JRC

There was probably an exception in Spain when Valencia won it twice, I would guess.

Good point, and one not generally acknowledged by those anxious to prove their credentials by showing how critical they are prepared to be of Rafa (eg the 'Thanks for the CL, Rafa, now F*** Off' thread on another site). Part of our confidence in the past few weeks has been that we showed we weren't a one-man team, having done what we did without Stevie; and if the 2 England games had been Liverpool ones, I suspect Rafa would have kept him out of at least one of them; as he didn't get that option, the bench yesterday was always likely. (Wasn't he on the bench for our only League win there since we came up?) As for Torres, of course he has been brilliant for all of the - what, 5 - matches he has played for us to date. I expect him to generally perform better than Crouch (that's why we paid what we did for him), but there was no guarantee that yesterday would have been such a day; we don't yet really know what his form cycle is like, and he is only young - maybe he struggles with 3 games a week, esp with travel. Also Crouch had something to prove, and could just as easily turn in a performance like that against Arsenal. He didn't. And good as Torres looked when he came on, we didn't noticably take over the game in the last period - chances made but missed, but Pompey still looked like scoring, much like before they came on. Given there are those who claim we would have been 3 or 4 up by half time if S&T had played from the start, then we surely should have nicked a couple against a tiring defence. Or maybe this was always going to be a close game, whatever the line up. Rafa may well have completely c*cked up, but I'm afraid it's not as clear cut or undeniable as some would claim - and saying that does not make me a member of the newly named RCDNW front, nor less passinate and committed in my support of the Reds. *fwiw, I didn't talk to anyone for 3 hours after the final whistle yesterday, and stomped around in a childish sulk, the dog cowering in his kennel.

May well be true, but he was an MP for a while for a relatively moderate party that opposed some of the more extreme nationalist elements in that part of the world. He was also, in his not inconsiderable heyday, reputedly a big Reds fan, and I for one would have loved to see him at Anfield. But if he's dissed the Raven, there is nothing down for him. OR if he came out with the quote that neatly preceded my post without me seeing it........

I have found some of the reactions to this as disturbing as anything associated with supporting LFC for a long time; posts like the above go some way restoring my faith. RAWK is like a bearpit these days, full of snarling hatred and entrenched attitudes as they slug it out to prove who is the real alpha-fan. Deeply, deeply depressing.

That's with he Cup game right? Our League form there in the last 3 years is what? LWL? Wth poor home results against them (including the Cup draw and subsequent replay defeat), the awful white sock kit, sh*tty ground and baying (but in their stupid way, impressive) supporters, it's no wonder they feel like a classic 'bogey' team. Exactly why I think, this season, we will turn them over in a used-to-be-typical ruthless, contolled, commanding, crowd-silencing, convincing 2-0 (1 each half) win

I'll be in Toronto next week for the Derby County match, stoppping on Yonge Street; any suggestions/advice for catching the game? Cheers

Although not as obviously so as the one in Town - which used to have a 6ft (+ Heels) Tranny on the door, dead scouse, hilarious and always had the last word witth hecklers.

Carra/His Uncle/Brother was supposd to be getting involved in converting the old ABC Cinema on Lime Street (next to Wetherspoon's) into a Bar/Club complex, but it fell through. Pity, it's a fantastic Art Deco building in a prime location, but currently a High Profile Grot Spot - it deserves the full makeover. It would also mean the Great Man would,if possible, go even further up in my estimation - Playing Legend, Future Liverpool Manager, Freeman of Sefton, Scourge of TalkSport ShockJock W*nkers..AND civic-minded entrepeneur/philanthropist bringing pride to our City Centre. Gotta Love Him.

The one in Crosby is called Patrick's as well, and would have to be funded by someone wealthy, as there is never anyone in.

Don't disagree at all about Picolino's quality, but it should be, as it's notably more expensive. I saw Aurelio in there a couple of weeks ago with a hispanic-young-footballer-looking pal who I have yet to identify as one of our many such-like newbies - not Insua, Lucas, Leto or Paletta for sure. The Olive Press on Castle Street is pretty good as well, btw

Word of the day. Not sure of the spelling or etymology, but always a favourite.

Makes sense, as that whole area is under heavy development (and no doubt investment/speculation), and the Italian and Mexican are next to each other. Also the Japanese one next door is a real haunt for the players as well - I've seen Zenden, Reina and Alonso there in the past. Mind you, the Casa Bella on the corner of Stanley Street is privately owned (i.e. not a hain/franchise), and from what we hear, the location may appeal to Danny boy....

It's a bit harsh to criticize the team or tactics; even at home, a game against a very strong opponent like Chelsea is always goingb to be very tight; more often than not, it requires a little bit of something extra to get that advantage - which is wjhat we got yesterday with Torres (and didn't against ManU last year, for example) Of course 1-0 is always precarious, that's why you have to rely on your defence doing a job in these games as well (which they did), but we shouldn't be getting uptight about our failure to get 2 or 3 - this was Chelsea we were playing; that it wasn't a perfectly respectable and admirable1-0 win was entirely due to a farcical refereeing decision, not any failings on the part of our defence or competence on Chelsea's. In a top of the table clash like this, complaining about failing to score more than 1 - we had decent chances, but no real glaring misses - is just being greedy. Expecting basic competence from the Refereee isn't.

