FortressAnfield

He's going to college? Is he a 'mature' student, or only about 19/20? If he is about 19/20, and Ged left in 2004, then he's probably a liar. Unless he's very old, and under a false name, and is really the Ted Connor who (according to Wikepedia) played for the Mancs in the 1900s and 1910s and then went to Bury. He was born in Liverpool, so it could be him (if he's about 120).

Anyone but Scum - even the chavs. But of the three - Arse.

Think that delusion was laid to rest on the evening of May 26th, 2005.

I was impressed with him yesterday. I think the problem is that he can't be the sole striker in a 4-5-1 formation (and probably never will be able to), but can do a good job in a 4-4-2 formation. But he's only 20 - who knows? £1.5m for Ngog, £10m for Babel. Absolutely no doubt yesterday who was the better buy. And no doubts who has more intelligence, and more heart.

Perhaps he's trying to spend what little money we have on even more dross so we'll be no threat to his new club in the Europa League next season?

Liverpool. 10 Mar, 2009 - 14 Mar, 2009 (inclusive) Those were the days.

450 posts on the mancs (both colours). Are you lot insane??? (Or obsessed.) And - no. I haven't read this thread. Why the fuck would I want to?

I was saying that the Mancs have won the title 11 times since we last did, and we're still light years away from winning it. Who were YOU talking to?

Can't see it happening, but a interesting idea. Rafa's too experienced - and too proud - too go along with anything like that. Might work with Kenny by himself. As I said, good article, but can't see the Rafa/Kenny partnership happening. It would be as insulting to Rafa as the joint managership was to Roy Evans.

We've all been going over and over old ground - should Rafa stay?, if not - who takes over,? etc. I've only just seen this article from Henry Winter in yesterday's Telegraph. He says we need not only a new manager, but also need to return to the principle of the bootroom. His suggestion is Rafa to work with Kenny until the end of the season, then Jose Mourinho, Fabio Capello or Guus Hiddink to take over, with Carra to be groomed as the manager after that. Henry Winter: Kenny Dalglish can give Rafael Benítez some boot-room backing at Liverpool - Telegraph Sounds good to me, although I can't see Rafa going along with essentially a joint managership with a view to him being shipped out in the summer. Not sure also how easy it is to dismal the 'serial irritants', as he brands G & H. Good article, though. Makes good points both about Carra, and our failure in the 80s to maximise our commercial appeal.

A friend just emailed me this story. He's one of the ones who hates Rafa and gloats at any bad news about Liverpool. My response to him was: "Those figures are meaningless. It will not cost £1b to take over the club. If Gillett and Hicks were to sell, it would take £400m. G & H wouldn't care if new owners didn't build a stadium or overhauled the squad. And why would new owners change the managerial team (OK, loads of reasons, but they don't HAVE to)? New managerial team? We were talking about this this evening. Has LFC been insane enough to say to Rafa 'If we sack you, not only will we give you a mega-payoff, but we'll payoff the backroom staff as well?' The club is run so badly that it wouldn't surprise me. But, if the boss leaves, why would we pay off anyone wants to go with him? If Rafa is fired, and Sammy Lee isn't, but Sammy decides to go also, surely he doesn't get compensation. He will have simply LEFT his job. Managerial switch would probably be less than £5m - how long would Rafa be out of a job? Just don't fire any of the rest. If I wanted to be a new owner, it would cost £400b + (possibly) Rafa's payoff. Initially, no stadium, no other sackings, and make do with the squad you have and any money you get from player sales. "Buyer needs £1b for Anfield takeover" TO SUCCEED. What does SUCCEED mean? They'll get the club for 40% of that (less if they do a G & H and borrow the money). Do they mean £1b to buy Liverpool AND win the title. Is a new stadium a pre-requisite? Given the performance of other teams, might a new manager simply stop us conceding last minute goals, improve our set-pieces, improve our defending against set-pieces, and provide more motivation for the team? Incredibly shoddy - and headline-seeking - journalism. I need a job - give me this guy's job as a Times sports journalist. I could do a better job." Maybe I'm being naive, but I really cannot see where the £1b figure comes from. It would be nice if we had it (new stadium, no debts, new players), but it isn't NEEDED to buy out G & H. £400m should do it - that's all. All we need do is find someone with £400m burning a hole in their pocket.

