The_MC

Toure

Sturridge

Mignolet

Good first 35 minutes, pretty s**** after that. Plenty of reasons why we need one or two more signings.

That about sums it up nicely.

Good performance from Toure vs Benteke, and Mignolet did well when called upon. Excellent goal for Sturridge too. Considering we're meant to have padded out the squad with the early signings of the transfer window, resorting to putting a left back in midfield and an unfit Joe Allen on to offer more presence is baffling. 3 more points in the bag though and still more than enough time to make a few additions. Luckily the lads had 45 minutes off too so they shouldn't be too knackered for the next game.

The way this is heading I can't see us coming away with 3 points. Poor passing and poor possession at the moment. As the pressure builds, at 1-0, they'll get chances. Need to concentrate on keeping the ball moving and pinning them back when we have possession, otherwise we'll be relying on another late save to keep the win.

Will be very surprised if Delph makes the full 90

Don't think any of the yellow cards shown so far today were correct. Seems the ref is pulling his cards for almost any foul, so the players better be careful.

Gerrard needs to pick up his passing in the second half and Aspas needs to get involved more so we can keep possession when they are pressing (especially making himself available when Coutinho is looking for a pass). Decent performance so far but we need to create some real chances as there have been very few apart from the goal.

Did Barca actually sign Ter Stegen and loan him back, or was that just internet b****x. Because you'd have to wonder how many long term this would be for Pepe and what he'd be doing when he is 32/33 and still got a few years left in him.

Stegen is still a Mönchengladbach player.

"The things that I have supposedly already signed at Barcelona... It is quite amusing," Ter Stegen was quoted as saying by Bild.

 

"It seems like a lot of people know much more about my future than I do. Fact is, though, that I'm still here at Gladbach.

 

"I am looking forward to the new season and the club's good signings. I'm very excited about what's happening at Borussia.

 

"However, you never know what will happen in the next few seasons..."

Personally I still expect Reina to be a Barca player by the start of the season but now we have Mignolet in there isn't so much worry as to whether it happens now or later.

Rodgers has spoken about wanting genuine competition.

He's hardly going to say he's transfer listed him is he? That would throw away any chance we have of getting a decent fee for him.

I'd like to think we have the two of them fighting out for the position but in reality it seems highly unlikely. Best case scenario for me is that they're phasing Mignolet in for the first half of the season, learning what he can from Pepe and getting used to the style and players around him, then Reina goes over to Barca in Jan to transition in the same way but with Valdes. Takes the pressure off the players and gives them a chance to settle in rather than getting destroyed by the press as so many new keepers do.

Yeah - get him

He's been linked as a loan signing hasn't he? Really don't see the point. If he does well then he holds up the development of our current players for a year then goes back to Barca, if he does badly then we simply pay the wages of a Barca youth player for a year then don't want him. Don't see where we win out of it unless it has a clause to make it a permanent deal? Loans only work for small teams who need instant squad players on the cheap in my opinion. I don't think we should be plugging gaps in the squad with short term solutions.

so would I. Be bad business to sell him.

 

Atsu is another bizarre target

It would be a bad message to send out to the squad too imo (selling Henderson that is): basically you can keep quiet and work hard, get back into the first 11 on form and turn many fans opinions onside but you still get sold. That wouldn't sit well with me. He has the right attitude, is very versatile, and has some real talent there in my opinion. Has certainly done enough to earn another season.

Someone posted that if we sell Suarez then we will be out looking for another striker. I'm not so sure and will try to explain. At the moment we have Sturridge and Borini who both have a little pace about them. In addition Coutinho can motor when he chooses. Add to that Aspas and Miki who certainly can move a little.

 

Another addition is Alberto who is a quick lad. Then another potential signing is Astu and again pace orientated (All this is assumptions from clips seen).

 

For a number of seasons we have seen a Liverpool side, mostly at home where the opposition play with a flat back 10, finding it impossible to break the defence down. It has changed in the past couple with the guile of Suarez, but if that were to go, I dont think we would have the same penetration.

 

So what then if a slightly different approach were to be made. Play Gerrard in a deeper more defensive role along side Lucas/allen and with Coutinho, Aspas, Miki and Sturridge create a more couter attacking side. Aka Newcastle last season. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why so many quick players are being targetted?

