about faith playing Degen, I’m currently injured and Riera, I’m also currently injured, so we’re actually only playing with 7. That’s going to show the opposition.
.
Just unstoppable.

I agree LB.

I’ve never thought SG was a particularly good Captain, to be honest.
People will misread that.
SG leads by action, but in my opinion, that isn’t what makes a good Captain.

he lost his nut on Sunday and we got no leadership from him.
Carra would have made a far better Captain, for my money, but this seaosn, he’s lost his nut a few times too. His problem I think is that he’s only got a couple of seson’s left in him and he knows that. Each season that slips away has to be a dagger through the heart for the lad, so I understand where his temperament is coming form… but it don’t help in the current circumstances.

When the tide turns, they’ll both be back to their best and when that happens, they are great leaders…. but to me a great leader isn’t one that provides leadership in times of success, its the guy that does it when all about them are losing their heads.

And that, among so many other thigns, has been a big issue for us this season.

Masch has been that guy for the last two games, but unfortunately there’s a language barrier that maybe damages his shout for the armband. (not that it’ll ever get taken away from SG now)

Masch picked up a knock against the Arse and his removal for AquaMarina, I think, turned the tide more than the 2 goals… coz we lost that fire and brimstone that stopped them playing in the first.

And what some people fail to understand is that it is that midfield solidity that is necessary …and allows for… any attempt at attacking flair or endeavour.

Atich (or should we start calling you the oracle) Gerrard reminded me of a bit of early season Torres, moaning more about small incidents, getting distracted then trying to play. That was my take anyway. We need to get players back up to speed and firing on all cylinders. A couple of good wins will do the confidence a world of good. This is a good team we just need to get a break, when things run for us and get on a winning streak where the confidence flows and then there will be no stopping us. It just seems the world is on the entire teams shoulders at the moment, which is not too far off the truth. There is not too much wrong that a fit squad with confidence will not put right. Well new owners with money would also help.

Good to see Wolves are giving Man United a tough game tonight. Resting 10 players going to Old Trafford! It’s a fecking disgrace. McCarthy should be pulled for it.

He was a crap Sunderland manager, a crap Ireland manager and I hope Wolves go down just because he’s lying down and surrendering even before the game.

Super stuff Gerry.

We now sit eight in the table.Birmingham have jumped above us in the table.Que new stick for the CBC to beat to beat Rafa with.

FS,thanks for that SOS video pal.Good result in the fight to rid the cancer from our club.A small step yes,but people power shouldn`t be
underestimated.Just ask Steve Cohen.Even though the British media refuse to give these peacful protests some air time,we as reds should spread the word everywhere we can.
Unfortunately we cannot rid the other cancer on the club.The so-called “fans” who choose to kick the club when they`re down and continue to use phone-is,newspaper letters and internet sites to spread their vile.
Even if the minority left here,they would soon be replaced by some other goons.
I met a guy today,he`s not a red,he`s a typical glory hunter actually.He used to follow the villa but a couple of years back he got sick of villa in midtable mediorocity so changed his allegence to Barcelona and spanish football in general.After i put him straight on a few of his Rafa bashing points he turned arouns and said.”Well i actually never watch Liverpool play,i seen the game sunday but other than that i don`t watch them at all”.
Typical.Why watch a game of footy,study it and form your own opinion when you can just buy `that rag` every morning or watch sky sports to make your mind up for you.

Unbelieveable.(well not anymore)

FS #36,typo of the century my friend

MTMMC,why did wolves even turn up tonight?

How many points do the mancs get handed on a plate every season??

off topic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYOA4BXIqk

Whoa to you, oh earth and sky,
for the devil brings the beast with wrath,
for he knows the time is nigh
Let him who hath understanding
reckon the number of the beast
for it is a huiman number
that number is six hundred …and Nineteen

(619 is the channel on which my satellite service carries SKY)

Keith I tried to give my oracle-ish explanation of what I see as the current situation, towards the end of the last blog.
The people who need to read that the most probably didn’t/won’t.

You’re dead right… once we get a few breaks and string a few results together, confidence will gel with fitness and we can definitely be a force to reckon with.
… if only we could take a breath and set aside our frustration, desperation and despair for a few moments…. The first half against Arsenal should teach us that… (but there have been other examples.)

We have a better squad than people give us (or Rafa) credit for… and we may well have to right this season off (though I don’t …yet) as far as a title challenge goes, but a rally to 4th place (and I still think higher is achieveable) is well do-able and a pair of Cups wouldn’t be half bad.

To some extent, even taking injuries, form and bad luck into consideration, LB is right when he says we need to see more bollocks on display.
Again going back to the last blog, I said this is where we separate the men from the boys… both on the field and in the stands.

Getting out of the quicks and requires everyone slowly pulling in the same direction… we saw that in the 1st half, not so much in the 2nd, but if Torres had been sharper and we’d got the pen, it would have been the Arse that were demoralized and I think we’d have seen us run out a score on them…. these moments change games… as evidenced by the O.G.

As FS said, this won’t happen overnight.
We’ll need a couple of scrappy/fortunate wins to build confidence before we start showing our true colors and tonking a few teams…
… but as a “highly respected” (…ahem…) Footy Oracle …I see more to convince me we will, than we won’t.

Nice one #82

“I said this is where we separate the men from the boys… both on the field and in the stands.”

You hit the nail on the head there Aitch.

When the team is low on confidence,as well as dragging themselves out of the rut with a few wins,the Anfield crowd also has a responsibility to get behind the team for the whole game,especially when the chips are down.

Same team from the start i`d say and take the game to them.

Wat the Fuck did just happen at the old-toilet ?? Effing wolves resting their 10 players against manures …

things like these just make me sick!!!!

Dizzy, its called “bringing the game into disrepute”
…but fuck all will be done about it.

Just like Fungus commenting that “the match officials have no business deciding how much time should be added at the end of a game”

..how’s that? The only fella with a fuckin stop watch in the stadium, and he shouldn’t be the one makeing the decision? Why? Coz he didn’t play until you scored?

There are men of honor in this world, and then… well…..

…seriously my head spun when I read that and I actually heard that cartoon “yaggedy, yaggedy, yaggedy, brrgggg, bagoyoyoing!” sound!

HOW THE FUCK DO THEY GET AWAY WITH IT?

But wipe the fuckin rain off yer specs, and it’ll be a nice tidy fine please Mr. Benitez, thank you very much!

It would begger belief if it wasn’t the same old fuckin story.

If that fucker McCarthy fields a full strength team at Anfield on the 26th… I’m taking fuckin hostages!

Its bloody shameful and disgusting … dun have more words to show my feelings …

lets see wat sly sports report on it …

Aitch I total agree with your comment #76. I love Steven Gerrard to bits but at times i do think he could moan less. I also though that mascherano going off (with a knock) cost us more than the freaky own goal.

Sacriledge… LB Aitch, go wash out your minds with soap and water!!!

Arsing about aside, I think you’re being a bit harsh on Gerrard there lads. The lad is obviously playing through injury. You can even see him pulling out of runs and challenges that he’d always go into at full belt.

And insisting on playing when he shouldn’t might be stupid of him, and it does drive me mad when he does it for England, but the lad is just made from that sort of stuff. The best always are. They will always want to play even when their legs are hanging off. That’s when it’s down to the management and medical staff to put the blocks on them. So blame Cappello and his physios for that.

And maybe he should be rested now… but Aitch, I’d say that’s showing some bollocks. Adn give me that sort of spirit over the likes of Kewell or Intandje, or any other bum who prefer to sit on their arses and get paid to playing bloody football.

As for the hysteronics… there’s no denying Stevie had a problem with this in the past. But if you look at him now, he’s always driving the lads on when we are playing well, and encouraging them when things aren’t going great. I’ve noticed a remarked change in his attitude in the last 2 seasons. For instance, just watch how he is with Lucas. And you can all remember how he used to be.

And look at him at Goodison… he knew full well he was struggling even before the game, so he called the lads into a pre-match huddle during the bloody warm up and read the riot act to them. And although he wasn’t able to compete at his normal rate that day, he still had a lot to do with the effort that brought round that result.

I honestly, think at this moment he’s more frustrated with his own game than anyone elses. But I tell you what, every delivery by him on Sunday was top class… maybe down to knowing he couldn’t be as useful in open play so he applied more concentration to the set pieces. I don’t know.

As for lifting the team, I think one word covers that Istanbul. Of course that is the trump card, but fact is, no one in our team can lift the other players or the fans quite like Steven, and for that reason alone he should be captain.

I tell you one thing, I’m absolutely dreading the day his legs go. I honestly think he’s passed Dalglish now as our best ever player. He’s certainly more influential than Kenny was. But I don’t like comparing players to other players. It’s like comparing oranges and apples.

And the likes of Dalglish and Gerrard are once in a life time type players. So, all I can say is, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m going to cherish the lad while I can.

As for Wolves, I suppose what McCarthy done was understandable and he has already made his excuses… 2 hard games in the space of 4 days, we couldn’t do it. I had to protect the players.

But here’s the thing… they got their first away win at Spurs – a very difficult place. That win pulled them out of the bottom three. The players from that game would have been raring to go. And with United being so shite right now, they might have racked up another result, even a point might make all the difference at the end of their season. But he chose to throw in the towel and I wouldn’t be too happy if I’d made the journey from Wolverhampton, but nothing will be said about it or done.

But, when justifying this the Sly commentator said, “Well, I remember Liverpool dropping 9 players when they went to Fulham and Fulham won that day and stayed up.”

Well, I remember that an all… I remember all the shit we/Rafa took for it and are still taking it from Neil Warnock to this day. But what they all chose to ignore was we had a Champion’s League Final coming up in 3 days time.

I wonder why he didn’t mention other more recent relevant instances of game throwing… such as teams did against Man U in last seasons run in?

They don’t miss a bloody chance do they. They have no shame what they dig up to beat Rafa with. So is it any wonder that the likes of BM and his disciples are brain washed into believing this shit.

Oh well… hats off to Dave Basset in the pundits chair though. He made quite a lot of sense tonight, and flatly refused to slag off or write off Liverpool even though he was cajoled into it a few times. Good on you Dave Sir. No wonder it’s not often he is on there.

Pity some of our so called own would rather bite the hand that fed them just so they can keep their own noses in the trough.

Well once again bad luck and bad referee’s have kicked us when we’re down. And once again some “supporters” have kicked us when we’re down. But more importantly G&H failed to get into the ground which is one strong message the usual media f*cks decided not to advertise. Why is that ?
Gerry
While you spent the weekend in England,i went the other way to Co Cavern and got talking football with some cousins whom i’d never met before,the first thing they asked what did i think of Benitez ? and that they thought he was good,then they pointed out the media have got it in for him and Scousers,although they didnt really follow football it seemed to me that these “neutral’s” could only see the obvious and looked at things without bias or passion so to me there opinion carries a lot of weight as its something we find hard to do.
Then again one of them said i dont have to lock my car door as there’s
“no crime here”
Had to laugh the next day when 2 cashpoint machines where stolen from the banks in the town,
YNWA

As for some of the “supporters” who post on here i think i’ve found out what they are.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Troll Best to ignore them.
Bad luck,Bad referee’s, teams rolling over for the Mancs,”favours” for the mancs from David Gills FA, and loads of transfer money for the Mancs.
Sure is a uphill task for us to win the PL.
YNWA

Did anyone see Rafa’s pre-match press conference?

How anyone can dislike the man is beyond me. He handles himself with such dignity given his situation.

First off, thank you for the positive feedback to my unnecessarily lengthy first post here at KopBlog (in the previous blog’s comments). I’ll try to keep this one slightly shorter, but I make no promises.

The overall inspiration was the whole supporters vs. “supporters” dialogue, and I can see that this is still a ripe fruit to pick at — and probably will be for as long as LFC must tread through stormy seas.

I’m not yet ready to brand anyone on this forum a total lost cause. Different people deal with frustration and disappointment in different ways. Often times people are so disheartened that they just want to see some major change — ANY change really — and then hope that this shake-up will provide a remedy of sorts. And that is why many are quick to call for the manager’s head when things aren’t going so well.

The only problem here is that this idea is typically not thought through all the way. Let’s say you’re in with the crowd that wants to sack Rafa. Even if you’re unable to provide solid reasons for your taking this position — and I have yet to hear anyone make any sort of convincing argument to that effect — you must at least be able to shed some light on how things will significantly improve if Rafa is removed.

Okay, sack Rafa. But as many have asked, then what?

The counter-points to Pako have already been made, and I find it quite shocking that this idea was even entertained. At this point, we’re just throwing things at the wall and hoping they stick, aren’t we? Honestly, who is going to replace Rafa Benitez, and what can he possibly do with a squad that isn’t fully fit and with owners who offer him no support? How would a new manager be any more qualified or capable of pulling a rabbit out of a hat?

Like many in here, I’m waiting to hear who this new genius to take the reins of Liverpool might be and learn all about the brilliance of his plan. All I can say to Rafa’s critics is that you cannot possibly stoop to a “couldn’t do much worse” argument and expect others to see the logic in it.

Unfortunately, the people who control many of the vehicles of mass communication are, for whatever reason, largely against Rafa Benitez. There is an OBVIOUS bias in mainstream media, and this much is clear. Why else would it ignore what happened to Hicks and Gillette? Had that demonstration been in protest of Rafa, the headlines would have been everywhere.

Even more unfortunately, the average human being is easily controlled and will believe whatever you tell him to believe. Now, I always thought Liverpool supporters were slightly more intelligent than average humans and average football fans. But I guess if all you’re watching is Sky Sports, then maybe you can’t be blamed for having the opinion you have. You’re being force fed bowl after bowl of shit, and if that’s the only thing on the menu, you’re not going to choose to starve, are you? So at this point you’ve trained yourself to accept shit as a sustainable diet.

My advise to these people — stop being lazy. Figure out who the credible sources are, draw conclusions from every outlet of information available, and generate your own conclusions. Stop accepting everything that some pundits pull out of their arses. Just because there are many of them, and just because they are all saying the same thing doesn’t make them logical. All they’re really paid to do is to take an extreme position on every issue in order to make it seem dramatic and relevant.

Look, the supporters must work as hard as the players and the manager. That doesn’t mean purchasing a shiny new Torres shirt, learning some of the words to “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” celebrating loudly when we win, and simply moaning when we lose. It means staying informed and supporting the club through and through. If it’s time for a change or a new direction, okay, everyone is listening. But now is not the time for that. We have to realize that just because we’re going through an awful stretch of results, it doesn’t mean that getting rid of the manager will fix things. In fact, given the current instability of our club, I agree with the people who say we couldn’t possibly do anything worse than that at the moment.

Based on what we’ve learned and continue to learn, most of us are going to stand by the manager who took us to the brink of winning the league last season and who brought us our fifth European Cup. He won it with Houllier’s squad, you say? Then why couldn’t Houllier win with his own squad?

Plain and simple, Rafa Benitez is a brilliant manager. And if you give him a healthy squad, he is going to give you a competitive football team. Lord knows what he would accomplish if you gave him the funds to improve his squad as he sees fit. And until that happens, is there any point in even asking, “What’s the latest on the transfer front?” The answer? Either nothing, or maybe some patchwork players who we hope can get the job done. Is that improvement? No. Is that Rafa’s fault? No.

I could never really attribute anything to flat out luck, but the breaks this season haven’t been kind to us. We just need some things to go our way. Some matches a team can play dismally and still get away with it — that hasn’t really happened at all. Some matches a team can do a lot of things right and still end up on the losing side — that’s happened quite a few times. Overall, it’s not like the quality of our play could be described as shocking or appalling. It hasn’t been top drawer, but mostly, the results simply haven’t been there. I just find it very difficult to identify a single culprit or even a couple specific culprits to pin the poor results on. And I’m talking about key persons and key moments, not just a general theme that might be marketed as a legitimate perception.

There is no real way to put a positive spin on our season thus far. But at the same time, there are no easily identifiable factors where we can say, “This is something we had total control over, and here is exactly how it went wrong.” Show me that, and then show me how to fix it. I’ll do my best to nominate you as Rafa’s successor.

Since you can’t, all it means is that the club has a very tough task at hand. And based on its character and its background — particularly Rafa Benitez’s — I trust entirely that this will get sorted out without much of an extensive overhaul.

I don’t claim to know what the team needs mentally or tactically. I just know that right now, more than ever, they need our undivided support.

P.S. Aitch, at #93 right above, I’ve wonderered the same thing for a very long time now. Just another thing that makes me wrinkle my brow when people are so quick to lambast him. Imagine what they’d be saying if he was a total twat. Speaking of that… our friend ale-swiggin’ Alex, manager of the Scum, is a total twat. Why is it that hardly anyone slags him off?

I actually think burgervan might be on to something but he’s just got the wrong guy. Djimi Traore is the man we’ve been missing, we’ve won bugger all since he left. Bring back Bambi I say, that moron Benitez should never have sold him in the first place.
Actually let’s get rid of that waster Torres while we’re at it. We’ve won fuck all since he’s been here so let’s sell him and use the funds to bring back Cisse as well. Damn I can’t believe I’ve been so blind!

Well said Sun King but there’s one flaw in your argument. You applied logical reasoning. I’ve learned from experience that the application of logic is not as common as we may like to believe. That’s why you read some dumb ass comments from certain people who think sacking Rafa will save the ozone layer.

Gerry, you forgot to mention the ‘next Zidane’ Bruno Cheyrou or the ‘next Vieira’ Salif Diao. Whilst we’re at it, why not sell Daniel Agger and use the money to bring back Torben Piecnick? Afterall Piechnik was signed by Graeme Souness, the man who seems to have all the answers to LFC’s problems.

#44- what’s wrong with Degen who is a quick overlapping right back in a three man defence with johnson a natural right back in front of him who is able to cover him and masch manning the field in front of the back 3?
What’s wrong with Carra leading two young promising defenders?
What’s wrong with Insua? You got a better left back in the line up? I say the 3 man defend with a good team effort to defend from up field is the way we play best.

#50 Istanbul – exactly my point! But u cant seem to agree with ur OWN points. You agree with the fact that we played with a 3 man defence, the introduction of hamann allowed stevie g to do more damage …( probably after the dust settled in Istanbul against one of the meanest defences and a top notch striker ) but u wont agree with the same ( different names but the role is similiar ) line up. Please…

Didi made the difference…hence Masch is in that role stated in the line up, so that Stevie G can do more damage. What’s ur point? Are you saying we shouldnt allow stevie g the free role while having a holding midfielder behind him? what?

#57 he’s so funny

#58 yup digger, aquilani is like stop and go for now so we’ll have to make do with 10… hahahaha my bad… this happens even to managers eh? sure gonna get lots of stick for this…

#75 Degen and Riera are actually fit enough to play and coming into match fitness. It’s really miraculous they are not playing… amazing stuff. Truly… healed and ready to go… touch of god.

Pako was a loss. But we have managed without him and he cannot possibly be the reason for the poor results- injuries, esp not when he had left eons ago and the team still managed to get decent results…

ok ok revised… will try the 11 man team woohooo
i get an extra man to my already unstoppable, indestructable, devastating line up.

——————-1.Reina——————
——————-2.Carra——————
——-3.Degen——————4.Insua—–
————–5.Masch—-11.Aquilani——–
6.Johnson——–7.Stevie G———-8.Riera
————————-9.Benny————
—————10.Torres——————–

Let me count them…ooops missed one…
correcting now.
There you go, the absolute superb team that will win the premiership come may 2010. Aquilani will give LFC the mega super duper boost like those nitrox stuff in fast and furious cars racing… just press the button at the right moment…
the stage is set… now is the time… we shall create the best most memorable premiership glory ever … just press it..press it…

gerry #95

ba-da-boom.

Oh dear Satyr… and here I thought that post was your attempt at irony.

That team won’t win the Premiership in 2010… simply because it’ll be playing in the fuckin championship.

#97
I am lost for words……..how old are you anyway?

@Aitch

#60

When i said ‘Let’s leave it that’ i meant i dont want to examine whether his loss is the reason for our poor form. I wanted to leave it that because to me its irrelevant.

Why i said i am not sure whether BM is correct or wrong is because its a fact that ever since Pako left we have not won. What Gerry has said in his post about Traore is a fact too. But these facts are irrelevant to me and hence lets leave it at that.

What you have explained might be true.

#74

That post answers my question. Thanks.

@ FS

#61

You can continue with your silly comments. I am not here to do what you keep telling. I will be critical because i can see us slipping out of the top 4 if things dont improve from here on. That does not make a anti LFC person. That does not mean that i am not a fan of this club. Surely i support the manager. At LFC can we afford to be going for such a long barren run? Can we loose so many matches? There is some bench marks right?

You are very quick to criticize me. As far as my suggestion as to what should be done..i have already mentioned..gimme some time. I will surely come up with that.

How about this lineup?

———–Reina————
——– Carra — Dagger ——-
Johnson——-Monster ——–Aurelio
———Gerrard —— Benny ———-
—————-Aquaman——————
———–Torres ——Babel ————

Subs:
Lucas
Riera
Cavalieri
Ngog
Pacheco
Insua
Ninja

….in a diamond formation, where Babel is used as a striker? Johnson and Aurelio/ Insua as overlapping fullbacks, Gerrard can go right occasionally to provide crosses and cover for Johnson, and Benny to do the same for Aurelio..
(Though I feel that Babel will be sold to god-knows-where during the january transfer window)

Skeat, Is Babel fit then?

Saty, the only thing you’ll be pressing is a self destruct button!

If he is not.. then…
Kuyt to play alongside Torres

Nice Post Sun King. Gerry since we have had Hicks and Gillette we have won fuck all as well. Personal I think we are missing Biscan sell Gerrard and bring him back problems solved.

