Gerschenkron

Cheers dude. My first game was against QPR and it was a terrible game but I bloody loved it. I expect that the prospect of watching "big" sam allardyce's boys will not provoke anything but excitement for this kid either!

I think I managed to get four tickets for the Blackburn game - did this online because no way through on the phone. The confirmation email says: "This confirmation of receipt of order is subject to availability and does not constitute a binding contract. Should any of these items be unavailable, we will cancel that item and inform you by email or telephone. Your order will be delivered within 3-6 working days for tickets and within 28 days for membership packs." Does this mean there's a chance I won't get the tickets? Any advice would be much appreciated. Also, I had to buy all adult tickets even though I'm taking a kid for his first game - I guess I'll just have to stomach that extra cost.

I'm sure noone is going to read this again now but anyway - thanks for the comments on my post. After Cracking four past Franco's fascists and another four practically into Fergie's face I'm considerably more positive than I was but I still think Rafa will always be frustrated with factors beyond his control in football (including psychological ones and public relations / reputation management ones). As Nathan Barley might close off: peace and fucking!

Comrades, I have a few things to get off my chest, please forgive me: 1. The league is over (what can I say?): We're seven points behind manchester united who have a game in hand which they'll probably not lose. Even if we beat them at their place they still have to lose two more games on top of that and drop points in at least one further game. It's not going to happen and there's a serious danger that they could win everything which would be depressing to the extent I'd have to consider retiring from being a football fan. 2. Lies, damned lies, and statistics: The Times regularly refers to studies carried our by the likes of "Dr. Ian Graham" which present "scientific" or "mathematical" analyses of the game. One of these "There are no cracks in Rafael Benitez's master plan at Liverpool" in particular highlighted an annoying tendancy - the feeling, the thought, the repeated cliche that the likes of Everton, Aston Villa and Portsmouth (last season) over achieve given their relative low costs. Firstly, don't even get me started on how saddening it is that your average football fan (me included) is as likely to talk about finance in football as they/we are a skillful player, or a refereeing decision. Secondly, in the name of all that isn't holy please can we all hold hands and remember that the money spent by MAN, CHE, LIV, ARS also goes toward sustaining European football on top of the league games. So, it might be the case that Everton aren't too far away from Arsenal or Liverpool in any one season but come back and run the numbers again if they manage to put together a run in Europe! Yes, we spend more on players and wages than everton; no we don't win thirty more points than them each year BUT we're also playing in Europe (and we're one of the best teams in Europe over the last four or five years!). 3. Reputation Management: How important is psychology in sport? Okay, that's a big question and I seriously don't know the answer but there are so many facets that need to be considered it's untrue. My main point is that the mancs benefit from so much because of their reputation - with the media, with other teams, with other managers. Some of this is based on their form since the change in football finances in 1992 (i.e. to some extent you make your own luck) but everyone must acknowledge Alex Ferguson's role as well. Here are some thoughts which I won't narrate because I'll end up with a book length post: - the restructuring of the media in the UK in recent decades (see "Flat Earth News") has had the effect of drawing away resources to investigate and to effectively report. It's not necessarily that reporters are lazy, corrupt or stupid (though doubtless many are) but the easy story will gain coverage. It's easier to report Benitez as having lost the plot than to investigate his claims - especially if such an investigation would immediately mean losing the source of so many stories since 1992 - Alex Ferguson. - When we were dominant in the league in the past we doubtless got some benefits in terms of the odd penalty but was it really as extensive as it seems to be now? Witness the difference in treatment of Masch last season and Rooney throughout his Mancy career; witness a number of sides lining up against the mancs in the league this year resting players and being mainly concerned with avoiding injury (again, to some extent - that's credit to the Mancs because their success has given them a fearsome reputation) as opposed to those same teams turning up at Anfield confident they may be able to get at least a draw (again, to an extent this is our own fault, but you see the point) - Finally, Momentum: what price momentum? Remember the Arsenal "invincibles"? I do, they scraped a good number of draws that season and themselves benefitted from the easy story presented in the press and media that Henry was the best player in the world, Arsenal the best team and so on. Then they were finally beaten - by the Mancs who basically cheated them. But that one loss shattered the myth and they - arguably - have never recovered. Is there an overarching point to this post? Perhaps not. Really I'm saying that football is a simple game made complicated by fools and moneymen. Those who can see the "golden rules" (e.g. Shankly) are able to bring to bear all sorts of benefits not simply on the pitch but also in their players' minds, in opposing players' minds, in other managers' minds, in fans' minds. Benitez - I love him - is a scientist and you can see, you can feel his frustration at the dark arts required to bring success in the real world of football in this age of globalized idiocy.

Fernando Torres: Technique (New Order) No explanation required.