The problem with that is how do you counter attack against a team who don't commit players forward? Some of the teams that come to Anfield sit so deep and only commit a few players into attack at a time. Counter attacks work well against the better teams but when it comes to the likes of Stoke they keep so many back there isn't any space to counter attack into. I'd suggest we're targeting quick players because part of the key to possession based football is player movement, especially when waiting for space to play the 'killer' pass. The players linked also tend to be very versatile in terms of their positions, again suggesting the importance of movement and finding space to find the ball wherever it's available.

Hopefully we won't spend huge amounts on sacking managers and staff, then paying out compensation and signing on fees for new ones like we've done so often in recent years. Would much rather see that money go on improving the squad.

"In light of the conclusions published by the Independent Police Complaints Commission Report (28 March 2013), Liverpool John Moores University has withdrawn the Honorary Fellowship awarded to Sir Norman Bettison in 2004.

As previously stated the University would like to commend the families and friends of those who died in the Hillsborough tragedy for the dignity and fortitude they have shown during their lengthy campaign for justice."

 

http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/NewsUpdate/viewarticle/669/All

Very good. 6 months of procrastinating, then after 1 week of organised protest in the form of e-mails they get it done. Just goes to show e-mail campaigns aren't a waste of time. One step at a time, hopefully his Knighthood is the next to go.

Good riddence. 40 years too late.

This is taken from our friends over at RAWK, so I thought I'd pull it across to a proper forum for anyone who hasn't yet seen it.

Norman Bettison - the policeman believed to be at the very heart of the ‘Black Propaganda’ unit which white-washed the South Yorkshire Police and slandered innocent Liverpool supporters at Hillsborough, including the dead - is currently in possession of an honorary degree from Liverpool John Moores University.

 

Last September, when the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report was published, Mayor Joe Anderson led a campaign requesting LJMU to strip Bettison of this honour. At the time, the university’s Vice Chancellor responded with a standard email stating:

 

“The University can confirm that it has received a number of requests to rescind the Honorary Fellowship conferred on Sir Norman Bettison in 2004.

 

The University will consider these requests in accordance with due process.”

 

Over six months later, LJMU had done nothing, even as, on March 28th, the IPCC found Norman Bettison had a case to answer for “...discreditable conduct and abuse of authority.”

 

In response, Joe Anderson warned the University that the scandal of Bettison’s fellowship will not go away, while Margaret Aspinall repeated calls for LJMU to remove the honour. In reply, LJMU said it would issue a statement.

 

A week later, no such statement has been forthcoming.

 

After discussion with the Mayor’s office, RAWK is now asking all our members to make our disgust at this prevarication known to the Vice Chancellor’s office. His email address and a draft template are below.

 

Steve Rotheram, MP for Walton, has also issued this statement to us:

"There are many individuals and organisations that are worthy recipients of honorary awards from JMU, but Sir Norman doesn’t fit into that category. In light of last week's damning IPCC report, I would urge Liverpool John Moores University to do the right thing by the families and strip Norman Bettison of his honour. A failure to do so makes a mockery of the system and also fails to recognise the strength of feeling on this issue”.

 

Feel free to add this to any missive you choose to send to LJMU.

 

We assume LJMU is eager to attract foreign students so this is one campaign our fantastic foreign support can join in with.

 

Please all of you spread this to other internet forums and tweet to get #jettisonbettison trending. Please feel free to ignore the template, or embellish to your own personal tastes as we normally advise with templates but - I scarcely need to say this but we always should say it - keep your own emails clean and polite.

 

----------------------------------------

 

n.p.weatherill@ljmu.ac.uk

 

Try cc-ing to:

 

P.Broadhead@ljmu.ac.uk

c.mcmahon2@ljmu.ac.uk

S.Doran@ljmu.ac.uk

 

 

Dear Professor Weatherill

 

I consider it a disgrace that in the six months since the HIP report, you have failed to rescind the Honorary Fellowship LJMU bestowed on Norman Bettison, and that you have failed to respond to the public call of bereaved mother Margaret Aspinall, in the wake of the IPCC’s March 28th report, when she stated, "The man is an absolute disgrace. In the IPCC’s own words, this was gross misconduct ... a very serious offence ... We want to see him stripped of ... his Honorary Fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University."

 

It is shameful that LJMU continues to offer Bettison the boost to reputation, with its implication of achievement and respectability, that this honour bestows. It offers him the mental comfort of knowing that an institution bearing the name of this city continues to support him.

