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I think the TV channel is a complex issue on a number of levels Stevie. It was there before Hicks and Gillett arrived and it'll still be there after they've gone. It has also done some really good television that the more mainstream channels are less likely to do, with their exceptional coverage of the 20th anniversary of Hillsborough being one of the most obvious and best examples. The lads who work there, the likes of Paul Rogers and Mark Platt, are as big Reds as any of us and get what the club is about. Then there is the question of what a boycott would achieve. I've just paid 680 quid for a season ticket and in itself this is more likely to bolster the owners position than any appearance on a TV channel. I'm not saying you're wrong but I think it's important that all the relevant issues are thrashed out and put into context. And one final point, would you agree that the TV channel's autonomy from the owners is reflected in the fact that some of their biggest critics are regularly invited to appear on it?

You seen my gob? I reckon they're more likely to boycott me on the grounds of public safety!

I think that's a fair point as well Stevie. I appear on the channel myself from time to time and I can understand and respect your point of view.

I could be wrong Redknight but I think the club can issue licences on behalf of UEFA. But the archive footage from past finals that features in the show is definitely the club's.

I think there were valid reasons for that Stevie. I know the producer well and he has no interest in football so he has no need to take sides in this. He told me he had to get permission from Ian Ayre to use the footage from Istanbul in the show. That happened about two years ago and Ayre is probably well within his rights to keep an eye on something that he has given the seal of approval to. Whether you think even that is too much of a relationship in the current situation is entirely up to yourself and I wouldn't try to persuade you either way on that but I think this is the background to it and it's probably worth bearing in mind.

I think anyone who has ever had any dealings with Nicky could say without any reproach that he's never been in anyone's pocket. I don't actually believe there's a pocket that could contain him!

The one question any of us would have wanted to ask Yossi at the moment is why did he leave. Whether we like, dislike or dispute his answer isn't the point, a journalist's job is to ask the questions that people want answering and that has clearly happened in this case.

You've got to separate the journalist from the story. It's an interview, not a comment piece and therefore the views expressed in it are those of the player, not the journalist. All the journalist has done is his job by getting the player to talk on the record. It's clearly a good story in a news sense because it's already provoked so much discussion and debate. What you make of Benayoun's quotes is entirely up to yourself.

This place is becoming increasingly surreal and its obsession with journalism even more so. The great thing about newspapers is you can buy the one you choose and if you don't like any of them you don't have to buy one, and if you aren't impressed by the Echo, Times, News of the World, Mirror etc, you can choose to ignore them altogether. Journalism is like any other trade - you get good exponents and bad ones. Some are naturals and others have to work much harder for their stories. Some are lazy and some pull their tripe out. Some are as straight and cautious as it is possible to imagine while others are more willing to go balls out. All of us, though, and I repeat, all of us get stories wrong. It's an occupational hazard and no one should be surprised that it happens so often in football, an industry awash with money and full of vested interests. If there's a journalist alive who's get a 100% success record I've never met him. But the same applies to plumbers, bus drivers and dare I say it footballers. The difference with journalism compared to most other professions is you put your name to your work and that means the world will judge you. We all have contacts and some are better than others. There is always the very real risk that someone you think is helping you is actually using you and trying to separate fact from myth is sometimes almost impossible. There are very real limitations to how much any of us can now because information is governed by access to it. I'm sure every journalist would like to sit there in the knowledge that every single thing they are told is 100% true, not spun in any way and therefore able to be reported without fear of contradiction. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that and the best you can do is take information from as many different people as possible and then take a view on it. It's far from being a perfect science and I know there are plenty of things I wish I had done differently and there are some stories I regret writing. Just to clarify a couple of things that have been said about me on here. I did attend an SOS committee meeting in an official capacity a couple of years ago. It was in order to write a feature article on the union's progress to coincide with its formation a year earlier. Said feature appeared in the Liverpool Echo and I was not allowed any input whatsoever to the meeting. Secondly, the suggestion that Benitez "gave" me exclusives is true. 100%. Whilst at the Echo, I benefitted, like both my predecessor and my successor, from special access to the Liverpool manager, in keeping with the special relationship that exists between the club and the local newspaper. That relationship changed when I moved to a national newspaper, though, and access was not so easily afforded, which is fair enough.

