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Report by Dave Usher I blame Tottenham for this. If they hadn't thrown away three points at Anfield last week we'd have webbed Southampton all over St Mary's. The Saints would've gotten the Wigan and Swansea treatment. Instead, we pick up the three points against Spurs, start talking about some 'new found resilience' and 'chasing down fifth place', and as usual we fail to back it up. Hell, I even saw Steven Gerrard talking about how we need to win every game to get into the top four. The alarm bells were going off in my head all week, but despite the trepidation I had it was still something of a shock watching this unfold. It really shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise, there's nothing more certain than whenever we start getting a little full of ourselves we'll be bitch slapped back to reality by someone shit. Villa, West Brom, now Southampton. All three of those games came at a time when we'd put a few good results together and got ourselves into position to make a run at the teams above us. It's not a co-incidence, there's a clear pattern there. If we'd won just two of those games look where we'd be, it's pretty sickening. It's either a case of them believing their own hype or being unable to handle to the added pressure that comes with increased expectation. Maybe it's both, whatever it is though Rodgers needs to get to the bottom of it as it's completely killed what could actually have been a good season. A top four spot could have been ours if we'd been able to find any kind of consistency, but we've got no chance of that now. 5th has gone too, and we even managed to somehow hand back the initiative to the Blues in the battle to be top dogs in the city. That's the worst thing to come from this. I've been saying for weeks that the two things we need to see between now and the end of the season are to beat one of the sides above us and to put together a good, relatively long unbeaten run. We did the first part by beating Tottenham last week and were on the way to doing the second having won three consecutive league games. Unfortunately the worry is always there that every three or four games we tend to throw in a stinker, and lo and behold here it is. You simply can't trust this team because they WILL let you down, they've been doing it all season. The first half was an absolute disgrace, the worst we've played all season I'd say. It was embarrassing, terrible, wretched stuff. It's not being overly dramatic to say we got absolutely battered and could easily have let in four or five. Credit to Southampton, they were excellent and I'm not trying to take anything away from them. They played well but there's no way they are anywhere near as good as they looked or they wouldn't be where they are. This was as much about us being shit as them playing well. It started with the team selection. Joe Allen starting over Lucas seemed very strange, although Rodgers said afterwards Lucas has been carrying a knock. That makes it a little easier to accept, and I'd have been ok with it if we'd been playing a midfield three, but as much I like Allen I don't want to see him playing in a midfield two, certainly not away from home and certainly not when he isn't fit and in need of an operation. It was just asking for trouble, I love an attacking line up as much as the next man (unless the next man is Kevin Keegan), but even I looked at that side and thought it was a bit too top loaded. That decision to leave out Lucas backfired spectacularly, Allen was woeful and got hooked at half time. We improved when Lucas came on and were generally more on the front foot than we'd been in the first half, but we couldn't have improved by that much as the fact is we lost 2-1 with Allen and 1-0 with Lucas. That tells me there was far more to this than just that initial team selection. Carragher's absence was just as telling, whatever injury it is he has he couldn't have possibly weakened the side more than Skrtel's inclusion did (next time he complains about not knowing why he's been dropped, Rodgers should just pop in the DVD of Southampton's third goal). It felt like we had more possession in the second half and we looked less vulnerable despite being far from water tight. There was a definite improvement on the first half, but it still wasn't close to good enough. Basically, far too many players didn't perform anywhere near close to the level they have been playing at, and that was further compounded by the initial starting line up selected by Rodgers. You'll struggle to find a bigger Glen Johnson fan than me outside of his own family, but as good as he is when he's playing well, he does tend to throw in a few games a season where he's just incredibly lethargic and.. for want of a better expression, dopey looking. When he's good, there are few better but when he's bad he's complete dogshit. Sometimes he just looks like he needs a rocket up his arse, and this was one of those days. West Brom was another, which you could argue shows how important he is to our hopes of success. Johnson was crap against the Saints, but in all honesty the same can be said of most of his team-mates. Lucas did ok when he came on, but aside from him (and obviously Jones who prevented this being an even bigger embarrassment) I'd say Stewart Downing is the only other player who performed to his usual level. That might be a bit harsh on Enrique actually, he wasn't bad and never let his head drop. Everyone else was below par, some more than others (and don't even get me started on Skrtel). Losing a goal so early didn't help, but it was hardly the end of the world as we had plenty of time to get back into it. We just couldn't get hold of the ball though, and when we did we gave it straight back to them. We had no control of the midfield, the forwards weren't clicking and the defence were a nervous, shambolic mess. Adam Lallana looked like Zidane, he ran rings around us all day. Unless he's a much, much better player than I realised, then that just shouldn't be happening. The opening goal was terrible, Johnson played everyone onside and Skrtel didn't get tight enough to his man. The second goal was unfortunate, a free-kick deflecting off the wall and beating Jones who couldn't get back across his goal in time. He maybe should have done a bit better with it, but he made some good saves on the day to prevent this from being a complete and utter humiliation. Whilst their goal was fortuitous, it was the least they deserved as they looked like scoring with every attack. We did begin to settle down as the first half wore on, and Coutinho missed a great chance to pull one back from a rare attack. He went clean through one on one against Boruc and should have scored but hit the keeper with his shot. The game was generally passing him by, whilst Suarez was having to play far deeper than he would have liked as we had no grip of the midfield. Eventually Rodgers switched them, moving Coutinho central and Suarez out to the left. It made little difference. It was just shambolic, and we could consider ourselves very fortunate to have pulled one back through Coutinho just before the break to go in trailing by just the one. That goal could have been a huge turning point, but we needed to start the second half well and quickly score another. Had that happened we'd have probably ran out comfortable winners. We had a few chances here and there but the better openings were created by the home side. Sturridge wasted our best chance to equalise when he mis-kicked from 8 yards. It summed up his day. In the last couple of weeks he looks like he's gone from 'prove it' mode to 'made it' mode. As much as he and Coutinho have added to the side in the short time they've been here, perversely it's now causing a bit of problem for Rodgers in terms of how does he fit them into the side whilst still being able to get the best from Suarez and retaining control of the middle of the park. Clearly playing all three as well as Downing leaves us woefully short in midfield, we saw it last week against Spurs and then again at St Mary's. It's looking to me as though one of them has to be left out. The one untouchable is obviously Suarez, and the obvious one for the axe is Downing, but he provides better balance on the right than any of the others, so it's not that straightforward. Rodgers needs to figure that out as it's definitely an issue against any side that is on its game. It's just completely soul destroying following Liverpool these days isn't it? It's like we're in no mans land. If we were just out and out garbage it'd be less stressful as at least we'd know who we are and wouldn't get our hopes up. This is just horrible though, as it's the hope that makes it so difficult. We'll look good for two or three games, put ourselves in a position to make a run at the teams above us and then as soon as that happens, along comes a Villa or a Southampton. There'll be another one or two before the end of the season too, as unfortunately this is who we are at the moment. How do you judge where we are? Results like these are the exception rather than the norm, but there are enough of them to raise serious doubts about the mentality of the side. It's clearly not a talent issue as we've seen on a fairly regular basis how well they can play. It just seems like as soon as there's any kind of pressure to get a result they fold. Can't believe we've let Everton get above us again, it's shaping up like last season all over again, only without the Wembley trips. Star man is Downing, comfortably the best of a bad bunch. Only Jones ran him close, which says it all.

After winning the league in 1987 Howard Kendall left Everton to take over at Athletic Bilbao. He managed to get another dig in at Heysel, saying he had to leave as he wanted a crack at winning the European Cup. His continental sojourn lasted just two years and he was sacked after finishing seventh in 1989, returning to England to take over at Man City. In his absence Colin Harvey had been promoted from assistant to manager at Goodison but he couldn’t build on the title success of 1987. That was Heysel’s fault though. In 1989 he did lead them to two cup finals but they were beaten in both, 4-3 by Forest in the Simod Cup and 3-2 by Liverpool in the FA Cup. This meant that Everton had become the first team in history to lose two Wembley cup finals in the same season. Fans patience was now wearing thin and en route to the Simod final, Everton attracted just 3,703 to Goodison for a game against Millwall, their lowest post war attendance. Harvey lasted just one more year before being sacked with Kendall returning, coming up with the famous quote of Everton being a marriage whilst City was a love affair. The first thing he did was make sure Everton were bonded to the Simod Cup, by now renamed the Zenith Data Systems Cup. Again they reached the final and this time they were humiliated 4-1 by Crystal Palace. This much maligned competition lasted just seven years and Everton were the only team to take it seriously enough to reach the final twice. By now Everton were eligible to compete in Europe again, if they qualified. But they never finished high up in the league enough so could never prove how wronged they were by Heysel. That was our fault though. Kendall took Everton on a slippery slope downwards and the clubs finances began to tumble as he wasted money on shite like Maurice Johnston and Preki. Midway through 1993-4 Kendall asked for funds to buy Dion Dublin and was refused, leading to him resigning. So nearly a Liverpool Legend. Damn that Hans Segers! Mike Walker came in from Norwich and took them to the brink of relegation in spectacular fashion. A run of just 4 wins in 22 games meant they were in the bottom 3 on the last day of the season. They went 2-0 down to Wimbledon and looked doomed, then keeper Hans Segers remembered his little consortium with Fashanu and Grobbelaar and the Blues escaped. Things got no better in 1994-5 when they failed to win any of their first twelve games. Walker was inevitably sacked and Fat Head Royle appointed. His dogs of war dug then out of the mire and unbelievably they won the FA Cup, beating the Mancs 1-0 in the final, much to the delight of most Reds I might add. 1995-6 saw their one foray into Europe since the Heysel ban and it ended as soon as it begun They squeezed past KR Reykjavik 6-3 on aggregate before losing 1-0 to Feyenoord. Their defence of the FA Cup began with a 2-2 home draw with Stockport but they scraped through the replay 3-2. They went out in the next round however, 2-1 at Port Vale. There was League Cup humiliation as well as Millwall knocked them out, one of a number of embarrassing exits in the competition during the last ten years. 1995-6 had seen a rare season in the mid table comfort zone when they finished sixth but normality was restored in 1996-7 and they were sixth bottom with Royle being sacked. The Fathead blamed the Echo for his dismissal rather than results and the board promised a world class manager. Arigo Sacchi was mentioned, as was Bobby Robson, but in the end they got Kendall for a third time. The whole farce was overseen by chairman Peter Johnson, a one time Liverpool season ticket holder who was doing a great job of blasting Everton into oblivion. Evertonians tried to put a brave face on Kendall’s reappointment but the man recently sacked by Notts County didn’t have a clue how to run a team in the new era of the Premier League and player power. Secret Agent Johnson - What a guy! 1997-8 was a disaster and they went into the last game of the season knowing it was either them or Bolton who’d go down. A 1-1 draw with Coventry kept them up on goal difference but if video evidence was allowed they’d have been relegated. Earlier in the season they drew 0-0 with Bolton at the Reebok and television replays clearly showed a Bolton header had gone over the line but the referee had failed to see it. Despite all these scrapes with relegation, Evertonians weren’t too fussed as Liverpool were failing to win the league and they were usually avoiding defeat in their two cup finals every season. But the arrival of Gerard Houllier changed all that. In April 1999 at Anfield Liverpool ended a five year derby famine with a 3-2 win and bitter Evertonians reported Robbie Fowler to police for goading them with a line sniffing celebration. By now Walter Smith was in charge and although a decent bloke who never stooped to the levels of his fans by trading insults with Liverpool, he couldn’t find the winning formula as he had in Scotland. They didn’t even have the pleasure of beating us in derbies and in April 2001 both teams squared up at Goodison requiring points for different reasons. Everton seemed to have secured a vital point in the relegation fight and dented our Champions League hopes till one Gary McAllister took a free kick from 44 yards. They couldn’t even have the consolation of being second best in Merseyside, as three months earlier they had been humiliated 3-0 at home by Tranmere in the FA Cup. Smith managed to cling onto his job after the Tranmere defeat but a year later he finally got the chop as the Blues stared down the barrel of relegation once more. David Moyes came in and performed yet another Houdini Act as a young sex crazy pie eater from Croxteth called Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene and helped Everton to the FA Youth Cup final. During that Youth Cup run he donned a t shirt that said “once a blue always a blue”, which made Bill Kenwright (Red Johnnos successor) cry. Never one to keep peoples feet on the ground Kenwright heaped the pressure on Rooney by making sign his first professional contract on the pitch before a Premiership game. Rooney then hit the national headlines when he scored his first league goal in the last minute of a game against Arsenal, ending a long unbeaten run for the Gunners. Every hope was pinned on him and Everton reached the dizzy heights of top four at Christmas. Even as late as Easter they had hopes of the Champions League, but a great strike by Danny Murphy gave Liverpool a third straight win at Goodison and put them out the running. They finished off failing to even qualify for the UEFA Cup, but had the consolation of seeing Manchester United being presented with the Premiership trophy at Goodison Park. Since then it’s been downhill and in 2003-4 Everton finished in 17th place with their lowest ever points total. Only the total ineptness of Leicester, Leeds and Wolves kept them up. Rooney then did cartwheels in Euro 2004 and realised it wouldn’t be much fun always being a Blue and put in a transfer request, despite still being only 18. Their fans took it with usual good grace and hurled a barrage of insults at him during a home game with West Brom, referring to his youth cup t shirt. However, subsequent revelations about his antics with prostitutes may suggest they just misunderstood what he meant by blue. Rooney’s replacement was Marcus Bent, who is unlikely to sell them many replica shirts. The future isn’t too bright for the Blues but as for them going down, there is sadly too much shite coming up from the Championship for that to happen just yet.

A very youthful Liverpool u18 side recorded a hugely impressive 4-1 win over Sunderland at the Academy on Saturday afternoon. Four different players got on the scoresheet as an unfamiliar line up turned on the style for coach Steve Cooper, who was able to rest almost all of his regular starters ahead of this week's FA Youth Cup game with Leeds United at Anfield. The side contained only four regular starters at this level, goalkeeper Ryan Fulton, centre back Niall Heaton, midfielder Dan Trickett-Smith and striker Jerome Sinclair. The rest of the line up consisted of fringe u18 squad players and u16 players, as well as a 14 year old right back and 15 year old left back. All things considered, this went much better than Cooper could have hoped for, as the scoreline actually flattered Sunderland. This might be the youngest side we've ever fielded at this level, it's certainly the youngest I can remember since I've been watching Academy games. You'd never have guessed though, they played some terrific stuff and it was like a mirror image of the first team at times seeing how they passed the ball and then pressed to win it back. Considering how few of the team have played together before, not to mention how inexperienced they are at this level, this was a hell of a performance. The young Reds took control of the game from the start and Sunderland were indebted to their goalkeeper for keeping them in it for as long as he did. He was first called into action on eight minutes when skipper Jordan Rossiter fed Trickett-Smith who picked out the run of Ojo on the left. He ran at the defence, cut inside onto his right foot and hit a low shot that the keeper parried away. A minute later he produced an outstanding stop to keep out a 30 yard snapshot from Sinclair. It was a terrific effort by the young striker, who just let fly out of nowhere with his left foot. The ball was headed for the top corner but Burke clawed it away at full stretch. From the corner Trickett-Smith headed over after meeting Kent's superb delivery at the near post. Kent's corners were impressive all day, interestingly he took them both sides and used both feet, Luis Garcia style. Not many players can deliver a ball as well as that with either foot. Trickett-Smith should have scored soon after following a lovely turn and pass by Sinclair that sent the midfielder clear in the penalty area. His low shot was well saved by the feet of the beleaguered Mackem keeper. Cameron Brannagan was next to be foiled by the Sunderland stopper, he won the ball in the middle of the park, surged forward and sent a powerful shot goalwards that Burke tipped over the bar. The keeper's resistance was eventually broken from the resulting corner. Kent's brilliant ball in was just about cleared, but the ball only went back to the winger who whipped in another delicious cross that was missed by Heaton but turned in by Rossiter from close range. No more than the Reds had deserved, it had been one way traffic and Sunderland hadn't been able to mount any kind of attack. Then suddenly they were level out of nothing, a hopeful ball through the centre was missed by Rossiter and the Sunderland forward Blinko ran clear and buried the ball past Fulton in the bottom corner. A cruel blow, but all it did was appear to make the young Reds angry as they peppered Burke's goal for the remainder of the half and scored two more goals. Within a minute of Sunderland drawing level Cooper's lads had the lead once again, as another corner from Kent caused problems and Sinclair lashed the ball in from close range. Seconds later Ojo did well on the left and his stinging drive was tipped over by the overworked Burke. Rossiter's clever first time ball then found Sinclair in the box, and he did well to make space for a shot that was once again kept out by the feet of the keeper. The third goal did finally arrive a couple of minutes before the break when Ojo skinned his man down the left and drove into the box before cutting it back for Brannagan, who adjusted his feet well to place the ball past the keeper for his first goal of the season. The second half was all Liverpool although they didn't create quite as many clear openings as they had in the opening 45 minutes. Ojo was a constant threat down the left but too often his crosses didn't find a team-mate. Both he and Trickett-Smith gave Sunderland all manner of difficulties, and it was surprising that it took so long for the fourth goal to come. Sinclair went close to his second of the game when he was released by Trickett-Smith and went round the keeper, only for his shot to be headed against the crossbar by a defender who had got back on the goal-line. Good effort from Sinclair, terrific defending by the Sunderland lad. Kent then had a great chance when he collected a poor clearance from the keeper, cut inside and then blasted his shot high over the bar. Trickett-Smith had another great chance when Ojo did well in a tight space and his cross fell to the former Crewe youngster, but his shot was deflected wide off a defender. Trickett-Smith then thought he should have had a penalty when he dribbled past the centre half into the box, he was stumbling a little and was helped on his way to the ground by a Sunderland player, but the referee was unimpressed and waved play on. The correct decision I'd say, although I've seen them given. A minute later Trickett-Smith won the ball on the edge of the box and then sent a shot inches over the bar. Sinclair was then denied by the keeper who raced out quickly to beat the striker to Rossiter's excellent through ball. There was an injury scare for the Reds 15 minutes from time when Fulton collided with Heaton as he came out to claim a cross. Both players needed lengthy treatement but thankfully were able to continue. Cooper made a double change ten minutes from time when he sent on Louis Robles and Harry Wilson for Sinclair and Kent, and with three minutes left Trickett-Smith finally got the goal his performance deserved when he rifled into the top corner from 20 yards after Rossiter had won the ball and started the attack in typical swashbuckling style. Trickett-Smith was then replaced by Adam Phillips, and Ojo went close to adding a spectacular fifth when his mazy run ended with a shot that went just wide. It had been a perfect day for the Reds but ended on a sour note in stoppage time when Rossiter limped off with an injury. Hopefully it's nothing serious as he's a fine prospect and will be hoping to play some part in the game at Anfield next Thursday. He was a strong contender for the star man, but Trickett-Smith's fantastic late goal just swings it in his favour. Special mention to the two full backs as well, who were both making their first appearance at this level and who both performed beyind their years. 15 year old Sam Hart on the left is a recent signing who spent several years at Manchester United, he was steady in his work and kept his winger quiet. 14 year old Corey Whelan on the other side was also very solid and can be proud of how he coped against lads much older than him. There's not many kids of that age get a chance to play for the u18s, so he might be a name to look out for. Team: Fulton; Whelan, Brewitt, Heaton, Hart; Brannagan, Rossiter, Trickett-Smith (Phillips); Kent (Wilson), Sinclair (Robles), Ojo:

One popular pastime for Liverpool supporters (and in fact for supporters of any team) is to come up with an all-time best eleven, or some fantasy squad of players that have a common theme among them. For us it’s almost too easy, with so many great players to choose from, and the only problem seems to be too much choice and who to leave out rather than who would be best to put into a squad. So, to make it a bit more interesting, I’ve set myself a challenge to see what kind of Liverpool squads can be formed with various themes, and see how the side takes shape in each case. The idea for this first squad came to mind recently when Rafa had been talking about the importance of keeping British, and especially locally produced, players in the squad to balance out the players brought in from overseas. If we look back just a few years, say before the beginning of the Premier League, it was unusual for a non-British player to make an appearance for Liverpool or for any other Football League club. As time went by, the changes that resulted from the formation of the European Union and the laws allowing for the free movement of labour, combined with the Bosman ruling, brought many more players into the league from overseas. That drastically changed the style of play of most of the top clubs as they competed for and brought in the best talent that all of Europe had to offer. But, most clubs were determined to keep a strong core of home grown players, as well as working towards nurturing young local talent for the future through academies, centres of excellence, and so on. If we take up that idea of a core of local players, why not go all the way and form a team entirely made up of locally raised lads? So, for the first of what will be a continuing series, I’m going to attempt to come up with a complete team of Scouse players. That should be pretty easy as there have been a lot of them over the hundred plus years of the club’s history, but I’ll restrict it somewhat and make it a bit more interesting by only allowing players from the modern era (Shankly and more recent) and not allowing any of the current squad to be selected. That unfortunately rules out two of the best ever in my opinion – Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard - but those restrictions will narrow down the choices to something more manageable. So let’s see how this works out. . . . Goalkeepers: I ran into problems right from the start here, as I could only find two Merseyside born goalkeepers to have made first team appearances – Billy Molyneux, who played one game in the 1964/65 season in place of Tommy Lawrence, and Frank Lane who played two games, in September of 1972, in place of Ray Clemence. I can’t really include Tony Warner, who spent 120 games watching from the bench, but never played once. He was David James’s understudy, and was reserve ‘keeper for the 1996 FA Cup Final. I’ll have to take Lane first, as he made twice as many first team appearances as Molyneux, who’ll be on the bench. Defence: This is fairly easy, as long as I’m careful to pick a balanced back four. I’ll go with Gerry Byrne on the left, Tommy Smith and Phil Thompson in the middle, and Chris Lawler on the right. That looks like a good combination of steel and speed at the back, with the potential for a few goals whenever they push forward on set pieces or overlapping runs. Another one that I could put in the squad as a possible substitute would be Mike Marsh who made 101 appearances, and was in the side that won the FA Cup in 1992. There’s also Gary Ablett, Ronnie Moran, and Roy Evans, but I’m going to leave them until later as you’ll see. Midfield: This gets a little more difficult with so many to choose from. I’m going to sort through a long list of great players from Ian Callaghan, Terry McDermott, Steve McMahon, Jason McAteer, David Thompson, Steve McManaman, and Jimmy Case. That’s a tough one to sort out, but having a soft spot for Ian Callaghan as one of my earliest heroes, I have to start with him on the right, then with Terry McDermott and Steve McMahon in the middle, and finally with Steve McManaman sort of on the left but with a more free ranging role as necessary. I could also mention Sammy Lee, but he’s another one with other plans in mind. Strikers: First choice for a guaranteed goal scorer is John Aldridge. Second choice for a guaranteed goal scorer is Robbie Fowler. Or should that be the other way around? I don’t know how these two would work together, but wouldn’t you love to see it? Both of these players are ready to give their all for the club, and as supporters we can’t ask for any more than that. There’s also David Johnson who made over 200 appearances and scored plenty of goals, but I can’t put him in without leaving one of Aldridge or Fowler out of the starting XI. Substitutes: I’ll assume this is a squad for the Premier League, where we are allowed to have seven players named as substitutes on the bench. The trick is to have a good balance of players to choose from, while meeting the requirements of this particular side. The first choice should be no surprise as David “supersub” Fairclough is ready to come on for that all important late winner if needed. After him, Howard Gayle is ready to add some pace on the wing if that looks like being productive, and I also have those unused players already mentioned, including Mike Marsh to bolster the defence, and Jimmy Case to strengthen up the midfield. Up front there’s the option of David Johnson, and for some youth I can add Lee Peltier, a youth/reserve team player who only recently left the club. I’ll go with some kind of balance and select Molyneux, Marsh, Peltier, Johnson, Case, Fairclough, Gayle. Manager: Joe Fagan. It could have been Roy Evans, or I could have gone with Phil Thompson who acted as manager while Gerrard Houllier was recovering from his heart surgery, or Ronnie Moran who acted as caretaker manager on more than one occasion. But, Thommo is already in the side as a player, and for the other two see below. Besides, I’ll go with Fagan as he was the most successful of all the candidates, winning three major trophies at the end of his first season in charge. Staff: The legendary boot room philosophy is extremely helpful here as there is a long list of former players who joined the coaching staff after their playing days were over. Ronnie Moran, Roy Evans, Sammy Lee, Doug Livermore, Phil Thompson, and others were all local players who stayed with the club in one capacity or another. Assistant Manager: Doug Livermore. Again, it could have been several others but I’ll go with Doug who was a player from 1967 to 1971, and was an assistant manager under Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier from 1994 to 1998. Coaches: Ronnie Moran, Sammy Lee, and Roy Evans. This is where the talents of these three come into play. All three of them are dedicated coaches and have all proven themselves under more than one manager. Physio: Phil Boersma. When Bob Paisley took over from Bill Shankly, Phil Boersma left Liverpool for Middlesbrough in December 1975. After a broken ankle brought his playing days to an end, he went into coaching and physiotherapy. He filled that role for Graeme Souness at Rangers, and then at Liverpool from 1991 to 1994. Of course we can only imagine how such a squad would be able to compete in the present day, or in fact in any era. But, having a look at the side that I’ve chosen, with a top quality starting eleven and a good reserve squad ready to step up when the need or the opportunity arises, then I’d say that they’d have a good chance of winning silverware – as most of them already have. Keith Perkins

Dave Usher reports from Anfield What a crazy game this was. We started well, finished well, and got completely outplayed in between. Spurs did a great impression of us actually, they should have won this game but instead found a way to lose it by shooting themselves in the foot. We've seen that plenty of times this season, except usually it's us doing the shooting. The added bonus was that we also managed to come from behind to win a game for once, and whatsmore we've finally beaten one of 'the big boys'. It sure feels great to get the monkey off our back, it's such a relief that we won't have to face that chimpanzee Bale until next season. It's good to finally beat a top six side too. Badumtish! Spurs are the second best side in the country at the moment. The form guide certainly backs that up, and they came into this on a 12 match unbeaten run. They may even end up second if City continue the way they have been. AVB's men were really impressive I thought, we had our hands full with them and looked a bit overmatched for long spells of the game. Part of that was tactical, we were outmanned in midfield and it took the introduction of Joe Allen to redress the balance there. The other thing is the pace and power of Spurs, it's really hard for us to handle that as we're just not really equipped for it. Dembele is a right handful and Bale is just a freak of nature. They're athletic all over the pitch and we found it hard to match them at times. We hung in there, rode our luck and with a little helping hand from Tottenham we got the job done in the end. The initial team selection by Rodgers was a bold one, it may not have been the right one but as a firm believer in the 'he who dares wins' approach I can't really criticise a manager for being so positive. I'd take that over negative selections every day of the week, and I don't think Brendan Rodgers actually has a negative bone in his body. It would have been easy to name the same side that had beaten Wigan 4-0 last week (with the exception of the injured Reina of course), or to leave out Coutinho to accommodate the returning Sturridge, but instead Rodgers left out a midfield player and used Suarez as a 'number 10' in a front loaded 4-2-3-1 formation. That worked a treat against Swansea a few weeks back, but picking such an attacking side against Spurs? Risky business, but you have to applaud the courage behind it. It worked well in the early stages too, we started brightly and Sturridge shot over after Downing had won the ball high up the pitch to send him clear. Suarez was popping up all over the place and we were clearly the better side in the opening twenty minutes or so. Our opening goal was sensational. It started in our own box when Glen Johnson used his pace and skill to dribble himself out of a tight spot before playing a pass into space for Coutinho. He held off Walker, then backheeled the ball into the path of Enrique. The pair exchanged passes again before Enrique rolled a perfectly weighted ball to Suarez who took the shot so early he caught the keeper out and beat him at the near post. Brilliant football. Rodgers football. Rather than build on the lead however, we were forced onto the back foot as Spurs really stepped it up. Dembele began bossing it, although we were doing a surprisingly good job of keeping Bale quiet. Lucas and Gerrard were effectively closing down the space to prevent him getting on the ball, but you're never going to be able to shut him down completely and one delightful flick from him sent Sigurdsson clean through only to drag his shot inches wide. A big let off for us but it was becoming a real struggle now. We couldn't keep the ball as Spurs were pressing well, that in turn meant that Johnson and Enrique couldn't get forward as we didn't have the ball long enough to build any attacks. The full backs are key to our play but as the half wore on they were not a factor as the visitors took control. Leading up to half time Spurs had all the momentum and when they equalised it wasn't exactly a shock as to be honest it had been coming. It was a little unfortunate from our point of view though. Bale had been off the field receiving treatment after being clattered by Gerrard in an aerial duel. He'd made a meal of it, as usual, but when the referee waved him back on he hung around on the right wing and as a result of that he wasn't picked up and found space for just about the first time in the game. The ball found it's way to him, and as soon as he whipped that cross in I muttered "Oh shit" as it had danger written all over it as soon as it left his boot. Vertongen had sneaked forward from the back and he got the jump on Johnson to head the ball into the corner. Fantastic cross by Bale though, and no more than Spurs deserved. The way the half had ended it was clear that we needed to make some adjustments. I wouldn't have been surprised to see either Allen or Henderson brought on at that stage, as for us to function we need to have the ball and that only happens with control of the midfield. Gerrard and Lucas were doing all they could, they were just outnumbered. Deciding who to bring off would have been the difficult part. Coutinho would have been the logical choice except he had been superb in the first half, some of his touches and passing had the crowd purring, he's already a fans favourite and he'll only get better as he's not even fully match fit yet. He's what I believe kids these days call a 'baller'. I wouldn't have wanted him to go off at that stage, and obviously you don't take Suarez off, so that just left Sturridge and Downing. Sturridge was poor in the first half but he can conjure up something out of nothing and you want him on the pitch as he's given us so much in the short time he's been here. So Downing then? Well no, he's actually become an important player recently and helps the shape of the team. He was performing well once again and taking him off wouldn't have even entered my head, we look a better team with him in it right now. Rodgers must have felt the same way as he kept faith with the starting eleven, but the second half began in the exact same way the first had ended, with Spurs looking the more cohesive unit and us just not able to get going. You can tell when we're on top and playing well because Johnson gets as many touches as anyone, and most of them come high up the pitch. When we aren't on top, we can't get the full backs forward and we don't threaten much. Early on in the game Enrique was rampaging forward, when we lost control of the midfield both he and Johnson were on the back foot. Defensively I felt we were doing well, for all of Tottenham's swagger on the ball it's not as though Brad Jones had loads to do is it? But Tottenham were definitely looking the more assured side and when they went 2-1 up we looked in real trouble. Once again, we were a little unfortunate with the goal. Firstly, it was never a free-kick in a million years, Bale simply stopped and put his hand to his face because he'd lost the ball. Lucas barely touched him, it was infuriating and sums up why Bale is so damned unlikeable. That said, we should have dealt with the free-kick better. I was surprised by how deep we were, we could have defended ten yards higher up and let Jones deal with anything that was hit near the penalty spot. Instead we defended the edge of the box, and ended up by the six yard box when Vertongen fired in a loose ball that had dropped to him. We were rocking badly at that point and Spurs were in complete control. We became a bit ragged, our passing was sloppy and a third goal seemed on the cards. The crowd got really edgy too and you could feel the game slipping away from us. I felt like we were the little kid trying to throw punches whilst the bigger kid held us off at arms length laughing. There were shades of the Arsenal game earlier this season about it, we just looked like we were overmatched. Bale started finding more space and got a couple of opportunities to run at us. One ended with a shot miles over the bar, the other was simply devastating, as he burst past Lucas and Gerrard, and even though Carragher looked like he had taken a good enough angle to not only force him wide but also to prevent him getting a cross in, somehow Bale dug out a glorious right footed cross that found Sigurdsson in space on the back post. He controlled, and as he shot Johnson got back to get something on it and the ball struck the post. Scary shit that from Bale though, how do you stop him when he gets into open space and starts running? Had Sigurdsson converted that chance we were done, no way would we have come back from that as we were distinctly second best and this was a really rocky spell for us. Eventually Rodgers had to get Allen on, we had no control of midfield and were in danger of falling further behind. Coutinho had faded in the second half and it was an obvious move to bring him off. Sturridge continued to struggle though and if we'd have had another striker on the bench he'd probably have been hooked too. It just wasn't happening for him, and a couple of times he incurred the wrath of the crowd by not chasing second balls. We were losing though, and with no other forward to bring on Rodgers had to ride with Sturridge. I imagine there will have been quite a few people unhappy at the move to bring Allen on for Coutinho, but for me it was a complete no brainer. We can't play if we don't have the ball, and if the midfield aren't in control of the game we won't have the ball. One of Allen's first involvements was to win the ball well, and then play a horrific pass straight to Sigurdsson. The last thing he needed really, there was a huge groan from the crowd but he didn't let it effect him and slowly but surely we steadied the ship and began to see a bit more of the ball. Allen was vital in that turnaround. Still, we didn't look like scoring until Spurs completely imploded. Walker's backpass was awful and Lloris probably should have left it and stayed on his line. Instead he thought he could get there and made a mess of it, only tipping the ball onto Downing. Luck was in our favour for once as the ball landed perfectly at Downing's feet, presenting him with two options. He had Sturridge unmarked in the centre whilst there was just one defender on the line and Lloris was in no mans land. A few months ago he'd probably have squared it to Sturridge rather than take responsibility himself. He's playing with much more confidence and, dare I say it, balls, these days though. He took it on himself and drilled a right foot shot through the legs of Vertongen on the line and into the net. It wasn't actually a great finish, and last season it would have surely hit Vertongen and bounced clear and everyone would have wanted him strung up! This was just reward for a great afternoon's effort from him. He put in a real shift at both ends and I can only remember him giving possession away once in the whole game. A remarkable effort for someone who plays in that position. I'm pleased for him as he's been doing well for three or four months now I think, I even thought he did well for us when he had to play left back. His performances have been unspectacular but to a good level, he's worth place in the side and he's making a good contribution. The one issue is that he doesn't chip in with enough goals for the position he plays. That's two in two now though, and if he ended the season with around 8-9 goals that would be an acceptable return I'd say. That goal was absolutely huge for us, it changed everything. Getting back on level terms out of nothing lifted everyone, the players sudenly had a spring in their step and a new found belief and the crowd were suddenly roaring them on. All the momentum was with us and we were now the ones on the front foot. My boy AVB will be seething about our winning goal though. Defoe's awful touch went straight to Suarez and then Assou-Ekotto was just clumsy in the way he bundled into Luis. My initial reaction was that it was a bit soft but that it was a pen as Suarez got to the ball first and the defender didn't get the ball. Looking at it again, it was a stonewall pen. Michael Oliver had missed one in the first half when Coutinho had been pulled back by Walker as he attacked a cross, and we could have had one earlier in the second half when Sturridge was clipped. He didn't get that decision because of the horrendous swan dive he took when he felt the contact. He was lucky not to be booked actually. As they say though, third time is a charm and Spurs can have no complaints about the one given. To be fair to Villas Boas he said afterwards it was a penalty, which is unusual for manager's these days. For the third home league game in succession Gerrard was faced with a penalty in front of the Kop, and thankfully he buried it without any complications, sending Lloris the wrong way before running around the pitch to go and hug goalkeeper coach John Achteburg, who had told him what way Lloris generally dives. Nice to see that. Rodgers sent Henderson on for Sturridge, a sensible move as Jordan provides great energy and pressing, two qualities that were going to be needed as Spurs pushed for an equaliser. We defended resolutely though and there were no real scares as we held on for a massive three points. We've played much better and lost, twice against Man City and also against Man United at Anfield. Those were games we completely dominated and should have won. This was one we didn't dominate and perhaps should have lost. We'll take the three points though, it's about time fortune favoured us. Tottenham impressed me a lot though, but I wonder if they'd have looked so good if we'd started with the extra midfielder? There's no way of knowing, so I can only really comment on what I saw and like I say, I was impressed. Villas Boas has got Spurs really well organised and they're the best side to come to Anfield all season for me. By some distance actually. Not many teams have outplayed us this season, certainly not at Anfield. Arsenal did it but we're a much stronger side now than we were then, and with that in mind I'd say Spurs impressed me more than any side to come here in some time. Of course, the difference between them being 'decent' and 'top four' is Bale. We kept him relatively quiet, yet he still had two assists (kind of, as he 'won' and then delivered the free-kick that led to the second goal) and would have had two more if Sigurdsson's finishing had been up to scratch. He also hit two free-kicks that put the shits right up Brad Jones, the second of which was astonishing. He was miles out, and when he hit it half the ground gave a sarcastic "weeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy" as it went up into orbit. They almost choked on their taunts when it suddenly dipped dramatically and ended up about an inch over the bar. I've never seen anyone hit a ball the way Bale does, it's absolutely amazing. He's just so incredibly unlikeable, but he's fucking brilliant and any time he had the ball there was a collective clenching of arse cheeks around Anfield. Taunting him with "You're just a shit Stewart Downing" didn't sit too well with me. Not only could it have come back to bite us in the arse, I also thought it was a bit disrespectful to Downing, especially when it was met with laughter from all four corners of the ground! Either Bale or Suarez would be a worthy winner of Footballer of the Year, and as much as I dislike Bale I accept that there are obviously fans of other clubs who feel the same about Suarez. I can see why they'd feel that way, Luis is an absolute pain in the arse and he's a proper sneaky little fucker. If he played for someone else I'd hate him, but he doesn't, he plays for us and I absolutely love him. MOTD2 compiled a little montage of him being a right sly little bastard, I think it was meant to make him look bad (and that Jason Roberts tit and pint sized blueshite Pat Nevin certainly tried to take it down that road), but I thought it was magnificent! He pulled all that shit and got away with it scot free because it's only when you look at slow motion replays that you realise what he's done. I didn't get onto any of it at the time, and nor did the officials. He's got it down to a fine art, niggling away at opponents and getting them wound up. Little things like kicking out but making it look like an accident. He has lumps kicked out of him every week but he knows how to give it back without getting caught, he's proper streetwise is Luis. I saw Dembele kick out at him and I was screaming at the ref to do something. What I hadn't seen was that Luis had done it first. I didn't see it because he disguised it so well. He did it to Vertongen as well, and last week he used a Zenit defender as a human surfboard but made it look like an accident. He's an absolute master. Remember that game when he tore the mancs to shreds at Anfield when Dirk got a hat-trick? In that game Rafael chopped Lucas down and in the resulting melee, Luis walked up behind Rafael and just yanked his hair and then walked away like nothing had happened. Hilarious! He's a rogue, a scamp, a scoundrel. He takes a kicking but he gives it back in his own subtle, under-handed, evil genius kind of way. Bale on the other hand, is just an out and out shithouse. That's the difference. Luis got the man of the match award from Sky, which I thought did Gerrard an enormous dis-service as for me he was easily our best player on the day. Suarez was good, but Gerrard was immense, especially in the second half. So many interceptions and challenges, and his use of the ball was superb. He's having a fine season after a somewhat slow start. Like the team as a whole really, although we've still got a lot to do before the season could be described as 'fine'. This was something of a 'bonus win' really. A game where we could easily have lost yet we've picked up three points. We didn't play that well but we showed character. Too often this season it's been the opposite, good performance but a poor result. When we play well and lose, the critics will say it's all about the result. When we don't play and win, they'll complain about the performance. They must be running out of things to complain about now though, the form table had us at 12th for the first half of the season but 3rd so far in the 2nd half. Clearly progress is being made, and only Manchester United have scored more goals than us now. We're only seven points behind last season's points tally and we have nine games left. Things are looking up but we need to keep it going now. There were two things I wanted to see from us between now and the end of the season. One was beating one of the teams above us, and the other was to put together the kind of run Spurs have been on. We went into this game on the back of two straight league wins, and we've now made it three after beating the most difficult opponent we had left to play. It's not about getting into the top four, or even finishing 5th. We can't worry about that as it's entirely dependant on what other sides do. We need to just keep doing what we are doing and try to put a long unbeaten run together and pick up as many wins as we can. If that takes us to 5th or even higher, fantastic. If it doesn't, so what. This was always going to be a season of laying foundations, and I'd say we've certainly done that and people are beginning to take us seriously again. We just have to ensure there are no more letdowns between now and May. Team: Jones; Johnson, Carragher, Agger, Enrique; Lucas, Gerrard; Downing, Suarez, Coutinho (Allen); Sturridge (Henderson):