@ somnath07in re #101:

You are very quick to criticize me. As far as my suggestion as to what should be done..i have already mentioned..gimme some time. I will surely come up with that……LMFAO!!! ROTFD!! aka Laugh my fucking ass off!! Roll on the Floor dying!! Are you for real!! Give u time!! How about you do Rafa and the boys the same courtesy?!! Talk about hypocrisy!! My god we don’t stand a chance in the long term with fans like this!! Help!!!

Well, big game tonight. It very much depends on what Wigan turn up. I hope it’s the one Spurs battered. But it won’t be… it will be the one that always plays us – the one with no one up front, flooding the mid-field, kicking lumps out of Torres, and fighting like their very lives depend on it.

Nothing new there then. In fact, it will make good practice for the rest of the season – as that is how 98% of teams will play against us. And you can’t blame them for that. All the lower teams will look at getting at least a point at Anfield, especially with the season we are having. And they will do what Wolves done last night when they play the Mancs and Chavs.

Just the way it is. I’d probably do the same if I was staring relegation in the face. A manager’s duty is to his own team, nobody elses.

Oh well at least they won’t have that Zaki fella to score any wonder goals against us this time round. So, if the legs are getting there, I can only see one result… a frustrating, hard fought, home win.

#97: Satyromanian… that sort of line up is the sort of line up that you certainly would try in a cup final when you are getting beat. But it would be madness to try and play our way out of this slump in the league like that.

The problem is the goals we have leaked. But that’s really no wonder. We have had to use 17 different line ups in the 24 games we have played so far. So, it’s now time to get a settled back line, dig in and get back to the basics of what made us the meanest defence in the league.

For me that means, Johnson, Carra, Agger, Insua or Aurelio. Johnson is the best we have got. A few decent minutes/runs/crosses by Degen doesn’t mean we can relie upon him with not much coverage ahead. Carra has struggled but has played well in the last few games, so he should get the nod ahead of Skrtle. Agger, goes without saying really. But remember this… the lad is left footed, so compliments Carra who, well lets just say he isn’t left footed. Insua/Aurelio either or, just depends on fitness and who they are facing.

Honestly mate, it’s imperative we get a solid platform now. Any team in this league is capable of beating any other on thier day. Look at the Mancs and Chavs loss column. So, especially after the season we have had, we need to get some stability and consistency back there.

In fact, we need to do the same all over the park. Once a few wins are strung together, no matter how scrappy or ugle, confidence will return, legs will feel lighter, and the performances will come back. We saw a glimpse of that on Sunday. Just a shame these two fixtures weren’t the other way round – Wigan then Arsenal. We’d have probably took all six points then. But we’ve got to get on with it.

Thought it best to just ignore the usual nonsense. But this needs to be said…

#101… “You are very quick to criticize me. As far as my suggestion as to what should be done..i have already mentioned..gimme some time. I will surely come up with that.”

Quick to criticise you… No lad. I just ignore you now. But no ones asking you to be quick. There’s no rush lad. No rush….

Keep working on the plan. And just keep throwing wobblers at every setback, getting some critiscism for it, get obscene to anyone who criticises you, cause a few days worth of arguments, mellow out a little, post some reasonable stuff, try to look as if you’ve always been like that, blame other people, complain about how they’ve treated you and then start it all again after the next set back…

Why not it’s what you’ve always done. And they say consistency is a virtue, eh.

Or, tell you what, seeing you obviously didn’t bother to read some history and facts on our club as recommended by lots of people to help you, why not read The Boy Who Cried Wolf. There’s a big clue in there for you lad.

Aitch,FS,Lb,
and anybody else who can help me, just seen Macarthy getting interviewed on sky and he says he does’nt care what the reaction is to fielding 10 reserves last night, did’nt he hear the Wolves faithful singing £42 quid to watch the reserves over and over again.
But my main point being how the fuck can you in one match beat spurs away then run out ten reserves in the next match (the mancs conveniently) to save his first team for the match against Burnley.
I hope they deduct 10 points of the cunt, fuck me what will Warnock the wanker think of all this as he still has’nt forgiven LFC.
YNWA.

@ theredman

mate its disgusting that’s what it is! Its typical of what Steven Gerrard touched on last year about team going to play Manu and treating it like they’ve lost before a ball is kicked!! its that sort of attitude that has handed them wins on so many occasions. When we beat them and scored 4 goals last season Gerrard mentioned that it may just be what the rest of the league needed to see….so they can believe they can beat manu….obviously Macarthy missed that class!

Warnock won’t say fuck all about it redman, he’s one of those mouth pieces who is out to have a go at Rafa and LFC with any opportunity he gets.

What really riles me is that these fuckers will be creaming themselves over the terrible run we are in at the moment, which makes me even more desperate to watch the team ram their words down their throats.

McCarthy fielding a reserve 11? It just had to be the Mancs who would benefit from it, didn’t it?

Gotta win tonight. A draw will see the pressure mount. A loss? After Rafas gurantees yesterday? Forget about it… My team would be: Pepe, Johnson, Carra, Dagger, Insua, Benny, Masch, Aquilani, Aurelio, Stevie, Nando. As I say, gotta win so no 2 holding midfielders tonight, no underperforming converted defensive right midfielders. Attack and dont stop til the fucken job is done this time. And when you are 2 or 3 nil up THEN bring on your Lucas’ and your Kyuts. Its all your chips on the table time…

I don’t think it was wise for Rafa to guarantee a top 4 finish.

As for tonight I read that Johnson is doubtful. These new physios that we have after sacking the previous ones. What kind of job are they doing? It’s not simply bad luck half the bleeding squad is permanently crocked surely?

Wigan got slaughtered 9-1 against Spurs. So should we struggle to create any chances against them I don’t want to hear that they have a good side. They have conceded 4 against Portsmouth, 3 against Birmingham, 4 against Arsenal… Even Blackpool beat them 4-1 in the league cup!

The players need to perform like they mean it. For 90 mins.

Oh yeah and the mancs beat Wigan 5-1 as well. They did beat the chavs (God knows how) but that was at home.

Like what my late elder brother (a Liverpool fanatic) used to say: the oppositions always show up when they play us. Probably they get the same kick out of it when they beat us with doing Fergie a favour.

Not that I am complaining that much, but it is getting too tiresome for me to explain and fend off the attacks from ‘fellow’ supporters. Quite stressful too sometimes when you come across fans who just refuse to understand the circumstances we are in.

As for Pako leaving us and since then we have not won anything, how about getting rid of the fans who started supporting us since 1991? They have jinxed us man…

SOAK – how about getting rid of the fans who started supporting us since 1991? – Brilliant!

I hope you know it was meant as a sarcasm bhavster

Exxxxxactly LB.

I hope we win tonight as I’m sure we all do, I do agree that teams bring their ‘A’ game when the come to play us its like a cup final for them, and our proud history and the greatness of the club is why…..and so it should be. The boys have to match that tonight….on Shankly’s night where we should show everything we are about. I 100% beleive they will, and win, draw…..or lose…. I’m still gonna wake up tomorrow morning a Red, loving LFC regardless of what ever the media or the negatrons throw our way!

I’ve come to a realisation that it doesn’t really matter what happens, there will always be those armchair managers, fickle fans and media so called gurus who will have something bad to say about us. The plain fact is were not Manu, and our manager isn’t fergerscum! or Wenger so I say let them hate us…let them spew their vile propaganda! Red I still stand!!

Another poor attempt at sarcasm bhavster..

Anyways, what really mindboggles me is some of these ‘fans’ are actually happy when we falter because it proves their argument. They do not want to listen to the facts that for a team to succeed nowadays, it needs strong backing of funds, not only for buying players but also for paying high wages to make them happy enough to warm the bench.

It was mentioned by Rafa Benitez himself that the priority this year was to take care of the debt situation in LFC. That means Rafa needed and will need to sell to buy and to sell to increase the players wages when we offer them new contracts. That also means Rafa would need to sell to service the debts to keep the club afloat. I wonder who he is going to sell in the summer because we need to pay our debts.

Here we have a manager who just signed a new five-year contract knowing the situation beforehand and agreed with the owners. So, even if Rafa did not sign the extension, some other manager would have done the same and that manager would have been facing the same kind of problems Rafa is facing in relation to funds for players. So, how different would things be then? But what is important in this aspect is we do not become another Leeds United. And we should be backing the team and the manager to ensure we qualify for the CL next season. Clearly this added pressure on the team is not needed at this moment.

And those are all understatements of the year.

LB, loads of lads are moaning about the new physios, especially when talking about the duff info on Aquilani. I don’t think it’s as cut and dried as that.

I think it’s been a freakish year, but also think the cause is easily identified… to much bloody football. Simple.

Nando Gerrard, wrecked seasons by stupid – but money raising – internationals. And it’s not only us. Look at what happened to Van Persie and even worse Ashton. It’s bloody criminal. It needs to be stopped but it’s insatiable and will only get worse. And the top teams will suffer most as they have international players from every corner of the planet.

Dead end discussion that though. What I would like to say is exactly what I said earlier…
Hope for one by all means, I am, but don’t expect a walk in the park tonight.

Martinez is no mug. He’ll know exactly how to play us tonight… expect to face the Wigan that faced Chelsea, not the one that lied down for the Mancs or got turned over by Spurs.

My worry is, if it isn’t 3 nil with 10 minutes gone, the crowd will start the sort of shit that I never dreamt I’d see in Anfield. That will transmit onto the pitch, and the job will get even harder.

At this stage, 1 nil off the shin of God will still do for me.

SOAK, I think Bhavster was being straight and thought it was brilliant. I did. Bit harsh on the young good fellas though, and believe it or not, there are some great young Reds who know the score and are very loyal aswell as knowledgable.

Oh and Sun King… very well put sir. It obviously took some time and effort, but I hate to tell you this…
You’re wasting your time.

Those who could learn from reading that will just ignore it and carry on regardless.

FS, I did not mean to be harsh on the young fellas and if I did, I would like to apologise sincerely. Just tried to be sarcastic, that’s all. Maybe I should have said something like “I started my current job in 1990 and should quit because since then we have not won the title”. A bit daft there but then again it is not something we have not come across before.

Digger that’s the exact team I’d like to see out there tonight. Hopefully johnson is ok as he’ll be looking to make amends for sunday.

Normally hearing wolves have rested 10 player(against the filth) would make my blood boil but I’m just so focused on getting a good couple of results I’m willing to let that slide for now.

However one haunting factor and its a real concern is that man u are sitting right where they like to be going into the christmas period, and they usually hit a great patch of decent football an I’m expecting that to happen when the ACoN start.

For them to land no.19 this season given the way our season is panning out is just a fucking horrible thing to contemplate. So i really hope arsenal and chelsea stay hot on their heels because last thing i want to see is them running away with it.

Anyway back to us regardless how teams may think we’re there for the taking and how much they may try to stifle us we have to be able to turn that in our favour after all we have the players to be killing teams. So should they try and sit back they’ll still be thinking we can nick this one and thats were we want the likes of torres’s sharpness to punish them and punish them bad.

Catch them on the counter every time they venture forward and should we be a goal or two to the good then bombard them when they have to come at us. A great moral boosting win tonight will then get the likes of portsmouth worried and then they’ll be the ones shitten it about which liverpool team is gonna turn up.

“Our fowler that art in heaven,let us win thy game”

YNWA

@Decstarr

Keep Laughing.

SOAK – yeah i know, i thought that comment was hilarious!

Yeah heres hoping Roarin. Its the team that will in my opinion give us our best chance to win. They’re a championship bound team who ship 3 or 4 goals a game. They’ll have 10 men behind the ball tonight. We’re at home, onus is on us to be proactive, not reactive. Get at em early and often and dont stop til they’re fucken hommered (i.e mentally defeated). At 2 or 3 nil then bring on Lucas and Dirk to shore it up. Theres must win games and theres must win games and then theres tonight.

I cant see him changing much. After all we battered Arsenal in the first half. Wenger admit ted as much. Had we have been playing with confidence it would have been a painful experience and long journey home for Arsenal. alas a streaky own goal (which wouldnt have happened with a confident Johnson) the confidence shatters and we fold like a house of cards. Confidence is key in any sport, have it, and you have an ability to excede your usual standard, if you dont have it then even easy run of the mill tasks seem fraught with danger.
I agree with FS a skinny 1-0 win will do for me. That said, I would love to see score an early goal and then put Wigan to the sword, and rebuild some confidence.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.

SOAK, I think it was funny. But I was just saying that all young Reds aren’t kneejerk idiots. In fact, there’s some great young lads. But anyway, I was just saying I thought it was funny and there is more than a little bit of truth in it.

As for all the expectations people have for tonight, I think it’s ridiculous and I expect it all to start again tomorrow if these demands aren’t met by a team that’s clearly still suffering mentally and physically.

As I said earlier, I’m really hoping it clicks tonight and we see the Red crushing machine we seen at the end of last season.

But whatever happens, I’ll keep the belief that once all the troubles are behind us, that’s exactly what we’ll be seeing soon.

Simply because, that’s how Rafa likes to play his football. That’s how he wants us to play. That’s the football he’s worked towards. And that’s the football we’ve showed we can play.

I’m not bigging it up, or making some daft tub thumping rallying call. I’m just stating me beliefs, and the fact is, I’ve also seen it all before…
Rafa’s aiming for a modern day version of Shankly’s invicibles that wouldn’t get beat by a team from Mars. Or as they say nowadays, in the phrase they invented for Rafa’s style – A Crushing Machine.

And as much as the game has changed, it’s still a pretty simple plan and not far removed from Shank’s formula…

Good players in every position playing simple pass and move. Top class goalie. Two big lads in front of him – one a ball player, one and out and out destroyer.
Two lads in front of them, one a destroyer, one a link up player – but who can interchange and play each other’s role.
Good attacking full backs that can raid high up the pitch. In front of them, 2 hard working wingers that can not only do all the attacking requirments but also track back and help out – defend high up the pitch, from the front.
A top class front man with a deeper lying partner.

The names might have changed… Center forward/Striker, Inside forward/Second Striker, Holding mid/Sweeper, and so on.

And the likes of Andy Grey with his little pen might like to complicate things with his doodles and make up new phrases…
Pull the trigger. Second ball and all that.
And the game might have got quicker, but the fact is – it’s still the simplest of games.

11 decent fit players, no need for out and out an out stars, a team. A team that can do the basics, pass and move at a high tempo, but with enough class to do the un-predictable. Always be open for the ball when we’ve got it. Always make sure they aren’t when we haven’t. Defend from the front. Attack from the back.

If you can’t just go out and buy all the cogs for the machine. Like Shankly had to, you have to build it slowly, patiently and carefully, and put all the pieces together as and when you can.

Well, Rafa has now built us a very good squad of interchangeable players that can play that way, but also adapt and offer other possibilities when needed.

In other words, he’s trying to put together something that has all the possibilities that he loves… plan B, C and D, a sort of total football playing team.

This is what he’s aiming at. This is what he’s on the verge of delivering. It might have suffered a set back. And it’s probably took longer than he would have liked to build. But I’m convinced it’s on the verge of this, and I haven’t seen a single thing to change that belief from any of the people that think it isn’t working.

Shame that really, as I’d love someone to be able to show me it’s all wrong and what should be done to put it right.

But, except for the end of last season when they all changed band wagons and their tunes, I’ve been waiting for three seasons now.

Meant to say, I would like to the game put to bed early and see what Aquilani can do, without any pressure. I was at the Fiorintina game and was impressed with his quick incisive passing. I think he will prove to be an excellent signing

LFC going for six month loan of Van Nistlerooy:

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/liverpool-lead-race-for-van-nistelrooy-1842567.html

I hope not Knight me old mate. I really hope not.

Almost as bad as Mourinho coming to Liverpool

Why not Horses jaws FS,
i’d love to see the kipper on shitty arse if he did, let’s be honest he was scoring 25-30 goals a season for that shower of shit until shitty arse had a fall out with him so i’d love to see if he could help Nando out as we all know that is Nando’s problem having to go it alone when he is fit, dont get me wrong it would feel a bit uncomfortable but if it is ok for Ince then why not.
YNWA.

A Big Night at Anfield Tonight.Wish I could be there as they honour Bill Shankly. What a Manager
he was and what a job he did of turning a Liverpool team that was wallowing in the old second division into the most feared Team in Europe.I had the priviledge of Being at Anfield when we won the Second Division Championship and
returned back to the First Division. Sorry to hear about Alan A’Court’s passing , he was a “nice man” and a very good player.
Let’s hope the players rise to the occasion and put on a performance to match the Evening.
” Thanks for the Memories Shanks”

#102 Skeat I like that too.. with Insua not Aurelio as Insua provides width and pace plus a steady defend.Johnson, tho a defender, I think would do better attacking with his pace skill and even eye for goal.
#100 wheeee
#105 NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
#108 altho I agree FS that the line up is the sort of line up where its all or nothing, i do believe we can play this at least for 60 mins in the premiership and then revert to the “safer” route instead of starting with the safer route and then trying to catch up and finding out that we do not have the creativity/chances/teeth whatever towards the end, lsee players losing hope halfway etc. esp so when the players tire.
Agger is a gem, a player who can carry the ball as well as one packing a mean shot. Good for set pieces, and an aerial threat. He’s my only sacrifice to compensate for width and pace. He’ll be used towards the end of the game mainly for strengthening the defence and/or to provide another route to goal. At the moment I would pick a line up with players that has skill, creativity and an eye for goal. Wingers with the same attributes but with pace.

WE have to take the game from the start. Attack and score.

#112 Agreed!!!!

A Big Night at Anfield Tonight. Sigh…FS, how I wish I were a multi-billionnaire so I could kick out the current owners. As it is, I am still waiting for the time I could afford to go abroad, not to Paris or Rome, but to Liverpool.

Saw this today, don’t know what is to come out of this if it were true:

ttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/6820120/Liverpool-co-owners-George-Gillett-and-Tom-Hicks-to-gain-124m-from-potential-share-deal.html

Just back and have scanned through the comments – gutted I couldn’t make it to the Arsenal game but fuck it onwards and upwards,

Ha Ha – Its all Paco’s fault for leaving – burgerman your gas, keep it up

I also see sombody wants to play with only one centre half – interesting, interesting

Van-Horseface to Liverpool – if he could be kept free from injury mightn’t be the worst piece of business in the world – i’d perfer somebody young that we could mould but with the dire straits we’re in could be a good stop gap

First time commenting on the internet. just wanted to say i am behind our manager and his players. will be up at 4am to watch the game.

I agree in order to score we need to attack, but we also need to have a balance where we are able to contain the opponent’s attack and control the tempo of the game.
I believe lucas and kuyt do bring that necessary balance. They might not be the most exciting to watch for most, but they work hard, never go missing when the game is not going our way and always find space to receive the ball and keep it moving.

-Storm Walker

As a KopBlog reader for the past two years, I’ve watched the majority of you try to get through to the doom-and-gloomers for quite some time. And I’ve seen that it’s about as useful as slamming your forehead into stone wall.

I will persist for two reasons. (1) We need as many voices as possible in support of Rafa and the club so that these naysayers don’t pick up any momentum. (2) Perhaps I naively think I can get through to these people with a fresh perspective.

Their arguments have been countered, their conjecture debunked by facts, their suggestions exposed as nonsense. You lads have done all that work. All I’m saying to them is to take a look at themselves.

Don’t listen to us. Don’t let us convince you. Do the work yourself, and I promise you’ll arrive at the conclusion that we’ve reached.

Many of you have said it already, and it’s probably what bothers me the most. It seems that some of these people get more joy out of a Liverpool loss so they can play the “I told you so” card than they do out of a win.

Again, I’m more inclined to put this down to different people dealing with things in their own ways. Perhaps they are so gutted by the loss that they’re just searching for anything to make them feel better. Unfortunately, all they’ve got to hang onto is trying to tell people they’ve been right all along. Well, what does that accomplish?

Come on, aside from maybe getting off on winding others up, you must realize that you’re only causing more pain for yourself. So what if you ARE right? And you aren’t, but let’s pretend you are. So you would rather be personally correct than have the club you support be successful? Because that’s what your actions and words say about your character.

Moving on… I’d have preferred if Rafa had avoided making the top 4 guarantee, but I think he’s sensing the moment as well. Even if he hadn’t said it, if we’re not in that position by season’s end, people are going to cry bloody murder and try to run him out of town. He probably sees this as a moment of truth for himself. At least his statement demonstrates that we’re never going to lose our nerve and that we refuse to settle for ongoing mediocrity.

Van Nistlerooy? I don’t really have an opinion on the matter. Just another case of the manager not being able to get the players he actually wants and having to fall back on Plans B, C, and D.

Fat Scouser, spot on at #130. It’s crystal clear for me what Rafa is working to build. We all saw this in action and nearing its top form and consistency last season, but people have very short memories.

Satyromaniaman, who is going to provide any additional cover whatsoever for Carra when balls are sent into the box through the air? What happens if we concede a couple of early goals? Do we take Carra off because he’s the least offensive player and throw on a forward since we need to score? I’m sorry to say, mate, but your lineup and formation do not make much sense.

We can play attacking football with 4 defenders. It’s a matter of tactics. We need to put our best personnel in the best positions to succeed, and we need those players to be able to adapt to the slightly different shapes that the game may take.

Moving forward and upward, I’d also like to see a decidedly attack-minded lineup out there against Wigan. That said, we don’t know all the intimate details when it comes to the squad’s fitness.

Aquilani was fit enough to start against Arsenal. But is he now able to give us 75-80 minutes of tenacity and strength three days after the fact? At this point, if he’s truly and fully fit, I’d like to see him get some starts over Lucas, particularly against sides like Wigan.

