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I walked home from work about a month ago; it was probably -20C and with the wind even colder. It’s about a mile and a half. Because I choose wrongly for a wife I had to make my own cup of tea, it was orange pekoe. I found some Club Orange in the cupboard. There is a specialty store that sells them (along with real HP sauce, custard, etc). I dunked those bastards like a Marine waterboarding at Gitmo and savoured every bite. These are the moments that make life worth living.

Niurse I know who I've said I'm old enough to be her Dad tells me she's about to hit 40. And I still am.

That Ben Davies deal was the biggest waste of time and just sums FSG up. Too many injurimy prone players eating up wages and contributing fuck all. This has been coming since the club decided to put their feet up and smoke cigars after 2019. I know we won the league the following year but we needed to capitalise on being Champions of europe and make sure we had a younger team coming through to phase out the players approaching or passing their peak.

I REALLY HOPE this comes back to bite me on the backside if we turn things around next week but fucking hell, the Club couldn't have fucked up more if they tried this season. Its lurched from one mistake to another, one fucking disaster after another. Tonight was the crowning turd on the dog pile. Poor team selection? Check Half assed approach? Check Mistakes? Check Shit subs? Check Shit refereeing? Check You wouldn't believe this team won the league last year, they look absolutely shot. That Real Madrid side were strolling about with a couple of players in their mid 30's in midfield and 33 year old relic benzema up front. A side that are a pale shadow of what they were. When Mane got tackled by 35 year old Modric (and outrun) that just about summed up this season. The players What the fuck has happened to some of them? Firmino, Mane, Salah? Between them they can't control a fucking ball these days. Mane looked like he had two fucking giant bars of soap on his feet second half as he did his best Djimi Traore impression. What the fuck has happened to him? Wheres his skill? Sublime goals? Pace? All fucking gone. Salah too, good goalscoring record but the ball just bounces off him half the time. Tonight no one was running. I saw Robertson fucking WALK BACK in the first half when Madrid where attacking down his flank. In a fucking CL QF. Thats not Robertson. TAA all over the shop, making mistakes. Fabinho giving the ball away. Our over reliance on a a midfielder who has already said his goodbyes and the only one who can stay fit. We've also managed to turn one of the best Midfielders in Europe, multi trophy laden Thiago into Jay Spearing. Jurgen Again, too busy with his focus elsewhere first half of the season. Arguing for subs, moaning over fixtures. Meanwhile the team was getting badly exposed and the run just after Christmas was not addressed. He continued to persist in two Midfielders at Centre half until both got injured. Bizarre subs and bizarre team selections. Keita tonight. Just totally fucking bizarre all round from someone who is usually so switched on with a siege mentality. The board Where do you begin? We played a Champions League Quarter final tonight with 5th rate CB we've been loaning out for years from the ressies and a bargain bucket centre back from a nearly relegated German side we got on a temporary free. No vision, no planning. Cheap ass approaches in the transfer market. Not building on our momentum. We only got Jota because they agreed on a cheap structure to the deal. The guy in the street could see our injury woes coming (we've been on about them AT LENGTH on here), but no, not the fucking Club. And again we are back to scouring for cheap deals and being clever. Fuck off. Anyway neg away. Tonight tipped me over the edge. The lack of fight and intensity, the shite passing, shite subs, shite co commentator, shite ref and a shite stadium.

Robbo has not been much better but has hardly had any criticism. Both his defending and attacking has been awful lately.

People who use the phrase "winner, winner, chicken dinner".

If you can’t see how his body shape, attitude and defensive awareness is a constant issue then you’re completely blind. He got absolutely roasted by Vinicius all game. Instead of trying to get a grip of him he just hid and let him get in the blind side of our inexperienced centre back or in the channel between them. He had a major part in all 3 goals we conceded. He come out with a rocket up his arse and showed some intent. They scored and his head completely went. He spent the rest of the half trying to cause a fight. He was absolutely Shite.

Any cunt who starts a Facebook post (usually one one of those community pages) with the words; “To the man/woman who (insert some insignificant event that has been perceived as a crime of the century)”.

My favourite Deanna scene.

