spf

they'd just sell it as a stadium partnership or something similar anyway, the association is there even if everyone still just calls it Anfield. Could even be seen as a positive thing, ie the naming partners are clued in about the heritage and history they want to associate with.

Nah, not alone, I can see your thinking (I think). Hillsborough is part of the identity of the club and rightly was commemorated in the crest. It was an integral part and I can see how the separate 'logos' (for want of a better word) might start ringing alarm bells... the flame and 96 becomes its own brand, we're so conditioned to reading things this way now. Personally, I trust the club not to brand-ise the whole issue, I'd assume that's been made very clear to Warrior.

absolutely. he is getting in the advanced positions more and more, ready for a a lay off, and we're starting to see a more direct and often more subtle through ball from him. i expect that soon enough we'll go through a 'ffs lucas should've had two today" period and that then his shooting boots shall return. although i have always been firmly in the lucas is going to be a serious serious footballer camp, so i may yet be proved wrong

nah, if i was gonna call evra a c*** i'd do it in a language he definitely understands. waste of breath otherwise.

yeh, agree with mr mc donald, not so sure about the better passing or crossing at the moment. That'll improve for Henderson though as he settles here and gets older. Think a big part of this is that Kenny is trying to bed in as many as possible as quickly as possible, and before the rest of the league do the same. Maxi has shown that he can pretty much just step in and play the style we want to, he is at his best when it's pass and move. His positioning is generally first class, even if it doesn't get to him. Maxi is an old pro now, reckon he can be trusted to come in and do an ok (sometimes very good) job when the inevitable few injuries come.

it may have been around the time that the predator boots hit the scene, there was a great documentary about the development of the boots, but mostly it just focused on craig and his life. was brilliant, must try to dig it up.

hold up, that *really* doesn't fit in that hole... Nathan?

almost certain it is banned for them too

never heard of the evil weed (ahem) being used as a masking agent. But for it to be included on any banned list for athletes is just totally ridiculous. The use of it by an athlete mightn't be the best idea in terms of fitness, but again, it's gotta be a matter of degree. If someone wanted to have a smoke (or even two :-) ), say for arguments sake somewhere where it is legal, then it's hardly going to do them any more harm than a glass of wine (or two) with dinner. Many a player smokes cigarettes, even if it is only the odd un (or in Didi's case, the odd pack). Nicotine has been shown to improve response times, maybe it should be tested for? Arrrghhh, criminalisation of tweed anger taking over... feel free to get back on topic

agree totally with both of these. It is tricky, but everything in moderation yeh? It's very easy to say that they should just hold off until their playing career is over, but in practice, people will be people. For me, it really does come down to the performance aspect - but that would be the same with pies, sweeties, sugary drinks, alcohol, std's, whatever. Anyone that is surprised that some footballers have / do use recreational drugs needs their head examined. eta: just looked at that wada site. why a footballer smoking weed should be banned i have no idea. its hardly performance enhancing! thats between the club and the player, and if the bit comes to the bit, the cops.

What a surprise, the current tabloid target is rumoured to be coke head. I'll be watching that with interest. Seems to be totally about recreational drugs, have a feeling it's going to be a stitch up for several players. Personally, I really don't care as long as it doesn't affect performances. The whole recreational drugs in sport thing is a load of sheite, of course some players have had a smoke, or a snort or whatever. They are people after all, and it seems a fair percentage of 'regular' people do it too. (at least, that's what i'm told )

This should definitely be part of the thinking, I bought returned Barca socio tickets several times at a cash machine ffs! I realise the segregation issues play a bit more here, but it should still be possible to work out a pretty efficient system.

And despite the economic wrist slitting in ireland at the moment, there are still a lot of rich corporate types sitting on huge cash piles in dublin, could be a good market to target to make up for the london effect that the a*** benefit from. I hate them with a passion, but if they're gonna spend the cash, I want it to benefit something I care about. edit: the boat would still be ace though.

Surely it'll be the upgraded and larger corporate boxes that generate much more income than the extra 'ordinary seats'? In that context it's bound to make sense, and as many have said, sell super cheap tickets to kids for the less popular ties. In fact, screw it, give them away free to the local schools if needs be... can't see there being too many spare most of the time though.

the club may be looking for alternatives after raul's car getting keyed yesterday...

I'd actually go further than that, said a while back that I reckon that Rafa was doing two things - he did want a couple of midfielders just doing the simple thing in most games, but also that he was using lucas in the role partly because he could do it, but also to teach him that side of the game, toughen him up, and make him into a serious serious player. He's always had a bit more than that to his game, judging by the gremio stuff i've seen and a few lads on here who should know. If he'd just got thrown in as an all rounder there'd have been a possibility of him sinking. It took Stevie a few years to really get going, we saw it in flashes, and he was a local who knew the league and club.

Was only able to keep half an eye on the match last night, but there where a few moments where he stole it, or rode a tackle, and then just looked up - nothing mad special, but it was that he was in total control, totally calm. He bossed it. He's also bulked up a fair bit by the looks of it. Have always reckoned he'd develop into a top player, but it's looking like he's gonna do better than that.

high concept

the timing of carra's new contract stinks. even if it had been in the pipeline for months, why not wait, what, 3 days, until the new owners come in. leaves himself open to all sorts of allegations re: his relationship with purslow & broughton. I'm not implying anything btw, I'm sure people will already have their own opinion about it. But could've been handled much much better, like many things from that period.

so let's get this straight, you think that rafa looking after 'himself' is unforgivable, that it was detrimental to the club, but that you would have taken lfc to the cleaners? Whopper.

yeh, he was immense that night. also looked about a foot taller than everyone when walking on.

Had a good game, think his passing was a bit off, but that's likely to settle if he gets a chance to settle in the team. As someone else said, a bit over enthusiastic for the penalty, no need to crucify the lad tho, I'm sure he knows.

Always in my thoughts, and especially today. Justice for the 96, and for their families, YNWA.

Totally agree - if there's someone better get them in if we can. But I also agree with the first part, he's continually developed, and I think there's a lot more to come from Lucas. It could be harder than we think to get someone 'better' in, especially someone who is so willing to get his head down and get on with it no matter what. I think there's more to his game than we see regularly, and I'm still convinced that rafa converting him to a defensive midfielder was part of a longer plan to toughen him out, let him learn the bit of the game he wasn't so good at, and then let slip the dogs of war when he gets that experience and strength.

He definitely said that about the hospital, as someone pointed out at the time he was probably thinking of gt ormond st as being 'the best' - stupid enough to say to some seriously ill children in itself, but if i remember correctly the stats actually showed that AlderHey was top in the UK. So, surprise surprise, absolute idiocy in all ways. I thought that one about the transfers was based on the hospital one and was a piss take. Should've known better. Amazing how much my mental state improved when the charlatan fooked off out of here.