Olympique Newcastle kicked off a full round of midweek games last Tuesday with a hard fought win at Villa Park. New boy Moussa Sissoko created the opener for Papis Cisse before a Cabaye special made it 2-0. Villa's fans booed the team off at half time but they came out after the break with a renewed purpose. Lambert hooked Bent and N'Zogbia and sent on Weimann and Agbonlahor and they were transformed. It didn't take long for Agbonlahor to win them a soft penalty that Benteke converted, and after that Villa laid siege to the Newcastle goal but try as they might, couldn't find an equaliser and Pardew's men held on for a much needed trois points. Villa's fans then gave their team a standing ovation at full time in appreciation of a fine second half effort that just fell short. Also on Tuesday, Man City fell further behind United after failing to beat bottom club QPR. It finished 0-0 and it was a game of few chances. Both keepers made a couple of outstanding saves, and Julio Cesar has been in great form recently. How has he ended up at QPR? They must be paying him a King's ransom as he's far too good to be wasting his time down the bottom of the table. Bizarrely, Redknapp also had two keepers on the bench. What does that say to the u21 and Academy players at the club? Massive slap in the face that, I don't get why a manager would ever do something like that. Stoke took on Wigan at the Britannia and went in front from…… yep, a set piece, Shawcross turning the ball in after Wigan had failed to clear Adam's dead ball. Crouch added a second when Al Habsy could only parry Adam's shot straight to the big fella who had an easy finish. It looked like being another bad result for struggling Wigan but they hit back quickly through a fine strike by McArthur, and then Di Santo equalised to give them what could turn out to be a vital point. For some reason Sky elected to televise Swansea's trip to Sunderland. I didn't watch it I'm happy to report. It finished 0-0 and it was a right old turd sandwich I'm told. Sunderland fans booed Danny Graham for being a Geordie. The next day they signed him. So many questions. Why did Swansea let him go? Why did he leave Swansea when he's got a cup final to look forward to? Why did Sunderland fans boo him when everyone knew that deal was likely to go through before the window shut? Money talks answers the first two questions, and football fans are fickle would best cover the third one. I include myself in that, I've slaughtered players in the past and then suddenly we'd sign them and I'd have to do a complete about face. Nick Barmby was a classic, I ripped into him in the fanzine for years, I lost track of the amount of Jimmy Crankie gags and captions I'd used to take the piss out of him. Then suddenly Houllier goes and buys him. Nightmare. There's other examples too, most of which I've conveniently wiped from memory. I recently found this I wrote a couple of years ago about Sturridge though: "And congratulations to Daniel Sturridge for the shittest goal celebration of the season. Seriously lad, what the fuck was that? No wonder you hardly ever get to play, you’d be an embarrassment to your club if you played for anyone else but Chelsea" Now how was I supposed to know when I wrote that, that two years later he'd be doing that kind of celebration*in a red shirt and I wouldn't say a word? As I say, footy fans are fickle, we have to be as you you never know what's round the corner. I can't wait til we sign that diving Welsh chimp Bale, although knowing my luck we'll buy Jon fucking Walters. Anyway, hopefully Danny Graham proves to be more popular than the last Geordie at Sunderland, poor old fat head Steve Bruce who was subjected to chants about being a fat Geordie bastard (are they any other kind?) Onto Wednesday, and Southampton went to Old Trafford looking to extend their six match unbeaten run. They failed, despite taking an early lead when Rodriguez capitalised on a bad back pass by Carrick and some shithousery by De Gea. United's scouse talisman came to their rescue again with two goals to give them the lead going into the break. I don't who's worse, those fans and their hypocrisy, constantly chanting about hating scousers whilst a lad from Crocky has been carrying them for years, or Rooney himself for selling out and playing for that club and those fans all these years. Rooney is probably worse, but it's a close run thing. Pochettino made a bold move at the break, taking off my boy Jason Puncheon as well as record signing Gaston Ramirez. That looked like an exercise in damage limitation, but they went out and bossed the second half and probably should have gotten something from the game. All they got were some patronising words from Ferguson about being the 'best side to come here this season'. Shove it up your hoop Taggart, you condescending twat. Chelsea were cruising to three points at Reading until hilariously bottling it late on and getting pegged back to 2-2. Rafa must be sick of the sight of Brian McDermott. Remember when he brought Reading to Anfield for an FA Cup replay and knocked us out? He's got the Indian sign over Benitez it seems, maybe if he gets another result against him he'll get to keep him? Chelsea fans certainly wouldn't object, anything to get rid of him. They absolutely despise Rafa, I don't think people actually realise the extent of it. Their forums are a sight to behold at the moment, I've never seen anything like it. They hate him more than I hate Jon Walters and nicknames on shirts. Chelsea completely threw this one away, it was inexcusable. They were so much on top that Reading didn't have any kind of goal attempt until late in the second half and failed to even win a single corner all game. Mata put Chelsea ahead from a Torres pass, and then Lampard headed in a second. Chelsea have made some crazy, fucked up decisions in recent years, but not giving Lampard a new contract may be the worst yet. He's comfortably one of their three best players even now, he looks no different now than he did five years ago. I reckon they'll eventually cave in and offer him a deal, as no-one can be that stupid that they'd let a club legend who's still getting it done walk away on a free, surely? If they do, top teams will be lining up to take him. Reading were dead and buried, but with three minutes left LeFondre's smart finish gave them some hope, and hilariously he then equalised deep into stoppage time with another cracking finish. He's found the net ten times in 13 games, which is a hell of a record as most have come from the bench. Still, had to laugh at some pundits calling for him to be called up by England. He can't even get in Reading's starting line up for Christ's sake. He's a nice story and all, but let's not get silly. Probably the same people that were pushing for Grant Holt to go to the Euro's last year. Chelsea's neighbours fared much better as they saw off West Ham at Craven Cottage. A clearly offside Berbatov headed them into an early lead and then went close to adding a brilliant second after a long surging run. Yes, I did just use the words 'Berbatov' 'surging' and 'long run' in the same sentence. That may be the one and only time that's been done by anyone. Nolan made it 1-1 with a good finish after slipping away from Berbatov to get on the end of a quick free kick. The Bulgarian was probably still catching his breath from the 'surging run' twenty minutes before. Really don't like that chicken dance Nolan does when he scores, it's shit. Not as bad as Gareth Bale's 'heart' celebration, but still pretty crap. What is it with celebrations these days, they're just generally poor. They could learn a thing or two from our boy Sturridge and his suave dancing skillz. What? Hey, he can come out wearing a shirt with 'Danny' on the back next week and I won't give a shit as long he keeps playing like he has been. Rodallega bundled in a header after terrible defending by three West Ham players who all failed to make any kind of challenge for the ball, and Fat Sam sent on fit again Andy Carroll to try and rescue something. The big fella has chopped off the pony tail and was rocking an alice band instead. Picked the worst game to show it off though, with Bryan Ruiz on the field everyone else's hair is going to pale into insignificance. Top marks to Andy though, in terms of player hairstyles he's easily in the Champions League places now. With the Hammers pressing forward looking for an equaliser, Petric hit them on the break right at the death to give Fulham a much needed 3-1 win. They've been struggling a lot recently and have some tough fixtures on the horizon, so they needed the three points here desperately. A little over 31,000 fans showed up at the Pit to see the Blues go within a point of 4th placed Spurs after an edgy 2-1 win over West Brom. The best Everton side in many a year, and they're getting just over 30k for a home game? Were the Mersey Tunnels closed or something? I know it was midweek, but how long does it to take to get to Goodison from County Road? Evertonians are born, not manufactured though y'know. Jelavic was dropped in favour of Anichebe which would have caused a riot not so long ago. The Croatian is in a rut though and they seem to look better whenever Alehouse Vic plays. He's a handful, and no doubt he'll be sharpening his elbows ahead of the derby in a few weeks. I'd rather face Jelavic as we always struggle against big donkeys. Bilbo Baines gave them the lead with a terrific strike and then added a second from the penalty spot following a foul on Anichebe. West Brom pulled one back when Heitinga's woeful touch allowed Long to nip in and score. Heitinga? More like Sheitinga hahaha. Nothing like a bit of playground humour is there. If only he'd been around back in the 80's when I was actually in school, I'd have proper dined out on that gag. Those were the days, ripping into my blue mates about Andy Gray and his 'Tefal head', or Peter Reid being in the PG Tips ads. Good times. Anyway, Dorrans hit the bar with a free-kick but Everton held on for the win to keep their top four hopes alive. Their form has definitely tailed off a bit lately though, and let's hope that continues. Wes Hoolahan gave Norwich the lead against Spurs and it looked like they would hold onto it too until Bale produced a wonder goal to equalise late on. Without him they'd do well to stay in the top half, he's an incredible player. That was it for the midweek fixtures, and all eyes turned to the transfer window. It was actually shaping up to be the least eventful Deadline Day in years, but then Peter Odemwingie rocked up at Loftus Road in his 4x4 and single handedly saved the day. What a fucking moron that lad is. Balotelli behaviour that is. Firstly, driving to QPR when West Brom had refused him permission to speak to them was dumb, but somewhat understandable as if things changed at least he'd be on the spot to complete the deal before the 11pm deadline. So I can forgive him that. Doing an interview with Sky and talking about how 'we' have enough to stay up when he's not even close to becoming a QPR player was stupid beyond belief though, there's just no excuse for being that dopey. He's had a complete Jonathon Walters there. It's pretty obvious that QPR and his agent had strung him along and led him to believe it would all go ahead, but they hadn't accounted for the resolve of West Brom being so strong. Credit to the Baggies for not being pushed around, I actually think it's great how they handled this fiasco, but unfortunately they're now left with a player who's attitude may not be what it needs to be. I say 'may not' because it's also possible he'll go out with a massive point to prove after being ridiculed by an entire nation, but he may not even get that chance as he's persona non grata at the moment. How are the Baggies' fans going to react to him if he does play? They can't be happy about it, he acted in a totally unprofessional manner simply in the pursuit of pound signs. He must have felt a right dickhead having to turn up for training the next day as footballers are brutal when it comes to ripping the piss out of team-mates and the West Brom lads will surely have torn him apart. Still, it's a bit galling listening to Albion fans on the radio slating him and pointing out how they 'rescued him from being racially abused in Russia' and how he should be more grateful. Would they have 'rescued him' if he was shite? No, they signed him because he could help their team, which he has done as he's been a very good player for them until now. The fact he was being racially abused only factored into it in the sense he was desperate to get away and it helped them get him. They didn't 'rescue' shit. Odemwingie doesn't owe West Brom anything, but he does have a duty to act like a professional and he didn't do that, especially with those comments he made. He must be cringing every time he thinks about that interview. I'm trying to remember if I've ever done anything that embarrassing, and the only thing that springs to mind is being sat at the traffic lights a few months ago, enthusiastically singing along with 'Call Me Maybe' on the car radio, only to discover a van full of workies had pulled up next to me and they were ripping me to shreds. I was mortified, but in my defence; a) I have a six year old who insists on her CD being played when she's in the car, and B) it's catchy as fuck. Still, at least it was just three workies in a white van who saw me embarrass myself, poor Odemwingie had an entire nation watching his particular car crash unfold live on TV, as QPR washed their hands of him and left him sat in the car park, like some sad, desperate loser. Within minutes twitter was awash with Odemwingie jokes, my favourite being 'Knock knock. Who's there? Peter Odemwingie" Simple but effective. A bit like the lad himself. As for QPR, they couldn't do anything else really. Having tapped him up and then failed to agree a fee, they could hardly invite him for tea and biscuits or they'd be looking at a certain points deduction. So they locked him out, pretended they had no idea what was going on and left the daft sod sat in the car park with just the Sky cameras for company. QPR may not have landed Odemwingie, but they did get Chris Samba. I like him, he's a proper old school centre half and I'd have had him here in a heartbeat, he's just what we need in my opinion. A big nasty, physical bastard who'll win everything in the air and make sure forwards know they've been in a game. That Oldham grock wouldn't have had a sniff if Samba had been marking him. Arsenal could really use someone like him too, so it's a bit of a waste that he's signed for the team at the bottom of the league as he's clearly way better than that. A whopping £100k a week he's meant to be getting, which is insane, especially when added to the £12.5m transfer fee. The fee is probably fair, the wages are a joke though. As I say, I'd have had him here, but at half that salary. QPR are mental. Their other big money signing, Loic Remy, injured himself in training and is set for two months out apparently. Ouch. More money down the drain. Other things that grabbed my attention in the last day or two of the window. Leroy Fer failed the (in)famous Everton medical. Bit gutted about that, I'd already lined up a clever nickname for him. 'Ifithadnabin' Fer, which has become an Evertonian catchphrase over recent years. He sounded like a bit of a div too, he was in the papers in Holland recently because he bought his girlfriend a horse. A nice romantic gesture, but it didn't go down particularly well as her response was along the lines of "What the fuck are you doing buying me a horse, I live in a block of flats you moron. Take it back where you got it from." Could have been worse, she could have said she liked elephants. That was funny, but nothing compared to the 'Negredo' rumours that came out of Goodison on Deadline Day. How is it even possible to fit the words 'Everton' 'Negredo' and '£20m asking price' in the same sentence without using other words such as 'can' 'only' 'meet' 'by' 'selling' 'Fellaini'. This is the kind of stunt the Blues always used to pull. Remember them 'trying to sign Shearer' by putting in a bid they could never have afforded when it was obvious he was moving to Newcastle? They bid €10.4m for Negredo apparently. Around half what Seville wanted for him. Still, 'at least they tried' eh? Their fans were all excited on twitter too, will they ever learn? Anyone can pull that kind of stunt. I could go into a Lexus dealership and offer them a grand for their top of the line model. They'll turn it down, but I'll be able to tell you all about how I nearly bought me a boss Lexus but they were just too stubborn and wouldn't lower their demands. Everton… *shakes head*. I was also intrigued by what Villa did. Wait, did I see intrigued? I obviously meant I was also 'pissing myself with laughter' by what Villa did. A team that's in freefall and has too many young, unproven players and a complete lack of leadership, attempts to rectify that problem by…. signing a 22 year old unknown from the French Second Division and a kid on loan from Spurs. Good job Villa. Villa and Everton faced off at Goodison two days later. There was some crazy stat about how when Everton have been at home for two consecutive league fixtures Moyes had never won both of them. Surely that would come to an end against Villa? Wrong! Benteke escaped Heitinga to put Villa in front. Poor defending, the Dutchman did his best Martin Skrtel impression and was completely ruined by Benteke all day. Even the Blues will have been calling him Sheitinga after this, which kind of ruins it for me. Benteke was unplayable again. Those comments from Brendan Rodgers about how he has 'disappeared' since he made mugs out of us obviously lit a fire under him and had the desired effect. How awesome is Brendan, his man-management skills are so good they even extend to players who are up against our rivals. What a guy. Anichebe muscled his way past Clark to draw Everton level, as the home fans (an extra 7,000 of them compared to midweek, I guess the tunnels were open again) chanted "Who the fucking hell are you" to Villa. Allow me to answer that one, they're a club who has more European Cups than you do, so get back in your boxes. Agbonlahor restored Villa's lead and then Benteke headed in his second to make it 3-1. Haha how shit do you have to be to find yourselves losing 3-1 at home to Vi.. oh hang on. Whereas we had rarely looked like being able to come back and Villa dealt comfortably with what little we threw at them, Everton had the option of simply sticking Fellaini in the box and alehousing the shit out of them. The big Belgian pulled one back and then it was an all out aerial assault, as cross after cross and set piece after set piece came into the Villa box until eventually they cracked and Fellaini headed in from a corner to ensure it ended honours even. Really frustrating that Villa couldn't hold on. I haven't been that disappointed since two weeks ago when I discovered that 'Hair legend Christiaan' is actually this absolute mess …. Hair legend?? He looks like Dog the Bounty Hunter without his steroids. The early game on Saturday saw QPR play out another goalless draw, this time against Norwich. They should have won but Taaraabt missed a pen. Cesar was in top form once again though, and Snodgrass will probably make it into my 'better than you think he is XI' at the end of the season. Aside from that, nothing to say, it was grim. Wigan played Saints at the DW Stadium, nothing new there you may think, but you'd be wrong. It was new, because this wasn't Rugby and the Saints were Southampton (clever eh?), and Southampton had never played Wigan before apparently. It was a decent game and Southampton probably should have won as they played well once again. Caldwell headed Wigan in front early on, but Lambert beat Al Habsy to a loose ball to equalise. I said a few weeks back that the Wigan keeper looks like David James' dad, and now he's started playing like it as he's been culpable for quite a few goals this season it seems. I say that, but David James' dad may actually be a boss goalie for all I know. Al Habsy had no chance with Southampton's second though, a close range finish from Schneiderlin after a good break by Rodriguez with just a few minutes left. That Schneiderlin is quite a good player, he's only young too. Not as young as Luke Shaw, their left back. We should buy him, he's ace. Wigan looked doomed, but to their credit they battled on and grabbed an equaliser when Maloney tapped it at the far post. Both teams are right in the thick of it, but on current form Southampton would appear to have a better chance of staying up. But then it's only February, Wigan don't get warmed up until April do they? Final one on this, who is this Espinoza fella for Wigan? Very impressive head of hair on him, he looked like a slim version of me out there. The game of the day was undoubtedly at St James' Park, where Newcastle's new look side came back to inflict another bad result on Rafa's Chelsea. Hilarious stuff again. Benitez left out Torres in favour of Ba, who was obviously booed by the Geordies. That was the least of his concerns though, as Colloccini's hoof to his face left him with a broken nose that eventually forced him to make way for Torres. Rafa wanted a penalty and a red card. It was unquestionably a penalty, even though Ba managed to get his header away and was kicked a split second later. We had one of those last year when a pen was given against Skrtel, I think it may have been against Wigan. A red card would have been harsh however, as it was clearly unintentional. Newcastle got away with it though and took full advantage when Gutierrez headed in to make it 1-0. Doesn't get many, but that didn't stop Maradona from saying he was the 'first name on his teamsheet' back when he was Argentina boss. He played him left back too. There's a lesson there, drugs are bad kids. Just say 'No'. Lampard's thunderbolt got Chelsea back into the game, once again making a mockery of them wanting rid of him. He put all of his considerable weight behind that one. Gotta love 'Fat Frank' jokes, there are fewer players in the country in better shape than him, but he'll always be known as 'Fat Frank'. It never gets old either. Mata then curled in a beauty to put them in front, Torres being credited with the assist for simply rolling the ball into Mata's path. He seems to have a load of assists this year, basically due to just giving the ball to Mata and letting him do his thing. Assists are just about the only thing he's got going for him these days, he's even been bombed from the Spain squad. He probably should have gotten the hint when they elected to come up with a new system that had no striker rather than select his washed up arse, but now they've left him no room for doubt. Newcastle are a much improved side with all their French re-enforcements though, and they came roaring back to win the game thanks to two goals from Sissoko. He was absolutely fantastic, he ran Chelsea ragged and looks to be as good as I've heard numerous people saying he is for a couple of years. So, just how the hell did he end up at Newcastle for the paltry sum of £1.8m? Us and Arsenal amongst others desperately need someone like him, and at that price it's a complete no brainer. Yet no-one other than Newcastle wanted him? Either he's got knees like Demba Ba, or he's got some serious skeletons in his closet. Unless it's just one of Willie McKay's specials of course. Whatever it is, it's fishier than a fish's wet bits as he looks a great player. Reading's revival continues at pace, Jimmy Kebe's double was enough to give them a 2-1 win over Sunderland. The Mackems' goal came from the penalty spot after the linesman flagged for a foul by Pogrebnyak. Terrible decision, but Lee Mason had to give it as the linesman was better placed than he was. Thankfully for Reading it didn't cost them, they're on a hell of a run of late. Arsenal edged out Stoke in a dull game at the Emirates. Podolski's deflected free-kick was enough to give Arsenal the points, although for a second it looked like it wouldn't stand as the linesman had inexplicably flagged for offside, even though the ball went in off a Stoke player and no Arsenal player interfered with it. The Arsenal players understandably surrounded the linesman to find out what the hell he was playing at, and the between ref and linesman they sorted it out and the goal rightly stood. Pulis went mad about it afterwards, accusing the Arsenal players of pressuring the officials into changing the decision. He's such a dickhead isn't he? Wenger just laughed it off, it really was that ridiculous. ""The disappointing thing for me was the number of Arsenal players that surrounded the linesman. I thought that was something you couldn't do. If he has given the right decision, he has given the right decision. You take it on the chin and get on with it." This is him taking it on the chin? He takes it on the chin about as well as Audley Harrison. "I haven't got a clue what offside is now. When the linesman gives it offside, the way that Arsenal players surround the linesman, and the referee then goes over. The referee has reacted after that." I'll help you out here Tony, THAT WASN'T OFFSIDE, YOU TIT. West Ham beat Swansea thanks to a great header by Big Andy. Made up for him, I'd still have him here if it were up to me. Yeah yeah yeah, I know he doesn't fit into the new style, I know he wouldn't play much and I know it's too much money to be paying someone to not play much. It's irrational, I'm fully aware of that, but what can I say, the heart wants what the heart wants, and I'm still an Andy Carroll fan. I think back to the Cup final, then his performance against Chelsea a few days later, his goal that beat the Blues at Wembley… I'd rather he was playing for us than someone else, but I know.. he's gone, get over it etc The Mancs won 1-0 at Fulham despite not playing well again. Like many before them, Fulham could and should have had something from the game. But like many before them, all they got for their troubles was some kudos in defeat. The floodlights went out at one point and the stadium went into complete darkness. "Wouldn't it be boss if the Undertaker's music suddenly chimed out and then the lights came on just as he was chokeslamming Ferguson into a coffin" I thought. Carlsberg don't do blackouts, but if they did….. Afterwards we had to endure Motson and Ferguson's flirting again. My skin is still crawling now, the most repulsive minute of TV I think I've ever seen. Finally onto Sunday, and Spurs had a narrow win over ten man West Brom. Popov was sent off for spitting at Kyle Walker. Cue mass hysteria amongst football pundits everywhere. Steve Clarke hammered him afterwards, fair play for that, but it always amuses me when you hear things like "Spitting is the worst thing a player can do to a fellow pro" and "I'd rather be punched in the face than spat at". Call me a shithouse, but I'd take a bit of greb to the face rather than a punch or headbutt all day long. As for being the worst thing you can do, no it's not. It's a horrible thing to do, but it's not going to break your legs like a two footed tackle or fracture a cheekbone like an elbow will. Deserved a red card and a suspension though, no question, and Clarke is right to be pissed off with him. Just spare me the hyperbole, it's a bit of spit, you wipe it off and it's gone. It doesn't knock out your teeth or leave you with a black eye. Once again it was left to Gareth to 'bail' Spurs out. See what I did there? Quite pleased with that one. They'd be nothing without him, they may as well go the whole hog now and change their name to Gareth Bale Hotspur and replace the cockerel in their logo with a chimpanzee. Dave Click here to view the article

