matt and max

can’t understand what you’re talking about, frankly. as admins on this site you should be listening to your audience, who have been emailing you for months.

kopblog was my community of reds fans, and i’m angry you let it disintergrate.

never mind merry chrimbo. you missed a trick here.

blud red, we had a few emails which we tried to respond to. But we are hoping Gerry would return with a blog. When we spoke to him recently he said he was going to blog soon.

We have been unable to post an update as Gerry had the password to access the blog. We’ve now decided to change that to enable us to access the blog and update the readers.

We apologise for it taking so long.

Great news all round lads. Glad to hear Ger is doing well and looking forward to Kopblogs triumphant return in the new year. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight. Except the FA. Fuck them motherfuckers.

Yep I second diggers’ sentiments. Great news all round and a new blog too!

All’s well that ends well…Wish you all a Merry Christmas!!

dear kopblog admin

why do you need password to access kopblog when you could have just posted in the comments section the update on gerry?

It’s one of the few times I totally agree with Digger No 10, with everything he’s said in #3

Merry Christmas

Thanks a lot Matt and Max, Merry Christmas everybody

MERRY CHRISTMAS ONE & ALL (EXCEPT THE FA) FA UNITED SEEM TO BE OUR BIGGEST RIVAL FROM HERE ON IN, I LOVE THE CLUBS STANCE ON THIS ISSUE, WE HAVE TO BACK LUIS 100%, BUT THINGS ARE GONNA BE TOUGHER FOR US FROM HERE ON IN, (REF DECISIONS ETC ETC) BUT FUCK THEM ALL I SAY, LETS DRAG THEM THRU EVERY COURT WE HAVE TO !
MATT & MAX THANKS FOR RESPONDING & CLARIFING THE ISSUES AT HAND, BETTER LATER THAN NEVER, HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME OF THE LADS BACK IN HERE ,
BLACKBURN ON ST STEPHEN’S/BOXING DAY , IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT WAY THE REF PLAYS THIS ONE, HOPE TO FUCK IT AINT WEBB,
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL THE GOOD PEOPLE , PAST & PRESENT FROM KOPBLOG, GERRY I HOPE YOU ARE WELL & THE NEW YEAR BRINGS YOU GOOD HEALTH
ONWARDS & UPWARDS
YNWA!

Bit of an angry comment Colly and on Christmas eve an all!! Great to hear Ger will be back soon.
Have a great one Lads hope you and yours have top day.
Lets hope the Redmen can give us all something to cheer in the new year.
And FUCK the FA and all the other haters out there. One mans word against another would never stand up in any court of law.

Merry Christmas to one and all. The few of us who are left. I agree things have probably gone too far now and a lot of the regular posters on here will not be back alas because of major mismanagement of the site but it is the Festive season so…..
Fuck the FA and Manc Scum and 100% lets get behind Suarez and the team. Since when have we had it easy from the tabloids or authorities. We’re used to the scum. We don’t need them. We’ll Never Walk Alone. Nollaig Shóna ! ;o)

lads you can get the t-shirts the lads wore in support of luis last wednesday before the wigan game at this website,
http://www.liverpooltees.com
lets show our support for the wee man!
YNWA

1. MERRY CHRISTMAS to all Kopbloggers

2. Come back Ged, all is forgiven

3. The Mods… what fuckin took you so long?

4. The FA… Fuck you all with the largest black cock in planetary existence!
(oooh… is that racist?)

5. Luis… I am forever your Negrito! You’ll Never Walk Alone Lad!

6. LFC… Would it be asking too much for some of yerz to please start putting the fuckin ball in the back of the net? Get yer shit sorted lads and let’s get on a run!

Well, finally I can get back on, at times logging on was a long as waiting for a LFC midfielder to score. Dear Gerry hope your getting better and merry Christmas, regardless of the site, its you who is important and my wishes are with you and your family, get well soon. Last season you said you were similar to SG, well guess what he’s still out too.
.
All the lads on here great to see you still around, as I am checking each day, however its starting to get every couple of days. I tried to join the main site but got rejected, so as loyal as I am I just sit and wait.
.
Back to footy, well I was hoping December would be a defining month but so far its been average at best, nver mind but we need some of our shining big money stars to start showing some winning mentality, instead of the small team mentality being displayed at the moment. That being lifting against big team falling flat against mid table opposition.
.
Its like Everton to Us, we’re their grand final regardless of how their going, but then they lose to teams around them.
.
Thank Christ our defence is rock solid, and there crossbar is their best player. Looking forward to the New Year, come on lads onward and upward, we need a Euro spot, I don’t think 4th is probable this season, we just don’t score enough.
.
Merry Christmas all. Get well Gerry.

as miley from glenroe would say “WELL HOLEY GOD” AITCH GAZ DIGGER BLUD ELBMW PSHENAVA REDNECK DJGAZZA GUINNESS GAZMANINAUS DUBROGUE,
STILL AFEW MISSING, FAT SCOUSER RAFALUTION TIMMY SUAREZ(AN ARTIST FORMELY KNOWN AS TIMMY TORRES) DONAL FROMTHEGAP SAMBO SOMMANTH ,CORKLFC & OF COURSE GERRY ORMENDE, PLEASE FORGIVE IF YOUR NAME GOES AMISS BUT ITS 2AM NEW YORK TIME ON CRISTMAS EVE, SO EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE ,
ITS STARTIN TO FEEL A LITTLE LIKE KOPBLOG AROUND HERE!
HERES THE FIRST ARGUMENT,
IS LUCAS THE BEST PLAYER WE’VE HAD IN THE LAST 3 YRS?
HOW GOOD IS HE ?
WOT ARE WE DOING IN SILLY SEASON?
HOW INJURED IS STEVIE G?
HOW FUCKED UP IS THE FA?
WOT WILL IT TAKE FOR US TO SCORE GOALS?
HOW MUCH TIME CAN WE DWELL ON ANDY C?
DID TORRES WANT TO COME BACK (SEE THE REACTION) & DO A UTURN?
IS LUIS GUILTY?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SUAREZ & TERRY CASE? (FA HANG SUAREZ) NOW THERE IN A DIFF WITH EL CAPITAN YOU F—–N B—K EVRA(SCOUSE FOR CUNT)
LOADED BUT ON A HIGH , THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!
THERE YA GO GERRY A HEADLINE FOR THE NEXT BLOG
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
AAAAAHHHHHHHHH ! REDMAN MRCRED SORRY!
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! YNWA!
SUBMIT COMMENT!

Right lads I’m barred, sorry if I offended anyone, I’m a dick I know

Kopblog friends shouldn’t let Kopblog friends post drunk!

Some good topics to comment on though… will get to it tomorrow… off for more food and merriment now!

Well fuck a duck, Christmas pressies indeed. I’m delighted to see this site lurch into life again. As Gaz said I echo, it’s about Gerry getting better and getting in the groove, eventually. So is there a Santa after all?

Hi guys … long suffering and long lost.

Quite a time to come back too. Very hot spud is our Luis. For the record (from what I’ve read) I don’t think Luis is either a racist or guilty of racially abusing Evra. Neither do I think he was being “nice” by the way, ironic and belittling I would say. I think the FA jumped on this one and Suarez is the absolute perfect sucker for them. He’s been hung out to dry and they’ve done a great job too, their timing and lack of hard information has done him now. Branded.
Another brilliant move by both Alex Ferguson and the FA.
Someone mentioned above about it being harder now for us to get fair calls from the refs. Well we have not been getting them at all this season as far as I’m concerned.
First AC, then Kenny (pre-Spurs, ref bias, see the result ?) and now Luis.
They just don’t like Liverpool and the biggest fish in there, the man who moves and manipulates because he can, hates us.

Short of going above and beyond the FA we’re fucked here with Luis. He’s going down for 8.

The question is is he gonna up shop and split because of it ? The summer will tell but the fans (Travelling Kop) really supported him against Wigan and that could count hugely.

As for him being able to deal with the abuse he’s got to. If he buckles here they’ll go at him everywhere else too. He’ll also be able to I reckon because he walks the line in any case, it’s how he plays. As for the rest of the team and support well it could be turned to our advantage.

As to the ball itself well it’s been full of positives but short on goals. If if if if etc … Don’t ask me why we have not been scoring but at a guess I’d say a lack of composure is playing a role. Too many are playing too long and just not doing it in front of goal. You all know whom I’m talking about. So they get that bit shy, desperate, edgy, nervous, afraid in front of goal… take your pick.

An 8 goal romp would help, with Downing, Henderson, Kuyt and Andy getting a brace each. So that would be my preference, as my 3 year old daughter would say, tomorrow against B’Burn.

Come on Gerry/Santa, come on Redmen, come home kopbloggers.

G’nite, Happy Christmas.

I suppose the other issue with Luis Suarez is that LFC, Kenny and the players have all come out very strongly in support of Luis and by extension against FA, Evra, Ferguson etc and while we live in the realm of rumour and hearsay they don’t. They were at the hearing and they know what evidence was put forward so that must mean something and it could mean a lot.

I dont know about you lad’s,

but i am totally bewildered by the FA or should i say kangaroo court, how you can convict a man by someone else’s say-so is ludicrous, the lad’s Granddad is black for christ sake’s.

Dougle you are right about evidence put forward, if so where is Evra’s punishment for the inflamatory remarks (and i believe they were obscene)he made to Saurez.
The fuckin tramp reckon’s we should accept the ban and move on, he was comparing Evra’s ban after the cheating bastard said the Chelsea groundsman racially abused him and there was only Evra, the groundsman and i think the mancs fitness coach present, and Evra (i fuckin hate that name)was banned for 4 games.
Well fungus face let me elucidate on Luis’s plight, there where 22 players on the pitch and three officials (2 Linesmen) and no one heard a fuckin word only the little fuckin scumbag, then in the pursuing corner Kuyt heard Evra calling Luis something then you see him telling the fucker to calm down only for him (Evra) to push Kuyt away, a couple of minutes later he was booked for a foul on Kuyt and he said to the ref (Mariner i think) that he was only booking him cos he was black, (myself personally i’d have shot the cunt).

Kenny is right, there does seem to be a witch hunt for LFC, and as for the rest of the team supporting Luis, well i think it’s noble of the guy’s, what did people expect them to do, totally ignore Luis and let people believe that his own team-mates think he is racist.

That cunt fergie has railed at the FA for anything said or done against the mancs, and cos we do it the senile old fucker tell’s us to move on.

Onto more important thing’s,
Gerry get well soon mate this blog should be the last thing on your mind at the moment and rightly so, i’ve had a few health issues myself lately (last February i had a major operation), having said that we all look forward to your return.

Kopcolly,
you naughty boy what where you drinking (and smokoing), like Aitch say’s you shoud,nt make comment’s while DUI, but i know your a good lad and it’s out of character for you.

2-0 today Kuyt and Johnson.

again lads i would like to say sorry, i didnt even know i made a comment until digger txt me yesterday morning,
aitch, i hear ya man, & great to see ya back,
theredman, it was a mixture of black russians & smoking a few joints, vodka & i dont get on & i hadnt smoked in a few months, but i know that is no excuse,
again i apologize , im absolutley disgusted with myself, it ruined my christmas day, what a dick i am!

Kopcolly dont worry lad I think most of us (if not all) realized your condition but what made me laugh even more was that you made the comment @8.32am. LOL! I thought thats some party you had the night, before regardless if it was local time or GMT.

Watching the game on a crappy stream now and the whole of Anfield seems flat; the crowd the players and even Kenny looks subdued.

0-1 down to a dodgy corner and from the subsequent corner an Adam own goal.

Hoping for a better performance in the second half.

Well we our well and truly back!!!! Dominating games and giving the worst teams all the believe in the world!!!!

Before asking for AC’s head lets look at the fact charlie adam has played well against chelsea but cost us all three points in our last two games!!!

We our a bit of a laughing stock and when i’m getting ripped apart by all the utd men in work tomorrow i’m gonna have to sit like a bitch and take it because them fuckin wankers can hammer shite teams….. take away the fact teams lie down they still finish them off……jesus even if a team did lie down against us we’d still not score!!!

It doesnt matter that their keeper made a world class save at the end we should have buired 5-6 chances before that!!

With chelsea drawing I dont think we needed anymore motivation but there you go. So I hope our team of millionaires enjoy their lavish gifts and and exotic holidays they have bought and booked for christmas coz they earned it today!!

Ok well at least Kopcolly was off his trolley where was I with my 8-0… albeit just wished for.

I stand by what i said, Carroll (tho’ he was ok today), Downing (that shot where he should have scored summed it up for me), Henderson a bit wishy washy, Adam, they need goals. Scoring will beget scoring. There is a composure and confidence problem there.

Second issue is tempo. (Along with above the 2 biggest issues I think). We looked great when we looked great and played with movement and incisiveness but generally we were slowish and playing in front of B’Burn. Gerrard gave us movement and incisiveness going forward.

Third issue is Suarez. He (to me) looks down and heavy. He’s not the same player he was but even without the FA bullshit he’d be needing a rest I reckon.

Fourth issue is delivery of final ball. Pathetic from allover the park but especially Enrique who otherwise is brilliant. Countless balls went nowhere near anyone.

Fifth issue is putting the effin ball in the net. Just do it for fucks sake.

Sixth issue was the crowd.If it was me playing I’d prefer to be playing away from home these days.

Seventh issue is Luck. A penno not given. Carroll could have had 3. Maxi missed a clear header. One off the line and they are just those I can think of here.

Gotta love Maxi tho’. Can’t beat intelligence and calmness.

We totally dominated this game and yet again we should have won but this is becoming a bad habit now. Somethings gotta change.

Evans and Ged were fired having finished third and fourth.Where does that leave KD ? Watch the Mancs put five past Blackburn, they could finish on 95 points, having no net spend over the past 5 seasons!J Henry said he expected a top 4 finish, Hodgson didn’t spend £65 mill on tripe.No prem goals from Downing or Kuyt, need 2 new strikers pronto.Not surprised Gerry was unwell, I thought top 3 would be a breeze.

Ffs.

Now we know we are back to normal lol

Yep… normal service has been restored.
Where does that leave KD? Halfway through the season in 7th, 3 points off 4th!
Yeah… that really compares to where Hodgson had us!
Beggars belief!

Things have not gone to plan… but there’s a big difference to the way this team is getting draws and the way Hodgson’s team did.

Its frustrating as fuck watching this team snatch defeat fromt he jaws fo victory… but its very small margins we’re talking about here.

We beat Villa 2-0 playing far, far worse than in grabbing only 1 point off both Wigan and Blackburn.
Blackburn and Wigan may well be bottom of the table, but both play better football than Villa do.
We were good for 15 minutes against Villa and shite for the rest of the game… the difference is we bagged 2 goals.

What was the difference between the goalmouth scramble that Bellamy punted in, and the one that a prone goalkeeper managed to save from Andy?
It wasn;t poor finishing… one just went in, the other didn’t and a small margin determined which was which.

Agains Villa, Skrtel powered a terrific header to the back post, beating the keeper and the back post player to score.
Against Blackburn, Skrtel powered a terrific header to the back post, beating the keeper, but unfortunately not beating the back post player… small margins.

Its tiring to have to say… I know there’ll be those who want to say, “yeah, but we say that every season, when will it end”… but we’ve got another “The Replacements” quicksand scenario going on again here.

We should have bagged all 3 points from our first 6 games. We didn’t… but we should have. We dominated those first 6 matches.
Downing and Henderson, should have had 2 each from those first 6 games… they didn’t get them.
Andy too… he should have had 3 or 4 on his tally now… but he doesn’t.
Had those chances gone in, these players would be cocksure right now, playing with their tails, and bagging chances that are going begging.

When the goals go in… and they will… the dam will break and we’ll go on a run.

The Chavs and Arsenal, have dropped enough points to have left the door open for us. (I think this adds to the frustration factor… two wins in place of two draws, would have us in 4th now… let alone other dropped points…. we’ve missed golden opportunities.)

But even City drew what “should have been” a 3 point banker this weekend.
And Scum are as capable of dropping points as they are of winning 5-0.
The African Nations Cup will affect a few teams above us in January… and a run of results could change the top 6 dramatically.

Keep the Faith and we’ll get there!

Now then….
IS LUCAS THE BEST PLAYER WE’VE HAD IN THE LAST 3 YRS?
HOW GOOD IS HE ?
I love Lucas, I always have. He is now the player I walways thought he could be… and frankly I think he’s got a few more gears to go… but I don;t know if he’s been “the best”… definitely among the best though, that’s for sure!

WOT ARE WE DOING IN SILLY SEASON?
I dunno, but its frustrating innit?
Obviously we’ve dropped points we should have bagged… but for my money, I think we’ve done so in a manner that has me frustrated rather than angry. When we were dropping these points under Hodgson, we were doing so in a spineless manner… whereas we are now doing so due to slight lapses at an otherwise strong back, or as a result of doing everything right in our approach to the goal, but being thwarted by wood and gloves and the occasional defender’s testicle.
These draws leave me hopeful, rather than despondant.

HOW INJURED IS STEVIE G?
Well he looked alright yesterday! Another 45 against Newcy… and it’ll probably be a few games before he’s back “up to speed” but it looks promising.
I just hope we don’t change our play too much to accomodate him.

HOW FUCKED UP IS THE FA?
More fucked up than the most fucked up thing there is.
What they have just done was a travesty of justice. They cowardly (and I think deliberately) passed a sentence, withheld their findings, so that the media would run with it. They knew it would happen and they let it. When they do publish their findings, they’ll look like the good guys compared to the media, but the damage to Suarez’s reputation is done and can’t be undone.

WOT WILL IT TAKE FOR US TO SCORE GOALS?
Not much. Just snapping at a ball before a defender, like Bellamy did against Villa… or conversely just taking that extra beat before striking it… like Maxi did against Blackburn… or a mistake by a defender or keeper… and they will start to flow.
A goal will beget a goal. The confidence that comes with that, will beget more. We are not far off.
Small margins… a bit of patience… keep yer pwder dry, shoot when you see the whites of their eyes!

HOW MUCH TIME CAN WE DWELL ON ANDY C?
Loads or none at all.
He hasn;t been playing… so what’s to dwell on. 10 minutes gives him fuck all time to do anything. He’s only played 3 or 4 games where he’s been allowed significant time ont he pitch. He’s obviously not match-fit… and that’s a self fulfilling prophecy. He won;t get match-fit unless he starts playing more.
I don’t know why Kenny hasn’t played Andy more.
Some want to suggest its coz he doesn’t trust/rate him.
I doubt that. I reckon he’s managing him.
He’s persisting with Downing, even when he’s been poor (I hope the Blackburn game wasn’t a one-off, coz it was Downing’s best performance since Sunderland… with the caveat that his crossing is still steamed shite:) … my hope is that he’ll hit that sort of groove soon.) Sometimes you have to persist with underperforming players… ala Lucas… sometimes that doesn;t work, ala Heskey….
…and sometimes its best to give them a rest, shield them from the lielight, try to get them past that confidence barrier, then unleash them when the time is right.
Andy hasn;t looked good so far this season… but I think for someone who has hardly played lately and is low on confidence, he looked pretty good across the 90 against Blackburn. he had 3 very good chances to score and truly terrific saves by the keeper denied 2 of them.
There is a big difference between a poor player and a player who’s playing poorly. Andy is the latter and he WILL get there.

DID TORRES WANT TO COME BACK (SEE THE REACTION) & DO A UTURN?
It was an interesting statement to make… and the timing of it was even more so.
He burned a lot of bridges by the nature of his departure and the things he said both prior to and after it.
The first thing that would need to happen is a concerted PR campaign to paint him as someone who genuinely recognized the gravity of his mistake, someone who’d been given bad advice and was truly deeply sorry about the move on every level.
If we could Ian Ruch him back in for 20 million… provided the above caveat works… he and Suarez could be fuckin lethal together.

IS LUIS GUILTY?
From extensive reading on the subject…In a word … NO!

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SUAREZ & TERRY CASE?
A massive difference… in fact there is no similarity whatsoever.
One case involves a multicultural player saying a non-offensive Spanish phrase, to a multicultural player who speaks Spanish… who
A. WASN’T OFFENDED ENOUGH AT THE TIME OF SPEAKING TO SAY ANYTHING TOP THE REF!!!!!
(He didn’t during the game, when he was booked, at the final whistle… no … only grossly after the fact, did he mention something to a French TV reporter, then fully 10 minutes later, walk from the dressing room, with Fungus in tow, to the ref to make his complaint.)
and B. Openly admits to not being offended when his own Spanish speaking teammates utter this very same phrase to him on a relatively regular basis.

The other case involves an English speaking White man, saying something offensive in English to an English speaking Black man.

(FA HANG SUAREZ)
They clearly have done.
In his latest blog, Paul Tomkins states that he has an inside source that has viewed every tape of every camera angle of the 90 minutes of the match and that he could not find one single instance of the “alleged 10 times” that Evra claims Luis abused him… NOT ONE!
Now granted, that doesn’t mean it didn;t happen… wasn;t said under his breath or whatever, but it certainly calls the allegation into question and in combination with Evra’s history of such allegations is far more cause for “case dismissal” than the finding they issued.

EVRA = SCOUSE FOR CUNT
I don’t think it is… but it certainly should be. I think I may start calling my mates “you fuckin Evra” when they do something lame !

great post Aitch, i think you crossed all the t’s & dotted the i’s,
when i asked what the difference in the suarez/ evra case what i was really asking was why are the two cases being heard by two seperate identities if you like, or are they? luis was hung drawn & quartered by the fa & terry was heard by the crime prosocution service, or is terry also going to get a slap on the wrist from the fa? were the fa waiting to see what the cps had to say before they charge terry? & if so why did the cps not get involved luis’s case?
as for the torres transfer i think there just might have been something to it & he spat out again because he didnt get his way or result he was lookin for,
AC i just dont get him, never did or never will,
silly season, id luv to see adebayor team up with suarez, he’s been top drawer for the spuds this season, he’s scoring goals, & his movement on & off the ball has been first class, this man to me is on the same wavelenght as suarez with his pass & move,
i think these two could be a real partnership,
lucas levia, a class act for me , & if he hadnt of got injured this season i feel he could been getting big offers from barca or madrid, we are clearly worse off without him, for me this lose could have been the difference in our top four spot & any chance of either cup comp we are in

lads ya gotta check out The Anfield Wrap, pohttp://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2011/12/the-anfield-wrap-suarez-reaction/
THIS IS THE SHIT! BRILLIANT, its on every monday or you can listen when you want, its up to episode 21 now so get on it

Aitch, defensively we’re the number 1 team in the league, thats why we’re still in the hunt at this present moment in time. From those rear positions on we’re cactus. Yes we’re dominating, attacking and playing some nice football, but we’re also being dominated, losing concentration and playing some shite football.
.
I believe our problems are a mental thing, we have invested in players who can fight their way out of relegation spots but not into CL spots. I was personally amazed to watch the difference SG made in the Blackburn game, once he got on we suddenly had balls spraying everywhere. What a dramatic difference. He is a class above anyone we currently have in the midfield, and he’s only just getting back. He is genuinely our only real goalscoring midfielder. We just really lack goals from our middle of the park fellows. Maxi is probably our most prolific midfield scorer, at this point.
.
Now in relation to Terry and Saurez, the difference will be Terry will captain England in a couple of weeks, Saurez gets 8 games.
.
I understand the African Nations Cup will effect teams but what about us playing City three time in January, 1 FA cup tie and several competition matches, its a tough January.
.
As I said previously I thought December was a defining month and so far its been cack, Newcastle will not be easy, they want a Euro spot and thats something we’re in the mix for too.

It’s good that we’re domniating games but it all seems very predictable. We get the ball pass it calmly from the back some nice touches in midfiled then push it out the right (mostly) then a shit final ball!!
I mean how often does downey or johnson charge to the line and just blast it accross only for it to fly over everyones head and then you look at the replay and we only had one person in the box anyway who will have five defenders around him.
Yes we are doing better than hodgson last year and yes dalglish is only getting his teeth into it but ffs norwich blackburn and QPR i’ve had time to digest those results and i’m still livid. It’s so frustrating and to be honest the form I see spurs and their league position is where I wanted us to be this season by this stage!!
Maybe we are a season behind that but with are summer buys and exsiting experience I personally thought we’d be on the leaders heels.
I really didnt appricate lucas enough either. imagine 10 games on the bounce with gerrard lucas suarez alone i’d be delighted to see the damage they could do, though sadly it will be a long time before that comes to pass.
On a more positive note I really expect us to batter newcastle on friday night. simply because that poor lot always seem to get us a the wrong time!!

6-0 carroll hatrick….. you heard it hear first!!!

great points Aitch. great to have you back. Can I just say, the next person who tries to compare Kenny and Hodgson in the same paragraph or post must sandpaper his own balls vigourously for 5 hours while yelling ‘im a complete tit’. That sh1t does my head in. Hodgson may not have spent £65 on tripe as you put it Burger, but I shudder to think what he would have spent it on given how he thought Konchesky was Liverpool standard. Spending a quid on Konchesky is a quid too much in my opinion. Give these players a season and take it from there. The style of attack up to the final third should point towards the fact that these players have it in them.

bosnich does a nazi salute and gets a £10000 fine, suarez flicks the bird and gets a one match ban and fined £20000 …………. once again the incompetent fucks at the FA keep consistency a priority!!! wankers!!

The difference in the hearings is that in our case…Nobody other than Evra heard the alleged abuse.
In Terry’s case… everyone did and the report was made to the cps by one of the fans in the crowd.
There’s plenty of video evidence confirming what Terry said.
There is no video evidence (according to Tomkins source) confirming Evra’s claims.

As a legal case… the burden of proof is much stronger than in an FA tribunal… so even though there is plenty of evidence suggesting Terry is guilty, it is entirely possible the court can find that there is not enough… and dismiss the case.

And even if he is found guilty… his punishment could be a few grand fine and X hours of community service… you know, having your picture taken embarrassingly with black babies to show how racist you are not… subsequent to which the FA can simply say he’s been punished and take no further action.

Look no doubt results are key… as they say in America “scoreboard baby” points determine your league place not form….
… but its easy to concentrate on missed opportunities…
… they are there for all to see…
… go ahead and concentrate on the negative of how we aren;t scoring…
… me… I’ll concentrate on the fact that we are doing 80% right rather than 20% wrong…

gaz you’re right, we are still plenty sloppy in midfield… we give the ball away far too often and far too cheaply throughout games… in virtually every game this season…
… and yes, we have spells of sleaping sickness in a lot of matches too…
… but with the exception of Spurs, we’ve carved up every team we’ve played so far this season.
Yes we don’t have the results to show for it, but we are doing a lot right and we are creating enough to win games.

Will we continue to create chances and spurn them?
or
Will we start to convert them?

I can see whay people think we will continue to spurn them… coz we have done up to now…
…but…
… We could just as easily convert a few and go on a run.

I guess it comes down to whether you wanna look for positives or negatives?

you know… like suggestiing there’s a comparison between sitting 12th, 3 points off a relegation spot under Hodgson, with H&G as owners and Purslow as our Gen Mgr…
… and sitting 6th, 3 points off 4th under Kenny, with FSG as owner and Werner/Ayres running things.

“Can I just say, the next person who tries to compare Kenny and Hodgson in the same paragraph or post must sandpaper his own balls vigourously for 5 hours while yelling ‘im a complete tit’. ”

This blog could go to 1000 comments and no one will best that one!
Congrats ar53!

Wow! I logged in after a week and what a pleasant surprise it was to see a new post. I am sure we will get to see Gerry’s new blog very soon.

Hoping for a win tonight. Wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Just score some goals please lads and somehow stop Ba running riot.
Merry New year lads (dont think we have any ladies bit of a sausagefest in here really )

In the immortal words of Joni Mitchell: ‘Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone’. I’m a grown man of 34 and the day he retires will be one of the saddest of my life. A privelidge. A fucken privelidge to have watched our captains career.

sweet to come from 1 nil down & score 3
thought the whole team played well, yes even carroll,
but the standout players for me were wee jay , bellers, skrtel & stevie (obviously)
motm is a tough one, stevie came on & turned the game upside down, but i think skittles deserves it because at 2-1 up the geordies were still in it & that clearence was the game winning moment i thought,
lucas was heading for player of the season again i think until his injury but skittles has also been outstanding, what a season he’s had, & credit to kenny to have the balls to keep our central defence unchanged after carra regained fitness,

such a pity stevie is back & suarez is going to spend sometime on the sidelines,
im curious to see what we are going to do in silly season if anything

Associated Press:

The F.A. have retroactively fined Liverpool forward Craig Bellamy £40,000 and banned him for 3 matches, for dangerous play and insulting behavior.
Bellamy recklessly attacked Newcastle defender Collocini’s elbow with his face late in the 2nd half of yesterday’s match.
Following the incident, with blood streaming down his face, Bellamy was caught by cameras mouthing several insults towards Collocini, keeper Tim Krul and the Referee.
“You just can;t go headbutting an oponants elbow like that.” said an unnamed FA source. “And walking around with blood streaming from your eyebrow is very hazardous to other players. What with gay diseases like Aids about and all that. Plus, he swore at the Ref and you just can’t do that. Well not if you’re a Liverpool player you can’t.”

After a subsequent review of the tape of the game, Bellamy’s fine was increased to £80,000 and the ban increased to 8 matches for racially abusing Collocini with the statement “fuck off you Dutch cunt,” and clearly suggesting that the Referee should “fuck off you shithouse,” which flies in the face of the RESPECT campaign.

Liverpool Football Club were additionally fined £60,000 for “failing to control their players’ blood flow on the pitch during a match.”

Serious consideration was given to also leveling a ban against Steven Gerrard, but after extensive consideration, it was determined that no charges could be fabricated aginst the player in this match, as you can only ban a player for “being good” if he’s South American.

Fuckin class that Aitch…

Happy New Year everyone!

class aitch, but remember you cant use the word cunt anymore its evra from here on in,
on that note im heading out tonite so ive told the wife to hide all devices that lead me to access to kopblog while being fucked up!
SO HAPPY NEW YEAR KOPBLOG
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON GERRY
ONWARDS & UPWARDS
YNWA

Happy fuckin birthday Taggart you whiskey faced Evra,
hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa wait a min breathe, hahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, dont you just love it, one more time hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Sorry about that boy’s,
but that score is the best xmas present i’ve had.
Anyway lad’s all the very best for 2012 to you and your families, and may the god’s shine a bit more favourably on King Kenny.

I wont be back in here until next year, have a happy one.

What a great weekend of football!!!!!!

Aitch when I started reading that I was thinking it had really happened….with the current witch hunt I wouldnt be surprised!! Good atuff.

stick that in your pipe manchester scum!!
I was going to the bookies to put a £100 quid on man scum then my girlfriend talked me outta it. I was trying to explain i’d get an easy £30 and she went crazy and pleaded with me not to.
So to keep the peace I decided not to……….. thank christ but I swear if I had I would be putting a ton on them every match!!

Happy new year to all the men in red!!

YNWA

Happy New Year Kopbloggers and the red community worldwide. Greta to see a few of us out of the trenches again. Spot on Aitch and Digger (succinct).
Take care red men.

Oh and …. not bad today eh !!!!

Happy New Year to all on this site. What a great finish to the year, results going our way big time. Now we need City to win tomorrow and then us to stuff them on Tuesday and start the New Year the way we aim to continue. YNWA

the transfer window is now open!

Could’nt stay away,
especially when i came across this pile of shit,

http://www.shanklygates.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1378%3Asuarez-evidence-labelled-qunreliableq-by-fa-commission&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=18

if it is true by the way.

Great results for us this weekend, Bellamy is some player when he wants to be. He’s a character just like Saurez, the game needs these types of player, players people come to watch.
.
See what happens in the transfer window, hope AC comes good, he seemed better the other day but Bellars just leaves him for dead in positioning, but he played well once Gerrard came on.
.
As for SG what a fucking difference he makes, he really is a step above everyone. I figure with all the injury time out, his body is really only about a 25 year old. Hope he stays fit, he could have a very big impact on our Euro hopes.
.
Finally happy New Year all, and Gerry get well soon, Ps Mat at TIA, if you can’t see how popular this blog is that 52 replies to an apology then somethings wrong, happy New Year to you blokes.

Happy New Year Lads.

The FA have tried to put a damper on us with that ludicrous piece of Fiction they’ve just published… but fuck them. We shall prevail!

http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/Disciplinary/NewsAndFeatures/2011/~/media/Files/PDF/TheFA/Disciplinary/Written%20reasons/FA%20v%20Suarez%20Written%20Reasons%20of%20Regulatory%20Commission.ashx

The link for those of you that want to get a new PC/laptop monitor – cos you’ll need it after you finish hurling things at it whilst reading that tosh…

This is from p35 but the kind of bullshit is littered throughout the report:

“We note that Mr Evra did not say in his own evidence that he had told his team-mates that Mr Suarez had said he would not speak to him because he was black. However, we accept that Mr Evra did say this to his teammates after the match because that is what all four of them say in their statements and their evidence has been accepted in full by Mr Suarez. It is possible that Mr Evra also told them that Mr Suarez had said he had kicked him “porque tu eres negro”, and this was not
recalled by the players.”

Have you ever seen professional evidence-givers when they’ve been schooled to lie? This is exactly what they’re like…and they say Suarez’s evidence is unreliable!

Well city arent looking like they’re about to pull away any time soon!!!
Wankers…….. you can bet if that was old toilet that offside would have been given.
Anyway fuck the lot of them.
I’m having a quiet one in work and decided to torture myself by going onto that RoM(republic of mancunia) scum ridden site!!
Men you would be dumb founded by the shite they are talking!!!! They have manipulated ever word of that report and taken every single word of Evra’s as gospel.
It’s just blind hatred. Apparently suraez should be thrown out of the game and kenny should should be behind him. The best one I heard was that we should be deducted 36points over three seasons for disrespecting the kick it out campaign.
I was hoping this witch hunt had run its course but it seems we are going to be hearing about it for a long time to come.
Listening to such horrid fans try and take the moral high ground is nothing short of sickening!!

PS have to fancy us against city they seem slightly vulnerable at the moment!!

Stevie and AC to run riot!!!