Had a fanatical Liverpool supporting Dad, but so did my best mate, and he became a Manc, the other option then in the 60's in the North Cheshire hinterlands (pre-New Town Runcorn). Because my Dad was a Football League linesman, we couldn't get to many Liverpool games until he finished in the late 60's ( I went as a kid to LOTS of games at most grounds throughout the North & Midlands though, as he had a game every Saturday - but he wasn't allowed to run the line at Anfield or Goodison; and rightly so - he would never have given anything against us or for them). He did bunk me over the turnstiles at Wembley '65, though, and danced drunkenly with me in Trafalgar Square afterwards. Even with that provenance, though, a defining moment - Age 5, in 1964, in full kit, I was asked by Eric Hughes, Chip Shop King of Runcorn, if I supported Liverpool or ManU (The kit still had White Shorts in those days, so not a stupid question). When I said Liverpool, he gave me sixpence. So - I'm a mercenary, worse even than a glory hunter.

The interplay in the Villa away game was as good as anything we have produced since - all one touch, pass and move, unexpected angles. But just one of too small a selection of examples of Litmanen at his best. Nice to see some realism here - in the Dark Days, Litmanen's failure was placed squarely on Houllier's shoulder, part of the indictment. Whilst Ged is not without culpability, truth always was that Jari never quite cut it in the Premier League as much as we would hoped, for a number of reasons.

Clearly never went on the web forums or listened to the Main Stand Miserabilists then. tbh I loved the fact that he was so infuriating, those crucial and signifcant flashes of genius were always a real 2 fingers up to those that always find it easier to have a moan at anyone who isn't 100% perfect. Good luck, Luis, and thanks for everything

The 'Spanish Temperment' thing could easily apply to the post-CL outburst. And no-one could claim that when it comes to LFC - or Football generally - that Rafa is anything other than intense. Nothing to see hear, folks. Apart from Smithdown's sister, maybe.

Tough run in, which is a change - for the last few seasons we've had an easy run-in, for it not to matter by the time we got to it. The overall start is OK, but be prepared for some whinging and doom-mongering in case of a not unlikely failure to take all 6 points from Villa and Chelsea (with the WH game postponed), as all the others we would look at have easy first games - Chelsea, a***, ManU and Everton have v winnable Home games on the first day; and may see us mid-table or below on the 2nd weekend.....Although an early win against the Chavs would set us nicely for the subsequent run of games.

So it's transparent then. Isn't that what the protest was about? Or am I suffering Cross-Forum confusion?

So currently, two of the strongest and most praiseworthy responses to UEFA have come from Michael Howard and The Daily Mail. Have I slipped into some bizarre parallel universe? Not sure I can handle this, tbh.

This is supposed to be their response, remember, to Athens. A report, not into what went wrong that night but into the past 4 years of 'incidents' involving us. Produced in less than 2 weeks, as well. It is nothing other than crass, naked ad hominem politics - and technically irrelevant to the issue apparently under review (Athens). If a political party, or UK institution (Network Rail, The Police etc.) tried to be this blatant and simplistic in it's own defence, the press would rip it to shreds. The fact that they are using this tactic - even if the accusations are 'true' (which begs the question why they didn't act on them earlier) - shreds what scant vestiges of credibility this corrupt, bloated, incompetent, self-serving organization has left. Think so. So how do they know he abandoned the match? Perhaps he just decided to blow up with a minute left........

Dalglish had plenty of 'those' games, but I remember one against Man City when he was simply unplayable, even by his imperious standards - scored a direct Free Kick, if I recall, a rarity for the King, Rush in the 0-5 Derby, yes, but also away at Aston Villa on an Ice Rink. Hamann vs Roma 2001 - but the Home Leg. Tackled everything in sight, all night.

As far as I know, we make No Profit on Shir sales other than those via the club. The agreement with Adidas gives full rights to these sales to them directly - that's what they pay up front for (and I believe all shirt deals are like this, not just ours.) Of course, the clubs with the biggest fan base gat the biggest deals, so it's still beneficial to sell mor, but not simply on an incremental basis. Of course, I may be wrong, there may be some volume-dependant bonuses, or individual shirt sales licence payment, but that's not how it has been explained to me in the past

or trust your left foot...

To be fair to Kuyt, he had 2 chances last night and put one away (the other was well, if a little fortuitously, blocked) - not unlike Inzaghi, if you don't credit the in-off as 'taking a chance'. Maybe he doesn't get into enough 'chance' positions, but nor do we create a plethora of quality chances anyway. If we had had, say, Owen last night, then we would not have had the control we did, as Kuyt helped counter the effectiveness of Pirlo and Gattuso. Now Rush, that would hve been different - he did the Kuyt stuff AND scored for fun. But not being Rush is a failing for just about any striker you care to mention.