Ultimately, it will be nice when the boss can have three fully fit and reliable CMs to choose from, look at the opposition, and decide which of the Aquilani-Masch, Lucas-Masch, or Aquilani-Lucas pairings will be most effective.

This match is a very important one for us — and let’s be honest, every match from now on will be the most important of the season — and I’ve got a pretty good feeling that better results will come our way starting today.

We’ve got Wigan, Portsmouth, then Wolves. For now let’s focus on one game at a time, but let’s also realize that this is a great opportunity to put a nice string of results together and build some confidence leading up to a crucial match against Villa.

Come on, you Reds!

@Sun King

Great post.

Whatever you said is true. I myself have gone through phases when i have felt like that a change is required. But after analyzing the situation i find it difficult to find another person who can do a better job than Rafa.

I keep telling myself that the squad Rafa inherited was in a much poorer shape then what it is at present. However i dont understand how we are going to compete for the top honours? The debt and the financial condition is such that everytime we need to sell before buying. Rafa needs to gamble with second or third choice players.This is certianly not an efficient business model. The emergence of Man City as a better team and a financial super power coupled with the rise of Villa and Tottenham has made it even more important for us to be able to flex our financial muscle when needed.
What do you make of that? How are we preparing ourselves to meet these challenges?

For today’s match..yes its a must win. Its crucial to win our matches running up to the Villa clash.

RedScouse I didn’t realise you went back that far. I take me hat off to you mate… I wish I could just get through to some people what LFC came from, what they was built from, and how they became what they are today.

I’ve explained our history and even told them how Everton, then known as the Mersey Millionares, walked out of Anfield, leaving us with an empty shithouse of a stadium and not even a team to put on the pitch. I’ve even given them links to things on the PC that will explain where we came from and how we became what we are.

I’ve tried telling people that Liverpool isn’t some mega sized city like London, Birmingham or Manchester. I’ve tried telling them it is really about the size of Newcastle, Southampton, Bristol and so on.

I explained that the one thing that turned us into a beast of a club, was finding the right man to wake the sleeping giant and, not only giving him enough time to get the job done, but to lift him and the players when that job seemed impossible.

I explained how our never-say-die support at the hardest of times gave Shankly the platform and time to build this club. I’ve explained the Liverpool Way over and over. It’s pissing in the wind.

They have no respect for the tradition and history. They think those that made them traditions are silly old duffers. And they just don’t understand what could happen to LFC, even though you only have to look at all the giants that have died, going back to the times of Huddersfield and carrying right on to Leeds.

And of course, there’s always the deluded Geordies to laugh at with their ridiculous demands, that they honestly think should be met – as they are a big team just because they say so. And then you can see what chopping and changing managers got them.

So Sun King mate, you feel free to do what you want, but a quick spot of advice… it’s an absolute waste of time and a thankless task, that will soon bring abuse, no matter how civil, patient and logical you are.

Redman… I’m not arsed because he was a Manc. In fact, if I believed he could still do it, I’d see that as a bonus, just to piss them off. (How must Micheal Owen feel when they sing… Micheal Owen is a red. He hates Scousers… for fuck’s sake the lad’s mam and dad are). But anyway, I just think he’s past it mate, and I think we made that mistake before with Morientes. And I also think he just wouldn’t suit us… he was a lazy goal hanger in his hey day. He hardly moves at all nowadays.

Bollacks to it anyway… decorating duties tonight for the grandkids tonight. They’ve got me demented, turning the house into Santa’s bloody grotto.

Sorry lads. I know I should be bigger but, 141, ffs it’s hilarious… “Oh, yes you did. Oh, no I never! Look out, he’s behind you!”

Panto season started early then, eh.

FS..Funny story how I became a Red and not a Blue.
” my oldest brother (i’m youngest of six boys 1 Girl)he comes home on leave from Brit Army and wants to go see a Footie match, Everton are playing away so he decides to go see Liverpool play, he takes me with him to see my first ever game of “Real Football”. I Loved it, the Crowd the noise, being packed in the ground, the Banter between the men, and of course seeing the players up close..so he goes back to the Army after his leave, and I became a “Red”. Been one ever since.
He has never forgiven himself since.He lives in South Africa and is still a Bluenose.
So to my Big Brother, cheers Jim.”

FS, I hear you. It’s probably just a waste of time, but I’ve got the energy for now, so why not? I mean, it worked for Sly Sports to just say the same things over and over, so maybe we’ll catch a break one day and get through to them.

Somnath, there is very little we can do to prepare for those types of challenges that we know we must face. That’s the most frustrating part — the lack of control.

The way it is with Liverpool at the moment, the problem quite clearly starts with the ownership. And even if these two clowns were willing to put up the right kind of money, I’d still want them out as soon as possible. I’m not interested in buying a title, and I’m definitely not interested in having these two associated with the club for any longer.

As I explained in my first post on KopBlog, I only started following football in the past few years. But for the better part of two decades, I’ve been an avid fan of baseball, American football, basketball, and hockey.

Tom Hicks took the Texas Rangers, a baseball club that was in at least a decently respectable state, and effectively ran them into the ground. I watched him award Alex Rodriguez a most ridiculous contract and otherwise cripple his team with similar boneheaded moves.

Now, insert the “H” on the front of this link, and listen to Tom Hicks thoughts on betrayal from nearly a year ago:
ttp://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090209&content_id=3812156&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Hicks saying he feels betrayed by someone? As he continues to spit in the faces of Liverpool supporters everywhere? I’m speechless.

Let’s look at Gillett… The Montreal Canadiens are the Liverpool FC of the National Hockey League. They have won more trophies than anyone, but none since 1993. I haven’t been the best hockey fan the past couple years, so I’m hesitant to point out specifics here. But for all intents and purposes, he watched his team win nothing, made his money, and then just picked up and sold.

These guys are nothing more than businessmen, and they simply want to make money. It’s no different than the CEO of my company who sits around in his suite and watches his bank account grow while the workers in the offices do all the heavy labor and get paid crap wages.

Hicks and Gillett will use Liverpool to profit and then move on. If they see that they cannot profit, they will just cut their losses and leave the club in turmoil.

Get them out immediately. That’s the first step. There are no obvious replacements because it’s not like you can scout owners and try to recruit them for your club. But that’s where it starts. It’s something the supporters can influence, so why not take control over one thing that we can?

RedScouse… I think loads of ended up Reds like that. My Da and Uncle Alan (God rest them. Good lads) took me to Goodison in 65 dumped me outside the Blue House while they had a few gargles. Then came out, passed me over the turn style and into The Gwaldys Street we went.

To be honest, like yourself I absolutely loved it and spent most of my time staring at the crowd. I can’t remember anything about the game, who they was playing, the score, anything. It was a night game, and I just remember starting at the crowd, as they swayed and sang.

Do you remember it used to actually look like they was on fire back then… Night games, all the steam rising off the crowd.

Lucky enough, Liverpool was at home the next Saturday and I sneaked off to Anfield with some bigger lads from our street. I remember me Ninna gave me a few coppers to go with, and the big lads took it off me, treated me like shite all day, the way they used to, and threw me under the turnstyle at the Boys Pen… Saw the Kop through the railings and that was it… Kopite for life.

Me Da was never too pleased. But happy days, eh.

Sun King as I said, please yourself mate. I can’t be arsed with them. All they are interested in is the next result so they don’t get skitted by their friends. I’d rather they just fucked off and supported the Mancs or Chavs. They belong there and would be welcomed with open arms.

I know it seems petty of me. I’m not even on about the few we have in here. And I certainly don’t mean proper supporters wherever they are from…. I mean the masses that are attaching themselves to our club, who are not really wanted as they honestly have no idea what it is to be a Liverpool supporter. And they believe me… they are damaging the club, not only in the present but everything it once stood for.

Sun King… I didn’t comment on what you said about Hicks and Gillette because I wanted to watch the video before saying anything.

Sadly it kept stopping after just under a minute, so I didn’t get to see the whole thing. Mind you I didn’t have to… How can you tell Hicks and Gillette are lying?

Easy. Their lips are moving.

The hypocrisy of the man is incredible but nothing we haven’t came to know.

I’ll try and find the link for you. Texas Rangers Fans have been in touch with Liverpool fans for a long time now, and they are forging links with SOS. And I read a letter from one of their fans, saying they are now trying to get organised, so they can also take some steps towards driving this tumour of a man out of their club.

I can only wish them the best of luck, but just hope it’s not before we get shot of him and his Gargoyle Gillette. I dread to think what will happen if they get enough funds to hang on and on.

Here’s the line-up for tonight.

Liverpool: Reina, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Benayoun, Mascherano, Gerrard, Aurelio, Kuyt, Ngog.
Subs: Cavalieri, Aquilani, Torres, Kyrgiakos, Lucas, Darby, Dossena.

Would not have guessed that one.

The man has one serious set of nuts though!

The biggest tragedy going on in football today is the “Americanization” of the sport. As a lifelong United States citizen, maybe I seem like a bastard for saying that. But I’ll endorse the good things about America, thank you very much, and I’ll reject the bad. It’s comforting to see people like the Texas Rangers fans saying, “Don’t let this happen to you!”

Unfortunately, Hicks is edging closer and closer to selling off the Rangers. And I cannot stomach the thought of him being able to torture Liverpool for much longer.

Anyway, fans of American sports are the most fickle creatures on the planet. Since I live a couple thousand miles away, I’m a bit curious as to what the general mood in England is and in the city of Liverpool itself, specifically in regards to Rafa Benitez. It’s very difficult to dig up an accurate representation with all the bollocks out there. I know the atmosphere at Anfield has seemed more subdued at times, and it’s a disgrace to hear booing or see “supporters” walking out early. But without even considering the pretenders around the world who are attaching themselves to the club, how are things domestically?

The lads growing up within the Liverpool haven on Merseyside have but one choice for a team to support. I hope they understand what a privilege that is instead of a burden. Overall, is that average born and bred Scouser the same type of loyal, sensible, and knowledgeable as fan that was forged in the yesteryear?

Just about match time and an interesting lineup, so I’ll leave on that note. Let’s make Shankly proud, eh, boys?

Oh dear…
somnath

“What you have explained might be true”

I’m sorry, where is the gray area here? There is no maybe about it. You don’t have to take my word for it. Spend half-an-hour googling what the info I gave you and you’ll see for yourself its true.

Until then, you’ll continue to spout half-truths and NOT be taken seriously in here by people who simply know more than you.

You want to “just leave it at that” claiming that these statements are irrelevant, but they are NOT.
When someone states a half-truth or a just plain WRONG “fact” it is our solemn duty to NOT swallow it hook line and sinker.
Especially when “the truth” is so easy to find, whether it be from people who simply know more than you do about the situation, or from a small time investement of your own on google.

It is “technically true” to say that G&H have invested in players. since they gave Rafa the moeny to buy Torres, Babel and Aquilani.

The “actual truth” is that they borrowed 60 million to pay for those player purchases. In fact every single player purchased since their arrival has been done so on money borrowed from RBS and generated from player sales.

… so let’s not pretend there is any gray area in such discussions shall we?

You wanna debate whether a certain player is good or bad, okay sure, we can all formulate opinion on that.

But certain things are true and certain things are just NOT.

Didn’t see that Team sheet coming.
Is Torres injured? I know Johnson is carrying a knock.

FS, I just read that Hicks rangers and wioll net something in the region of 300 million.

Gilltte just walked away with 333 million after declaring bankrupcy, then selling the Canadiens.

And they are negotiating a “124 million quid investment” in LFC.

So they are selling some shares off to generate 124 million, their outstanding debt is 270… of which they’ve paid nothing back but interest in 3 years!

Yet Rafa has been told he has to sell to fund contract negotiations and any incoming players in January??
you couldn’t make this shit up!
Its going to be very interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

I think he’s just not risking the pair of them mate. Both aren’t fully fit and I think he’s worried about them aggravating existing injuries or getting new ones.

Sun King, I’ll have a chat with you sometime soon about what’s happening with the supporters, but like yourself… it’s game on now.

Come on you Red Men!

ok. off to the BAT CAVE to watch the Game ..
Come on you MIGHTY Reds……

Didn’t get to see it but it’s a much needed victory.

N’gog was brilliant in this game. This lad’s got potential. God if the gooners had not all the luck this weekend, we would have been ahead of them in the table.

That’s my boys!! Sly sports and all you negatrons stick that up your pipe and smoke that!!! Red till I die!!

What can you say about ” Torres” ?
I love what he does for the Team.

Snatching Victory from the jaws of Anxiety and Frustration.

Moments!

Any one of half a dozen bobbledy-bobbledy’s in the first half and we run out a comfortable cricket score.
But they don’t go in and the thought “what do we have to do” creeps in!

Still positive in the second and almost a dozen goalmouth scrambles get cleared away. (I’m 6000 miles away watching on Tele and I could feel the tension in the ground.)
At one point Kuyt had to start clapping in front of the Kop to get them geed up when we’d just won a corner. (too much, arms crossed and entertain me, and not enough Spirit of the Kop, if you ask me!)

Then another moment… they hit the bar when it was easier to equalize.

But we go right up the other end and get a bit of a bobbledy goal ourselves and in that moment… job done!

…er… except it isn’t … coz 3 players could make an easy tackle, none of them do and its 2-1 and a nervy final few, nail-biting minutes.

So we could have really done with a good 6 goal thrashing, but what was needed above all esle was this confidence inspiring 2-1 win and the knowledge that with a bit more luck it could have been more!

Pretty much everyone had a good game. Another Monster performance by the Masch.
Agger is looking the absolute BIZ right now.
Insua, where does a kid like that get the confidence to just play the ball out of defense under pressure (Rafa’s poor man-management and guidence perhaps?)
Benny looking back to his best, though still a bit shagged and off the pace.
Ngog, growing by leaps and bounds (keep your fuckin Van NistleDick hazbins, we’ve got one for the future here! Get him game time.)
Fuck it, everyone looked good today.

We’ve still got some confidence to build and some daft passing to cut out, it wasn’t all rosey by any means, some stupid shit still going on, but this result was well deserved and will help.
For the most part, we looked pretty good today.

Now Portsmouth and a (soon to be mandated by the FA full strength?) Wolves!
Here we go?

Totally agree Redscouse but from what I did see of the match tonight, I agree with Anfied_Red, Ngog deserves a special mention.

There were some touches that a certain Torres would have been proud off.

Anyway 3 points in the bag and that’s what really matters.

Lurgan your right about Ngog the boy is growing in confidence , he can play a bit of football to, not just a big lad up front.
Masher stood out for me.
I just love to watch Torres play, even though he wasn’t on the field very long tonight you just know that there is the potential for a goal or two when he is on the field.
Ngog will get better and better. I think Rafa was smart tonight in starting with him if Torres is still not at full strength.
Benny Onion played well too, he just has a way of turning his man, something you can’t teach a player , he just has it.We will only get better from here.
Did anyone else notice Sevie G didn’t seem like he wanted to tackle after he got fouled in the first half?
Hopefully it’s nothing serious, we need him on the field the rest of the season.

I noticed it Red.
I thought the minute the 2nd went in, Rafa would haul SG off.

Ngog is gonna shove some people’s opinions right down their throats pretty soon!
(he’s actually already doing it.)

Well, a wins a win and a very welcome one it was. But we’re not out of the woods yet lads. Pompey on Saturday, and they could have took all 3 points at the Shed tonight.

And look at the results in the last few days… Proof – any team in this league can beat any orther on it’s day – well, they can if they don’t rest every player in their side except their goalie.

Ah Wolves, well no doubt they’ll all be fully rested by the time they face us, eh. But another scrappy win there, in what will no doubt be an absolute dogfight, and I’m hoping that should be enough to see us kick on at Villa.

I know it’s one game at a time, but looking forward, I think expecting any dramatics before Villa is a bit early but I do expect us to do them and walk on from there.

Oh and last word – NGog a million quid… just another boob by the shite scouting system I suppose.

Good to have these 3 in the bag and the win will increase overall confidence as well – although Ngog doesn’t seem to particularly low, he’s coming on strides and is definitely an asset.

Such a relief when Torres got the second one, I had a feeling we’d need the cushion…

As regards Horseface, what are the arguments against him coming in on a pay as you play arrangement?
Besides him being a former manc that is
Surplus to requirements?
Over the hill?
Nothing but increased workload on the physios?

I don’t really watch other football then the english one, well and brazilian since I relocated. But if the horse still has the touch and gallop I would have thought we could use him.

Good win for the reds tonight.I stayed away from the results and watched match of the day.First time i watched Match of the day “live” at 12 o clock at night!

N`gog continues to progress well done to the lad,looks like he has a future.He certainly has the right attitude.Delighted to see Torres score after missing the chance on sunday.Can`t keep a goodun down.Nice one Nando.

Can`t really tell from highlights but it looks like we played well throughout although dissappointing to conciede late on.Nevertheless its three points welcomed.

Nice one Rafa.

Why do i do it…

Channel hopping i just turned on Sly sports news and they were just going to add break…

“After the break we`ll take a look at more of tonights games,Arsenal drew 1-1 tonight at Burnley who`s home record is better than Liverpools”

Couldn`t resist a cheap shot could they?

No witchunt na???

Sorry for hogging…

Nice one from Wenger when asked about Wolves last night.

“Yes it was dissappointing,we now have to compete with them (mancs) for the 37 games of the season”

A lot less than that Arsen i`m afraid

It was a decent game timmy.
you could really see glimmers of what this group of players is capable of.

But weight of expectation always means, if we can’t get ourselves out to a lead, we become apprehensive.

We got the early goal and things settled, then there were wa series of little goalmouth scrambles on 20-23 minutes and when the ball didn’t come in you could almost see the players thinking “oh shit,here we go, they’ll fuckin fluke one at the other end” and you could feel it from the crowd.

But we kept our heads and had a few opportunities at the end of the half as well.

Pretty comfortable going in at the break. In the drivers seat with plenty of positive attacking play and relatively comfortable defensive performance.
(but just that nagging thought that, coz we didn’t bag the 2nd, the ref could give a pen or a dodgy decision… and well anything could happen?)

And sure enough, there were a series of decidedly odd free-kick decisions given their way at the beginning of the second half… and while I’d say overall he Reffed a pretty good game, he did curiously wave play on more than a few times when some of our lads got clattered, but we retained posession.
(seriously, there were at least a half-dozen times when everyone stopped, them and us, and he was waving his arms like “get on with it.” It was almost comical.)

And you could hear the air being sucked out of the stadium when they hit the bar. Our play at that point had been getting increasingly nervy, but we rode our luck and if Nando scores a fuckin sloppier goal than that ever in his career, I’ll eat my hat!
He looked like he was auditioning for the London performance of Spamalot… or was it a reenactment of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies for the kiddies for Xmas…. for fucks sake.
(They need to call a group of the youth lads up, to clean the rust of his and a few others boots, if you ask me.) (I know, I know, I’m being harsh, he’s just back from injury )

You’d have thought we’d bag a third at that point, and almost did when Aquilani tried a bit of the spectacular with an overhead bicycle… but got pushed in the back just as he was lining his body up (pen maybe… but would have been harsh) and didn’t quite get enough on it.
But again, a couple of dodgy decisions the other way put us under a bit of late pressure and the nerves were still there and the goal we did concede was a direct result of that.

Three players reluctant to put in a challenge on the edge of the box coz they didn’t want to be the one to concede a pen or free kick and instead they gave the fucker a free shot from 12 yards.

But that’s all just by way of reiterating what FS, myself and a few others have been saying for a while now.
The road out of the mire is a long one, with many a twist and turn before the next mile marker.

Excuse me… but can someone explain why Man Utd, aren’t overseas playing in the World Club Cup???

I thought FIFA ruled that participation was mandatory after they dodged it a few years ago?

… or am I just neglecting to take into consideration the obligatory “except where Man Utd are concerned” clause they seem to be able to strongarm the Prem, FA, UEFA and FIFA into.

Been really busy and not reading all the posts. I woke up last night at 3.40am to watch the Wigan game. My eyes were so tired, and i could not take itany longer I went off to sleep after Torres came on. So did not se the last two goals. But glad for the win anyway.

FS, Rudd v N is not a bad striker, if you take away the fact he had been a Manc before. he is only for 6 months loan, so eases up on th finance area by giving so quality upfront.

Any chance we can get rafael van der Vaart on loan? Seriously, i prefer to take him instead of the horse… but i heard that he has serious attitude problem..

Aitch,

Referring to #171, I think the simple answer is they have lost the CL to Barcelona last year, and hence Barca is in World Club Cup, and not them

Sorry Knight, but not for me. And it’s got nothing to do with him once wearing Satan on his chest.

He’s crocked most of the time nowadays. When he is fit and on the pitch, he barely moves at all.

Our main system with one up top, needs a very mobile striker. And even in his hay day, he was an in the box player. So, I think it would be a worse move than signing Morientes, and remember… even on loan, the wages would be huge, and that would come out of any transfer budget.

Also, it’s at the back we have the problems. Look at what happened when Aquilani came on. It wasn’t the lad’s fault, and I’m sure he’s going to be a great player. But we need to get back to the basics, even play shit on a stick football, until we get some wins racked up.

Once we’ve got the confidence back, the high tempo passing game will come back, then it’s time to go on the rampage. But right now, we have to claw our way out of this slump.

Look at the results this season… any team is capable of beating any other right now. After Christmas though, the amount of games, the weather, and the heavy pitches will take it’s toll on the smaller squads and the bigger teams will start to steamroller them. We must stay in touch till then. And if we can stay there until Easter, who knows what can happen.

Welcomed result last night and some very good performances. I think Masch is back to his best and Ngog is really looking the part. Where are CBC with their he is not good enough to play for Liverpool quips? Oh I forgot we won they don’t comment unless we loose.