Happy New Year Kopbloggers!
I have been suffering from depression recently – my business has taken some time to get off the ground, the FA decision on Suarez, pondering on our lack of goals, knee-jerk fucked-up fans critisizing King Kenny, one-game suspension of Luis etc etc.
Anyway, I’m on holiday at the coast in S Africa, drinking beer in 28 degree heat & swimming with the kids in my old man’s pool. And then I get to watch a few games when the wife & kids go to bed, so life can’t be that bad.
Especially after watching Stevie making a welcome return. Forgot how much we missed him. As you guys mentioned earlier – besides Maxi, Stevie looks like the only other midfielder who can score for us. And he hasn’t even been playing! I also agree that we seem to give the ball away too easily in the midfield, especially since Lucas’s injury. Hopefully this will sort itself out once this ‘new’ team beds itself in over the next season & a half.
Anyway, back to the barcode game. Even after we went 0-1 down, I had faith in the lads. Bellers has proven to be a good buy, and unlike most I’m still waiting for AC to come good & prove his worth. Secretly, I do fantasize about a Suarez/T*$#@s partnership, but enough of that.
The one big positive – make that 2 – are the (a) performances of Enrique and to a lesser extent, Johno, and (b) the performances of pur CB’s. This, together with Pepe, has made us the stingiest side in the EPL.
How well is Skrtl playing? Is it because he has a ball-playing partner alongside him? And speaking of Agger, have you noticed him making those trademark runs again? Lovely to see.
My brother flew over to the UK for a month, to spend Crimbo & the New Year with my older brother. He got to see the Blackburn & Newcie games at Anfield, so made up for him. Especially seeing Stevie come on & make a difference. Not everyday a lad from S. Africa can fork out some dosh to make the trip over to mud island & see the boys playing at Anfield…and pay 3 times more for a beer than we are used to.
It would be amiss of me not to mention the other results of the weekend…
Cheeseburger @ 25: “Watch the Mancs put five past Blackburn”. Errmm…sorry fella. Thoroughly enjoyed this game, and Fungus getting beat on his 70th. Must have pissed off the journos who would have had to rewrite their already worked-out headlines for the following day.
Spuds draw, Shiteh beaten, the Plastics beaten…stating the obvious, but every point is crucial. More so this season it seems, than any other?
Sorry about the ramblings, so much on my mind after this congested period & the lack of posts on Kopblog.
Can’t wait for Tuesday!

welcome back rafalution

Happy new year everyone. interesting times afoot.

can’t help thinking an eight match ban on suarez might be the tonic that gets lfc performing.

i’ve seen enough of suarez to realise what an asset he is. but life on the bench will help to screw his head on proper.

he lights up the premier league, but he’s less than honest. his skill blinds so we don’t see his frailties. these players are young, what do you expect?

luis is a great player, but this could work out fine.

we need to work out other avenues to create goals. maybe in his absence someone will step forward to fill the vacuum.

in steven gerrard andy carroll has the best crosser of the ball. perhaps he may learn how to make the right run into the box to make the header.

perhaps bellers is going on a scoring frenzy. that lad just wants to play football. i wouldn’t want to play against him though. nightmare.

hope kenny gives bellamy a run at city

Happy New Year everyone. I was disappointed Kopblog had a kop-out. But glad to know from Matt and Max that Gerry has recovered his health and awaiting his return for the second half of a so far dispppointing season. Cheers mates.

RIP GARY ABLETT

Hey lads,
Happy new year to everyone, great to see this super blog slowly coming back from the brink!
Really confident about tonights game (don’t ask me why!). Results have been pretty good for us the last few days so either a draw or a win would put us in a good position to get even closer to fourth particularly with the amount of fixtures between the top 6 coming up.

I don’t want United to win the title but beating City is crucial for our own qualification. So hoping for a win and this by far is our most difficult match this season.

Alright lads, great to see all the old heads returning. Was hoping LB would be back by now, really wanna hear his take on the Suarez affair. Ya know what, I’ll flip him and email and tell him the blog is back. Kind of.
Anyway a draw tonight would be a great result and I think that’ll be the gameplan. My team would be: Downing on the left, Hendo, Adam, Spearing and Dirk on the right with Suarez up top. Back 5 picks itself. We’ve got to pack the midfield against this lot and hit them with quick counters. Stevie on for Adam at 60min mark and Bellamy on for Downing around same time. If its nil nil at this point I actually fancy us to nick it. Stevie (who else?!) To inflict the fatal blow!

I know a lot of you boy’s are fed up to the back teeth about Luis and patrice C**t, but look at this link a came across in NewsnowLiverpool, seriously boy’s take your time and read it.

http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2012/01/exclusive-how-fa-withheld-vital-evra.html

We have been made muppets of if u ask me

Hey lads,

I’ve been lurking for the past few months (it’s probably more like 6) waitin for Gerry to come back. Quick reflection, I remember signing up in around 2004 an enjoying all the blogs and comments and also learning from the various boys.

I won’t start again with a massive blog, but I’ll say one thing, very surprised with the Suarez affair, even more so about the manner in which the club had acted and then not appealing.

Now I am no lawyer, but wouldn’t the club and Suarez at least want to appeal against the FA for using no evidence to tar his reputation??

Or maybe, just maybe, Luis is injured and likely to be out for 6 anyway so they didn’t take the risk. I know it’s 99.999% unlikely

Either way, he won’t feature against city in what I believe is the most important game of the season.

Food for thought lads. Anyway, here is hoping the team steps up.

Really disappointed in the clubs decision to not pursue an appeal.

And I don’t buy their reasoning either…
The lad has been asked to fall on his sword for them on the basis of long term financial reasons (sponsorship, shirt sales and such).

Reading Luis’ statement is just sad.

This will confirm his guilt for most of the general xenophobic Brit mentality… “why would he accept it if he was not guilty?” …
…the club’s concession will be treated as the burning ember that “proves” there was no smoke without fire.

Daily Mirror tomorrow: “LFC accept charge Suarez is Racist”

Massively disappointed for Luis on this one.

This is some bullshit

Well put a itch, but what next? Is he put on the transfer list because the sponsors don’t want there name associated with a racist, Luis should do a tevez on the club

Sorry meant aitch

Was going to post a couple of ggod links to articles on the appeal and the FA’s linguistic interpretation mistakes…but fuck it. Let’s let it go…

Just been beaten by a City side that were no better than us – but FAR more clinical (if you count a rare Pepe howler as being clinical). That seemed to upset our game plan which was keep it level ’til Stevie comes on at 60mins…

We’ll do ‘em in the Cup, no probs…a draw and a win.

Akka, the team stepped up alright, then it stepped down again did the hokey pokey and turned around, that’s about what it was. Hard enough to beat Citeh (who were average) but when you give them 2 goals and then a dubious penno on top. But we were toothless too. I watched the last hour and for 45 mins of that we had one shot on target. I have to say that I think Andy has this run of games to knit into the side and get some confidence or else … He neither one thing nor another at the moment. But to be fair he had no-one up with him either. Even when citeh went down to 10 players with Maxi Gerrard and Bellamy on no-one seemed to go right up there to support him. It’s strange. Citeh just let us have the wings to run down all night because there wasn’t one decent cross came in from them. Oh well so be it. If we had to lose 3-0 play muck it may as well be citeh.

As for Luis. Well his card was marked from the word go. This has gone political now. A sacrificial lamb was required and Luis walked into right into it. No taking away from Evra who is a scumbag. It may be a lot of things Aitch, known and unknown, but the righteous (albeit immoral like the english press and politically and financially compromised like other organisations) had decided that this was going to be their battleground. The truth was a signpost long passed and forgotten on the road to today’s decision.

I think he’s been playing under a cloud anyway and i think there is burn out on a lot of levels. Now we are gonna see what he really feels. A few days or weeks and his own sense of what has really happened to him will make itself clear. I reckon there is a good chance he’ll want out but he may come through it too. We’ll see but It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see him off this summer.

Fuck me but it feels like we are forever discussing everything bar football as Liverpool fans.

im done discussing the suarez circus, well that is until his transfer request goes in
as for tonights game i was expecting this because of the way the day prevailed, we need two wingers & a striker, downing, enough said , kuyt wont be there come the end of january because of the lack of starts,
andy carroll , enough said ,
team selection , all wrong,
im fuckin disgusted with it all

Reading Luis’ statement made me sad. Reading this transcript from Kenny’s post-match press conference makes me even sadder.

http://bit.ly/xGDtrs

The man’s a hero.

Regarding Suarez…
“I called him a negro, but I’m innocent”

That’s the headline in the Mirror for Wednesday folks… and you can bet its written with the full intent of the pronunciation “knee-grow” and won’t be read by anyone outside Liverpool (within England) as “nheg-row” as Suarez meant it, but there it is…
http://twitpic.com/82t10z

And an interesting post match comment by Kenny regarding the decision…
Not a direct quote, despite my quotation marks, but essentially…
“The club has made its statement, and within the guidelines we’ve been given, that statement said what we can say without getting ourselves into any more trouble. I’d like to say more, but again, there’s only so much that can be said under the guidelines and restrictions imposed. Luis has also issued a great statement, and we stand behind him and support him.”

This was a full tilt stitch up… from the moment Fungus branded him a diver… that cheating little South American upstart was gonna get his cummupence.

Ah well…

Downing scores that one-on-one… I know, I know, stop lauching at me… like Downing is ever gonna score… and we’re 1-0 up and that game is a whole different kettle of fish (no racism was intended towards either kettles or fish)
… but… he doesn’t )fuckin obviously) and then Pepe hits the snooze button and away they go.

That said, I think Kenny took a gamble on his line-up today.
Not playing Bellamy from the start … against Mancini’s team??? Didn’t get that at all.
I recognize that it could have worked… but when we remember where our self-destruct button is, we sure get hasty about pushing the fucker, don’t we?

I’m not gonna talk about players performances… what I’ll say is this…
… it’s the quicksand thing from Rafa’s last season.

Henderson’s one-on-one vs Sunderland… Downing’s crossbar in the same match… and a whole host of similar incidents, right up to Andy twatting that header against the bar against Newcy.
These lads just can’t buy a goal right now… and that means they’re forcing the issue.
… but it’s a bigger issue than just not scoring….

Here’s what I’m getting at…
If Man City slip up and let United take the title off them this season, it won’t be through lack of talent… it will be because of Rafa’s favorite word… mentality!

Why did Barry get sent off?
Simply put… because he was stupid.
Yaya Toure was perfectly positioned to take that ball off Danny Agger and would have done… Danny was just losing control of the ball… but Barry just couldn’t keep his cock in and had to make a needless challenge when he was already on a yellow, and had not two minutes earlier, been verbally warned for an almost identical foul.

United have a host of mediocre players in their current squad… but most of them have experience winning things… digging out shite 1-0 results… and winning titles, when they have no business doing so.
City don’t have that yet.
… and sadly … neither do we.

Henderson, Adam, Carroll and Downing are all good players (well okay, maybe not Downing on current evidence… was that harsh? Racist perhaps?) …but their experiences do not comprise winning things.

That mentality is going to have to be fostered…
…and perhaps if we’d had a bit more fortune earlier in the season, they’d have goals on their CV and be playing a bit more cocksure, with their tails up and their tits out…
… but as it is… plan A didn’t work and they look either devoid of a plan B or simply too timid to give it a go…
… so crosses sail over everyone… or hit the first defender in his testicles…
… shots are half-arsed, straight at the keeper, or twatting the bloke in rowZ-seat43 in the head, or cannoning back off the post, instead of in off it.
… and instead of playing simple high-percentage passes, we keep attempting low percentage ones that get easily intercepted…
… then we hold back instead of getting forward into supportive positions.

Downing is in a slump… I can understand why Kenny has persisted with him… after all I supported fully Rafa’s decision to do so with Lucas, when so many rated him as “not good enough”…
… sometimes you have to persist with a player and hope he gets that bit of luck…
… other times you rest them, or shield them from the fire…
… but I just wonder if it isn’t time to give the lad a rest… especially when Bellamy has been so effective and Maxi is damn near our leading scorer.

Andy on the other hand has been shielded… but he’s plowed a lonely furrow when he has been played. He’s clearly off the pace and his touch has let him down repeatedly… but really, a few minutes here and there is hardly gonna get him up to speed… its time to give him the game time that Downing has had (with someone else providing service, and hope we get a better return on investment.) …of course… he’ll now get 7 games to do so, I reckon.
… and for the love of god… would someone… other than Stevie against Newcy… give the lad a decent fuckin ball to work with.

Anyway… our immediate rivals have stumbled almost as badly as us… so we’re still in the hunt for 4th.
(that’s the frustration really innit? 3 wins over 3 draws and we’d be in a title challenging position… ah well!)
…and if there is a single sliver of light poking through today’s cloud… its that City are top of the league and the Scum are not!

Downing should have scored. I agree that the quality of service to Carroll has not been good but that does not take away the fact that he has so much to prove to be a top quality striker.

The Suarez situation is finished for me. If LFC thinks that there are things which are still untold, they should have come out with it and challenged the ban. At the end of the day, when you accept the ban it in some way or other goes to show that Suarez was guilty.

Hopefully Suarez will remain strong because the notorious English press will try every thing possible to pack his bag out of the premier league.

As for January transfers is concerned, we need changes in our attacking lineup. Right Winger, Top quality striker are the need of the hour.

Kuyt had another howler and was @ fauilt for the first.He will be first out the door in the summer.What has happened to Nacho and Marco Bueno bought in the last window ? Hendo has done little, like the rest of the new recruits.Only scored half as many as Arse away, fourth is still there for the taking.Need a right wionger and striker.Why doesn’t Kelly get a game in midfield ? Better than the garbage there now !

From what I’ understand the first cock up in suarez’s defense was at the end of the game fergiescum & cunt went to the referees room to lodge a complaint, that part we all know, but after hearing about this Damian comolli

I think we’re ok against the ‘smaller’ teams but last night showed us that against the big boys a quality DM would be useful til Lucas is back with us. Spearing is a worthy squad member and does a good job but if he gets injured we’re screwed.

Or can Aurelio, Agger, Coates do that double pivot/sweeper-upper role?

Sorry lads , but comilli had said that Luis used the word negro, & seemingly the clubs lawyers were not prepared for the hearing

i have to agree with burger there. about martin kelly.

Talking of midfielders, what a player City have got in Yaya Toure. He is probably the best central midfielder in the league right now. Strong,fast and powerful.

…and locked down by our Lucas last time he played Citeh! ;-(

Happy 2012 lads; didn’t think I would live to see the day this once happy blog would revive, but thankfully, it is up and running again. Well, almost minus the all important Gerry missing. Please get well soon! In any event, thank god a whim of thought helped me visit this site again!

I am not going to talk too much about the alleged affair regarding Luis’ statement, but I will say this in light of what Aitch mentioned
” Really disappointed in the clubs decision to not pursue an appeal. And I don’t buy their reasoning either…The lad has been asked to fall on his sword for them on the basis of long term financial reasons (sponsorship, shirt sales and such).”

I understand where Aitch is coming from, but I think in all honesty, I think the club did the right thing in not appealing. This was obviously a match that we were just not going to win. Even if we appealed, it is apparent that we were not going to get out way. If it is a battle that we will end up losing, the best thing is to minimize the damage. Damage here obviously includes the financial side of the club as Aitch indicated, but I do think it also involves damage that Luis will have to endure. If we appealed and lost, I have no doubts whatsoever in my mind that Luis’ ban would have been greater. Already, the media are claiming that we still don’t get it because both Luis and the club have reiterated their beliefs that no wrong had been committed. Lack of genunine remorse would have been an easy logic for the FA to impose an even more severe penalty. We only have to look back at the aftermath of Heysel. Everyone was hell-bent on making sure that Liverpool were banned from the european competition. Not denying the fact that there were a lot of issues on our side, and not taking away the fact that my heart goes out to the victims, the way Liverpool were treated in such a unilateral way, you knew there was an agenda.
It is exactly the same in this case. No good was ever going to come out of appealing and the club realized that.

Reading Luis’ statement is just sad.

Well lads…according to the gutter press Liverpools reputation and standing around the world is in tatters. This whole things a fcking headache and to be honest I should know better than to even pay heed to them. But Im really pissed off with the wave of negativity and bullshit that is being crashed against our club right now, and even more so, they are dragging Kennys name through the mud and discredting the man as almost a racist liar by backing Luis.After what that man has personally done for Liverpool over the years, just to have his character assasinated in one fell swoop, is disgusting. Theres more than meets the eye here. I think Kennys been wanting to go to war with the FA but both he and Luis were warned off it by the owners. But this has resulted in us being painted as admitting to guilt and being bitter. Theres no doubt that Suarez will be gone in the summer, and I dont blame him, but I would rather that Liverpool and Kenny had followed this through and took the FA and all thier little fuckin media droids on head to head.

I’m just wondering will this create a divide between Kenny
& the anfield boardroom ? Will this & possibly the failure to qualify
For champ lge footy( where j,Henry went on record saying
Not qualifying would be a major disappointment ) lead to Kenny’s departure??? Or am I just reading & thinking to much about the whole thing?

The simple fact of the matter is that the Suarez Affair wasn’t going to go away if the club challenged it, and it isn’t going to go away now they’ve chosen not to.

As somnath said… and I alluded to earlier… in many people’s eyes… not pursuing this case, is in some way an admission of guilt.

Pursuing this case wouldn’t have altered what those eyes were seeing… the media had already helped make up those minds by their repeated printing of the word “Negro” and Suarez’s name and Racist in the same headline.

I read a funny comment somewhere else… in brief the statement was… “you wouldn’t walk up to a black man in Compton and say “Hey Negro, how are you doing?”

And it’s a fundamental misrepresentation of what was said in this case.
Because you are translating every other Spanish word in the sentence… but leaving the one word in Spanish… KNOWING that it will be read as “knee-grow” and not “neh-gro”.

In the context of the above question the proper Spanish-English translation would be “Hey pal, how are you doing?”
No reference to color at all… as that is how the word is used in that context.
AND missing the crucial crux of the argument… that Suarez didn’t say this to a black lad in Compton… he said it to a Spanish speaking Frenchman, who didn’t take offense to the statement at the time it was made, well not enough to actually make a complaint at the time anyway!
Had Suarez said this to Rio Ferdinand… then maybe you could make the case that Rio took offense… but Evra SPEAKS SPANISH!

…as evidenced by the converse findings that “”concha tu hermana” can be translated as meaning “for fucks sake” or something equally innocuous… which is utterly laughable!!!
I suggest anyone translating that phrase in that manner spend some time playing amateur footy in Southern California with a heady mix of Central and South American as both teammates and opponents…
… coz if you did, you’d know how laughable it is to suggest that “concha tu hermana” or “concha tu madre” and a few other variations like “pinche punta tu madre” are uttered as anything other than a fucking seriously weighted insult…
… one that will have your Spanish speaking teammates throwing punches in your defense!

In my reading of this situation, I think Suarez, Kenny, Comolli, and the clubs legal team, thought this was a ludicrous allegation that would not be taken seriously, and would be dismissed once looked at with even a half-arsed attention evidence and changing allegations…
…and in that… they misjudged the climate.

From the moment Evra and Fungus marched into Mariner’s dressing room (fully 15 minutes after the final whistle… with NO PRIOR complaint having been made to Mariner about something that was supposedly so deeply disturbing to the plaintiff?) the die was cast.
Suarez was the villain, we were his evil empire… job done!

If we’d pursued the appeal… the case would have gone on and on and the PR would have been unmanageable.
We’ve chosen not to, but the PR is still going to be a hell of a thing to manage… coz we made the initial statement and wore the shirts… and then made the unapologetic concession statement!
This isn’t a case of accept it and move on… anyone who thinks we’ll move on from this is out of their fuckin minds….
Suarez is sidelined for a month…so he’s out of the spotlight and so it’ll go away?

If the owners thought that … then they clearly have no understanding of Sky Sports News and TalkSport and even match day commentary, coz his name will be brought up when we lose, and when we draw, and even when we win… and when he trots out onto the pitch in February… it won’t have all “gone away”…
… it’ll kick off again, with chants of racism from the crowd…
… with defenders knowing that a player they could foul before, is even more of an open target…
… with the press pursuing this notion of concession to the charge somehow proving guilt…
… with the press continuing to both say and print that he was “found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra” when that was IN FACT NOT what he was found guilty of…
… and with the press then salivating over being able to trot out their “racist” headline with the words “diving” and “cheat” on either side of it….

This has been a financial decision.
…and as has been asked… one wonders if Suarez will be moneyballed out of the club in the Summer…
… and one also wonders whether Kenny will be hot on his heels?
I don’t think either is an outrageous question to ask and I could really see it happening.
Unless the club really is “fully behind” Suarez… then his position will more likely be untenable over the long term… coz this isn’t going to go away…
… the Terry case will also see to it that Luis’ case doesn’t slink off into obscurity…
… as will any other allegations subsequently made against any player…
… Luis will be the poster boy for racism now… at least in the English press/media.

In short…..
If we go hard and heavy for an Edin Hazard type player this month… then expect Luis to be shopping for a hacienda in Catalonia sometime soon….

If we go for Darren fucking Bent… then welcome to the season after season embarrassment of fighting to get back into the Europa League!

I agree whole heartedly Aitch. This is now the start of something horrible and it will be thrown in our faces at every opportunity. Manchester utd have a following to rival ours and it is with great pleasure they will tell the world we our a racist club.
It doesn’t matter if patrice cunt came out now and said that it was not the case……. they want it to be the case, and when it comes down to it we are just going to have to group together and do all are talking on the pitch it is the only thing that will move us on. Winning things will overshadow all the bullshit – not winning things will allow people to state that this incident was the start of are demise.

Furthermore the English hacks that are also dining out on this opportunity will spread their shite in the greater scheme of making a point to uefa:

i.e
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2081937/Where-does-John-W-Henry-stand-Luis-Suarez-Martin-Samuel.html

this article really pissed me off because I’ve listened to this fat bastard talk his shite on Sunday supplement and never liked the cunt!! Can you see the hidden agenda……

Holy Mother of God….
That article by Samuel is utterly stunning…
… in its complete and utter racial ignorance and prejudice.

in writing…
“And still the war rages over whether negro, as uttered in Rioplatense Spanish, is a racist word. So break it down.
In 1960s Britain before mass immigration had created our cultural melting pot, a factory floor might have a single black worker, newly arrived from the Caribbean. And his mates might give him a nickname, and mean no harm by it.
‘Morning, Darkie’, they might say. And Darkie would say good morning back. He thought little of it. Nor did Sooty, or Sambo, or the white folk who had not yet evolved to understand that to define a man solely by the colour of his skin is demeaning.
Yet, at the same time, if a chap peered through his net curtains at the street outside, scowled and told his wife, ‘I don’t like it around here — too many darkies’, he was not saying he had a surplus of black acquaintances in the area. We know exactly what he meant. So all languages have contextual nuances like the duality of negro in Rioplatense Spanish.
And, once made clear, the precise meaning is all too apparent.”

Honestly… he didn’t actually write… “In 1960s Britain before mass immigration had created our cultural melting pot, a factory floor might have a single black worker, newly arrived from the Caribbean. And his mates might give him a nickname, and mean no harm by it.
‘Morning, Darkie’, they might say. And Darkie would say good morning back. He thought little of it. Nor did Sooty, or Sambo, or the white folk who had not yet evolved to understand that to define a man solely by the colour of his skin is demeaning.”

He didn’t actually put that into print did he???
Then have it distributed across the country???

Firstly…
I’m sorry Martin… but I don’t care if it’s the 1960s Britain, or this mythical multi-cultural, racially tolerant British society of 2012 that you are talking about…
… in no reality, at no time… would any “newly arrived from the Caribbean” black man have heard the phrase “Morning Darkie” and smiled giving little thought to it.
Maybe on the outside… coz let’s be real here… that’s what black people have had to do (certainly in Britain and the States)… but on the inside… I can’t imagine this world in which he was smiling Martin…
… I don’t think he was saying to himself… “hahaha, these English fellas are a great bunch of fellas, what with their colloquial references to my skin color.”
I doubt black lads on South African factory floors felt the same way about “kaffa” either… but not having lived there I can’t say for sure… but I can take a pretty educated guess?

Oh and for the record Martin… there were a fair few black people living in England prior to 1960…. They didn’t suddenly “arrive from the Caribbean islands” like some magical apparition … “fuckin hell, did you see that bloke… I’ve never seen anything like it… where’s he from?”
(think Rob Cordrey in Hot Tub Time Machine… “its black, its so unbelievably black”)

Secondly…
To suggest that in calling this jovial Caribbean immigrant “Darkie, Sambo, or Sooty” that said 1960s English factory workers we’re merely assigning a nickname, pulled out of the air with no racial reference, bigotry, or intent … is staggeringly ignorant of the very 1960s England he has such a utopian view of.

Thirdly…
To compare the usage of the words…
…. Sambo, Darkie and Sooty, (I still can’t actually believe he did) said by a White Brit to an immigrant Black …
… to the way in which South Americans use the word “negro” (and yes that’s neh-gro, not knee-grow Martin…) not only to black men, but among all races and sexes…
… simply displays not only Martin Samuel’s cultural ignorance… but a complete misunderstanding of what racism is.

“Good Morning Sambo, Darkie or Sooty” we’re all just good natured multicultural tolerant Englishmen and we don’t mean anything by it but good natured banter… you get that, right?

JESUS SINCERELY WEPT !!!

When will these fuckin’ south americans ever learn!

http://tinyurl.com/6tmtupb

http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2012/01/cup-of-cock-ups-rightly-belongs-at-anfield/
have a read lads

Aitch I was gonna say sorry if this article puts you on a downer when you read it because that’s how i felt afterwards but i’m sure nothing can take the smile of your chevy chase after that result…….

GET FUCKIN IN THERE THE MIGHTY TOON ARMY!!!!!!!!

By jesus that may have been one of the most satisfying results ever against them bastards……

Lurgankop that’s brilliant think i’ll be usinf that!!

Kopkolly is that prick some sort of everton supporter??? surely to christ that was not written by a red!!!!!

roarin-red, he aint no bitter, heres a link it will tell ya who he is http://www.thisisanfield.com/2008/06/kopblog-meets-tony-evans/
lurgan seen that on facebook lastweek , classic lad,
so aitch where do you think things go from here? & have you talked to fat scoucer in any way? if so whats his take on the latest episode of the gerry springer show?

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2012/01/04/luis-suarez-s-mum-sandra-defends-liverpool-fc-striker-after-racism-row-100252-30058242/

i haven’t really commented on the Saurez matter but I will say this, he has a habit of shooting himself in the foot and long term bans. He’s a character in the game and like all characters you take what you get, there the footballers you come to watch. Who really cares about watching go about their duty footballers, nobody, everyone one exciting who gives a shit player, players with flair. Anyway my one word on this is HE SHOULD HAVE APPEALED, if he claims he didn’t do it then don’t accept the punishment, he’s been sacrificed. He was actually charged with abuse not racism.
.
Anyway it is not going away so he needs to learn from it, move on and start scoring goals. Its amazing how soon people forget once you bang a few in. If its difficult now it will get worse later.
.
Well at least we still have one striker trying desperately to get us 4th spot, Torres.
.
i can’t wait to see Saurez play again and thats that, I love the Red shirt.

but Gaz who are we going to appeal to? The feckin’ FA? I am sure that they’ll back down and revert their original decision – sarcasm intended.

As far as I can make out the legal team, if you could call it that, fucked-up the entire process with changing statements here and there and then giving (non-English speaking) LS pretty poor counsel. Hence the unrealiable witness comment about Louis. Tony Barrett gives a good account of it on the ‘Off the Ball’ podcast. He says that a legal chap he was talking to equated it to a last minute headed own-goal in the quarter-final of the CL – that’s how fuckin’ amateur it was.

We’ve cocked it up big time and the FA now have their big-time racist player to shove down the throat of Sepp Blatter – see Sepp that’s how it’s done lad – no fuckin’ handshakes here, ye bollox!

I think that LFC needs to have a look at itself and see how this went so badly wrong and fix it. Now we have our best player labelled a racist and could be hounded out of the country. The abuse the guy (and family) will get is going to be horrible. Why would he want to hang around when he could walk into almost any team in the world.

Let’s wait and see what happens to the current England captain when his court case is over. I know what my money is on!

If the rest of the team were chipping in with goals, the Suarez case would barely register,he should of apologised after the match and we wouldn’t have had all this nonsense dragging on.The size of some of the City players was amazing, several are around 6-5 and towered over the Reds.If we could sell Carroll, Suarez Downing Hendo and Kuyt for £ 50 mill, we could get 5 decent players with the money for next season.Where are all the fantastic young Spanish/Portugese players that Rafa never brought through ? Nemeth ? Pacheco ?

Burger, i’d like to think we’d get slightly more than £50 million if we sold the players u listed there! I think realistically the only ‘firt team’ players that could be moved on would be Kuyt and Maxi, Kuyt cos i dont think KD fancies him and he hasnt exactly played well to change that opinion, and Maxi cos he may want to leave to get more regular football which i think he should be getting with us.

Just got an email from Digger to say KopBlog is back! Wow… I shal catch up with the comments.

havent had time to read all of the comments but had a read of Aitch’s last comment about the Martin Samuel column. I hadn’t read that from Samuel coz I don’t read the Daily Mail but fucking hell. Aitch is spot on here.

As for the Suarez case, I’ve been debating/argueing this for a while now and I’m a bit worn out going over it again and again. I’ll just summarise my thoughts briefly.

I think Suarez did indeed insult Evra by referencing the colour of his skin. As this is the bottom line he deserved to be punished.

Before the FA’s 115 page report was published I was leaning towards backing Suarez, and the club’s stance. I did my own research on the word negrito and how the word negro is used in Latin America. I read the Henry Winter article which contained information that was leaked to him from LFC (I know this to be the case). And was of the impression that Suarez said “Por que negro” after he tried to pat Evra on the head and had his hand thrown off with Evra saying “Don’t touch me South American”. At this stage I thought Suarez was innocent and was defending him and the club left, right and centre.

After reading the FA report I had a change of mind. Suarez changed his evidence a number of times and Kuyt and Comolli made the same misinterpretation of what he said. I won’t go into the details of Suarez evidence and the inconsistencies now but those that read the report know what I’m talking about. It definitely looks like he told porky pies. In my opinion him and Evra were winding each other up and Suarez said the word negro.

Liverpool have cocked up in their handling of the whole thing. From the moment Comolli went into the ref’s dressing room to the last statement they put out they have fucked up royally.

The day aftert he match Suarez and Liverpool should have put out a statement saying he said the word negro not realising the sensitivity of the word in this country. He could have gone onto say that in Uruguay, where he has grown up it’s used all the time and not in a negative manner. He could have gone on to say that he is of mixed race origin and his own wife calls him negro at home. Etc etc etc. Then he could have slipped in an apology to Evra and everyone else that might have been offended and in future he won’t say the word again.

The club then put out a statement backing Suarez and agreeing with what he has said. Stress that the club is against racism and any form of discrimination and they will be educating players from all cultures that certain things are not to be said here.

He might still have got a ban but it wouldn’t have been 8 matches and it wouldn’t have dragged on and on for months affecting his form and his image the way it has been.

As for the football. What I feared in the summer is being born out. We over paid for average players. Downing and Carroll being the main culprits. £55m wow. We’re only 3 points behind 4th but to be honest I’m doubtful we’ll get more points than both Arsenal and Chelsea in the remaining games. Not with Suarez out suspended. That is unless we do some serious business in the transfer market!

We lack class in the final third. The final pass, the decision making, the finishing, have all been below the level required.

LB do you really think Suarez is lying? Do you really think he should have apologised to Evra, thereby admitting his guilt to calling him Blackie 7 times as alleged by Evra? Do you think it would have been an accepted apology? And do you think us bendin over so as not to upset the tabloid hacks and FA brown noses is the way to go?

LFC and Kenny have stuck relentlessly to thier guns in the face of a hurricane of criticism, and I applaud them for it.
Noone seems to read that report and point out the details which Evra has changed in his story, but yet they label Suarez as inconsistent.

No, I say fuck them all. Fight the FA or at least drag out into the light the unfair way that the hearing was handled.

LB…”The day after the match Suarez and Liverpool should have put out a statement saying he said the word negro not realising the sensitivity of the word in this country. He could have gone onto say that in Uruguay, where he has grown up it’s used all the time and not in a negative manner. He could have gone on to say that he is of mixed race origin and his own wife calls him negro at home. Etc etc etc. Then he could have slipped in an apology to Evra and everyone else that might have been offended and in future he won’t say the word again”.

Spot on. You would think that it would have been the best possible course of action but unfortunately everyone got angry and it seems to have clouded their judgement a little.

And I can see why they are angry as I am too. That little “Evra” Evra was looking to destabilize Luis Suarez during the game and I have to say that Luis was a little naive to have fallen for it but you live and learn.

If I was Luis I would just keep quiet from now on and kick people on the sly who insult my sisters privates rather than insult them back. Even if the insult is done in an almost jovial way.

But in truth I don’t think that the FA have covered themselves in glory either as their deliberations have seemingly been an extremely one sided affair.

All hail the FA (aka Fergies Association). They should be very proud of themselves for denying the world the chance to watch one of the best players in the world so that they could make a point to Blatter.

Anyway, as far as I’m concerned the result of all this is this…
1. I detest the mancs even more (as if thats possible).
2. The FA have shown themselves (once again) that they are truly up fungusfaces ass.
3. The FA have reiterated their disdain of all things Liverpool.
4. Luis Suarez is no angel but his naivety, that little “evra” Evra and Fergies Association have tucked him up big time.
5. That little “evra” Evra should have his legs broken in the next match between us.

On a side note… What to do now…

I would suggest that LFC take Evra to task now and try and get him banned for inciting their player and hurling abuse about his family (even if he doesn’t have a sister).

On a personal note I would take far more offense if someone insulted my family than my racial background. After all family is very personal and very dear to me.

And to touch on the shitty game most of their players were rested and therefore looked sharper and fitter as the game wore on whereas we tired towards the end, having played 3 days earlier. Oh and shitty are a cheating fowling team of mercenaries.

SG looks afraid to tackle at the moment (as does hendo) and to be honest I haven’t seen him put a crunching tackle in for 4 or 5 years. Shame really as that used to lift the team and crowd. Now he just swans around a bit, expecting to out skill the opposition.

Happy new year everyone.

ar53fluff on the surface you would be correct but I think what LBs point was that we could have done things differently so as to minimise the flak and get a smaller ban. But I also think that your point just highlights the “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” situation LFC is in.

Kopcolly,
just read that link mate (94) and posted a comment of my own on the site and i will say in here what i said there “i know a stitch up when i see one, and if this case went to a proper court of law it would have been laughed at and thrown out before wasting tax-payer’s money”.
Aitch is spot on with the pronounciation of Neh-gro, but you all know our wonderful press (phone-hacking anyone)they will print anything and make it look a million times more inflamatory than it actually is.

LFC should have stood and fought the FA (Fuckin Arsoles)racism was never the issue here a kangaroo court was.

I have been reading a lot on this topic but I can’t understand what riled Suarez to throw the word or was he having fun?

Did Evra rile him up? If Evra started it then why shouldn’t he be punished for inciting, I suppose we will never get to know because Evra is known to lie and they wouldn’t believe Suarez.