Ten man Liverpool suffered a heartbreaking last gasp defeat to Manchester United in the u21 game at St Helens tonight. Stephen Sama's dismissal early in the second half put Alex Inglethorpe's side up against it, but they showed great character to hold out and looked to have done enough to secure a well earned point until United struck deep into stoppage time. The Reds had named a strong line up that included Shelvey, Sterling, Wisdom and Suso, but there were mixed fortunes for the first team foursome. One notable error aside, Wisdom played well, initially at right back and then at centre half after Sama's dismissal. Shelvey was the best outfield player on the park, he started in midfield, moved to right back for a spell and ended up excelling at left back. Suso and Sterling however both had evenings to forget, and did their chances of a first team recall no good whatsoever. United carried more of an attacking threat, generally because all of Liverpool's best performers were in defensive roles and the forwards didn't do much. Adam Morgan had a few chances but he failed to take any and he struggled to get into the game. The game got off to a flying start and both teams had good chances inside the opening ten minutes. United threatened first through triallist Jeffrey Shlupp, but he shot just wide when he should have done better. The Leicester striker then had an equally good chance that was well saved by the feet of Danny Ward. The Reds hit back as Shelvey's sweeping crossfield ball found Suso who's cross picked out Morgan in the centre, but the striker mistimed his attempted header and the ball went wide off his arm. Minutes later Suso did well to win a throw in, and with Wisdom charging down the wing Suso took a quick one to send him clear. His cross found it's way to Morgan, who steadied himself and then sent a shot crashing against the post. Probably should have hit it first time, although the element of risk would have been high. With 20 minutes gone there was a bad challenge on Sterling in midfield which the referee completely missed. Coady was quick to let the official know about it, administering a stern warning. He's good at that side of things is Coady, a proper old school captain. The ref was terrible all night it should be said. Buttner then needed treatment after a thunderous challenge by Shelvey. Hard but fair, but the kind of challenge he's gotten in trouble for. They're great when they come off though, like this one. Sterling then got in behind the United defence but his attempted cross didn't find Morgan. United immediately went up the other end and Schlupp found himself in on goal again. Once again Ward made a good stop to deny the powerful frontman. The Reds were struggling to get their passing game going but Shelvey certainly had his range and was pinging passes all over the shop. One great crossfield ball picked out Suso again, he cut inside but hit a very disappointing weak shot. Suso was repeatedly losing possession and got no change out of Buttner at all, he found it very hard going. Sama was harshly booked after a tussle with Schlupp, then Wisdom booked for virtually nothing. It was a horrendous first half from the referee. Inglethorpe shuffled his pack to try and get something going in attack, Morgan moved to the left wing and Sterling went to centre forward. It almost paid immediate dividends when Teixera's terrific pass sent Morgan away down the left. He tried to pick out Sterling but the angle just wasn't there and the keeper intercepted. Honours even at half time then, although United had certainly had the better opportunities and only the brilliance of Ward had kept them out. Three minutes after the break another brilliant ball from Shelvey sent Wisdom in down the right. He made a good attempt at picking out Morgan in the centre but it was well defended by United. Sama was then sent off for a reckless tackle in the middle of the park. His first yellow card had been somewhat harsh, but having been booked earlier he needs to not be diving in like this as he made it easy for the referee to send him off. Inglethorpe had options on the bench to change it, centre half Lloyd Jones would have been an obvious replacement but perhaps with an eye on Thursday's youth cup game the young Welshman was left on the bench and the coach opted to stick with the players already on the field. That meant Wisdom switched to the centre, with Shelvey dropping in at right back. Sterling was used as a lone frontman and Morgan and Suso dropped a little deeper. With a one man advantage United could smell blood now and pushed for a winner. Januzaj skipped past makeshift left back Roddan but was denied by Ward. Then Cole should have scored after Roddan got caught underneath a cross and the ball landed at the United man's feet. He shot wide with the goal at his mercy, but the Reds were under real pressure now. Inglethorpe responded by switching Roddan and Shelvey over, a move that certainly helped Roddan, whilst Shelvey was outstanding at left back. Teixera was then booked for a nothing foul, he had a little tug but the United player flung himself to the floor and the ref couldn't wait to get his card out again. Ward was called into action yet again after a terrible mistake by Wisdom allowed Schlupp another free run at goal. Andre had tried to bring the ball down on his chest but seemed to take his eye off it and Shlupp ran clear. His powerful shot was superbly saved by the Liverpool keeper, and from the resulting corner Shelvey cleared off the line. After that Liverpool got a foothold in the game again and were fairly comfortable. The lads even managed to threaten a few times at the other end. Shelvey sent a free-kick into the box, there was a nice take by Teixera, followed by a good turn and a decent shot that was saved by Amos. Then there was a great chance for Morgan when he was picked out by Teixera in the box. However, he refused to take it with his right foot and instead tried to get back onto his left and the chance was gone. A confident Morgan would have buried that, as well as the one in the first half. He seemed hesitant all night in front of goal. Shelvey then floated a ball to Suso to lay it off first time to Teixera. The Portguguese youngster gave it straight back to him and Suso was in the clear on the right side of the box. He resisted the temptation to cut back onto his left foot (which would have allowed the defender to get back at him) and took it early with his right foot. Predictably he couldn't keep it down. For all the decent openings the Reds had carved out, United keeper Ben Amos hadn't really had a save to make, but he was called into desperate action late on when Teixera's well struck shot from 30 yards deflected off Shelvey and seemed destined for the bottom corner until Amos intervened with a great save. An abysmal pass by Suso in the United half then put us on the back foot and it needed a great last ditch challenge from the excellent Coady to thwart United. As full time approached the United fans set off a flare and then threw it onto the pitch, the fucking mutants. Even in youth and reserve games their fans can't behave themselves, the only reserve games where there is ever any chanting is when we play United, and the chanting always comes from them and it's usually unpleasant. It's a fucking reserve game you sad, obsessed gobshites. Just when it looked like Inglethorpe's side had done enough to earn a creditable draw, deep, deep into stoppage time United won it. A high cross wasn't cleared and the ball fell to a United player near the penalty spot, his shot produced another brilliant save from Ward but unfortunately Fornasier's mis-hit follow up effort looped up over Shelvey to win it for United. Heartbreaking stuff, especially for Ward who's heroics eventually counted for nothing. The loss was just the second of the season for the Reds, but they are in the middle of a real injury crisis and the rest of the season could be a struggle. They have no left backs after season ending injuries to Brad Smith and Marc Pelosi, and Jack Robinson joining Wolves on loan. They have a centre back shortage too, which will be worsened now with Sama's suspension, and they're light up top with Samed Yesil also suffering a season ending injury and Michael Ngoo going to Hearts. Results may suffer between now and the end of the season but it shouldn't take away from what has been an excellent season for the u21s, who are next in action a week tonight when they travel to the South coast to face Southampton at St Mary's. Star man is Danny Ward, just ahead of the excellent Shelvey. Honourable mentions to Teixera and Coady too. Team: Ward; Wisdom, Sama, Coady, Roddan; Adorjan, Teixera, Shelvey; Suso, Morgan, Sterling (Dunn):

