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Carragher sees merit in Liverpool blueprint By George Caulkin Our correspondent hears why England could do with some of the Anfield club's belief THE notion may not find much favour with monarchists or Mancunians, but England could do worse than to adopt You?ll Never Walk Alone as their national anthem. After all the disappointments, the scuffed penalties, the broken bodies and the agonising inevitability of the quarter-finals, an infusion of Scouse spirit and the ethos of Bill Shankly would be welcome in Germany. From their dramatic passage to Istanbul a year ago and the breathless recovery against AC Milan, to their narrow victory over West Ham United in the FA Cup, Liverpool have reinvented themselves as the least accommodating losers in football. ?With 20 minutes to go, if the score is not right, it becomes a life-and-death thing,? Jamie Carragher said. ?You have to give it everything.? Under Sven-Göran Eriksson, England have shied away from high-tar, unfiltered commitment in tournament conditions. There have been moments of frenetic pressure, such as David Beckham?s one-man onslaught against Greece in 2001 and the dismemberment of Germany earlier the same year, but in competitions there has been an insipid pallor to their performances. There are lessons to be drawn from Liverpool?s cramp-inducing efforts, from the Champions League to Cardiff, although Carragher, the defender, has a caveat to add. ?We always seem to get to these finals by keeping things tight and then when we get there all hell breaks loose,? he said. ?It?s like a kids? game in the schoolyard, end to end. You?re so desperate not to lose.? Yet after the defeat by Brazil in Shizuoka, Japan, four years ago and the shoot-out trauma against Portugal two years later, there is a clamour among England supporters for their team to be bold. If Liverpool can do it without Wayne Rooney, why can?t an England squad with the verve of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen and David Beckham? ?Liverpool?s never-say-die attitude can be transferred to England, certainly when it comes to the knockout games,? Carragher, 28, said. ?If you go behind, you can?t always be gung-ho because the top teams will pick you off, but in the latter stages of games, you just have to throw everything at it, really go for it and hopefully it will come right.? More reckless than Eriksson is renowned for, but less sterile, too. you still won't get a game Jamie lad

How much did it cost to get to Paris compared to Istanbul? Possibly ten times more expensive to get to The Ataturk. Dunno why Parisians are less likely to flog tickets than the locals in Istanbul, by the way. Bit of an odd thing to say that.

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I think its a good thing and we should applaud it, unless you all think its a bad thing in which case its a disgrace. What I will say is: Cash from China? Thats rather far-fetched! (keep old jokes Scouse)

Did he slap in his face with his glove first?