If Suarez was having fun (I meant not in a racist manner which even FA concluded) the committee needs to consider there is one individual who is trying to have fun while the other has not taken it kindly so they are different personalities and should appreciate it. Racism cannot be stamped out by this sentence as this was not a case of racism. This will leave a much deeper hurt that will take time to heal for people from Uruguay and South America.

Lastly, Suarez will always be a “tainted” genius the likes where people’s opinions are divided (i.e. extreme opinions). His career has always been one of such and I have come to appreciate it as such.

Lads did any of you see the you tube link on the daily mail website
With our friend evra & his use of the N word, I’m at work & can’t put it up on the iphone

kopcolly I saw that….he used the word and lot of people who commented on this post have interesting observations.
One person wrote this
point 271 from the Suazrez report “Evra did not accurately report allegation because he does not like saying the ‘n’ word.” Conclusion: EVRA IS A LIAR AND HIS EVIDENCE CANT BE TRUSTED

The link is below
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2082325/Patrice-Evra-N-word-video-youtube.html

Evra saying ‘nigga’ on a home video from 2003 has nothing to do with this case. I’ve used words 8 years ago that I wouldn’t use now.

And in my opinion whether it’s knee-grow or nehgro if it was said to my my immediate reaction would be that I’ve been racially insulted. Especially if you had just kicked me and we were in an argument.

oh dear. poor little Evra got kicked. Poor little evra was shocked. pool little honest patrice feels uncomfortable saying n****r. Well his little squeaky image and victim act gets blown apart by that footage lads. Im a little muddled on Evras stance as a credible witness who is against racism, when that video quite clearly shows he isnt.
I also wonder why people are not even willing to entertain the idea that Suarez isnt telling the truth, given that he was found ‘probably’ guilty. Noones defending him using the insulting word, but again, if we are just gonna go along with 99% of the sheep who garner thier opinions from tabloid papers and holier than thou hypocrites, then Luis has no chance. He explained his reasons and admitted cleanly to saying it once, but because of what Evra says, it was 7 times??

Oh fuck this, I dont know why im bothering rakin over old ground. Hopefully a proepr investigation into why Evra got alot of luxuries that Suarez didnt to rehearse his account in a ‘calm and composed’ way, one of those luxuries being time, and another being access to gander at the footage and draw his story from his interpretation of said footage. Then a proper balanced investigation can be done, because if anyone thinks this hearing was fair and balanced in the lead up and during it, must still leave milk and cookies out for Santa.
Evra changed his account on things a few times did he not? But no mention of that. As our player, Suarez deserves our support cos you can fucking believe that Evras getting everyone elses, just because he can tell a nice story without sweating his brow!
As for the kick, I wish it had of been a proper kick that would have given him PROPER shock. He claims he was shocked from the kick. Obviously not too shocked to kiss the badge at the LFC supporters.
Im sorry, but

..meant to say, Im sorry but I just cant sit and take the word of that toerag Evra based on some dodgy testimony. People need to remember,out there, that Luis admitted using that word once, in a non racist way, but the FA decided it was 7. Based purely on probablys and maybes. Thats after Evra changed it from 5 times, to 10 times, to 7 times. Fuckin joke.

I kind of agree with Lb (up to a point) here. Suarez admitted using the latin spanish word “negro”. He admitted it and obviously thought nothing of it (in the racist understanding that exists in England). His perception was Latin American.
If the FA are gonna cite him for (abuse and) racial profiling then really he does not have a defence I think. Eventho’ “negro” has a friendly vibe to it I reckon Suarez was winding Evra up by being friendly to him while knowing Evra had lost it. He probably didn’t need to open his mouth. But hey that’s the guy he is and it’s pretty much par for the course as far as EPL players go. So as I see it it was pretty much banter as usual for Suarez and he went and stood on a landmine in ignorance.
Now let us not forget that initially Evra and Ferguson both claimed that Suarez had called Evra a Ni**er 5/10 times depending on who said what. Let us not forget that Evra changed his story and that no-one heard anything of what he claimed to hear. No one saw anything or no-one heard anything. There is a pile more holes in his story. The whole case, in my mind, was a crusade to show the world (Sepp Bladder) how tough the FA etc etc …. Someone was gonna swing and our lad just walked in and stepped on it. That’s my opinion based on what I’ve read and heard.
I’m not so sure Suarez lied and changed his story but it seems pretty obvious that Liverpool’s legal team came down in the last shower.
It certainly seems that Kenny is 100% behind Luis and that counts for me.
Of course it sets a precedent doesn’t it …. let’s see where that goes.
Incidentally I’d like to echo what others have said in complimenting “The Anfield Wrap” Podcast and site. really great informed analysis.

To footie and unfortunately i tend to agree with LB again here. It’s not happening for Pool from middle to front.
I think we fucked up in letting Miereles go. There is a lack of threat and intelligence and balls (i.e Craig Bellamy-syndrome). Spearing, Kuyt, Downing, Adam, Henderson, Carroll together (i.e those who started against Citeh) well I’m not quaking in my boots defending against that lot right now. How many goals this season between them ? Not great is it ? Now I know they are not all attackers but we do need to score as well.

It would not surprise me if we went for 2 players this transfer season. We need threat and goals.

No matter how much of a cunt Evra is he doesn’t deserve to have the colour of his skin referred to in an argument. It’s that simple.

The FA had enough evidence to find Suarez guilty on his evidence and Comolli’s actions alone. The club’s legal defense of Suarez left a lot to be desired as well.

For me, as a Black Liverpool fan this transcends club rivalry and tribalism. I’ve got no time to get into conspiracy theories about Fergie controlling the FA, Evra getting preferential treatment because he’s a manc, etc etc. LFC needed no help fucking this up.

LB you’re right no one should have their skin colour mocked. However this is Evras word we are to take. Everyone outside of the club has been quick to jump on their high horse about how bad it is, though this whole sorry incident may well have just been ignorance on Suarez part(what was Ron Atkinson excuse? And what happened to him?)
It also seems there is a bigger picture in all this and I’m not saying the FA just don’t like Liverpool but us being used as an example for the up and coming terry case and also to stick to fingers up to uefa.
I know conspiracy theories aren’t something you want to get drawn towards but I don’t think these things are that far from the realms of possibility on this one.
I don’t believe are handling of the situation has been as bad as some would have you believe ………… if he was guilty of being racist then in retrospect it would have been awful but the more I see printed and especially the more I see how the word is used between fellow countrymen I’m confident he has done nothing wrong and actually have a great deal of sympathy for the guy having to fall on his sword for the greater good(I don’t think I could have done it, especially if my grandfather was black)
As it is he will be seen as RACIST from here on in and it will probably result in a summer move for the guy. This sends us back to the drawing board.

I’m not taking what Evra says as absolute truth as if he’s the lord almighty. I’ve looked at all the evidence published and made my own interpretation that the balance of probabilities goes against Suarez IMO. No doubt the FA wanted to be seen to crack down hard on racism so Suarez’ defense wold have had to be water tight ONCE he had admitted to saying negro. It was far from water tight and the club made a bit of a balls up during the process.

Great to have your input on these matter LB… welcome back!

I am a little surprised you (or anyone really) can find the 115 page report credible in, quite frankly, virtually any way possible though.
It’s inconsistencies, not only of fact, and allegation, and testimony, but of inexplicable bias in assigning weight to one side’s allegations and testimony, while discounting with equal weight much of the testimony of the other side, are so numerous as to create a massive smoke screen over the whole affair.
.. and it has clouded th issue and muddied the waters of an already very turbulent sea…

There’s a lot that people can spend days arguing over …

… for me… I keep coming back to one very simple thing…. Though it’s gonna take a long winded analasys of event to explain that simple thing…

… so be warned… this is one of my famed War & Peace missives… so feel free to skip to the bottom…

Patrice Evra was incensed from the coin toss. His demeanor from the outset was bizarrely combative and adversarial…
… I mean beyond what you would expect even for this fixture, and beyond that displayed by any other player on the field.
That demeanor included vehemently arguing the coin toss, overly aggressive tackles (beyond what one would expect for this fixture, and not just on Luis) remonstrations with the Referee over every free kick… and again (beyond the normal level for this fixture) and spittle spewing remonstration with the linesman over every throw-in awarded to LFC on his side of the pitch.
As mentioned, this heightened emotional behavior started prior to any in-game incident that could have been deemed to have “kicked it off”, it was present at the coin toss for fucks sake, and continued throughout the 70 minutes up to the alleged incident.

Now I use the 70 minute mark… because that’s around the time “that this whole thing started” …yet said demeanor seems to have been completely ignored and discounted.

But here’s why I think that’s important.

I want to make a point here, so I’lll ask that we set aside for amoment what LB said above… in re: “whether it’s knee-grow or nehgro if it was said to me my immediate reaction would be that I’ve been racially insulted. Especially if you had just kicked me and we were in an argument.”
I’m not discounting or invalidating that, I just wanna get something out first and then I’ll return to that part of the situation.

So we are 70 minutes into the game, Evra has been playing in a highly emotional manner throughout, and then we come to “the moment”…

Evra is racially abused by Suarez.
Now setting aside whether whatever was said, be it n*gg*r, or knee-gro, or neh-gro (again, just for one moment) was racially intended or whether Evra himself instigated the incident with his equally advised, though undisputed use of the phrase “concha tu hermana”…
Evra is making the accusation, and has testified that he was insulted, and not just a “fuck off you cunt” insulted, but insulted at a racial level.

AT THAT MOMENT in the game… an already emotionally charged Evra is so infuriated by the insult, that he makes some half-hearted complaint to Andre Mariner about being “called a black” (that’s the quote from the 115 page report)
If you have sent he video fo the incident, Evra is so incensed by the insult, that he calmly stands in front of Andre Mariner, listening to the “calm down” then walks away.
Luis, who by contrast has not been acting in a manner beyond his “usual” emotional protestations at being fouled during the 70 minutes leading up to this incident.
Pats Evra on the head.
Now there are those that suggest he shouldn’t do this. He’s done it before, and almost always, the opposition player has aggressively swatted it away, so he should have learned by now (though again… spend sometime playing in Southern California and you’ll get both your head and your arse patted more times than a willing participant in a San Francisco bath-house) (err… was that racist?)

Evra swats Luis away aggressively, Luis turns to Mariner with a “what the fuck, I was trying to make peace, did you see that reaction” body gesture, and Mariner grabs Luis arms down by his side and says, something along the lines of, for fucks sake keep your hands to yourself and play footy.

But IF this head touch gestire pissed him off… and if he was already highly emotional and IF Luis had racially abused him…
…why the fuck did Evra just walk away?

This is getting wordy isn’t it? But this is the problem in this case….as there are paragraph upon paragraph of the 115 page report that can be equally broken down… let alone incidents in the game.

But that’s exactly what people have been doing… analyzing the minutia and talking about the trees… without looking at the forest…
…and I kinda think this particular 5-10 minutes of the match… within the context of the entire match are so crucial… are the ignored forest… the context for all subsequent discussions of the utter smoke screen that the 115 page report IS!

The report suggests that Mariner (whose match report was ever so conveniently misplaced) testified that Evra did make one comment to him about being called a black, but Mariner recollects that this complaint was made following the touchline foul, after Dirk Kuyt said something to him about getting up.
Mariner also testified that Giggs told him… not that he had heard Evra being called black… but that Evra had told him he had been called black…
…and again… Mariner’s testimony here is in reference to the touchline foul.

Read it…is the implication… on a timeline…. not that Dirk called Evra black.
However… the report then concludes that Evra’s claim, and Giggs’ “substantiation” of that claim were in reference to the goalmouth, skin pinch incident that Evra admits to not feeling.
Giggs also testifies at this point… and that’s the crucial part of it, coz the timeline is played fast and loose with in the report…. That it is at this point, that when Evra told him he’d been called a black, Giggs response to him was to just get on with the game.

(as an aside, one wonders such a response would suggest that Giggs believes this mythical 1960’s shop floor scenario where “Darkie” is an affectionate nickname?)

Now to return to LBs point…. WHY? … WHY? … WHY?
….would Patrice Evra, already emotionally charged, at this point racially abused, not go ballistic at Andre Mariner?
… would Giggs, believing his teammate to have been racially abused, not firmly remonstrate the accusation with Andre Mariner?
… would it be because United players don’t do such a thing when they feel aggrieved?

This is I feel a glossed over point… for the very reason that…
At this point… there are 20 minutes left in the match… Evra claims Suarez abuses him racially SEVEN (or was it 5 or 10 or does that matter racism is racism regardless of the inaccuracy of the accusation) times in total…
… yet not once in that 20 minutes, does Patrice Evra, or Ryan Giggs , or anyone else hear it… but far more importantly… if so offended…
… further remonstrate with Andre Mariner in that 20 minute time span.
How likely is that if he really does feel insulted?

But wait… like a bad infomercial… if you call now… there’s more…
At the final whistle…
Evra does not charge Mariner to press home his complaint.
Giggs does not charge Mariner to press home a complaint.
No…
…instead…
…. (and again the timeline gets fuzzy here as it is very unclear whether he goes to Canal+ prior to his post match complaint… 15 minutes after the final whistle, or after it?)
…(furthermore, the commission does not request the Canal+ video clip, but goes off a translated transcript of the interview… really… for such an important issue???)

… but instead…. Evra goes to Canal+ and tells them that he was racially abused … now… 10 times!
… then ups the ante… by informing all his teammates in the locker room…
… then doubles-down, when he and Fungus march into Mariner’s changing room and accuse Suarez (now) of using the word n*gg*r?
… to which Mariner’s response (in his testimony) is that he thought to himself “oh that’s what he must have meant when he said he got called a black”

Now again… just that one line of testimony… with the FA’s prominent Kick It Out and Show Racism The Red Card… is Andre Mariner’s response…
“Oh that’s what he must have meant?”
REALLY?
Would that be your response?

To recap.
Evra is highly emotional from the kick off.
He allegedly gets racially abused.
He makes a half-hearted complaint.
He then plays on for 20 minutes
During which he is alleged abused another 4, or 6 or 9 times
He is so offended he doesn’t complain for 20 minutes
He then forgoes the opportunity to complain at the final whistle
He then compounds the “racial slur” that WAS supposedly used by replacing it with a far more inflammatory word that has zero ambiguity
He then takes 15 minutes to report it to Andre Mariner.

… and that’s before you get into him walking all this back over the subsequent weeks to testify that he was in fact…
….NOT called a n*gg*r …as was his “initial” “official” complaint
… that he was NOT called THAT word TEN times… (that was just a figure of speech?)
… that he was called THAT word SEVEN TIMES…
… that it was then NOT SEVEN TIMES that he was called THAT word, but that it was FIVE TIMES…
… oh and then actually that it was not THAT word that he was abusively called FIVE TIMES, but was in fact the word Negro (pron: knee-grow)
… and that in spite of being racially abused this many times by a guy he clearly has animosity towards… he didn’t really think Luis was a racist.

I’m sorry… I know it’s a sensitive issue… but in no way shape or form is Evra believable in any of this…

And that’s truly sad…
…coz lads on shop floors in this multicultural England we all seem so proud of, are still being called “Darkie” or “Sambo, “or Sooty” and worse… much, much worse… now in 2012, not in 1960.
…and you should see, hear, or read some of the shit that gets hurled at the current President of the United States from certain quarters!
… so its not just 1 powerless black guy among a factory workforce of 200 white men…
…I’ll never know what its like to have to face that.

I did have an experience in South Africa a few years ago, when visiting Pretoria… went for a walk around the downtown area around mid-day… and in the space of a one-hour walk didn’t see a single other white person.
I can tell you it was incredibly unnerving… not coz I felt threatened…
…but because of the utter discomfort that comes from realizing you look completely different than everyone… everyone… else around you, there’s no way to hide that, and there’s fuck all you can do to hide it.

It was one of those experiences that you hope and think has given you some insight into something… That has helped you grow in your understanding of something.

Upon returning to the States, I shared the experience with a good black friend of mine…
(yes I know how that sounds… the proverbial white man with one black friend scenario)
… thinking that I’d had an epiphany of understanding and empathy…
… his response…
“It’s great that you experienced that. It’s a pity everyone can’t experience that even once… but imagine living your whole life like that.”

I thought the experience had given me real insight… but he was right, I’d only gotten a glimpse… to use a slightly odd analogy
…a single taste of watered down weak orange cordial in trying to understand what fresh squeezed orange juice tastes like.

… and my ultimate problem with this whole Suarez/Evra case is that to me…
… for all the screaming from rooftops…
… for all the well thought out analysis (and there is some, just not in the mainstream press/media)…
… this case, and the way it was handled from the off…
… has done MORE to DAMAGE the fight against racism than it has done to help it!

… and I think that article by Samuel (which still has me incensed, and I can’t believe no one has seriously gone after him about it) … and he’s not alone in printing such blatant remarks…shows far more racial prejudice than anything Suarez might have said to Evra…

… oh to be able to simply talk about footy… eh?

… but this will keep coming at us for a long time…

I think the racism here is the like of the British Press, Lord Ouusley, ect who demand tolerance of your multicultural league, as long as they don’t indulge in any type of behaviour which is acceptable or tolerated in their own culture. LB good to see you back. Anyway its done, lets get on with it. Rooney kicking someone on the ground gets 3 games, go figure.

Aitch, top post mate. I agree with a lot if what your saying. I honestly think that Evra exaggerated his side of the story but I also think Suarez has also lied and the truth is somewhere in the middle. As I said earlier I was backing Suarez big time before reading the report. Half way through the report I’m still backing Suarez thinking the FA have been biased all the way through up the point where I start to read about the Suarez evidence. The inconsistencies, the changes, the bad drafting of the first statement. He isn’t sure when or why Evra says don’t touch me and so he isn’t sure when he says Por Que Negro. First it was in response to the pinch, then the head pat, then the tackle. It just looks like he’s talking bullshit if I’m honest.

Many times Black players have been racially abused by White players and nothing is done. Ian Wright was abused by Peter Smeichal, nothing happened. Stan Collymore by Steve Harkness. Nothing happened. Stuart Pearce racially abused Paul Ince. That was swept under the rug as well. Dick heads like the PFA Chief exec Gordon Taylor piping up and talking about racism needs to be stamped out etc when only a few years he was quick to move it along quietly when prominent English players have been guilty of the same thing. Makes me sick. I find the hipocricy incredible. But there you go. Suarez was the easy high profile case to pursue, south smerican with a bit of previousnfor getting in trouble on the pitch. he fell into their lap through his own stupidity and the club handled it like a drunk old man eating a large doner kebab.

The majority of Liverpool fans have pissed me off as well. Picking holes in the report left, right and centre but the glossing over the Suarez inconsistencies and giving justification for changing evidence on several occasions. The bottom line is Suarez used a racially offensive word and it’s very unlikely that it was in a friendly or conciliatory manner. Therefore on a balance of probability he’s guilty.

Top posting, LB. It’s good to see you back. I think “on balance” is the right word. The only thing I would say is that unfortunately, on balance would only be applicable if both sides were allowed the same amount of time and opportunity to explain their case or changes in statements. However, in this case, apparently, LS and our side were not given the same amount of chances to respond, nor was LS even give the opportunity to see the video footage unlike Evra. I think that is why the club is incensed.

In any event, what’s done is done now, and I just hope that LS will refrain from using any words that would be misleading. You are completely right that the issue of racism has been left in the gutters for far too long. On that count, there are so many other issues– like the xenophobic attitude that Wenger and Rafa were subjected to; like the pathetic jeering of homosexuals or allusion thereto within the gung-ho unintelligent machismo of the past.

We will just have to carry on.

I am more worried about our lack of quality players like you say, but this was already apparent even before the season started. I seriously doubt our chances of finishing in the top 4, a priority if we are to attract the best players.

some insightful comments from LB and Aitch.

aitch, you would make a good lawyer, but the prosecution counsel for patrice evra would simply point out Evra’s overall professional conduct as opposed to luis suarez.

what is undeniable through all of this…is that controversy follows luis suarez everywhere he plays. evra by comparison is pretty low-key.

low-key is not how i would chose to describe the uruguayan. but we knew this before this whole sorry mess. we know it now.

i am only relating what i have seen of the player, but you would do well to remember the way he yanked raphaels hair when we beat the mancs last season. it was a calculated move, a slight of hand, maybe call it uruguayan gamesmanship, but it was designed to inflame the situation to force a red card. it was, to coin a term, snidey.

suarez is a cheeky motherfucker and regardless of who said what to whom, well, am i seriously the only one who didn’t think he had it coming?

as a player suarez has many strengths. but his weakness has been neatly highlighted by the master tactician ferguson. throw enough mud at him, evra, cos some of it is bound to stick. and the rest is history. managers always encourage their players to expose weaknesses in the opposition. Ferguson was merely presented with an opportunity and gratefully accepted it.

an eight game ban is painful. but so is cheating and suarez has done his fair share of that in the past. i suggest it merely caught up with him. Put it this way, there won’t be a tear shed in ghana.

what illuminates luis suarez’s talent is his ability to eliminate defenders being a deft touch in tight situations.

what defames his character is the notoriety that accompanies his talent.

like all young men he makes mistakes. i hope the ban gives him ample time to decide how he wishes to be remembered as a football player for LFC.

i thought the city game was not as bad as the scoreline suggests.

at times i thought we were playing really, really good football and exposed citeh’s weaknesses on a number of occasions.

i particularly admired the one touch football that we played out of defence. we were very cool on the ball at times and not over-awed by the occasion.

but we have lacked clinical finishing all season and this was no different.

gerrards goal last week was an example of a player, who when presented with an opportunity, knows how to find the net.

stewert downing has no such ability. neither has andy carroll, nor luis suarez for that matter.

we should rightly have been at 2-2 in the second half but we didn’t take our chances.

i do not say we should unload any players. they are not that bad, but there is a case for finding a goal poacher who knows where the back of the net is.

a few years back we had torres. before that fowler and owen.

before those guys rushie and aldo.

we don’t have anyone like that now so i suppose we’ll have to make do and mend till a suitable candidate comes along. shame.

some great debate LB & Aitch,
blud, love that line they wont shed a tear in ghana,
lb also like the line about the drunk old man eating the large donor kebeb, its good that when we are sitting on different sides of the fence on this senario we can maintain our sense of humor,
scouse humor, thats what it is, all tho not all of us in here are born & bred scousers , try fuckin tellin us we aint:-)
blud you also said it up to luis to decide how he wants to remembered as a LFC player, i truely believe his days are numbered as a red, whether it be him thinking he got fucked by the club, fsg decide he aint good for buisness, or he gets hounded out by the english fans, look at the treatment terry is getting at every game (rightly so)& he is one of there own.
lads you can build 1000 bridges , but if you suck 1 cock , you’ll always be a cocksucker

I said I wasn’t going to comment on Suarezgate anymore but like a bad kebab on top of too much beer it keeps on coming back…

I’ve read the report.
I’ve read Tomkins write up.
I’ve read Jim Boardmans article.
I’ve read Stuart Gilhooly’s piece.
I’ve read many other well argued, informed articles.
I’ve seen Evra’s racist video from 2004.
I’ve even read Aitch’s war & peace on the matter…

This is my summary.
LB, you’re wrong…and you’re right.

You’re wrong because Mr Suarez is not a racist and he is not a liar. That was part of the problem. If he had lied and said “I never said anything” Evra would have looked like an “evra” and the whole world would have known him for the lying scumbag that he is. Because Suarez was innocent he told the truth and opened up a great big can of worms. As much as we like to think we’ve made great strides over the last 20 years in England, we’ve only just begun the process that eliminates racism, xenophobia and other prejudice from the game (and our culture).

Liverpool FC DID fuck up. They fucked up by appointing inexperienced legal counsel from the start. And once they’d agreed to the submissions, they were fucked. If you’ve read the report you’ll know what I mean – X says they dont agree with Y but they accepted the submission so that means they do ad nauseum…

It’s not naive to regret Suarez getting a ban because what happened between him and Evra was a million miles away from the kind of abuse that black (negro in Spanish) players used to get and that the Kick It Out campaign was designed to get rid of.

Evra and Suarez were engaged in gamesmanship and Suarez was winning…Evra rolling around on the ground clutching his knee – Suarez didn’t kick him (watch the video of it). Remember Rivaldo getting the ball kicked at his legs at the corner flag? Remember him going down clutching his face? What happened to Suarez was the equivalent of the player that kicked the ball at Rivaldo getting charged with assault and getting a lengthy ban and a fine. It’s that ridiculous.

Suarez won the gamesmanship battle but Fergie ensured through careful coaching and media bombs that Evra won the war. The anti-racist movement does not win because Suarez has been punished, far from it.

And Liverpool Football Club are to become pariahs once again just like after Heysel? Perhaps, at least, it means we’re becoming a threat again.

Thanks for the debate lads…

Oh, and I can’t believe the FA Cup game v Oldham is not on telly…

I’m sorry LB…
… but at the risk of being argumentative… and that certainly is not my intention…
… I don’t get many of those conclusions you’ve drawn.

I know there’s an awful lot of partisanship in this situation.
Had there been a stone cold video close-up of Suarez racially abusing Evra, there would definitely still have been a section of our fanbase that would have sought to excuse it.
… But in absense of such definitive evidence… this case absolutely does come down to one man’s word against another…

… and for blud to suggest that Evra is some model citizen when he has TWO… not one, but TWO prior cases of unsubstantiated accusations of racial abuse… cases that were dismissed out of hand for lack of any proof beyond Evra’s word… and then this case also lacks any real corroborative evidence… should be speaking… nay… screaming volumes!!

You are dead right when you cite a litany of previous cases… but that is damning of the FA, not Suarez!

There are paralles here…
The “respect campaign” threatens that players will be red carded for disrespecting the referee… yet there has only been one definitive example of punishment… that being the Red Card for Mascherano… against Man Utd!

The threatened punishment leveled for surrounding the Ref… again, a litany of cases ignored prior to the Fulham vs Liverpool match… then charges and penalties leveled against Liverpool… but two immediately subsequent incidents completely ignored.

The you have the “you can’t insult the fans” stance… with again, completely ignored instances of other players doing it… but Suarez lynched with lightning haste!

… but again… citing prior instances that having nothing to do with this case only serves to muddy the waters… except to suggest that the FA had an agenda … and they carried it out with laser precision!

I don’t understand how anyone can read that report and not draw that conclusion.

You suggest there were discrepancies in Suarez’s testimony?
But what were those discrepancies?
Simply put… not being able to recall when an incident happened.

Perhaps if he’d been interviewed 3 times, with video footage from the game, his recollections would have been as … well you can’t possibly use the word “accurate” without laughing out loud… as… “coached” as Evra’s (whose testimony in spite of that coaching is STILL MURKY!)
… seriously… Evra’s testimony is laughable given that he had 3 tries and video of the match to get it right…
… and that’s without considering Suarez having to filter both the questions and answers through an interpretor.
… whereas Evra speaks English and didn’t need one.

Then you have a Frenchman and a Dutchman, translating what they thought was said in Spanish, into English… and we expect all 3 men to say the exact same thing…
…when the accusation was that Suarez had said n*gg*r, then knee-gro, then neg-ro, and that it was 10 times, then 7 times, then 5 times, then back to 7… whereas Suarez admitted to using one word, and only once…
… and the FACT… that Evra changed his story was sidestepped, discounted, and ignored…
… while heresay testimony from Giggs was taken as definitive proof of Evra’s chameleonic allegations.

Of course there were discrepancies… especially in a report that zeroed in on any discrepancy that would hurt Suarez…
… while discounting all discrepancies that would call Evra into question.

Nah… that report is a piece of FICTION.
The reason the document is 115 pages long, is exactly because they drew a conclusion to begin with, and then set about wording a guilty verdict.
The FA saw Evra’s initial allegation and saw red… they went charging in, and when they got there, said to themselves, aw shit, there’s no case here… but we’ve already banged the drum and sounded the trumpet and can’t appear weak on racism, so…. Err… get Evra in, sit him in front of a tv and get some sort of story down… then ambush the non-English speaking guy and make a case!
… otherwise we’re gonna have to torpedo John Terry and we can’t have that, what with the Euros coming up!

No conspiracy… just Fat Cats covering the arse they’d hastily shoved, exposed and protruding into the wind!

Was there banter between the two players?
Yes.
Was one wound up more than the other?
Yes
Was this ignored in assigning credibility?
Yes
Was there a language barrier during the hearing?
Yes
Was this given proper consideration?
I’ve got to say NO.
Was there obvious bias towards Evra and against Suarez?
Yes… without a doubt.
In spite of all this, was there one instance of real corroboration of Evra’s accusation?
No

I’ll say this LB…. had Suarez said what he admits to saying, to Rio Ferdinand… then honestly I’d agree with you, that like you… Rio would be right in feeling offended.

But Evra speaks Spanish, Evra initiated the exchange in Spanish, and Evra is well aware of the usage of the particular phraseology of what was said…
… how else do you explain Evra conceding that he didn’t believe Suarez to be a racist??

For sure this case was mishandled by LFC…
… I personally think everyone involved on our side thought the allegations were ludicrous… given what the initial allegation was!
… and I think they thought this would be thrown out categorically…
… LFC completely misjudged the climate at the FA…
… but that’s what this case was about… the climate…
… not about one incident of possible racism.
…after all…
… Terry handed them that on a fuckin plate… but they weren’t about to go after the England Captain, in the way they’ve gone after that horse-toothed, scruffy little upstart South American, troublemaking, ear-biting, handballing, diving merchant…
… you know, the one we lovingly call “Spick” on the shop floor of the PFA meetings, as nothing more than a good-natured banter nickname…
…after all, John Terry might be a wife stealer, but he’s not a racist… he had his picture taken with a black baby for fucks sake!

Nah… I’ve read the report twice… I’ve read lots (too much really) very thoughtful analysis of it, by both fans and a couple of lawyers… and the dog just don’t hunt!

On the one hand, you’d be dead right to suggest its not for a white Boy like me to claim Evra did not feel racially abused…
… but I can’t escape the fact that he “got on with it” for 20 minutes, then waited 15 minutes to lodge a fabricated and overblown accusation!

It is because of his very demeanor in that 20 minutes, that I have a really hard time believing that Evra truly did feel aggrieved and offended by anything Suarez said…
… again…. without getting combative…

LB you say if he’d said that to you, you’d have felt racially offended…
…would you then have simply “got on with it” for 20 minutes without saying anything to Mariner within that 20 minutes… or at the final whistle???

And please don’t take that query the wrong way… I completely hear where you are coming from when you made that statement…
… but Ultimately, that is the part that I can’t get past, and why I am more willing to believe that that truth… the one that probably lies somewhere in the middle between claim and counter-claim…
… lies a helluva lot closer on the sliding scale towards Suarez… than towards Evra.

But then again… like I said… I freely admit to that being an opinion formed from within the comfort of a white man’s skin.
… and sincerely… I genuinely hope that in expressing that, I haven’t caused any offense, as that certainly is not my intent.

If it were me I’m not sure if I’d have told the ref. I might have thought the ref won’t do anything about it and seek my own justice which might be the Paul Davis style left hook in the jaw. Or I might have sought to give him the karate kick like De Jong did to Alonso in the world cup final. Then again I might have just reported it to the ref. But didn’t Evra say to the ref “He just called me a fucking Black”?

Why did Suarez mention the word Negro if he knew Evra was clearly wound up. Was he trying to build rapport as if to say “come off it Black” meaning “come off it pal”. If I had a steaming Scottish bloke who is clearly wound up I wouldn’t say “come off it, jock”. I might get a Glasgow kiss.

By the way if ‘Glasgow kiss’ is derogatory to people from Scotland or Glasgow it shows my ignorance and I apologise to anyone who might have been offended.

Incidentally I wasn’t away that some people find the term ‘Oriental’ offensive, in USA for example. This is a term I have often used to describe someone who by appearance looks like they are from South East Asia. I don’t believe the term Oriental is offensive in Britain (if I’m wrong I’d be glad to be corrected). But if I went to America and used the term and got pulled up on it I’d apologise and explain the situation. Rather than just say where I’m from the term is fine so leave me alone. Which is basically what LFC/Suarez did.

Edit: ‘aware’ not ‘away’ (beginning of second paragraph)

Aitch, great post mate. We need them war and peaces, because im useless at gettin points out effectively and hate typin too long. But you hit many nails on many heads.

LB I see exactly what you mean, but the problem with this whole thing was that the FA moulded a hard case against Luis Suarez without giving him a fair and honest crack of the whip.
I dont think LFC were/are trying to say ‘yeah its fine in Uruguay so leave us alone’. More to the point, LFC are annoyed that the FA have blatantly said ‘we dont care if you say it in Uruguay. Here, you cant (which is fair enough). We dont care if you held your hands up right away. We dont care if you need as much time as Evra to have a good look at the video eveidence. We believe Patrice, and we believe you said it 7 times. Dont try denying it!! We have hard evidence!! Well ok, we dont really. But Sir Alex Ferguson, ruler of all football, has told us what happened, and thats good enough for us. So, we are gonna make an absolute racist poster boy out of you and make sure the whole world knows what a little racist scumbag you are. That way, the world will know how strong we are on racism.”
See what I mean LB. Im with you on that he shouldnt have said it and should have issued an aopology straight after it.
But, that doesnt mean he should be crucified as someone who is racist who repeatedly used the word in a racist manner, just because one person said he did it. We can debate this all year and im sure everyones sick of this whole thing, but people need to be corrected on the fact that Luis has been shafted. Simples. He said and admitted using the word once, didnt mean to be racist. So, the FA, in thier wisdom, completely disregard this and accuse him of saying the word seven times in a racist way, and now the lads name is RACIST in this country forever.Job done, and in doing this, it will deflect attention from the utter shitstorm that will erupt if Terry is found guilty of calling Ferdinand a black c*nt. Lets see if they come down hard and heavier on him for that. Theyve been ridiculously static on that issue.
The whole thing stinks to the heavens, and Aitch has outlined the crux of why it stinks so much. If someone gets denied a fair and proper hearing (ignoring the fact that one of Fergies chums was on the ‘independent’ panel)then the final verdict should never be just blindly accepted. And Im glad LFC or Kenny havent just bent over and took this 155 page peice of crap up the arse! The FA and tabloid hacks hate that LFC have the brass neck to defiantly stand up to them. Ive a feeling this wont be the end for a long time, and I hope this whole thing gets looked into properly via a court. The least anyone deserves is a fair hearing, and noone, I mean noone, can look at that report ( as well as the stuff that has apparently been omitted) and say that it was balanced fairly.

It was obvious to me that the FA had a political agenda to be seen to be tough on racism. I didn’t expect Suarez to get a fair/balanced hearing. I expected it to be rather biased. In the same way they protect their refs when ridiculous decisions are made. The same way a manager will get a fine if they dare to criticise. They are a law onto themselves.

