JRC

See also Sakho - last home league defeat, iirc?

And by too many LFC fans as well. He would have had a constant Twitterstorm from the ignorant if he were playing today. Set the tempo, read the game brilliantly and brutally, cynically hard. Intelligent, diligent and understated - unlike his punditry, sadly.

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Was also Thatcher's football/working-class hate-inspired insistence that the FA pull all teams out of Europe, not just us being banned by UEFA. Whilst here - didn't both Spurs and Everton get sanctioned for disturbances during that European season? Ferries wrecked, town centre bust-up stuff? There's a lot of naive revisionism about the capability of any set of English club supporters to act like animals in Europe at that time, as if we were the only ones who ever did.

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Why not stay for a night out in Watfo....ok, point taken.

There's also a hint of a pause and assessment of the options before taking the shot, not just instinctively lashed as it drops. Brilliant player, brilliant goal.

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Custis managed to throw a dig in when discussing City not selling out tonight. Also - apparently, among other things, the 'magic of the cup' means that lower league teams get a ton of money. So still about cash rather than glory, then, whoever it is going to. (Not that I begrudge it to them; it's just hypocritical)

It actually was a replay - Hereford got a draw at St James but the match had been postponed twice because of rain, so they fitted the replay in on the Saturday of the next round. Sam Allardyce, maybe surprisingly, generally supportive of Jurgen on TS today, despite efforts to get him to rant. Maybe not so surporising as he has always, tbf, been a proponent of a break. The break this year, though - rather than being concern over player welfare, or the FA listening to managers (and sports scientists) finally, is it not more the thin end of a wedge leading up to them completely screwing the season(s) around ahead of Qatar? In which case I'm pretty sure the FA will be much more strict about any England players not getting a suitable break at the 'approved' time in 2022. (OK, I know the FA and the PL and FIFA are not the same - as this mess, and the CWC/Caraboa Cup one, have highlighted. But, you know, Football Administrators - WABOW, right?)

His Twitter response after the Wolves game suggests that Charles Hanson - of Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip fame - is a Red. This pleases me more than I would have imagined.

We will win it if we win the next 9 games; for reference, the 9-game winning run that culminated with last night started with the 5-2 against the Ev, exactly 50 days earlier. That has flown by, both in real and match terms. Getting real now.

Every manager he has played for has loved him. Delighted that he was chosen as England Player of the Year given the level of disrespect he took from the fanbase (which our own fans have been equally as guilty of, of course) - to the extent that, despite it going against all my (and this forum's) contempt for the national team and the brouhaha that surrounds it (and knuckle-draggers that follow it), I would love to see him pick up the European Championship trophy in the summer - and a crocked Sir Harry doing his best John Terry impression with his kit on under his coat on the sidelines.

The argument about the League being weak is more about the fact that only 2 of the Big 6 are performing. Objectively, the quality on show from Leicester, Sheffield Utd and Wolves is a match for the more lauded teams from previous years. And nice to note that, in at least the latter 2 cases, the managers seem like decent and admirable human beings as well as thoughtful and astute managers. (I'm not as down on Brendan as some on here, either)

Gerrard was a captain who lead by example or by direct personal action. Henderson's leadership style seems more to be to subsume his ego in the team collective. Not worth comparing the two, but as this team has hardened - become more pragmatic, better game management, confident, ruthless and relentless, sorting things out, prepared to do whatever, fully collective, embodying Klopp's ideals - Henderson's role in that is becoming more and more obvious. The degree to which he has stepped up in the last couple of months - that coming from a long-term admirer, not a nay-sayer - is magnificent.

12. Same number as we just completed on the bounce. 96 points can't be beaten, so 35 points from 51 available will do it as it stands.

Adrian tweeted a great pic of him holding his son up to it a couple of weeks back. Top bloke, but not sure if he touched it himself. Haven't seen anyone touch it in those great Inside Anfield youtube vids that come out after every match, tbh, so maybe still barred (FWIW, the bit in the Inside Anfield from last season's Arsenal game - Salah's full-pitch breakaway goal, shot entirely from a camera in the tunnel - is just about my all-time favourite goal clip. Should be set to the Benny Hill tune. No idea how to post it here, though)

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Second half, though, was like he realised his touch was off, and so his time on pitch would be better spent marauding around nicking the ball off their players in unexpected places. He seemed to be enjoying himself doing that as well.

That tackle, and Divock racing back to nick the ball from them in our area were prime examples of why we broke them. See also Gini's phenomenal ball retention and Bobby's raiding against hapless defenders. Wilder will be using the video with his teams for years as an education on how to play football.