I think Dominic King's doing a cracking job during one of the most turbulent times in the club's history. In the past a lot of Echo exclusives came about cos the stories fell during Echo time, ie after national newspaper deadlines. The change in deadlines at the Echo was always going to have an impact but Dominic's still doing plenty of good stuff and he's undoubtedly got the respect of loads of people who matter at the club.

Because we live in an era in which even fellow supporters are mutually suspicious? Who knows? That's one only you can answer mate. There is no hidden meaning. I can't ever imagine not backing the manager of Liverpool Football Club unless his name is Souness. A year ain we would've all laughed had someone suggested Hodgson would be our manager but circumstances have put him in that position. Good luck to him, i would love nothing better for him to be a resounding success. For me, success would be restoring unity and harmony cos all I can see is division right now.

Best of luck to an honourable and decent man, one who deserves our support unless he does something to dictate otherwise.

One of my favourite Liverpool myths from the last few years this one. The fella who was supposedly employed by Benitez to scrutinise the press was called Juanfran and anyone who ever came across him at Melwood or anywhere else would be able to tell you he couldn't speak a word of English, never mind perform some sort of Alistair Campbell style role. On the subject of Hodgson, good luck to him if and when he is confirmed. He is one of football's good guys and it would be great if he could prove the doubters, of which I am one, wrong. The very least he deserves is a chance to do so. It doesn't matter who's brought him in, who anyone would've prefered or who he's replaced, from the moment he becomes Liverpool manager he deserves to be treated as such - and that means affording him dignity and respect.

He was answering a direct question Coop. But he chose to answer that one in the way he did having refused to answer several others on other subjects.

Badly timed, not helpful, self-serving and (given what happened to Riera after making controversial comments on the eve of a big game) a fairly obvious case of double standards. People have to get away from the idea of blaming the media for this kind of stuff though. These are on the record quotes. Not briefed whispers. Not a poor translation. Not agenda driven analysis. Just plain and simple quotes volunteered of his own free will that have been presented as they were said.

Numero's spot on. The long standing 500m asking price always has included the debt. Something's got lost in translation there.

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I don't understand the fascination with any journalist myself. You pays you money, you takes your choice. Some are good and some are bad. None are perfect. Every single one of them makes mistakes. Sometimes you write something and regret it for years. Sometimes you write something that you think is spot on and everyone soon puts you straight. Other times you write something you're not sure about but people surprise you by liking it. But the most important thing about it all is that people have the ultimate sanction - they can choose to ignore you if your writing is not to their taste.

It actually disturbs me that a 57-year-old man could come out with that kind of shite. A kid who doesn't know better wouldn't bother me. Neither would a teenager who wants to offend. But a man of that age? Fuck me.

Alan, do me a favour and leave me out of this. If you want to fight someone's corner that's fine. But have the decency to leave me out of it. It's got fuck all to do with me. You need to learn to stop playing people off against one another.

The question that Rafa answered was posed by the Sky reporter. Even a renowned conspiracy theorist like myself would have a job suggesting that this situation was in any way orchestrated. Particularly as the Sky reporter in question blushed like a 12 year old schoolboy when the answer came back at him.

Firstly, it's an internet blog, not a newspaper article. Secondly, I'm not sure i like it that much myself. The intention was to burst this media bubble built from a single quote in Torres' book which is being wilfully taken out of context so much it's untrue. The Shankly line was just an example. The idea was to implicitly ask what the modern media would've made of that kind of situation seeing as they get so worked up about a manager apparently failing to congratulate one of his players on becoming a father. Whether it works or not I'm not so sure.

I wasn't refering to that, I agree a figurehead is needed. I was talking about the endless, time consuming, go around in circles debates about what so and so has written, what he or she has said etc. It's all a distraction unless it's channelled properly.

Somehow, everyone's gotta find a way of taking the personalities out of this. It's the club that matters, not any particular journalist, any particular manager, any particular newspaper or any particular player. Far too much time and energy is being wasted every single day with petty arguments about individuals. The individuals will come and go, some will make a positive difference and some won't, but the club will always be there - I hope.

It wouldn't be much of a fight. The goat one would destroy me with his word power. It was ever thus.