 

The people of this city and Liverpool FC supporters everywhere demand LJMU does the decent thing and strips Bettison of the fellowship immediately.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

---------------------------------

I'm sure you'll agree it's completely inappropriate for Bettison to have an Honorary Fellowship from a Liverpool institution. So if anyone has a spare minute to put across their thoughts to the University then get on it. For those who don't have time you can just copy and paste from the article.

The original Evil Dead is great, and I'd go as far as saying it's a classic of the horror genre. The geekiest thing I own is my Evil Dead limited edition book of the dead dvd. The DVD case is a tactile rubber recreation of the book from the film, with artwork on the pages inside. Geeky but I love it.

Evil Dead II was basically a higher-budget comic remake of the first, and now presumably the new one is a 'serious' remake of the first. Don't really see the point as the first one was perfect anyway, but then I don't see the point of remakes anyway when the original is already seen as a classic or cult-classic. It had a mix of real horror, gross-out and that level of comedy where you giggle more out of nervousness rather than the slapstick of the 2nd... in fact, I don't think any other horror film has ever found that level of balance between scary and fun so finely as the original.

Was Argentine

Haha oh yeah, well it's all Spanish to me. I was thinking of Guillermo del Toro too for some reason, and he's Mexican! Wherever I've seen it, Spanish(-language) films or not, I don't like it (the flashback sum-up technique that is).

Yeah, very good. I don't like the way many Spanish films use a series of flashbacks at the end to sum up what's just happened though. Really lazy and unneccesary technique and a pet hate of mine. The subtitles clashed a bit for me so were difficult to read at times, not sure if it was the BBC signal, the subtitles themselves, or my TV contrast.

Wnter's Bone -

Plot: A 17-year old girl living in the US deep South, with an incapacitated mother and two young siblings to care for, attempts to track down her meth-cooking Dad who's put up the family home for bail and is set to miss the court date and therefore render them all homeless.

Wow, what a great performance by the young lead actress. Really bleak and moody film, with some seriously intense moments. Unflinching, sombre and an authentic feel of acceptance at desperation rather than overacted panic. Definately recemmended for those who like their films to feel genuine and 'real'.

We made our choice and signed up Rodgers. I fully expect (more hope) the owners to back up their manager and give him time to get it right. I've come to expect less from the fans in recent years though because the attitude of relentlessly criticising players, managers, backroom staff and even club legends is sickeningly more common. Maybe it's always been like this but there hasn't been the internet and media for people highlight it? Maybe we're just becoming impatient as the team struggle? Maybe the idea of respect and unity is lost from the club?

The same thing happened with Rafa, with divided opinions looming constantly and the same rhetoric surfacing every time we failed to take 3 points. I hoped we would learn from it and realise that together we are a stronger team, because if there's ever a good example of manager changes failing it's seeing how far we fell since Rafa. Even the unity that Kenny brought on returning didn't last, with people just waiting for us to fail to jump in and and stick the boot in.

This isn't meant to sound like a rant and it's not directed at anyone in particular. I just think that although Liverpool is about winning, we're also about a hell of a lot more than that and bit by bit it feels like we're losing the values that made the club what it is and why it means so much. Maybe i'm living in a dreamland. F**k it.

Been looking forward to seeing this film for ages. Have resisted the temptation to find it on the internet and watch in lower quality. Hope it lives up to expectations.

F***ing HATE how Gerrard just can't be arsed sometimes. Didn't win the bouncing ball so he just walks off and lets his man run up the pitch and create another goal. Disgraceful.

Missed the start so just put on bbc sport to see what the score is... 88% possession to Southampton after 18mins, what the holy f**k?

It just goes to show what a bit of hard work and effort does to get the fans onside. I've given him a lot of stick as most fans have, but my main issue was always that he didn't look like he wanted to put the effort in and seemed to hide when we needed him to step up. Excellent display from him yesterday, and perhaps those that said he always needs a season to settle at new clubs were right. Gotta admit I was screaming for him to pass it to Sturridge for the tap in rather than have a pop down the middle with his weak foot though!

Splice (2009)

A kind of sci-fi horror with a B-movie feel to it. Really good. Reminded me of The Fly.. Funny, slightly sick, and for once Adrien Brody doesn't come across as a complete d***head (The Pianist excluded as he's great in that).

Basically Brody and his Mrs are geneticists splicing together animals in the lab to create new hybrids for medical research. They then splice using human DNA to see what happens. Cue Cronenberg-style monster madness.

Good result. I think everyone knew that today would be a high scoring game. Didn't expect such poor defending and refereeing though. Still, for us to come from behind and grind out a result is a real positive.

Please just close this game out.