Had my 2nd one today. As I've been volunteering at a local clinic that has been administering Covid jabs for 4 different surgeries, I 'd been offered and had the 1st dose back in mid-Jan. My local surgery called me yesterday offering the 2nd dose but I was doing some volunteering again today anyway. Same situation as before where once the doses have been removed from cold storage, they have to be prepped and administered within so many hours. You always get people who've been booked in but don't show up for a variety of reasons. Under the age criteria I don't think I'd have been called and offered the 1st dose yet.

Had the pleasure of seeing her in the (clothed) flesh at the height of TNG. Happy to report she was absolutely gorgeous.

He was holding his line mate. The ball beat him - it was a good ball. The run beat Trent. Any of the 3 you mentioned could have got caught by that ball dropping behind them. It’s unbelievably harsh to pin that on Phillips. The lack of pressing for them to keep putting the ball in that position to hit the diagonal even, but mainly it’s Trent - he was a bystander. Even watching the clip back, you watch his body language and he looks disinterested.

Yep I have to say, I'm exited.

Spent a fun packed 5 hours today in A&E to eventually be given a load of painkillers(500mg Neproxen tablets) and told to rest, but don't rest - which is a contradiction, but I sort of got what the doc was saying. After telling them I had been chewing Paracetamol through the night, they were a bit worried, so I had my first ever drugs blood test, just so they couldn't OD me. That cost me another hour of waiting. Felt proper Zammo when they were taking ma'claret man. Amazing places A&E rooms to people watch.

Will be weird without Peter Alliss on commentary.