Taking all of that into account though. I still don’t think it excuses how poor LFC handled it. Poorly drafted statements, can’t corroborate Suarez’ evidence, changing of statements etc. The t-shirts. The official statements. It came across as amateurish and out of touch which is disappointing because we thought those days were behind us after FSG took over. Ian Ayre has not said a word on the whole thing. Neither has Comolli. They have left Kenny to front up.

Jesus Aitch there is definitely a job for you in law that is a very well structured point.

I’ll be out of work tonight for 7pm so straight home for a dinner and the match. I’m expecting to see a strong enough side with maxi and carroll both invovled from the start and it would be great for a few of the lads(i dont care who) to find the net and get some confidence in the final third to get things moving for the second half of the season.

Hoping for a 3-0 win today.

YNWA

Setanta Ireland have just confirmed the match is on live tonight at 8pm. Phew. C’mon the Mighty Reds.

Cheers LB, I’m relieved you took my post in the spirit it was intended.

Its an incredibly difficult subject… particularly for a white guy to be commenting on, without sounding the wrong note, condesending, patronizing, crass, etc.
These are loaded words we’re dealing with, and its incredibly uncomfortable to even type one of them in particular, let alone say it.
I take my hat off to Jim Boardman on the The Anfield Wrap for not shying away from it. It took balls to say it on the podcast, but he recognized it needed to be said to clarify what was accused and what the various meanings (both concrete and cultural) and implications of these words are.

I’ve found it very uncomfortable to write some of the stuff I’ve written in this blog… it would have been so easy, even with disclaimers… for them to have been taken in the wrong intent.

For me… too many people are discussing this incident as though it were simple.
It is anything but.

You have onfield incidents… and words spoken.
You have changing allegations of what those actions and words were.
You have differing reactions to both words and actions
You have other people getting involved either voluntarily or dragged into it and therefore, discrepancies in testimony.

…and that’s before you even get to the commission’s investigation!

…Where you then have…
… a crucially missing Referee’s Report?
(which is as big a red flag as my previous dissection of Evra’s post “incident” actions)
(Am I the only one who read Mariner’s part of the document and thought it sounded like a man trying to squirm out of a bad situation and not be the guy without a seat when the music stopped??? Giggs too for that matter, albeit to a lesser extent?)

Anyway… there it is.
As LB just alluded to… if it was me being called a Scouse Cunt by someone, not in a tossed off manner, but in a pointed, direct manner… yes the guy would have got a Liverpool Kiss, let alone a Glaswegian Kiss, and I’m about as far from “ard” as a Scous lad can get!

I think Evra was off his meds.
I think that caused him to make accusations he later regretted.
I think that’s why he recanted and stated that he didn’t think Luis was a racist.

And bizarrely… if the FA had not been a bunch of cowering White Men with an agenda… they could have recognized this as a perfect opportunity to have…
… both men stand up and do a public “Sepp Blatter shake of hands” that could have really stepped up to the Anti-Racism Plate and publicly used this incident as a way to illustrate cultural differences and tolerance as a learning excercise for the Great Multi-Cultural British Society we keep getting told exists.

Unfortunately that didn;t happen and the commission mishandled itself, both clubs mishandled themselves…
…and the press…
… well they did what sharks doi when someone throws buckets of chum in the water…
… they went into a tailspinning frenzy!

Anyway… thanks for the understanding and the words of encouragement…
… and…
… COME ON YOU 2ND STRING REDS!!!!

oooh… I didn’t type that well.
…let me clarify what I mean by “Sepp Blatter shake of hands”
… coz that just sounded incredibly crass when I read it back…

First…. his suggestion is and was ludicrous…
Second… I didn not mean what Blatter meant.

I used that phrase because this incident from the FA’s position was clearly stick to beat Blatter with…
… but what better way to do that…
… than to handle this matter by having both men come to an amicable solution with the commission…
…that then had them doing a public “roadshow” discussing/explaining cultural differences…
…. how they can be misconstrued…
… and how a real muti-cultural society we claim to be, can rise above that…

THAT… could have been a real, powerful, gripping, genuine… “kick it out campaign”
… that would have achieved far more than the campaigns they’ve run so far…

… but let’s face it… that’s not realy what the FA are about…
… unless there was some untapped pot of gold to be had in doing it.

Aitch I’m not so sure that Blatter didn’t mean it like that but as always the media and other forces that control them will use any means possible to misconstrue and or misinform the public to suit their agenda.

On the subject of the FA… They were originally set up in 1863 by the notable clubs of they day (who thus far each used to play to their own rules) as a way of regulating and administrating football in England, in an impartial way and without any prejudices.

Does anyone actually believe that that’s the way they function today?

On an aside, some clubs at the time (1863) couldn’t agree on the rules and some, like Blackheath even left footy altogether to become a rugby club because of the “No Hacking” rule which meant that they could no longer kick an opponent in the shins.

Interestingly, thats the exact same act which got shrek banned for 3 games while representing the FA and the exact same act that the FA fought so much to have the sentenced reduced for. Double standards? Irony? Hypocrisy? Just 3 superlatives to describe the FA who extrinsically portray themselves as a pious organisation but intrinsically they’re nothing but shite hawk, manc sympathisers and sycophants.

On the surface it looks like the club cocked it all up but I fear that the reality is somewhat different.

The FA made life very difficult for LFC, judging by the various statements that have been made. There are plenty to list but Ill just mention the fact that the “evra” had the opportunity to use video footage to straighten his story but Suarez was inexplicably not allowed that same privilege.

In such circumstances there’s only one logical conclusion that one can draw and that is that the FA made it impossible to get a fair hearing, therefore making LFC look inadequate and amateurish. Under such prejudice even the best people can be made to look stupid.

So although it appears that our policy was wrong I do sympathise with the club and in fact I applaud them for highlighting the fact that things need to change at the FA.

Now back to the “evra”. I don’t care what anyone says (that it was a long time ago, he was young, he was this that and the other, blah blah blah). He was the same age that Suarez is now! But Suarez is going to hang on the basis of one probability after another, which concluded that he offended evra, who in my opinion was filmed being far more offensive and racist than he alleged Suarez was. Thats not to say that he was not offended but glass houses and stones springs to mind.

Personally, I think evra has psychological issues that need attending to. That video of him calling Hasslebaink and Lampard “N*****s” and beckoning them to suck his “pussy” clearly highlights that fact. But moreover it gives a glimpse into his mindset and that he’s probably more of a racist than most people and that he thinks he has a pussy. Maybe he does. Maybe its what Freud described as penis envy and that all his issues stem from his childhood. I don’t know. But I do know that he’s fucked up in the head.

Best email I’ve sent in a while Welcome back bud.
My take on the Suarez affair is very simple and at the risk of sounding arrogant, inherently correct. The 2 players in question are playing a football match. One of the most fiercely contested, if not THE most fiercly contested match in world football. Both protagonists have been going at it hammer and tongs for 70mins in this high octane atmosphere giving no quarter, asking for no quarter. Inevitably, as always occurs between these 2 most hated of rivals, it boils over and verbal sparring occurs between both players. Now, anyone whos ever played football at any level knows that these guys were not exchanging pleasantries. Far from it. So, with this knowledge in mind, we can move towards what I would consider a reasonable assumption: Suarez, I think its fair to say, was not addressing Evra as ‘negro’ in a convivial or amiable manner. Well, not unless he’s the fucken Dalai Lama right?! And a very insensitive Dalai Lama at that! And I think we all know that the Dalai Lama he aint. So, for me at any rate, it is what it is. I’m not calling the lad a racist. I’m calling him a footballer who in the heat of the moment said something he almost certainly regrets. So be it. Who amongst us has’nt uttered something we shouldent have? He’s expressed contrition for any offense he caused and the club have, in my opinion, done the correct thing in accepting the ban while supporting our player. Good enough for me. Its over, we move on. But anyone who thinks that when Suarez called Evra ‘negro’,that he did it in an innocent or innocuous fashion, that he was merely joking around with his new found friend is either disturbingly naive or deliberately ignorant.
This, of course, is just my opinion. I could be wrong. But I doubt it.

P.s, Great win tonight! Please dear Jaysus let this be the game from which Carroll kicks on.

I think we should all respect each others opinions in reference to Digger’s post above. I think there is an inherent assumption that folks are naive or ignorant. Digger might be right or he might be wrong but it any case it disrespects the intelligence and experience of others. Not everyone is blessed with eloquence to put forward their thoughts like Aitch, LB, Digger and some of the others.

I hope we have peaceful debates without passing veiled remarks.

My take on this is that a Suarez has been sentenced under certain laws and probably rightly for the offence he has committed. BUT once the report tainted Suarez and completely absolved Evra (which IMHO based on what I have read and seen is far from the truth) then the punishment is going to be construed differently. Then the sentence (irrespective of the fact that is was not meant to call Suarez a racist) will most certainly be accepted by people that Suarez is a racist and will forever haunt him. I hope he can live a normal life.

Some other quotes
From BBC
Despite the punishment, the commission conceded: “This case is not about whether Mr Suarez is in fact a racist. Indeed, the commission will no doubt conclude that there are some indications that he is not.”

The Oxford English Dictionary defined racialism as “belief in the superiority of a particular race”.

Racism is active. I have been to countries (I will not name them) where folks whom I have interacted have shown this superiority maybe they don’t even realize but it does hurt you. I am an asian (from India).

On a different note (not related to the above discussion) I believe this problem cannot removed by sentences which spreads hatred. Its the belief and beliefs cannot be killed, it only strengthens. I come from the land of the Mahatma and I believe only love can.

Small correction to my above post
“Land of the Mahatma” is a bit cheesy. I meant that Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophies had a profound impact on me at least.

Jesus christ, what the hell is going on????

Why is an oldam player reduced to tears playing a match at anfield!!!

We are gonna get hammered for this. I hope some fucking idiot hasn’t pulled off such a stunt.

Good win V a poor side.If Gerry is ok, why hasn’t he written 1 word since May ? 2 new strikers(loans ?) to replace Kuyt should guarantee top 4.

burgerman is it burger-man or bur-german?

Digger is indeed allowed his opinions but thats the whole point. You cant crucify someone based on opinions. You need hard facts and evidence. Not probabilities and whims!

Its why this whole affair has been labeled a witch-hunt, because thats what used to happen a few centuries ago. Some one didn’t like someone and accused them of being a witch. The witch catcher used to then turn up to find the “truth”. So they’d throw them in the river and if they drowned it was deemed that they weren’t witches but if they could swim or remain buoyant they were deemed as witches and were promptly pulled from the water and burned at the stake. All based on the opinion of the accuser and the witch catcher.

Its that sentiment that has tainted this situation and has caused all the issues. People in general understand that there must be evidence and proof before someone is judged to have committed a crime.

Its what our whole society is based on and its a damned good thing too. Who would like to be woken up in the middle of the night and thrown in a cold river with the definite prospect of death, whichever way it goes. All because some one had an opinion.

I read about LFC all over the internet and i must admit,this is the best place to come. Thanks everyone for coming in and expressing ur opinions.

LB & Aitch: Amazing comments. Really enjoyed reading them.

Its difficult to take sides on the Suarez issue. He is not a racist. We know it. Those who want him to do well will always know it. Those who want him out will keep talking about how he ‘racially’ abused Patrice Evra.

As Digger mentioned, in the heat of the moment he did use the word probably not understanding how sensitive it can turn out to be. For LFC’s part, i felt at times the official statements were a bit emotional in nature. I as a fan was rallying behind my club and responding to the war cry until the ban was accepted. To me the club took a ‘Go for it’ approach. If indeed it took that approach,accepting the ban was a mistake. When you wear t shirts, when the manager keeps backing the player, it is expected that come what may Suarez’s verdict will be challenged. I am not saying that Liverpool FC dissapointed me but they did commit a mistake. Either you go for an all out war or you adhere to the FA at the very beginning. As LB rightly pointed out, a clarification by Suarez followed by a club statement and a swift statement to Evra would have been the politically correct way.

Coming to Evra and his boss. My gut feeling is that Evra’s complain was given a big leverage by Alex Fergusson. The moment he heard it, he made sure that the matter is reported to FA and if Suarez(Our primary goal source) is banned it will make our task of qualifying for Europe more difficult. I have watched the league for 11 years now and i am pretty convinced that Alex Fergusson’s mentality is anti Liverpool to the extent that he wants to make sure that we dont rise up again.If we analyze the way Liverpool reacted during the case and post the FA verdict, it was clear that we as a club think that Manchester United flared up this entire situation more than it should have been and combined with the puppets in the media, Luiz Suarez was seen as the perfect sacrificial lamb for the FA to make a statement against racism.

Coming to the match, it was a good win. Andy Carroll scored and so did Downing. I dont want to talk about this chap in the crowd. The media again is highlighting the fact that our home was the scene of racist abuse. Here is a little fact:

Arrests for racist chanting in the PL 2010/11-
Aston Villa 4 Bolton 4 Chelsea 2 Man Utd 2 Arsenal 1 LFC 0.
This happens every year with every other club.

I hope everyone remembers that. For Luiz Suarez the best way to answer his critiques would be to get back and start scoring goals.

I just want to echo what others have said. Aitch (and LB) really brilliant posts and thank you for going to the lengths you have gone to.
As for last night, I watched it and it was a great blast of a game, fair play to Oldham. I always felt we would win handily once we settled. The defence was a bit wobble but some good work from Maxi, Shelvey, Stevie, Spearing at times and a great show from Bellamy.
One more thing. As usual when we are stripped of our most crucial players somehow things work out aaaaannnnddd we got lucky last night. Everything went our way. Bellamy deflection, penno given, Stevie in off the bar, Shelvey, Andy (with first touch) and SD finally scoring. Are things finally turning on the park?
However off the park, well, let’s see what it was but it was horrible to see.

lads i know alot of us in here are from afar, but was anyone at the game or know anyone likewise that could shed some light on the dick that has done us over ,hopefully this 20 yr old from aintree is a bitter , if not we as fans are in trouble,we as LFC are in the shit,we all say something we regret whole heartedly, no more than myself on crimbo eve,
i was disgusted on christmas day with myself , lastnite i was disgusted with the kop(not as a whole) for tollerating this disease

many people have said on this website: i’m not black, so i don’t know how it feels etc etc.

or words to that affect.

my answer is that you don’t need to be black to know how abuse feels.

you can be fat, or thin, or red haired, you can be rich or poor, you can be protestant, catholic, jew or muslim. it won’t matter to some people as long as they can call you something.

there are some intelligent people on this website and i salute you all, so don’t apologise for being the wrong colour. you don’t need to in order to fully comprehend ignorance.

for me i think suarez is tarnished as a player. there’s too much shit in his locker for me to fully appreciate the player.

my son posed a difficult question for me today. he asked who my favourite liverpool player is. i couldn’t answer him. i found it hard to pick one, because, by rights it should be luis suarez. however, i can’t bring myself to admit that my favourite player is the one on an eight match ban for racism charges. it was hard enough explaining to my eight year old exactly what the charges were for in the first place.

as my name suggests i am black. my son is mixed race. he is eight years old and adores lfc.

how the fuck am i supposed to explain that one of his favourite players exchanges racist slurs to other players???

this is my son. i bring him up to respect people regardless of colour. can you imagine the disappointment when he realises that one of his heroes doesn’t have the same outlook? can you see my dilemma?

Folk have been hard on LFC for mis-handling the situation. depends on your point of view.

my point of view, having read all your comments, is that suarez brought shame on the club, getting ensnared in this nasty business in the first instance.

this is LFC. liverpool football club. it is not LLP. Liverpool Law Practise. our clubs prior remit is to play and win football matches. we are not a law firm. if we didn’t handle the situation properly, its because getting players out of the shitty puddle of piss they create for themselves is not the clubs prior concern. to expect the clubs lawyers to be the best advocates in the country is similar to expecting the anfield restaurant to win a michelin star just because they serve food.

we shouldn’t shine the spotlight on the club because a player likes causing trouble for himself.

what shits me in all of this is suarez played for ajax, a team with a strong black contingent. black footballers proliferate throughout the game. does he have so little respect for his team mates, past and present, that he needs to bring colour into it?

having said all of this, i will also say that footballers are young kids. they make mistakes. i made plenty of mistakes in my past.

i’m hoping suarez learns from his mistakes and becomes a better person in the future, and quickly because we need good players now. we need them to give the proper commitment. we need them to respect the sport and the people who follow them, the fans, the eight year olds like my little ‘un, who buy football stickers with luis suarez plastered on them, because one day they want to grow up to be just like their heroes.

well. we’ll see, eh? we’ll see.

P.S.

KICK RACISM OUT OF FOOTBALL.

downing has just been arrested for diggin the misses in the head

We have drawn United in FA cup. Based on what i saw tonight, we will be playing 12 men(11 reds + 1 ref). What a good chance to knock them out.

Common Liverpoooooooool !!!

I dont know WTF is going on I would have thought our club had had its fill of non-footballing stories over the last few years but this stuff keeps piling up!
Normally manufa at home in the cup would be great but this one is gonna boil over and you know who will be on the wrong end of it. Not the poster boys thats for sure.
They’ll want us out and quick.

I know, copkolly, that was my first reaction to the headline.

But not to worry, once the police have looked into it, they’ll dismiss the case, realizing that…

… “well yeah, Downing tried to hit her… but he MISSED.”

good point guinness, can you imagine the puss on the fa if we got to wembley & won the cup & suarez doing the lap of honour with the cup,so we prob get four men sent off in the next round,
aitch, at least downing has found his form,he’s hit the target twice this week:-)

Oh happy days. I swear I hope we kill them manc bastards. I’m gonna be baying for blood come the 28th of january.
There is a new level of hate that I didnt no exisited between us and them bastards!!
I wouldn’t be surprised if whiskey nose didn’t play evra……..but i hope he does!!

This is a must-read for everyone:

http://newsframes.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/media-on-racism-churnalism/

As a journalist student I’m surprised at how poorly the information was interpreted and reported. Certain people should take note.

Im lickin my lips at this game. What a statement to make in knocking them Scumbags out of the cup.
Let me just say though that I hope we dont have any idiots in the crowd who take a free license to shout anything racist at Evra or anyone else. As much as I hate the wee cunt I dont want to be giving the guttershite press anymore ammo for thier agenda, but more importantly than that, Im proud to support this great club for 25 years and proud to be named as an LFC supporter, the greatest supporters in the world. So going forward I dont want any stupid abuse aimed at Evra. We need to draw a line under that now and let our football do the talking. And it will!

…as a further note to the above, I dont believe anyone of our great supporters would be so stupid, but theres always one idiot that gets us tarred with the same brush.

Sachem (155)
just read that link buddy, and it is great journalism not because it basically defend’s Luis, but show’s the blinkered outlook the FA and the media of this country has.
But even that (eloquent as it was) report has simply asked what a lot of us has asked, why did the FA (fuckin Arseoles, racist i know)take one man’s word over another’s, is it like someone above has suggested a “witch hunt of LFC”.

theredman

Totally agree with you mate. I was referring to the “churnalism” analyzed. After all, proper journalists employed by The Guardian and other esteemed media outlets have done a very poor job in this case.

Surely a sensitive matter of this kind needs to be treated with the utmost professionalism and caution, in order to prevent misinformation and confusion. On the one hand we have the very serious matter of racism, which obviously needs to be counteracted wherever it is manifested. But on the other hand we have the reputation and well-being of, as it would seem, a wrongfully accused man.

Nothing points to a racist intent from Suarez, or that he has ever before been guilty or suspected of racial abuse. In my view, the FA decision is a very serious miscarriage of justice and that’s what the newspapers should be writing about.

Many have pointed out that a simple excuse from Suarez would have saved us a lot of trouble. Perhaps so, but as things have developed, Evra is the one who owes Suarez an apology and not the other way around. He might well apologize for the abuse he directed at Suarez (whether it was racial or not) and for completely mishearing, misinterpreting and fraudulently reporting Suarez’ use of Spanish, which then led to a most unjust outcome and pretty severe personal injury for the Uruguayan.

Alright chaps, can’t wait for tomorrow nights game. Good to see Kompany didn’t get that red over turned. I was slightly concerned he would but without him I really feel we have a good chance of putting city out. We’ll need to be on song but I have a good feeling about this one.
Roll on wednesday night!!

My degree isn’t strictly a journalism degree, but it was awarded under my University’s School of Journalism’s Umbrella, so we had to take courses and adhere to journalism guidelines for large parts of it.
That was nearing 20 years ago now…
…and what I can tell you is that the standards of journalism both in the U.S. and the U.K. make me cringe… and I frequently question where these people got their fuckin degrees from…
… coz it might “pass” as journalism… but it fucking ISN’T!

Television News presenters continue to state…
…and print journos continue to print…
… both seemingly approved by their producers/editors…
… that Luis Suarez was found “guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra”…
… when that is… IN FACT …NOT… what Luis Suarez was found guilty of.

Read the fuckin report…
The Commission found Suarez “guilty of using insulting language” and “ using a racially descriptive term”…
… the report is ambiguously worded… from page 1 to page 115…
… but these two findings are worded as separate things…
… so the report does not even find him “guilty of using insulting racial language”
…and certainly NOT “guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra.”

Read it… read it again, if you didn’t catch that…
… and yet, announcers and reporters continue… unabated and unrestricted in their completely inaccurate description of the charges…

… and if that wasn’t bad enough… we can’t even say that’s biased London/Man media…
… coz the twats at the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post…
… continue the same inaccurate reporting of that all-too-important finding of the Commission…
…continually printing “guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra” when that was NOT what the lad was found guilty of.

But Again…
… getting past all that…
… the obviously biased reporting…
… the blatantly and deliberately deceptive reporting…
… the inaccurate reporting…
… or just the supposed “lazy journalism”…

…And getting past…
… the mountain of inaccuracies in the report…
… the bias shown in the investigation…
… the chameleonic, ever-changing allegations…
… amplified discrepancies in Suarez’s testimony vs ignored/discounted discrepancies in Evra’s…
… the ever-so-conveniently “lost” Referee’s Match Report…
…let me say that again, for those that have missed it…
… the ever-so-conveniently “lost” Referee’s Match Report…
… and a whole host of other things surrounding the post allegation activities at LFC, United, the FA, the Commission…

… I simply keep coming back to the incident itself.

It is now simply accepted that Suarez said something, Evra was offended, and the rest is, he said, she said, partisanship, bias, incompetence, take your pick…

… but why are we simply accepting that Evra genuinely thought he was racially abused, and took offense at it???
Because he said so?
That might be fine… had he not made TWO prior spurious, unfounded and later dismissed charges previously.
But he HAS…

… but okay… that got ignored…
… so let’s keep it even simpler… this is the thing for me…

Just in reading this blog, you can call on any number of people suggesting what their reaction would be if they were abused in such a manner on a football field…
… and you can see one particularly extreme example of the emotion you’d expect in such a situation in the youtube clips of Adeyeme’s reaction…
… a reaction, that if he was called what he claims to have heard… is not only perfectly understandable, but what you would expect…

…and yet…
… Evra displayed no such emotion at the time of the incident (and there is some confusion still … on his part… as to when that time was)… to illustrate what you would expect to be the kind of emotion one would feel (and he claims he felt) if one was racially abused????

He had already thrown an inordinately disproportionate emotional wobbler over the coin toss.
Giggs testifies (again glossed over/ignored) that Evra was emotionally charged beyond the norm (“red mist” I believe he called it.)
He had… by his own admission… threatened to punch Suarez earlier.
He had …by his own admission… verbally insulted Suarez, prior to the racial allegation, in a manner that suggests heightened emotion…
… and yet, at the time he claims to have been called…
… NOT a neh-gro…
… NOT a nee-gro…
… not even “a black bastard”…
… but a “nigger” …
… he didn’t go ballistic on Suarez…
… he didn’t break down crying…
…NO…
… what he did was make a single half-arsed claim to the ref that Suarez had “called him a black”…
… then gave up that claim when the Ref didn’t hear him…
(again, compare that to Adeyemi’s initial reaction, before he gets really upset.)

… and then, following Giggs’ direction… he simply “got on with it” for some 20 minutes…
… during which he claims to have been racially abused a further 5, 6, 7, 9 times… take yer pick…
… also, dive on into the grab bag of “nigger”, “neegro”, nehgro” “blackie” and take yer pick about the word used…
… and ask yourself how you would have reacted…
… and yet…
…he continues to just suck it up and play on…
… rather than call on his teammates to listen carefully to what this fucker is saying to me (repeatedly he claims) …
…or…
…. remonstrate with the referee about this continued abuse he supposedly feels so emotional about.

We all feel emotions in different ways and to different levels… but I ask you… with an insult this grave… did his reaction make sense?

There’s much to discuss about the allegations, the handling of them post-match by LFC, MUFC, the Referee and the FA … and the subsequent investigation… and its published findings…
… and while I would disagree that it is reasonable to find Evra more believable than Suarez based on the 115 page Commission’s Report

… the whole thing… ALL of it… is predicated on the idea that Evra heard something and felt racially abused…

… and I see nothing in his behavior during that game to suggest that is a credible assumption…
… simply because Patrice Evra claims it to be so.

But Suarez admitted to saying “porque Negro” I hear you say…
… he admitted it…
… and Evra says he understood that to be a racial slur… you add…
… Yeah…
…Patrice Evra claimed he understood a phrase his teammates have used in speaking to him, and a phrase he himself has used, as being a racially abusive slur…
… right!!!

Now I would accept that that was a possibility…
…honestly I would… IF…
… he’d reacted like Adeyeme…
…or headbutted him like LB suggests…
… or even “gone all ‘ard on him” as I (uncharacteristically) and others have suggested they would…
…but…
…HE DOESN’T…
the viewable evidence of Evra’s entire 90 minute performance ( to include the coin toss) and certainly the final 20 minutes, and post-final whistle behavior and demeanor simply does not support his claim…

WHY is everyone… in the face of all that… simply accepting his ever changing claims?

Is it not plausible that Evra was already emotional, and simply got pissed off that Suarez was outplaying him, not reacting to the wind-up and verbal abuse that Evra himself was admittedly hurling at Suarez, and simply…
… as he has done twice in the past… made the whole thing up!

Not one single person…
Not the other 21 players on the field…
Not the Referee, or his two assistants…
Not the dozen or more photographers/journos positioned immediately behind the touchline…
Not any of the fans sat in the first few rows…
Not a single camera/microphone… the ones positioned and rolling for Sky, or those belonging to the pitchside journos, or the ones built into fans’ phones… captured a single occurrence of this alleged verbal abuse.
Not one.

Evra continues to play on in no more a heightened emotional state than prior to the accusation (in fact you could say he played on in a less emotional state given the coin toss reaction?)

I wonder what Andre Mariner’s Official Referee’s Match Report actually included about this incident???
And if it “got lost” because it would have blown the entire initial allegation out of the water before the Commission could even sharpen its knives?

Conspiracy?
Maybe.
But so are Evra’s initial and subsequently alien-like shape-shifting allegations.

As for football… I really fancy our chances against City tomorrow.
They will be missing a hatful of 1st pick players through injury, suspention, the AfNat Cup…
… and we’ve had 2 days more rest/preparation.

They’ll sit back and try to absorb us, and try to hit us on the break…
…if we factor for that, I reckon we could whomp them.

Come on you REDS.

Oh and can we fuck off “peace talks” please?
This is just playing right into Fungus’ hands… coz he’ll play-act all concilliatory and then hit us with both barrells at the first opportunity and come off looking like the good guy.

I’d fancy our chances against City tomorrow if we had more goals in the side. When teams sit back we tend to struggle to create.

are we going to sign anyone in the transfer window?
is andy carroll going back to the magpies? according
to the times he may well be
will maxi & kuyt hand in transfer requests?

Really looking forward to the game tonight what with all the shite surrounding the club you almost forget what its all about.
Would just love if we could have a decent January and try to put all this non sense behind us. Dont get me wrong there is as always great opinion in here (I’ve often said a good few of the posters in here should be able to post some of there ideas as blogs in there own right)
but having spent a year with the club falling to bits then having the new onwers come in and Hodge in charge then the king coming back can we please get onto the back pages for footballing reasons.

Me head says 2-1 city me heart says 0-1 the reds.

Only one lad on The Anfield Wrap predicted a win for us… and that was “a narrow 1-0″.
The rest all thought we’d lose or draw.

The main TIA site suggests “we might have to count on winning at Anfield” if we want to go through.

I just don;t get that.
There might not be a better time to play these guys. They’ve had 2 days less rest than us… in fact some of their players have played 4 very intense games in a short space of time.
They are missing both Toures (Kolo and his brother), Kompany is on a red, Ballotelli is injured, Barry and Dzeko both picked up knocks and are doubtful.
Yes they have a deep squad, but we should be rested and looking to kick on.

The last 3-0 scoreline flattered them…
… its iffs-and-buts, but if Downing had scored first… (I know, stop laughing)… that’s a completely different game and we’d have had them on the ropes instead of the other way around… and remember they only put us on the ropes because of a keeper-error.

For all their high-priced talent… they are vulnerable… they’ve shown an ability to concede, almost as much as their ability to win 6-1.
And in several of their high scoring wins, they were actually on the ropes a bit prior to getting the first goal and kicking on.

That’s going to be the proverbial crucial thing… and of course is our biggest problem at the moment…
… if we score first, we win this one.

And I know we haven’t been doing that enough… but it just takes a bit of confidence to get you that goal…
… Andy and Downing both scored this week…
… maybe, just maybe, the flood gates will open now??

I honestly fancy our chances for a very decent win today!!

3 hours… I can’t wait…
COME ON YOU REDS!!!!

Have a little faith guinness… 3 – 1 to the Redmen!

As for selling Andy Carroll…
in the immortal words of Bill Murray in “Stripes”
“Someday Tito Puente is gonna be dead, and you’re gonna say, oh Tito Puente, I have all his records. I listen to him all the time.”

Andy Carroll will come good… maybe even today…
… and just like with Lucas… people will start crawling out of the woodwork to pretend they never wrote all the “not good enough” comments and act like they have 2 digit membership numbers in Andy’s personal Fan Club.

3 – 1 with Andy on the scoresheet!

Aitch, Andy Carroll has shown absolutely nothing to show me he will be anything better than a decent target man centre forward. He’s in the same mould as Crouch, Heskey, Bobby Zamora, Kevin Davis… I don’t see Christian Vieri talent at all.

If we score 3 goals tonight I will run round Bronley shopping centre naked twirling my LFC scarf in the air.

Where is Digger? I’d like to discuss New York Jets….

I wonder how Mancini is going to approach this one. He got the better over KD in the last match with his passive approach and hitting us on the break.

We had a lot of possession in that game but the shiteh defended well and we missed LS. Also I think Yaya bossed the midfield without Lucas. How will it go tonight.

I’d take a draw. Come on you reds!

Inevitable sitter squandered.

Well Guinness, heart it is…well done sir!

The strangest formation in the second half (Hansen called it a flatback nine) very defensive and somehow reminiscent of the hodgson days…but kenny and steve clarke got it right and we go back to Anfield with a clean sheet and a useful (maybe vital) away goal.

Well done Redmen!!!

1 nil at half time, we should have been 3 nil up before the peno, but i’ll take it, 2nd half at anfield & man its gonna be a tough one, we seeed to be more in control of the game when spearing was on the pitch, glenda motm for me,
great to hear stevie & kennys dig at mancini after his crying regarding glendas tackle,
2 tough game at the end of the month , both sets of mancs within 3 days, but hey its at anfield, bring them on , wembley here we come!

guiness #165… you should listen to your heart more often! Aitch was right in his analysis too!

But kudos to Kenny and the team for making it happen.

Sat back and defended for the most part as one would think when playing away to a good side but we managed our smash n’ grab in the end.

The lads defended like trojans and I thought ninja in particular was outstanding. He saw off ballotelli and limited aguero to scraps.

Only downside is that we’ll lose Spearing for a while.

The return leg isn’t going to be easy but I think we’ll do it.

all the papers have stevie & mancini having a bit of a dust up in the tunel after the game

Well… we were unlucky to not be 3-0 up at half time…
… but then again… we were a bit lucky to keep it 1-0 to be honest.

A flat back Nine?
Even Rafa was watching that thinking… “that’s a bit defensive Kenny.”

I don’t get that tactical thinking.
You could say they were at us and putting us under pressure…
… yeah… but how much of that was because we made very little attempt to do anything but sit 10 players in front of our box.

I’ll tell you what… after this game, we can never again, bitch and moan about teams “coming to Anfield and Parking the Bus!”
We parked a SuperBus and let the fuckin air out of the tires for fucks sake!

An away goal to take back to Anfield.
But I just wonder if we’d got a 2nd, if Mancini would have fucked off the 2nd leg and just sent out a weak team to prioritize the Title run??

Jay’s injury will hurt us, but we should have enough for them at Anfield… provided we don’t perform another Battersea Ladies Auxiliary Reenactment of The fuckin Alamo!

And yeah LB, I hear where you are coming from.
Andy just can’t seem to get it together.
He scores a cracker on Friday, then misses a far easier one… although it was a fuckin top save by Hart.
But after that, his every touch was almost comical. Balls bouncing off his shoulder, his hip, his arse… he was like a pornstar in a gangbang video.
His body language is poor too… you can see he has no confidence in his own ability.

When I saw that daft report on Sky about him going back to Newcastle for 10 million… I laughed my arse off… then thought… hmmm, 10 million and Demba Ba and you’ve got yourself a deal!

Poor lad.
He is a much better player than we are seeing.
I fancied us taking a punt on him for 2 million, when Necy went down… they’d have jumped at it…
… but since his move to us, he’s a shadow if what he has been prior.
Its hard to see him ever getting it back on showings like today.
I’ll continue to support the lad though… even when the ball bounces off his backside… and hope Kenny can get him going.

A win’s A win.
That’ll do Pig.
Next.

Now… where did Comolli put that card that had Edin Hazard’s phone number?
I wouldn’t mind us making a cheeky grab for Soloman Kahlu either.

“all the papers have stevie & mancini having a bit of a dust up in the tunel after the game”

“All the better to charge you with misconduct my dear.” say the Cunts at the F.A., wringing their hands in delight!

The lad who predicted a narrow 1-0 win on The Anfield Wrap was Jim Boardman if I remember correctly, and too right he was. They don’t get much narrower than that. It was the definition of a European away leg performance.

I once thought Mourinho was cynical to completely park the bus with Inter against Barca, but sometimes you just do what you need to in order to get the result.

It’s quite alright to have a go at our attacking and midfield play from time to time. I don’t mind that. Those aspects are possible to improve greatly with a signing here and there. I never thought Andy Carroll would become a great player, but in Newcastle he certainly looked a lot more promising than he ever did in a red shirt. Like Aitch I will keep on supporting the lad in the hope Kenny can help him turn things around, but I don’t think we can rely on him to start delivering goals. Even when Suarez returns, we still need to add a finisher to the squad.

