ottawa_lfc

Ah-ha! A discussion! Why is that the case though? Rafa is a top manager - he really is - and wherever he goes next, whenever that may be, he will do well. Why is he not doing well here at the moment? For me, it is because he cannot buy what we need: a top class striker - Villa; a top-class midfielder - Barry (for the sake of argument); and a top-class winger (Quaresma - just for a laugh). Why can't he do that? Again, for me, it is because there is no money. Now long term, this may be the making of the club (fucking woefully optimistic here, I know) and we may get Kelly, Spearing, Eccleston, Amoo and other top prospects coming in and shining. But short term, it is going to be a struggle. If we had the money from ALonso, say, plus the 20M reports say Benitwz was due to get, we may have filled in one or two of the holes this season... but we don't - and it is due to the owners. So I disagree strongly with what you've said, I'm afraid. For me, this is down to the owners. It all stems from them. I'm sure we could sit down and go through every single transfer Benitez has made and justify it. Babel - Nunez - Kronkamp et al. They may not work out - so many don't - but you can justify why it has been made. People jump on bandwagons, jerk knees, do all sorts of stupid things. Not me... I'm different:whistle:

I'd say no - not in a given year. However, given a number of years of this being the case, then yes - probably close to every time.

That's bollocks. I've played it over 100 times, and we've won every time.

Which ones? Look, I'm not saying the decisions were right, but FFS, TRY and understand, at least, what he was doing. Torres off? Injured, not recovered, if he pulls something in the last 30 mins (which is when it is most likely to happen) then he is out for 3-4 weeks. That is a HUGE fucking gamble. Benayoun off? - that is much harder to understand - but Benayoun was not playing well - it was a choice between him and Kuyt for me. Eccleston on? Why the fuck not? He gets slated for not using the youth system - and he is using it. So he gets slated for using the youth system. Playing Carra and Zorba? - Carra was fine today - and IMHO that was NEVER a red card, he tackled from the side and won the ball cleanly. Lucas? Masch? Both fine - if anything, Masch was he worse of the two - and I love him as a player. Voronin - some tit negged me for saying Voronin had a good first half. He had a fucking great first half, then disappeared in the second. But he kept on fighting for the ball. That is the attitude we want. He may have been useless at times during his first spell, but he also had some very good matches. People want him to fail - and Lucas - so they can use it as a stick to bash rafa with. He could easily have been subbed today, but he wasn't. Degen/Insua - both were poor today - Degen is a liability in defence at the moment. I wouldn't blame Kuyt for keeping the ball in and losing possession - I'd blame Degen for not being aware of what was happening and for not getting back in time to cover. However, the decision to play both attacking defenders was not a bad decision for me - I mean, you can see what he was trying to do, no? The first 45 showed what he wanted to do - have Kuyt & Degen link up on the right, & Insua & Benayoun on the left. First half was excellent - second was crap. I agree that the result is disappointing - hugely disappointing - and that there has to be a shake up. But where/how? Getting rid of Benitez solves nothing short term - he is a superb tactician, knows the players, and is working with his hands tied behind his back. If this swine flu rumour is true - and if we have the following players out/injured/sick, then who else would you have played - and how would you have approached this game? Johnston, Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio, Gerrard, Ngog, Riera, Aquilani, Cavalieri, Kelly ... We have a paper thin squad... whose fault? Rafa's? Who should he have bought? He spent 20M on Aquilani - which was a gamble, but which may pay off. I'd say it hasn't worked - but who else could have come in to replace Alonso (and let's not get into the Alonso should not have been allowed to leave stuff)? Barry? We have no money to buy the best players. And here's the rub. We buy average to good players because that is all we can afford. And then we make them worse by shattering their confidence (Lucas, Babel (maybe)). It's a lose-lose situation, and all this ridiculous knee-jerk bollocks from people - including a lot of people on here - only exacerbates the situation. It's not complicated. Either you think Hicks and Gillett are out to rape the club - in which case you can't blame Rafa - or you don't. If you don't, then it's down to Rafa. I know where I am.

Repped

Repped

That about sums you up

Ever since Itandje left, I'd have to agree

Voronin has had a decent game - his passing has been crisp, he's working hard and he's made two superb defence splitting passes - one to Torres and one to Benayoun - that deserved better. He was very good in the second half against Arsenal, and he's been very good today. Don't slag players off who are doing their all -- and additionally doing it well. It's been a very good performance so far - Insua's mistake for the goal aside - and it is good to see some of the fringe players doing well. We're suspect defensively on the outside, and Torres is only 3/4 fit, I'd say. But it's been encouraging, good to watch, and hopefully we can build on this.

I suspect Molby is not too happy about this either. I've asked him about this goal at least three times - and the shot has got successively further out after having beaten more men each time it is told. The last time he told the story, he said he had saved a penalty from Strachan, bowled the ball out of the area, beat 8 men inside our own half and then hit it with the outside of his left foot into the roof of the net.

I laughed out loud

Not a caption, but I fucking love him

You just need to read a couple of his MBM reports and then compare them to a couple of MBM Scum matches he does. Him and Doyle first against the metaphorical wall come the revolution (that's when I become President of Britain, of course).

In fairness though, that is his job. He exists to give the club's point of view and to raise positive issues and ideas. Once you read it from that perspective and stop expecting him to have a go at people in the club, it's fine. But sweet Jesus, he is long winded.