TLW editor Dave Usher joins 'Numbers' to discuss the Swansea and Zenit games as well as Martin Skrtel's future following his recent comments. Also up for discussion is the lessening impact made by the young players of late and whether loan moves are the way to bring out the best in them. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

It may seem churlish to open a tribute to Carra by appearing to damn him with faint praise, but he is only my second favourite Liverpool player of all time. However, when you consider that the number one position on that list belongs to Kenny Dalglish - genius player, creator of our greatest team and moral compass for the club in its darkest hour - then the regard in which I hold Jamie Carragher hopefully becomes apparent. If not, then simply consider the many truly great players who necessarily feature below him on that list. For me, Jamie Carragher is the living embodiment of The Liverpool Way: loyal, honest, intelligent, dedicated and, of course, talented. In a career spanning well over 700 games, the great moments are legion but - as with most Reds - I believe his defining performance came in Istanbul. It could well be argued that he had better games for Liverpool (although not many); but sometimes the significance of the occasion transcends such considerations to elevate one moment above all others and, in the European Cup Final of 2005, when Liverpool defeated the European footballing institution of AC Milan in the greatest football match of all time, Jamie Carragher defined his own legend. Bizarrely, there's a popular misconception about Carra that he's somehow not a technical player; that passing the ball is a little bit beyond him. Despite the fact that, in this, his last season for the club, he has adapted better than any other defender to Brendan Rodgers' instructions to play the ball out from the back, some people have remained blind to his obvious talent as a footballer for years. In my view, the roots of that ignorance stem from his career-defining performance in Istanbul. At its very best, sport has an emotional resonance with us because it tells stories of human endeavour in the most challenging of circumstances short of war. When watching Carra's body-on-the-line refusal to be defeated by Milan once again, his indefatigable spirit remains just as stirring for me as any Dalglish pass, Barnes dribble or Fowler touch of genius. In that match Carra repeatedly pushed his body beyond what it wanted to do, defying cramp as well as the best the Milan forwards could offer to tackle, block and intercept his way to glory. Furthermore, he constantly encouraged, cajoled and demanded more from those around him, either directly or indirectly lifting lesser characters like Vladimir Smicer and Djimi Traore to displays that offered more than the sum of those players' parts. And therein lie Carra's perceived limitations in the minds of some: his greatness that night was not born of technique, but character. However, it wasn't just for his leadership, defensive brilliance or refusal to be beaten physically that Carra shone in the European Cup Final. His quick-thinking exhortation to Jerzy Dudek to do a Brucie also revealed the wisdom of a footballing brain that has been immersed in Liverpool Football Club lore to such an extent that his previous allegiances have long since become an irrelevance. Furthermore, his positioning, timing, judgement and cool-headedness exemplified the fact that defending at its best is an art form as dazzling as any striker's finish and just as relevant in terms of winning matches, too. No, those who see Carra as limited in some way either don't understand defending or simply can't see beyond the bleedin' obvious. For me, Istanbul was Carra's perfect storm, when every ounce of wisdom, character and ability he possessed took him - and the club along with him - to Liverpool's greatest triumph. If ever a man has earned the right to leave Liverpool with his head held high, it's Jamie Carragher. In all his years at the club, he has never once given less than his very best and he will depart at the end of this season as a legend whose name will deservedly resonate alongside the greatest in the club's history. We will never see his like again, of that I'm certain. And so it seems entirely appropriate to assert that his greatest performance came in a match whose like we'll never see again either. Carragher and Istanbul: undoubtedly two names which will remain synonymous throughout Liverpool history. Paul Natton You could pick many moments throughout Carra’s great career on the field for your favourite moment. I’m going to go a little left field here and talk about something that happened off the field. In an interview with Sky’s Geoff Shreeves before the Champions League final in 2005, he was asked “You’re 27, in the prime of your career and you could possibly go to a bigger club where there’s a chance of winning more medals…” and that’s as far as he got because Carra immediately cut in with “Who’s bigger than Liverpool?”. Carra asked Shreeves for his definition of ‘bigger than Liverpool’ because the only thing he could see as bigger was a club that had more money in its bank account. Shreeves implied that Carra could win more medals at another club rather than at Liverpool, Carra’s response? “Nah, I’m not accepting that”. How could you not love that? As a fan is that not everything you would to hear from a player? Lots of players come out with false platitudes to curry favour with the fans but you never got that sense with Carragher. He has always been honest in his assessments of where the club is and where it needs to be. You don’t want to hear the usual vanilla responses from players, you want to hear them defend the cause passionately, defend the institution like you would if you were debating (alright, arguing) with fans of other teams. I hear that interview even now and it makes me smile, the sound of incredulousness in Carra’s voice as Shreeves asks the question; because to you and I Liverpool are the biggest team around. No one comes close to this club but you know for most players it’s different. How many times have we signed a player and the first thing they say is ‘this is a massive club’? Loads, but how many of them actually mean it and haven’t been told to say it by their agent or the club’s PR guy? How many times have we been linked to a player and fans have commented “he’s a boyhood Liverpool fan” like it matters? It doesn’t matter to most players because they’re professionals trying to make a living. But here’s the beauty of Jamie Carragher. He grew up a blue but that doesn’t matter because really, ultimately, it doesn’t matter about your boyhood team. What matters is how you carry yourself as a professional as an adult. Jamie Carragher is synonymous with Liverpool Football Club now, he’s regarded as a one of our greatest ever servants, that doesn’t happen by luck. That happens because of how you respect your team mates, the fans and the club you play for. That when you go out and play, the fans know that you’re doing everything you can to win for them. Every time Jamie Carragher has gone out there you’ve known that he’s giving it everything. Every league, cup or European game you’ve known it. That interview is my favourite Carra moment because no matter how bad times have got, no matter how good, the club always pushes on and strives to be better and in the end that’s what Carra said “I’m not accepting that”. We don’t and he never has. Who’s bigger than Liverpool? No one. Who’s given more for the cause than Carra? No one, and we all accept that. Julian Richards Looking back at such a momentous career of a true Liverpool legend, there are just so many wonderful memories to choose from. So my overriding favourite memory of Jamie Carragher is of a personal nature, as he showed that humbleness and down to earth attitude which he has shown throughout his whole career. It came when he was missing from the team with a broken leg back in 2003 and he took it upon himself to go on the coach with the fans on a freezing cold November away to Middlesbrough. It was a totally drab 0-0 draw in Houllier's last season in charge, but there was Carra sat in the away end with his mates. Absolutely brilliant and it sums the lad up. No airs or graces at all. The freezing cold day was warmed up considerably for me when Dave texted me saying Carra wanted some fanzines to take home on the coach and would I meet him outside after the game. Would I???? I waited outside after trying to sell a few in the typical Middlesbrough cold and sure enough he came over and introduced himself and asked what I thought of the match. Nervously, I tried to be as positive as I could and say it was a hard fought point!!! He took a few fanzines, maybe five or so and insisted I took the money for them despite Dave instructing me not to take it from him if he offered it. His mate who he was with tried to grab about ten more from me only for Jamie to say to him "come on don't take the piss lad". I was probably the only red who came home in a decent mood that afternoon after that experience. In the months afterwards as I used to sell the fanzine by the Shankly Gates, he would walk past me every so often as he recovered from his injury and he'd always say hello. Just as classy off the pitch as on it. I will never forget it even though he understandably probably has. Regarding on the pitch memories, there have been too many to mention, but I will go for a less obvious one; The penalty shoot out v Birmingham in 2001 at Cardiff. All the pressure was on us throughout the game. Six years without a trophy at that point and we were labouring against a Championship side in the final. I think I wasn't alone that day in fearing the worst as Carragher stepped up. The shoot out was really in the balance at that point and I really expected him to miss. Fear not though, under all the pressure Jamie took at least a 20 yard run up and side footed a beauty into the top corner and nonchalantly turned round without batting an eyelid. He took that penalty like a Jan Molby clone. I think my mood at the time was one of relief and wanting to burst into a fit of laughter at how easy he made it look. Nothing ever fazed him. He showed respect to opponents throughout his career and for a defender with his combative style, his disciplinary record was and is generally excellent. Honesty, integrity, talent, grit, determination. He has (I am not using the word ''had'' as it brings a lump to the throat thinking of everything in the past sense) them all in spades. The tributes to his career from people outside the Liverpool fraternity this week who've played directly against him speak even more volumes than people from inside the club who have been involved in his career at various stages. Nobody but nobody has a bad word to say about him. A great ambassador and the true soul of this club. John Gallagher I have had a personal affinity with Jamie Carragher all the way through his career. I was there on his Anfield debut against Aston Villa. I'll never forget him booting Andy Townsend in the air after 22 seconds of that match, and he scored with a header from a corner in front of the Kop in the second half. I've watched him as a central midfielder, a left back as we had that great season in 2001, a right back and finally, a centre half, where I have seen him put in so many awesome performances. Picking a favourite JC moment is tough, and it would be easy to pick Istanbul. But for me, his finest moment was the Chelsea semi final in the same year. I'll never forget walking into Anfield that night, it was electric. That only intensified after Luis Garcia's early goal. We had our lead, and something to cling onto for the rest of the game. Chelsea battered us, as you would expect them to as they were at the time a much better team than we were, and we had a lot of defending to do. And this is where Jamie Carragher comes into the fore. Defending deeply suited him perfectly I always thought, his anticipation and reading of the game was always excellent and he saved us on so many occasions in this game it was untrue. Every time a ball bounced loose, Carragher was there to avert the danger. Every time a half chance looked like it was going to fall to a Chelsea player, Carragher was there. Every time a last ditch header was nicked away from an onrushing Chelsea player, Carragher was there. Every time someone had a shot at goal, Carragher was there to make the block. It would have been typical of the way football kicks people in the balls for that last second Eidur Gudjohnsen miss to have fizzed in off his studs. It was about the only time in the whole game a Chelsea player had found themselves unmarked. I'd love to ask Carra about that - how did he miss it? Everything else had been magnetically attracted to him or big Sami all night. It was about five centimetres away from an own goal. Not only would it have dumped us out but it would have been a tragic end to the best individual display I have ever seen in a Liverpool shirt. I'll never forget coming in from this match and just catching the end of the highlights. Benitez' tongue was bleeding, presumably from screaming and shouting instructions. Jamie Carragher probably had blood dripping from his chest. The most committed, resolute and downright heroic individual display I have ever seen. Take a bow in May JC, because you deserve it. And thank you for everything, with hopefully a few more memories to come. Dan Thomas It almost goes without saying that Jamie Carragher's most iconic moment was his cramp ridden heroics in Istanbul, but seeing as how Paul has already written about that and that we'd all agreed we'd all do our own different moment, I've gone for his full debut against Aston Villa back in 1997. A lot of people wouldn't have even known who Jamie Carragher was prior to Roy Evans giving him a couple of substitute appearances for the first team in January 1997. Back then there was no official club website or TV channel to broadcast reserve and Academy games, there wasn't even an Academy actually come to think of it! Kids coming through the ranks back then were far more low profile than they are in the modern game, where even under 16 players have thousands of followers on twitter. I only knew about 'Carra' before he made the breakthrough because I went to most reserve games at Anfield and I'd also seen him in the Youth Cup when he was part of the team that won the trophy in 1996. Michael Owen was the undisputed star of that side, and the other player most talked about was probably Davie Thompson. Carragher wasn't as spectacular or eye catching as those two, but he was always highly rated within the club and he'd been involved with the various England sides since he was a kid, so it wasn't as though he just appeared from nowhere. He was generally seen as midfielder back then, he partnered Thompson in the middle of midfield in the early FA Youth Cup games, but a suspension to big Eddie Turkington meant he dropped into the back four for the latter rounds and he was outstanding in both positions. Weird how I can remember that entire youth team but I probably couldn't tell you who the first team played a fortnight ago. Must be an age thing. Anyway, Carragher saw himself as a midfielder in those days, I can even remember watching an interview with him where he said the number he'd like to wear for the first team was 8. It never worked out that way, he started as number 23 and he'll finish that way. The number has become synonymous with him, forget Michael Jordan, number 23 belongs to Carra. Jordan lost his 23 privileges by coming out of retirement and wearing the number 45, I don't see Jamie doing that somehow, although I live in hope. His full debut came at Anfield when Roy Evans started him in midfield against Villa. Within seconds he'd been booked for clattering Andy Townsend and most of the ground feared that this hot headed kid was going to get himself sent off for being too eager to impress. The booking settled him down however, and he went on to produce an accomplished performance capped by scoring a header at the Kop end in a 3-0 win. What I remember about that day is how excited he was as he celebrated wildly in front of the Kop, and how people thought we'd discovered this goalscoring midfielder! Not quite. It's amazing to think since that day he's played well over 700 games for the club and only found the net a further four times. He was a very capable holding midfielder who would become a dependable full back before establishing himself as a world class centre half and one of the finest ambassadors the club has ever seen. We will probably never see the like of Jamie Carragher again, he's a one off and there'll barely be a dry eye in the house for that last home game of the season against QPR. Legend is an overused word, but it also doesn't seem to do enough justice where Carra is concerned. Dave Usher