Defensively however, we look more or less rock solid, and I expect us to continue improving in this department with every game Agger stays fit. What on earth happened to Skrtel this season? Not too long ago I considered him a liability and too limited as a defender. This season he has been absolutely immense.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Coates though. He’s too good to sit on the bench, but won’t adapt very well getting thrown in when not match fit. A loan to some Championship side with an option to recall would do both him and the club a lot of good.

If you have a rock solid defense, parking the bus is not a bad idea to get the job done. It is a ugly way of shutting out your opposition but effective.

City without Silva missed that creativity and even with him and Toure around, they wont be 100% successful if a sound defense parks the bus. There cant be a FC Barcelona everywhere. So a good result and if we play the same way, we should go through.

Regarding Andy Caroll, whatever Aitch said is correct and i dont think there is a need to add anything to that. He is with us because we have not got a better striker. It is as simple as that.

The Johnson tackle looked the same as Kompanys if not worse. In this case the incident involves our player and hence we wont say too much about it but if that’s not a foul(yellow? red?) then there is no way how their captain got the red card. It was so clear that Rooney influenced the ref. The united players always do that. When i see them i get this feeling that along with their footballing skills they get training on stuffs like influencing the ref, having a dig at other players etc. Gerrard might talk against Mancini coz its his England team-mate Rooney on the other side but i feel Manchester United were helped by the ref big time last Sunday.

Aitch, I think Carroll is our worst big money signing ever. Diouf, Cisse, Heskey, Collymore, Robbie Keane, Babel… Feel free to add names to this list. Carroll has performed worse than them. He’s been so bad that a simple control of the ball and 5 yard pass to a teammate is lauded by Liverpool fans. (Oh Andy did well there) fucking hell. He trips over his own feet, ball bounces off his knee, shin, hip, arse, back, shoulder. Rarely does he win an Ariel battle or out strengthen his opponent, or is in positions to actually score. When he is he’s often wasteful. If he played for any other club like he is playing for us we’d say he was shite without debate.

The game started well for us. We played very well indeed! First half an hour, we were excellent. Kept the ball well and created good opportunities. Missed them as we do but Gerrard buried the pen! Nice. Last 5 mins of the half City started to get their act together.

Second half and we went into Houllier era tactics. Remember when we went to Barca and had 11 men behind the ball all night? When defending deep I think it’s important to have an outlet, someone with pace who can counter attack. But we take off Downing and then Bellamy. Leaving Carroll who has no pace up front by himself. It was like playing with 10 men. Glen Johnson didn’t have a clue where he was supposed to be playing for a few minutes. Then Carragher comes on to play in midfield!? Crazy tactics but I guess they worked as we kept a clean sheet and won. Hope we don’t play like that at Anfield in the 2nd leg though. By the way the away goal only counts after extra time and if it goes to extra time it means City will have scored so we don’t really have an away goal advantage if the tie finishes level.

Well not much to add to whats been said great first half very negative in the second you’d think having played so well they’d just keep it going and try to get more goals.

They always say that the first trophy is so important as its gets everybody on board in trusting the manager and coaching staff and also attracting new players to the “project”, I know that sounds daft but most of the players we will be trying to sign wont have been born when kenny was winning things with us.

Only when it was mentioned last night did I realise we haven’t been to wembley since 1996!! wtf thats 16 years, again wtf. a horrible day it was too. course we had plenty of trips to cardiff in the last decade but we are well over due a scouse army in London, Lets hope we can finish both mancs off on the way.

As regards Carroll I never thought Lucas would become the player he is so Im hoping Andy can follow his lead and use the criticism that is and will come his way as a motivator the lad knows full well he is playing shite.

Realistically if newcastle come in with a 20M pound offer he’ll be gone and best of luck to him if he does.
You just gotta hope we dont go and splurge the money again on someone like bent.

Well lads fantastic result last night, well pleased with a really gritty performance. I agree with Sachem, that brought me back to some of Rafas European away game masterclasses. Real big game feel, hearts on sleeves stuff. All did there bit but wtf did Johnson drink before the game?! Fucken match lad! Outstanding! Best player on the park by a mile. And nothing wrong with that tackle either imo. Or Kompanys last wk, or Spearings against Fulham. I’ve no problem winning the ball hard but fair. Tis a mans game afterall. (Yes I’m aware I’m a sexist).
LB, I think your being a wee bit harsh on some of the lads you’ve listed there! Collymore was fantastic in his first season with us. His partnership with Fowler was devastating. They netted 55 goals together that season. Heskey was almost unplayable in his first year with us scoring 20 something goals and was a big part of our treble. Cisse was a decent striker who had pace to burn and also contributed significantly to Istanbul and Cardiff. Even the much maligned Robbie Keane netted 7 or 8 times in 4 and a half mths! But this lad, Carroll, we’re in uncharted territory here as far as I’m concerned. I mean, I just feel sorry him. Surely that’s a pitiful state of affairs? I swear, I couldent even raise a smile at the jokes the spurs fans were cracking yesterday (both games were simulcast in the bar) everytime he fell over or the ball bounced off him as if he was shaped like a 50 pence piece. And what’s worse, I couldent defend him either. He was atrocious last night. Its not the 4 goals in 12mths thing that gets me. Or even the 35mil price tag, that’s not his fault. What gets me, what I expect from a professional footballer and certainly one wearing red, the very least I expect is for him to be able to trap the ball, find a team-mate ten yards away from ya, you know, the basics! Jesus he just looks to be a really, really poor footballer. I hope Aitch is right and its just confidence. He was right about Lucas, let’s hope its 2 for 2! But as of right now, this moment in time? I must agree with LB, if he played for anyone else I’d have been keeling over laughing it up with the spuds fans last night!

And no LB, I don’t want to talk about the jets Saints for the superbowl

Afternoon all, great job last night. Well chuffed with the performance and to be honest it never felt like city where going to score. Maybe this part of the season we’ll get some of the luck we deserve.
On AC, I was trying to defend him to mates in the bar explaining he hadn’t had a run of games and needed time to get use to a new style of football. Then he got that chance where he held of his man got into a one on one and blasted the ball low and hard into Joe Harts legs. I then cracked up and it was my mates who said it was his wrong foot and tried to defend it but with Hart flying out on the ground how did he not see the chip. Had plenty of time, if he gets tackled it’s a pen just a simple dink and bang big goal against a top side confidence is sky high and you’re up and running!!! I still believe he needs a run of games but that goal would have well and truly had him on his way!!

Now an issue I think needs addressed now that spearing hamstring is away…….. Charlie fuckin Adam!!! I’m growing increasingly worried about the man. The needless tackles the panic passing the fact he has caused us 6 massive points this season already. He needs to get his shop in order and soon if he costs us against the mancs or city I will be fuming. I’ve just got a bad feeling about him. He may start watching Gerrard videos for the next week.
Though for now it’s a great result and will give the team confidence they can beat anyone after beating the best team in the league at home…. and keeping a clean sheet.

Well done redmen!!

Digger, I’m disappointed. I wanted to talk about Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes etc. Not fair. My Patriots ain’t doing too bad. But their defence is going to get them in trouble at some point.

You’re right I was a bit harsh on the likes of Collymore, Keane, Cisse. These were big money signings and actually did some good things in a red shirt. However they must all be labelled big money flops when evaluating their entire Liverpool careers. Andy Carroll takes it to a new level though. It definitely is a confidence thing but even at the top of his game it was a strange signing considering his strengths and how Kenny has us playing. It’s a head scratcher.

People always bring up Lucas any time a player is labelled shite. Well for every Lucas we had a Keane, Dossena, Jimmy Carter, Paul Stewart, Nigel Clough, Morientes. I’ll leave it there. Lucas always could control the ball and find a fucking team mate. The criticism for him was that he didn’t do enough, was weak in the tackle and dwelt on the ball, often getting caught in possession. He was compared to Alonso and Mascherano. Quite rightly so in my eyes as he was replacing them.

Carroll is an entirely different matter. We could compare him to Sean Dundee and he’d still look shit. Jesus Christ when he’s on the ball I’m just waiting for him to fall over it. Like Djimi Troare on a bad day. This is no exaggeration either. He’s been embarrassing and anyone who thinks Newcastle or anyone else will spend £20m to take him needs their sanity evaluated. Seriously.

Kenny fucked up with this one lads.

Roaring Red, don’t get me started on Adam… or Downing. I’ll just piss you lot off for being a miserable bastard. We did in fact beat the best side in the country at their ground. So no more complaints from me for a while.

Still, I hope we do some business in the transfer window. I like Junior Hoilett from Blackburn. His contract runs out in the summer so could get him on the cheap. We need a striker as well or an attacking player who can finish as well as create. If it costs a lot of money f*ck it. We need top 4.

Hi lads, happy new year to you all. It’s great to see so many of you back in here, & it’s especially great to see so many well thought out & informative comments.

I don’t want to make any comment on Luis Suarez, i think any opinion i have on the issue has been more than covered in a far better way than i’d be capable of doing.

So to football matters, what a huge loss Lucas has been, Lfc player of the year last season & he was well on his way to repeating that this season before he was injured. I think only the form of Skyrtl & Agger will keep us in the hunt for a top 4 finish. They’ve been superb this season, the partnership Rafa always wanted!

Can’t see Kenny allowing Carroll to leave, not with Luis suspended. Maybe at the end of the month they could do some sort of swap with Newcastle for Demba Ba, however, i think Manure & Arsenal are both chasing Ba.

Regarding the game last night, we should of had the tie won by half time. But i think we’ll beat them at Anfield comfortably enough, City will struggle without the two Toures & Kompany. A lot of people here in Ireland couldn’t understand why Mancini dropped Shay Given in favour of Hart, but i think it was the right decision. Hart has been great for City.

Finally lads, i’m not sure if the away goals count as double in the Carling Cup, maybe someone can shed some light on that!

Hold on a minute LB. What do you mean by “Kenny fucked up with this one”? For one thing, Kenny wasn’t hired to be an old-school English manager who controls everything going on within the club. That type of manager will most likely not exist in the future when the likes of Ferguson and Wenger retire from the game.

Damien Comolli has been in charge of our transfer activity the last two transfer windows if you need to find a scapegoat for the signing of Carroll. That doesn’t mean Kenny had nothing to do with the signing, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have the final word on it.

I think John Henry said in some big interview (with the Guardian, if I remember correctly) that the signing of Andy Carroll at least partly supposed to be a sign of intent. It was a message to the supporters saying FSG are prepared to spend big money on individual players (even though this particular money came directly from the Torres sale). In hindsight it would have been wiser to act more patiently in order to get more value for money, perhaps in the summer.

The same thing has been said about Downing, and even more about Henderson. I think Hendo will be a very important player for us over the course of time. He may not possess a lot of spectacular skills, but he is very industrious and makes very few mistakes.

Of Downing I’m not certain. So far I haven’t been overwhelmed by his performances, but at least there’s been signs of his quality.

For Carroll however, time might be running out. I personally think some smaller club for jump at the chance of signing him, but not for anywhere near the amount we signed him for.

From what i can gather, the away goals in the Carling Cup only count as double after extra time, so if City are leading 2-1 after 90mins at Anfield the game will go into extra time, if after extra time City are still leading 2-1 they will go through to the final.

LB, i’d be very surprised if Kenny had any say as to whether or not we signed Carroll, he had only been appointed 3 weeks earlier and only in the capacity of caretaker manager. He most likely would of only been asked for his opinion as to whether Carroll could do a job for us, he might not of known how much Lfc were going to pay for Carroll.

Sachem, you’re right. I forgot about Comolli. He fucked up as well. But it really is not about me needing a scape goat. The football club wasted it’s resources on a player that is not good enough for a club of our aspirations. That’s my opinion.

I hate to admit it but there was a hint of panic buying going on in the AC transfer. As for him not being able to to the basics well just look at Walcott of the past few seasons. Headless chicken springs to mind but he’s worked at his game and although he’s no Lionel Messi he’s become a very effective player for the arse and ingerlund. Granted he didn’t cost 35M but the point still stands.

If everyone agrees that its a matter of confidence for AC then isn’t it fair to say that the more people criticise him the more his confidence is likely to drop – I’m sure AC can read fans forums and blog sites so all this criticism won’t do him and ultimately ourselves, any favours.

Ultimately we’ve been spoilt by our history of success. Personally I’m grateful that we are where we are at the moment as I remember just over a year ago we had dumb and dumber as owners and hodge podge as manager and playing the most agonising footy I have ever seen LFC play. Real wrist slitting dire footy.

We are a work in progress and whether AC makes it or not I will keep supporting him and and my team.

On an aside, if AC did leave I hope we don’t sell him to stoke. Can you imagine that, with Crouch and AC as forwards the ball is never going to touch the ground.

Walcott was never this bad. He’s ran up many a blind alley and put in awful crosses time and time again. What he didn’t do was trip over his own feet trying to control a football.

I’m not sure about being spoilt as a Liverpool fan. I reckon a Wigan Athletic fan would be asking serious questions if they spent say £8m on Carroll and he was performing like he is for us.

Hey lads, is John Aldridge well? Just saw him on sky sports news and his speech seemed a bit slured. Was a bit swollen in he face too.

Well I wouldn’t argue too much with your points there LB.

I guess it comes down to semantics/philosophy for me.

Was Lucas shit… or was he playing like shit?
Was he not good enough… or did he have potential?

Ryan Babel had many fans.
Yet he too fell over his feet and ran straight into an opponent more times than he controlled the ball and ghosted past them.
But he had that great shot on him… they would say… completely disregarding the fact that most of his shots ended up causing serious bodily harm to the Season Ticket holders in Row Z.

As Digger pointed out (I’m actually crediting Digger with something… I feel ill… and dirty) Heskey & Collymore at least had a good season before going all Traore on us.
And in response to those who championed Djibril’s case, I reckon most non-believers would actually admit to the possibility that there “was something there” even if we didn’t see it enough.
And okay, for damn sure Morientes was a massive disappointment, who then left us and promptly rediscovered his footballing skills.

So yes… at the moment Andy Carroll does look a bit like the result of some secretly Fungus funded Manchester University Science experiment that combined Sean Dundee’s DNA with Djimi Traore’s RNA… and gave us “a new breed of Super Player”.

And I can understand why some look at him and scoff… I don’t know about wanting to laugh at him yesterday… I actually did… his performance was that inept… but while that is the reality of Andy Carrol we have now… that is far from the Andy Carrol that has been.

Honestly… watching him yesterday, he looked like he knew he was gonna fuck up. His body language and his facial expressions were that of a player who feared fucking up… then promptly made that fear a self-fulfilling prophecy, then said to himself, “yup, knew I was gonna do that.”

The only way he gets past that…
… and maybe this is where I differ on opinion of him…
… I still believe he will get past that…
… Sean Dundee he is not…
… is by playing through it…
… and slipping the ball under Joe Hart next time (or chipping it over him)…
… or twatting that header into the top corner, rather than against the crossbar…

… sure, on his current form, that doesn’t look likely to happen…
… but, on his overall history, you’d have to say… it will…

Small margins make all the difference…

We defend with 11 men for 45 minutes, finish 1-0 and Kenny got his tactics spot on, with a “Valiant Rear Guard Action!”

We defend with 11 men for 45 minutes and Aguerro nets that gift from Kelly, it finishes 1-1 and you can bet your arse all the people praising Kenny for a solidly defending the 1-0 lead, would be complaining about the “dour defensive display!”

Joe Hart moves his leg a few inches differently and Andy Carroll twats one into the bottom corner and the headline is “Carroll shows his worth!”
…Same for Henderson almost identical chance against Sunderland.
… And Downing’s 3 shots against the bar…

When these things don’t come off, a player’s confidence isn’t amplified…
…when they start to think about how, if they had come off, we’d be sitting in 3rd place now looking a title challenge, it starts to erode their confidence… rather than hoping for a rally to challenge for 4th.

So is Andy Carroll shite… or just shite at the moment?
Both, but my money is on the latter and him turning that around.

He could be better than Heskey at his best.
He could make a bigger contribution to LFC than Cisse did.
If he could just catch a break… and a bit of confidence.

As for Diouf… don’t make me laugh. If anyone was our biggest failure it was him.
He was only 10 million, but if amortized into today’s Quids, you can double that…
… and he’s done and dusted, whereas Andy still has the opportunity to come good.
…and let’s be honest, El Hadji was a bigger PR nightmare than Suarez has been, even with the trumped up charges and all that has come with it… (well maybe not, but you get my point.)

I dunno about Walcott LB. I’ve seen him play totally crap many times. The point I was trying to make was that whether we think AC is crap or not were stuck with him at the moment so I feel the best thing to do is stop knocking him. Its not that I think he’s playing well but its best to be a bit patient with him and he may rediscover his barcodes form.

On the subject of ACs poor form I think that one of the main reasons for it is the price tag. I think its playing on his mind. He’s trying to do things on the pitch that he feels justify his price tag and gets himself muddled up and loses the ball. His confidence then drops and its a vicious circle.

As for Cisse he had blinding pace and wasn’t a bad player but when he broke his leg the first time it took something out of him and it finished him off when he broke his other leg.

I think Henderson will go on to be a great player for us.

shit! that compliment of henderson took me by surprise mr barnes from bromley. did not did not see that coming. and i happily agree.

from reading all your comments, i see a pattern emerging where there isn’t a reds fan who wouldn’t like to see AC break the back of the net. its what we all want. we’re desperate to see it.

so we’re thinking positvely, but after watching a game we feel negative, but there’s a lot of hope out there.

so if you are reading this AC, we’re all behind you, now get your haircut, get a shave, lace up your boots on the right feet and show us how wrong we were.

happy new year lads!

great to see everyone back and as vitriolic as ever!

some thoughts….

AC: i see him as a hammer of a left foot and a head. that’s it. he’s good at that. you can’t really argue. give him space to nut it, or swing his left peg at it, and he’s up there with the best. that’s why he was signed… to be the very “finisher” we’re all talking about signing now. problem is… if there’s no space he’s just a lummox. Demba Ba is class all-over and i’d swap him for AC in a New York minute…. but let’s not sign another lummox ‘finisher’ (Bent) with no panache out of desperation for goals. i agree with the earlier comment that AC was signed as a statement of intent to ease the passing of Torres, but I’d defo take Torres back now. he used to make his own space. his decisions were justified in my eyes (having said that, i hope he dies a death if he stays at Chel$ki). is there anyone who’d be disappointed to see the traitor return? c’mon…

Downing: can’t finish for toffee. his shots are so lame they wouldn’t trouble a Samaritan. compare his finishing with Adam Johnson’s – fuckin sweet goals every one of ‘em – and i know we’re all thinking the same thing. goals from midfield win games and SD has to take the brunt of that criticism because we don’t score any. no complaints about his general play (other than the predictable cut-backs rather than the wizardry of his illustrious contemporaries); he just needs to provide goals to justify his inclusion.

Hendo: now this is the “Real Lucas”… does shit all. seems pointless. creates nothing. never scores. will probably be our ‘player of the year’ in a couple of seasons. always ranks top in ‘metres run’….. wish he’d score a goal or 2 though. we already have Lucas in the “don’t expect him to score any” category.

Stevie G: with him back, we can be spoken about in the same breath as the top clubs. without him…. we’re basically Newcastle on a good day. depressing but true. we’re short of world-class players and Stevie is our talisman. he changes everything.

The Defense: Heroes every fuckin one of ‘em. love it. hats off to Kenny for having the balls to drop Carra. our back 5 is the best in the land (Pepe not quite his usual self though… wish he’d save a pen once in a while an’ all).

The Team: great to see us dominate possession again. we dominate everyone. other than the Spurs game, we’ve deserved to win every game this season so let’s remember that, despite the fact that we keep hitting the post and missing penalties! if we could finish, we’d be up there.

great to have a place to vent this shit. just need a Gerry to direct it!

Haha! Somewhere deep in the bowels of Castle Greyskull slur alex is directing a presentation on his last hope at killing off his hated rivals Liverpool: ‘Ladiesh an *hick* an gentl*hick*men, afer my deshpicably brilliant rashishm chargesh plan *hick*, ah think yool all agree ma latesht *hick* plan will be ma besht yet *hick*, ladiesh and gentalmen, after sixsh yearsh in tha lab wi ma schientishts *hick*, ah give yoo, *shlide please* Djimi Dundee! *hick!* All wi ave ta do, is get them up tha road ta buy im an then ah pressh this lil button here an bingo! Manchurian candidate! *hick* (collapses in a pool of own vomit)

So you’ve seen that youtube video too, eh digger?
I thought I was the only one.
Rumor doing the rounds is that it was recorded by Owen Hargreaves on his iPhone, and that’s why Fungus sold him.

Whats this? The Davinci code? Share the joke/link….

theres talk of jermaine defoe wanting away from spurs, would he intrest any of you lads?
its doubtful as kenny has said we wont be active in the transfer window,
yeah lads share the joke

raheem sterling is training with the first team as of today. cant wait to see this lad break into the team

http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2012/01/rafa/
A MUST READ LADS

Kopcolly (204),
a very moving piece that my friend and i think it echo’s every true LFC fan.

On to the AC debate i will stick by him and hope that he will come good as KD and the staff must see something in him that we dont at the moment,
although i must admit that at city the other night he reminded me of a rottweiler on a polished laminate floor.

Hands up if you read the link and had a tear in you eye, I did

yeah lads a great article, i just put it up on rafas website, any of you lads ever check it out? he answers a lot of the questions put to him, a great man with unfinished buisness at anfield,
looking forward to todays game, no predictions from me tho, there talk of coady being on the bench, they say he’s gona be a class act,
would love ac to get on the scoresheet today, feel sorry for the lad,, theres gonna be changes today from wed nite, my team reina glenda skrtel agger jose maxi henderson adam kuyt gerrard kuyt,
come on the redmen!

sorry meant carroll in front of gerrard,

What a fantastic article about Rafa, pretty much sums up my feelings. I hope he returns in the future to finish what he started. I recently bought the new Liverpool replica shirt (the one I bought last year had Torres on the back) and the name I put on the back was “Benitez” with the Number being 1. I figure that shirt is never going to go out of fashion no matter what happens.

Here’s a great link from the man himself

http://www.rafabenitez.com/web/index.php?act=mostrarBlog&id_entrada=57&idioma=in

looks like a flat back 3 , 2 wing backs 3 midfield , 1 in the hole & kuyt up front,
interseting formation,

Did I jinx our defense by praising it? Agger out with a knock today. We all knew it was coming sooner or later.

great to see SAMI back at anfield today,

no champs lge footy next season,
kenny says we dont need to buy in the transfer window,
i disagree

Fucking hell

Andy caroll tday Embarrassing. Stay on your feet man and you might win a header

Bad showing today I think bellers should have started playing coates carra and skerts to try and cope with stokes long balls was pointless as they werent intrested in scoring, should have changed it quicker. We are crying out for a goal scorer FSG are gonna have to find the cash for a world class attacker or as has been said no top four for us.

I’m usually livid with 0-0 draws at home but to be honest I fully expected it. I was looking through our form in all comps this season and we’ve only won three on the bounce once. I’m going to be diplomatic for once and remember that this is only Kennys first season but I fear that we’ve missed a hugh opportunity to break into the fight for forth.
Incase anyone has been to busy looking up the table about what will/maybe happen if we win here/there, if Newcastle win tomorrow they are above us!!! Don’t know about you boys but that’s taken the wind right out of my sails.

Going to watch the highlights tomorrow then swtich off footy for a few days but I will say this anyone using AC as a scapegoat for today needs to wake up I dont need to have seen the game to know that for 70 odd minutes there was 11 other men there SELECTED to do a job. Downing and Adam are going to have to been very unlucky for me to not to be landing blame on their doorstep!!!

Fucking awfull performance today.
The only players who looked up for it were Henderson and Kuyt.

Enrique clearly had absolutely no fuckin idea what a wing back is, or how you play it. We were essentially down to 10 men for large parts of the game with him basically just drifting on the sideline… neither forward, nor back, and always the wrong side of the play or the ball.

Johnson didn;t fair much better, except that he was at least trying… one minute he was a wing back, the next he was inside right, the next he was central midfield or hole, the next he was fuckin center forward… he was all over the place… and again, often running inside, when we needed a wing outlet.
He was finally given the carte-blanche to get forward down the wing, and he didn’t do it.

I can only hope that today was about hoping we could nick a goal with minimal effort while prioritizing the Carling Cup.
As long as we have enough about us to go through to the final, then I’ll chalk this draw/performance up to that… but they better give us a fuckin Cup Final after that display!

Bellers and Andy rested… they better start against Citeh… and fuckin rock them from the off, put them on the back foot and give them a 2 goal deficit to claw back.

But these guys are gonna need to get into gear sooner rather than later or we’ll be lucky to finish 7th.

Man of the Match today… Howard Fuckin Webb for denying us 2 late, clear-cut penalties, that would have enabled a most embarrassing victory.

Aitch it’s not like you to get so frustrated. That tells me i’m gonna be kicking my TV in tomorrow morning!!
Once I saw half time I knew we’d not be scoring, stoke always do this to us and i’d like to kick the fuck outta Pulis for his “murder football” tactics!
We dont strike enough fear into teams for me thats the bottom line!!

7 draws at home, thats shocking,
i seen the team this morning & knew we were in trouble before the whistle blew,
the suporters knew it after 5 mins, we seem to get more support from the travelling kop than we do our home crowd, but its been like that for a few seasons now,

the formation was always going to have us in trouble, nobody knew where there were playing, they were all over the fucking shop, why didnt the bench revert to a 4-4-2 when they seen it wasnt working?
reina was ok, glenda was running round like a headless ckicken, right back right mid centre mid & everywhere fucking else, skrtel was ok, coates was ok also, showed some nice touches, confident on the ball, even made a agger type run into the oppositions box from his own, carra was the carra he has been for the last two seasons, shite, jose played wel in the first half, none existant in the second half, need to staybehind training & learn to cross a ball, downing was dire , apart from the one nice run he made in the early stages of the game he didnt do jack shit else,
adam played so very good balls , very alonso type ball at times, really stuck for pace tho, cant fault him for effort, gerrard ran the game in the first half, again he was a ghost in the second, i’ll put that down to fitness, hendo i thought played well enough, but the lad is so afraid to put his foot into a tackle, even a 70/30 in his favour he’ll pull out of, but i think he’ll be a player when he adapts, kuyt was absolutley shocking in the first 30 , im a kuyt fan but he dissapointed me today,
carroll was getting mauled by huth & shawcross, how webb didnt give us those penos?? i’ll put that down to webb being webb

We are on course to get the least amount of home wins in over 50 years. The lowest amount of home wins we’ve had in the Premiere League era is 9. We’ve won 4 out of 11 so far.

It’s all good and well getting up for big games against City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd and Carling cup quarter and semi finals but it means fuck all if we can’t win against the bottom 14 teams especially at Anfield.

Winning the Carling cup is nice but in the great scheme of things I think it means fuck all. In 2003 we won the carling cup beating Man Utd in the final. A few months later we finished 5th in the league and most of us wanted Houllier sacked. A year later he was sacked.

The holy grail is to finish in the top 4. But you wouldn’t think it watching some of the performances this season.

barnes

winning the carling cup does mean a lot in the great scheme of things. its winning carling cups that still makes us the most decorated club in england, having won more silverware than any other. that is still a source of great pride.

however, we haven’t won the carling cup yet. we haven’t finished the semi-final so people ought to stop counting chickens. i so wish it was a forgone conclusion.

is anyone surprised we drew against stoke, at home?

nah, didn’t think so. for one reason or another, the chances of us bagging 3 against them were slender. stoke have been moulded into nobodies fools by an astute manager who has walked away from LFC fixtures with 4 points in the bag. nice work if you can get it.

tony pulis is putting pride into the heart of the staffordshire club and i, for one, salute him. they play to their strengths and when then want to they can hurt you. canny management.

my predictions for LFC challenging for the league were completely wrong. i hold my hand up for that. but maybe, just maybe, we can walk away with something from this season, something to keep us smiling and hoping.

but right now there ain’t no point denying we’re getting stuck in the mud of january and past failures are returning to haunt us.

no, i don’t think miereles would have made any difference had he stayed. ditto torres. too see many similarities with AC. £85 million and can’t buy a goal between them.

liverpools problems have not been style of play. their problems have been in the six yard box. all the hard work has been done getting us into those positions only to be disappointed when we do.

FSG have little intention of spending and who can blame them. enough investment was made in the summer, maybe not the right choices but the money was there, now it’s not, case closed. make do and mend. spend unwisely and you’ll fall into debt. i wouldn’t want the club to sacrifice long term stability for a short term fix.

we need goals goals goals. i don’t have any answers, but my beloved club need to learn how to score again on a regular basis.

where was maxi today lads?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2086804/Liverpool-forking-500k-month-Anfield-rejects.html
more great news

Just seen the new home & away shirts for next season from warrior, class lads, you are gonna luv these, will try & put them up

fuck kopkolly finally some good news. If you can’t get them up give us a link, can’t wait to see them.

I feel so sorry for AC. Seems to be a nice lad. He needs to calm down his anxiousness (easier said than done maybe meditation can help!!1). He is getting in the way of others, there were couple of instances yesterday. I think lot of our players are suffering from lack of confidence not just AC.

Okay, then let me turn that frown upside down…

Lets not be confusing this draw, with other draws this season at Anfield…
In most of those other games, we twatted the opposition and really should have won them by a few goals…
… okay granted we didn’t win… but the performances were solid, but for the scoring, or lack there of!

This game was not those games.
This game was a poor performance.
I wouldn’t blame the formation.
Personally when I saw it, I thought… “hmmm this should be interesting”
The only surprise for me was that Andy Carroll didn’t start?

The back three did very well.
Skrtel is fast becoming a player I very much like.
Carra was some way back to his old self (the good one, not the dodgy one)
And Coates showed the promise of his purchase.

Where this went horribly wrong was in the wingbacks… coz both Enrique, who was all at sea… and Johnson, who put in more effort, but was also a bit at sea, albeit in a more productive manner overall… both lost the shape…
… and what a wingback system needs is a lot of discipline… which we sorely lacked…
… and a bit of leadership…
… of which there was some… but not enough, and certainly not directed correctly, or at the right times…

There have been plenty of suggestions for playing Johnson at right midfield…
…and Enrique has often gotten past his man down the line…
…so WHY…
… when given almost total license to do so with only marginal defensive responsibility…
…did NEITHER man really do it??

And WHY… when we could see it wasn’t happening, did we not do something about it?

The back 3 and Stevie and Adam, spent the entire first 45 minutes yelling, gesturing at, and coaxing Enrique to get forward, yet still he hung back… and he was playing down the bench side???
It was just weird.

Credit to Stoke… they did what they do… and they got away with the 2 pens… which frankly would have been a bit of an embarrassing win… and left with the point they fully intended to muscle…
… but like I said a few comments ago…
… we can’t be complaining no more about “parking the bus” when that’s exactly how we walked from the Emirates with a 1 goal lead for the 2nd leg.

Part of leadership, is recognizing that you aren;t going to thread it through a defense like that… and getting into positions to have a pop from 25 yards.
How many goals does Lumpy score doing that?
How many has Scholes scored doing it?

Leadership includes tactically mixing it up on the field… within whatever your gameplan was.

This was perhaps the most unentertaining game I’ve seen all season.
I was honestly glad it was over, when Webb blew his whistle.
And it was a disappointing loss of 2 points (just like all the others)…
… BUT…

lest we forget… this time last year, we were doing this under Hodgson…
…in 16th place…
.. and had been bouncing between 12th and 16th for the better part of 2 months…
… before then marching to 7th.

Whereas we currently sit 6th (7th if Newcy win)… with that march yet before us.
… so all is NOT lost by any means.

We have a SemiFinal 2nd leg, with advantage to us.
We have an FA Cup tie against our “nehgro brothers”
And we still have plenty of points to play for… from an okay position.

Of course it could be better.
Of course it SHOULD be better.
But this is where we are… and it IS better than last January!

We’ll differ on player ratings… but for all their shortcomings, the worst in this squad is capable of more… and the best… well we haven’t seen their best yet… so there’s plenty more hope than this time last year also…
… when we were relying on kids at left back and right back, and Ngog for goals…

So yes…
…today was shite…
…we dropped 2 more points…
… and it was all a little embarrassing…
… but…
…that’s already in the past
… and I’ll put faith in Kenny to get things sorted…

As much as we analyze our performances this season, the fact of the matter is we are simply devoid of creativity in the final 3rd.

Kenny knows it perhaps and only if we can bring in quality in our attacking play, a top 4 finish is possible.

I will consider a Carling Cup/FA Cup win as a successful season. Top 4 looks very difficult with this team(Specially Andy Caroll & Co).

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/hillsborough-mum-wants-your-help
LADS PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION, PLEASE!

Today like everyday proves SG is way above everyone else we currently have. Other than that we just go about our business but forget one part, the scoring.
.
Our defence is title winning while our attack is relegation. If our away form wasn’t as good we would be in the relegation spots.
.
Our defence has been amazing, we need wingers, a dribbling attacking midfielder and a striker. AC just isn’t at the races at the moment but really he hasn’t since he signed a two goal stint at City, thats about his highlights you tube package.
.
For a big man he’s very soft, not what you expect for a toon number 9, supermack would have put you and half your defence in the can.
.
Anyway when we do get things right up the pinpoint end the titles a real possibility.
.
Anyway it must be getting close to another apology, what do you think TIA.

roarin-red , sorry lad cant get them up, being trying but im far from a comp geek, are you on facebook? i have them on my facebook page if ya wanna see them, let me know & i’ll look for ya or anyone else that wants a look at them

Here Lads, does anyone know how to sign in through word press on the iphone?? I can get the blog up but cant get signed in. Any help would be appricated.

