Mr S

Robbie Keane cost us today with that miss and has cost us already this season. You might therefore like to know that Keane was in a nightclub in Hale, near Manchester, close to where he lives, the other week in the early hours of the morning pissed out of his head and puking all over the place. I know the person who unfortunately had to clear his puke up. So much for his commitment to the game. Get rid Rafa.

I was talking to a senior administrator of LFC today. He told me that while he does not know all that goes on he does know the following: 1. There are very serious concerns about the renegotiation of the RBS debt. The word inside the club is that they are highly unlikely to be able to renegotiate it. There is even word that they are going to have to think about administration. Nobody wants to think about it but suggestions are that they might well have to. Much of this, of course, we know but it's a reaffirmation. 2. Apparently the Sheik made a £500m take it or walk away offer to H and G last Friday. H and G walked away. It's difficult to understand what their game is. If RBS don't renegotiate the debt then they are in serious trouble and will have to sell. But the chances are that the Sheik or anyone else is then going to drop the price and H amd G will lose out. So why don't they take the £500m ? Answers on a postcard please. I don't know, I just don't get their game.

I was talking last night to a couple of Man City season ticketholderswho I play five a side with and who are all knowlegable about the game. I mentioned Riera. They all remembered him and what's more they all rated him. They said the problem at City was that Pearce wanted him to track back all the time and that his instinct was to go forward, and when he did go forward he was really good. He could take defenders on and get past them but Pearce kept telling him not to press up so high. In the end Riera got fed up. Just thought I'd pass it on.

It was a fantastic evening. Every Liverpool fan should go and see this production. The Shankly actor was great and everyone there just loved the whole show. At the end as the gospel choir sang You'll Never Walk Alone, I guarantee the entire audince was in tears. There was also some great archive footbage of Liverpool in the fifties and sixties. Lots of Liverpool legends were there as well as Sir Tom Finney who was thrilled by the reception he got. Shanks' grandaughter was there also and she loved it. Said it was as if her grandad had come back. Great show, go and see it. You really must.

The play is appaently based on two of the books by Liverpool fan Stephen F. Kelly. His biography of Shankly and his novel Mr Shankly's Photograph. I gather that quite a few of the legends are going to be there. It promises to be a great evening.

I have just spoken to my source in the city - a major financier and Liverpool supporter who operate at the highest level. He doesn't tell me much that we don't already have a whiff off but it is some kind of confirmation about some things. 1. Gillett and Hicks have definitely fallen out and do not speak to each other. 2. They both desperately want to sell 3. They have been talking to DIC. 4. They'll do a deal as long as they at least get their money back. 5. DIC won't pay over the odds. 6. DIC are hard-headed businessmen (he knows them well) and will not be knights in white shining armour coming to the rescue of Liverpool. 7. He doubts a deal has been done and has not heard anything. 8. Nevertheless he admits he could be wrong on point seven. You can take it that all these points are absolutely correct with the possible exception of point seven. Not much but at least it confirms what we have already heard.

This story could well be true. I know for a fact (as I have very good contacts in the city ) that Hicks and Gillett have been hawking around trying to raise finance for the new stadium and it has been proving impossible. Indeed it is very difficult to raise finance for any kind of major project at the moment because of problems in the American money markets. Nobody wants to lend money for major projects. So, it would not surprise me if they have gone back to the drawing board and come up with something substantially cheaper that might stand a better chance of being financed. It's not altogether their fault, they just happen to be looking for money at the wrong time. Nevertheless, I have never thought that they were really financially equipped to be running a major European football club. Don't be surprised if they sell a stake in LFC to someone else.

I think the press asking him all the time will rub off on him as well. If they keep asking all the time 'Why aren't you in the squad' he's bound to start thinking 'Well why am I not'. We all expected Voronin to come in and be 4th choice. Suddenly the guy has impressed and is now perhaps third choice with Crouch fourth. Along with Torres jumping ahead of him he'll bound to feel left out after playing so regularly last season. If he's not prepared to accept his position, and with the media badgering him, I wouldn't be surprised if he left next summer.

Well there are 3 Spanish teams and 1 other Greek team, so there is good chance they could get drawn in the same group. Sevilla would be drawn out of the second pot as they have a rating of 87 whereas AEK would be from the fourth as they only have a rating of 36. I can't see any way of conducting it without doing two completely separate draws

How will Sevilla and AEK not playing affect this? Could Sevilla be a third seed and AEK a fourth or are both the same?

He looked great last night. Would love to see Him, Pennant and Babel playing behind Torres on Saturday. What impressed me most was his through balls, be perfect for Torres to run onto.

If the report that Eto'o wants to stay at Barcelona are accurate - and the quotes seem very convincing - then it does not sound like he'll be joining Liverpool. So, maybe Rafa has an alternative. It could be any of Torres, Tevez, Villa, Owen or Henry. Somehow I don't think Henry.

Wayne is absolutely right. The key to the problem is that you had a stadium with no turnstiles. Had there been turnstiles people without tickets would not have got in. It's as simple as that.

I might have two if anyone is interested. From Liverpool Wednesday morning coming back on Thursday morning. I didn't get tickets for the game so looks like I might have to sell the flights. £500 each.

It was fantastic. Read Stephen Kelly's book The Kop. It tells you all.

Has anyone else noticed the lack of response from the club to today's announcement about the stadium. The council have said that we have to have the finance in place within a week or so. Now you would have expected Parry to have said something along the lines of 'yes, this is great news. We have all the finance in place and we are now totally confident that everything will go ahead.' But no, all that we have is a bland statement on the ofal from Rafa saying how good it is. There is nothing else on the ofal about it. I'm very concerned at the lack of response from Parry/Moores or any other directors. My fear is that the finance is not in place and the whole thing will collapse. The council have said that if the money is not in place by the end of the month that's it, no regeneration money from them and the whole thing falls. Or am I just being pessimistic.

You can get them from the FA website for £10

Does anyone have a link to decent photos of the Kop before it was seated.