Former LFC striker Neil Mellor and long time TLW contributor Paul Natton join 'Numbers' to discuss a couple of encouraging away displays and a not so encouraging home performance. Also up for discussion is the decision by Jamie Carragher to hang up his boots at the end of this season. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

After storming to the title in 1969-70 as Liverpool’s great 60s side broke up there was a golden chance for the Blues to steal a march on the Reds as we went into the 1970s. But by the end of 1970-1 they had blown it in spectacular fashion and a young Liverpool team were Merseyside’s top dogs again. Everton’s defence of the title began very badly when they failed to win the first six games. But they had begun to pick up by the time the Anfield derby came around in November and they were clear favourites as many of Liverpool’s side were derby debutants. This showed and it wasn’t a surprise when Everton took a 2-0 lead early in the second half. However the Reds staged a storming fightback with Toshack and Heighway both scoring on their derby debuts before veteran Lawler hit a late winner. Liverpool went on to finish a respectable fifth in the league while Everton were well down the table in fourteenth. There was no consolation for Everton in the cups that season. In the European Cup they were knocked out in the quarter finals by Panathinaikos, getting their comeuppance for some atrocious behaviour in the second round against Borussia Monchengladbach. This had occurred when the German keeper removed some toilet paper from his area, but Howard Kendall showed a complete lack of sportsmanship to sneak in and score. A few days after going out to the Greeks there was a chance to salvage something in the FA Cup semi final against Liverpool. Everton were given a clear advantage when the Reds Fairs Cup tie in Munich was postponed and had to be replayed on the Thursday, less than 48 hours before the FA Cup game. But despite leading 1-0 at half time they capitulated in the second half when Liverpool threw everything at them to record a famous 2-1 win, with goalkeeper Andy Rankin gifting us a goal. Everton then had the indignity of having to play a third place play off the night before the final, after the FA had had come up with yet another hair brained scheme. The disappointments of 1970-1 continued into 1971-2 when Everton’s football reflected Harry Catterick’s non existent personality. They won just nine games all season and drew an amazing eighteen. They failed to find the net on nineteen occasions and finished the season with just 37 goals, a statistic that would have been far worse had it not been for an 8-0 win over Southampton. After Sandy Brown’s hilarious own goal in 1969-70 there was more to come when two players found their own net in the Anfield derby, which Liverpool won 4-0. The 'Undertaker like' Harry Catterick Things got worse in 1972-3 when Everton flirted with relegation till Easter. Despite having four years left on his contract, the board decided enough was enough and moved Catterick upstairs, with Billy Bingham taking over as team manager. Things weren’t helped for them by the fact Shankly had moulded another great side at Anfield that were crowned champions. Liverpool had taken a huge step towards the title at Goodison in March, when Emlyn Hughes scored twice to record a 2-0 win. As the Reds geared up for an assault on the European Cup in 1973-4, Everton competed in the Texaco Cup, where they lost 1-0 to Hearts. In 1974-5 the Blues put in an unexpected title challenge, taking advantage of Liverpool’s regrouping under new manager Bob Paisley. With five games remaining they were top of the league but fell at the final hurdle to finish fourth. Conference side Carlisle were relegated from the 1st division that year but still managed to beat the Blues twice, 3-0 at Brunton Park and 3-2 at Goodison (after trailing 2-0). In the FA Cup there was an embarrassing home 1-1 draw against non league Altrincham. Luckily for Everton the Northern Premier League outfit chose to switch the replay from their compact Moss Lane ground to Maine Road, where the Blues ran out 2-0 winners. The next season Everton fell back into their usual mid table position as Liverpool completed a league and UEFA Cup double. In 1976-7 they pushed the panic button as the Reds marched towards another league title as well as the FA and European Cup finals. Everton sacked Bingham and replaced him with Gordon Lee, who led them to a first ever League Cup final appearance. In their match programme for the derby, one fan ridiculously said they were setting a precedent, becoming the first Merseyside team to reach the final of this competition. The final against Aston Villa ended in a 0-0 draw and in the replay Roger Kenyon scored an own goal, becoming the first player to do so in a League Cup final. This ended in a draw too and they eventually lost 3-2 at Old Trafford at the third time of asking. In the FA Cup they reached the semi final where they lost 3-0 in a replay to Liverpool, but Blues continue to protest that Clive Thomas disallowed a goal in the first game and that everything that has gone wrong since is because of that. Lee restored some respectability to Everton’s league form as they finished third in 1977-78 and fourth in 1978-79. But there was still no upstaging Liverpool, who were European champions in 1978 and league champions in 1979 with a record points haul. Then things went pear shaped in 1979-80 when Everton finished nineteenth, just a place above relegation. A slight improvement in 1980-81 saw them finish fifteenth before Lee was finally sacked and Howard Kendall appointed as player manager. Without doing anything spectacular Kendall took Everton to eighth in 1981-82 and seventh in 1982-3. But Liverpool kept on winning the league and the Blues couldn’t even take comfort from the derby games. The Reds won both encounters in 1981-2 and in November 1982 thrashed Everton 5-0 at Goodison, Ian Rush scoring four. In 1983-4 Everton sank back into the lower half of the table and there were calls for Kendall’s head as crowds sunk to 13,000. On 18th January they were trailing 1-0 to Oxford in a League Cup fifth round tie and defeat would almost certainly mean the end for Kendall. Then an underhit back pass was intercepted by Adrian Heath and a humiliating defeat was avoided. They won the replay 4-1 and made it to the final, where they faced Liverpool. They lost in a replay but tried to claim the moral high ground as they felt they should have been awarded a penalty due to an Alan Hansen handball. Buoyed by the League Cup run, Everton took advantage of some extremely fortunate draws to reach the FA Cup final, although they still needed three attempts to get past Gillingham in the fourth round. Further wins over Shrewsbury, Notts County and Southampton set up a clash with Watford at Wembley. Elton John’s team were there for the day out and nothing else and Everton comfortably won 2-0, the second goal coming when Andy Gray headed the ball out of the keeper’s hands. 1984-85 was Everton’s most successful season ever when they won the league and European Cup Winners Cup, but they were still aided by circumstances. Liverpool were reeling by the departure of Souness and a serious injury to Rush early on in the season, meaning they won the title with no real competition. In the Cup Winners Cup they faced a team of Irish students, an unknown Slovakian side as well as a Dutch side who had only qualified due to Feyenoord doing the Double. Bayern Munich provided the only real opposition before Rapid Vienna rolled over for them in the final. A treble was on the cards that season too as they made it to the FA Cup final, but despite the first cup final sending off, they still couldn’t overcome Man United’s 10 men. The League Cup posed problems too. After knocking Man United out at Old Trafford, they faced the relatively simple task of beating Grimsby. But they couldn’t even manage this as they lost 1-0 at Goodison. The Heysel Disaster denied Everton the chance to have a crack at the European Cup and Blues will tell you that this is even more responsible than Clive Thomas for everything that has happened since. However in 1985-86 they led Liverpool by eight points at the top of the league in February, when they won 2-0 at Anfield. But they still couldn’t hold on and a late surge by the Reds meant Everton had to settle for second place. There was still a chance to salvage some pride in the FA Cup and in an all Merseyside final Lineker gave them a 1-0 half time lead. The Reds were in total disarray, with Grobbelaar and Beglin coming close to blows at one point. Then two goals from Rush and one from Johnston gave Liverpool the Double. Despite Heysel supposedly condemning Everton to eternal shiteness they still won the league two years after it happened. Liverpool were comfortably placed in March then lost four on the bounce, allowing Everton to pinch the title. They still complained though that the trophy on offer from the sponsors Today Newspaper wasn’t big enough.

After a very disappointing 1950s Everton were fortunate to attract the interest of the Moores family around the turn of the decade. Manager Johnny Carey was given as much cash as he needed and guided them to 5th in 1960-61. Yet John Moores was not satisfied with this progress and famously sacked Carey in the back of a London taxi on the way back from a meeting at the FA. He was replaced by Harry Catterick, a dour man who looked more like an undertaker than a football manager and made his players clock in at Bellefield every morning. Catterick took Everton to 4th in 1961-2 and 1st in 1962-3. But they were one of the most unpopular title winning sides ever. Dubbed the ‘cheque book champions’, they effectively bought who they wanted, a bit like Chelsea today. A massive £175,000 was spent in 1961-62 alone, more than double what Bill Shankly had spent in two and a half seasons getting Liverpool out of the second division. That season they made their European bow but didn’t even make it across the English Channel, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Dunfermline in the Fairs Cup. This remains the only occasion when a Scottish side has overturned a first leg deficit to beat an English side. Everton’s lack of popularity wasn’t helped by the behaviour of their fans, who were developing a reputation for hooliganism a decade before it became a widespread problem. In 1961-2 there were several incidents when the Blues travelled to Burnley. Clarets keeper Adam Blacklaw was hit by a bottle and sixteen away fans were ejected from the ground, with many people in the town before the game said to be in terror. This left such a scar that when Everton were drawn to play Burnley or Orient in the FA Cup, a local councillor called Cassidy said Burnley folk would rather they lose their replay than face the consequences of another Everton visit. Back on the pitch, in 1963-4 the Mersey pendulum swung as Liverpool romped to the title in only their second season after promotion, leading to an unprecedented bout of blue bitterness. The Reds secured the championship with four games remaining by beating Arsenal 5-0 in their final home game. But there was to be no parading of the championship trophy at Anfield as Everton refused to hand it over to the Football League because the season’s fixtures hadn’t been completed. Everton’s petulant behaviour probably began a week earlier when it was revealed that their star player Tony Kay was party to a betting scam whilst at Sheffield Wednesday. This led to him being suspended from football immediately and he later received a prison sentence and a life ban. Everton spent the next five years in Liverpool’s shadow. They were never out of the top four in the league but the Reds would always upstage them. In 1964-5 they finished fourth, only for Liverpool to win the FA Cup. They did beat Liverpool 4-0 at Anfield that season, only for the Reds to win the fixture 5-0 in 1965-6. The FA Cup remained on Merseyside as Everton won it in 1966, but Liverpool still held the upper hand by winning the league. Both sides were in Europe frequently, but whereas Liverpool reached the semi finals of the European Cup in 1965 and final of the Cup Winners Cup in 1966, Everton never made it past the third round. Then as Shankly’s team began to age Everton won the title in 1969-70. They achieved 66 points, just one short of Leeds record that was set a year earlier. The destination of the championship trophy was never in doubt after they won fifteen out of their first eighteen games, but the Goodison derby still brought about embarrassment. Shankly’s team, which would be broken up less than three months later, beat Everton 3-0 in a game that will forever be remembered for Sandy Brown’s classic own goal. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Sandy Brown! They also failed to get the hang of competing in two competitions at the same time, as second division Sheffield United knocked them out of the FA Cup in the third round. They may have finished the decade as top dogs, but their stay at the top would be short lived.

Everton won the last league championship before World War 2, but had a turbulent time when peace resumed as the title winning side broke up. Star man Tommy Lawton moved to Chelsea and the influential Joe Mercer went to Arsenal. Liverpool won the title in 1946-7 and to rub salt in the wounds, Everton were playing a game at Anfield when we were confirmed as champions. While the Liverpool Senior Cup final was being played, it was announced that Stoke had lost to Sheffield United meaning that Liverpool couldn’t be overhauled at the top of the table. As the home fans celebrated Evertonians didn’t even have the local cup as consolation, as Liverpool won the final 2-1. After propping up the table for the opening months of 1948-9 Everton sacked manager Theo Kelly. He had never been liked by the players who were rarely happy with his contract offers. On one occasion he was punched to the ground by an enraged Dixie Dean after the great goalscorer was offered derisory terms. The arrival of Cliff Britton led to a slight improvement in fortunes and they eventually finished 18th. The next season they finished 18th again, a 3-1 victory over Man City on the last day ensuring they stayed up. They had hovered around the relegation zone all season, the low point being a 7-0 defeat at Portsmouth. Relegation to the second division finally came around in 1950-1. After being bottom in December, they rallied with 4 wins from 5 games over Christmas and at the end of February were comfortably placed in 15th. Then 9 games without a win took them right into the mire again but Everton’s fate was still in their own hands on the last day of the season. All they needed to do was draw at already relegated Sheffield Wednesday, but a 6-0 defeat condemned them to the drop. There was to be no quick return to the top flight and a fall into the third division looked on the cards at one point in 1951-2 as they struggled to adapt to the new surroundings. A 5-1 home defeat to Notts County was a particular nadir but they rallied to finish 7th. The FA Cup brought about embarrassment again when Leyton Orient of the fourth division knocked them out at Goodison. 1952-3 brought about Everton’s lowest league placing ever when they finished 16th in the second division, a position Liverpool have never sunk to. The most embarrassing moment was an 8-2 defeat at Huddersfield, when one of the Terriers players scored 4 headed goals, one of only a handful of occasions where this has ever happened. They made up for their worst ever league season by reaching the semi finals of the FA Cup where they faced Bolton at Maine Road. Everton staged a remarkable comeback, pegging the score back to 4-3 after being 4-0 down, only for Tommy Clinton to miss a penalty that would have brought the scores level. The following year Everton came up as Liverpool went down to the second division and there was a great opportunity to rub the Reds noses in it when the two sides were paired together in the 4th round of the FA Cup in 1954-5. But the Reds, who hadn’t won an away game all season, went to Goodison and triumphed 4-0. This remains Everton’s biggest post war cup defeat in any of the knockout competitions. The 50s were a bad time for Merseyside football. Liverpool languished in the second division while Everton remained in the lower half of the first. They got off to a woeful start in 1958-9 when they lost their first 6 games, including a 6-1 home defeat to Arsenal. They won 4 out of their next 5 then were brought crashing back to earth with a 10-4 hammering at Spurs, the only time a Merseyside team has ever conceded double figures. Eventually they finished 16th. Selling Dave Hickson to the reds wasn't the greatest piece of business ever conducted by the blues, but they would gain their revenge years later with (Un)Abel Xavier 1959-60 brought about a big transfer own goal when Dave Hickson was sold to Liverpool. Despite being surplus to requirements and having been a great Goodison servant, they still demanded £15,000 for him, twice what they had paid for him just over two years earlier. A compromise was agreed and he made an immediate impact at Anfield with 2 goals on his debut but on the same day Everton lost 8-2 at Newcastle. The decade then came to a close with another embarrassing FA Cup defeat, 3-0 at third division Bradford while across the park, a new manager arrived who would change the balance of power on Merseyside forever.