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The good, the bad and the downright ugly of Big Dunc Nicky Campbell Friday May 19, 2006 The Guardian It is 20 years from now and Theo Walcott has called time on a wonderful career for club and country. A gangly big guy in his mid-50s winces with sciatica and glances at the headlines in the papers he is using to muck out his precious pigeons. "Hero Theo Waves Goodbye". Does he feel indifferent or does his heart ache for what might have been? Icon, hooligan, man of principle, shameless mercenary, tender bird lover, vicious thug, generous team-mate, waste of space - take your pick. Image wise some liken him to Lee Bowyer but without the charm, while to others he is an Everton legend. Duncan Ferguson doesn't speak to the "scum gutter press" so we are left to surmise from prejudices and infer from facts. Here are some. He has played his last game of professional football. Never again will he be out with injury and/or suspension. There will be no more fines to add to the quarter of a million pounds paid to Everton over the years and no more opportunities to reach double figures in a season. He managed that once, at Dundee United. I was thrilled when he leapt on to the scene in the early 1990s because I thought a great striker had come our way at last. Then the flaws emerged as he manifested the hair-trigger temper that was his undoing. He seemed a man on the edge, like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, "You think I'm a funny guy?" He has attacked policemen, postmen, fishermen and a journeyman - when he head- butted Raith Rovers' John McStay on the field. The Scottish Football Association refused to let his match ban run concurrently with the prison sentence and Ferguson turned his dodgy back on the national team. But when you pull on that jersey you are not doing it for the benefit of some pissant panjandrum who may or may not have it in for you. You are doing it for kids with dreams. Howard Kendall said: "We'll never know what he went through on that one" but a former international who played in the dark blue with Ferguson is contemptuous. "What're you writing about him for? Lining up in front of the anthem was the ultimate for me. Not for that imbecile." The estimable Craig Brown is more forgiving. "I like Duncan. He is a popular guy. A generous guy who will invite all the guys to play snooker in his house and buy all the drinks." He paused and added, "He is like Gascoigne maybe - too generous for his own good." A former Everton team-mate, a model pro, took another view. "You wouldn't want to sit down and chat to him - put it that way. He is a lucky, lucky guy who got some big moves - a man who made an awful lot of money. He didn't like training, wouldn't prepare his body properly, didn't love football and just wasn't dedicated to it. He probably doesn't watch football." This player is scathing about the transfer to Newcastle. "[Ruud] Gullit must've done that deal in one of those Amsterdam coffee shops." Brown is interesting on Ferguson's football ability. "He had terrific touch and aerial ability and superb game awareness. A real strength was peeling off round the back and finding himself unmarked." But he acknowledges Duncan was no natural goalscorer. "With Scotland he was supposed to be the cure to all our striking problems. In all the games he did play not only did he not score, we didn't score." His former Goodison colleague is uncompromising. "He was a static footballer. He was good in the air and people say he was tough to play against but, if defences push out, you can't score a header from 20 yards. Not my cup of tea." Kendall thought differently. "Duncan was awesome in the air. I remember a goal at Arsenal when he just rose above Adams. Awesome. Without the suspensions, without the injuries - that's how it could have been." And that is the nub of it. But why should millionaire Duncan Ferguson have any regret whatsoever in years to come as he caresses his champion pigeons? That requires a self-doubt he enviably lacks. Lucky, lucky guy. shed a tear, here

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Mickey Quinn's dad (he's got an alehouse in Cannie Farm) always maintained we should have bought his lad from Oldham instead of Harrison. Even though Wayne scored 4 goals in three games when we were scouting him, Big Mickey always reckoned his lad laid them all on.

"Referee Terje Hauge has admitted he may have acted too quickly in sending off Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann during Barcelona's Champions League triumph" They should replay the game. And the West Ham-Spurs game. In fact, replay the whole season. Starting in, like, August or something.

What is the feckin point? He's gonna get a lot of injuries that lad

"Go on turn round and have a look at it. It won't bite. Man up FFS!"

Liverpool's comeback feat inspired us, says Eto'o Dominic Fifield at the Stade de France Thursday May 18, 2006 The Guardian Samuel Eto'o insisted Barcelona's breathless late comeback last night was inspired by the memory of Liverpool's exploits in Istanbul a year previously, with the Cameroonian striker heralding this the "most beautiful moment" of his career. Eto'o's equaliser, slipped beyond Manuel Almunia at his near post following Henrik Larsson's flick, deflated the Premiership side to pave the way for Juliano Belletti's winner just five frantic minutes later. Yet it was the Merseysiders' startling recovery from 3-0 down at half-time last season which ensured Barça's players, frustrated through the first period, never despaired of recovery. "Whatever we did in the first half didn't work, but we fought, dominated the second half and never gave up," said Eto'o, his son Etienne on his knee and Uefa's player of the match award clasped in his hand. "Having seen what Liverpool did last year when they were 3-0 down and apparently well beaten, we knew that you can't just accept you've lost until the final whistle goes. If you look at Liverpool's spirit, you know you have to fight to the end and, God permitting, you can win. "You can't allow doubts to creep in in a final like this. When we came out after half-time, we heard our supporters and remembered the spirit of Liverpool's players a year ago. We kept trying and trying and, in the end, God wanted us to win. There aren't enough words to explain what we're experiencing. What we have done today will only sink in when we stop playing football. This is probably the most beautiful moment in my entire career." hear

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Arsenal's tour bus reversing back into the garage.