Original202

Pre match chanting outside the ground still happens. Must of been about 10 of us burst into song outside the ground back in September.... once we were past the line of police and safe from harm that is. Shithouses? Yea. Probably.

But thats the same when we go there isn't it? No way I'd wear a Liverpool shirt and wonder through Manchester (Although I never wear colours anyway, even for home games), not for fear of being beaten up, but to avoid the intimidation. Its hard enough going there without wearing colours, I found it awful making my way from manc centre to O.T on the metrolink being squashed in and surrounded by fat bald mancs with sever odour problems. It would have been ten times worse had I been wearing anything to do with Liverpool! They can sense Scousers as it is without us wearing colours. I'd still say they hate us more than we hate them. Still can't get over how many anti Liverpool songs they sing, but they do seem to have quietened down since Rooney signed.

Little poser :thumbup: Was looking through my old programmes from the Souness and Evans era and came across some great pics of Carragher and Fowler in their younger days. Wish I had a scanner. That piece mentions Jamie Cassidy. Whatever happened to him? Did injury fuck him up?

Yep the latest installment is top notch. F.M is also quality. The game gets better every year, but it can be so irritating having to wait for it to process games. Yet another reason why early kick offs are shit... (You'll understand if you've played it).

Ah bollocks. Wheres the edit thread option gone? Just read about Diao and Pongolle in the fanzine doing the catwalk. There must be some photos out there some where. They must be found!

Well it seems the Sheriff has played his last game for us, but the fun and games don't have to end. Legends never die. This thread will allow us to celebrate the mad mad world of Salif Diao and ensure he's not forgotten now that he has gone to Birmingham. Feel free to post articles, pictures and tributes. But please, don't take the piss. This thread is also open to any of our new friends from Birmingham who may take an interest in the Sheriffs world. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 January 2004 Diao aims to live up to 'Vieira' tag Salif Diao is aiming to live up to Gerard Houllier's claim that he can become the new Patrick Vieira after moving to Birmingham on loan from Liverpool. The Senegal international had that tag placed on him by the then Reds boss Houllier after moving from Sedan to Anfield for nearly £5million after the 2002 World Cup. Things have not gone entirely to plan for the 27-year-old player who has found himself used primarily as a substitute by Houllier's successor Rafael Benitez this season. But now he has the chance to resurrect his career with Blues after signing until the end of the campaign - with a view to the move becoming permanent if he impresses Steve Bruce. Diao said: 'What Gerard Houllier said about me being the new Patrick Vieira did not put me under pressure - not at all. 'It was a big compliment to me. I feel that I have got the potential and I hope that I will prove it here.' In the short term Diao has to try and plug the gap left by Robbie Savage whose move to Blackburn finally went through this week. Bruce wants Diao to bring some steel in the centre of the park as Birmingham look to end a run of three successive Barclays Premiership defeats against visiting Fulham tomorrow. But Diao insisted: 'I am very different to Robbie. People are always talking about him. He is a great player and very important for Birmingham. He was pushing everyone on. 'I am Diao. I play my own game and I know what I can do and I think it will help Birmingham. I play my game and we will see what happens. My only response will be on the pitch. My football will do the talking. 'I believe that, with regular first-team football at Birmingham, I can show the form that I showed in the 2002 World Cup.' Diao opted to move to Birmingham rather than Villa after holding talks with both clubs earlier in the week. He said: 'When I left Liverpool I wanted a club that would give me back my confidence because that's what I really needed. 'I knew that Emile Heskey was here and I spoke to him and he gave me a good report about the club, the togetherness of the players and happiness at training. 'I also met the manager and he talked to me very well and told me about Birmingham's ambitions and I could see he really wanted me at the club. 'It is very important for a player to know that the manager really wants you and the players also want you to come. 'Did I get the same impression with Villa? Not really. It wasn't really the same, the mentality, the way they talked. 'I liked it more the way Mr Bruce talked to me than the Villa manager.' I am Diao. Source: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=322512&cc=5739

Don't you mean a Van Nah, getaway car.

1. He's not a Scouser. He's a Bare Canadian 2. He can't possibly sign for them. As Dave says, if we end up with Nunez and they sign Thommo. Well, words fail me. 3. Houllier should never have sold him. He just needed a kick up the arse.

Thats how rivalry should be. We have more in common with them then you might imagine, and there are a few decent Mancs out there who you can have an intelligent discussion with, whilst still taking the piss. Nice one Stu.

He should have played against Newcastle on the last day of the season - even if it was just as a last minute substitute. Good luck to him.

If people are so patriotic and proud of their country, why don't they show it all year around? The national side doesn't interest me at all. Used to have an interest, but its got smaller with each passing year. But with regard to the believe that England can win things, its only going to lead to disappointment. Instead of all this talk of winning things the FA should be addressing the problems that this country has at grass roots level, rather than building up expectations.

Ah yes, John Arne Risse. Never rated him as much as Sammy Hyppia. Or Marcus Babble.

Yes but that means Garcia will definately start....