Olympique Newcastle kicked off a full round of midweek games last Tuesday with a hard fought win at Villa Park. New boy Moussa Sissoko created the opener for Papis Cisse before a Cabaye special made it 2-0. Villa's fans booed the team off at half time but they came out after the break with a renewed purpose. Lambert hooked Bent and N'Zogbia and sent on Weimann and Agbonlahor and they were transformed. It didn't take long for Agbonlahor to win them a soft penalty that Benteke converted, and after that Villa laid siege to the Newcastle goal but try as they might, couldn't find an equaliser and Pardew's men held on for a much needed trois points. Villa's fans then gave their team a standing ovation at full time in appreciation of a fine second half effort that just fell short. Also on Tuesday, Man City fell further behind United after failing to beat bottom club QPR. It finished 0-0 and it was a game of few chances. Both keepers made a couple of outstanding saves, and Julio Cesar has been in great form recently. How has he ended up at QPR? They must be paying him a King's ransom as he's far too good to be wasting his time down the bottom of the table. Bizarrely, Redknapp also had two keepers on the bench. What does that say to the u21 and Academy players at the club? Massive slap in the face that, I don't get why a manager would ever do something like that. Stoke took on Wigan at the Britannia and went in front from…… yep, a set piece, Shawcross turning the ball in after Wigan had failed to clear Adam's dead ball. Crouch added a second when Al Habsy could only parry Adam's shot straight to the big fella who had an easy finish. It looked like being another bad result for struggling Wigan but they hit back quickly through a fine strike by McArthur, and then Di Santo equalised to give them what could turn out to be a vital point. For some reason Sky elected to televise Swansea's trip to Sunderland. I didn't watch it I'm happy to report. It finished 0-0 and it was a right old turd sandwich I'm told. Sunderland fans booed Danny Graham for being a Geordie. The next day they signed him. So many questions. Why did Swansea let him go? Why did he leave Swansea when he's got a cup final to look forward to? Why did Sunderland fans boo him when everyone knew that deal was likely to go through before the window shut? Money talks answers the first two questions, and football fans are fickle would best cover the third one. I include myself in that, I've slaughtered players in the past and then suddenly we'd sign them and I'd have to do a complete about face. Nick Barmby was a classic, I ripped into him in the fanzine for years, I lost track of the amount of Jimmy Crankie gags and captions I'd used to take the piss out of him. Then suddenly Houllier goes and buys him. Nightmare. There's other examples too, most of which I've conveniently wiped from memory. I recently found this I wrote a couple of years ago about Sturridge though: "And congratulations to Daniel Sturridge for the shittest goal celebration of the season. Seriously lad, what the fuck was that? No wonder you hardly ever get to play, you’d be an embarrassment to your club if you played for anyone else but Chelsea" Now how was I supposed to know when I wrote that, that two years later he'd be doing that kind of celebration*in a red shirt and I wouldn't say a word? As I say, footy fans are fickle, we have to be as you you never know what's round the corner. I can't wait til we sign that diving Welsh chimp Bale, although knowing my luck we'll buy Jon fucking Walters. Anyway, hopefully Danny Graham proves to be more popular than the last Geordie at Sunderland, poor old fat head Steve Bruce who was subjected to chants about being a fat Geordie bastard (are they any other kind?). Onto Wednesday, and Southampton went to Old Trafford looking to extend their six match unbeaten run. They failed, despite taking an early lead when Rodriguez capitalised on a bad back pass by Carrick and some shithousery by De Gea. United's scouse talisman came to their rescue again with two goals to give them the lead going into the break. I don't who's worse, those fans and their hypocrisy, constantly chanting about hating scousers whilst a lad from Crocky has been carrying them for years, or Rooney himself for selling out and playing for that club and those fans all these years. Rooney is probably worse, but it's a close run thing. Pochettino made a bold move at the break, taking off my boy Jason Puncheon as well as record signing Gaston Ramirez. That looked like an exercise in damage limitation, but they went out and bossed the second half and probably should have gotten something from the game. All they got were some patronising words from Ferguson about being the 'best side to come here this season'. Shove it up your hoop Taggart, you condescending twat. Chelsea were cruising to three points at Reading until hilariously bottling it late on and getting pegged back to 2-2. Rafa must be sick of the sight of Brian McDermott. Remember when he brought Reading to Anfield for an FA Cup replay and knocked us out? He's got the Indian sign over Benitez it seems, maybe if he gets another result against him he'll get to keep him? Chelsea fans certainly wouldn't object, anything to get rid of him. They absolutely despise Rafa, I don't think people actually realise the extent of it. Their forums are a sight to behold at the moment, I've never seen anything like it. They hate him more than I hate Jon Walters and nicknames on shirts. Chelsea completely threw this one away, it was inexcusable. They were so much on top that Reading didn't have any kind of goal attempt until late in the second half and failed to even win a single corner all game. Mata put Chelsea ahead from a Torres pass, and then Lampard headed in a second. Chelsea have made some crazy, fucked up decisions in recent years, but not giving Lampard a new contract may be the worst yet. He's comfortably one of their three best players even now, he looks no different now than he did five years ago. I reckon they'll eventually cave in and offer him a deal, as no-one can be that stupid that they'd let a club legend who's still getting it done walk away on a free, surely? If they do, top teams will be lining up to take him. Reading were dead and buried, but with three minutes left LeFondre's smart finish gave them some hope, and hilariously he then equalised deep into stoppage time with another cracking finish. He's found the net ten times in 13 games, which is a hell of a record as most have come from the bench. Still, had to laugh at some pundits calling for him to be called up by England. He can't even get in Reading's starting line up for Christ's sake. He's a nice story and all, but let's not get silly. Probably the same people that were pushing for Grant Holt to go to the Euro's last year. Chelsea's neighbours fared much better as they saw off West Ham at Craven Cottage. A clearly offside Berbatov headed them into an early lead and then went close to adding a brilliant second after a long surging run. Yes, I did just use the words 'Berbatov' 'surging' and 'long run' in the same sentence. That may be the one and only time that's been done by anyone. Nolan made it 1-1 with a good finish after slipping away from Berbatov to get on the end of a quick free kick. The Bulgarian was probably still catching his breath from the 'surging run' twenty minutes before. Really don't like that chicken dance Nolan does when he scores, it's shit. Not as bad as Gareth Bale's 'heart' celebration, but still pretty crap. What is it with celebrations these days, they're just generally poor. They could learn a thing or two from our boy Sturridge and his suave dancing skillz. What? Hey, he can come out wearing a shirt with 'Danny' on the back next week and I won't give a shit as long he keeps playing like he has been. Rodallega bundled in a header after terrible defending by three West Ham players who all failed to make any kind of challenge for the ball, and Fat Sam sent on fit again Andy Carroll to try and rescue something. The big fella has chopped off the pony tail and was rocking an alice band instead. Picked the worst game to show it off though, with Bryan Ruiz on the field everyone else's hair is going to pale into insignificance. Top marks to Andy though, in terms of player hairstyles he's easily in the Champions League places now. With the Hammers pressing forward looking for an equaliser, Petric hit them on the break right at the death to give Fulham a much needed 3-1 win. They've been struggling a lot recently and have some tough fixtures on the horizon, so they needed the three points here desperately. A little over 31,000 fans showed up at the Pit to see the Blues go within a point of 4th placed Spurs after an edgy 2-1 win over West Brom. The best Everton side in many a year, and they're getting just over 30k for a home game? Were the Mersey Tunnels closed or something? I know it was midweek, but how long does it to take to get to Goodison from County Road? Evertonians are born, not manufactured though y'know. Jelavic was dropped in favour of Anichebe which would have caused a riot not so long ago. The Croatian is in a rut though and they seem to look better whenever Alehouse Vic plays. He's a handful, and no doubt he'll be sharpening his elbows ahead of the derby in a few weeks. I'd rather face Jelavic as we always struggle against big donkeys. Bilbo Baines gave them the lead with a terrific strike and then added a second from the penalty spot following a foul on Anichebe. West Brom pulled one back when Heitinga's woeful touch allowed Long to nip in and score. Heitinga? More like Sheitinga hahaha. Nothing like a bit of playground humour is there. If only he'd been around back in the 80's when I was actually in school, I'd have proper dined out on that gag. Those were the days, ripping into my blue mates about Andy Gray and his 'Tefal head', or Peter Reid being in the PG Tips ads. Good times. Anyway, Dorrans hit the bar with a free-kick but Everton held on for the win to keep their top four hopes alive. Their form has definitely tailed off a bit lately though, and let's hope that continues. Wes Hoolahan gave Norwich the lead against Spurs and it looked like they would hold onto it too until Bale produced a wonder goal to equalise late on. Without him they'd do well to stay in the top half, he's an incredible player. That was it for the midweek fixtures, and all eyes turned to the transfer window. It was actually shaping up to be the least eventful Deadline Day in years, but then Peter Odemwingie rocked up at Loftus Road in his 4x4 and single handedly saved the day. What a fucking moron that lad is. Balotelli behaviour that is. Firstly, driving to QPR when West Brom had refused him permission to speak to them was dumb, but somewhat understandable as if things changed at least he'd be on the spot to complete the deal before the 11pm deadline. So I can forgive him that. Doing an interview with Sky and talking about how 'we' have enough to stay up when he's not even close to becoming a QPR player was stupid beyond belief though, there's just no excuse for being that dopey. He's had a complete Jonathon Walters there. It's pretty obvious that QPR and his agent had strung him along and led him to believe it would all go ahead, but they hadn't accounted for the resolve of West Brom being so strong. Credit to the Baggies for not being pushed around, I actually think it's great how they handled this fiasco, but unfortunately they're now left with a player who's attitude may not be what it needs to be. I say 'may not' because it's also possible he'll go out with a massive point to prove after being ridiculed by an entire nation, but he may not even get that chance as he's persona non grata at the moment. How are the Baggies' fans going to react to him if he does play? They can't be happy about it, he acted in a totally unprofessional manner simply in the pursuit of pound signs. He must have felt a right dickhead having to turn up for training the next day as footballers are brutal when it comes to ripping the piss out of team-mates and the West Brom lads will surely have torn him apart. Still, it's a bit galling listening to Albion fans on the radio slating him and pointing out how they 'rescued him from being racially abused in Russia' and how he should be more grateful. Would they have 'rescued him' if he was shite? No, they signed him because he could help their team, which he has done as he's been a very good player for them until now. The fact he was being racially abused only factored into it in the sense he was desperate to get away and it helped them get him. They didn't 'rescue' shit. Odemwingie doesn't owe West Brom anything, but he does have a duty to act like a professional and he didn't do that, especially with those comments he made. He must be cringing every time he thinks about that interview. I'm trying to remember if I've ever done anything that embarrassing, and the only thing that springs to mind is being sat at the traffic lights a few months ago, enthusiastically singing along with 'Call Me Maybe' on the car radio, only to discover a van full of workies had pulled up next to me and they were ripping me to shreds. I was mortified, but in my defence; 1) I have a six year old who insists on her CD being played when she's in the car, and 2) it's catchy as fuck. Still, at least it was just three workies in a white van who saw me embarrass myself, poor Odemwingie had an entire nation watching his particular car crash unfold live on TV, as QPR washed their hands of him and left him sat in the car park, like some sad, desperate loser. Within minutes twitter was awash with Odemwingie jokes, my favourite being 'Knock knock. Who's there? Peter Odemwingie" Simple but effective. A bit like the lad himself. As for QPR, they couldn't do anything else really. Having tapped him up and then failed to agree a fee, they could hardly invite him for tea and biscuits or they'd be looking at a certain points deduction. So they locked him out, pretended they had no idea what was going on and left the daft sod sat in the car park with just the Sky cameras for company.QPR may not have landed Odemwingie, but they did get Chris Samba. I like him, he's a proper old school centre half and I'd have had him here in a heartbeat, he's just what we need in my opinion. A big nasty, physical bastard who'll win everything in the air and make sure forwards know they've been in a game. That Oldham grock wouldn't have had a sniff if Samba had been marking him. Arsenal could really use someone like him too, so it's a bit of a waste that he's signed for the team at the bottom of the league as he's clearly way better than that. A whopping £100k a week he's meant to be getting, which is insane, especially when added to the £12.5m transfer fee. The fee is probably fair, the wages are a joke though. As I say, I'd have had him here, but at half that salary. QPR are mental. Their other big money signing, Loic Remy, injured himself in training and is set for two months out apparently. Ouch. More money down the drain. Other things that grabbed my attention in the last day or two of the window. Leroy Fer failed the (in)famous Everton medical. Bit gutted about that, I'd already lined up a clever nickname for him. 'Ifithadnabin' Fer, which has become an Evertonian catchphrase over recent years. He sounded like a bit of a div too, he was in the papers in Holland recently because he bought his girlfriend a horse. A nice romantic gesture, but it didn't go down particularly well as her response was along the lines of "What the fuck are you doing buying me a horse, I live in a block of flats you moron. Take it back where you got it from." Could have been worse, she could have said she liked elephants. That was funny, but nothing compared to the 'Negredo' rumours that came out of Goodison on Deadline Day. How is it even possible to fit the words 'Everton' 'Negredo' and '£20m asking price' in the same sentence without using other words such as 'can' 'only' 'meet' 'by' 'selling' 'Fellaini'. This is the kind of stunt the Blues always used to pull. Remember them 'trying to sign Shearer' by putting in a bid they could never have afforded when it was obvious he was moving to Newcastle? They bid €10.4m for Negredo apparently. Around half what Seville wanted for him. Still, 'at least they tried' eh? Their fans were all excited on twitter too, will they ever learn? Anyone can pull that kind of stunt. I could go into a Lexus dealership and offer them a grand for their top of the line model. They'll turn it down, but I'll be able to tell you all about how I nearly bought me a boss Lexus but they were just too stubborn and wouldn't lower their demands. Everton… *shakes head*. I was also intrigued by what Villa did. Wait, did I see intrigued? I obviously meant I was also 'pissing myself with laughter' by what Villa did. A team that's in freefall and has too many young, unproven players and a complete lack of leadership, attempts to rectify that problem by…. signing a 22 year old unknown from the French Second Division and a kid on loan from Spurs. Good job Villa. Villa and Everton faced off at Goodison two days later. There was some crazy stat about how when Everton have been at home for two consecutive league fixtures Moyes had never won both of them. Surely that would come to an end against Villa? Wrong! Benteke escaped Heitinga to put Villa in front. Poor defending, the Dutchman did his best Martin Skrtel impression and was completely ruined by Benteke all day. Even the Blues will have been calling him Sheitinga after this, which kind of ruins it for me. Benteke was unplayable again. Those comments from Brendan Rodgers about how he has 'disappeared' since he made mugs out of us obviously lit a fire under him and had the desired effect. How awesome is Brendan, his man-management skills are so good they even extend to players who are up against our rivals. What a guy. Anichebe muscled his way past Clark to draw Everton level, as the home fans (an extra 7,000 of them compared to midweek, I guess the tunnels were open again) chanted "Who the fucking hell are you" to Villa. Allow me to answer that one, they're a club who has more European Cups than you do, so get back in your boxes. Agbonlahor restored Villa's lead and then Benteke headed in his second to make it 3-1. Haha how shit do you have to be to find yourselves losing 3-1 at home to Vi.. oh hang on. Whereas we had rarely looked like being able to come back and Villa dealt comfortably with what little we threw at them, Everton had the option of simply sticking Fellaini in the box and alehousing the shit out of them. The big Belgian pulled one back and then it was an all out aerial assault, as cross after cross and set piece after set piece came into the Villa box until eventually they cracked and Fellaini headed in from a corner to ensure it ended honours even. Really frustrating that Villa couldn't hold on. I haven't been that disappointed since two weeks ago when I discovered that 'Hair legend Christiaan' is actually this absolute mess …. Hair legend?? He looks like Dog the Bounty Hunter without his steroids. The early game on Saturday saw QPR play out another goalless draw, this time against Norwich. They should have won but Taaraabt missed a pen. Cesar was in top form once again though, and Snodgrass will probably make it into my 'better than you think he is XI' at the end of the season. Aside from that, nothing to say, it was grim. Wigan played Saints at the DW Stadium, nothing new there you may think, but you'd be wrong. It was new, because this wasn't Rugby and the Saints were Southampton (clever eh?), and Southampton had never played Wigan before apparently. It was a decent game and Southampton probably should have won as they played well once again. Caldwell headed Wigan in front early on, but Lambert beat Al Habsy to a loose ball to equalise. I said a few weeks back that the Wigan keeper looks like David James' dad, and now he's started playing like it as he's been culpable for quite a few goals this season it seems. I say that, but David James' dad may actually be a boss goalie for all I know. Al Habsy had no chance with Southampton's second though, a close range finish from Schneiderlin after a good break by Rodriguez with just a few minutes left. That Schneiderlin is quite a good player, he's only young too. Not as young as Luke Shaw, their left back. We should buy him, he's ace. Wigan looked doomed, but to their credit they battled on and grabbed an equaliser when Maloney tapped it at the far post. Both teams are right in the thick of it, but on current form Southampton would appear to have a better chance of staying up. But then it's only February, Wigan don't get warmed up until April do they? Final one on this, who is this Espinoza fella for Wigan? Very impressive head of hair on him, he looked like a slim version of me out there. The game of the day was undoubtedly at St James' Park, where Newcastle's new look side came back to inflict another bad result on Rafa's Chelsea. Hilarious stuff again. Benitez left out Torres in favour of Ba, who was obviously booed by the Geordies. That was the least of his concerns though, as Colloccini's hoof to his face left him with a broken nose that eventually forced him to make way for Torres. Rafa wanted a penalty and a red card. It was unquestionably a penalty, even though Ba managed to get his header away and was kicked a split second later. We had one of those last year when a pen was given against Skrtel, I think it may have been against Wigan. A red card would have been harsh however, as it was clearly unintentional. Newcastle got away with it though and took full advantage when Gutierrez headed in to make it 1-0. Doesn't get many, but that didn't stop Maradona from saying he was the 'first name on his teamsheet' back when he was Argentina boss. He played him left back too. There's a lesson there, drugs are bad kids. Just say 'No'. Lampard's thunderbolt got Chelsea back into the game, once again making a mockery of them wanting rid of him. He put all of his considerable weight behind that one. Gotta love 'Fat Frank' jokes, there are fewer players in the country in better shape than him but he'll always be known as 'Fat Frank'. It never gets old either. Mata then curled in a beauty to put them in front, Torres being credited with the assist for simply rolling the ball into Mata's path. He seems to have a load of assists this year, basically due to just giving the ball to Mata and letting him do his thing. Assists are just about the only thing he's got going for him these days, he's even been bombed from the Spain squad. He probably should have gotten the hint when they elected to come up with a new system that had no striker rather than select his washed up arse, but now they've left him no room for doubt. Newcastle are a much improved side with all their French re-enforcements though, and they came roaring back to win the game thanks to two goals from Sissoko. He was absolutely fantastic, he ran Chelsea ragged and looks to be as good as I've heard numerous people saying he is for a couple of years. So, just how the hell did he end up at Newcastle for the paltry sum of £1.8m? Us and Arsenal amongst others desperately need someone like him, and at that price it's a complete no brainer. Yet no-one other than Newcastle wanted him? Either he's got knees like Demba Ba, or he's got some serious skeletons in his closet. Unless it's just one of Willie McKay's specials of course. Whatever it is, it's fishier than a fish's wet bits as he looks a great player. Reading's revival continues at pace, Jimmy Kebe's double was enough to give them a 2-1 win over Sunderland. The Mackems' goal came from the penalty spot after the linesman flagged for a foul by Pogrebnyak. Terrible decision, but Lee Mason had to give it as the linesman was better placed than he was. Thankfully for Reading it didn't cost them, they're on a hell of a run of late. Arsenal edged out Stoke in a dull game at the Emirates. Podolski's deflected free-kick was enough to give Arsenal the points, although for a second it looked like it wouldn't stand as the linesman had inexplicably flagged for offside, even though the ball went in off a Stoke player and no Arsenal player interfered with it. The Arsenal players understandably surrounded the linesman to find out what the hell he was playing at, and the between ref and linesman they sorted it out and the goal rightly stood. Pulis went mad about it afterwards, accusing the Arsenal players of pressuring the officials into changing the decision. He's such a dickhead isn't he? Wenger just laughed it off, it really was that ridiculous. "The disappointing thing for me was the number of Arsenal players that surrounded the linesman. I thought that was something you couldn't do. If he has given the right decision, he has given the right decision. You take it on the chin and get on with it." This is him taking it on the chin? He takes it on the chin about as well as Audley Harrison. "I haven't got a clue what offside is now. When the linesman gives it offside, the way that Arsenal players surround the linesman, and the referee then goes over. The referee has reacted after that." I'll help you out here Tony, THAT WASN'T OFFSIDE, YOU TIT. West Ham beat Swansea thanks to a great header by Big Andy. Made up for him, I'd still have him here if it were up to me. Yeah yeah yeah, I know he doesn't fit into the new style, I know he wouldn't play much and I know it's too much money to be paying someone to not play much. It's irrational, I'm fully aware of that, but what can I say, the heart wants what the heart wants, and I'm still an Andy Carroll fan. I think back to the Cup final, then his performance against Chelsea a few days later, his goal that beat the Blues at Wembley… I'd rather he was playing for us than someone else, but I know.. he's gone, get over it etc The Mancs won 1-0 at Fulham despite not playing well again. Like many before them, Fulham could and should have had something from the game. But like many before them, all they got for their troubles was some kudos in defeat. The floodlights went out at one point and the stadium went into complete darkness. "Wouldn't it be boss if the Undertaker's music suddenly chimed out and then the lights came on just as he was chokeslamming Ferguson into a coffin" I thought. Carlsberg don't do blackouts, but if they did….. Afterwards we had to endure Motson and Ferguson's flirting again. My skin is still crawling now, the most repulsive minute of TV I think I've ever seen. Finally onto Sunday, and Spurs had a narrow win over ten man West Brom. Popov was sent off for spitting at Kyle Walker. Cue mass hysteria amongst football pundits everywhere. Steve Clarke hammered him afterwards, fair play for that, but it always amuses me when you hear things like "Spitting is the worst thing a player can do to a fellow pro" and "I'd rather be punched in the face than spat at". Call me a shithouse, but I'd take a bit of greb to the face rather than a punch or headbutt all day long. As for being the worst thing you can do, no it's not. It's a horrible thing to do, but it's not going to break your legs like a two footed tackle or fracture a cheekbone like an elbow will. Deserved a red card and a suspension though, no question, and Clarke is right to be pissed off with him. Just spare me the hyperbole, it's a bit of spit, you wipe it off and it's gone. It doesn't knock out your teeth or leave you with a black eye. Once again it was left to Gareth to 'bail' Spurs out. See what I did there? Quite pleased with that one. They'd be nothing without him, they may as well go the whole hog now and change their name to Gareth Bale Hotspur and replace the cockerel in their logo with a chimpanzee. Dave

