David Hodgson

Here's a song we sung in 1979 : ' we haaaate Noooootting-ham Fooorest, we hate Everton too, THEY'RE s***, we hate Weeeessst Brommmm-ich Aaaaalbion, but Liverpool.......etc'. I remember hating Ipswich with a venom for a while, and as for Aston Villa..... ...Do you see where I'm going with this ?

Well that puts things beautifully into perspective. Martin Tyler has just gone up in my estimation about 100 fold.

Well, we spent 7m on Crouch. He's the long-term answer is he ?

He's being overplayed, because we simply don'y have the quality to come in if we lose him or Alonso. Our squad is not strong enough. People were mainly pleased with our work in the transfer window, but we did nothing to really strengthen our first choice options.

Perfectly put.

Correct Kev. I really want him to do well and he's such a decent bloke, but I can't kid myself any longer that I think he's a good striker.

Crouch.....Why has he become a sacred cow above criticism ? A very ordinary player.

heh, heh, I recognise that rumour....I heard it from a man with black hair and a black moustache, who makes his living with a popular Liverpool 'electro beat' combo, and is a mutual friend of ours...I believe.

I think Rafa will gamble and start with Fowler. Chelsea know so much about us that we'll need to throw 'em a curve ball. Crouch and Fowler sounds sensible, but I've a hunch he could go for Robbie with Cisse. Fowler will drop deeper more effectively than any of our existing forwards, and can add numbers in midfield.

Reggie Blinker

Really ? I'd sell them to a Chelsea fan at a grand a pop, and I'd sleep reeeeal easy about it.

I've noticed too many of corners being caught cleanly by keepers, lately. That suggests that there is not enough pressure being put on them.

Based purely on 60 seconds of highlights from the Burnley game I am choosing to believe that Anderson will be a major star. I know that was only a tiny bit of footage, but there' something about his 'explosiveness' in those clips that is very very rare.

Of course we'll beat Chelsea. That's a given. More importantly : I think we should re-instate Rash and Spider Neil for loyalty to the cause. Seriously. I don't think their nobility in sticking up for RP should go unrewarded.

It will...it will...and by the season's end you'll be wearing one of those hats with corks hanging off it, in tribute to our antipodean ace....

Yes it is, and that thought occured to me. However I'll fear that that stance is wishful thinking until we turn the corner.

Fair comment. They do happen to be right at the moment, though.

Most of the people I really like and respect on this forum really rate Nando. I can see what he's got, but to pretend he's been anything other than a massive disappointment for us, is just kidding ourselves. He was bloody awful last night, and just as bad at Portsmouth. Nando gives you a performance one game in 3, at best. I'm prepared to bear with him until the summer, but if his standard hasn't significantly risen by then, then he simply has to go.

What woudl make 'a hell of a difference to Morientes' would be playing well on a regular basis.

Please !!?? I came away as gutted as I was by the defeat at Old Trafford. Of course we deserved to win the game, but we were not right last night, and we haven't been since the Bolton game.

You may sneer RP, but Kewell was very clearly our man of the match last night, and has been very consistent for some time now, I know some people love to think that HK is just a 'favourite' for some of us, but might it be because he's a very very good player ?

Mcmanaman made his Liverpool debut shortly before his 19th birthday, if memory serves. Redknapp was 18 when he first appeared for us. Who gives a f*ck about Carlton Cole or David Thompson ? They are both very average players.

Defoe is my kind of signing. A couple of years ago, playing for England, and playing well, he looked like he could go on to be a major star. Like many young players, he's possibly having that post-honeymoon period when they plateau and fade a bit. Some of them never come back, but others do in spectacular style. John Barnes was just such a player. When we bought him his star was not in the ascendancy. His career seemed to be inreverse following his amazing goal in the Maracana. When Kenny bought him, plenty were questioning his judgement. Lampard, and even Joe Cole, are more modern examples of this ebb and flow in the form and prospects of players who were lauded when very young. I think Defoe has all the raw ingredients to his game, and re-motivated by a big move could become a really top player.

I haven't watched the reserves for a few years now. Last time I did, regularly, was when Stevie G was playing. He looked head and shoulders above the rest. I think if a player is going to make it, at a level a club of LFC's stature require, then he's going to be on the fringe of the first team at 18, and playing first team football pretty regularly by 19. That Anderson kid looks like he's got something based on those clips. Blistering pace doesn't take much analysing. He looks like he's very very quick.

I'm very lukewarm on Nando. I can see his class and understand where his fantastic reputation comes from, but he simply hasn't 'done it' for us on a consistent basis. I thought he was very poor last night. Yes he's willing, works hard, and you'll always see a touch here, a flick there, to be admired, but these things aren't enough. At no stage in yesterday's game did he appear to pose a genuine threat to Portsmouth's goal. I don't think he got a single shot away, in anger. The number of times we put the ball across their box (in the second half) and he was nowhere to be seen. There is never a sense that he'll get there before a defender, and he rarely retains possession with his back to goal. This wasn't just last night either. He's had some good games recently, but not enough. The premiership seems just too quick for him, and I now think he's had long enough to get used to it. I'm loathe to give up on a player who may yet have somehting really special to offer, but if we sold him tomorrow I couldn't say I'd be gutted.