Some great team work and nice interplay with lots of one touch passes. Gerrard is still some way of full fitness and he indeed pulls out of tackles which is a sign he not that confident just yet. I thought Aurelleo had a good game as well as yes Agger is starting to look the part. All we need is a small run to get the confidence back up and fully fit players. This team is good enough to take on all comers. It is only a matter of time before we get back to and exceed the level we ended last year on. There are going to be a few teams that are going to get a hiding from us once we swing into full gear. Keep the Faith

I have to agree with you FS I would rather see Pacheco on the bench and Ngog given the chance to gain more experience. Bring back Nemeth that’s our future not van Nosteral, if Rafa thought that way he would have brought Owen back. We have to look forward and not be panicked into bringing in players as a stop gap. Given a fit team behind him Ngog (his strike rate is not too shabby right now) can play the part. Think of how he will benefit with a fully fit Gerrad, Aqualani, Johnson, Reira, Babel all streaming forward and creating space. We have to hold our nerve it will come right.

I cant agree with van Nistelrooy being a good signing.

Using Rafas 4-2-3-1 system, the striker needs to be mobile and do the bulk of his work outside of the box. Hence Torres and Ngog very mobile and very fit. Van Nistelrooy isnt suited to that role, doesnt have a trick or burst of pace to beat a man so I cant see how he would fit in using this system.
There is of course a possibility that he could come in by using a 4-4-2 system. This requires the use of wingers who have the ability to beat their man and ping in good crosses.
For me that would necessitate pushing Gerrard out wide right, Riera out on the Left and Aquilani as the offensive midfielder. Possible as a plan b, but I think it removes fluidity out of the system as currently we have 1 striker around the area and 4 very mobile and creative attackers running in who are hard to mark.
Having said all that I am a fire fighter not a football manager so I could be talking complete balls.
Just my opinion anyway.
Personally, I would like to see us go for Carlton Cole. (funds permitting of course)

Sorry FS, I have basically said the same as you. You obviously type faster than me

When you’ve had some bad luck, even a run of bad luck then you get nervy. The last couple of minutes were an on the edge experience. The crowd was just like the players, as Bob the builder said, “Can we do it, yes we can.”
.
The team played well enough to win 2 games but the nerves of not wanting to lose kicked in. That happens when your coming out of a rut.
.
Good luck to Rafa and all the lads, nows the time to take a break and build our confidence.
.
As for Ngog, find me any 20 year old with 5 PL goals worth 1 million. How many has Berbatov got, what about Keane, what for that matter has Owen and Crouch.
.
As for Van Nasal Hair, if he come’s he come’s if he doesn’t I won’t miss him. Although a part of me would love to see him kiss the badge at the OT, after scoring the winning goal.
.
Ps though he’s a box fox not a 1 out striker.

Fire fighter, eh Bry. Fair play to you. Good lads fire bobbies and do a great job. And I think you’re spot on with that opinion.

In fact, if anything, I think we should get shot of some players in January. It’s a bit risky with the squad we’ve got, but I would shift Vronin and Dosenna.

Vronin, because I think that’s it for him, even though he’s not as crap as the scapegoaters would make out. And playing him would only hold back some of the young lads. So, like Keith, I’d much rather see Pacheco on the bench and in the cup games and recall Nemeth if that’s possible. But I don’t think it is, due to the Kyriagos deal.

Dosenna, well, I happen to quite like the lad. But I think it’s fair to say, wrong player, wrong time, wrong club. So, I think it would also be fair to let the lad go home to Italy, especially with this being a world cup year.

Although, I still think it’s a shame it didn’t work out for the lad. He’s got a brilliant attitude. He’s not the shit on a stick the idiot scapegoaters like to make out, and, with the right man in front of him, I think he would have done a great job on our left flank.

But letting them go wouldn’t affect the squad too much and it would also get two relatively high earners off the wage bill, and add a few quid to the transfer fund.

Buying in January is always a bit of a gamble anyway. Most good players are settled and cup tied, not that that would affect us now. But there aren’t very many January buys that work out, and the ones that do only usually make an affect in the next season when they have settled and got used to the new surroundings.

Having said all that though, I think Stevie G and Nando will probably have to be used quite sparingly throughout the season other wise we could well lose them both for a long period of time. But watch what happens anyway… We will handle them with kid gloves all season, get them fully fit and firing, then Spain and England will fuck the pair of them up in the world cup.

Manager… except for the dough, who’d want to be one anyway, eh Bry mate.

Have now just caught the last 30 minutes of the match. Fuck me, you would get a better atmosphere on the moon!

Now and again I could hear a small section of the ground trying to get behind the team but the rest of the ‘supporters’ just sat there with the arms folded. I also seen, what someone commented on earlier, Kuyt trying to get the Kop going. Unbelieveable.

Anyway less of this negativity. A deserved 3 points that now sees us move just 3 points behind the brilliant appy harry’s spurs and 5 points behind O’Neill’s magnificient villa, not to mention the arse, who have now lost Fabregas. Interesting times ahead me thinks. Just need to keep the head down and work fucking hard.

What a plunker that Ngog is eh? Wonder how much he would be worth now? That Rafa fella hasn’t got a clue! As for the scouting system? Pah!

Lads my mate at work who is a Gooner emailed me this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrw4IlKRPmc

Great to get the 3 points last night, a nervous finish was to be expected I suppose.

A 12:45 K.O at Portsmourth on Saturday, and another tough battle ahead. Portsmouth were unlucky to lose at Chelsea last night.

As for the Van Nistlerooy rumours, my advice would be……………… don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

FS, your right,very few January signings make an impact but we must never forget good oul Ronnie Rosenthal!

Yes,Ngog`s progression is going well.Probably better than Rafa had origionally planned.Those with half a brain could always see the lad had something.Good movement and a decent finisher but because he didn`t do a Robbie Fowler and score five goals on his debut some idiots think he shuld thrown out with the trash.

It`s the world we live in today.

LB,thats mad,i`d nearly do rafa he`s looking sexy in that

I was watching Goals on Sunday on slysports last Sunday. They had John Hartson (who is recovering from cancer and doing really well) and Carlton Cole o nthe sofa. I got the impression Carlton Cole is a Liverpool fan. Just things I picked up in between the lines. He was being cajoled into summing up Liverpool’s season and seemed reluctant to be critical. Also he said Rafa is one of the greatest managers there is….. Hmmm….

LB,I wouldn`t say no to CC.Thing is with him being a Ingerland international so his price would be inflated.West ham would never do a loan deal,they`re in as much financial trouble as us.So as regards January i`ll say there will be little or no activity with players coming in.

The Kop in my hey day, and it’s not a big game, just an ordinary Saturday…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVapZsbYf0

Now do you see why I moan Lurgan. And I tell you something, it’s only going to get worse…

Aussie Kopite who used to come in here, keeps in touch with me and he’s coming to England for Christmas. I just got him a ticket for the Villa game. The plan was to meet him there, have a few bevvies and watch the match.

He doesn’t know it, but I could only get 1 ticket so I gave him mine. It’s no big deal. I’ll be at home with family and friends anyway. And the lad’s only here for a short while so… anyway, the point is – I could only get the one ticket.

It’s getting harder and harder to get them as H&G reallocate them to the corporate/hospitality gang and the package operators… travel, accomodation, match.

On top of that, they are also reallocating tickets that is seeing the break up of the Reclaim The Kop blocks. This was a deal worked out between local supporters and the club, to get the locals that go week in week out into a couple of blocks so they could generate some atmoshphere.

The blocks are right up the back of the Kop – boob. It doesn’t transmit, wedged right at the back, under the roof. But on top of that these blocks are where the anti H&G protests come from, so they are systematically being split up and scattered round the ground.

On top of that, the older local season ticket holders on the Kop aren’t being replaced with younger lads who generate the atmosphere. They used to be moved on into the stands, and the places would be taken by younger lads… this is no longer happening.

So the line of progression has been purposely destroyed for the sake of money and to stop protests… all flags are inspected on the way in now. Anti G&H ones are confiscated, and not given back after the game… this is actually illegal.

On top of all that, there is the Sly generation and all the other problems we’ve often spoke about. Imagine how bad it will be when we actually win the league… and the tourists really come to town.

There is nothing wrong with that. The club needs these people to compete. And as I’ve said many times before, we’ve always had out of town out of country support. It used to actually be something we supported as fans. I know some great lads from all over, who have been going for many years at a great expense. Great lads.

Out of town or out of country support isn’t the problem… tourisim is. It’s like StoneHenge, Venice, The Sisten (Don’t know how to spell it) Chapel and all them great tourist spots… the people who come to see these things are actually destroying them, but no one will stop them because it makes too much money.

And that’s the key. Even if tickets where easier to come by, young local support is being priced out of the game. And mark my words… when we win the league, the prices will rocket, and the place will be absolutely rammed to the gills with Chuckle Brothers.

Missed them comments… fucking funny the things the kids do on these computers now. I’ve seen some belters. But on a serious note… I think we better drop any expectations on new signings. We just got a kid from Iceland who they were all after and I think that could well be it.

If not, it will probably be another loan or cheap squad type player… can’t see the point in spending the little dough we might have in the summer now.

Been listening to TAlk Shite this morning… On and on about Rafa and our crap squad as usual – shite without Torres. Then the same fella who’d been prattling on about Aquilani the waste and the wasting of Robbie Keane, says… that NGog, looks like he could become a player. Rafa got lucky there.

Not one single mention that the lad only cost a million quid.

And as if that wasn’t enough, after ranting on and on about LFC needing to get rid of Rafa to stand any chance, they started on about Mark Hughes. You should have heard it… Shame to see a good young British manager being brought down by those foriegn Johnny’s like Robinho and Adebayor. He has to be given more time and money to bring in the right players. Blah, blah, fucking blah!

The hypocrisy is unbelievable.

But it’s starting to roll off my back just like Rafa’s. I’m saturated to the point where I don’t even get angry. In fact, last night I found meself laughing at the drivel spouted by Charlie Nicholas on Sly and Gary Lineacre on MOTD.

Gary Gillespie on LFCtv said a cracker though…
When they showed all the legends at the Shankly parade, the fella commenting got all gooey sentimental. He asked Gillespie what he thought, he said… Oh, I thought it was a casting call for the remake of Cocoon.

Funny as.

CC was probably just trying to keep Rafa sweet LB – Just in case there my be the remotest possibility that we might be interested in signing him.

Steve, you might be right there…

By the way Hines had to have an operation to take cartilidge out of his knee. Gutted.

Good win last night – looks like I have to eat humble pie over Ngog – happy to do it,

Two games coming up we should win and we we can beat villa away things will look a lot brighter starting off the new year

An important win last night lads, 3 crucial pts. I wouldent call it a good win because as ever man did we make it hard on ourselves. Thank Fowler Jason Scotland did his best Ronny Rosenthal impression! But the key thing is we did win so I’ll leave any criticisms I have aside and just hope we win Saturday. Speaking of which, I’ll be watching the game in the presence of greatness: Jan Molby will be joining us in the 11th st bar for the Pompey game Saturday! Cant wait to meet our very own great Dane!

Am so sick of this shameful sly coverage … Today i was watching that FIRST CHOICE highlights show and the host (some lady) started showing clippings of liverpool’s match with wigan’s ONLY threatning move that hit the bar and she was like, “Ooh how different wud that have been if that wud have gone in.. how unlucky wigan are..” and she started making a point out of it as if we are so useless that we cant even score if Wigan shud have equalised… Why did she fail to show/mention of the countless near-misses by liverpool ?? wat if any 2 of those shots wud have gone in … then wat ..

Why are they so hell bent on highlighting only the negatives of our matches … why dun they highlight the fact that wat if that beachball goal wud have been disallowed ?? wat if we had got that clear-cut penalty decisions against the spurs and arsenal ?? i just dun get this absolutely stupid baseless coverage we are getting in the media..

Even yetsreday, although i was watchin the match on my PC, i had switched to skysports to listen to the shit they are very well capable of … and that guy covering liverpool’s game was sooo full of it … according to him we were sooooo nervy … Excuse me, but i was watching the same game and wat he failed to point out was a string of saves that wigan’s keeper had to make …

The shameful act of continuously slating us and our manager is getting pathetic and more pathetic.. i wonder wats in store once teh season nears its finale …

Did anyone hear any pundit slate Mark Hughes for his recent results ?? spending 100 odd million and failing to win a single away game recently … wat position is he now on ??? 8th ??

And also i wanted to mention did anyone hear ANYTHING about Shrek’s dive teh otehr day against Villa ?? I havent … atleast not to the extent to which i heard and read abt NGOG’s … Atleast, NGOG went down avoiding a careless lunge by a defender …

We got the job done yesterday. Still miles and miles of room for improvement, but there were no real glaring weakness that I myself find worthy of losing sleep over. I’d like to see us demonstrate a bit more faith that we can keep the lead once we go up, and I’d like to be able to find the killing blow that truly finishes the opposition off, but we’re mainly just talking about confidence here. Stay strong and grab a few more positive results, and it’ll come.

End of the day, it’s just three points — important points at that — but we ain’t done nothing yet. Otherwise, a useful performance for a little boost of confidence and a solid first building block for the next fixtures. Keep it going, and let’s head into the new year with some momentum and a clearer sense of purpose.

I struggle to see how we could bring in any player of significance during the January window, and like some of you, I’d almost rather avoid it. If we can get a steal, then by all means… But again, it’s just a roll of the dice. Rafa will see a player with some potential, try to use him in the appropriate manner and situations, and hope he can quickly learn how to fit himself in with the team and its play. As far as I’m concerned, whatever funds we have aren’t going to bring in the caliber of player we need, so I’m not getting excited for anything. We can’t truly hope for a new lad to make any impact of note, so it’s really just inviting the ass clowns to blaspheme “another failed signing by Rafa!!”

N’Gog continues to progress, and we might as well give him more of an opportunity to show what’s he capable of. And I agree with offering Pacheco more minutes on the pitch to accelerate his learning curve. At least we know these are players who can be useful in the years ahead.

Voronin sometimes isn’t as terrible as people make him out to be, but I don’t see much of a benefit in playing him. He doesn’t want to be here, so we don’t care if he improves for the future. And for practical purposes, it just seems like he’s missing that one last bit of quality to make anything happen. I watch him and see a few good moves here and there, but it always amounts to nothing. Most of the time he just seems on a different wavelength. Maybe he needs to pull a page from the Lucas book and get his hair cut. Perhaps his play will improve. I swear Lucas started improving once he shaved off that rat fur.

While I’m on such a serious subject, I’ll also mention that this is coming from a man who used to convince himself that Alonso’s few errant passes were due to his patchy beard. You see, the added weight threw him slightly off balance, so he’d overhit a few.

FS, the pricing out of the real fans is exactly what I’m talking about when I mention the Americanization of football. If Hicks and Gillett were ever to build a new stadium, I’m sure 75% of the added seating would simply be luxury suites. Of course, the regular ticket prices would go through the roof as well. This is happening to every new place built in the United States. The stadiums are being replaced by structures that are simply shopping malls with fields of grass in the middle to play games on. The focus is now on how to get people to spend as much money as possible while they’re at a game — not how do we get the people here to support the team as loudly and enthusiastically as possible? This will happen in all of football, and the death of the atmosphere will be the heartbreak of a lifetime.

And I’d prefer not to think of money as it relates to when Liverpool wins the league. Aside from what they’ll be charging for admission to Anfield, you’re right, the money from tourists and bandwagoners will simply be pouring in. Merchandise sales will be unbelievable.

But that begs the question — what is it that these two dimwits don’t see? If they simply invest in the team and give Rafa the resources needed to win the league, they stand to make an absolutely silly profit. That’s where I have trouble connecting the dots. It’s a simple equation for me — investment of money = #19 = return of investment and then some.

All it really tells me is that they are in even worse a state than we could possibly imagine. They cannot invest because they are just too broke.

But again, even they had it, I wouldn’t want their money. They are scumbags for life. All I want for Christmas? My two poor excuses for owners strapped to the top of a rocket and launched into outer space.

LondonBarnes, all things considered, that video is hysterical.

Great result for us. Didnt get to see the match but read the comments here.

@Aitch

Ok i will take that.

@Sun King

Going by your posts it is really important that somehow we get rid of the present owners.

General question to all:

I just wanted to know that when ManUtd were building their stadium..did we try to shift to a similar sort of ground? Why we were not able to recognize that with changing times we will need to have higher revenue generating sources?

Rick Parry is sure to blame but there must be something more htan that isnt it? I want to know.

Sun King, there’s no point in me going on about it. Hicks has said it all himself… Brand loyalty, Weetabix, etc.

Anyone still fooling themselves that they are anything more than parasites is a fool at worst, at best doesn’t know what’s going on… but even that is no excuse. In fact, that’s worse than having your opinions formed by the media.

Welcome to the club Dizzy… All I can say is, don’t let it drive you mad. Mind you, I’ve seen it for knocking on 50 years now and it still drives me bonkers at times.

Oh and Sun King…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/dec/17/liverpool-george-gillett-tom-hicks

People wishing for new owners… well, I tell you what, wish into one hand and shit in the other. See which one fills up first.

And while I’m at it, I might aswell point this out…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/international/article6959413.ece

Now to help people abroad digest this… Liverpool was the last city to be included in the line up of city’s that will host the World Cup games in 2018, if it comes here.

The committee biding for the games where very reluctant to include Liverpool in the bid as they aren’t convinced there will be a viable stadium in the city come 2018!

To show you how bad this situation is…

Milton Keynes was included in the World Cup host city’s without a second thought. Which won’t mean anything to lot of people in here, but here’s the sad facts about that…

Liverpool as a city, with Everton and Liverpool, have racked up more trophies in football than other city in Britain. Yes… more than London, Manchester or Birmingham. Everton have been a professional league club since 1878, although they date back far further than that. (Both clubs having actually grown out of Saint Domingo Vale parish boys club, and boxing and football teams.) Liverpool have been in business since 1892.

Milton Keynes only actually became a town in 1967, and they have had a football team since 2004. Yes, 5 bloody years… Milton Keynes Dons, which is actually the old Wimbledon FC that split in 2 with half of it ending up as an amatuer side and the other moved to Milton Keynes and changed it’s name.

And I could go on, it actually gets worse, but that’s enough doom and gloom for me for now. And anyone wanting to know how dire the situation is, can easily look it up.

But as always, the ones who need to learn and realise what is actually happening at the club, and how bad that situation is, are only interested in having their demands met at any cost.

There were a number of contributing factors somnath. (re #199)
I’m sure there are points that others can elaborate on, but in a nutshell here’s what happened…

Liverpool weere the dominant side in the 80s when Television boradcast money began trickling into the game (I say trickling because this was really the beginning of the growth of TV comverage…the baby steps)
In the 80s, in simplistic terms, the sides of the stadiums had seats and the ends were were you stood. After Hillsborough, it was mandated that all stadia be 100% seated.
Installing seats in the Kop and Anfield Road ends, cut the capacity (and with it gate receipts) of Anfield nearly in half.)
So this went into effect essentially at the end of 92/93 season, when LFC were still at the height of their power, both on and off the field.

Now granted, all grounds/teams were affected similarly in this way, but around this same time, we the restructuring of football, with the start of the Premier League… and the Champions League… and the injection of big money into the game.

We should have been able to capitalize on this, in the same way some other teams did, but we didn’t.

I suppose to some extent you could say the very thing that makes LFC special, was in some ways its downfall… The Liverpool Way.
We were family owned and didn’t view “big money signings” (not that we didn’t break the bank a few times,) as the way forward.

Throughout the 90s we fell further and further behind in finances… and when we did splash the cash, it was often with disasterous results… causing a certain gun-shyness in subsequent transfer dealings.

We did expand Anfield capacity, but Anfield is smack-dab in the middle of a housing development and could only be expanded so far, without forcibly relocating a LOT of people… folks who were several generations living in those homes.

The long and short of it is, that these factors (and a few others) essentially leveled the playing field for a team like United… and the other teams who briefly benefited from the situation… to not only catch us up, but eventually surpass us… and steamroll ahead… and led to the demise of once great “top 4 clubs” (Notts Forrest and Leeds were once “top 4″ clubs, they aren’t even in the Prem now)

Which brings us to Y2K.
You think the Chavs would be in their current situation if they hadn’t been given hundreds of millions of Dollars.
Our owners borrowed 270 million… Roman GAVE the Chavs 3 times that… no interest payments due… no debt on the club… just Merry Fuckin Christmas and lets go get some silverware!

Obviously things are a bit more complicated than I’ve just typed. I’ve glossed over the finer details, but that’s pretty much how we find ourselves here… in a rather long winded nutshell

Its fuckin staggering innit FS?

I mean seriously… what businessman with his head screwed on straight would buy a 10% stake in LFC for 64 mill, when for less than double that investment, he could have 100% of Everton and have total control over a how to rebuild them to the rformer glory?

Moores as hapless as he might have been owned a club that was NOT in debt.

The Yanks immediately put us 127 million in debt, then followed that up by doubling down to raise our debt to 290 million.
They then arbitrarily valued the club at 300, then 350, then 400, then 450, and now 500 million.

There’s a name for that … its called a Ponzi Scheme!
(or pyramid scheme as most people know it)

Its a business practice that caused the collapse of financial institutions, worldwide.
It caused the ruination of many a homeowner, worldwide.
it is now largely accepted/viewed as the worst way to run a business.
But some people want to believe we are just fine and the Yanks have invested in players???

