aka Dus

They are changing the seedings from next season, so that the top seeds in each group are the champions of last year and the champion of the top 7 leagues. A good idea.

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Great to see.

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It's a point of view: Sadlier: Blaming the players a very dangerous game for Rodgers Praising the best and hammering the weakest is not good management, writes Richard Sadlier W hen Giovanni Trapattoni bumped into Mario Balotelli during the Euro 2012 finals, he asked him one simple question. It may have been a plea, or it may have been a criticism, but he came straight out with it as soon as they met. "Mario, when are you going to sort your head out?" Balotelli responded instantly, perhaps not understanding the question, or maybe understanding it as fully as he could. "What do you mean? I've just got my hair cut," he replied. There was a look of bemusement from all around. Trapattoni, like so many of the managers who have worked with the striker before, knew there was little point in continuing. Brendan Rodgers is not at that point. He is, however, comfortable with publicly criticising the Italian for his lack of creativity and goals. He also thought nothing of explaining to the media how and why Balotelli came to sign for the club. According to Rodgers, he was a last-minute purchase made in the absence of any alternatives. Their main transfer targets had eluded them, and with the deadline approaching they figured that signing Balotelli was preferable to signing nobody. It also explains away his previous statement when he "categorically" ruled out Balotelli joining the club. Rodgers didn't have to say any of this, but it came on the back of a series of performances which suggested Balotelli wasn't exactly the right fit for Liverpool. This led to obvious concerns about the club's transfer policy and Rodgers' own judgement. Rather than leave those questions hanging, he thought he'd throw Balotelli under a bus. I said I didn't want him in the first place. There was nobody else out there. Don't blame me. Why anyone needed to see him play for Liverpool to realise it wouldn't work is beyond me. However, it was the club's own failing in the transfer market that led to them signing a player completely at odds with how the manager likes his teams to perform and how he expects his players to behave. They got what they paid for and he should be surprising nobody. There's one thing that hasn't gone unnoticed, though, and I'm sure it hasn't escaped the attention of the dressing room either. This isn't the only example of Rodgers absolving himself of responsibility when things go wrong. He said earlier in the season that individual errors are proving costly. He said the weight of the jersey is proving too heavy for some of the new signings also. Explaining away defensive frailties, particularly at set-pieces, he pointed to the amount of time he had spent on this with the players. "It was a very disappointing one to concede after all the work we've done on the training ground," he said. In other words, I'm doing my job and it's about time the players did theirs. Rodgers said on Wednesday night that Liverpool have shown enough in their first two Champions League games to believe they are good enough to qualify. Statements like that should put everything he says into perspective. Fair enough, he's only doing his job. He's presenting a version of events that puts him in a certain light. All managers do that but very few can survive alienating themselves from the dressing room in the process. His criticisms of Balotelli aren't without merit but his praise of Steven Gerrard's performance on Wednesday night certainly was. Praising the best and hammering the weakest is hardly strong management. It's not even good management. For the first time in a long time Rodgers' team have been consistently playing with a lack of purpose. They don't impose themselves on the opposition as they once did. They haven't replaced Luis Suarez and they're struggling without Daniel Sturridge. They have shown no sign so far of building on last season and the defensive frailties haven't been addressed. Rodgers is responsible for those. He said Liverpool are in "a period of transition" on Friday, manager-speak for 'we're not going to win anything soon'. It's a comment designed to reduce expectations and buy time. This wouldn't be the message from most clubs that finished runners-up in the Premier League just a few months earlier. Just to recap, they lost only one key player (plus Daniel Agger) and spent almost £120m strengthening the squad. The supporters and the media may accept the need for patience but some in the dressing room may resent the position they're in. He can spend as many press conferences as he likes giving his views on tactical formations, but there is one audience he cannot afford to lose. Before yesterday's win over West Brom he warned the fans there may be more pain to come. If he loses the support of the players, he could well be the one feeling most of it. - See more at: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/sadlier-blaming-the-players-a-very-dangerous-game-for-rodgers-30638595.html#sthash.xAw2uWBu.dpuf

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Malmö FF Swedish champions for the second year in a row. Been top of the league more than a year now.

Ha ha!! This has made my day already.