Was reading this ‘This is not an easy treasure hunt’: puzzle book offers readers chance to win €750,000 golden casket | Books | The Guardian article before and seen a link to this one: Masquerade: How a real-life treasure hunt obsessed a nation - BBC News Masquerade: How a real-life treasure hunt obsessed a nation A series of events is being staged to mark the 40th anniversary of the publishing sensation that was Masquerade, a picture book that promised hidden treasure to the person who could solve the clues hidden within its pages. It's a familiar tale: treasure-hunters racing to decipher clues from a mysterious book that will lead them to buried gold. But this particular hunt, and its waiting treasure, was no work of fiction - even if the creation that inspired it was. In 1979, artist Kit Williams published Masquerade - a storybook decorated with paintings whose intricacies held clues that would lead the successful sleuth to an 18-carat golden hare. A phenomenon at the time, the book sold more than a million copies and sparked a worldwide hunt for the gold. Forty years on, Masquerade retains an army of fans who have handed down their passion for the book, and their memories of the frenzy that gripped the country. Readers were addicted, with treasure-hunters driven as much by being the first to solve the riddle as the value of the jewel-encrusted hare. Countless lawns were dug up, and fed-up landowners put up signs warning off fortune-seekers. The book was even cited in divorce proceedings. But when the golden hare was finally unearthed, three years later in a park in Bedfordshire, the story was far from over. The scandal behind its discovery shocked fans around the world, and turned Williams into a recluse. Ironically, it was a story that could have come out of a work of fiction. The hunt begins Masquerade follows the journey of Jack Hare, who loses a jewel he has been entrusted to deliver from the moon to the sun. And the real-life treasure was fit for a fairy-tale, having been hand-beaten by Williams himself. It was valued at £5,000 - although it would eventually prove to be worth much more - and inset with ruby, mother-of-pearl and moonstones. This golden hare caught the imagination of millions, yet for nearly three years its hiding place was known to only two men. Setting off one night in August 1979, Williams was accompanied by a single witness chosen by his publisher Tom Maschler - the television host Bamber Gascoigne. At a precise spot on the common, Williams and his famous witness buried the hare, which was sealed in wax and placed in a ceramic case to evade metal detectors. Upon it was the engraving: "I am the keeper of the jewel of the Masquerade, which lies waiting safe inside me for you... or eternity." Having witnessed the burial, Gascoigne was to provide the final flourish, emptying over the hare a fresh cowpat from a Tupperware box. The perceptive reader would be led to this location - selected by Williams years before while on a picnic with his then-girlfriend - by unearthing the complex clues in the paintings. But the paintings' detail allowed for almost as many interpretations and theories as there were fans. The book was an instant success, as readers from across the world raced to solve the mystery. An airline even sold transatlantic Masquerade tickets, which came with a free spade on arrival. "The first edition sold out within two days or something like that," Williams recalled in a BBC Four documentary, The Man Behind the Masquerade. "They were reprinting so fast. It became a sensation in a way, that it moved so fast." Williams, until then a little-known artist, was thrust into the spotlight. Williams was interviewed by the likes of Terry Wogan as he promoted his work He embarked on a publicity tour of the United States, appeared on talk shows in the UK, and was inundated with requests from fans desperate for help. Soon, more than 200 letters were arriving at his house daily and Williams had to read every one. "I was unprepared," he said. "It really got out of hand really quickly." Among the guesses posted through the artist's letterbox were more unsettling submissions, among them severed rubber hands. Rallying round, Williams' neighbours in his Gloucestershire village began to deny any knowledge of him to inquisitive fans. The solution Among the golden hares and red herrings, only one theory led to the correct solution - and the golden prize. To complete it, the puzzler had to draw a line from the eye of each of the animals in the 15 paintings through hand or paw to a letter in the border. This revealed a word or phrase which, put together, formed the crucial clue. It read: "Catherine's / Long finger / Over / Shadows / Earth / Buried / Yellow / Amulet / Midday / Points / The / Hour / In / Light of equinox / Look you." When arranged in verse, the acrostic of the first letters spelled out "Close by Ampthill". It gave Masqueraders their final, essential pointer towards the Bedfordshire town, near which Williams had lived years before. The burial spot was where Williams knew the shadow of Catherine of Aragon's cross fell on the spring and autumn equinox - meaning it would point to the right place on the right day. It took nearly three years for the code to be cracked, by physics teachers Mike Barker and John Rousseau - but the treasure was ultimately to elude them. Discovery Drawing lines between the paws and eyes in this painting leads to letters spelling "amulet" By early 1982, Barker and Rousseau had arrived at what Gascoigne later called "the most perfect solution" to the puzzle. They had made their breakthrough with the help of an additional clue published in the Sunday Times in 1981. That hinted to them that fingers and toes might hold the key to the puzzle. Remembering the introduction to the book - "To solve the hidden riddle, you must use your eyes" - they realised that a straight line drawn from each animal's eye, through its paw, pointed to a letter in the border. Put together, these letters spelled out a word. It was the book's eighth painting, which revealed the word "Amulet", that convinced Barker and Rousseau they had done it. From there, they reached "Close by Ampthill", found the park and identified the monument. In January 1982, Barker visited the park to dig for their treasure but, without the precise instruments to calculate its resting place, was to return empty-handed. But as the two men resolved to wait for March's equinox to point them to their prize, the golden hare squirmed from their grasp. Scandal Finder Ken Thomas with Williams as the hare was freed from its casing They were beaten to the find by a reclusive puzzler called Ken Thomas, who shunned the publicity that came with solving a mystery that had captivated the world. He was filmed with Williams as he freed the hare from the wax case, but later insisted on covering his face with a scarf and would only be interviewed from behind a screen. He refused to exhibit his treasure. Unable to share in the joy of his discovery, Masquerade fans grew suspicious of Thomas and, later, Williams, with some even suggesting he had conspired to cheat them. After years of searching for hidden clues, they saw another in an anagram of Kit Williams: "I will mask it". The artist, however, shared their doubts over Thomas, realising he had not solved the full puzzle but uncovered the gold's location by other means. It was not until 1988 that a newspaper finally uncovered the link between Thomas - revealed to be a pseudonym - and Williams' ex-girlfriend, who had remembered their visit to Ampthill years before. When Thomas's company Haresoft collapsed he was forced to sell the hare at auction to raise money. That led reporter Frank Branston to look into the company, the director of which was named Dugald Thompson - not Ken Thomas. Thompson had previously been in business with a man named John Guard who was, at the time of the discovery, living with Williams' ex-girlfriend. Williams, speaking later to the Sunday Times, said he felt "conned" and knew from the start that Thomas had not truly solved the puzzle. The hare, having fetched £31,900 at auction, passed into private ownership and disappeared from public view for more than 20 years. Williams, the man whose imagination had spawned the phenomenon, did the same. He had grown disillusioned at his artistic reputation being reduced to that of a puzzle-maker, and having seen his creation corrupted. "At the beginning he was quite grateful to me for having fostered this creature," his publisher Tom Maschler told BBC Four. "But later he was quite resentful at times because I had destroyed his peaceful life. And he's right - I did." Williams never stopped painting but put on only private shows to which select buyers were invited. It was not until 2009, as his most famous work neared its 30th anniversary, that he returned to public life with an exhibition of some of his 300 intervening works. Reunification Williams was reunited with his golden hare in 2009 After retreating from the limelight for many years, Williams agreed to take part in a Radio 4 programme to mark Masquerade's milestone. The broadcast was heard by the owner of the golden hare, by this time resident in the Middle East, who offered to display it at Williams' exhibition. The artist's reunification with his creation was filmed by the BBC in The Man Behind the Masquerade. Williams confessed he was overwhelmed to see his youthful creation again, and remained proud of what he called "an apprentice piece". "I made it because I was almost no-one, going nowhere," he said. "I made it thinking 'this is something rather special', and it turned out that way." Legacy Its mystery has been solved and its treasure found, but the fascination of Masquerade lives on. For its fans, Ampthill has become a place of pilgrimage, and there remains a keen interest in the book in the town. Masquerade40, a series of events launched on the equinox, will run through the year to mark the anniversary, and includes walks and craft events at the burial spot. A painting by local artist Karen Mangold, Close by Katherine's Cross, will be unveiled and Mark Jeoffroy has written the short story Jack's Parade, a continuation of the book. Stephen Hartley, of Masquerade40, said Williams' book had been woven into the town's history. "It lives on, and has become part of local folklore. The Ampthill library has its weather vane as a hare, and there is public art incorporating hares," he said. "Younger people in the town know about the hare, but I think it has sidestepped them to a certain extent. "Masquerade40 will bring it to a new generation."