More importantly, can we agree that his nickname should be Ninja? A chant should follow quite easily after that?

Was that a pen for us? Radio5 says so.

I'm in New York and having to put up wih "waching" the game via the intenet on the telly in my sub prime hotel room. Thanks to all the contributors to this thread for making it less unbearable,. My footy superstition means that I'll be tempte to come here again for the next bloody Derby! That's me off o the 11st Street Bar to try to catch the highlights - wish I could have got there for the entire game. Come on red men! It's almost sweeter that the lue noses will be moaning about pens!

It has to be Gary. He signed an autograph for me in the video shop in Birkdale when I was a nipper. Those were the days when footballers cars had their names and the name of the dealership plastered all over the side. Bobby Gillespie used to be in my good books (in response to Noel Gallgher attending that party in Downing Street: 'the only reason I'd visit downing street is to deliver a letter bomb') but he's sold his soul like the rest now.

Silly season may be upon us, but are there any players of UK origin you'd actually expect/want us to sign (i.e. players who could improve the first team)?

Who cares what the scum are doing anyway? Those signings are not scary enough to bother us. If we can get the fixtures they got to start last season then we'll be okay. Rafa will strengthen the wings, the forward line and the defence. Trust Rafa.

Paul, I agree with you that we'd need to sign new players to satisfatorily fill those numbers on the team sheet. If we can get a suitable #7 and a suitable #9 then I think we'd have enough to challenge on more than one front next season. If we could get a strong #11 as well then the bread and butter would be in the cupboard (if you see what I mean)

Have to admit I don't know much about Robotics. Maybe I should commission an overview from Peter Crouch...

I will be staggered if we sign Eto'o. It's almost inconveivable that we could do that. That would be the definition of a new Era.

I have to admit to being fairly old-fashioned when it comes to squad numbers and the excellent recent post about which number Reina should have next season got me to thinking. If you could start from scratch, how would you allocate squad numbers for next season? A few thoughts: should we rest #9 for one year? Are there any numbers for which we do not have adequate players? Would you dare take Carra's #23 from him? I append the current squad list from the club website for your interest. 1 Jerzy Dudek 2 Alvaro Arbeloa 3 Steve Finnan 4 Sami Hyypia 5 Daniel Agger 6 John Arne Riise 7 Harry Kewell 8 Steven Gerrard 9 Robbie Fowler 10 Luis Garcia 11 Mark Gonzalez 12 Fabio Aurelio 14 Xabi Alonso 15 Peter Crouch 16 Jermaine Pennant 17 Craig Bellamy 18 Dirk Kuyt 20 Javier Mascherano 22 Momo Sissoko 23 Jamie Carragher 25 Pepe Reina 26 Paul Anderson 29 Gabriel Paletta 30 Daniele Padelli 32 Boudewijn Zenden 34 Miki Roque 35 Danny Guthrie 37 Lee Peltier 38 Craig Lindfield 39 Stephen Darby 40 David Martin 42 Nabil El Zhar 46 Jack Hobbs 48 Emiliano Insua - Florent Sinama Pongolle - Jordy Brouwer - Francisco Manuel Duran - Ronald Huth - Ryan Flynn - David Roberts - Robbie Threlfall - Danny O'Donnell - Scott Carson - Besian Idrizaj - Anthony Le Tallec - James Smith - Adam Hammill - Djibril Cisse - Godwin Antwi

I have to struggle against an obsession with squad numbers (have to admit to being old fashioned about such matters). He should be number one in my opinion.

Quoted in the Guardian the other day thus: "Fergie, as befits a cautious Scot and a diplomatic one, is sitting on the fence. 'Liverpool are hard to beat,' he said. 'They will set out to be hard to beat in the final. Milan have got fantastic quality and in Kaka and Seedorf they have a couple of special players, but there's two teams with different styles and it's a very difficult game to call. I wouldn't put a penny on it.'" This then is a man who is both two-faced and full of shit. We knew that all along though - eh? They've done well to win the league this season but who's going to remember that when Stevie lifts the big cup? There's the explanation for this latest nonsense to be spouted on MUTV. Or was it on ITV? Oh wait - they're the same channel aren't they?

My first post this. I can't believe the Moores Day will get off the ground (it belongs in the basement). The sentiment behind the Fowler day is spot on though I can understand the club not wanting to officially get involved before it's been admitted that he's leaving. It's a sad day for us to lose Robbie and we need to mark it with a proper send off for sure. All the ideas sound good to me apart from having a pop at Le Saux - who cares about him? Even the BBC wised up and booted him off the commentary. Let's hope Robbie gets off the bench to nail the winner in Athens. That really would be "boys own stuff" © Barry Davies