The sooner Engerlund realise that they aren't one of the best sides in the world the better. Why do they always set themselves ridiculous targets and talk about winning these competitions? It isn't going to happen. England are just like Scotland - only with twice as many players. The quality is shite, and it isn't going to change while Portsmouth, Bolton, Fulham etc. and even ourselves continue to bring in overpaid, incredibly average foreign players who are restricting the development of young players. The situation in this country is the same as in Scotland. England are shit. Fact. They have no chance of winning anything, especially with Eriksson in charge. Always amuses me when I hear journo's say "England have a young side which should be ready to challenge in 5 years time". Shut up! Every other country has young players as well and England aren't going to be the only team to progress. 5 years ago Joe Cole was the answer to all the problems. Things change. I'd love if England actually fail to qualify, but can't see that happening. Deffo planning to be out of the country in the summer of 2006 to avoid all this pathetic hype and the ridiculous number of st george flags everywhere. Might go to Germany and hang around with the Spanish fellas.

Its a very good point. You forget how 'old' some of these players are. How long should they be given? I still hold out hope that Richie Partridge will make it for us, but he's about 36 now! Welsh has been a hot prospect for ages but still hasn't really made it through. Though in fairness, he hasn't been helped by the fact that Diao and Biscan were brought in ahead of him. If you were the manager, who would you play? You're not going to ditch £10m worth of ahem, talent, and stick in a local lad. You'd persist with the signings in the hope they'd come good. I think this is a problem that has affected a lot of the local lads. I've always said I'd prefer to see the young lads get a chance than see us sign players who aren't significantly better than what we already had. Ste Warnock was saying last week how he doesn't like being referred to as a kid, he's 23 and he would like to think of himself as an established squad player - which he is. He's played nearly 20 games for us this season. I can't really see many of the current crop making it, though its nice to see a few of them have been given new contracts.

Roy Evans tried to sign Figo in 1996 for £2.3m but he ended up going to Barca instead. He'd be a great short term signing. As for Routledge, well how can we possibly sign him? He's one of Rashid's recomendations ;) Have to admit though I didn't think much of him a few months back, but after seeing Nunez I can't see how a young, pacy English winger could do any worse. Whats the deal with Biscan? His contracts up in the summer and there's no way that will get renewed, but he's told Rafa he wants to stay. Really don't see any point in keeping him, especially after the other night. It must be in the back of his mind that he's not going to stay so I'd expect more half arsed performances from him if he gets a chance. Doesn't strike me as the player who'll want to really put himself in the shop window, I expect he's happy to see his contract out then hope his agent can get him a good deal in the summer.

What would have happened if Traore had trapped the ball, then hoofed it clear for Pongolle to run on to and stick away to give us a 1-0 win? There'd be no mention of us disrespecting the cup. Instead the media would probably be going on about how astute Rafa's selection was and what a bright future the club has. Ficke fickle world. Nice interview though, very honest. Top bloke.

And as Dave said in his match report, Josemi returned to training this week....

Get a load of this... Well we are so fucking sorry. Sorry for not helping you get a big fat pay cheque. Not our problem. This just proves that the FA Cup is all about money now, its the first thing the small clubs think of. As soon as a small team is drawn at home to a big club they immediately look to have it played at another ground so they can make more money. Thats magic is it? Its magic for Yeading to play a home game at Loftus Road? Bollocks. They should have played it at Yeading, would have been far more interesting to see Newcastle have to play at some tiny little shed of a ground. Farnbrough got drawn against Arsenal a few years back and had the game switched to Highbury - they shouldn't have been allowed. It isn't about the 'magic' anymore, its just about the money. And we weren't threatening to stage the game on a Friday night, it was Merseyside Police who wanted the game played on the Friday. Twat. Hope they get knocked out and go bankrupt, cheeky fucks. Like we'd consider their financial situation when picking the team. Arrogant? Yes, but talk about mr pot and mr kettle

I don't think it was that much. Thought it was £3m for the pair with a few extra things like bonuses for appearances and international call ups etc. But either way, I don't think either of them will ever go on to be Liverpool greats.

Ah, yes. Dreams. :inlove: He should never of sold Litmanen and Fowler either the bastard :tease:

Well I'm just pleased he didn't insult us with any of that 'blessing in disguise' bollocks a certain Frenchman used to go on about. Are there any positives you can take from last night? It's always hard after a defeat to look for positives but I think there are two things we can take from last night. Firstly, although we would much prefer to have stayed in the competition, now that we are out it means we will have more time to work with the players later in the season to prepare them for the important games we have in the Premiership, the Champions League and the Carling Cup. We have a lot of injured players at the moment and so maybe playing less games will help us. But that doesn't mean we're not disappointed to be out because we are. http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N147538050119-1355.htm :ermm:

I thought he looked more like he'd been kicked or knocked his knee or something. Didn't look to me as though it was his hamstring he was holding. Hope it wasn't anyway.

Out of interest, what would have been your starting 11 last night then?

Medjani £0 Arphexad £0 Song £2.5m Ferri £2.3m Vignal £800k Traore £500k Diao £4.5m Diouf £10m Cheyrou £3m Luzi £0 Le Tallec £1.5m Sinama-Pongolle £1.5m Cisse £14m Smicer £3.5m Diarra £0 Camara £2m Riise £4.5 Anelka £0 Diomede £3m About £53m I make it.