Tend to agree with you. But... http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/ff-football-forum/87605-31-063-a-2.html#post2082037

Your yellow what?

We were for a couple of years, but this season's decline has been frightening. Agree totally. Some of the criticism has been disgusting - and some from Mancs/Blues has bordered on racism.

No worries. This happened last season, so we learned from mistakes then and made sure that this season we had proper backup for them if they were both out. What? We didn't? Oh shit.

So the big issue tonight is that the ground wasn't full? Did you see the way they "played" or were you too busy getting all uptight about empty seats? Are you really as stupid as you appear to be?

I think the Barry Endean moment should have come long ago. I doubt it ever will with this manager. There was a big difference between that match and this. Then, a team that had won the title twice had been partially renewed, but the manager had persevered with some for too long. The Liverpool careers of Ron Yeats, Tommy Lawrence, Ian St. John and Geoff Strong (if I remember correctly) ended with that game. Some new players had already come in over the past few years who eventually formed the nucleus of a new title winning side with replacements for the players mentioned above. Barry Endean's goal was the catalyst for the introduction over the next year or eighteen months for Clemence, Heighway, Lindsay, Lloyd and Keegan to be added to Hughes and Toshack, and we won the title 3 years later. Shanks reacted ruthlessly after that defeat, but it was essentially replacing aging players with new, younger ones. It was evolution. I think we need revolution. I see no way we can go forward like this. We probably need a complete restart. Without naming names, there are probably only about five or six of the current first choice side we should keep, and two or three of those are probably too old now to be around when we finally get number 19. Unless a sugar daddy with multi-billions suddenly appears.

"Anyone else think we can still win it?" We can't even win a game.

We can't afford NOT to sack him.

Twat.

Best players the cameras focussed on were Kenny and Rushie. Memories are all we have left nowadays, so it was nice to see them there.

I can't believe some of the things I've read in this and other threads. There seems to be a blinkered view with a lot of people who think that we can only deal with one problem at a time. There even appears to be the insane view that the ONLY problem is the owners, and that when/if they have gone all will be sweetness and light. There's nothing wrong with Rafa - it's all the owners. Not true. The biggest problem is with the owners. But when - WHEN - they go, Rafa will still carry on in his baffling way. We'll have some good results, some bad results, and a hell of a lot of dross - and, very probably, no title. The owners aren't picking the team, Rafa is. The owners may be setting the budget, but after that, it's all Rafa. Sure, he's got bugger all money to play with, but within that (massive) constraint, the decisions are his. Two major problems. The owners are the bigger problems - but let's stop this blinkered rubbish from some of you that they are the only problems.

I don't regard him as the worst we've ever had. I think he has a lot of ability, of which we've only seen flashes. I think he hasn't had a run because he tends to disappear at times in games - this is I made a reference to players 'playing their heart out for the club'. Essentially, he doesn't try hard enough, and we lose out, because if he did try, he'd be an asset to the team. And there have been too many 'misquotes' from the Dutch press for them all to be 'misquotes'. As a now established Dutch international, I expect more from him in terms of effort, end-result and professional behaviour. Tried to sum that lot up in the word 'shit'. Maybe I was being as lazy as I accuse Babel being. One thing I would say (and this applies to any player) is that if he suddenly changes his attitude and tries his hardest, then I'm happy with him. But I expect more of the same if he stays on, and I'd sooner he left. Immediately.

Enigma???? He's not an enigma - he's shit. The sooner he goes, the better - even if the twats who own the club pocket the money. When you look back at the hundreds of great, good and even average players who've worn a Liverpool shirt and played their hearts out for the club, it's disgusting that Babel is a Liverpool player.

So they've suddenly found the ability to grit an area because Sky ask them to? Bet all the shops, pubs and restaurants who've lost a shedload of dosh this week wish Sky were on their side. And I bet the kids who attend the two schools opposite me are really glad Sky didn't put in a word for the shools!