Aitch, the club was indeed in debt before the yanks bought out Moores. In some sources I have read that we were in £40m worth of debt and other sources say it was closer to £80m. The club had been mismanaged for a long long time. Why do you think there were heated arguments between Moores and Steve Morgan at every AGM…

I just read that article. Hicks and Gillett eh? You couldn’t make it up could you? Well you could actually.

There was zero debt on the club though LB. It was on Moores. He actually payed for Dirk Kuyt out of his own pocket….

Without doubt, he is a fool. But he’s a proper red, and if we still had him in charge, we would be rattling along in the same old way… 20 million a year in transfers as the minimum.

What have we got know… debts that we really don’t know the full extent of, but conservatively estimated at 200 and at least 40 millions. A non existent transfer fund, that wages and contracts have to be taken out of. And a pie in the sky plan for a stadium that has already cost us at least 230 millions…

Moores, yep a dupe of the highest order – like many a rich kid, handed everything on a silver plate. But also a heartbroken man, who did his best to the best of his ability… loads of people to blame for our state, and Moores is certainly one of them. But make no bones about it… he’s heartbroken at what he has done. And I know that for absolute fact.

Oh and Rafa has earned us record profits every season he has been here, breaking that record each season.

And there is at least 50 million quid disappeared from them funds, but not a trace of where it has gone.

Oops typo… it should read a plan for a non existent stadium that has already cost us 20 to 30 millions – 2 bloody drawings, a shed, a porta- loo, some fencing and an auld fella with a spade in Stanley Park.

But eh fuck the doom and gloom… let’s go buy Villa, Silva, and Billy The Fish

So what happened to Snoogey Doogey?

One question to ask yourself though FS, why did Moores have to pay for Kuyt out of his own money? Why was the club in such a skint state that he had to do that? Commercially we were a bit of a joke really. The club the size of Liverpool with all its fan base and success had to have its chair dip into his own pocket to buy us a striker.

This poor management of the club is what I believe panicked Moores into selling out. He saw we were being left miles behind our competitors, he did not have confidence in his own ability to take us forward, and so he sold out to a couple of parasites.

Had Moores hired an excellent, money stream generating chief executive as the mancs did with Peter Kenyon. There would have been no need to be prostituted around the globe to any cunt looking to buy a club. And what a right pair of cunts we got in the end eh?

LB, you answered your own question mate…
Had Moores hired an excellent, money stream generating chief executive as the mancs did with Peter Kenyon. There would have been no need to be prostituted around the globe to any cunt looking to buy a club.

Two words… Rick Parry.

Dire straits indeed, and I’m glad we’re talking about it again. While I’m sure it’s been discussed many times over, it’s important to keep extending reminders from time to time. This blog gets plenty of visitors from all around, and I’m sure there are lurkers who peek in now and again who need and appreciate this information.

And I’m glad to take some of the heat off the manager for the time being and focus back on the real problem. Good job to those who have painted the introductory picture. Anyone taking a serious look at the situation is certain to understand that the ownership is where their attention and efforts need to be aimed — not Rafa Benitez. As long as we have shite owners, we’re going to severely cripple our chances of success. And any success that we do happen to achieve will be temporary.

I agree that The Liverpool Way, for all its pride and glory and honor, played a significant role in the club getting left behind financially. You can’t really blame anyone in particular for this contribution — the supporters SHOULD have resisted the big money and commercialization. But the playing field was not level, and Liverpool couldn’t really keep up without Moores himself going bankrupt.

Which is something LB has pointed out. Moores was no genius, and it’s disappointing that he could not operate something as marketable as LFC to gain a profit. But the club itself was still in sustainable form when he did decide to call it a day. And at least he would never steal from the club. That all changed when the two flunkies took over.

Hicks and Gillett are, plain and simple, stealing from Liverpool. They ARE making money off of the club, and they’re just putting it towards outside investments or straight into their pockets. Any Liverpool-related debt — no matter the fact that they caused it — they direct straight to the club and not to themselves.

At this point, I don’t know who would even want to buy us. The only thing we really have going for us is a name brand — Liverpool: 18-Times English Champions and 5-Times European Champions.

The club is going to be owned by businessmen, whoever they are. Financially, it is in shambles, and the only way to fix it is to produce hundreds of millions out of pocket. And that’s just to get back on solid ground — not even thinking about making funds available for a transfer budget. What businessman would want to get involved with that?

So I hope and pray to Fowler that there is a ridiculously wealthy Liverpool supporter somewhere in the word — or a group of them who want to get together. What a nice thought it would be. “You know, all this money is just sitting around in the bank account. Why not use a bunch of it to save the club we love?”

And one more thing… The Liverpool Way does not have to die for us to compete. We do need to spend a lot of money, but it must be the right money spent in the right places. Look how close we came last year without having to transform into the Scum and or the Chavs. Rafa spends wisely and, as has been pointed out, even makes a profit for the club. We should be overwhelmed by our luck to have him as the boss. The fact that he can simply be bothered to put up with all the nonsense is something I don’t know that we even deserve.

So if we manage to send H&G on their way, every supporter needs to make it clear from day one that we’ll tolerate no more incompetence and greed.

Essentially, we need to ask a new owner to bail us out and then supply a reasonable transfer budget on top of that. This person should obviously care about LFC — not just want to use it for personal gain. Appointing a skilled executive like the cunts did with Kenyon would also be necessary.

What else do we need?

You, you preek… Theees is all down to you, Puta…
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/27/article-0-03B03842000005DC-163_468x329.jpg

If Moores was so fucking stupid, then who steered him towards selling to the yanks and not DIC? It if was not Parry then who else could it have been?

As they said, you can only sell the family silver once and, at the time, they got the top dollar for that silver, whilst dropping us in the shit.

Seriously though, can Moores be that stupid? Can he, silver spoon or not? Would Foster Gillett make the same mistake in the future, with the same circumstances? Unfortunately, I seriously doubt it.

Maybe the real dumber and dumber were in control long before the yanks ever arrived and this would, maybe, epxlain why LFC has fell behind in the last 20 years! Until the Raffiah arrived!

BTW, I believe that Moores go his out-of-pocket money for Kuyt, when he sold us down the river. So maybe he is not so stupid after all!

Bitter and twisted? maybe I am, but I see what I see!

Rafa has disposed of two clowns. Maybe he can now do the same with the Yanks but this will be a long battle and he will need our support.

For once I will sign-off with YNWA.

Sun King, sadly it’s all pie in the sky… The way forward was for Moores to sell half of the club to Steve Morgan. That way we would have had old money, new money, a constant stream of money from both their business interests outside the club, a good old fashioned chairman, part of the good old boys brigade, and a noveau rich hard nosed business man… both Scouse, and both died in the wool Reds.

Shame they hate each other’s guts.

In an ideal world, Share Liverpool would take over and we would become much like Barcelona. But as it stands, that is dead in the water. And there is no oil-rich prince that will ride to our aid on his white charger.

Fact is, we are stuck with The Borrowers for the foreseeable future and until they lower their ridiculous demands.

Having said that, those able to protest should and will, as for the rest of us who can’t because of geographical or other reasons, should always bear in mind what is really happening at the club before spitting the dummy over a draw at the likes of Blackburn.

Nah Lurgan, Moores was duped. His only real crime was stupidity. But I’m not his appologist, and I understand why the majority would lynch him.

Anyway, I’m off to drink a few cans of Grampy juice and play with the grandkids before Ninna Who Must Be Obeyed puts them to bed. But isn’t it nice to be able to talk some proper football and issues without all the usual bollacks.

I know I shouldn’t even mention it, but had to… it was like the good old days in here for awhile there.

How was he duped FS? I cannot understand this one, considering his family background and (probable) schooling.

Fucking dense or not, surely someone should have told him to get things in writing and not come to a ‘gentleman’s agreement’.

Agreed that it is refreshing to speak about proper LFC footy issues. So how do we keep this going? More LFC wins.

Anyway, fortunately, there are more important things in life. Enjoy the kids.

BTW digger, you’re a lucky BIFFO! Enjoy, any chance of a few links/pic?

Lurgan, Moores biggest crime in my eyes was him not being able to identify that Rick Parry was an incompetent chief exec. If I inherit a company it is my responsibility to hire the best possible CEO. If I hire an idiot of a CEO and the company fail to progress financially despite its huge potential then ultimately it is my fault. At year end when the shareholders ask what the fuck is going on (which is what happened at Anfield in every annual general shareholders meeting from 1999-2005) I can’t tell them its the chief exec’s fault.

Words cannot describe how much of a bad decision it was to sell to the yanks.

Gillett approached the club twice before but he didn’t get anywhere because simply he did not have enough money. So he came back a third time with Hicks. They sold to the 2 of them not bothering to do any research on Hicks whatsoever.

How utterly ridiculous is it to be owned by 2 men who own 50% each. 2 men who had never before gone into business together. 2 men whom all of the sports franchises they own are unsuccessful.

LB, titles aside, Moores was the CEO. He had the final say, no matter what. Just look at Microsoft and Bill Gates standing aside – complete bollix!

I am not the brighest spark in the world, but if I was selling a business (cue the laughter), I would be looking for my guarantees in writing i.e you will not put more than x pounds debt onto LFC, or one of their subisidary companies as of 3100, or whatever date you want to pluck from your arse.

It’s simple logic, which every CBC or human being would do when buying/selling a house.

Well, kids are in the land of nod. LB… when the yanks rode into town, waving dollars, and shouting Snoogey Doogey, the majority, if not all of us, were made up. We were just as stupid.

On top of that, Rick Parry was hired because he was head bean counter at the FA and apparently a huge success. It has to be remembered he was one of the driving forces in forming the Premiere League and one of the main players that brought the mega money into the game.

But I also think it was Brian Barwick, who was head of the FA at the time and a life long Liverpool fan, who pushed him into the job, believing he was a hard nosed business man who would drag LFC into the modern business world.

But you’re entirely right, Moores = complete and utter mug. You only have to look at the dopey bastard to realise that… big droopy 70′s porno tash, wounded dewey puppy dog eyes, and ploppy kid’s face like a melted welly… mug written all over him.

Hicks and Gillette must have been orgasiming when they met him… sort of like the playground bully meeting the posh daft kid with loads of expensive toys.

But yes, yourself, Lurgan and all the other people that blame him are entirely right… stupidity is no defense.

And there’s a matter of DIC being vetted for months, only to be fucked off, and Hicks and Gillette being handed the family silver once they offered 20 million more.

I can’t remember the exact amount of time off the top of me head, but once the shysters offered that the deal was done in days… and Rick and Dave drove off in their brand new, fire engine red Ferraris.

What a pair of cunts, eh. I can see them in me mind’s eye with fluffy dice hanging from the rear view mirrors and Rick and Dave across the windscreens.

In fact, fuck it… round up the villagers, light the torches, we is gonna have a lynchin!

Evening Chaps.
Hate to disagree with the majority, but I believe Moores biggest crime is to believe in people and give them the benefit of the doubt.
If we cast our minds back, Abramovich had taken over at Chelsea, it looked like the writing was on the wall for us financially, and we all got desperate. My honest opinion is that the fans are just as much to blame as Moores. Yes DIC were all set to take over but a few press reports stating that they were going to sell up within 7 years,the fans fretted, Moores panicked and along came 2 silver tongued cavaliers who (like Kaa the snake from Jungle Book) said all the right words and whistled the right tunes, and moores in his desperation showed vulnerability and was duped (and say what you like about these two they are good businessmen otherwise they wouldnt be where they are). You could say Moores shouldnt have been duped but I have to say we were.
I honestly think Moores intentions were good, and I bet every night he goes to bed he agonises over what he has done. Alas its done, nothing we can do about it now.
And why are we priced so high, 1 word CLASS. Chelsea cant buy it, Citeh cant buy it. The Mancs dont have it.
Yes our Class is being eroded by simpletons who phone Talksport and fall for the imbecillic bile being spouted by halfwits who are either incapable of formulating an educated of themselves, or of people who should know better and toe the line for the sake of a few quid. But nevertheless we have class in abundance.

These owners know it, they know others know it and they put a price on it. Unpalatable it is, nauseating it is, but unfortunately true it is.

How do we combat it, well again at the risk of talking above my station, we back our manager, we support our players, and we base our opinions on the big green area that we can see in the middle of a football stadium called Anfield, not on the whim of a sensationalist driven media.

I feel that I must come clean at this point and inform you all that during the dark days of Houlliers reign, I too was taken in by the media frenzy and I booed the team after a nil nil draw with Southampton, it was a 5 second boo and I have honestly regretted it ever since.
Were better than that.

FS @ 181

Cheers,

We talk the same lingo, I reckon we will get on

Ah well, I’m off… If you get ITV4 the Big Match Revisited is on… Chelsea v Liverpool from 1979. Might be worth a giggle.

Bry… I booed Kewell in Istanbull. The one and only time I ever booed the team or a player and the prick deserved it, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth near 5 years on.

FS,
Youre bigger and better than me then mate.

Disagree all you want Bigbry but if YOU WERE the boss of LFC (i.e. Moores), would you have done the same thing?

Or maybe you would have asked some fucker to look at what the potential buyers had done in the past.

Has anyone noticed that this is a prickly subject for me?

Anyway, from a Simpson’s point-of-view, here’s what I think was going on at the time in the anifeld boardroom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBFzerJ1Ss

They should have hooked-up a lie detector jobby, just like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-TZ8Z5S9rI&feature=related

Anyway, I am fecking off to mon lit.

A+

This is an even more difficult discussion than one about whether certain players are good or not, or whether Rafa knows what he is doing or not… coz there is simply far more passion wrapped up in it.

But just take a breath, set your feelings asicde for a moment and think about this.

Instead of selling the club, ifMoores had fired Parry, hired a Proper 21st Century Businessman, then borrowed 270 million quid (the initial debt lumped onto the club by G&H)

…deducting the approximate 100 million we’ve spent on players since their arrival (arrived at through increasing that loan ammount… urgh!)

…we’d have the squad we have now (more or less, not considering players who would not have been bought coz we had momney for better lads)

… AND we’d have had 170 million left over to buy … oh, say… David Villa, David Silva, and Andre Arshavin, … (before their prices went through the roof) …(like we did with Nando)
…had enough left over to buy a defender or two.
…and maybe 40/50 odd million to rent a couple of bulldozers and buy some cement… as opposed to 1 ceremonial spade and a porta loo!

Sure, we’d be still 270 million in debt… but NOT the 350 million we are currently saddled with…
… we’d have a far superior squad,
… we’d probably have additional silverware (no guarantees of course, but highly likely)
…we’d actually likely be worth the ludicrous 400 mill price tag G&H lumped us with, (before arbitrarily raising that to 500????)
… and would be in a position to actually build/finish a new stadium.

We know the alternative… but just imagine if that’d happened!
That is what makes my boil! Not the reality we have now, but the reality that could have been!

I’m with Lurgan and LB on this one. I have absolutely no sympathy for Moores or Parry but ultimately Moores must carry the can. Its not Parrys fault he’s incompetent, its Moores fault for enabling it. Both of them should be ashamed of themselves taken in by a dog and pony show, scammed by two flim flam men. Fucken disgraceful. Moores legacy could very well be the ruination of LFC and the annihilation of over a century of tradition. Heckuva job Brownie…

Yeah Lurgan hopefully I’ll get some pix and I’ll email them to LB, maybe you could post them on the site LB? Cos I’m absolutely shit at that stuff! Completely computer illiterate is Digger! I’d also check the site LFCNY.org next week Lurgan, I’d say they’ll have a link or page with pix. Anybody any questions for the big man? Obviously I’m gonna ask him bout the yanks, our current form and what are ya having to drink! But any others?

Dig, what about asking Jan who he thinks we need to sign to make the real difference and turn us into champions. We all know we don’t have any money, but it would be nice to get his view anyway.

He is a good ex-player for you to be meeting, because you can tell he still loves the club and he won’t stick the boot in for no reason.

When he comments on LFC he is honest and objective. Wish some of the other ex-players could be like that!

Nice one digger.

I would like to know from the big Dane who he thinks will/should give way when Aquaman is a regular starter. Also, should Aqua or Stevie G play behind Torres?

Finally, how quick was he over 100m because contrary to belief he could shift a bit in his early days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOkZOcMjBe4

I think that’s Clayton Blackmore trying to track him down there. Now that is a blast from the past!

Well, if, if, if, if, and, and, and, but, but, but it’s his fault, no it’s his fault, no it’s…

Doesn’t really matter. We’re in the shit, whichever way you look at it, and like Rafa says… We have to get on with it.

He’s accepted the facts. He gets accused of moaning and whingeing about the lack of funds, and then lies told about what he’s spent, by every drunken hack, pundit, expert and ex-player the media can dig up. When the fact is, all the lad has said about money this season is… “The main thing this season, was to lower the debt.”

If you actually listen to Rafa, you’ll find he’s always letting us, the supporters, in on what’s really happening. And you’d think we’d take notice of him rather than the likes of Souness, Whelan, Merson, Nicholas, ad infinitum.

Oh well, what can you do?

FS, its all your fault.

2 very good questions there lads, they’ll certainly be asked. Yeah I cant wait Steve, Im like a kid at Christmas! Jan was one of my favourite reds, his vision, his speed of thought and his execution of that vision….just amazing. Truly world class. I remember, I think it was Kenny, saying at a function once, that ‘when Jan became available, the 3 clubs tied in pursuit of his signature, were Barca, Ajax and Liverpool. And thats all you need to know about Jan’. Indeed.

I hear ya FS and those are the cards that we have been dealt but it still grates.

So going forward, as Atich has already said, the only way we can get some dosh in Jan is to sell. Babel/Dosser would be the only guys that we could get some decent money for but this would be risky considering our track record with injuries and current squad depth.

So basically a few kids will come in Jan with, maybe, a few from the 1st team squad going out to reduce the wage bill and beef up the transfer budget for the summer transfers.

lads the europa draw is in 15 mins. some interesting games in the champions league.

YNWA

Here’s a nice clip to lift the doom and gloom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmyzLuxRBUE&NR=1

I remember watching this on Sportsnight. It was great then and it’s great now.

You know its desperate time when I start to agree with Digger (just had to be revived after going into shock) Stupidity is not a defense not matter how you define it and being devastated after the fact is even worse in my book. Yes shit things happen to good people and sometimes you get nailed no matter which way you jump, but Moors has to take full responsibility for the entire sorry affairs and being a die hard reds fan makes his crime worse in my eyes. By all account he was born with a golden shovel up his arse, which means access to all and any expert advice. When you negotiate any deal of this magnitude you have an army of accountants and lawyers to do due diligence and the fine print in the contracts will be pages long. Moors has to have caved in at every corner to allow these two twats to do exactly what they wanted to do and buy the club by lumping everything onto LFC. There was no cash down payment no penalty clauses or get out of free jail cards. If the reason for selling the club was to take it forward them that has to be written into the contract, no stadium within 60 days you are in default, a further 60 days and you forfeit and a forced sale or buy back is pushed through. These are the type of instructions a die hard Liverpool supporter writes into a contract when selling the family silverware. Ye Moors is a moron just by keeping Prick Harry on board when the entire world and his dog knows that he is incompetent, but selling to these two twats amounts to something akin to conspiracy or in simple terms plain greed if all he cared about was the extra 20 mill. Crying he is sorry after the fact get him no sympathy from me. It reminds me of the school bully who sobs his eyes out when he gets caught and his parents are brought in. I did not see this lifetime supporter jumping to invest and buy back into the club to try and makes things right. No he just sits there with his hang dog face. As for his dislike of Steve Morgan, when you talk business it’s the person who can do the job that counts not whether you can have a pint with him. Sorry he gets fuck all sympathy from me.

As for fucking Wimbledon and Dave Basset they where our boogy team for quite some time, similar to (Fat Sams) Bolton was to Arsenal. For you younger folk they had the crazy gang, Dennis Wise, (yes the one that fucked up the barcodes) Vinny Jones (he fucks up everybody, used to grab Gazza balls on the pitch just to show him who’s boss, famous pic of that incident ) and Dave Beasent (goal keeper, actually played for Chelsea after he saved a Rush penalty in the FA cup final when they beat us, I still have not recovered from loosing that final) they basically mugged teams with the long ball and intimidation. Good old days. Who remembers the Milton Keynes adds of the eighties everybody used to go yeah right fuck off?

A couple of questions for Jan, Digger

Who was the best player he ever played with and who was the best he ever played against.

I’m always interested in who footballers think were the best players usually its different than what you would assume

We got some team from Romania that sounds like a very serious disease – unirea urziceni.

No idea who they are.

Should have seen Kenny’s face when the draw was made? If was like who the fuck are these pack. Classic!

Keith, post of the week there.

Is it only me or someone else also wanna bang that idiot Mersons dumb Ass ???

Great post Keith but I think that you are doing Rushie a disservice there. It was Aldo who had the ignominy of being the first player to miss a pen in the FA cup final.

Doesn’t change the result and I still am pissed-off about that game, 20-odd years on.

Great discussion in here lads.Had Xmas do with the job last night so nursing a hangover here.

Moores gets the vote of No Sympathy from me also.Silver spoon or not,thick fuck or not,he simply didn`t do his homework.There is a lot more to blame for this also (Parry) but the final buck (no pun intended) stopped with Moores.It`s not like he was some 18 year old rich kid who just flogged a business his daddy left him.
DIC spent months looking at the books and were carefully planning their takeover and Gillete comes in with the other dumbass who had to Google LFC to see ho they were offered extra cash and the 30 pieces of silver were handed over.
Drives me fuckin crazy.

Looking at the draw for Europa league.Unrirea urizceni.Win that,we play either fenerbache or lille.

Wouldn`t mind a trip to france for the away leg.

Wimbeldon 88 eh,the biggest upset in sporting history.
Poor oul Aldo that penalty miss still haunts him to this day.