Klopp said he had seen him in training and he had done enough to earn a start. Thats a managers decision to make and although it didn't pay off this time, the hundreds of decisions he has made are why he is one of if not the top manager in football. Keita was given a chance to shine in the biggest game of the season so far and couldn't have looked less interested if he was in the queue for a lottery at the tesco ciggy counter. Absolutely abysmal show, showed no desire to be near the ball let alone on it and absolutely had to be hooked. Klopp will make mistakes, all managers do but he had the balls to take a risk. We showed enough in the second half to show we are a match for them.

Any specific goals he's been accountable for? He's been relatively poor, I agree. But we don't leak goals down his side. And there's a reason he's not targetted.

I would say there was no fudge packing involved , but I don't want to be hounded off the forum.

Hahaha- reading through the synopsis, I think I'd be the same if I'd spent 5 hours on it. It probably would have made a reasonable Dr Who episode. It's good, 'solid' is a perfect description of it, not groundbreaking or jawdropping, but more than decent entertainment. Walker is excellent in it, her sidekick's a bit of a drip, but the storylines are gripping and well done.

That must be a euphemism.

Could be worse tj , I helped my mrs out with her fudge stall for a few days at the Xmas market last year , and one day a young girl from the next stall said to her ' I love your dad , he had us in stitches yesterday ' I am only 4 years older.

I know society is becoming harsher generally , but I find the disrespectful tone of comments towards the three musketeers massively disappointing. For an outlay of less than £100m they have given us an absolute dream of a 3 or 4 years. Mo's performances and figures are other-worldly, and I can't believe the casual way his achievements are grudgingly accepted with almost a dismissive shrug by some fans. Sadio has also been absolutely fantastic and to me still appears to be trying his bollocks off even though his health has obviously suffered from the long covid thing. Bobby has obviously lost his way a bit on the pitch , but was the pivot for all of our success over the period involved. I personally think that we should give Sadio a complete break after the season to recover his health, and look for Jurgen to assure Sadio and Mo that they remain , with Diogo , our main men . I think Bobby could be used as a number 10 type player with limited playing time if he is happy to accept that role.

Or he'd have broken down and been substituted off.

KFC? Rome?