For me this depends on how you look at Gerrard’s role in the team over the years. He played in the same team as Fowler during the treble season but I don’t consider that Fowler’s best years; the years from 94-99 were Fowler’s greatest in my opinion. That team did include Owen’s best years though; he was fantastic during the early ‘00s. Then there’s Torres who, despite how he left, was the player who Gerrard is most closely identified with as they played together as the partnership that brought us closest to the title in the last decade or so. No one else during Gerrard’s career has come close to those three players. So when Gerrard says that Suarez is the best he’s played with, that is high praise. First you have to take out the contemporary factor. Gerrard and Suarez play together now, in all likelihood he isn’t going to come out and say that Torres, for example, is better. One of the reasons is why would you want to take a dump on a current teammate and the other is who would give Torres that much praise after his performances in his last months here and his horrible exit and Owen going to the Mancs to vulture a title? But if you’re asking me who he enjoyed playing alongside the most, then it’s probably Torres. Those two were phenomenal together and were a real threat to any team. Certainly Gerrard was never more prolific than when he was playing up top with Torres. They were in every sense of the word a partnership. Now for Suarez, Gerrard’s role has often not been that of a number 10, especially this season where Gerrard is playing a role more akin to that of the pre-Torres era. They’re not a partnership so you can’t compare the impact they have on one another, so in isolation you take a look at what each player brings to the team. When you do that Suarez is much more of an all round player than anyone mentioned so far. All had their strengths but Suarez brings much more to the table. Again you have to be mindful of the contemporary factor, my admiration for Suarez is definitely going to be higher than Torres and Owen since he is here, now, scoring goals and the other two can go fuck themselves. Suarez can act like a one man wrecking crew, he’s got more tricks than anyone we’ve had recently, he’s incredibly difficult to shrug off the ball and he’s got an incredible competitive spirit (something that has been his undoing at times). As a teammate it’s difficult to ask for anything more from him. Gerrard didn’t get to play with Fowler in his prime but Suarez, for all round contribution allied to goals, is ahead of Owen and Torres. Torres had more presence outside the box than Owen and he had more skill along with pace than Owen who just had out and out speed (plus he was a very good poacher). The Fowler of the mid to late ‘90s though? That’s a pick ‘em for me, I adored that Fowler, who could score from virtually anywhere and was just sublime to watch. From Gerrard’s standpoint though, yes you could say Suarez is the best he’s ever played with since the Fowler he played with was dogged by injury and was being left out in favour of *sigh* Heskey. Is he just saying it because they’re in the same team now? Possibly, but that’s a hell of a list of players there and maybe Gerrard just enjoys seeing Suarez nutmeg players, or maybe it’s because Suarez is an incredibly talented player who goes all out to win every game no matter who or where we’re playing. That sort of thing goes a long way. Julian Richards I was surprised to hear Gerrard describe Suarez as "the best striker he has ever played with" because we all know that the skipper is very, very fond of our former, fallen idol Fernando Torres. Even over the summer and in numerous interviews I've read with him, Gerrard has always praised Torres. As well he might because for most of his time at Liverpool the Spaniard was a formidable team mate to have. He and Gerrard clicked instantly and they were a partnership made in heaven. Torres just hasn't had that sort of thing going on with anyone at Chelsea and it's one of numerous reasons he's failed there. Owen and Fowler are others you could mention. For me, Suarez is a better player than them as an all round player. They were all natural born goalscorers, finishers, poachers. Suarez has more to his game and he is for me the best player in the league right now. The best example I can give you is that goal he scored against Stoke City in the Carling Cup at Mos Eisley Cantina last season when he brought it down, got inside the defender and curled an unstoppable shot home. Can you imagine anyone doing that for us other than Suarez? Fowler, maybe, his goal against Bran Bergen and the one when he turned Stevie Staunton against Villa were amongst the best goals I've ever seen. Owen and Torres, no. They are just different types of player. That sort of goal isn't in their skill set. Which is what makes Gerrard's views on Suarez all the more impressive. Gerrard has fed Owen and Torres in behind to use their pace. That isn't Luis' game and to be honest with you I don't think he is all that dependent on Gerrard's service. Certainly a lot less than other strikers in our recent history have been. But what Suarez does is give Stevie more options. As he drops deep, movement in behind him opens space up for Gerrard to exploit and there are few better passers in the league. They do have a partnership don't get me wrong but it's not telepathic. It doesn't need to be. It's a different relationship that he's had from most of our strikers. Overall, I think Gerrard is right. Only Fowler comes close to him in terms of all round ability. Torres and Owen were once all about pace and goalscoring. Suarez isn't blessed with that type of pace and so earns his keep with exceptional movement and trickery. He's not a total goalscorer but he has improved this season and notches regularly. As an all round player though, what a footballer, the best player in the league I think. Dan Thomas For me, the answer to this particular question is simple - Luis Suarez is comfortably ahead of any potential candidate. The last thing I would want to do is denigrate the achievements of the likes of Fowler, Owen (spits) or Torres (spits again) but I believe there's one fundamental factor that puts Suarez at the top of the list - he's comfortably the better footballer. That may sound ridiculously obvious, but hear me out. For me, the best strikers in the game aren't always great footballers. If you were picking a 5 aside team, you would only want one player in the mould of Torres but you'd want 3 of Suarez. If Steven Gerrard is the complete midfield player, then Suarez is the complete forward. Suarez affects a game far more than any traditional goalscorer can because he's not an out-and-out striker. He could be if he wanted to, but he has so much more to offer. He may have an excellent goal-scoring record, particularly from his Ajax days (this season isn't too shabby either) but I don't think he possesses a god-given knack to stick the ball in the back of the net - he misses too many chances for that. The strikers who have that gift do so because they spend most of their time in and around the box sniffing for chances and they convert a respectable amount of opportunities they get. Suarez drops deep, runs into channels, creates chances for himself and others and scores so goals simply based on percentages. Others may go through a game hardly touching the ball but will score 1 goal from 2 chances. Suarez will be constantly on the ball and will score 2 goals from 7 chances whilst his team-mates will also be on the end of his creativity - as I say, affecting the game. Goalscorers are only really interested in touching the ball when they sense the chance of a goal. With regards to Fowler, Owen and Torres, their build up play would commonly consist of a layoff, followed by a spin and a dart into space. Suarez isn't only interested in space, he will drop off and take the ball but then wants to keep it and commit defenders or if he does pass it, he wants it straight back. His enjoyment comes from having the ball, whether it leads to an assist or a goal isn't necessarily important whereas a natural striker would elbow his own mother in the jaw just to score a goal (Suarez would do it just to be diabolical). This is basically a phenomenal player we're talking about - the heir to King Kenny himself. Would any of the other candidates be able to play left wing away at Arsenal and produce the kind of performance we saw in the week (goals, graft, creativity, versatility...)? No. And none of them come close to Suarez for me. Ian Brown It's a categorical YES from me, Suarez is the best we've had since Gerrard broke into the team. He's not the best finisher, in fact he would come in a distant fourth in that category behind Fowler, Owen and Torres. He's not the most suited to playing with Gerrard either, both Owen and Torres enjoyed great success using their pace to feed off the wonderful service provided by the captain, whereas that's not Luis' style. Suarez is the best all round footballer though, by a long distance. The other three all relied on service to a certain degree. Suarez can do it on his own if he has to, and quite often he HAS had to because the level of the team has not matched that of those the other three played in. Fowler and Owen played in some relatively bad teams, but they were also part of some very good ones too. Suarez has not had that luxury yet, but he's still been fantastic. There's an element of bias in my judgement, I can't deny that. I've got no time for Torres these days and that certainly clouds my judgement on him. For a time there he was arguably the best striker in the world, but he didn't sustain it and more importantly, at times he looked like he wasn't arsed. You can never, ever say that about Suarez. Give me a Suarez over a Torres any day of the week. You can go to war with a Luis Suarez, can you say the same about Torres? I loved Michael Owen, and despite how he's blotted his copybook in recent years I still bear him no ill will and I think his talents are extremely under valued by many Reds. He was voted European Footballer of the Year whilst a Liverpool player, that shows just how special he was. His best form probably came between the ages of 17-22 when he possessed the kind of blistering speed that terrifies defenders. I saw him as a 16 year old playing in our youth team and I'd never seen anything like him, he was incredible. He remains by far the best youth player I've ever seen, and the likes of Raheem Sterling for all his promise does not even come remotely close to how good the teenage Owen was. Teams shit themselves when they faced Owen. He was a cold blooded assassin in front of goal, and although various injuries slowed him down over the years, he worked on his weak areas such as heading and his left foot and remained a top goalscorer. As an out and out goalscorer, Owen was one of the greats. As an all round footballer? Below average, but that didn't matter as it wasn't his job. Fowler was a genius, he could score any type of goal you care to mention and was just a complete natural. Whereas Torres and Owen relied heavily on pace, Fowler relied on guile and instinct. Outside the box however, he was another one who would sometimes look totally out of his comfort zone. Suarez scores goals, he makes goals and he is a phenomenally gifted footballer. Allied to that, he works as hard as anyone, his will to win is as strong as anyone's and he's a nightmare to play against. Durability is another big plus with Suarez. Touch wood, I don't remember him missing a single game through injury in the two years he's been here. The other three were all plagued by various injuries that not only caused them to miss games, but also to have long spells where they were understandably below par. So Suarez edges it from Fowler for me, with Owen just holding off Torres for third spot. Dave Usher

TLW writers Paul Natton and Stu Montagu join your host 'Numbers' to break down an eventful 5 or 6 weeks since the last show. Impressive wins, appalling losses and a couple of new signings, it's all covered in a slightly longer than usual show. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

'Numbers' is joined by former Reds striker Neil Mellor and TLW Editor Dave Usher to discuss the recent winning run, the role of agents in the game and to look ahead to the upcoming games against Villa and Fulham. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

'Numbers' is joined by Darren and Stu to breakdown the Chelsea and Anzhi games and to look ahead to Wigan this weekend. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

It's a Europa League week so just like Brendan Rodgers we've rotated the squad and gone with a mixture of youth and the, shall we say, surplus to requirements. Alex Woo fills the Adam Morgan role whilst Stu Montagu brings his Joe Cole/Stewart Downing like qualities to the show, as the lads join your host 'Numbers' to break down all that's happened since the last show. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

Your host 'Numbers' is joined by TLW Editor Dave Usher to recap everything that has happened since the last show. Injuries to Borini and Reina picked up on international duty, a closely fought win over Reading and a first senior goal for Raheem Sterling are amongst the topics covered, and the lads also look ahead to the Europa League and this weekend's Merseyside Derby. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

TLW Editor Dave Usher and long time fanzine contributor Paul Natton join your host 'Numbers' to recap an incident packed few weeks since the last episode. The Mark Halsey inspired loss to the Mancs, some encouraging cup displays from the second XI, the rout of Norwich all come under the microscope, and there's plenty of vitriol hurled in the direction of Tony Pulis and his gang of cloggers. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

TLW's Paul Natton and Stu Montagu check in with 'Numbers' to discuss the findings of the Hillsborough report and also look back on the game at Sunderland last weekend as well as previewing the upcoming clash with Manchester United this weekend. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

'Numbers' is joined by the Daily Telegraph's Chris Bascombe to discuss what went wrong on 'Transfer Deadline Day'. Next up, regular contributors Dave Usher and Paul Natton check in to chat about the disappointing start to the season, and this episode also features an exclusive audio with Brendan Rodgers in which he talks about implementing his philosophy and style on the Academy and u21 sides. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.

Regular guests Dave Usher and Paul Natton join your host 'Numbers' to break down the West Brom defeat and look ahead to the upcoming games with Hearts and Manchester City this week. Listen now either on the embedded player below, or by visiting our podcast page here. You can also subscribe through itunes and have any new podcast automatically delivered to your computer. Clicking the link above will download the latest episode straight into your itunes, and will subscribe you to any future episodes. Those of you wanting to listen on your phone, try this link as it should work on most smartphones. You can also download our new app by visiting that page and clicking the 'Quick Launch' option which will automatically download the app to your homescreen. To listen in this window, simply click the play button in the box below.