andyfm

I have the problem of being a moral vegetarian who hates most vegetables. The worst are people who reply "Oh, I'm virtually a vegetarian myself except for the white meat and the fish. And I like the occasional burger."

Bah humbug! I am indeed a forumite, just a very very quiet one due to severe digital laryngitis and a misplaced timezone. Andrew Moss

1. A famous cowboy - Billy the Kid 2. A number you have to memorise - PIN 3. A type of cheese - Wensleydale 4. Something that flies that doesn’t have an engine - Bird 5. A famous Scotsman - Robert Louis Stevenson 6. A famous David - the one who twatted Goliath 7. Something on your body you can open - Mouth 8. A reason you would want to avoid someone - Snogged their bird 9. A famous Welshman - Harry Secombe 10. Something that Father Christmas does when he comes to your house - Drinks alcohol 11. A non-living object with legs - Chair 12. An animal associated with a nursery rhyme - Sheep 13. A yellow fruit - Lemon 14. A slang word for a girl - Bird 15. An ABBA song - Dancing Queen 16. A word used to describe a very hot day - Boiling 17. A word beginning with Z - Zebra 18. A decoration you would hang on a Christmas tree - Bauble 19. A Christmas film - Bad Santa 20. A famous soap opera - Brookside

He had this brilliant technique of running while bringing the ball forward with the outside of his boot. It allowed him to run as fast with the ball under close control as most players could run without the ball. I was mystified at this so tried it out and it works. So why the fuck does no other bugger do it? Great player, and I disagree that he was inconsistent (he often got doubled up on or manmarked). His last season he was playing with an injury. He'd be ace in the current team.

They kill puppies! :telloff:

Blimey, that would be like hiring Don Revie after Shanks left. Utter madness.

I can only go on who I've seen (70s onward). out and out striker - Rush second striker - Dalglish midfielder - Souness winger - Barnes fullback - Nicol center back - Hansen keeper - Clemence

To be fair, Riise was here a long time and if after a couple of months you reckon Dossena is at least that level then we haven't lost anything. He needs to get his fitness up and get used to the speed of the game (there's a reason we usually beat Italian teams in Europe after all, tempo). No judgment from me till the end of the season.

They are not likely to slag off their manager to a Liverpool fan sober. You had to catch them drunk.

Plenty of mancs wanted Ferguson out just a couple of years back.

Erm, Posh Spice... :whistle:

You've got to respect Whelan's opinion that Rafa is a shit manager. Whelan was a pretty shit manager himself so should recognise the signs. Obviously the Spanish league titles, UEFA Cup and European Cup finals were all inexplicable blips caused by gamma radiation. From wikipedia... On his departure from Anfield, Whelan became manager of Southend United and also worked with clubs in Greece such as Panionios and in Cyprus such asApollon Limassol but most notably with Olympiakos Nicosia. His greatest success as a manager, was with Panionios in 1999, when his team reached for first time the quarter finals of a European competition, the Cup Winners Cup, when they were eliminated by SS Lazio with 0-4 and 0-3. He now works on the after-dinner circuit and does a spot of punditry.

I don't think it's quite that simple. The 2006 team needed new players to get better or even stay at the same level. With Kewell's demise and Gerrard's insistence on being central, we lost 2 quality wide players instead for the next season and therefore regressed. The new formation has been necessary to make Gerrard as effective from the central role he craves as he was from the right that year. If we can add just 1 effective wide player, we will be a better team than 2 years ago no doubt. If Babel improves in fitness and consistency, we would be a better team with no addition.

Rafa has been here 4 seasons. Initially he was blocked from bringing in youth players from abroad by Heighway as Rafa had no jurisdiction over the academy, so let's call it 3 seasons. The young players he has brought in have since helped win the youth cup twice then the reserve league. 2 or 3 are now on the fringes of the first team squad, and both Plessis and Insua have got a couple of first team games recently. Give it time and more will come through, of which maybe a handful will make it. It is very difficult to get the right player who is still young and raw, so affordable enough for us, yet ready to be blooded full time. Look at Walcott, he's still not first team at Arsenal after a couple of seasons. Are we saying Wenger has no idea how to handle youngsters either? Rafa spent 11m on Babel and that was the first time he felt the squad was strong enough to make that a priority. Naturally he has been rather inconsistent in his first year adapting. You can only blood one or two at time (see United and Ronaldo, now Nani and Anderson). You also have to look after their physical development, which is different for each player, plus ensure their confidence is not destroyed by playing them too much too early, or in a poor side. I think we will see if Rafa's eye for a quality young player is good in a couple of years time.

They have 3 top quality experienced attacking players to our 2. That is 100m to 70m. If we have the cash to buy another one, the right one, then brilliant. That is the cash Rafa is trying to free up by switching the squad players out this summer. However, no point spunking our one shot with that money on a Forlan, Veron, Shevchenko or Quaresma. We need the right player, like Torres.