I think Sid Lowe is quality - and I think this is a reasonably fair article. I honestly dont mind people saying things against LFC if it is balanced and reasonable - and this was, in my opinion. If some cunt like Glendenning had done it - or Paul Doyle - the self-professed Liverpool hater - a lot of the positive things would have been edited out. Whoever wrote the header though needs a kick in the balls, I'll give you that!

"When I was there, sometimes I would like to get the ball and not even beat the man, just put it straight in. And he would be shouting: 'Go to the byline.' He'd say it before the game and, if I had put a ball in early, as I was jogging back he'd be there gesturing for me to get to the byline. You think, 'Give it a rest. Can I just play like this? Can't I just express myself?' He's a great manager but his approach can take the best out of you." This sums him up. In his entire career with us, I can't remember him getting to the byline once (I'm sure he must have, but I can't remember). What I can remember though is feeling Benitez didn't like players to do that. I couldn't imagine a professional player in a top club being told to go wide and cutting in the entire time. I assumed that was Benitez's style of play. But all the time, Rafa wanted him to beat his man, get to the byline and cross. And the stupid twat Pennant couldn't do it. No wonder he got sold.

Fucking class: 71 User(s) are reading this topic 3 members, 68 guests, 0 anonymous users wonder who the 3 members are....

I edit magazines for a living - in Canada, that often means doing bilingual issues in French and English. For the past 2 days, I have been trying to get an answer to a series of questions about the layout of the issue - basically, without knowing how many pages there are allocated to a story, I don't know how many words there should be. So I leave voice mail messages and send emails to the woman responsible for making this decision. I got the following answer today: Look, I got the messages. Stop hassling me. Answering the questions will delay me from sending you the answers. Brilliant stuff.

who else made the gesture that weekend?

LIVERPOOL FC OFFICIAL STATEMENT from the Offal Rafa Benitez today attended an FA hearing in Manchester that considered three charges brought against him following Liverpool's opening game of the season at Tottenham Hotspur. The Commission found that two of the allegations relating to comments made about the match referee were not proven and therefore dismissed. On a third, the Commission accepted that a gesture made with a pair of spectacles was 'in a non-malicious and humorous manner' and taking into account Mr Benitez's previous unblemished record, warned him about his future conduct. No fine was imposed or costs awarded against the Liverpool manager. The Commission also expressed their surprise at the failure of the FA to charge another manager who had made a similar gesture the same weekend.

I'm following the game on the Guardian MBM - Scott Murray has come out with some classics: 81 min: Terry takes root. He's the bravest tree in the whole god-damn world. Meanwhile Milevskiy saunters past him down the inside-left channel and into the box, before hammering a superb low shot towards the bottom-right corner. He's also having a go at the Johnston baiters - makes a change for the Guardian to be pro-a Liverpool player

Just seen this - sorry if it's been posted elsewhere: Jeff Winter has described Sir Alex Ferguson as "a bully" and "a coward" for his attack on Alan Wiley. Following United's 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday Ferguson claimed that the 49-year-old Wiley was "unfit". Winter, a retired Premier League referee, believes it was an unforgivable slight on his former colleague and predicts a backlash from referees assigned to officiate at Old Trafford. "I think Sir Alex may have overstepped the line this time and he may be about to get his comeuppance," he said. "I think referees will be so incensed about this that Sir Alex may find that United no longer get the benefit of the doubt on certain decisions." • FA chases Ferguson over 'unfit' referee comments • Louise Taylor: Wiley's fitness shouldn't be questioned • Daniel Taylor on the Ben Foster conundrum Winter believes the criticism of Wiley was designed to deflect attention from United's poor performance but that it will have long-term consequences for the rest of the referee's career. "It was a cowardly attack – Sir Alex wouldn't have said it to Alan Wiley's face," said Winter. "Every game Alan Wiley takes charge of now where he makes a decision which upsets some fans is going to result in chants of 'You're not fit to referee', he's going to be known as the 'unfit ref'. Sir Alex won't care though. He's a knight of the realm and he thinks he's untouchable, bullet proof. "But he's also a bully. He spoke at Sir Bobby Robson's memorial service a couple of weeks ago and said he'd learnt a lot from Sir Bobby. But he hadn't, they were totally different, Sir Bobby was a gentleman. He was humble and had respect for people." Winter feels Ferguson neglected to extend Wiley a proper duty of care. "Alan Wiley had not contributed in any shape or form to United only drawing and he cannot fight back. It won't happen but, if I was Alan, I'd be tempted to sue Sir Alex." Winter says he is "not a friend" of Wiley's but had considerable respect for him as a colleague. "I've trained with the guy and I know just how fit and professional he is," he said. "He's 49 now but he's still extremely fit. If he wasn't he wouldn't be getting a game, simple as that. Referees don't just have an annual fitness test which is pretty tough but they are continually assessed and re-assessed." All referees have ptis (personal training instructors) looking after them. Anyone not up to standard is dropped". The prospect of the Football Association charging Ferguson with disrepute does nothing to assuage Winter's anger. "What difference will it make?" he said. "What can they do to him give him a touchline ban and fine him. Fines don't hurt multi-millionaires." Adverse refereeing decisions might though. "Human nature's a funny thing," mused Winter. "Sir Alex might just find a few refereeing decisions going against him." Manchester United declined to comment tonight Jeff Winter says Sir Alex Ferguson is a 'bully' and a 'coward' after attack on Alan Wiley | Football | The Guardian

I fucking love him. Two words: Arsenal, Olympiakos. I can forgive a lot of things for those two reasons. He's like an Erik Meijer with talent.

unfuckingbelievable

http://www.paris-traveltips.com/pics/orly-airport-2.jpg ORLY?