That was his last touch of the ball that day.Kenny pulled him straight away he could see it had got to Aldo.
12 months on 1989 cup final Aldo`s first touch on the wembley turf was to strike early on for the reds against Everton.

Sorry Lurgan dead right Aldo, but you have to admit they could be brothers.

Lurgan Unirea Urziceni were in Sevilla’s champions league group and finished with 8 points.

Managed by the former chav Dan Petrescu they gave a decent account of themselves in their first season in the champoins league.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Unirea_Urziceni

Alittle look at our opponents.They call themselves the “Chelsea of Ialomi?a”.

So thats one reason to beat the crap out of them

That should read “lalomita”

Did you get the canvas yet Lurgan?

If you did whats it like?

apparently we will be signing Milos Krasic in Jan. He plays for CSKA now and turned Scums down to join us. 90% certain of this. FS you heard anything on this?

YNWA

Great comments in here. Golden stuff. It’s so crucial to understand just how the hell we ended up here so that we can make sure — once we’re finally dug out of this mess — nothing like it ever happens again.

The general consensus appears to be that Parry was incompetent, the fans were duped, and Moores was both incompetent and duped. And it seems most people are going to place the brunt of the blame on Moores’s shoulders — I can’t say I disagree with that.

But what’s done is done. All in all, I still think H&G must always be the most guilty parties here. Moores may have sold us up shit’s creek without a paddle, but he at least handed those bastards a sustainable product that could have easily seen growth and development.

The Yanks have taken that product — OUR passion — and they’re trying to rape it for everything it’s worth.

So rather than lynch Moores, I think we need to focus our energy on simply ousting the current owners. Make it so uncomfortable for them that they cannot stand the burden of being associated with the club any longer. Get them to lower their stupid, unreasonable demands and sell as soon as possible.

And the fans must understand that this is only the first step. Whoever ends up owning the club after they’re gone is going to have a hell of a time trying to get us headed back in the right direction. This is going to be a long, hard battle, and David Villa won’t be wearing a red shirt any time soon.

Anyway, I’m mostly preaching to the choir here. But anyone else out there reading what’s been written here recently… if you were unconvinced before, I hope you start to understand and embrace what the true objective should be — YANKS OUT!

We just can’t resign ourselves to waiting it out with these borrowers. They’re going to bleed every last bank note out of the club, and we’ll be well and truly fucked.

Great comment Keith(241).
Also Aitch’s (204), the Ponzi scheme eh Aitch, i wondered what happened to this week’s Giro, but in all honesty i have never heard of it ( some intelligent men in here and one can learn a lot, take note CBC, but i must agree that Moores did’nt end up where he was in the LFC set up by being a gobshite he had to have some modicum of intellect, and have to agree that there was a certain amount of greed attributed to his decision of selling one of the Bastion’s of world football to two fuckin idiot’s who know so much about football, they called a goalkeeper a Stopper.
YNWA.

@FS

#202

Nice and informative post. Enjoyed reading it.

@Aitch

#203

I can understand your point. Thanks for the explanation.

After what i read it is clear that LFC are in this financial mess because of Moore+Parry+Present Owners.

The best thing which could happen to us at this stage is probably some middle east tycoon coming and buying the club.

It is unanimously agreed here that the American Owners should go.Whether that will happen or not we dont know.

What if for a moment we accept it that these two stupid owners will stay here until they build the stadium,earn significant revenues and then
probably sell the club.

Do we have some kind of idea based on which we can atleast say that after all these mess,our club with these two clowns on board are actually starting to do the right things?

All i am trying to say is there is no point thinking what could happen when Hicks and Gillet leave. It is more important to think that given the situation we are in..what are the possible right steps and are these clowns taking those?

So my question to all you learned fans..do you guys think that they are atleast moving in the right direction(if at all they are moving)?

somnath07in – now I wouldn’t call myself learned in any form but my own opinion is that whats right for G+H is not whats right for Liverpool – all they want is to sell on for a profit whereas LFC needs investment,transfer funds and a new stadium. To turn it around would require a long term investment that they are not prepared to make.

Which brings me on to an oil baron or DIC buying out the club – I’d prefer if a local consortium or some such bought out the club, some people who know about the club and its history and were prepeared to make a loss for two years to turn it around.

We wouldn’t be loaded ala City or Chelsea but with Rafa at the helm and the scouting system reformed we should be in a much better position than we are in now financally and trophywise

I don’t consider myself a learned fan, but Somnath, they’re not going to do the right things. They’re not going to build a stadium. They’re pretty much not going to do anything but sit there and steal whatever money the club brings in.

They’ve made it very clear that whatever revenues they earn through Liverpool — significant or otherwise — will not be placed back into Liverpool. The most obvious case of this is the “must sell in order to buy” transfer policy.

Once the revenues shrink to a smaller significance than they fancy, they’ll get rid of the club. And the club will be left with nothing.

I can’t really think of the right metaphor, but maybe it’s like having an apple tree. For a while it’ll give you some nice apples, and you can have yourself a fruit feast. But instead of taking some of the seeds from the apples you’ve eaten and putting them in the ground to grow more trees, you just eat all the apples and then let the damn tree die. Well, now the apple tree is not giving you anything, so it’s useless to you. And you just go off and try to find a new one that might give you more and bigger apples.

Once Liverpool is of no more use to H&G, they’ll take all of the money they’ve earned from it and invest in something else. I mean, they’re already doing that as we speak.

So accepting that they’re here and we have to deal with them, entertaining the possibility that they might take the right steps, examining what the right things for them to do might be? That is NOT an option.

The only right steps and the only right direction? Hicks and Gillett walking down the steps that lead them in the direction of the exit.

And whoever the new owner ends up being — sadly, we don’t have much control over this — we need to be down their throats from the second they take over the club. No more sitting back and letting stupid rich people do whatever they want with our club.

theredman, everyone in today’s day and age should know who Ponzi was, and know at least a little bit about him.

Charles Ponzi was an Italian American who is credited with the first large-scale “pyramid” con-scheme in New York circa 1910.
Here’s a link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

Why is this important?
Simly put… ALL of the investment and Banking mess we just went through in the last few years is directly attributable to the basic tennets of the Ponzi Scheme.
AIG, The Iceland Bank, the housing crisis… ALL of it!

Extremely intelligent men… far smarter than Moores or Parry… along with millions of average people who just wanted to try to better their circumstances… fell for this scheme.

Now please, do not take any of this, as in any way excusing, or defending, anyone involved in the LFC sale debaucle.
But if we are gonna call a spade, a spade, then we need to agree what a spade is, and not confuse a spade with a trowel.
(my apologies to the foreign lads who, after reading that sentence, are thinking “what the fuck is he on about?”)

From what I recall… DIC had a plan to only be in charge of LFC for a specified number of years, at which point they would reassess their investment and possibly sell. So let’s keep that in mind before saying we should have sold to DIC!
(AGAIN… don’t take that wrong… its a bloody good bet we’d be massively better off under DIC, rather than G&H, but lets not ignore the possibility that rather than Guardian Angels, they could easily have been the Devil we don’t know.)

G&H bought for 270, refinanced for 350 at a time when people were doing that.

Average Joes were buying houses for 100k and selling them a year later for 130k, then upgrading and buying a house for 190k and selling it 2 years later for 200k.
These houses weren’t actually “worth” more… a FALSE market was driving prices up.
The entire housing market was a Ponzi Scheme.

And Business and Investment markets were being run the same way.

At the time G&H bought us, they figured that they could turn around and sell us for 2/3 times their purchase price 5 years later… and make no mistake… THAT… is what they meant by “custodians of the club”… and at the time… it probably looked a good plan on paper. (at the time!)
(This plan remember, got us Torres and Babel… bought with a refinance loan that they thought they’d get back…)

Think about their first 2 years at the helm. They could have actually sold the club on to DIC within 18 months and walked away with 120 million profit… but they got greedy, held out and the market collapsed from under them.

I reiterate, I am in no way making excuses for them… but lets understand the situation.
Moores, Parry, the OTHER shareholders, the OTHER members of the board, G & H, and uncle Tom Cobbely and all… are ALL to blame in some measure.

When this deal was done… the roullette wheel had been constantly landing on a black number… they all stuck LFC on black… and let it ride… but pretty soon… it came up red.

THAT … is a ponzi scheme.

254: Bhavster, I don’t know anything about any new interest in him. I know Rafa wanted the lad awhile back, and he wanted to come here, but we couldn’t afford him. Don’t see how that will have changed.

Sun King, there’s plenty of work getting done in Liverpool to get them out. You should keep an eye on the SOS site. But there’s little anyone can do.

LB: yeah. You’re right… it’s all down to me.

Oh well…
The Champion’s League can kiss my arse.
We’re in the Europa League at last.

Bucharest it is then. That’ll do for me. Just checking flights and hotels. I’ll take the Boss with me for this one. 300 quid for our flights. 150 for an apartment for 3 day… just hope the benfits hold out.

Arsing about aside, Redman get on it lad. Ciggies and baccy will sort it. Ciggies are about a nicker a packet. I’ll have to get Missus Fat Scouser’s big bag out.

Off to Pompey in the morning. Train from Southampton is already cancelled. It’s a fuckin nightmare. Train from Bournemouth, change to a bus in Southampton, change back onto a train in Outer Bum Fuck Dorset or somewhere, then into Pompey. And the weather’s getting worse.

Red, a few lads from Huyton was supposed to get here tonight, stay in mine, and then on to the match in the morning. That’s went tits up thanks to the weather, even the road gritters couldn’t get through. So, I’m supposed to meet them at the ground now. Hope I don’t travel, get there and they haven’t made it. I must be fuckin mental, last Saturday before Crimbo, busiest day of the year for me. And I’ve probably went and blown it out to sit in a bloody snow jam on some cattle train. What a divvy eh.

Digger, ask Jan why he didn’t go back to Walton to visit Jenko?

Oh and Somnath… go fuck off, you gobshite.

somnath

G&H are absolutely NOT taking us in the right direction… simply because they don’t know what that direction is.

They do not, even now, have a fundamental understanding of how Football works (different from American Sports)… how the Premiership works, and the nature/culture of English sport.

They started with what has become a failed business plan/model.
They didn’t cut their losses (which laughably, still would have made them a tidy profit) when they could… and are still holding out hope that they can work a big deal, that they can walk away from wringing their hands. (and given what happened at Man Citeh, its not an entirely unreasonable expectation on their part.)

G&H have actually taken money out of the club (some reports suggest up to 100 million) while requiring Rafa to sell players to help balance the books.

Gillette just made 300 million Dollars, selling his Canadiens Hockey franchise… after declaring bankrupcy so he wouldn’t have to pay his creditors.
Hicks is about to do the same with his baseball outfit.

None of that money will go into LFC… AND they are trying to get someone else to invest 120 million… just for a 10% stake in the club??? (WTF?)

G&H are NOT the way forward in the LONG term and they are NOT the way forward in the SHORT term.

Any new buyer might very well turn out to be the “Devil we don’t know”… making any such sale celebrations short lived… but at this moment in time… we are between a rock and a hard place.
We need them out ASAP!

Aitch, well said.

We’re past the days of people just looking at football as football — something that exists and operates on its own. But we don’t generally look at things with this kind of magnitude.

Most everyone understands that football is a business, but when you hear “Ponzi scheme,” “Bernie Madoff,” and “government bailout” in the news, the first thing that pops into your head is probably not Liverpool Football Club.

But if you’re a Red, it may as well be.

The problem is getting people like the “Sack Rafa!” brigade to take all of this in. There are so many bridges of cause-and-effect in between that it’s impossible to map it all out in one sitting.

But if you asked someone like me, “Why has Rafa been unable this season to put a team on the pitch that consistently wins matches?” I very well might reply, “Well, why don’t we start with what happened on the New York Stock Exchange in the Fall 0f 2008?”

If a club doesn’t pay it’s players, or any player, their due wages for 2 weeks running that player then becomes a free agent and can literally walk out on the club.

That’s how easy it is for a club, from the bottom division to the top, to fall apart.

I’ve been banging on about this for over two years. Football will eventually eat itself.

FS, I stay as up to date with the goings-on of SOS as I can. I just wish I could take more of an active role.

Sadly, I’m about as far away from Liverpool as I am from Dallas, Texas. Now, there are millions of football fans in Texas — it’s just the wrong type of football. Otherwise, I’d try to rally up those southern lads, and we’d all have a nice piss on Hicks’s front lawn.

Other than not buying any merchandise from the club, I’d like to organize a way to disrupt the other business ventures that Hicks and Gillett have.

The Liverpool Supporters Club in New York was instrumental in getting that cunt Cohen off the air, and they’re the strongest group of supporters in America. I’d like to see them spearhead a bigger movement to get these two cunts to sell. They have interests over here, and we must be able to impact them substantially.

Digger, you’ll be in with LFCNY this weekend. Are you quite active with this bunch? Anything being done to launch a campaign on a massive scale to rid the club of these scum?

Well, it looks like old Guilam is trying to get back in the good books…
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/guillem-balague/Why-Liverpool-are-actually-punching-above-their-weight-despite-what-the-critics-are-saying-article260271.html?

But it’s well worth a read.

Sun King email me… [email protected].

Sun King email me, [email protected]

Posted this a moment ago but it didn’t come up, so stick an h on it, looks like old Guillam is trying to get back in the good books…
ttp://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/guillem-balague/Why-Liverpool-are-actually-punching-above-their-weight-despite-what-the-critics-are-saying-article260271.html?

…but it’s well worth a read.

Wimbeldon 88. Reading that in here brought back dark memories and just need to say it out. An
elder brother, a manc supporter, and a friend bullied and taunted me in front of the tv until I actually cried. And they did not bloody stop even after that. I can still see their faces and hear them laughing. Damn it left a deep scar in me.

FS, regarding players not being paid by their club and becoming a free agent. It’s if they don’t get paid in 2 consecutive months mate not 2 weeks. Not being a smart arse but I found it interesting when reading about Portsmouth and Crystal Palace a few weeks ago.

SOAK,
a lot of people forget that we were 1-0 up inside of 20 minutes in that FA Cup final… a perfectly good goal by Peter Beardsley …in fact quite a stellar one, where he shrugged off a rash tackle, then danced between 2 other players, to rocket a finish from 15 yards… only for the ref to blow up the second the ball hit the back of the net, to award us a free-kick for that initial rash tackle.

Moments change games. That goal stands and we’d have steam-rolled them that day… crazy gang or not!

Thank’s for the info Aitch,
but you must forgive this ignorant old wretch as i can honestly say with hand on heart i have never heard of him or his dealing’s, but tell you what i am a fuckin good bibliophile as i read everynight in bed and have done for the last 30 odd years so i will certainly dig something up on old Ponzi.
FS, dont expect the lads down unless they drive themselves as more snow a lot more is forecasted for the south at the weekend but hope you dont spend it on your todd, as for the ciggies mate its 2yrs and 2 mths since i gave up and i can say i have never been so ill in my fuckin life, first (and this is no joke) i got alopecia, then that fuckin diverticulitis shit then i had to go and have a check up on my prostrate gland as i kept pissing razor blades like Tom Hanks in “The Green Mile” (one of my all time favourite film’s and a great book by Stephen King)anyway i’m hopefully on the mend now.
By the way all my hair is back now but what a fuckin miserable 18mths that was, oh well could be worse i could be a manc with Burgerman as my next-door neighbour.
YNWA

Sun King,
I actually have to laugh when I hear people bitching about how Bernie Madoff (and his ilk) ripped them off.

On the odd occasion that I go to a Casino, or race track, I usually play the numbers on a roullette wheel, rather than the outside lines. I’ll frequently bet on a 22-1 long-shot over a 3-1 fave… my gambling philosophy is… you might as well pitch for a more favorable return…

… but come on…you don’t have to be a fuckin econommics PhD to know that when it comes to your investments or retirment prospects… you hedge your bets!

If someone tells me, “give me 10 quid and in 2 weeks I’ll give you back 200 quid.”
I know right away, there’s a greater likelihood of me never seeing my 10 quid again, than ever seeing the fucker handing me that 200.

thered… ouch… fuckin ‘ell mate, you’ve been through the wars.
Ain’t age a bitch?
I sincerely hope you are on the mend and all the best! (If I was the praying sort, I’d pray for you, but I’m not so you’re on your own, sorry.)
But hang in there, Rafa will get you a PL before you pop off!

I’d never heard of Ponzi until about 8 years ago, when I did some work for a friend of mine, only to discover, as it turned out, that his entire business model was a Ponzi Scheme.
I figured it our within about 6 weeks, but by that time, he was already using my name (I’d just won a somewhat prestigeous award for my work) and reputation to help sell the fuckin thing to investors!

FS, email sent.

Aitch, you would think it would be easy to see as that, right? An old friend of mine got hooked into one — not Madoff’s — and as far as I know, he’s been trying to hook others in ever since. Needless to say, we’re not friends anymore.

Madoff and these pricks must tell some good stories. And people, in general, are just greedy. They WANT to believe that you can work miracles, and if you’ve got a good enough story, they’ll fall for it. The whole premise is that you’ll be successful by simply playing your cards right, no? And everyone wants to think that they’re the clever ones who will play the best hand. Of course, the reality is… you’re not that clever, and the whole thing is bollocks! Oops, now you just lost a whole lot of money.

Wait, this whole losing money thing sounds a very familiar story. Where on earth have I heard recently about good stories and money just vanishing? And by recently, I mean since February 6, 2007…

Fuckinell lad, Alopecia… HA! You poor bastard. You must have got fuckin ragged off them ruthless bastards in Huyton. You’d at least get a bit of sympathy for the big C or something. You poor fucker you.

The lads are leaving early morning, I think they should make it. Me mate from Bootle just got down here about an hour ago, said it wasn’t too bad. He popped in for a minute and fucked off the alehouse. So, I’ll see him tomorrow, just worried about the lads not making it… selfish fucker. Not arsed about them. Just worried about going all the way to Pompey, missing me best days wages, and not even getting there. Fuckinell, like being back in the 70′s and hitching somewhere mate.

LB, I didn’t even realise I’d typed a week. Altimers or as it’s more commonly known round Anfield… Moore’s disease. I thought I’d said month… but let’s face it, even that shows how fragile the whole shebang is.

There’s quite a few clubs in the shit at this moment. And we’ve already had Leeds, but how long until one of the real giants get into proper deep trouble… We aren’t the only ones in the shit. The Glaziers, Roman… could easily see a major fuck up on the horizon there.

Aitch, it has been easier to blank out the memories since, really. The loss to crystal palace in the FA semis of 1990 was hard to swallow as well.

SonOfAKhan, let’s hope we can all start forging some better memories some time soon.

You know, with all the discussion going on, there’s been no talk of the match. I have to say it’s delightful in here when we can just have faith in the boss and trust that we’ll get a result. Let’s take it to the turks and keep our foot on the gas until the opposition is truly beaten and dead.

I’m off until Monday probably. Cheers, all!

Sun King,
these scemes aren’t like a poker game wher you can outmaneuver someone, or bluff them, or even just take your chances hoping for the best.

people do… always… make money from them… but more people lose money than make money.
…but because people DO make money, they can always be made to look attractive propositions.

You remember the old pyramid letter, right?
That was based on Ponzi.

10 of you in here send me 10 quid each.
I make 100 quid.
Those 10 people then recruit 10 other people in here to give them 10 quid each
So those first 10 now each make 100 quid for their initial 10 quid investment that they sent me.
Now you’ve 100 people, who then have to recruit 10 people each, to send them 10 quid.
That’s 1000 people involved now… and at some point the chain breaks… the folks at the top of the pyramid, the first ones in, make money!
The further down the chain, the lower on the pyramid, the later you get into the game, and people don’t make their money.

Had G&H bought us even TWO years earlier, they’d have “flipped us” for a tidy profit, before the “financial crisis”… but they came in too late.

At least we mauled them in the charity shield that August Aitch.The wembley pitch was shocking that day.It was better suited for speedway.

FS,It looks like your going to do the rough route to the game tomorrow.You might as well roll back the years and get the thumb in action again!

Just bought “15 minutes that shook the world”.Can`t wait to watch it from what i heard its dead funny.

Well game is almost upon us,early start tomorrow.A scrappy three points will do for me.In fact we will have to scrap for the points.Pompey wil not lie down.They showed that on wednesday night when they should have,at least,got a point from the fridge.

I`ll throw my team out anyway and hope Rafa is reading and will take my advice.

No Goalkeeper

Carra

johnson mash insua

aquallini

kuyt,gerrard,benny
N`gog,Nando,Pacheco

Simple.So simple.

Ponzi scheme…
Forward this post to 10 people and you know what you’ll get….

FUCK ALL!

That’s right, Fuck All.
You won’t get money, good luck or a nice surprise, or a holiday in the Carribean, just fuck all nothing.

It’s true.
It works.
I sent it on to ten people and I got FUCK ALL!
But don’t break the chain.
It’s the only one of these things that actually works.
So, here’s you’re guarantee… send it and get FUCK ALL!
Try it.
It actually works! And it cost FUCK ALL!

I think that’s that done and dusted then Aitch.

FS just read your post.I was writing at same time regarding the hitching.

Timmy read the Guillam Belage link, I think you’ll like it. And I hate to say this, I know I sound like a smart arse, but one of the lads in the 15 minute video is an aul mate of mine, Andrew Schoffield. Good lad Drew. Said it was a riot making it and I believe the premier was a boss night out… Rafa got the ale in.

Those pyramid schemes hit cork and probably the rest of the country in the middle of the boom in 2006.Everyone was at it.Obviously the ones who got in first cleaned up from it but when the shit hit the fan all hell broke loose.There was a meet in a hotel here in cork where loads were expecting to collect only to be given a sad explanation why their cash was “held up”.