Kopcolly search for me under Paul Burns its a photo painting of me and my daughter. cheers.

roarin it should be straight forward, just click on logged in, wordpress comes up, enter user name , enter password , click log in , bobs ur uncle & fannys ur aunt, thats how it works for me anyway,
will search for ya on facebook after the giants get there balls handed to them on a plate by the packers!

roarin-red, fuckin hell have you any idea how many paul burns there are on fb?:-)
just spent half hr going thru them & cant find ya mate, try searchin me, colin breen , pic of my youngest in a bouncer is my profile pic

Meireles, Maxi are the difference from last season. We sold one and will sell the other soon seemingly as he is not even getting into the squad.
It is mind baffling to say the least why Maxi does not play. Almost every game he plays he scores or at least gets into positions where he can score and influence goals. Gerrard is another player who can do that but he was played too deep.
On top of this we have sold players like Benayoun and Meireles who were also attacking MFs who ghosted into the box and supplemented to our goal tally.
Bellamy and Maxi are probably our only players who can do that as is Kuyt, but with no one to play off we even managed to make Kuyt look ineffective. As useless as Carroll is, he would have made Kuyt a lot more effective.
KD can blame the season on FA’s Suarez ruling as well as losing Lucas which would have given players like Adam and Gerrard the license to push up more.
If we are to get “closer” to the top 4 we need to sign Porto’s Reges who will be the answer to many of our problems in MF. It goes without saying, how much better off would we have been had Lucas not been out injured or if Lucas allowed Gerrard/Adam more license to go forwards. It is easy to see the difference when Yaya Toure is not playing at Man City. Arsenal have struggled to win anything since losing Viera as have Chelsea without Makelele or a fit Essien when they were most dominant.
I don’t doubt we need another striker because of the Suarez ban and our general impotence in front of goal but how much can be attributed to our shape? There is no guarantee that a new striker will bang goals in if our build up is slow and there is no creativity.
Steve Clark has sorted out our leaking defence but there was nothing free flowing, creative or remotely threatening in our display against Stoke and against Man City if we hadn’t gotten the penalty it may have been a different game. Credit to Hart for the several World Class saves he pulled off though.
Back to the Stoke game, Enrique was playing with a stomach bug so we should have played Robinson, Flanaghan, Aurelio or even Johnson ahead of him at left back with Kelly on the right.
Kuyt was ineffective, stranded on his own chasing aimless passes so we should have played Carroll upfront with him for him to play off.
Shelvey has looked impressive almost every game he has played. Why is he not playing?
KD is a legend but he is quickly running out of excuses and I only hope we bring in Reges from Porto as Lucas’s cover as we won’t see the best of Adam or Gerrard playing them deep and giving them defensive responsibilities. This in my opinion is just as problematic, if not more serious than not having wingers that provide assists and score and strikers who are not scoring. It is the shape of the team that is affecting our overall display.
I am confident if Gerrard, Adam and Henderson are given less defensive responsibilities and the license to push forwards we will see more chances created, more mobility and even Downing and Carroll will benefit from this.
Daglish’s teams selection suggests he was resting a few players for the City game. As important as winning a trophy will be for moral should winning the Carling Cup be prioritized over a 4th place finish?! Because this is what the team selection is suggesting. We are only 5 points off the top 4 but that gap can soon widen with our poor form at home and our inability to pick up maximum points against the so called minnow teams.
If we had won just 3 out of the 7 home draws we will be in the top 4. We will just have to hope that Arsenal and Chelsea continue flattering to deceive and New Castle will run out of steam because the way I see it the two Manc Clubs and Spurs are nailed on for the top 3 spots.
After years of watching Liverpool scrape the bottom of the barrel for transfer bargains under Rafa Benitez, due to his hands tied by Tom Hicks, George Gillett and MD Purslow, at the very least it’s fair to say that six months on from the club’s first opportunity to buy without having to sell first that increase in funds appears to have made very little difference on the pitch. With sixteen days left in the January window, one can only hope that Liverpool’s owners are still willing to spend despite disappointing overall returns from previous windows.
We have been linked with many players but if our funds are limited I hope we sign two or three from the following Fernando Reges, Maurio Zarate and David Texeira. At least the last striker mentioned maybe a realistic possibility.

Sorry for the lack of an indent between the paragraphs.
Just to make it clear to everyone I am not from the knee jerk, blasphemous sack KD brigade. I hope he has time to get it right and that we pick up the sort of form we had at the end of last season when we were making a push for Europe from 16th place.

I hope Downing and Carroll start producing the goods sooner than later and we ger Suarez back soon after his ban and he instantly clicks with Gerrard.

If we sell Cole and even Kuyt who has been a great servant to the club it should provide us with enough to get some players to freshen up the squad.

i think the biggest problem is that we don’t flood the box when we have the chance.

how often do you see the ball crossed into the middle where there’s 1 or 2 red shirts surrounded by 5 or 6 opponents? every attack seems to be a low percentage ball hit mainly in hope rather than a deadly ball slid across the 6 yard box with a group of attackers waiting to finish it off.

this seems to be the biggest problem with Hendo. i personally believe he’s a better player than Maxi, it’s just that Maxi knows how to pop up in the box. Hendo runs a lot… so maybe he should run towards goal a bit more often.

this is the biggest problem with Downing… he’s rarely attacking the far post anticipating an over-hit cross.

this is the problem with AC. if he had half the positional sense of Hernandez, he wouldn’t need luck or power to put the ball in the net.

Adam doesn’t pop up on the edge of the box like he did for Blackpool to smash in the scraps….

what’s going on??!!

we control play well in our opponent’s half. Adam regularly finds our full-backs with long sprayed passes, but when Enrique and Johnson whip it in, there’s no one there. just a frustrated-looking Carroll and a crescent of red shirts outside the box to collect the ball and start again. mid-fielders score when they take a chance and get in that box. we need to pour forward in our attacks rather than pass the ball around with slow, deliberate build-ups followed by impotent crosses.

None of Hendo, Downing or Carroll look like they expect to score goals. if you don’t expect to score, you never will.

Kuyt had another howler.Time to ditch the clown.No Maxi, no goals.Terrible return for all the money spent.Evans was sacked for finishing third ! Can’t believe we are behind Newcastle.Carroll, shite as usual.Kenny, Mr Untouchable ?

Good man Kopcolly, however should have mentioned I tried loggin in that way but after I’ve put my user name in and password it doesn’t procced any further……not to worry I’ll work it out.
Loving those new tops they look the part. Tell me this are the one’s with the liverbird logo on the sleeve not finalized yet? or is it two different tops?

Yokohama to be fair benny and meireles wanted to leave as shit as that is some players aren’t prepared to hang about and wait on opportunities. Its starting to look like maxi may quit too and that would be a shame. I never fully warmed to him but he’s scored some important goals this season and too be honest i’m stumped on why he didn’t start either!!!

Come on Burgerman that’s a bit harsh on Dirk. Ok, an average footballer he may be but he’s spent the best years of his career running himself into the ground for the Liver bird sscoring 50 odd goals along the way, many of them vital. So no mate, not having that. Has his ttime come? Probably. But to call the man a clown is just wrong man. Wtf?

Anyway… Some good points there Yokohama. Can’t say I disagree with you on Meireles. In fact I said it 6mths before you! Its always easy to call something after the fact but myself and a couple of others highlighted this folly in the Summer and I take no satisfaction in pointing at the chickens that are home to roost on that front. Oh how we could have done with a goal scoring midfield link man for the last 5mths. But it is what it is. Its done now and can’t be undone. Kenny has made mistakes. Of that there is no question. Let’s hope he puts them right.

What a game last night LB! Giants went into Lambeau and laid down a bitchslappin! The town went mental here last night, suffering today man!

I think we need to get away from this buy only English jazz. The english players we have bought have been overpriced and are not doing the business. There are a lot of top quality players out there so why not?
I must say, this season is a lot more frustrating than last season. Last season I expected nothing from Hodgson and got nothing. This season I expected a lot more and it’s just not happening.
People still say that Carroll is young and will come good but he just doesn’t seem to have much technically so I’m not sure how he will come good unless he improves technically, which usually happens when you are younger.

Roarin Red, the point is why were/are we not giving players like Benayoun, Meireles and Maxi more time on the pitch?

Henderson I understand was bought for the future (esp. after Gerrard retires), Adam was brought in to add to our squad depth and play the Murphy, Alonso role while Gerrard was out and Downing was supposedly the answer to our width.

Meireles and Maxi played exceptionally well last season and were all of a sudden marginalised by the new, expensive British players. Furthermore Raul was hoping to get an increase from his 30k a week to something more befitting of his talents and efforts but as Henry was trying to decrease the wage bill of the squad I suppose this was never going to happen, which is a pity.

Yup. Madness Yokohama, pure madness. For me the sale of Meireles ranks up with the criminally premature release of Beardsley and the disgraceful treatment of and eventual sale of Fowler in the shoot-yourself-in-the-foot hall of shame. Just awful awful decisions that defy logic or reason. 30K? Ngog was making more for fuck sake. We made him an offer he couldent refuse; ‘you wont pay me what I’m worth? See ya….’ Shocking lack of foresight and awareness of his true value to the team. I said in the Summer we’ve all seen before what happens when you sell your player of the year and lo and behold….(note: for my money he was our best player last season). It is no great surprise to me that we have lacked that bit of guile, that defense picker, that late arrival in the box. We sold it. What price a potential 6 goals and 5 assists now? 4th place would be my guess sadly. But, the milk is spilled now. No point crying about it they say!

We’ve scored 24 goals n 21 games. We played with 3 upfront against Stoke. Downing, Kuyt, Henderson. The 3 of them put together have one goal and zero assists all season. Lol. If I don’t chuckle I’ll despair. We couldn’t finish our dinner.

Digger, the Green Bay Packers were an embarrassment to the NFL last night. 8 drops catches and 5 turnovers. Aaron Rogers best quarterback of all time? Ha!

@Yokohama Liverpool Fan,Henderson will be a good player for us but an eventual replacement for Steven Gerrard he aint.
As for Carroll we can only hope rediscovers the form which convinced us to spend a fortune on him,personally I think he should just goal hang he seems to keep dropping back into midfield and then he does not have the speed to get back in the box when we are attacking
most of his problems I suspect are to do with confidence.
we really need to invest in some attacking players,even before Suarez’s ban we were struggling for goals 1st we need a top level goalscorer with real pace.2nd a genuine winger with pace and tricks and a eye for goal 3rd a defensive central midfielder.I think we are sound enough at the back we have cover in all positions I do hope though that Dagger and Ninja stay fit and Carragher remains benched.
Kuyt is finished for me I have never rated him and the sooner we get him off the wage bill the better,money that would be better spent on 1st team contracts for Krisztián Adorján,Suso and Raheem Stirling 3 outstanding prospects.
Also if Charlie Adam is at the peak of physical condition at the moment then he will never improve(in the words of Alan Hansen critiquing Shevchenko “he canna run”).
Someone needs to have a word with Downing he has the tools he just does not use them,he has pace to burn and needs to go for the throat more,he seems like he’s trying to avoid mistakes and always seems to play it safe.
We have a decent squad but it needs minor surgery,at the moment the best we can hope for is a sixth place finish,Arsenal and Chelsea are faltering at the moment but we are not in a position to take advantage because there aren’t enough goals in the team.
YNWA

Digger/yokohama

although i liked miereles as a player, his absence is not the difference. i don’t envy him playing for chelsea at all.

for me our midfield has done a lot to get us into those positions. we have, till the final third, played lovely pass and move.

perhaps miereles would have stumped up 2 or 3 goals AT Most, but he would have run out of ideas eventually.

we have scared opposition several times this season, but if you do not take your chances, the opposition become less scared and more confident.

take arsenal and chelsea. lower league teams see the turmoil and do not fear them, making their results inconsistent, whereas they fear spuds, citeh and the scum.

i have a question to ask having just watched old clips of sami scoring headers from corners back in the day.

can anyone tell me who devised this amazing strategy of big AC getting NFL style protection from skittles from corners?

i’m pretty tired of seeing this tactic. it seems to detract from plain heading the ball into the back of the net.

is this the link to warrior kits:

http://www.footballshirtculture.com/fantasy-kit-design/fantasy-kit-design/liverpool-12/13-warrior-kits-ver.2-15223.html

London Red I agree that Henderson is not a like for like replacement because he doesn’t have Gerrard’s drive, ability or quality. Maybe eventually more of a Lampard type if he gets into scoring positions more or even a Lucas type if he sits back and improves his defending. I understand he was signed for his assists for Sunderland the previous season but didn’t think he would be starting in right MF of all places ahead of more designated wide players we have at our disposal.

I can’t help but think in the summer KD and Commoli in buying young upcoming British talent were going for Phil Jones and Henderson to build Liverpool’s future, an English backbone to replace Carra and Stevie eventually. Shelvey also looks very promising.

I’m glad we got Coates as well. He cost a fraction of what Jones and Cahill would have cost and has the potential to be great. If we are as patient as we are with him as we were with Skrtel and Lucas I am sure it would pay dividends.

Bludred, it is the runs from Meireles that catches defenders out or makes space for somebody else to have a pop. He was a key component in the pass and move (in the attacking sense) in the final 3rd. Because we seldom make runs into the box (esp. when Bellamy, Maxi and Suarez are not playing) we are not finishing teams off. It would have only taken 2 or 3 goals from him this season to have changed the 0-0s and 1-1 draws into wins. 6 more points will put us in 4th place ahead of Chelsea and 10 points behind City.

We are also expecting Downing to do a Messi and beat 2-3 players, cross with his weaker foot or score a belter after cutting in from the right onto his favoured foot. When he does put in a cross the likelihood of it hitting Carroll’s head (if he is in the position to get onto the end of them) and the odds of it going in the back of the net are about as likely as us signing a lethal striker within this January window.

On the topic of statistics I wonder what Maxi has done wrong to be one of the best contributors towards goals vs minutes on the pitch and not even being included in the squad. If I was Maxi I will be wondering what I would have to do to get a game. Whenever he scores he is rested the next match or not even included in the squad this season. Does anyone know if the reason for him being ignored may be related to us trying to sell him in this transfer window?? God help us if he is leaving.

liverpool to play 3 game is US from jne 20th thru july 4th, fenway park, yankee stadim & wrigley field, other teams included , roma celtic & chel$ki,
cant wait

Copied from the official site…

Over 35,000 people have signed an e-petition calling for a new inquest into the death of Kevin Williams at Hillsborough but 65,000 more signatures are still required before Thursday.

Please sign the petition here…
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/19149

This season’s home league form has been worse than under Hodgson.Having played 1 game more , Kenny has 1 point less.If he finishes 30 points from the top (as in 2004), I can’t see him staying on.Swapping Bent for Carroll would be great business.Diof , Diao and Cheyrou were better than the donkey’s bought by Kenny.

burgerbrain thats some (drive-by) statement there. So yeah lets get rid of Kenny and bring back Houllier so we can watch the likes of Traore, Biscan, the ged sisters and of course Emile Heskey.

Once we get relegated we can bring back Souness with Jamie Redcrapp as his assistant and enjoy our footy in the championship. At least that way all the glory hunting “supporters” (excuse me while I chuckle at the notion of supporters) can bugger off and “support” the mancs and chelski.

I hear that “supporting” the spuds is becoming quite fashionable at the moment.

You could then turn up at white hart lane in your burgermobile and sell cheeseburgers to the yids while exchanging pleasantries and eulogising about how great appy arry the wheeler dealer is.

In fact lets get rid of Kenny now as I understand that Angry Gay and chubacca are available and they know their footy right?

Fuck*&g hell! Has anyone anything positive to say?

Elbmw,
yes i have something positive to say “BURGERBRAIN, WHY DONT YOU FUCK OFF KID, YOU’VE GOT THE IQ OF A ROCKING HORSE”.
Kopcolly (232) signed the petition mate, dont know if i have told you lad’s here that i was at Hillsborough with my wife’s brother (I was in the stands so was’nt in any immediate danger) but on the way out i saw scenes that will be with me for the rest of my life, so God bless and love all those poor people who lost family that awful day.

WOW
Some of you really just don’t think before you type!
Either that, or you really do know nothing about football.

Yes, yes, we are all entitled to our opinions, blah, blah…
…but I’m sorry, if your opinion is that …
“Diof , Diao and Cheyrou were better than the donkey’s bought by Kenny”

… then you are either a fuckin total Wind Up Merchant… or a complete fuckin idiot!

At their best, those 3 players are worse than any of Kenny’s buys at their worst… and yes, that includes Andy Carroll, who while he isn’t playing well, is twice the fuckin footballer Darren Fuckin Bent is.

I watched a few Chav and Arse games recently… to see how they are doing… the performances not the results…
… you know… was the Chavs win over Wolves the result of a dominant performance, or simply the ball rebounding off the crossbar, onto Lampards dick and then rolling across the line.
Were Arsenal unlucky against Swansea or did they get schooled by a “lower” team?
… that sort of thing.

But to my dismay, I appear to have been completely hoodwinked by SkySports…
… into watching their fuckin Reserve fictures!
… coz at no time have I seen Meireles dominating Chelsea’s midfield for 90 minutes week-in, week-out.
… nor have I even seen Bennayoun in an Arsenal shirt. (is he even still at Arsenal?)

… so the only explanation I can find, is that they’ve been hoodwinking me with reserve games…. Denying me the sheer joy of watching these two ex-reds boss our rival’s midfield.

Look… both players were good.
Both players gave good service to LFC in their time.
I did, as it happens, like both of those players, and was somewhat sorry to see them go…
…But let’s steady on about how if they were both still here, we’d be challenging for the title, coz both players have done “fuck all” since moving to their new clubs.

Though, I will admit that I think Meireles could have contributed had he stayed… but then again so could Nando… but neither player wanted to stay… or they’d still fuckin be here!

This club was in dire straights.
Much of what is great about the club had been systematically dismantled.
It had become a segmented dysfunctional mess.
It needed overhauling from top to bottom… both on, and off the field.

Just 15 months ago, we were “2 minutes to midnight”, defcon 4, on the brink of a possible points deduction and administration.
Just 11 months ago, we were flirting seriously with relegation, under the stewardship of that most prolific of face rubbers. (you know, the one with the “better home record” than our current manager.)

Too ManyReds Fans seem to (want to?) forget all this…
Too Many Reds Fans celebrated the sale of the club and thought, “right, thank god all that’s over with, that’s it then… title here we come.”
Too Many Reds Fans ignored just how much damage was being done, had been done to Our Club.
The Repair Work hasn’t been done… it isn’t over… it is ongoing. (and likely will be for a while yet.)

Yes we all want to get back in amongst the trophies… but panicking like we were Blackburn, or QPR, is not the way to get there.

When Ian Rush first came to us, they nearly sent him back to Chester.
Thank God sane men prevailed.
When Peter Beardsley first came to us, he fell over his own feet.
Thank God sane men persisted with him.
LFC’s history is as full of players taking a while to find their feet, as it is of those who hit the ground running.

We have the right owners.
We have the right Manager.
We have the right players… who just need to be added to.

Poulsen, Konchesky, Cole, Ngog, Insua, Biscan, Traore, Cheyrou, Diouf, Diao…
…. don’t make me fuckin laugh by comparing those names to …
…. Adam, Henderson, Downing, Carroll…

Try to think… before you type.

A ball in off the post just twice, instead of 19 times coming out off it.
A keeper moving his leg, just one inch the wrong way twice, instead of umpteen times the right way.
Just TWO of EIGHT keepers, not having the game of his life against us.

Give me that… and we’d be competing for the title right now.

Last January, we were playing dour defensive football… not occasionally, but every week… against Scum under Hodgson, we never even attempted to venture across the halfway line for 45 minutes.
Last January, we were one spot above the relegation zone.
Yet last May we finished 7th.

This January, we’ve hit the bar 19 times.
Forced 8 keepers to play out of their skin.
…and we are already in 7th with half a season yet to play.
And we are 90 minutes away from a Cup Final.

To compare last season to this is to make yourself appear the fool.

Of course its not all rosey and sunshine….
… of course we need to do better…
… I suspect the frustration is because we could be in such a better position, if things had just gone a bit better for us… we all of us feel that…
… but we are in a far better position this season, than last…
… and with a far better squad.

As for “buying English”
… yes this seems like a “failed policy” at the moment.
But remember that it was a policy designed for the long-term.
We can now buy 6 foreign stars … and still meet UEFA minimum “home grown” quotas.
Only Scum among our immediate rivals can match that. (and as good as Young and Jones started, they’ve both gone off the boil.)
Arsenal, Chelsea and City will need to buy several English players… and soon!
Spurs still need a couple.

And at least 7 of those post-hits and 5 of those last-ditch keeper saves were against Downing, Hendo and Andy…
… if they’d gone in… would you be calling it a failed policy then???

The Stoke game was an aberration, not some perceived norm.
The only other game that falls into that category is the Spurs match… and there were 2 nonsensical red cards to factor into that game.

No… by and large, we’ve played well, and we’ve done more than enough to win games, but haven’t.

I’m not Downing’s biggest fan and he has frustrated me to no end this season… he seems to be struggling to adapt to the higher pressure at LFC… but its obvious that a goal or two early on and we’d be watching a different player right now.

Henderson has looked a bit lost on occasion… but again, you can see the lad has something… and he has certainly realized of late, that what is minimally required of him is that he puts in a shift! And likewise, a goal or two will do the lads confidence the world of good.

And then there’s Andy… he looks terrified to make a mistake… and that is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You can see it in his body language and on his face… the ball is coming to him and he’s tensing up coz he doesn’t want to fuck up… but in tensing up, he fucks up.
Downing is doing it too, albeit to a lesser degree, but particularly when lining up a shot.

It takes time to work your way out of that… sometimes a few games… sometimes a few months, sometimes more than that.
But Andy Carroll is not Salif Diao, or El Hadji Diouf, or Bruno Fuckin Cheyrou…
…and when he does get his shit together… he won’t be Darren Fuckin Bent neither, he’ll be much, much better than that.
Of course… he may never recover his form… (under Hodgson’s face rubbing guidance, that wouldn’t surprise me)
… but under Kenny’s tutelage, I can’t really see that happening.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/remembering-gary-ablett
RIP GARY YNWA!

theredman, i cant imagine the horrific sights you seen that day,im sure it still haunts you today, i remember watching it live on grandstand ,
this petition need to reach 100 thousand by thursday or Ann williams will never get justice for her son brian who was 15 yrs old, so lads if ya hav’nt done so get on it!
roarin ,not sure if the shirts have been finalised but i like the ones with the liverbird across the shoulder, very smart i think,
on the news of the US tour in the summer, how many of us in here are living in the US? i know aitch & digger are, & im hoping to get a bit of a kopblog gathering going to all if not some of the game, i for sure will be at all of them come hell or high water,
& if theres any of you lads thinking of traveling over for the tour im sure we could try to accomodate some, here in new york anyway , RIGHT DIGGER?

well said aitch lad. but don’t let ‘em get to you.

yokohama, that’s what i mean about miereles, decent player, i personally loved him, didn’t like the way he chose the side exit from LFC but i didn’t give a toss either.

once someone walks out on the greatest club in the world they are pretty much forgotten. the most i wondered about miereles was where the fuck he suddenly got the mohawk from cos the fella was bald as a coot when he left and turned up in a blue shirt looking like daniel day lewis with a musket.

but as some crazy yank on this web, that dog don’t hunt. take him or leave him, fuck him he’s gone and ain’t never coming back.

i’m afraid old aitch is right on this one. i had high hopes for LFC this season but it hasn’t gone to plan (SO FAR). we are no longer in the wilderness. oh brother can we see the promised land, but its gonna take a bit longer to get there than we hoped.

so sit back and enjoy the scenery. we are in the chelski/arsenal zone. we will beat big teams, no doubt, but small teams will peck at our flesh like harpies, damn them to hell!!

you never know, liverpool might just have a thing or two to say at the end of things in may. you never know. amen and roger that!!!

according to anncelotti he has been offered torres in the transfer window, interesting, ok who would take him back ?????

Burgerman

there was a time when this site was teetering on it’s last legs and we were down to a couple of weary bloggers with internet connection fast enough to load thru 1,500 comments. the place was quieter that emirates on a match day.

what i wouldn’t have given for your acerbic with to punctuate the tumbleweed in those moments of gloom and doom for kopblog.

but you were no where to be seen. not a syllable sent from your qwerty keyboard.

now the site is up and running suddenly back comes the spineless bitchy little dog, yip-yip-yapping away, scratching at the door for a bone.

ahh its good to have you back old boy. we need somebody to kick every now and then when things turn bad.

welcome back burgerman.

Christ the very thought of Me and Digger in the same zip code is frightening… sends a bloody shiver down the spine.
Adults are buying tickets on the first available flight out of town… and buses and trains would be full to capacity.
Rental cars then become unavailable.
Children are cowering in shadowy corners, rocking back and forth, mumbling “go to a happy place, go to a happy place.”
President Obama has already instructed Norad to go to Defcon 2, at the merest of possibility.
Bedlam, Armaggedon, perhaps Total Devastation to the City of New York…
…all sounds a bit risky???

I can’t honestly see Torres coming back kopcolly.

…and I was firmly in the “Fredo you broke my heart” category regarding his departure…
…but…

… it would all depend on his relationship with the players he left behind…
… and based on the treatment Agger gave him…
… I’m not so sure it was a good one???

But Stevie almost left us for the Chavs, so maybe he has forgiveness in his heart… and maybe we’ve had some water under the bridge to allow others’ sense of betrayal to wane…
… and if that’s the case, then maybe, just maybe, he can find a way back…

… of course there then has to be a full-bore PR campaign for him to be openly and publicly contright, to get the fans to forgive him…
… if that were done right…
…(and the price was <20 million) then maybe he could come back…
… but… he'd have to hit the ground running and prove himself all over again…

… to be honest… its the wrong direction.
He had his chance… he blew it…
If we have to splooge 20 million on someone… let it be a new young hottie…
… not the old slag you used to bang…

RIP Gary Ablett.YNWA.

Aitch,yet again an excellently articulated post.Youre spot on. We have the right owners and right manager to spend the next couple years building the right team. Bit ridiculous that we have to occasionally defend Kenny against brainshy idiots who can think of nothing better to do than show up and have a pop at him after we drop points or have an off day…
which leads me onto you Burger mate. I refer you to comment #33 and congratulate you. Some sandpaper is promptly on its way. I will send some extra for to keep for the next time we have a draw result or a bad performance. Chances are im sure you will have plenty more Kenny vs Hodgson vomit to spew by then.

For a bit of perspective…
… here is a comment from a Manc supporter, following the FA Cup Draw…

“Oh well, I guess we’ll have to win it the hard way.”

Note, there was no…
“woohoo, we’re through then, these fuckers can’t score to save their lives.”
“Their midfield is worse than when they had Diao and Diouf”

No… “we’ll have to do it the hard way.”

LFC hasn’t been getting the results we need…
…but we are far from the fallen giant some want us to be…
…and almost became under their fuckin lapdog Hodgson.

Fungus knows it… hence his well orchestrated attacks on Suarez.
And Manc fans know it.
I reckon you’d find more than just a few Citeh fans who are a bit worried about next week.
Pity some of our own can’t see it.

aitch, do you plan to go to any of the game? or is it to early to decide?
on torres , broken heart in deed my good man, fucksake i named me feckin dog nando after the old slag, poor fuckin dog gets a boot every time i see himself in blue,
20 mill, an apology & a goal on his debut i think all would be forgiven, me heart says yeah me head says neh!

Aitch I myself seen that exact comment and if you looked through a few more of them they where all of that ilk!!

Infact quite a few claimed the draw was a “fix” and that man u always get the hard draws!!!!

Even though they would never admit it they know there games against us are far from a sure thing!! Personally they have never from that 1-4 drubbing!!

kopcolly I really like the logo on the sleave but the more I looked at it I thought it looked a bit kiddie. The other top with the discrete logo on the breast do look very professional. Ever or I’ll be happy with.

Ps If i manage to get a monster bet up or win the lotto the whole kopblog on tour will be on me…… until then I look forward on hearing your stories.

bizarre that you lot still get irked by burgerman. surely you realise that his whole raison d’etre is to get a bite. he does think very carefully before he types… “hmm how can i annoy aitch”

what would you lads think of signing Defoe? he could be just the kind of predatory player we need.

someone asked why we haven’t been playing Maxi. personally, i don’t think he’s quite good enough to start for us. like i said before, i’d rather Hendo played, i just wish he’d pop in the box like Maxi does. i don’t think Maxi contributes enough else to be honest. he’s often very quiet other than his goals. teach Hendo how to get in the box better and i think Kenny’s right to start him over Maxi…. (i’d prefer to see Bellamy at the moment though)

i agree with another comment (sorry, never remember who said what, and the comment box is stupidly at the wrong end of the page) that our midfield is actually playing really well. we dominated city and scum at home and should’ve won both games. we should’ve won all of them really (except spurs and swansea). we have a good team. we’re very rarely out-played… we just can’t score goals!

so what do we need? i reckon a small, direct, skillful midfielder in the vein of Modric and Mata… a pocket rocket to inject some energy into our attacks.

maybe Suarez is that man. bring him back into midfield and sign a forward. he bursts forward with the ball, takes players on, loves to give and go…. exactly what we’re lacking, for all our dominance in possession. i like him with players in front of him.

not sure he’d go for it of course, but if he was given a free role behind the striker, he might enjoy creating rather than getting frustrated with those behind him. he’d also provide plenty of goals from midfield.

i suppose that was probably Kenny’s plan anyway when he signed Carroll… to play Downing/Bellamy, Gerrard, and Suarez switching around him… but with Andy’s poor form, Kenny’s been forced to play Suarez as our main striker.

i know Suarez is a striker… but i reckon he’s more of a creator/provider/scorer than an out-and-out centre forward.

imagine an LFC line-up with Defoe, Bellamy, Suarez, and Gerrard. it’s a bit small i suppose but it’s fantastically dynamic. i’m sure we’d see a lot more bodies in the box anyway!

AC doesn’t need to be sold in my opinion. i believe he still has something to offer. it’s almost worth loaning him out to get his confidence back before it’s gone forever though.

Sambo, you’re probably right with Maxi’s overall game but against teams like Stoke that are happy to sit back in the last 15 minutes and defend their 0-0 draw, it would help if we had Maxi in the box, getting into the positions to score and not just lobbing countless balls to Carroll’s head with nobody else following up.

If we get a striker this transfer window: Scott Sinclair (who can also play out wide), Moussa Sow or David Texeira probably being the most realistic of targets they will probably play up front ahead of Suarez and Suarez will become the 2nd striker. Kuyt is on his last legs so I can see Sinclair being his replacement and the new striker Texeira or Sow will be to add extra depth and rotate with Carroll.

I think when Suarez was first bought, he was supposed to form a deadly partnership with Torres but unfortunately the lack of trophies/European football and the prospect of playing for a Liverpool team under construction led to him leaving. Meireles I think left because of the 30k he was on and the promises of a pay raise not being honoured, not to mention the competition Henderson and Adam were going to cause.

If Kenny can get 2-3 players this window on the cheap, then hopefully Sinclair, Sow/Texeira will solve a lot of our problems and maybe a creative player like Gaston Ramirez (also Uruguayan) might be possible if we sell Cole this window. The #10 squad number is still available. With less than 2 weeks left in the window I am eagerly anticipating at least 1 purchase.

Regarding the DMF position left vacant by Lucas we seem to be coping fine but at the expense of Adam and Gerrard playing deep. With Spearing also out injured it will be interesting to see if address this hole as well. Maybe Henderson can fill this hole but I’m afraid if we don’t we may dominate possession but won’t be as ambitious going forwards and that was the case against Stoke and an understrength Man City side that we managed to scrape a 1-0 lead against for the 1st leg. With games still left in the league against Man U, Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal if I am not mistaken it may be a good idea to sign a powerful DMF which won’t come cheap.

On a positive note: Carroll has recently said he will repay the Club’s faith in him and get us into the top 4; our defence is rock solid with Skrtel and even with Agger out has depth; Gerrard is back from injury and will start to get better the more he plays after a while out; Suarez’s 8 match ban includes the 2 Carling Cup games and FA Cup games so he won’t miss too many more league games; he has also come out to say that he won’t be moving to the Bernabeu and is determined to repay the Club and the fans for their support; Downing and Carroll broke their duck against Oldham and we hopefully won’t be hitting the cross bar 17-18 times for the remaining 17 league games; if we beat City we will have a very good chance of winning a trophy which will boost moral; we are 5 points off the top 4 position in direct competition with Chelsea, Arsenal and New Castle: if we can beat them both in the head to heads and start the kind of run we had in the 2nd half of last season with Suarez back rested and motivated we stand a good chance!

Yokohama, not really familiar with the players you suggest (except Sinclair), but i’ll have a look on youtube.

Personally, i can’t see anything exciting happening this window. we spent so much in the summer that i wouldn’t blame the owners for telling Kenny to get on with what he’s got.

i’m not even sure we need much anyway. the main thing i want to see is a tactical change with a slightly more direct approach against the lower sides (i’m happy with the way we play the top sides). when the ball goes wide, i want to see 4 players pegging it into the box like the scum do when they attack. we seem to do it in the last 10 minutes of the game, but hold back and slow it down until then. i don’t think utd have a particularly good team, but they have a habit of pouring forward at home and getting the goal(s) they need. i hate that. mainly because we’re not doing it.

you’re right that in losing Lucas, we lose a bit of security behind those on-rushing players, but against the lower teams, it’s time to take a punt because it makes no difference if we finish 6th or 10th really. it’s time to go for this 4th spot with all we’ve got. caution to the wind. bodies in the box. Downing needs to take his fullback on. Hendo needs to do a Lampard and look to pinch a few rebounds. Stevie needs to surge through the middle. attack! attack!

so sick of these home draws. it’s better to win 3 and lose 4 than draw 7. we’re not Villa!

Haha! I’ll gladly throwdown with ya Aitch…….a few beers that is!

Yep, you know it Col, I will defo be at the Yankee stadium and Friendly Fenway games and Fowler willing I’ll get to Wrigley Field too. Never been to Chicago, can’t think of a better reason to go!

Aitch, we’re very good in the big games so I’ve no doubt the manc fans are expecting a very tough cup tie. Same goes for City fans. The difference is if we were playing Brighton they might think they have a chance getting a draw and taking the tie back to their place whereas a team like Brighton going to Old Trafford has lost the tie before getting off the coach.

Diouf, Diao and Cheyrou eh. That made me chuckle. All were shite. Carroll, Downing, Henderson. My description for those 3 would be shite, ordinary, promising. Respectively.

I wish people would stop talking about signing Torres. Why the fuck would you sign a player that has played well since 2009? And for £20m and £150k per week wages!? Jesus Christ. If we signed him I’d be extremely concerned as to where on earth we are going as a football club. First we’re going back to the stadium designs of 10 years ago and then we sign Torres. Fucking hell.

The team is just too vanilla, there’s not enough pace or creativity in the final third and nobody in the middle to physically dominate a game of football. We’ve scored 24 goals in 21 games that’s a bit embarrassing. Especially for a club that spent over 100 million quid in the last 2 transfer windows. We need more players with the level of talent that Suarez and Gerrard have. I thought Comolli was suppose to help us find that kind of talent while they are still under the radar. So far he’s player recruitment has lacked imagination in my opinion.

If we don’t get Champions League I can see Suarez itching for a move. He’ll get slaughtered by fans all over the country when he returns. Referees won’t protect him. If we finish 6th and Barca/Real come sniffing can you see him wanting to stay? Me neither.