Salah put more than a shift in. He was pressing all night. I honestly wonder what game people watch. For the goals we conceded I don’t see how Salah could help Trent other than playing right back for him. He doesn’t follow his man for the first goal and cover his centre back from a long ball. He makes a brain dead header from another long ball and on the third just let’s their left winger drift into an unmarked position while he picks nobody up and doesn’t tell the centre back he’s coming. These were just the goals as well. Never mind the other countless brain dead defensive position and decisions he made all night. It’s basic schoolboy stuff he gets wrong time and time again and it’s baffling that it’s not being addressed.

I'm with Max: I call them all sorts, too.

Perspective.

Pretty much this is where I stand on him, given the hype and expectations he’s been a massive disappointment and I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep to see him sold, but I don’t think hes a bad player and it’s been one of those that simply hasn’t worked. This era’s Kewell in a lot of ways.

There's always been a certain fatalism about being a red since the late 80, where victories in competitions come as a pleasant surprise rather than an expectation, which is why the likes of Istanbul live so long in the memory. I thought the days of pretty much expecting a non performance in a big game were gone, or of expecting to get unceremoniously dumped out of, say, the FA Cup by some also rsns were over. I actually started to feel that way after the world club championship win, because if there was ever gonna be an anticlimax or a banana skin in terms of prep and style, it was that. But no. Sadly it's starting to look like us doing well was a blip and not a new normal. Sad thing is that over the years we've produced inferior teams that you rooted for, and talented ones that you resented because you knew they were capable of better, these lads are starting to fall into the latter category for me. They started to actively piss me off, now I'm firmly in the apathy stage. The five stages of Liverpool grief, of which that is the latter.

I know it’s simplistic, naive and let’s face it probably inaccurate but you like to think of the Unions as the good guys, there to protect the vulnerable, so it’s somehow worse when they get implicated in stuff like this.

With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps starting the biggest game of the season with the same midfield that lost 7-2 to Villa wasn't the best of ideas.

72,000 crowd. Must have been a record attendance until the Hibbert testimonial.

Or , what are they doing in my area , it took me 30 years to afford it here ?

I guess the moral is don't wear big fuck off heels when going through Polish airport Covid checks

A Man Needs A Maid / Heart of Gold medley Spotify link. Gorgeous mash up from the new Young Shakespeare live record. Beautiful.

Every. Single. Time. It's a reflex at this point.

Last season and the one before i would absolutely believe this team would turn this tie around. Do i believe this team right now will? No....i just don't, and they have shown nothing this season at all to give me any belief they can. I want to be proven wrong.

What's pathetic is the bedwetting and wailing. We lost - tough shit. Man up, stop fucking crying like a bitch and look forward to the replay. Even if you want to curl up, suck your thumb and look for excuses I seriously doubt that Klopp, his staff and the players themselves will. They'll know that performance was well below par.

Although I'm in a foul mood today, I'd like to point out that if we score the first goal next week, it's very, very much game on. We've dug ourselves out of deeper holes than this. There aren't half some absolute mewling quims on this forum. It's like Istanbul, Dortmund, Barcelona and others never happened. I'm not saying we will go through next week, but I'm certainly not throwing the towel in and neither should anybody else.

Involved in all three goals. If we are honest he was absolute shite, but I have no expectations. If you dont have pace at this level, you need supreme qualities to make up for it, Phillips doesnt, But he is what we have right now. Unless Van Dijk is back for the final we stand no chance, but we can still hope we can get there.

Our best player tonight in my opinion. Never went missing. He is not VVD but who the fuck is.

This thread is a disgrace

Mcmanaman is a tit

They are completely unelectable, the leader can’t even do something as simple as visiting a church without the whole party ripping itself to pieces. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it, they are a complete fucking shambles.

The attitude of rather not being in the UEFA Cup is bollocks and reeks of something Spurs fans say or something Brendan Rodgers would prefer. We have a big enough squad with plenty of good young players. Giving Ox, Keita and Neco etc more minutes in less important games can only be a good thing. If they carry us through to the knockouts then bring in the ringers to have a crack at another European trophy. We’re Liverpool not fucking West Ham, we should be able to compete on all fronts.