There was murder my pal took a baseball bat and smashed up a jeep belong to the fella who got him to cough up.He went proper ape shit.He stood to collect 16,000 which is a nice wad of cash for an ordinary working man who initially put himself under pressure by borrowing the 2000 he invested in the scheme.
In another case a woman was taken form her home at gun point and lead to the local bank to take money out to pay the fella`s she had got into it.

It got really out of hand.A lot of familys and frienships were damaged over that.

I read it today in the mirror FS.Seems he`s trying to get back in Rafa`s good books.Something tells me that once you break Rafa`s trust once thats it for you.
The only thing that annoyed me is when he said the media are not Anti-Rafa.

Stevie wonder can see that they are.

I`ll stick that on there now.I`m in the mood for a laugh.I seen a clip Neil Fitzmaurice looks the part as Rafa.

Actually FS do you mind if i E-mailed you i want to ask you about a fella in Liverpool but obviously i don`t want to be throwing names out in here?

Behave. Why you asking. The address is there

FS,what Airport in Romania? (there`s probably only one)

No problem An Linn, will certainly ask him that, good questions. Fatty, what the heck does your one mean?! Will he know what it means?! Sun king, I’m a member of the club but I only get down about once a month or so for a game. I watch most of the games in me local with me 2 scouse mates! I dont know if there is a campaign against the yanks a la what happened with cohen but I’ll certainly enquire tomorrow for ya.

Digger,ask Jan does he regret releasing the video of that goal?

I`m anxious to find out if he thought it was better off left in legend after revieling it?

Oh he’ll know Digger but he won’t answer it… he’ll either laugh his head off or snot you.
So, best stick with… favourite kebab, doner or shish?

I`ll say he`ll snot the sarcy git FS!!

Only messin Digger pal.

Alright lads here`s one for you…..

Sunderland did it in `79 Villa did it in `81 who did it in `80 ????

Shit and fell back in it?

Ah fuck it Digger, just ask him this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWS8Mg-JWSg&feature=related

TT – is it something to do with players rather than teams ?

I`m saying nothing An linn

Laughed me fuckin ass off at that FS!!

Now chaps, sorry been out all day and the Moores story still rumbles on,
Hindsight is 20/20 vision and my young son can point out all of the faults of Moores, Parry and Uncles Tom and George in retrospect. The facts are Moores was taken in and so were the fans, I certainly was, and if you chaps werent you were certainly in a minority, as I cant recall any dissenting voices after the deal was announced.
Can you honestly look in a mirror and say you knew what would happen, if you answer yes then I salute you as you are a wiser man than I will ever be.

No googling!

Just spent the last hour catching up on all the comments. I got a taster as to why I came to this blog in the first place. Some fantastic posts there and well broken down so a simple man like myself could understand them.

To be honest alot of the financial side goes over my head but I’m enjoying trying to grasp the situation as best as i can. The really sad thing is people that can talk about liverpools poor season for hours on end and not mention the owners once is frightening. It happened to me after the arsenal match and really pissed me off.

Anyway hoping again for the right result tomorrow. I’ve a feeling that pompey may have gave chelsea everything they got in mid week and are still dejected from the result.

COME ON YOU REDMEN!!

Ah Googling is cheating,

Ok so its players – didn’t Ricky Villa score a wonder goal in the 81 FA cup final, so all we need to find out is who played in the 1980 FA Cup and who scored

Anybody know

It might be teams…or it might not…

LB will know it.

Name four Aussies to play in an FA cup final?

LB would know it – is that a hint ?

Was it a London team – thats as far as I get without looking it up

Cahill/Kewel/Bosnich – any off those right

TWo right not bosnich(i don`t think,did he play for villa in 2000??If ya theres 5)

No cheating i said!!

He didn`t..

Craig Johnstone ffs
Night Night

Why do sopme clubs have a triangular corner flag and others have a sqaure one?

1 more FS

Ah ye`ll never get it…Its Aussie Ardiles

Timmy your first question 1980 is a bit like Streaming and 1979 was one of my favourites
Cahill ,Kewel,Viduca, and C Johnson would be a guess
Anyway wouldnt worry about conceding against Wigan our 2 CB just had a game of lets pretend to be Torres and had to chase back 90 yards to chase the goal kick.
Personally i reckon Parry’s guilt far outweigh’s Moores who at least looks sad for whats happened and something tells me he’s one of those people who conmen & bully’s instinctively target.
With Parry id check to see if my watch was still there after shaking hands with him.He reminds me of a Snake Tom & George probably saw the cons Parry was running and like the parasites they are wanted a bigger piece with the only objective been to scam as much as they can get away with.
And as for Van horseface i say neigh
YNWA

Just realised i really should press refresh before posting
Aussie Ardilles indeed i see you like playing with words Timmy.

FS – Is that the one about the FA Cups

Neigh to Van Horseface – classic

One thing though bigbry… Given I have more then a few beers in me but Í wasnt the one that was selling the club. Moores should of had more hindsight then anybody. A couple of mineutes on goggle you have let him know more then anything. But im as thick as he was, i thought the yanks meant well, the spoke like they wanted to anyhow

Trevor Brooking ?

Thanks Rome – very clever

Fat Scouser

Thanks for the link to Balague’s grovelling. I generally avoid reading those articles because they tend to attract the most moronic comments you can imagine. My curiousity, however, got the better of me. Just as I thought, some morons have crept out of their holes to spout their drivel.

Teams that have triangular flags have won the FA cup. I only know that by default, it was in this crazy 90′s film called twin town. The manor in which you find out sort of makes it stick with you.

Bigbry as red4 life said its not our duty to do the due diligence, yes most of us where happy to see the twats ride in on their donkeys and promise us snoogy doo, but Moors and Prick Harry had an army of lawyers and accountants to do the hard work and advise if they had a pot to piss in or where going to lump us along the same lines as their weetabix deals. If a few fans did Google after the fact and found all the skeletons, what the fuck where their lawyers and accountants doing, it almost grounds to sue for negligence unless Moors instructed them to go ahead regardless of what was found or put on the table. One has to assume the lawyers and accountants must also have been Liverpool fans so please don’t tell me they did not do their home work or tried to safe guard the club in every way possible. However it all boils down to Moors who accepts the terms despite being advised otherwise. If he is so upset and was advised wrongly I would take my professional team to the cleaners for not doing their job. Yes it is easy to criticize after the fact just ask the CBC with regards to Rafa, but the sale of the club is not about picking the team by a single person it’s a little more involved and complicated with an army of professionals advising and drawing up contracts. The whole deal stinks and I would love to know what really happened. Greed is normally the motivating factor in all fuck ups in my opinion and I have seen many a deal soured because of it and until somebody can prove it otherwise I will stick to that explanation.

Aussie Ardiles (great player) cracked me up; I bet the Aussies would like him in their midfield.

@FS

I dont know why you abused me at #261. I am sure you dont want another round of war of words do you?

@Aitch

So basically its a no hope situation for us. I hope they are out asap.

Liverpool to win 2-1 today.

Team for today lads, Aquilani not even in the squad, don’t know if he picked up a knock but Rafa will get slated if we don’t get a win, also Dossena in the starting line up, over all good starting eleven and not a bad bench either! 3-1 to the reds, Torres hat trick!

Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Insua, Agger, Carragher, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Dossena, Gerrard, Torres. Subs: Cavalieri, Aurelio, Benayoun, Babel, Ngog, Spearing, Skrtel.

no time to catch up on the comments but just wanted to say, come-on the red men.

Interesting playing Dosser. Our bench could be very important today.

I hope you are righ Val-Pomopey have scored their one.

FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Half time. Dont see how that is a straight red.

I can only hope that our boys show some balls and dig themselves out of this hole. It’s not over by a long shot.

Time to shuffle the pack a little.We`re making it hard but they think they have it in the bag..

C`mon lads step up to the plate..

i’m frustrated, i’m angry

i have enough of ‘you’re not a true reds if you do not defend your manager or player’, whatever

i’m not at all interested in placing blind faith. i see what i see, i am a normal guy who supports liverpool. i feel what i feel, i say what i say. i am treating this as a club, not a cult/religion which a lot of you have done.

i dun live forever, i dun have forever to wait for rafa to produce the desired attitude within the team to prove that we’re genunine contenders

lets see what other excuses this fast becoming pro-rafa webbie ala rawk would be about to conjured up with

dun get me wrong, losing is absolutely part n parcel of life but it’s the bloody manner how we have lost. look at how uninterested some of our players are. motivation my arse, mr rafa.

do you honestly think we’ve been UNLUCKY? yes we missed chances, but hey every teams produce chances in any games. stop the selective sighting. and neglects e negative shits

Hey shane u wank knob. Was it rafa giving masch a red?

I wasn’t aware the game was over yet Shane. What was the final score?

This ref is a joke. Johnson yellow for a bump

unbelievable…

Really liked the way dirk and lucas went about their game today.
Head down and no complaints.

michael, not sure if it was sarcasm but here’s the score for you, 2-0.

get ready for the CBC!

Clutching at straws there Akka – a new low today – the red card will serve as a convenient way to mask another poor performance up to that point – already 1 nil down and completely lacking in invention and creativity. Playing Dossena left wing??????? Ngog – not getting on that pitch AT ALL?? Its gonna get stormy in here. That was a really bad show. 8 points behind Villa (if they win today)

houllier-we’ve turned e corner
rafa-our season starts here

so our seasons gonna start after x’mas now?

yes, our squad have definitely improved since 5 years ago.

but instead of houllier, i tot e great rafa is supposed to be compared with someone of a great history? like say shankly.

let’s hope our season starts asap.

YNWA

Shane

Where the fuck were you all week when there was proper footy discussion going on in here.

Its amazing the way idiots like you come in right on the final whistle when we lose.

Go way and crawl back under that rock you came from.

I`ll be back in later.

Lurg my friend,
i hope i am not one of the CBC but buddy it’s hard to watch that and not be gob smacked,
what the fuck was Masch doing with a tackle like that he knew he was going straight through the guy, first 15mins i thought this was going to be a stroll but as of late the lad’s seem to disintegrate and i’d fuckin love to know why, i honestly cant get my head round it and this is not knee-jerk because lately i’m getting used to it but i will keep the faith as hard as it is to do at the moment.
Oh and Shane, fuck off from here there’s a good girl.
YNWA.

taking a leaf out of rafa’s books of philosophy, akka?

magnifying whatever ‘positives’ u could see and ignoring e bigger picture?

do u honestly think we played well before e sending off? do you think lucas and kuyt did not contribute to any bits of our lack of ideas in the attacking third?

frankly, none of the two would get into any of the top six sides. all top sides have players of top flair on e flanks, not workhorses.

i admire kuyt for his workrate but may i leave that for another day.

and i am not at all surprised to see this headline – “Rafa Benitez: Europa League can be silver lining to Liverpool FC’s season”

I think Masch red card might actually be a crucial turning point. It means we will play the next few matches with only one holding midfielder. Hopefully more attacking and more goals.
Don’t think Masch and Lucas help the situation when it is goals that we need more than anything else. Things are much better when it’s Gerrard and and holder with two attackers up front.
As for the game, Portsmouth applied lots and lots of pressure and were definitely more up for this game. Kuyt works hard but his passing at times is so so bad. Johnson didn’t look good today. Carra looked slow. Torres frustrated. All in all, a bad bad day. That red card simply masks an all round poor performance.
Feeling more resignation that anger…

theredman, sure i’d fuck off

i know in a place like this, no criticism is allowed. because no true reds are supposed to have any complains or negative opinions

and i know i would be lambasted for my opinions

it’s okay.

theredman, I understand where you’re coming from but that was not a red card in my book. We played them off the park for 35 minutes but then it’s been the story of the season really.

The ref had a shocker (again) but I do agree that we lost the plot after they scored. This is a huge problem that only LFC/Rafa can solve. The rest we can do nothing about.

Yours sincerely
Mister fucked-off

Shane, stick your dick up your arse and go fuck yourself.

redman, more importantly, I am glad to hear that you are getting over your health problems.

You had a pretty bad run there for 18 months, so lets hope you and the reds can improve from here-on in.

Oh and Shane if you actually posted when we won a game then maybe your opinion would be taken into account. So until then, do one!

This side shows no character and no fight in adversity. After the red card (which was the right decision in my opinion) the team just chucked in the towel.

Concede a goal or get a player sent off, do we show any bottle or great desire to get back or even win the game? Hell no. We bow our heads and go through the motions and accept yet another defeat.

I don’t understand why Dossena played. He has been a complete and utter failure for the club and needs to be sold asap. I don’t care how good anyone wants to tell me his attitude is, his performance as been poor 90% of the time and ordinary 10% of the time. Give me back Riise or Warnock any day.

2 holding midfield players against the bottom team in the division.

Another game where Aquilani gets no minutes.

No leadership seemingly on the pitch, or off it.

Internationals such as Johnson, Gerrard, Agger, Benayoun, Lucas made to look inferior to some Pompey players whom I have not heard of.

The headed miss from Agger was a disgrace. Why Torres didn’t shoot when through on goal I don’t know. Seems to want to beat 3 players every time before pulling the trigger.

Kuyt’s desperate form continues yet he plays in EVERY game no matter what.

This Liverpool side looks very ordinary and look capable of losing against anyone.

This league season is an absolute right off. Only difference this time is I won’t be looking forward to next season with any enthusiasm whatsoever.

I wish i could break a bank and get 20mil compensation…!!!!

Positives from the match

Dossena finally playing

Glen Johnson recovered from the nightmares of the Arsenal match

Kuyt playing 90mins of the game

Lucas has developed into a midfield guru

and oh! ya,doesnt matter how much shit we play,4th place has already been guaranteed by the man himself,Rafa Benitez!

There are no positives when one of your best players is now banned for 4 matches through his own stupidity (he’s probably serious injured himself ala Paul Gascoigne 1991 FA Cup final) and we’ve lost to the worst team in the league.

I’ll say it again. We concede a goal or get a red card and might as well end the game early and award the victory to the other side.

Absolutely fucking gutless.

we had played well before mashers sending off but hadnt one shot on target!!! ffs how can having no attemts at goal be seen as preforming well? chasing the game with 20 mins to go off goes our left back and on comes another left back. im no rafa basher or knee-jerker but that is insanity at any level of football.

by the way spot on shane kyut and lucas would not get on the bench of any top six side which is why were not in the top six.

lurgan, if you show me how that could be done, i’ll definitely do it

not interested in doing personal attacks or attacking fellow reds

i have in no way attacked another person for his different opinions, well everyone has and IS ENTITLED to his own.

if you can’t accept mine, support your arguments with logical facts and not via some lame attacks. cos’ that would only show me i’m wasting my time on some narrow-minded so-called true reds

heres a fact weve won 4 out our last 17 matches 17!!! thats half a season of football and relegation form. id love rafa to pull it out of the bag and shove it down all the moaners throats but i think after five years any coach at any sport has said all they can and if after five years its not working its time for a change no?

londonbarnes n guiness, i couldn’t agree more.

granted kuyt has scored goals on some occasions, but that should not mask the fact that he is not functioning to best effects for e team, on e flank.

more often than not, he has been a liability. his lack of creativity and flair has forced johnson to make more attacking runs and leaving spaces behind him. johnson now has to make do with his ‘frail defensively’ motto.

no offence but kuyt very often reminds me of heskey. someone whom i labeled as a defensive attacker.

onto e bigger picture, the overall attitude shown by the whole team for the past few months have been appalling.

correct me if i’m wrong, things tend to get from bad to worst after the half time team talk. i would supposed it should be the other way round. i do not want to point fingers but i guess half time team talk should serve to improve the morale of e team, isn’t it?

@londonBarnes

i thought we had lowered our expectations,thats why am coming up with positives however meaningless they are..thats what the lads in here wanna hear!

@shane
these lads are doing exactly what Rafa is telling them to do,he talks abt that in training and repeats that at half time! what explains the teams poor perfomance all the way to December?

well sula, I hope he doesn’t tell the players the same things he says to the media

let’s see, murphy, bellamy and crouch have scored. all from e great britain and all share something in common.. sold by someone who, imo, is biased against whoever isn’t of latin nature.

it pains to look at what our youth academy could offer at this moment. i’m not seeing any signs of the next gerrards, owens, fowlers, thompsons, warnocks or even mellors, etc

What a pair of wankers,
Shane and Sula alias the Barbie girls, but Shane can you tell me what e great britain or e team on e flank is or what it means is it some sort of pidgin english or are you naturally fuckin thick in the grammar department.
Lutgan,Aitch and FS,
thank you for the kind words and am feeling great at the moment and if the red’s can get it together like i have you,me and the rest of the BOY’S in here will be a lot happier.
YNWA

A few questions
Q1 Who would play instead of Kuyt?
Q2 Was the first goal offside ?
Q3 How the f*ck was that a red ?
Q4 Where are S&S when we win ?
Q5 Who’d want to play for Liverpool crap owners and crap “supporters”
Q6 Why should Dossena be slated by some for getting a game when they cry about Babel’s confidence when he doesn’t get a game.
YNWA

Awww..looks like some people are having a field day. Go on, straight or laced with as much sarcasm as possible.

I can see it now. Rafa’s talk is to blame, during trainings and halftimes, for all the poor performances until now. He made a mistake against the Mancs. He is here to make sure we lose matches and get relegated.

At a time when the team needs the backing of the fans, they get this. Awesome, really. No attempt to understand the circumstances (not excuses) but to straight away condemn the manager and team after a loss.

I have never step on snow in my whole life, so my question to those who have played on that kind of pitch we played today, how bad is it? (yes, of course, yet another excuse that we like to conjure up).

A loss after a win. Still 3 points. Better than two straight draws I guess. Wished it were another 3 points but we did not win.

does anyone know what’s wrong with aquilani? apparently he’s injured but i can’t find out anything about his injury anywhere. i just got back to england for chrimbo (i now live in nz). have i missed something? what happened to him?

fucked off. staying with parents who don’t have sky so had to listen to that shite on 5 live. all season i’ve been hanging onto the hope that aquilani will make some kind of difference. not expecting him to be the saviour and answer to everything, was just looking forward to watching a new star in the side. so where the fuck is he? we’re not creating chances, we’re not worrying defences, we’re not scaring anyone. i’ve been sayin this for ages so sorry to repeat meself, but lets get stevie back in midfield and look like a side with ideas again. lets get aquilani on the pitch and give him a chance to pay back some of that 20 million. lets give torres the support of a second striker (if the yanks give rafa the money).

i’m not calling for rafa’s head but i do want answers. it’s not his fault we’ve got no money and a thread bare squad, but they’re all fit now and it is his responsibility to make changes when they’re needed and get the best out of the players he’s got.

on the bright side, listening to scum vs fulham at the moment. 3-0. eases the pain a little.

Fark! My blog is again being bombarded by those who have been so conveniently quiet after the midweek win. Looks like it is going to be another long days before Christmas.

to all the sulas and shanes and other doom-n-gloom merchants.. i ask this …

Why are u scared of losing ??

And … If masch is now out for 4 games, does that gives aqualani the chance to get 4 games on the trot ???

And some positive of the otherwise gloomy day, Manures losing 3-0 to fulham …

Shane you ask how Rafa compares to Shanks id have thought a true red like yourself would know the answer to that.7 years without winning anything and a win ratio inferior to Rafa’s. But dont let facts get in the way of a good old rant which started before the game was even finished.
Guinessdrinker While your drinking you Guiness think about the 7 years Whiskeybreath couldnt win the league and even then it took a sh*t load of money like it has for every PL winners to buy the title.

Fergie Rudolph, off with his head!

COol… Now he stage is really and truly set… for real this time… has to start at xmas season so that every one can remember the xmas season the reds lit up the league.

The greatest xmas most red league ever!!! The season the reds rose from the dead and won the premier league with just 4 wins before xmas…

GO GO GO Yayyyy go liverpool

But let’s play with 3 defenders and width and more creative attacking players. What more have we got to lose? c’mon… we have to attack the shit out of these people. Even man scum played with 3 defenders today… Man scum!!! 3 defenders!! 2 midfielders turned into defenders and one rookie!!! and we dun have the balls to play with 3 defenders??? We cant possibly be any worse than man scum’s “3 defenders”!!!!

REina
Degen Carra Insua
Johnson Aquilani Stevie G Riera
Benny Torres ngog

Yes Dizzy would’nt you know it, we get beat by arse then they draw the next game, then we win against wigan and then get beat by fuckin Pompey while the mancs are getting twatted by fulham.
Only LFC mate only LFC, but i’m keeping the faith although i know my comments dont show it.
YNWA.

This has been such a hard year. Liverpool is like a marriage, and right now, things are on the rocks. The American owners make it impossible to improve, but it’s not their fault we spent 40 million on two players (one of whom seems incapable of ever staying fit) when we needed to spend it on 5 good players who can help us all over the pitch. But it’s not Rafa’s fault half our team plays with no heart. Sure, he can motivate them for a bit, but they need to care from their hearts.

I know it’s hard to be angry at our players and manager, but what choice to we have? Why are so many players obviously not giving their all? That’s such a slap in the face to all of us who live and die with the team. I just feel so… abandoned by this squad. They don’t seem to care about us at all.

Shane
“IMO, i would take aston villa’s flanking pair any time. downing & ashley young”
Wake up dreamer what would you buy and pay their wages with chocolate buttons.

anyone doubting the red? come on guys – dont be blind! I’m an out and out Liverpool fan but even i knew that was a reckless, dangerous and fucking downright stupid tackle by mascherano. why on earth did he need to do that? gave us a fuckin mountain to climb. Completely disillusioned – may sound like a cliché but really seems Rafa has lost the dressing room. No fight left. body language of Gerrard, Torres and Carragher all wrong. If it’s true that they dont belive he is the right man anymore – than Rafa should do the honourable thing and walk away. I’m sorry but this team is much much better than 7 league defeats – and that was pretty much our strongest team..ah fuck it!