Sorry but I’m done comparing things to how they were last year. If we do that we’ll all be simply glad to remain in existence and finish any where higher than 17th in the PL. It’s just not in my nature to accept mediocrity. Obviously there is nothing I can do about it but I’ll be damned if I’m going to come on a fan forum and pretend to be alright with scoring less goals than teams fighting relegation and look like having the worst home record since the war.

Kenny raised my hopes last season. From Jan-May we were very good and he said they club would be backed in the transfer market. He said we’d be signing players that were better than what we already had. Forgive me for being a little underwhelmed at the club spending £20m on fucking Stuart Downing. Comolli said it was a major signing for us as he ticks all the boxes. I wonder what boxes they were. He’s 28 years old and has had one season of excellence during a career of mediocrity. I want to know what those boxes are.

Liverpool have stolen a march on their Premier League title rivals by landing one of the most under-rated players in English football.
That is the verdict of Reds’ soccer supremo Damien Comolli, who believes Stewart Downing could be the secret weapon who fires the club to glory.
The Frenchman, who has ¬masterminded Liverpool’s summer transfer activity, can hardly contain his enthusiasm for the capture of the England winger, who signed last week for almost £20million.
Director of Football Comolli believes that is a bargain fee for the 26-year-old England international – especially as he hit top form at the end of last season to show he is one of the most exciting players in the Premier League.
Comolli is both pleased and puzzled why there wasn’t more competition for a player he believes can provide the missing link for Liverpool.
Speaking about the oversight of their title rivals in losing out on Downing, Comolli said: “Maybe his talent is a little bit undervalued in English football, but we know what we are getting – a very, very good, efficient footballer.
“We look thoroughly into data and statistics before signing players and we really think we are bringing a big, big asset in.
“I know there was interest from other clubs but he wanted to play for Kenny [Dalglish] and Liverpool. We are absolutely delighted – he is a big, big signing for us.
“Maybe others have missed it, but we have got a player who will excite the fans with his technical ability, and that is exactly what we needed as team.
“He has pace, tricks, a great left foot, he can score, make assists and create a lot of things – he can put the balls in for Andy [Carroll], but he’s much more than a winger. The stats show that.”

your spot on London, we should never ever accept mediocrity. Noone on this blog would accept it. Noone who loves LFC ever would.
But because we love LFC we need to exercise a little bit of patience with the new boys who, in thier maiden season with us, are struggling a bit for form or confidence or both. Banging the woodwork more times than a blind joiner would not help confidence, but at least those chances are presenting themselves.

We cannot dismiss the chasm we were staring into last year and where we were, and to dismiss it as ‘history’ is to gravely underestimate the progress we have made in the last 12 months. Granted,we have a long way to go, but the last eyar has been mainly about Operation Recover From the Ashes. Phoenix rising if you like.
Some people are acting like spoiled little bitches (dont mean you by the way,LB)..as if Kennys mandate was to buy some players and win the title within 12 months. And some were acting like it was gonna be a forgone conclusion to get a top 4 place when 6 pretty good teams are up there now. It was never gonna be easy, and having the King on the throne again never meant the curse was gonna be lifted in one year. Lots of wrinkles need ironed out ,some signings havent yet worked out, but some have worked out really well….so I think we should appreciate that 12 months from where we were, we have done pretty well if, all we have to worry about is converting chances. thats not a bad problem to have. As Aitch has already alluded, we have, mostly, the right players, the best supporters, the right owners, and mostly, the right manager. Although the idiots who call themselves supporters and get plentiful airtime on Talk sh1te and Sly sports dont think so.
the footballs looking good, the goals are gonna come and the futures gonna get better.

I think the majority of our players are fragile mentally. There are a couple of reasons as to why I think this is the case.

1. They seem to lose confidence far too quickly when in adversity. They start off well, hit the woodwork a few times and then gradually crawl into their shell. Players such as Downing and Carroll are not used to having to produce every single week without being criticised.
2. In the big games like I mention earlier. They syke themselves up and put in proper performances. If you can do it away at Chelsea why not at home against Swansea!?

How many times do we begin the match the better team and by the 35th minute we’re under the cosh and in the second half we’re poor? Initially I put it down to poor fitness but I no longer think that’s the reason. It’s the fragile mentality of most of our players. When Anfield goes quiet or when the other team rolls up their sleeves or scores a goal too many of our players wilt.

That’s why I rate the mentality of a top tennis player. 2 sets to love down in a grand slam semi final. Out there on your own. No coaching, no team mates to hide behind. The individual has to go out there and get it done. These guys show this mental fortitude in their early 20s as well. They are absolutely iron tough in terms of mentality when compared to the likes of Andy Carroll.

Well its clear to see that we all have a different take on everything. It’s obviously part of being human.

Yes its fair to say that if we invest £100M in a team some people think that the money + our God-given right to win things = we should be challenging for the league, CL and the FA cup straight away.

As for people accepting mediocrity, that couldn’t be further from the truth. What people are accepting is reality. The realists of us will put things into perspective and accept that the £100M was needed just to stop the rot, to stabalise a team that was in free fall. I’m certain that it was not meant to win us the league in the first season.

There may have been a hope that it would enable us to get into the top 4 but the reality is that we are fighting with 5 other top teams that are a little further down the road in terms of team building and investment in addition to their circumstances of having had some stability with the “right” owners over the last few years.

Let me give you an example; a few years ago the spuds were in a similar situation. They invested the money from Berba and Keane (£50M+) and added a load more but the team, although they held their own against most of the big teams (except the mancs who nearly always batter them) it wasn’t until continuous and subsequent investment in the team over the last 5 years they have been able to get in the position that they are in.

Cast your mind back to when they first bought Modric. He was absolutely rubbish! A lot worse than Andy Carroll or Charlie Adam. Granted he came from another league but he took a couple of seasons to get into his stride. Had the Spuds lost patience with him and sold him they would not be just a few points off the top now.

So although £100M is a lot of money, in terms of who we are up against; The manure mancs, (richest club in the world and darlings of the FA), the shitty mancs, (Richest owner in the world?), Chelski (Owned by Russian billionaire thief), The arse, (Long term stability at management and board level, with heavy investment in long-term youth policy), The Spuds (heavy investment in players over last 5 seasons+), it’s not nearly enough.

With the exception of arsenal ALL the teams above us have outspent us in the last 3 years. You just cant compete with that by spending £100M. Oh and BTW what is this shite with £100M. Is that net spend or gross spend? I believe its gross spending which in reality we should deduct the player sales (Torres £50M + Mereiles + Macherano + Alonso + Riera + whoever else) most of which have been sold and the money not re-invested in the team, over the last 3 seasons.

And another thing. With our 3 best players having been injured (Lucas + SteG) or suspended (Suarez) for much of the season as well as bedding in 5 or 6 new players into the first team is it any wonder that our form is so up and down this season. Add to that there are a couple of players that have reached their peak and are on the way down (I wont mention them out of respect) then it all makes sense why we are struggling to get to 4th spot at the moment.

And heres another thing; all this negativity surrounding the club is actually hampering the teams performance. And yes I know that some of you will say they are professional footballers getting paid in millions so they should be doing better but again the reality is that footballers are human beings (except for Evra and Diouf) and they are prone to criticism just like the rest of us. What they get paid has nothing to do with it.

We had (IMHO) one of the best managers in the world (who loves all things Liverpool) and some of us managed to get hoodwinked by the manc loving media with more than a little help from our very own ex CEO the snake to get rid of him and now some people are buying into the Kenny isn’t good enough web of deceit that’s so skillfully and subtly being woven by the media, which some people (the ones with little or no patience, or respect or indeed below average IQ’s) are already buying into.

And I don’t really mean in Kopblog who by and large is an oasis of reason and logic (with the exception of the cheesburger and a few others), but go on most other forums and you better be ready to put up with all sorts of tripe from people with IQs that would embarrass an amoeba, despite that they “think” they know it all and seem to be deluded that having an opinion means it’s their god-given right to expose everyone to their ignorance and stupidity in the public domain.

Some good points there. A couple of things I disagree with such as Modric being far worse than Carroll when he first arrived. Really!? I think a lot of Liverpool fans sugar coat Carroll’s performances. Big time. Another thing I disagree on is the notion about having a ‘god given right’ to win things. I honestly don’t think many sane Liverpool supporters believe we have a god given right to win anything. I think there is a concern that if we don’t reclaim our place amongst the elite pretty quickly we may face many many years being an average football club. Hence my anxiety when I take a glance towards the league table.

John Henry himself said if we don’t finish in the top 4 it will be a disappointment.

We have more financial resources than Spurs. We’re able to pay more in transfer fees and wages. Spurs have a lot more injuries than we have. We spend more on transfers and wages than Arsenal. They have had several key players out injured. They lost 2 of their best players in the summer. I’m not sure we have a valid excuse for being outperformed by them this season.

Firstly… Digger, I’m still getting over your post at #243 defending Dirk Kuyt to the hilt with such vim and vigor. I seriously thought your account had been hacked!

Secondly… LB you Racist Muthafucka!
“The team is just too vanilla,”
Vanilla? Really? You went there?

Thirdly… I know you didn’t mean it that way, but it struck me as funny as fuck the moment I read it.
(Though, you are correct, and even though it wasn’t your intent in that statement, I’d hark back to a post from a few months ago where you pointed out, just how “vanilla” the squad actually was, after the summer transfer window closed. And while I wouldn’t suggest buying “color” for the sake of it… wait, was I Racist just then? …the fact we haven’t seriously gone in for an Asian player, or African player, when there have been several good ones available in the last few windows, is something we should be looking at.)
(of course there are lots of factors that come into play, but it is a point worth questioning? Especially in light of all the media bollocks that has been directed at us recently… is there a more “vanilla” Club in the Prem than LFC???)

Anyway… I in no way, shape, or form, am accepting mediocrity.
I clearly stated at the beginning of the season that I believed we’d challenge for the title this season.
Seems foolish now, when you look at the table… but like I said… and inch here and an inch there, and I’d have far more satisfied women in my history… errr… no wait, I mean… we’d have won as many as 6 to 8 more games…
… not on having to have had to play phenomenally better…
… but merely on the flight of one ball being 1 ever-so-simple solitary inch different!
… and that’s the difference between 7th and 3rd right now…
… that one inch… several times.

Mediocrity?
Nah….
… with the exception of Stoke, Swansea, and the first 20 minutes against Spurs (the rest of that game was all about the good old FA and their incompetent Refs)
… the rest of our games have been to varying degrees …far from mediocrity.

But you are right about the mentality LB.
And yes, you may remember my basic stance on this…
… you’re getting paid millions to live in the lap of luxury with supermodel wives/gfs, chef-designed diets, personal assistants, high end cars with heated seats to transport you to training on a cold January day, the best gear available in the best training facilities…
… and all you have to do in return for that lifestyle…
… is play football for 90 minutes, twice a week, for the best club, in front of the best fans in the world…
… I think its far from unreasonable to ask that you be able to pass and shoot with both fuckin feet!!!!
But as I’ve also mentioned before…
I played competitive footy for 3 decades.
It was mostly at Amateur level, but I played at U.S. University level and also had two unsuccessful Pro trials, one through a bizarre set of circumstances in Yemen, and the other in the States (I was also invited to trial in Korea and foolishly turned it down.)

In short, I have 3 decades of playing competitive footy… and in that time, I’ve had some terrific seasons, and I’ve had some horrendous ones too. I’ve played fit and with my tail up, and late-on, struggled back from injuries that eventually forced me to hang them up.

The only reason I mention this, is that among those experiences, are seasons where no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get myself going.
My passing would be off. My shooting would be off…
And when you are in that hole, you try everything…
… you try to relax, and it doesn’t work…
… you try too hard, and it doesn’t work…
… you try to change things up and do different things, and it doesn’t work…
… and inexplicably, something will happen…
… you’ll get a goal… be it a great volley, or a bounce in off yer arse…
… you’ll ping a beautiful 30 yard ball for an assist…
… or you’ll simply have a good game, grinding out tackles and possession…
… and the fog lifts…
… you don’t know how you did it…
… and frankly at that point you don’t care…
… you’re just too damn relieved to worry about how you got back to form, you just are, and you set about the business of trying to make up for the poor form.

Like I said… if Downing had scored that 40yard run that he cracked against the bar against Sunderland… he’d have scored on his debut and we’d be looking at a completely different player now.
If Henderson had managed to put that one-on-one past the keeper in the same game… he’d have scored on his debut… and just imagine the headlines if he’d bagged that volley as a substitute in the Everton match!!

… those small margins… and we’d be talking about what fuckin geniuses Comolli and Kenny were in the transfer window…
… but they didn’t and so the inevitable questions get asked.

Fungus was a genius, pulling off the master-stroke of singing Ashley Young and Phil Jones… when both started strongly and brightly…. But err… well, let’s not talk about those players just now, let’s roll out the triumphant return of that classic restored roadster that is Paul Scholes!
I swear to god, you see less shuckin-n-jivin in a Central Park Shell Game.

No, I’m not suggesting we accept mediocrity… far from it…
… I’m suggesting that many of the questions being asked about this team…
… are simply the WRONG questions.

The thing is… Andy, Charlie, Jordan, and Stewart are NOT bad players.
They are all good players.
Maybe they just aren’t GREAT players?

I think if you look through our squad, we only have a handful of Greats…
Stevie, Pepe, Agger, Luis and maybe Lucas
I’d say those 4 are great players.
(and the problem is, each of our direct rivals probably have more than 4… though I’d argue that where Scum are conserned.)

I’d suggest Skrtel, Bellamy, and maybe Johnson and Enrique, are VERY GOOD players.
The rest are just GOOD… some (Jay, Hendo, Andy) with the potential to be better, some are as good as they’re gonna get. (I’d put Adam in this bracket.)
But none of them are BAD players.

Now you can argue that’s not good enough for LFC…
… but to do so is to ignore all the damage that was done… needing to offload Ngog, Cole, Poulsen, Konchesky, Insua, Aqualani, Babel… even Torres and Meireles… and replace them all.
(an almost complete squad rebuild from the foundations up.. all done at a less than 20 million net spend!)

The next transfer windows, we can forget your cheap buys, forget your quick fix Darren Bents (he is the kind of player we’d have been looking at under Hodgson for fucks sake) and simply go for talent… the Nando-like fox in the box, the Chicarito-like finisher, the wiley Modric-type…
… coz the foundations have been rebuilt, and the house is now on solid footing, all while meeting off-flied Quotas and Financial Fair Play rules.

We are no longer the 2009 team… the dream within a fantasy…
…that somehow, somehow, somehow, Rafa managed to give us, in spite of standing in quicksand and being beaten over the head with wet rags repeatedly, by all around him.

Nah… this is the asset stripped 2010 team… the one run by Christian Purslow… that came within a whisker achieving the greatest of indignities… being the First Prem Club to go bankrupt/fall into administration.
That would have been Mediocrity.
But that was also very, very close to our Reality.

Accepting Mediocrity was…
… selling to G&H…
… appointing Christian Purslow as Managing Director…
… firing Rafa and appointing Roy Fuckin Hodgson…
… playing the first 45 minutes vs Scum in our own half…
… our approach to pretty much every game under Roy Face-Rubbing Hodgson!

Should we have done better against Stoke?
Absolutely. Unquestionably. Indubitably. Undeniably!
Were our other home draws comparable to that game?
Not in Fungus’s best wet dream.

This time last year, we were playing poorly, with a squad containing a number of NOT GOOD players, and sitting in 17th.
This year we have been playing well for the most part, with a Better squad and sit in 7th.

That’s not accepting mediocrity… that’s recognizing all the good work done.
Do we need to do better?
You bet your fuckin life we do… we’re Liverpool FC, not Fulham, not Everton.

We could be doing better… We should be doing better…
…but we haven’t done as badly as some would seem to perceive.

And in conclusion… I want to comment on one more thing.
Getting rid of players that are “past their best”.

I think Maxi will go this summer. Not coz he’s a bad player, but because he almost went last summer, and there was suggestion that a deal is already in place for his return to Argentina.
Some are suggesting that Dirk Kuyt should be hot on his heels out the door.

We sold Sami Hyppia a season too soon.
We sold Didi Hamman a season too soon.
Both players wanted to stay… but both players also wanted to play, and moving offered them more game time… so they left.
But, oh… how we needed them in the first season without them.

So yes… Dirk has a god-awful touch… and with each year, he’ll lose that bit of pace… but having a player willing to do that much work in the squad, is invaluable.
And you simply cannot put a price on experience.

The one thing Scum have going for them right now… is their experience.
That is what they are surviving on… why do you think they brought Scholes back?
It wasn’t just about the passes he can make, or the shots he takes… its about a calmer experienced head rubbing off on all those kids… on and off the field.
You can see the lack of it in the Citeh squad… and its where they are looking like starting to falter in my opinion.
The Chavs have it, but their egos get in the way.
Its not as important when you are getting results, but if Spurs get a few bad results… this will kick in.

We don’t have enough of it.
For a myriad reasons beginning with Arbeloa and Alonso’s departures, selling to buy, then the dismantling of Rafa’s squad for Hodgson’s buys, and now the corrections that Kenny has made…
… we simply don’t have enough experienced heads.
I think that was a necessary evil in some instances and one we’ve had to try to cope with in others.
I think starting last January, it was a gamble we took, hoping like an experienced Porn-Milf, that we’d get those precious inches and be in a better position than we are.

So I’d caution against calls for Dirk Kuyt to be sold just yet… he’s an important member of the squad.
It is in this sense that I would agree with those who suggest we should not have sold Raul and Benny… but those ships have sailed.

As for being outperformed… again… who has outperformed us?
Spurs for 20 minutes… then we went down to 10 and then 9 men… you simply can’t say Spurs would have stayed on top 11-v-11 … not when we see so many “games of two halves” these days.
Both recent Citeh games being a case in point… where we dominated the first half but lost to their 2nd half domination, then dominated the first half and won, despite their 2nd half domination.
Nobody else has “outplayed us” this season.
Teams have gotten results off us… but they haven’t outperformed us.

But yes… 4th is what we should be aiming for now. And not achieving it would be a disappointment.
But its there for the taking… and all the top teams play each other over the next few weeks, so “the top 6” is gonna look a bit different come March.

good match on now – RM v Barca

goto wiziwig.tv and enjoy the entertainment

not bad line-ups for a league cup match.

Real Madrid:
Iker Casillas
Ricardo Carvalho
Pepe
Sergio Ramos
Alexandre da Silva Fabio Coentrao
Xabi Alonso
Cristiano Ronaldo
Hamit Altintop
Lassana Diarra
Karim Benzema
Gonzalo Higuaína

Barcelona:
José Manuel Pinto
Eric Abidal
Carles Puyol
Dani Alves
Gerard Piqué
Xavi
Andrés Iniesta
Cesc Fábregas
Lionel Messi
Sergio Busquets
Alexis Sanchez

Aitch, LFC is definitely the whitest team in the PL but as you know ‘vanilla’ meant plain, basic, ordinary, lacking special features. As opposed to having too many white dudes in the side lol. I had a feeling someone would pull me up on that. Hahaha.

Great goal from Puyol!

When I say outperform I mean over the course of a season rather than head to heads. It really gets my goat when players can’t get themselves up for the low key matches.

LB Modric was lame in his first season but steadily improved in his second season.

The unfortunate thing for AC is that his bad form has coincided with the whole teams bad form, from an attacking perspective. If we had some goals in our midfield, as we did when Crouch went 19 games before he scored, it wouldn’t seem so bad and he’d have a bit of breathing space to get his act together.

As for having more funds than the spuds that may well be true today but it wasn’t true during the last 3 seasons. they have consistently outspent us with the added bonus of stability.

What we are seeing now is the effects of the hicks and gillette regime as well as the ineffectiveness of parry and the absolutely horrific tenure of purslow the snake, not forgetting the terrible 6 months under hodge podge.

Have faith and be patient. It irks me too when we don’t play well. In fact it hurts badly sometimes like during our performance against the spuds. But thats the way it is at the moment and it will probably continue to be like this for a while.

It’s why Torres left. He tried to explain it a while back when he said that he didn’t have the years left to stick around and wait for the project to mature so that we become competitive again.

OK He went to another team that is in transition but they were the only ones that offered the money and he probably based his decision on what abramobitch had spent before. The fool!

As for JW Henry saying he’d be disappointed if we don’t make the top 4, well we’d all be disappointed won’t we. And you cant expect him to say “Oh its OK, there’s always next year or the year after”!

aitch

thanks for mentioning your chequered playing career. respect to that. it gives me a chance to eulogise about my own experiences playing football, at a far lower level than yourself, i am loathe to admit.

but my experiences are valid, because what i saw on the fields of muddy fields wandsworth and hackney marsh, on the five a side courts of islington and now the sweaty sports halls of brighton still ring true.

in my far from humble opinion, any team i played for, that was in anyway successful, they all had one thing in common: the ability to convert endeavour into goals.

on occasion, i was that goal scorer. if you gave me the ball, in 1993-5, in the opposition final third, i would find the net. it was a forgone conclusion. i was young, sharp and accurate. i was not particularly quick, but i had a good brain, could anticipate faster than my marker, and had a fierce left peg and a more than adequate right foot. at that time, i was deadly. then i found drugs and the rest is history.

now i play for peace of mind, but i see the same scenario. there are two players on my team, who, if fit, are selfish, slippery and accurate. when our midfield creates, they convert endeavour into to statistics. goal scorers are monotonous, like a clock, tick tock tick tock goal.

for this simple analogy, read van persie this season. he gets the ball he scores the goal, la la la la la.

what this does for a team is create massive amounts of energy and conviction.

goal scorers, whoever they are, can’t miss if they tried. week in week out rushie and aldo would make this game look like a piece of cake. there would be some serious endeavour by the midfield, and then the inevitable would happen. goal goal goal.

when a striker comes of age, suddenly goals appear from every quarter, because defenders are so busy marking the goal scorer, they forget to pick up the rest of the team. the striker sucks defenders towards him and opens gaps all over the park.

fear infects the opposition. it doesn’t seem to matter how hard they press the ball, how much possession they win, if the striker gets the ball and scores, it’s all for nothing. the opposition drops further back, unable to express anything except frustration, and quickly a one nil deficit becomes a four nil rout.

this is one of the simple facts about football. if you have a striker, you will score goals.

passing the ball effectively, that’s another.

miserly defence, that’s another. simple simple stuff.

for me, watching LFC has been a delight in two thirds of the park.

when citeh beat us recently, 3-0, i was absolutely delighted at the standard of our football at times. on one such occasion, we ran circles around man city merely passing the ball out of defence. they could not get near us at stages.

the difference was, we had no striker. no outlet. no sucker punch. no one to put them on the back foot.

london barnes you are way too critical of our midfield. because from what i have seen, and i watch a match well, at times we have bossed the centre of the park.

but you cannot hold the centre for long without support from the front and that means endeavour to conversion rate. you must have an outlet.

aitch calls it an inch here or an inch there. i question that aitch. if you miss by an inch its a mile.

good forwards don’t miss. they don’t graze the post, smash the crossbar, rebound off the goalie’s big toe. it goes in the back of the net and there was never any doubt. with andy there is doubt. with suarez there is doubt. i’m not saying both won’t turn prolific, but watching both players i do not get a sense that they are totally sure of what they are trying to achieve. neither can finish. a touch of the michael schumacher. clinical.

if you don’t have someone finishing the move someone else has started, you have nothing.you bluster. you have hot air and confidence wanes.

we do not have a finisher. we all know suarez is a gifted footballer, but even at his best i think he struggles to hit the proverbial barn door, yes and i am aware of his hat tricks for Uruguay. but his theatrics in front of goal, for me, disguise a deeper truth, that he is not confident in front of goals.

suarez, in my arrogant assumption, thinks far too much before he pulls the trigger. one more trick here, a nice little chip there, a back heel maybe and the crowd will shout ole!

good strikers don’t think. they shoot first and ask questions later.

maxi, before his glut of goals at the end of last season, was fond of hitting the woodwork. good strikers don’t miss. they never miss. they are dead eye dicks they could piss through the eye of a needle. they bore the commentator with their predictability.

good strikers don’t fall over in the box either, like andy carroll is fond of doing. they are far more aware of the consequences of staying on their feet.

there is no question of winning a penalty when you can put the ball in the back of the net yourself. falling over is not an option for someone who truly believes they can beat the defender and score a goal.

only those with less conviction and confidence in their own abilities will opt for the ref’s decision making instead.

goal scorers win matches. for one reason or another we do not have this person in our ranks (though i confess he might well be in the reserves, waiting) at the moment he is not in our squad.

and that is a shame, because i like the squad. they play good football. they have a good manager. but they don’t have fowler or owen. when we get one, or perhaps when carroll or suarez decide to transform their games, i think liverpool, with lucas, hendo, gerra, spearing, glenda, dagger, ninja, adam, could be unplayable.

some great reading there lads , cheers

patience is surely the key.

LB, you rightly point with despair at our pathetic goal tally, but completely ignore our fantastic defensive record and dominance of possession. surely this represents a rock-solid foundation on which to build future success.

let’s consider Rafa’s early days. he signed Kuyt, Bellamy, and Crouch to get his goals. they didn’t. but he signed midfielders at the same time who did work for him, and so they stayed while the forwards were either moved on or reinvented as wingers. eventually he found Torres to score the goals(but he never really found genuine wingers).

Let’s give Kenny the same dues. yeah, Carroll hasn’t really worked out so far and the jury’s still out on Downing, but Kenny’s created a midfield that’s dominating almost every team it plays (in possession at least).

Rafa finished 5th in his first season. but his 5 year plan worked, and it worked by constant tinkering. the players that worked stayed, the ones that didn’t left, and he ended up producing the top-ranked team in europe.

yes, i know this is an old story and no news to anyone, but surely the parallels with Kenny’s side are equally obvious. an initial injection of cash. a couple of iffy signings. plenty of criticism. but a clear, steady, constant improvement towards a team that always dominated possession, but rarely scored enough goals and drew ‘easy’ home matches with frustrating regularity.

i know you love Rafa, LB. i know you were delighted when Kenny came back (i still remember the ‘clap clap clapclapclap clapclapclapcalp Dalglish you did in the shower… not that i was there… or watching you… with binoculars…), so i don’t really understand your lack of patience when Kenny’s revolution is actually moving in the same direction as Rafa’s, but a lot faster.

you can point to the fact that Kenny already has Pepe, Dagger, and Ninja, but let’s take nothing away from the fact he’s completely reinvigorated the two centre backs. he must take great credit for that.

your main bone seems to be with the money paid for 2 specific players – SD and AC – but look at the bigger picture. the team is on the up and looking strong. maybe those players will have to move on, maybe they won’t. but under Kenny the team will continue to get better whatever happens and whoever comes in or out.

by the way, i agree with you LB about the fragile mentality. you’re spot on. when the stadium goes quiet (which happens too often for my liking these days), the players lose all creative spark and the game fizzles out.

Lurgan (279),
keep your eye on that site mate, i was pretty keen and put it in my favourites BUT my malware programme will not let me onto it as it say’s its a malicious site with malicious hardware, just beware buddy.

Sambo, some good points there!

I should indeed give credit for the brilliant defensive record. It’s very good. I very much like our first choice back four although I think Glen Johnson is too easy to beat one on one and doesn’t do enough to stop the cross from coming in. Nobody is perfect though.

Our defence improved almost immediately after Kenny took over last January and we then went on to play some great football. Lovely passing football with Suarez, Kuyt, Maxi, Merieles, Lucas and Spearing. Remember when we beat Fulham 5-2, it was magnificent. I think we went backwards from then because we’ve got rid of Raul, benched Kuyt in favour of Henderson and we’ve been playing Adam ahead of Spearing. It seems to me Kenny has tried to shoehorn his new signings in to the side all at once and it’s been to our detriment.

My frustration is that for the first time in a long long time we were able to flex our muscles in the transfer market and in my opinion we made a bit of a pigs ear of it. We bought players for big money that didn’t improve us. No signing is a guarantee but if players have been ordinary for most of their career I don’t see how they are going to improve us.

We play good football up to the final third and then often run out of ideas. That’s also a frustration especially when you’ve been crying out for a classy creative player for years and years. How long have each and every one of us pleaded with the Gods to provide us with some classy wingers. Even in the days where we had Gerrard, Alonso and Masch with Torres up front, you felt one classy wide player would win us a title. The beginning of this summer we had Spearing, Lucas, Gerrard, Merieles, Aquilani. I felt a couple of classy wingers added to that and we’d be in business. We proceeded to get rid of Aquaman and Raul and spend £36m on Downing and Henderson. I won’t lie. I had my head in my hands. Then I read Comolli’s tick the boxes interview on the LFC website and I went into semi despair. The frustration grows and grows after each draw at home to Norwich/Swansea/Sunderland/Stoke etc.

We seem to be in a constant state of transition. For the last 20 years we’ve been saying “next year we should challenge and maybe the year after we’ll win it”. I guess my patience threshold is very thin these days.

Serious question here. Will we ever win the league title again? If so – how will we go about it? To me it looks like it is as far away as ever.

LB… Serious question here…

Will we ever win the league title again?
-YES I believe we will one day.

If so – how will we go about it?
Step-by-step guide
1. Get rid of hodge podge
2. Install King Kenny
3. Buy Luis Suarez, Adam, henderson, Downing, Enrique and Andy Carroll
4. Play them together for a couple of seasons while they find their feet
5. Slowly faze out the old guard (Carra, Kuyt, Maxi, Gerrard?)
6. The work that Rafa did in the academy begins to come to fruition and a production line of very talented youngsters begin to emerge. Chief among them is Raheem Sterling who keeps Downing out of the team
7. Sprinkle some new talent from around the world to add the finishing touches where needed
8. The fans stop criticising the players when things don’t go right and show their unequivocal “support” to the team. This will speed up the process
9. Start finishing in the top 4
10.Win the Premier league.

Or another way would be…

1. SteG and Johnson conspire to play badly for Ingerland and they go out of Euro2012 in the group stages so “Beautiful Hat” gets the sack
2. They Install Appy Arry the wheeler dealer as Ingerlund Manager and spurs replace him with Hodge Podge who sells modric and van the fart and replaces him with Poulsen and Joe Cole. They then go on to fight the “bottom” 4.
3. Buy a ticket to cold trafford and “accidentally” bump into fungus face as hes going to the toilet and whisper to him that theres a new fragrance toilet rim cleaner thingy in the toilet bowl and encourage him to try it out. He later gets found dead with his head in the toilet bowl and his tongue stuck in the grooves of the toilet rim cleaner thingy. They replace him with Roy Keane who immediately gets in a fight with shrek so he puts shrek in goal for the rest of the season just to teach him a lesson.
4. Go for a drink in manchester and “accidentally” bump into Balotelli and convince him that all his troubles are because of mancini. Next day at their training ground they have a bust up and ballotelli goes “postal” (americanism creeping in) and shoots mancini. They replace him with Kevin Keagan who from then on only plays forwards in the team. Out go Kompany and the lead singer from fine young cannibals and in central defense comes Silva and Kun Aguero. The reasoning being that they’re so good they can play anywhere.
5. The KGB finally catch up with Abramobitch and demand their money back but he refuses so they hijack the team bus and the first team squad gets taken to a ghoulag in siberia where the whole team keeps tripping on Torres bottom lip.
6. The government, fed up with the FA and its seemingly boundless ability to continually cock things up launches an investigation and finds evidence in the form of memos from fungusface (deseased) that all of the manc scums titles were won by cheating so they strip away the mancs PL titles and give them to who ever came 2nd – except for chelsea who also cheated!

Is that better?

Our current home form is not too dissimilar to Jan 07/08
where we had 4 wins 6 draws 1 loss we were 7th and we finished 4th with 13 draws in total.
Or
The 08/09 season where at the end of Jan we had 6 wins 5 draws and no defeats we were 3rd (great away form) we all know we finished 2nd with 11 draws and only 2 defeats.
So although things look pretty bad with 7 home draws we can still make a decent push for fourth.

I agree with you on that guiness but the only problem is that shitty and the spuds have upped their game so our form from 07/08 and 08/09 might not be good enough for 4th this time. Either way we will struggle to make 4th. At least thinking that way I’ll avoid the disappointment in May.

While spuds and without a doubt city are stronger the chavs, arse and the scum are weaker then they were in those seasons. We just need a goalscorer and a run of four/five wins and we can be right in there again.

Very good elbmw, I’ve often dreamed of scums titles being stripped away and even though there is nothing proven I just know them rats have corrupted a few of their title wins.
There’s been some great points raised in here and great counter arguements and I have to admit it is definitley refreshing to the usual bullshit you’re subjected too.
LB I have felt the same for the last number of years,are we ever going to win another title!! The fact scums rein is nearing an end(about fucking time) its seems cities is only begining and it just seems like we’ll always be just a few players short here or there.
However as dishearting as that is i’m focusing all my prayers on hope because its the only thing we’ve truly got for now.

PS the blogs really find its feet again ….love it!!

Going for a nice little 2 nil to the pool tomorrow. A win is a must anything else will be unacceptable!!!

Come on you redmen!!

YNWA

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/video/interview/10689-my-fight-for-kevin

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/anne-williams-thank-you-all

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/video/press-conf/10690-kenny-pre-bolton

I don’t think we’re miles apart on these issues LB.
You are pointing out some very salient weaknesses.
I’m pointing out some very salient strengths.
I get the sense that I just see our glass as half full, while you seem to see it as half empty.

As blud said… if you hit the post, you still missed.
No doubt… but then again… hitting the post is as close as you can come to scoring, but not score.
But seriously, its not like we’ve been skimming the top of the crossbar en-route to row Z, or skimming the outside of the upright before cannoning into the hoardings.

Almost all of the 21 (19 league, 2 cup) efforts against the post & crossbar, have hammered into it, then actually bounced across the goal, or down into the six yard box before clearing out… only a few then bounced straight back out… none went out for a goalkick or throw-in… and if memory serves me, only maybe 2 or 3 were pushed onto the woodwork.

…and I guess that’s where I differ on blud’s interpretation of hitting the post… coz I actually used to aim for the fucker.
… like I said… hit as far away from the keeper as possible, but still as close as you can get to scoring, without doing so.
Granted its just something to add to the list of “if onlys” and doesn’t put points on the board…
… just like the 4 certain goals that were cleared off the line by defenders (without even mentioning Herculean goalkeeping performances…
…. But all of this, while frustrating, is largely preferable to only having a few efforts on goal….
… you know, like City had against us in the Semi.

Perspective….
How many really solid efforts did Man City have against us in the first leg?
A team full of high priced stars, with clinical finishers up top, and coming off the bench, and wily buggers that can unlock defenses…
… and yet they were no more effective against us, than We were against Stoke.
We restricted them to 3 half chances, and one of those was when Martin Kelly unlocked our defense for them.

