psl

Knight's was worse.

Football isn't it?

Surely we'll beat that lot on Wednesday night? They seem to lose 4-0 most weeks and we've won 8 in a row and not conceeded in that time. Obviously they'll be up for it but I reckon we'll do them. I think we'll see Cisse and Crouch up front and go at them. I shall be sat in the Everton end so will be struggling to surpress any joy as they score a couple each...

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That was against Portsmouth.

By the player in question passing details of it onto local journalists and players he knows at the club?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/mediawatch/drill...051220-1329.htm OWEN UP FOR KOP RETURN icNewcastle 20 December 2005 Newcastle United hat-trick hero Michael Owen has started the countdown to his first return to Anfield. And he admitted today that it is going to be "strange" running out against his former club Liverpool on Boxing Day. Like the rest of the United squad, Owen had the day off yesterday and he savoured his first hat-trick in a black-and-white shirt in Saturday's victory over West Ham at Upton Park. But United were back in training today and the focus was very much on Liverpool and the trip to Anfield. Graeme Souness' side head to Merseyside looking to improve on their run of seven points out of the last nine. Ironically, the last time Owen played at Anfield was against United in the final game of the 2003-04 season in the 1-1 draw before he moved to Real Madrid. Speaking for the first time on going back to the club he joined as an 11-year-old, Owen said today: "When I knew I was coming back to the Premiership, I always thought it would be strange to go back to Anfield. "But I'll deal with it when the game actually comes along - I'll cross that bridge when it comes. "I've not thought long and hard about it yet, but I've got a picture in my head of what it will be like going back. "It will be exciting seeing a lot of old friends, and it's something I'm looking forward to. "It will be a strange one as I never thought I would leave Liverpool. I've been there since I was 11." Liverpool fans are still furious that they did not get Owen back in August and they have not given up hope of seeing the England striker back in a red shirt sometime in the future. But Owen insists: "I signed a four-year contract with Newcastle United and I'm very pleased with that decision. "If we can keep improving and winning games and get the players on a roll, it will be an exciting place to play." Certainly Owen has made it more exciting for United fans and he returns to Liverpool fresh from his first hat-trick in the Premiership since he hit West Brom with a four-goal blast in a 6-0 victory at the Hawthorns in April 2003. Owen adds: "I didn't come to a club that was top of the table. "When I joined Newcastle they were second bottom and I came prepared for a fight. Fortunately, things have improved since then. "We've been unfortunate with injuries, but when everyone's been fit the results have been quite good. We haven't got the biggest squad in the world, but what we have got is quite a bit of quality, and if we can keep everyone fit we can win more games than we lose. "There's a gap between Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool and everyone else. "Apart from those, I don't think there's anyone we should fear. "Every year there's always one or even two teams that surprisingly get into the Champions League or a UEFA Cup place, so there's plenty to play for. "We would have wanted a better start to the season but we are slowly-but surely climbing the table and another couple of wins will propel us into the UEFA Cup places. "That's the bare minimum of where we want to be." The countdown to Owen's return to Anfield has now started as the £17m striker can reflect on the fact that he is now one of a select band of players, including Malcolm Macdonald, David Kelly and Andy Cole who have scored hat-tricks both for and against United. Owen scored three times for Liverpool at St James' Park in 1998, and repeated the trick at Anfield in 2001. Michael Owen will return to face the Kop in the best form of his career so far. His record for Liverpool was just over a goal every other game as he blasted in 158 in 297 appearances before moving to Real Madrid in 2004. A frustrated Owen then found himself on the bench 18 times in Spain. However, the striker still maintained his breathtaking record by netting 14 times in 40 appearances, many of them as a substitute. At international level Owen has scored 35 goals in 75 appearances, leaving him just 14 goals behind England's leading scorer of all time Sir Bobby Charlton. Owen, who joined United almost a month into the season, has also been hampered with injuries but seven goals in eight games amounts to his best ratio to date in a sparkling career. Yeah, he's never played better than he's playing now. Still, he was quite good January to May 2001 wasn't he?

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http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...051220-1608.htm OWEN READY FOR ANFIELD RETURN Paul Eaton 20 December 2005 Michael Owen has admitted it'll be a strange experience for him when he returns to Anfield with Newcastle United on Boxing Day. It'll be the first time Owen has played against Liverpool since leaving for Real Madrid and the Reds' former number ten is relishing the challenge of facing his former team-mates. "Obviously when I knew I was coming back to the Premiership, you always think it will be strange to go back to your old club, and no doubt it will be when it comes," he said. "I have a picture in my mind of what it will be like, but it will be very exciting seeing a lot of old friends. But we will cross that bridge when it comes. "I haven't really thought long and hard about it yet. It's a strange one. I never thought I'd ever leave Liverpool - I'd been there since I was 11 years old - so it will be strange, but as I say, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. "I've signed a four-year contract, as everyone knows. I wouldn't have signed a contract here if I didn't think it was a good place to be. I'm very pleased with my decision, I'm very pleased with how everything is going at Newcastle. "If we can keep improving and keep winning games, I'm sure once this place can get on a roll, it will be a very exciting place to play You wouldn't have left if you'd signed the deal mate.

Is it just me who thinks this whole Peter Crouch/Hulk Hogan thing is desperately unfunny and increasingly irritating?

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Weren't you in the tunnel before the Carling Cup Final too? I'll wait for you to confirm I'm thinking of the right person before I begin my jealousy fuelled barrage of insults...

The first 15 minutes in which they scored three goals?

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Ah of course. I really should brush up on those.

Do you have to have supported the club when growing up to love them when playing for them?

Chelsea as a team have only once played well against us since Mourinho went there and Benitez came here and I think last night pretty much confirmed that that result was more down to Hyypia's illness than anything else.

Can we make this YNWA's official slogan?

Just wondering if this is one reason why we didn't disclose how much we got for Nunez.

I don't remember anyone from Liverpool actually saying to the media that we wouldn't pay more than we received.

Can't see them going for anything less than £10m. Still, if true, at least the endgame has begun. Wonder if there will be a Basombe update today.

Not sure that we've actually made a bid have we? It was only what that one guy posted on here. That said, now's about the time I'd expect us to make our first move.

Paul McCarthy (The People) on SSN seems to think he's coming to Liverpool.

Mate, if we want to sign him, at some point we're going to have to make it clear we want him! Anyway, I think Owen knows we want him and I think he has done for some time.

Yeah that's a good point. I'm hoping I can rediscover mine on Thursday.