passater

I was at 3 of our first 5 games at the start of that season.....amazing memories. The Charlton game - Lawrenson came on for Spackman (who wore number 9 that day!!!) and he only got a regular starting berth from the Everton LC game onwards, until he got injured again in the spring. When he was strting regularly, he was wearing number 3. I agree that by that stage Nicol was at LB but he was back at RB by the end of the season as Ablett was in. Houghton came in in October and made RM his own. Just demonstrates what a great player Nicol was....could and did play anywhere without any real dip in contribution. Finnan is the only FB on either side who has brought as much to the team on a consistent basis since.

Nicol at LB? Are you sure? Barnes' brilliance was always even more than it actually appeared because he usually had a less than brilliant LB behind him - Venison was the first, at the start of 87-88. That was when Nicol was top scorer in the 1st Div for a while from RB. Then after that he had to put up with the likes of Ablett, Staunton and Burrows.

Clear peno on Xabi. Idiot commentating in the US started out with 'blatant dive' and after the replays rammed it down his throat he changed to the asinine 'went down too easily for my money'.

On the PPV feed in the US we saw the mosaic from behind.......

According to Friday's Guardian, its a done deal....apart from FIFA just not allowing it..... Liverpool make move for Mascherano Mersey club hope to break Fifa rules impasse; Curbishley aims to fill gap with £5m Boa Morte Dominic Fifield and Jon Brodkin Friday January 5, 2007 The Guardian Liverpool have agreed to sign Javier Mascherano from West Ham United until the end of the season with a view to a longer-term deal, though there still appears to be a major obstacle to overcome if the move is to be completed. Fifa said last night it would refuse to sanction the transfer. Mascherano arrived at Upton Park from Corinthians on transfer deadline day in August having already represented the Brazilian club in competitive action since the World Cup finals. Article Five, Paragraph Three of Fifa's regulations stipulates that, while players can be registered for a maximum of three clubs from July 1 until June 30 the following year, they are eligible to play for only two in that time. Article continues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The West Ham manager, Alan Curbishley, who has agreed a fee of £5m with Fulham for Luis Boa Morte, is already planning for life without Mascherano despite Fifa indicating last night that the rules would technically prevent the Argentina midfielder from completing a loan move to Anfield. Indeed, it is understood to have outlined the situation to the West Ham owner, Eggert Magnusson, when asked at the end of November. "Our understanding, as of today, is the rule is binding," said a Fifa spokesman. "That means that, if a player has already played and registered and been eligible for two clubs from the period of July 1 to June 30, he is not any longer eligible for another club until the next period begins [on July 1]. There is no provision that allows for any kind of waiving of this rule." Yet Mascherano's representatives, Media Sports Investments, whose founder Kia Joorabchian brokered his move alongside that of Carlos Tevez from Brazil to east London with the company retaining the players' image rights, are convinced a deal can still be struck even if they must challenge Fifa to force completion. The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benítez, is understood to share that confidence, with the player having agreed personal terms and the transfer discussed at length at a board meeting yesterday. The deal is expected to be a loan with an option to purchase at the end of the season. Benítez will also add the Blackburn Rovers defender Lucas Neill to his ranks this month, with Stephen Warnock possibly moving in the other direction. While both Neill and Mascherano have played in the Uefa Cup this season, Liverpool will most likely submit the Australian as their one additional eligible player for their Champions League campaign under new Uefa rules, leaving the Argentinian as cover for Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso in domestic competition. The 22-year-old has made only seven appearances for West Ham and none since Curbishley took over.

In fairness Sheff u defended very well. Arsenal had no leadership on the pitch.

Xabi...........!!!!

Exactly right. SG hasn't been in it at all and Garcia only got involved towards the end of the half. Riise not up to much and Pennant is looking lightweight. Watford have caused us problems with long balls and Reina had a very scary moment with an attempted volleyed clearance from a Gerrard volleyed backpass....

Its official: its 2002 all over agian.

Toure. Absolutely bloody appalling.

Luis not on the bench.

According to Parry and Earle, he was booked.

Gonzalez let Hleb cut in and pick out his man. Its his fault.

2 speeches from Robbie Earle in 5 mins about Gerrard's unhappiness/ineffectiveness on the right.....

1 win in 7 Prem gaames for Everton now isn't it??? And the win was Sheff U at home. The next crisis club??!!!!!!

Right. Left for the second.

Momo on for Crouch. 17 mins to get a booking. Riise has been absolutely shocking today.

Kuyt again!!!!!!!!

Agree with all of the above. Spot on.

Birtles never met a football cliche he didn't like. FSC Commentator (Daniel Mann?) was just as bad. All about pressure on Rafa.

Great save by Reina - whole team back but no one looking after Sutton. Its not as if he can't head it....

Still playing nice stuff. Villa are a lot better but we are not looking nrevous...yet. Crouch and Kuyt together looks the real thing.

3 great goals. The second was truely bad defending by Villa - they let the ball bounce in the box -but it was an excellent finish by Crouch. They were closing us down effectively for the first 20 mins or so, getting especially tight on Xabi and Finnan. Then Gerrard and Luis started moving around more and that seemed to open it up a bit. The move for the third goal was vintage last season stuff. As long as we don't go all Galatasary we are fine now.

Agree. Its very GH.

Did Berger not win it with Dortmund?