Perspective…
I watched a rebroadcast of West Brom 0 –1 Norwich today… (complete with the obligatory Face Rubbing.)
West Brom should have been 4-0 up before Norwich, against the run of play, marched up and got the winner…. (He actually had something to be rubbing his face about, over that game, the fuckin ‘nob. They had 2 cleared off the line, hit the woodwork and the keeper made at least 3 or 4 great saves.)
Shit happens.

Perspective…
Scum are in 2nd place… but they’ve hardly been picking teams apart. In fact, while I’ve seen far fewer of their games this season, than ours, or even City’s, I have yet to see them truly dominate more than one or two games, and that was very early on. Recently they look far more capable of embarrassing themselves with a loss, than winning… (though admittedly, they do have “that goalscorer”, you’re pleading for LB.)

We are about to embark on the business end of the season.
I’ve seen enough stumbles from both City and Scum to suggest that the title is anyones.
I’ve seen very little of Spurs this season, but I suspect from what I have seen that this may very well be their best shout at a title, if they can keep their momentum and pounce when Scum and City inevitably slip a few points… which I see plenty of potential for.

We’ve had our poor run…
…and I get why people are a bit pessimistic about the weeks ahead…
…but I’m sorry, all I can say to that is, fuck that… or maybe FUCK THAT!

We stormed the fuckin battlements in the 2nd half of the season last year…
… why can’t we do it again?
It only takes one or two of the lads to find their shooting boots.
A few results is all it will take.
We need to get through that 2nd leg and put a Cup Final on our plate!
Do that… and against lower league opposition… win it…
… and that success will breed success.
… and it also breed the right mentality…
… the mentality that causes you to shape your foot just right, and hit it in off the post, rather than back out off it…
…we don’t have that at the moment… but it’ll come… we’ll get it… hopefully in time.

Then get past Scum in the FA Cup and we’ll be on for a Cup double…
…how much confidence would that give us?
(don’t want to jinx us, but I am very confident we can do both.)
Watch the goals tally mount if that happens….

And remember that Arsenal and Chelsea are both still in the CL… so we could quite easily steal a march on them when they get preoccupied.
And given City and Spurs lack of experience at title run-ins… they could both slip up too (though to be honest, I really want City to go ahead and “buy it” this year, to piss off Fungus and every miserable cunt in Manchester!

Will we ever win the league title again?
…I know we’ve been left at the altar more than our fair share of times, but …
…You bet yer black arse we will!
(not meant in a racist way, but in more of a Hank Moody way)
Shit … we’d have already done it, if not for G&H, then Purslow!

Hell… 6 of those 19 post hits go in off the post, instead of away, and we’d be challenging for it this year.
So yes, yes and yes… we will win the league title again…
…I think next year… provided the Mayans were wrong of course!

LB,
myself and my brothers actually had this conversation on winning the title on Christmas day and it was a long one! We all more or less agreed that competing for the title was the first step, and what I think is the biggest step. After Rafa’s second last season when we finished second in what was obviously our best chance for years, i think we all felt we were gonna win it soon, but what happened the next season is well documented and discussed. But to get to that second place, i think we finished top 4 the previous 3 seasons and 5th in 2005.
To compete again as consistently as we did for the top 4 is quite a way off, both due to our own issues (lack of wingers, goal scorers etc) and plus the considerable improvement of both spurs and city. The scum, despite the probable end of their dominance, will still be a top 4 team, Arsenal are arsenal, you just never know and the chavs will be there too assuming Roman opens his wallet again.
So there are now 6 serious contenders for the top 4 and will be for the next few seasons. For us to be in the top 4 of that list I think we need a goal scoring midfielder (ala SG 3 seasons ago) and a finisher (ala God)
I agree with Aitch, if only a third of our post hits or ridiculous saves had resulted in goals we’d be nicely positioned. BUT, the fact that Suarez is top scorer with 5, bells on 3 and that nobody else has scored more than 2 is the reason that we are in 7th and deserve to be in 7th.
If we had a Demba Ba type player in our team, we’d have, being modest, another ten goals scored. If this was the case maybe, just maybe, the pressure would be off the Hendersons, Downings etc when they have been through one on one with the keeper, knowing that we average just over a goal a game at the moment and that this is the best chance to score.
When the goals are flowing, the pressure is off, players relax and the simpler chances are converted.
Take Ashley ‘buy of the century’ Young. The scum were flying at the start of the season, so was he, In oct/nov they went on a string of 1-0 victories, he couldn’t hit a barn door.
So, if we can start scoring goals who knows what will happen come May and what position we’ll be in, I would bet on us being fourth, and then onwards and upwards for next season and challenge for second or third, and being realistic, challenge for the title in 2-3 years (I mean properly challenge come May as opposed to Spurs challenging in Jan) we can have the title back home in less than 5 years.
If we continue at the goal scoring rate, we will finish 5th/6th/7th, no CL football, pressure comes on to sell LS and we are set back for another season.

And if there are any of you out there who like a gamble, there are great odds on spurs finsihing outside the top 4.

short answer LB… yup i reckon we’ll win the title within Stevie G’s playing career… probably just before he retires though.

“flexing your muscle” in the transfer market doesn’t always work first time mate, you know that. our best signing has been our cheapest. likewise with Hernandez Vs Berbatov. it’s not always how much money you spend.

obviously city have the money to buy everyone they can think of, so they’re an exception, but the rest of us have to accept that every transfer’s a gamble and they don’t all pay off. even city have their cheapest player as captain. what does that tell you?

aitch, agree with you about the strength of the ‘utd’ players, but what do you think about the way they attack the box compared to us? be interested on your opinions about that.

elbmw, enjoying the humour and insight brother! like ya work.

galway, i wouldn’t take that bet. spurs are the best team in the league for me. they could hit the post 17 times in one game and still win it 2-0 without a mention of bad luck (yeah… not every game but you get my point… they’re irresistible right now) even after drawing with wolves they had a look about them that was “no drama – one of those days”. Modric and Bale are the best players in the league. having said that, they choke like a thirsty old man at a dry weetabix eating contest when they play the scum, so maybe the champ mentality isn’t quite up there with the flashing boots quite yet.

always a good read in here lads. great to ave you all back!!

would love to hear Gerry’s opinions on all this.

hope he’s alright and downing cans of Stella somewhere with his moustachioed mates.

Sambo, hence the long odds, but they are chokers and have had more luck in some games than we have had the entire season, they have a tough fixture list coming up and if other teams come strong at them in the table you never know!

Sambo LOL! his “moustachioed mates”. Next you’ll be saying he drinks Gin + Tonic at the Blue Oyster.

Hehe. This is how rumors start.

I hope Man City win the league coz if they don’t United will win their 20th title. That will hurt.

Hitting the woodwork: in my opinion, if you hit the post with 30 yard free kick its unlucky. Try to chip the keeper from 20 yards and hit the inside of the post? Unlucky. One on one with the keeper and hit the post? Poor finishing. Free header from 4 yards hitting the bar? Poor miss. Easy chances should be buried. In a Penalty shoot out of you hit the post or bar it’s a miss plain and simple. There’s no ‘oh unlucky, that was a close one’.

Kopcolly,
found that link to the new kit,

http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/virals/2012-01-20/unbelievable-pic-liverpools-new-warrior-kit-unveiled

like it.

feck ya redman, class tho, did ya see the face on the lads ? priceless?
ya fecker!

redman, cant believe you log on to talkskitter,
any wonder why your havin so much problems logging in,
any of you lads in the travel’n KOP?

Kopcolly,
or should i call you K/C from now on, no mate dont go to talk-shite, i got that thread from newsnowliverpool, i thought it was funny as fuck.

LB you are spot on again.

very funny redman, kc , colly anything at all mate will do me , where in the world are you redman?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/rip-paul-rice

Bolton 2-0 liverpool. But I’m happy because dare i say we will win it. Just as I write Bellamy scores 1. Common you reds

Our quickest player up front is Bellamy(30+). Our midfield is a joke. Andy Caroll is more suited for a catwalk. Glenn Johnshon played like a guy who was threatened by d ghost of Bin Laden against going forward. Shocking result.

disgraceful , thats what that was

Oh dear.

shocking performance today from all except Bellers.Can you feel the threads and forums on the mainsite rumbling with the jerking of knees??
Today was about fight, heart, desire….and we left ours on the team bus. We literally thought we would walk into the Reebok and mug Bolton in our sleeps, and guess what, they said….fck that, have some of this!!
With each passing game recently, my enthusiasm, or support for Big Andy has been eroded, and think his lack of form in front of goal, which is HIS department after all, is starting to bring too much criticism down on Downings shoulders. Downing can and has laid some superb balls on a plate for Carroll, but hes miskicked and missed all of them. Carrolls not going to fit into this team, and its about time the lad is put out of his misery and shipped on. Hes good at his own game, but Liverpool dont play his way and never will or should!
We need to pull together because the vultures are already circling and again the usual lame brain sh1te about Kennys record being as bad as Hodgsons. Thats not on.
Today those lads never went out there and played for the shirt, for the badge, for Kenny or for us. It was a lazy performance and they basically bent over and let Bolton have thier mini revival shoved right up our sphincters! No excuses for that. Theres some big games coming up, and Im hoping that we bite down on our gumshields and come out swinging cos we need some results badly!! But at least today will give all the ‘Kenny doesnt know what hes doing’ brigade thier wee soapboxes for a while.

I’m not about to blame Dalglish for this or join the squad that questions his every move, but FSG will need to make some kind of move now.

Earlier in the season we have performed well and created loads of chances. The finishing has been poor, and some of the new signings have failed to impress.

Now we are playing poorly against poor opposition and creating very little in the form of goalscoring opportunities. None of the new signings (or anyone else for that matter) except for Bellamy are doing well out there at the moment. For what reason?

That we’re missing both Lucas and Suarez explains some of it, but certainly not all. Even with them added to the team, it’s undeniable that we’re short of quality.

To put it bluntly, the money we spent for Carroll, Adam and Downing could and should have been more wisely spent. But I do think a lot could change if we were to bring in one or two bargains who instantly deliver the way Suarez and Enrique both did.

Dalglish is not the one to blame.

Well, Dalglish is partly to blame sachem. He’s the Gaffer and the buck stops at his doorstep, regarding team selection, and motivating players.
But only partly….

What the fuck was with the players today??
Johnson, Agger, Enrigue… very poor.
Adam had yet another terrible game.
Stevie looked like someone who hasn’t played for half a year.
Maxi looked well rusty… good touch one minute, poor touch the next.
And poor fuckin Andy Carroll… I do sort of feel sorry for him to some extent… he just can’t get anything about his game right at the moment, and seriously looks like a lad who’s never played the game.
Hendo looked like Dirk Kuyt… lots of industrious effort, which I’ll credit him for, but with no end product.
Pepe didn’t really do much wrong, but he looks like a keeper who doesn’t trust his back 4… and with good reason obviously.
The only players who left that field with any dignity were Skrtel and Bellamy.
And the subs made little to no impact on the game.

I thought the game against Stoke was bad… this was worse.
We made Bolton look like Barca for fucks sake!

So in conclusion… LB, you have my heartiest apologies mate.
Its looking like you were right and I was about as wrong as I could be.

Here’s a question for youz…
Has there been a “split in the camp” in the aftermath of the Evra/Suarez Affair??

Here’s what I mean.
Kenny backed Suarez to the hilt!
The Team backed Suarez to the hilt!
The club looked to be backing Suarez!

Then the verdict comes out… the club issues a bold and strong statement.
Kenny makes several strong and pointed statements… as do some of the Team.

Then… the Club back off and opt not to pursue the matter.
Which prompts a series of pointed and cryptic comments from Kenny indicating a seeming displeasure at this course of action.

Has FSG taken a course of action that Kenny firmly disagreed with?
Has this led to a split between board and Manager?
Has this trickled down to the Players?
Could this be the root cause of the almost ethereal dissipation of anything resembling passion, commitment and team unity in our last few performances?

Or… because there has been so many off-field circumstances continuingly derailing us or holding us back over the last half decade… am I just looking for excuses that aren’t there?

We’d best put in a seriously better performance than that midweek, or the roads to Wembley will see blue scarves flying from car windows instead of red.

In my opinion we’re just a club full of average or maybe just above average players. We raise our game against the better sides the same way a side 15th in the Championship will often raise their game against a PL side in the Cup. You’ll get a team like Crystal Palace beating Man United and then lose their next league match against Huddersfield.

Earlier in the season we were creating a lot of chances and squandering them. Most fans thought we’d continue to create the chances and eventually we’d score more goals. Well it didn’t quite work that way and I didn’t think it would. A lot of our players are mentally weak and I had the feeling that the pattern of dominating games but dropping points would eventually lead to a drop in confidence.

Another key aspect is that Suarez was the catalyst for our creative play earlier in the season. Most things good went through him. Since he has been out suspended our creativity has dropped significantly.

At the end of the day we just don’t have enough quality to warrant a top 4 place. The loss to Bolton didnt surprise me at all. It wouldn’t surprise me if we beat City then United and then lose to Wolves in the league. Just like a lower league side enjoying a cup run.

Sad very sad..I felt that we would be woken up from slumber as soon as they went 2-0 and we did for a few minutes that’s all.

We were good early on in the season (2011) dominating games but in the last few games (from 2012) it has been lackluster…no wonder it has coincided with the absence of Suarez and Lucas. I think most teams would struggle when they lose 2 of their star players.

I thought we were missing firepower upfront when we were creating chances in 2011 and not converting them into goals but now its different.

I usually don’t like advocating because Kenny and co know what they are doing better than me. My only 2 cents would be to give some of the these guys (Johnson, Enrique, Downing, Henderson, Adam, Skrtel) a break. They are almost playing non stop for months now.

Maybe Flanagan, Kelly, Coates, Shelvey can do a job for us while the others get a much needed break. [Sad Spearing had an injury at the wrong time]

But I must add we need firepower upfront even when Suarez is back. I am not sure who is available and at what price. But we need someone in his prime a la Torres of his first 3 seasons to link up with Stevie.

I know LB and some of the others feel that the money was not well spent. But I would like to stick with Kenny, Commoli and FSG’s judgment because I trust they have the best interests of Liverpool like many of us do.

I feel that these guys are playing too many games fatigue and lack of confidence has crept in. They are not getting enough rest. I hope its as simple as rotation because its easier for me to comment sitting on my sofa

The problem is at the approach this club has taken when it comes to buying players. ‘Tick all the boxes’ is the piece of crap which I would like to know. Like LB said, what are those fucking boxes?

The approach which was taken Rafa is the only way i see us winning the league. You got to buy quality. You got to find quality at a bargain price.If the quality comes from Europe rather than British, then let it b. We got most of it correct under his management.

Kenny and his team needs to introspect. We were dominated by a Bolton side who have been shit at home all season. Our midfield was chasing the game. Lucas who is out has become an even more important player for us. I just don’t understand why is it so hard to see that our midfield is a soft spot. Our midfielders cant hold the ball together, they cant score goals on a consistent basis. The run of Charlie Adam with 3 players with him against only 3 Bolton defenders epitomizes the ‘quality’ we have in midfield. I don’t remember a moment yesterday where we have tried to pass the ball around from our midfield to the attacking 3rd. I dont remember Glenn Johnson going forward. I dont know what happened to Enrique.

My question to the manager and his support staff is when they saw that our full backs were not doing certain basis things correctly, why didnt they tell them to change?

It has happened time n again. We seem to loose all our touch,confidence,ability all of a sudden. We put it past a top team and subsequently we loose.

I have said it in the past and i say it again. Henderson,Charlie Adam,Downing in midfield is an arrangement through which we are hoping to achieve the 4th place but reality is that they are not good enough. The reason being they dont have the consistency to carry a team with ambition like ours for a full season.

Andy Carroll should be sold asap. Period.

A few in here have questioned the intelligence of our players,my god was yesterday confirmation of that or what ! What a terrible display, Bellers played ok but the rest were pure gash.

Maybe the players really did have their minds on the next two cup games at least Im hoping thats what it was.
Two games on the trot where we have played badly is nothing new for Liverpool, there were times under all previous mangers that I remember going back to Kennys first time in charge where we have played quiet a few shite games on the trot, it happens to all teams. I dont think its time to right off every single signing we have made. Rafa bought plenty of quality but he also bought plenty of duds (please dont start going on about net spend Im only talking about the fact that EVERY manager makes mistakes in the transfer market) lets judge each one of Kennys signings at the end of the season.

Agree with you LB in that i think the mentality in the players is pretty weak. This could well be due to the fact that we have dominated so many games this season without scoring the goals.
The problem for me there is that I refuse to believe we are that average or just above average. If this team have shown that they can outplay united, city, arsenal, chelsea as well as dominate a lot of the lower teams, then theres no way we are just average. I agree we get ourselves up for the big games, but that mentality should carry through all our games. I cant work out how, if our teams quality is so ordinary, how we are dominating games so much. I mean, you can count on 3 fingrs how many performances we have had this season like that which happened yesterday, maybe even two.
So i think a combo of what you are saying and Aitch alluded to may be right. Confidence is low all through the team, or we are not getting our game faces on enough for all our games.
One things for sure, we need a response. To some extent, you could say this has always been our problem for alot of years now, regardless of team personell. A big part of us blowing the title in 08/09 was a string of draws against lower opposition like Stoke, Wigan etc. So the buck stops with Kenny..PARTLY…but if youre good enough to show respect to City, Scum et al…then you should fcking well be good and motivated enough to dp the same with all the rest.
The jigsaw is stillcoming together, and perhaps our season of transition is going to be full of regrets (already is) but i still maintain we are heading in the right direction. Kenny, like all managers, just as Guiness has said, has the right to say, ok we got that signing wrong. But its too soon to write them all off. My personal preference is that we cut our losses with Big Andy. the guys confidence is completely gone now.
Lets stay postive lads. we still gotta get through to massive cup games this week, which will either bring huge confidence boosts or a major kick in the balls depending on the outcome.

KC,
i’m a scouser mate still here in Liverpool.

not getting into yesterdays game, its done & dusted, but what i will say is everyone , players & coaching staff should donate there paychecks to a charity after that crap,
have any of you lads been on any of the other websites? these wankers are calling for kennys head, sack the prick, the geriatric dosent know what he’s at, fire daglish, this is the shit that is flying around, even on the offical website, but strangely enough the official website has been putting up statements lately & blocking the public from commenting, not this time tho, so aitch you might not be to far wrong,, they knew this would be the response & they should have had a bit more respect for kenny & done the same no comments block,
kenny is a man of honour as we all know & my fear is that next the press are gonna be on this & you can be damn sure so will sly sports, so i can see him walking away , i said here before i could see something happening at the end of the season with all thats gone on with the suarez circus, & how the club handled it & made kenny suarez & the other players look like fuckin idiots,theres also henrys statement of the fourth place finish, somethings not right lads, id brush it off if the body language was wrong on one or two players,but every fucking one of them?
or is it that andy carroll is bringing the team down with him?
on another matter how many times has our owner been to anfield this season? a busy man i know but the baseball season is long over & i would have expected him to be around a bit more, he didnt make it to the utd game this yr because the boston fans were giving him hell for buying liverpool after the sox had a bad season,,

nice one redman, tell me this mate , what is the chatter on merseyside ? there is bound to be rumblings after our recent run of form

Kc,
my close mate is a season ticket holder (as i once was)he is 53 and has been watching the Reds for 40 odd years, in the club last night where we were watching he said exactly the same “Kenny has to go”, i was gob-smacked to hear that shite, i asked him why ?, and he reckons he has lost the lad’s over the Evra affair, well i was’nt getting into that with a load of ale down me.
I agree with everyone else here LFC got what they deserved yesterday, and let’s not take anything away from bolton they done the business, i think from the off they seemed to sense Liverpool were not up for it and consequently smacked our arses, when we pulled a goal back did anyone see Stevie G running around shouting at the lad’s and geeing them up ?, no i did’nt either, he may as well come off and saved himself for wednesday.

Sorry KC, the rumbling’s here are the same the world over if you are a Red fan, most of us know shit when we see it buddy and that was pure unadulterated cack.

tell me this redman, who does your mate want to replace kenny with?

The special one ???.

redman, is that your choice or your mates?
im not gonna put anyone forward as my choice, i think we should wait until if & when the time comes,
this is not woy this is kenny daglish,
my stomach is sick with the way these people are bad mouthing this man, wait til the mancs & co get wind of this
we be the laughing stock,
i hope to god the fa act on lescott & that tramp ballotelli’s antics today, how the fuck did webb not see that stamp?

Kennys reaction was spot on lets see what sort of reaction he gets from them.

KC,
quite happy with Kenny at the moment, no he was not my choice bud, we have to give Kenny longer a lot longer to establish himself once again not like we did with Raffa.

Well said Guiness, as always the voice of reason!

As I’ve said in a previous post the referee Kevin Friend was no friend of ours (That seems par for the course). There was one incident that highlighted it all. Ngog (didn’t he play well yesterday btw) won a free kick on the edge of our box in the 85th minute. They made a substitution, for which ½ a minute is supposed to be added but the game did not resume until the 88th minute. That was >3½ minutes to make a substitution and take a free kick. Bolton had been wasting time the whole game, courtesy of their early goal. Would it surprise anybody that there was only 2 minutes time added on at the end? Another dismal performance but the referee also had a stinker, as so many decisions were wrong that it exacerbated and compounded our poor form.

In any case, when we play badly and lose I try to refrain from posting as I know I will be angry and no one can think clearly when they are angry so I give myself an overnight cooling off period so that I can have time to put things into perspective.

Having done that I can see how

OK we lost.
OK we played shite.
OK there appears to be some ineptitude.

But… We are without our 2 best players. Take Toure away from Citeh and they don’t look so great. Take van percil and vermaalen and the arse dont look so great. Take Bale and van the fart away from the spuds and they struggle.

Give it time. Not much that can be done until the summer. Were half way through mini silly season but it doesn’t look like we are going to dip into the market any time soon as we’d have done that by now I think.

Lets wait till the end of the season and then judge as to what’s required to push on to the next level.

As I said above £100M was what was needed just to stop the rot. There would need to be further cash investments to improve our team and I don’t just mean in this summers window alone but a continuous investment for the next few seasons to redress the imbalance.

Oh and it was my fear that Kennys 2nd coming may ruin the great mans reputation and standing and its beginning to look that way now. I hope that he can turn things around soon.

well said redman, kenny needs longer, & rafa should never have been sacked

im personally glad we have Kenny as our leader cos the man laid out the facts yesterday. The players disgraced the shirt. Yesterday has not been about signings, tactics etc…but a lack of desire and fight for the Liver bird. But im glad Kennys in charge as he turned us around a year ago and will do the same again. he needs a couple seasons to get this team firing the way he likes.
Personally I hope Comolli does away with this stats shite when hes eyeballin a player. Kenny may have the final word on players, but do we not think that he’s trusting the opinion of Comolli. After all, Comollis professional role is to scout these players and do the deals.
On another postive note, we have been let off the hook yesterday in that all the teams fighting for fourth dropped points and lost, so were arent to worse off from where we were Friday. I just hope the lads got a severe rollicking and pull thier socks up going forward.
elbmw’s right, i think losing two of our best players Lucas and Suarez is now starting to affect us.
The last thing we need right now is kneejerk reactions towards our manager, and towards the team we all know Big Andy was a knee jerk purchase due to Torres fucking off with 48hours left in the transfer window.
Lets keep behind Kenny, and once again lets not be mentioning him in the same sentence as the Face Scratcher. Kennys reputation will not be ruined, ever. No matter how much the gutter press and media hacks want to drag him through the mud. The press are still smarting from Woys sacking, and now this is thier oppurtunity to draw blood, to laugh, to tell us how stupid and misguided we were as supporters to trust in our King. I had a quick look in the Sunday World, to have a gander at Aldos column, but saw this article, big 2 page spread, by some guy with a face like a fucking Ewok, and it enraged me so much I near oassed out. This guy tore shreds off Kenny and LFC fans for booting out Woy and trusting Kenny so much. I dont know if anyone else read it, but it bordered on a personal attack on the man, and it enrages me and saddens me in equal measure. If Aldo knows the guy who done the article I hope he busts his fuckin nose.
But Kennys big enough and strong enough to steer us through rocky waters like he has in the past. I hope Aitch is wrong and there is no boardroom splits with Kenny, cos we have had enough our fill of that crap.

http://www.skysports.com/tv_show/story/0,,12382_7448023,00.html

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/kenny-s-bolton-verdict
after you watch the interview take time to go through the comments at the bottom of the page, the abuse kenny is getting is unreal

Confidence is low ?,
why ?, we are in the semi-final of the carling cup and 1-0 ahead going into the second game, we are still in the FA cup, and our position in the league is not as bad as some make out, we have no European games to worry about, (although on saturday’s showing it looked like they’d played Wednesday,Thursday and Friday), no sorry cant get my head round confidence is low, but there is something wrong.

redman, if there is indeed something wrong & it sure looks like it, & if your mate is right about kenny losing the players then we might not be in either cup come noon saturday noon,
sorry for the negativity mate but fuckin depressed with yday & the treatment kenny is getting, i thought it might be just from the istanbul fans as we know them but it seems the life long kopites are on the same boat

Lots of super stuff on here lads, and burgzebrain too.
I don’t believe Kenny has lost the team.
I believe more that it was not a good choice to play Adam and Gerrard as a 2 in the middle. We didn’t defend our defenders, we were soft in the middle and we paid the price.
You can add the fragile mentality and the lack of condidence, especially with AC and SD but that is spreading allover. The fact that Dirk can no longer score, a general lack of creativity and pace too.
We have lost our 2 most influzntial players, Lucas and Luis, Spearing is the only DM we have and between injury and suspension he’s often missing.
In the end Bolton were no mugs, nobody is. We don’t scare teams therefore we have to work our bollix off to win. We didn’t, we lost, we deserved it.

Some have mentioned that tiredness is an issue with some of the players who have played non-stop. Well we have played less than the teams who are playing in Europe and haven’t been affected by the African Nations Cup.
Right now is the period we should be gaining ground with the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal and sadly we have missed a very good opportunity. I hope things can be turned around but missing Lucas, Suarez and Spearing is a big factor we cannot ignore.

It is damning that Daglish has aired his discontent publically but emotions are running high and I sense maybe the top 4 was an ultimatum from NESV so the pressure is mounting on Kenny.

After watching the Spuds-City game and even the Arse-Manc games it seems and feels we are miles away from the top 4 based on recent performances. Suarez cannot come back soon enough.

The lack of transfer activity hopefully isn’t a sign that the owners are not trusting Kenny and Comolli with anymore money until the summer. They have previously stated that Jan is a window with inflated prices so besides the odd 1 million youth signings they won’t be in any rush to loosen the purse strings.

Besides the disrespectful comments post-match towards KD we now have the bookies talking about the odds of Martin O’Neill becomming our next manager although he has only just started managing another Club. Ridiculous?!?!

Oh Dear.
Martin feckin O’feckin’Neil?
Out of the sauna and into the inferno…

Hear that rippling, swishing, clicking-clacking sound in the distance? That’s the sound of knees jerking all across the mighty Liverpool FC nation.

When you pay around £75 mill for 5 players, AC, Hendo, Adam, Enri, SD, you expect a lot more than 6 prem goals after 22 games.Maxi scored 10 last season!Is Clarke to blame ? No G14 side would tolerate finishing seventh having spent so much.Couldn’t even score V Wigan, woeful record against the bottom 5.

So burger, haven’t read all the comments, but you’re a one off. What about the manure getting beat against Blackburn? Should manure sack slur fergie?

Thanks for the heads-up theredman.

LB quote
“In my opinion we’re just a club full of average or maybe just above average players.”

Is this not what LFC was based on? The team as a whole is more that the sum of its parts?

Maybe I am living in a dream world but now we should be backing Kenny more than ever. Or maybe we should sack KD and get Coyle in, as Bolton did beat us, after all.

So he must be better – QED.

This is not aimed at you LB just a general comment for the most knowledgable fans in the world – my arse!

The malaise affecting us till end of 2011 was because we didn’t finish well. It was very poor.
Goals / Shots we were bottom of the league but the number of shots was top of the league.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/8992467/Life-without-Luis-Suarez-will-be-hard-for-a-Liverpool-side-with-worst-goals-per-shot-ratio-in-the-Premier-League.html

However in 2012 our performances have dipped and the loss of Suarez, Lucas, Spearing (to a lesser extent) has played a part but I still think its that players are jaded (tired physically and mentally??) and we need to rotate.

Kenny has used strong words and I think he will rotate. Its the need of the hour. He knows its best.

The performance will go up as soon we rotate. This is always the case (initially) whenever there is a change and it will suit us in the short term till the players rested come back to fight their places.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas has returned to the club to continue his rehabilitation from a season-ending knee injury. The 25-year-old has spent the past six weeks in his native Brazil, where he underwent surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament damage

Psheneva, I agree we have to rotate just to freshen up the team but I think Daglish has already done that to a small extent resting Downing bringing in Maxi, Coates, Carra, Shelvey, Kuyt have all figured at various stages.

The trouble now is who do we rest and who do we bring in against City midweek and Man U on the weekend? By getting rid of all our deadwood did we decrease ou strength in depth? Should we have experimented with more attacking players from the reserves?

Can Bellamy play in both games against Man C with his alleged dodgy knee? If Spearing and Lucas hadn’t been injured we maybe able to push Gerrard a little further forwards but not with Adam’s dodgy defending. Maybe Henderson can drop deeper because he clearly isn’t adding any width on the right. In fact he is playing the Kuyt role protecting Johnson when he pushes forwards but the centre needs plugging asap and we need Gerrard to play less deep.

It would be interesting to see how Kenny will select the teams in the next two important fixtures. With the threat of dropping players will he gamble and play Shelvey and Kelly, or even Sterling? Alex Oxelaide Chamberlain looked very good for Arsenal against Man U so it maybe worth a gamble. He will certainly provide much needed pace out wide.

Something has to change whether it be attitude, mentality, belief or personnel!

yoko

i’m a little disappointed sterling hasn’t progressed from the reserve squad. i can see strengths and weaknesses in his game. i can see the problems, sure. and i understand the answer is one of two things: either he’s brilliant and dalglish doesn’t rate him, or he’s navel lint and dalglish doesn’t rate him. either way, dalglish doesn’t rate him and the king has forgotten more than i’ll ever know about football, so i’ll bow to his greater wisdom.

what i will say is this. strengths and weaknesses taken into account, sterling is a better player than downing, in my not so humble opinion.

for me, downing is a little one dimensional. i know what he’s going to do when he gets the ball.

sterling is mutli-faceted but needs to decide which dimension he’s playing in.

but would any red fan NOT like to see sterling bag a starting place?

sterling is a mystery player, like suarez, meaning its a complete mystery what the lad is going to do.

without that mysterious quality, you have predictability and this is one of liverpools problems. they’ve got no genuine goal-scorer, for sure, but stewert downing does not threaten that wing, does not light up the touch line.

oxlade chamberlain, these players do, but worth while noting he has been sat on the arsenal bench for some considerable time also.

only time will tell i guess.

LFC based on average players? Our successful teams down the years were full of class players. Maybe not superstar galacticos but they were quality, amongst the best or THE best in their position in the league. We can’t say that now.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/lucas-s-joy-at-lfc-return

blud, i ead some where last week that sterling was traing with the first team, not sure where , i think it was the echo

FUCK… 350 posts and already, my computer is having a hard time loading AGAIN!

Personally, it’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges, coz its very hard to compare the past with the present… everything about the Premier League, the make-up of the fanbase and Society in general is different… and that’s before you get into Satellite TV, the Internet, and (what passes for) Modern Journalism.

Kenny Dalglish came from Scotland and went straight into the LFC side.
Ian Rush went straight into the Reserves and was developed.

John Barnes went straight into the Liverpool first team and hit the ground running.
Peter Beardsley went straight into the first team, and took almost a whole season to find his feet.

Modric may not have been the failure alluded to earlier, but he certainly wasn’t the immediate success he now is.
Gareth Bale spent a few years playing far below the standard of his last two campaigns.
Both players were “Comolli signings”.

I’ve read a few references to how we played against Fulham, in that 5-2 game last season… as though that was how we played and dominated teams throughout the 5 months… which just isn’t the case. Fulham was not the norm, or the benchmark, it was the outstanding performance of that season.

And by the same token, our current league position and points haul… has us looking at the last two games and thinking… god we’ve been shit all year…
… which we haven’t.

Spurs was very poor… albeit with mitigating circumstances that made any real analysis mute…
Stoke was very poor…
Bolton was …errr… well worse than both combined.

There are one or two other poor performances among the rest, but by and large, most of the rest were very good performances… even when we did not get the results we’d have liked.

Something has gone wrong in the last two games…
.. there’s no point picking your favorite scapegoat(s) and pointing boney Reaper-like fingers at individuals … in both games (with one or two exceptions) the entire team played poorly…
…is that indicative of a trend in future games?
… or was it just a blip, from which we have the perfect opportunity to recover on Wednesday, and again on Saturday??

I can understand why some would gloomily lose faith…
… but we’ve shown we’re good enough to beat anyone…
…far more times…
… than we’ve shown we’re shit enough to get beaten by anyone.

As for throwing kids in at the deep end…
… simply put…
… some kids are up for it, and some just aren’t.

Should we throw a few in now???

To be honest, its easy to say yes, or no…
The reality is… it’s a far more complex question.

Oxlade-Chamberlain looked pretty good yesterday…
… but don’t kid yourself that he was pulling up 10 underperformers by their bootstraps…
… on the contrary, he was playing in a relatively settled side that has been playing reasonably well.

Wellbeck has been the standout player for Scum… he’s kept Chicarito and Berbatov out of the side… and his goals are the reason why Scum are where they are in the Prem…
… but again… he’s surrounded by seasoned professionals, in an atmosphere that believes success is theirs.

Sending Raheem Sterling out at Anfield … IF the rest of them play like they did at Bolton and against Stoke… and it is highly unlikely, he’ll make any bigger impact than the more experienced Downing or Carroll have.

Its as easy to ruin a promising youngster as it is to develop him correctly.
If there is one thing Kenny will know… it is that.

Look… there are a lot of comments out there (particularly on other forums) pointing to the money spent last summer, as though we had a really great condition used car and simply needed to trick it out, Fast & Furious style, with Nox systems and fancy rims and tires…
… what we did last summer was rid ourselves of almost a dozen failed players, young and experienced… and replace them with 6…
… it cost money…
… but it wasn’t upgrade time…
… on the contrary, it was checking the frame to make sure it was straight, repairing any damage to the suspension system, and putting in some much needed anti-rust bodywork.