@Dizzy

the likes me are not scared of losing,infact i expect LFC under stubborn Rafa to lose most of the times…tell me ur scared of losing! with all the games we’ve lost this season its a shame that u havent yet gotten to losing

U should hang ur head in shame too for taking a Manchester united loss as a positive! liverpool needed a win more than anything else,what abt Villa and Spurs winning? is that a postive too?

The best moment of teh day …
All the Glory-Hunters (read manure fans) who were just couple of hours ago bombarding my sms inbox wid “HAHAHA POMPPEEEEYYYY” messages disappeared like a Fart in the wind

Even man scum played with 3 defenders today… Man scum!!! 3 defenders!! …play with 3 defenders??? … scum’s “3 defenders”!!!!

Lost 0-3

Oh boy I see we have more additions to the CBC, it seems these fans are only interested in commentating when we loose. That’s fine but at least analyse why we lost. The same two holding midfielders as we played last year when we scored the most in the Prem. We have a half fit team, Gerrard looks out of sorts still and Johnson had another mare and is not fit, unfortunately the chances that we made, Agger and Torres we did not take and they scored from two impossible angles that would have been easier to miss than score, from two mistakes from our defence yet again. We just cannot get a break right know and Masch was stupid to lunge in, but still harsh to get a straight red. We started of well enough but the goal and red threw us completely and you could see the heads drop and the body language go here we go again. We did come back in the second half and should have equalised before that with Agger and could have actually won it with 10 men but it just won’t go for us at the moment. How any of this is down to Rafa beats me, but all the 50/50 decisions are going against us at the moment and this season is turning into shit, I will be happy with a top 4 finish (I strongly believe we will still make it) and hopefully a cup. The pitch was also a great leveller.

Oh sula sula sula ….
I am sooooo not scared of losing.. cos i dun come here knee-jerking at the slightest hint of a negative result for us … I dun come here and start demanding Rafa’s head even wen i know the circumstances he is managing in …

Where as , you and ur bunch of Sooper Doooper low IQ friends just come in here and start “Our team is Shite” talk …

If u r a TRUE liverpool fan, u shud not be falling this low by slating the team u SUPPORT … Maybe u guys have a different definition of being a SUPPORTER …
For me it is, To stand by my team and MANAGER even if they are bottom-placed and looking into the eyes of relegation!!!!

Saty Playing Insua&Johnson is like playing 3 defenders as 1 of them is always attacking down the wings or adding width as you put it. But that increases the chance of a sideways pass out to the wing and we know our “supporters” dont like that.

Keith SA – I comment in good and bad times. How this is down to Rafa? Ah playing Dossena in a left wing position? can someone explain that to me?

And this is the latest from Satan Collymore ..

“Gillet& Hicks & Rafa to go now.Kenny in to steady the ship.Mourinho or Hiddink in the summer.Investors DO want to buy Liverpool!”

#371
The point is … we HAVE 3 defenders but do not have the balls to play them. They lost becos they played players who weren’t defenders and one who is a rookie. How much far better will Carra fair in comparison to Carrick, Insua to De Laet and Degen to who was it… Fletcher?

Yet we play Dossena in the wings… but not Johnson?

Sorry to say but no matter how I admire Monster’s ball winning skills, he does stupid things occasionally. This was one of them. Dun deserve a red? The ref probably saw him going for the guy’s throat for god’s sake….in football? Some things are not supposed to be in the game. He is an awfully important player, superb, but I cannot fail to see what he did.

I am not looking for positives … I believe we have it in us to win the god damn league… 4th placing just doesnt cut it. This will BE our season. We are winning the league.

Go GO GO… only wins from now on.

#374 yeah..true… My argument is that…
when Johnson goes up in the current set up… guess who has to be tracking back? Kuyt? And when Insua goes up?… Dossena? DO they have the pace? I am inclined to think not…
However shud we play w Degen, Johnson has the pace to cover… and he is a bit suspect at defending by some quarters. While with Insua, Riera will have to cover.. a bit suspect but still he has shown some ball winning skills. PLus we were supposed to have Masch on standby to chase some of these passes away…
Oh well… the manager knows best… as always…

I dream of the glory of winning the league… it’s true.. i can feel it… carra going wild with celebrations….wooohoooo

Mark hughes to be sacked ….

mark hughes has been sacked…….

Now with him outta the picture the spotlight will firmly be on rafa next. I no it parshley was already but we’re talking full beam now.

To be honest for the first time I’m actually worried we could lose a manager during a season. Also a manager of Rafa calibre to boot. we really are in a monster shit storm here.

Looking at the match ok the ref had a fucking stinker(Torres being kicked from pillar to post) but he did not prevent us from having only TWO shots on target. Bottom club portsmouth come at us all guns blazing why? because we give teams like this all the belief in the world some really sloppy passing,and some even ropery defending. We let them play one touch football round us and were at times being walked through in the middle.

I’m a rafa fan an its gonna take alot to make me go the other way but today even before the match i would have liked to have seen 4-4-2 torres and n’gog up front and benny on the wing. I feel with a more attacking formation like that and we would have atleast got more chances.

Anyway we’ve got to stuggle on,even the mancs gettin HAMMERERD hasn’t really cheered me up.

YNWA

BTW … wats happening to the penalty kick takers since last two weeks ???
Geovani missing one today at emirates …

What a monumental bunch of Dickheads we are attracting to the club!

“When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high…”

I won’t even continue quoting the rest or the words… you clearly have ZERO understanding of what it means to be a Liverpool Supporter!

Arthur I cannot remember ever classifying you as a CBC, yes you tend to lean towards the negative aspects but knee jerk reaction would be a stretch. As for playing Dossena on the left, here is a news flash, it did not loose us the game. Reira out injured, Babel out injured and to be honest Benny looked tired the last game as does Kuyt for most games. We started out brightly enough, dominating and creating a few half chances. The team set-up and formation looked fine. Please guys you have to take into account we are playing with half fit players and players coming back form injury. Does anybody here think Gerrard and Torres are firing on all cylinders? Can anybody remember seeing Gerrard fly into a tackle like he normally does? Johnson, another one who is half fit (Degen and Kelly injured or coming back from injury as well and we all know what happened when we played Darby) made a howler, yet again and gave them a chance, a chance they took from a difficult angle. That was Johnson goine for the rest of the game as he made mistake after mistake. Our confidence is brittle or non existent because of the season we are having. It threw us and to make matters worse Masch had a moment of madness (yes harsh but still stupid) and got sent off, another knock to our fragile confidence. The game got niggly, we started to argue about decision that where going against us, lost concentration and more disturbing for a long period it looked like we gave up for a while. We where disjointed disorganized and our passing fell apart. Despite all that we had a superb chance to equalize, in fact it would have been easier to score than to miss but true to our season so far we missed. Again we attacked in the second half and a fit and firing Torres would have scored instead of doing an Arsenal impersonation by trying to walk it into the net. There where also plenty of time during the second half that if the final ball or the pass was made somebody would have been in on goal. It just did not happen, the iced pitch made it difficult to pass and play, another shit day at the office, all to familiar this season. They scored another sucker punch of a goal from another mistake this time by Carra. So what do our fans do… blame Rafa for playing Dossena and for playing two holding midfielders. The same formation that helped us score the most amount of goals last season. That Gerrard and Torres are not firing has no bearing its Rafa’s fault for playing the wrong formation, go figure.

rome77 all this 7 years this 7 years that what im seeing is exactly what happened under houllier and its got fuck all to do with drinking guinness and everthing to do with whats happening on the pitch which is not acceptble at this club. we all love the club im not bashing anyone but come on 4 wins in 17 games has to tell you something either hes lost the dressing room or hes taking us as far as he can. id love if you can turn around in two months when were back in the hunt and you say there you go guinness ya drunker twat i told ya so. but it aint gonna happen my man.

To the lads claiming some of us have blind faith in Rafa, which is bordering on religious/cult status. What a crock of shit, it’s called support, it’s about not throwing the towel in when everything looks bleak. It’s about forgetting whats just happened and plan what’s needed to fix the future. It’s about forgetting the negatives and concentrating on only positive aspects.
.
I was born a Red win, lose or draw, now it’s my job to help the team. Whether I agree with Mr B’s decisions or plans is irrelevant when the club is going through a patch like this.

Here is another news flash for all, you morons who want Maureen to take over, he knows the problems and lack of finance available and has already said no, as will most managers with half a brain. Who would want to come to a club and put their reputation on the line for a club whose fans expect you to win on a 16 mill a year budget when your rivals have hundreds of millions to spend, and then call for your head when 1.5 mill players and free transfers don’t make it happen for you? Lets not forget the strength in depth this whopping 16 mill affords you when we a few injuries, we should more than cope with 11 first team members out with all the 30 mill (Zimbabwe dollars) replacements lining up on the bench. Yes a zero net spend over the last two seasons has managers clambering to take over, oh but we did have a budget I can here the CBC chorus chirp or bleat would be better. Indeed but that has to go on wage increases least we loose what we already have, another rich endorsement of how attractive the managerial post is. Will it get better? Like fuck unless some idiot pays 124 mill pound for 10 percent when our custodians of the Liverpool way only paid 270 odd for 100 percent. Great bargain, while you watch weetabix THicks and insolvent gutless Gillette asset strip Liverpool in order to pay for the club and their life style. What do our erstwhile fans do… sack Rafa. Go figure maybe I am too old to understand this complicated game called football. As the Darlings said “He who has the most money wins right?”

When you walk through a storm…sack the manager because he is the only one holding the life line….. go figure.

What a bunch of wankers in here.

One said something like (earlier post) “we shouldn’t think united loss is a positive because we lost”
Fair enough, but you clowns also don’t come in here or make comments when WE WIN!.

So I say, piss off and don’t come back.

I was frustrated today too. They scored a freak goal (ball shot through a hole the width of a beez dick), plus the straight red.
You could see lads being frustrated by decisions.

I love some suggestions in here about why we subbed insua for fabio, or why ngog didn’t play.

To that I say, stop playing ur fucking playstation games, you can’t play two strikers with ten men.

Here is another news flash for all the so called expert that can see patterns within patterns. What gives Liverpool the right to win titles? Spurs, New castle (yes the mighty barcodes), Sunderland, Man City, Portsmith and Aston Villa have all out spent us in the market by a considerable margin, why are they not wining titles don’t their fans have a right to demand the title as well. ManU and Chelsea are wining titles and they are outspending us so that’s right, please tell me why we should be beating them from an economic point of view, money buys you better and more players is how I think it works unless players want to play for a certain manager or club. Wait a minute we finished above all but ManU last season on zero net spend for the year… still sack Rafa it was a fluke, record points haul… fluke, most goals….fluke. CL and FA cup while rebuilding…. Fluke he has taken us as far as he can go, the players don’t believe in him, he should be able to win even if the entire team is on crutches.

We really have classy fans real salt of the earth the type you would want in the trenches when the going gets tough. Makes me proud.

why not play another striker your already loosing with 20mins to go??

…and gaz… its about forming a reasonable analysis of the situation, as KeithSA just did.

Houllier never had a single season to contend with the sort of injuries and out of form players Rafa is contending with this season… so such comparisons are assinine!

What we are seeing right now, is no mystery.

YES, we have our “first choice 11″ back ready for selection again, but they are only performing at about 70% of their capability…
…NOT… because they couldn’t be arsed…
…NOT… because they don’t believe in/want to play for Rafa…
… but because they are
A. not fully fit…
B. losing belief in themselves…
C. losing belief in their teammates…
D. playing full of anxiety…
E. trying too hard and doing all the wrong things.

Portsmouth might not be a “top side” but you can’t just ignore the fact that they are all playing for a new manager and trying to impress, and the conditions and our form/confidence, made it the perfect time for them to play us.

If you don’t understand that, then you quite simply have no experience playing the game, coaching the game, or even much experience watching the game!

Most lads in here, have been coming in here for a long time. We know where they stand and by and large, why they take that stand… by the history of their posts.

To come in here and start throwing your weight around, about how you are “entitled” to your “opinion”, after 2 or 3 posts, or even 2 or 3 months of posts for that matter, is not just disrespectful, its spitting in everyone’s face… (particularly Gerry’s, who puts in a lot of effort, creating a place where we can have reasonable thought out discussion and debate.)

In short… your opinions are not wanted here… not because they are diametrically opposed to most in here, but simply coz they are largely moronic and unsubstantiated.
There are plenty of places where such “opinion” is welcomed… even embraced… even lauded… please feel free to GO THERE and stop fucking Kopblog up for the rest of us.

Aitch,
i think you got the wrong guy there (gaz),
i have’nt read anything disparaging from him.
But a good post mate, i feel a bit ashamed of my own little tirade but i have calmed down now and just digested what you have written(390) and basically your right but just cant get my head round the way they just seem to collapse when there is a bit of adversity i mean can you see these boy’s coming from 3-0 down at half time in C/L final, i cant yet they still have the same manager and the same main piston for the engine room in Gerrard.
So i ask you this buddy why (c) are they losing belief in themselves as that to me is the ROOT problem.
YNWA.

well said aitch

I think its time for the players to stand up and be counted. Backs up against the wall stuff. We as supporters could do the same.

Just to clarify, the “and gaz” was meant as an addition to what he said… not a poke at something he’d said.

2nd… just read this qcomment from a Scum fan on the BBC match report of the Fulham win..
“This season is virtually a write off as far as the league is concerned and we’re not even at Christmas – Ferguson has got a lot of explaining to do… ”
…and they are only 3 points off the top and have just won 3 PL titles in a row!!!!

If it wasn’t so completely, utterly and majestically retarded, it might be sorta funny!

Seriously… mental patients are reading that shite and thinking… “are you fuckin nuts?”

I have absolutely NO time for such sniveling little gobshites, no matter who they profess to follow.

now… theredman…
to answer your question… I addressed this at the end of the last blog … a rather unfortunately titled “Reds Getting Back on Track” (sorry Ged, but in your defense, at the time, I thought so too!) …at post #402.

… but here it is again…
You really do have to love it when people suggest Rafa has “blind faith” in players who they then claim “are exceeding their ability with their performances”…
…yet the slew of TOP players who are under-performing, well below their abilities, are doing so becuase of Rafa’s poor man-management skills.

I have to wonder sometimes if some people in here have actually ever played the game without a fuckin game controller in their hands?

There simply is no easy answer to getting us out of our current situation.

If you’ve never played on a competitive team, no matter what the level, and found yourself in a similar situation to the one that LFC is now dealing with, then you simply will not fully understand our current predicament.

And so, I ask you all to take a deep breath.

What I can tell you… unequivocally… is that when you are playing through the pain barrier, or when returning from injury… your game, no matter how hard you try, or sometimes in spite of how hard you try, just isn’t up to snuff!

What I can tell you… from personal experience … is that when you are on a team that has lost a few key players… when decisions start to go against you (whether in the middle of the park, or pens/offsides at either end)… when you concede crazy/flukey/bizarre goals (be they OGs, deflections off divets or beachballs)… when you get a few bad results because of all this… your heads don’t just drop…

…you ask yourself “what do we have to do?”
… then pretty soon, you are starting to ask “what do I have to do?”
… then you start looking around at your teamamates to figure out who the weak link is?
… then pretty soon, who the weak linkS are?
… and these can be your mates. Lads you get along with, lads you like playing with.

Its a quicksand trap… and the more you struggle the deeper you sink.

You have to stop moving and take a breath… but you’re still sinking.
Then you have to think, analyze your situation, but you’re still sinking.
Then you have to slowly, cautiously, methodically try to pull yourself out of the trap, sometimes even allowing yourself to slip deeper into the mire, so you can make your next move, slowly and deliberately, with calcualated movements… all while still sinking into the shit!

…or… we could just fuckin sack Rafa coz its all his fault…

Its a cliche rtheredman, but its also true…
…Class is permanent… but form is ever so fleetingly temporary!

I always have a little chuckle to myself when I hear people predicting scores prior to a game.

Our net has had more balls in it this season than Jenna Jameson in a gangbang video! … yet people still come up with “I fancy a comfortable 2-0″ or “I predict 3-0.”

Really… on what fuckin basis are you making such predictions??

These players had high hopes for their season.
They’ve been battered and bruised and are both physically and mentaly shaken right now.

We are gonna need a bunch of scrappy, nervy, 2-1 skin-of-the-teeth wins, before we can think of a 1-0, let alone mounting a few 3-1 or 4-1 or 2-0 wins.

They are not gonna start playing free-flowing footy and winning 6-0 anytime soon… and a new manager isn’t gonna change that! (not at this point anyway.)
There is a time for such decisions… we are hell and away from that time!

This is my first post – anywhere actually – but I have been reading this site for some time.
Hugely disappointing result today – when Rafa said 4th place, I thought he’s seen the problem, and when he sees it he normally solves it quickly.
That goal Wigan got is the bad one – for me. Even though it didn’t cost points, we finally had the 2 goal cushion. Hard to get at this level.
It must be bloody hard for attackers in the premiership going out thinking they have to get 2 goals, at least, to be safe. And the defenders must have it in the back of their minds that if only the attack did its job they would not be under so much pressure to be perfect.
Each bit affects the other.
Carragher’s 600th game today, and he must have played in – how many? – almost a third, maybe more, clean sheet games – and yet at the moment like the whole team playing as if he’s never had a clean sheet in his life.
Pepe – best goalie in the league – and yet everything hit goes past him. I bet other managers are saying have a go in their team talks.
And every player moving a bit closer to another player, just a couple of yards, to make sure of the pass, except they take a split-second longer to make the pass, and it leaves someone on the other side of the pitch isolated.
Everthing becomes congested, slow, and hesitant (which actually sounds like me on the pull now I read it again).
I’m glad I’m not a manager, but I’m glad we’ve got one.
Anyway, Jamie Carragher 600 games. Wish I could say I’d spotted his greatness early – but no, if Rafa had sold him I would have been none the wiser. I thought he was a good utility player.
I don’t care what it is, I want to see him with a trophy in his hand this season.

Guinessdrinker I was referring to your comment 347
” i think after five years any coach at any sport has said all they can and if after five years its not working its time for a change no? ” which is a very short sighted view IMO
ps Wasnt calling you a drunk, myself i drink Carlsberg and watch a lot of games whilst doing so.

abosultely gutted. i think the first 11 pick was spot on except for dosser. thot that benny could give a little bit more flair. clearly the body language of the players were all wrong. pompey is having more problems that us but the spirit they showed were amazing. imagine playing with the possibility of not being paid and future in doubt but still put in 110%. credit to them. yes, we need to shackle off the confidence issue and a couple of scrappy wins back-to-back will sort that out…u can see the frustration of torres as he tried to do all things by himself and risking more injury…this is a clear evidence that he hasn’t got the confidence of the team mates. gerrard was below him normal self and not commanding at all in that game. carra had a a couple of nervy moments but my MOTM. johnson still lacks the confidence and the worst performance of the night i think is kuyt. definitely need some rest. benny can certainly cover the right wing and hope aquilani is back for the next game to sit alongside lucas. aurelio back for the left wing with insua behind would give a balance.

at this stage it is definitely the players themselves that need to turn things around on the pitch. rafa has done enough in his ability with the circumstance at hand.
c’mon u redmen……

Fuck me – the morons are back in force and greater numbers than before…

The worlds greatest mother fucking moron Sula is back spouting his usual uninformed, unfounded, illogical crap…fuck me – I have never meet a more brain dead idiot in my life…Sula – you dont have the brain power for an opinion – so FUCK OFF NOW and go and support chelsea you cowardly gutless back stabbing faggotty arsed little toe rag…you are worthless…and the rest of you morons can fuck off with him…

If you dont like what we have to say – go to the Traitor Jamie Wankers site where you can all sit around betraying Liverpool together…

You lot digust me…you are dishonourable, dishonest, moronic, arrogant, gutless, hypocritical, cowardly, traitorous scum of the highest order…

“Shankly laid the foundations, Paisley built the house, now Rafa’s doing the garden”.
Trouble is while Rafa was digging in the garden he noticed the foundations had been eroded and was in need of repair. While walking through the house he noted a lot of the original fixture&fittings had been replaced by MDF. So Rafa the builder goes to the owner and says “its going to cost a lot to restore the house but it’ll be worth it”
The owner cant really afford to do the house up and as he’s a rich kid whose never had to think about getting a business loan , he decided to sell.
The new owners said they’d pay for original fitting and a extension so Rafa sets about restoring the doors and windows, then he gets to work repairing the foundations and laying new ones for the extension.Then one day he comes to work to find the owners have been getting cheaper quotes from a cowboy builder,he finds a pile of letters from dept-recovery companies, work stops on the extension,and some of the fittings disappear.
Sound familiar

PS Like any good builder he could always go build a Villa in Spain.
But he chooses to stay and finish the job because he thinks the owners will sell to a more appreciating owner,who will give him the funding.
YNWA

I’ve been on the piss most of the day and I’m feeling pretty rough at the moment. I reckon I’m going to sleep for about 12 hours but before I hit the sack I thought I’d have a quick scan through the latest comments, as after our piss-poor result today/yesterday I figured a few ambulance-chasers might crawl out from under their stones to spout their usual rubbish.
So in my valiant efforts to keep Kopblog a fuckhead free-zone, I’ve just banned two people who’s usernames begin with S and I’ll let you figure out who they are. I’m sure we’re all feeling pissed off enough at the moment without having to read anymore of that shite.