Personally I think we have made substantial progress this year. The spine of the team is quite frankly awesome. We finally have more than one exceptional player. We lost a small number of games, scored more goals than usual and played far more cohesive and entertaining football. That would be progress in my book. Most of the points we have pissed away have been generally down to the fact we couldn't put away enough of our chances and then let in a daft goal. Nothing more, nothing less. The only criticism I would actually have of Rafa would mean I agree with Tom Hicks, so must be left unsaid on principle. To answer the point about using Ged's players as squad players, here is Ged's final squad. Make your own mind up which of these studs could have stayed and improved our chances of beating the smaller clubs on a more consistent basis over the squad players Rafa has chosen instead. I'm pretty much in step with Rafa on this one. Goalkeepers Jerzy Dudek, Chris Kirkland, Patrice Luzi Defenders Carl Medjani, Stephane Henchoz, Jon Otsemobor, Steve Finnan, Djimi Traore, Sami Hyypia, Salif Diao, Jamie Carragher, John Arne Riise Midfielders Dietmar Hamann, Danny Murphy, Bruno Cheyrou, Steven Gerrard, Igor Biscan, Vladimir Smicer, Harry Kewell, John Welsh Forwards Michael Owen, El Hadji Diouf, Anthony Le Tallec, Milan Baros, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Emile Heskey, Richie Partridge On comparing this year with 2006, quite frankly we overperformed by miles that year. Our football was not very good to watch IIRC. 2005/2006 P38 W25 D7 L6 F57 A25 GD32 2007/2008 P38 W21 D13 L4 F67 A28 GD39 Not much difference. This year's team was better. The only thing that can fuck us up now is a lack of investment to take the next step forward. Sadly.

I see Obama as a very charismatic person who thinks he knows better than everbody else what they need and reckons he can forge alliances between left and right. Good luck with that. He's just like Tony Blair back in the day with his third way bullshit. Charismatic idealist politicians are rather dangerous because people should not treat elected officials like rock stars. I distrust Obama simply because talking about Change as a policy is utter bullshit. Soundbite politics with little substance, how's that not politics as usual? I already left England once, I don't want it recreated here, thank you very much. For those asking how Bush got elected last time, the reason was that the Democrats put a very bad choice of candidate up. Choosing a New England liberal when Bush was there for the taking was political suicide. Even I called that one at the time. There is a reason Bill Clinton did so well for the Democrats, he was a southerner. Kerry was never going to appeal to the south, and in contrast to Obama he had absolutely no charisma. Look at the latest Labour leaders since the electoral disaster of Michael Foot... Brown (Scottish), Blair (Scottish), Smith (Scottish), Kinnock (Welsh). They appeal to the regions, and don't offend the more cosmopolitan areas. It would be like the Tories putting up an uncharasmatic leader with a double barrelled name up against a sitting prime minister who took Britain into an unjust war in Iraq. Hang on a sec... Again the general election is there for the taking by the Democrats. They are doing a great job of screwing it up again. Rev Wright is a complete nutter by the way. If you've seen a good selection of his speeches (and not just the inflammatory soundbites which none of us trust as good evidence given our tabloid distrust), he's clearly insane. The way to racial harmony is not blaming the US government for inventing AIDS to commit genocide on African Americans. I actually thought the same way as many here at first until I saw a big clip of that particular speech!

Fair enough, I have been quite impressed with him as it was always going to take him a while to settle. Much more to come.

Not sure who you've been watching this season, but Lucas is already an established important member of the squad.

Course I do. It was a parody (stunning only in its apparent ineffectiveness) of the current financing situation at LFC, using green boxes instead of greenbacks. I apologise for the confusion it caused you. If you feel any lingering mental distress over this, I suggest you contact the Samaritans. *sips from Liverpool mug* And remember I am here for you. Always. *turns to stoke real woodburning fire despite it being 24 degrees celsius outside*

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has spoken of his desire to stay at Anfield despite the boardroom battle between co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Benitez's position has been thrown into doubt over revelations the American duo and chief executive Rick Parry held talks with Jurgen Klinsmann last year. But on Friday the 48-year-old Spaniard reiterated his determination to honour his contract, which runs until 2010. "I'm really pleased and happy here and want to stay," he said. It was originally thought only Hicks talked with the former Germany coach, who is due to take over at Bayern Munich at the end of this season. However, reports claim Parry also attended the meeting in New York - but only after after being told to by his American bosses. The chief executive is understood to have had serious misgivings about the meeting and its potential effect on the club if news of it leaked out. The relationship between Hicks and Gillett broke down some time ago, leading to civil war breaking out at Anfield. Hicks wants Gillett ally Parry to quit, labelling his tenure a "disaster". But Parry has the support of Gillett and a majority in his favour among the club's six-man board. BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Liverpool | Benitez keen to stay at Anfield

Thanks. I shall be ringing them to bitch about Hicks immediately. "Samaritans provides confidential non-judgemental emotional support, 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. Whatever you're going through, whether it's big or small, don't bottle it up. We are here for you if you're worried about something, feel upset or confused, or just want to talk to someone."

My guess would be that DIC would ensure Hicks cannot get a piece of the stadium pie. Which is basically what he is after as it makes the club much more valuable than the sum of its parts. The example I remember was club worth 300m, stadium built for 300m by DIC. Hicks either accepts 25% of the combined, thus giving DIC control. Or 50% of the club while DIC retain 100% of the stadium. The club and the stadium combined would become worth 1b (Hicks estimate when trying to sell 15% to DIC) due to additional income (see Arsenal). So by diluting to 25%, Hicks share is now worth 500m and DIC take control. No idea if it works in practice.

We would have to sell 30m worth of assets. We only have 2 players we could possibly sell for that much, so it's either sell one of them or multiple other players. Sounds very Leeds to me.

In order to completely pay off the green box loan, you have 18 months to pay the early termination fee of an additional half a green box. I will put it on your account. If you do not pay the half a box in a the specified timeframe, I expect you to sell a member of your family for green box liquidity.