Denny Crane

I went for over 4.5 goals at 4-1 in the game. Hoping for a high scoring game. Despite players being played in strange positions, expecting quality to see us through, especially if Bournmouth let it be an open game.

Remember when Tony Evans said Rodgers did not rate Can back in August and you scoffed!. Look on the bright side if Skrtel gets suspended I am sure Rodgers will play him as a centreback ahead of Sakho for a bit of fun.

These actually try and play football so we stand a better chance than against an Oldham. Although if Jones and Lovren start we will have to at least keep them away from our box. I'm surprised Grobbelaar never came out and accused Jones and Lovren of being in cahoots with Asian bookmakers after that last game.

A German manager, the way forward?.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge will spend Christmas in Boston in a bid to speed up his return from injury. Kitchen Table @kitchentableaux · 3h 3 hours ago Rodgers reacts to Sturridge being summoned to the Red Sox for treatment.

What was more worrying was that Rodgers thought sticking Lovren in the backline would remedy all defensive issues that have arisen under his watch. Like his line of " I like my defenders to defend", spiel he spouted. The defending errors and mistakes are nothing to do with me. I use the media to blame Reina, Agger, Mignolet Sakho, Moreno, Skrtel and on and on. Buy more defenders and keepers and we still have groundhog day.

He's British if he was Villasboas he would not be getting defended by Gary Neville, Paddy Barclay and the rest. After they lost Moyes, Rodgers is the great British hope. If he fails the Liverpool and Manchester United jobs will be held by foreign managers again.

It's all a bit after the horse has bolted this analysis. Carragher and Neville were talking of Lovren as captain fantastic, a vocal player and leader last season.

Maybe the Reading players insulted Rodgers country In his monthly column on footyhighlights.com, Peter Ndlovu recalls a salacious incident from the Africa Cup of Nations 2006: We had just played our final group game, ending on a high by beating a strong Ghana side but still crashing out of the tournament. At the hotel that night we decided to have a few drinks and toast to our victory. I had invited my friend, who I can’t name for legal reasons (fans of English football will remember him from his highly successful period with Leeds United), along as he had been watching the match. The lads started giving my friend a lot of stick for his country’s loss, especially our head coach. My friend was taking it quite gracefully but, as a proud Ghanaian, I could sense his patience was wearing thin. Nevertheless, the drinks kept flowing and so did the jokes. It came to the end of the night and some of the lads had disappeared to bed, most notably our coach and my friend. Now during the whole tournament the manager had personally entered the hotel rooms of our most lazy players (Benjani was the worst) and pulled them out of bed in the morning to get ready for training so myself and a couple of the other lads decided to repeat the routine on him. We got the keys from reception and seven of us bundled into his hotel room at 4 a.m. To our horror it was not our coach who we found in bed, it was my friend. The worst part was that he was having sex with the coach’s wife! I quickly rounded the boys up and ushered them out of the room, frantically hoping to keep a lid on the situation. After all, it was I who invited him to the party! We found the coach in one of the hotel bathrooms. He had had far too much to drink and crashed out. The next morning, at breakfast, I quizzed my friend about what happened and he delivered a line which I will remember all my life: “When a man insults my country, I insult him by taking his woman“ Our manager did eventually find out about the incident and I think he separated from his wife for a period. The last I heard though was that they are back together and he’s now coaching in the USA. The moral of the story is never to slag off someone’s country! Ndlovu is hardly subtle about revealing the identity of his ‘friend’. A Ghanian striker who was successful at Leeds? He might as well have titled the story ‘Don’t let Tony Yeboah near your wife.’

That is the sort of shit I could imagine Hodgson saying whilst pulling a silly face. But with an extra 50 words and some of the old classics thrown in.

Skrtel, Gerrard and Balotelli are on four yellows.

When Rodgers decided to throw a game against the European champions he made it clear to the squad that his focus was the league above anything-else. I even think there was a bit of holding a few players back in a must win game against Basle for the Manchester United game. So pretty sure Rodgers does not give a flying fuck about this game. However I am not so sure as Rodgers does not seem to have a coherent consistent plan in trying to keep players fresh or respecting the occasion. Maybe he will just go with whatever his PR advisors tell him to do to avoid some bad PR.

I hope not, but I know Stringvest will appreciate this post... Luke Wade ‏@lwade21 Me mates just had his photo taken with Rafa on Old Hall Street. He couldn't say what he was doing, but winked. #LFC

Last time I heard Bayern buying a superkid it was that kid from Tranmere who is now at Barnsley. Also how the fuck did Alan McINally end up there, was it like Graveson, mistaken identity or something. Even that shit American with the odd fod played there, Landan Donovan. They should just stick to German youth players and buying Dortmund players and players Guardiola likes such as Xabi, Reina and Martinez and Alcantra, and Bernat.

Whilst there are some very good knowledgeable Norwegian posters on here present and past. Norway is not exactly a footballing nirvana. When was the last time they produced a World Class player of any significance. A bit like managers from Northern Ireland... Surely more likely to be Freddy Adu than next world class talent.

200% agree with you, shit anolgys suit Rodgers management of the team this season. I did not think he would leave partway through this season, but news he has lost the dressing room is dire. The players needs somewhere to get changed, it is totally unacceptable for this to have happened.

Well call me weird but I would like the manager of the club to have some sort of plan. To use his shit cooking analogy on team building. He has emptied all his food cupboards, chucked it all in a pot and given us all food poisoning, but is blaming the supermarket and the tesco driver as the cause.

Rodgers plan since the start of the season, has been to keep swapping players positions around in the hope something comes together. Inbetween mad unprepared change to whatever system he was playing. Followed by play random player, see Can then bin him. Followed by throw random player under the bus and brief against the committee, absolute carcrash of a season. Not forgetting not playing certain players smacks more of politics than trying to get results. Oh almost forgot his appauling way he overplays players certain players like Gerrad, Lambert and Sterling at certain times this season. It should not even be up for debate that he gets another season. Sterling 5 positions. Henderson 4 maybe 5. Coutinho 4 4 different players playing as the so called deepest midfielder. 3 different left backs despite no injury's, with Johnson getting the nod ahead of his new shiny lb. You could go threw the whole team and see similar muddled thinking.All because one player is broke. This is not a man with a plan but a man looking inept. If anyone can make a case for Rodgers ability as a coach to integrate new players with a plan you are living on another planet. Rodgers has been utterly clueless in everything he has done this season.

Wenger said something the other day, implying basically Messi steals all the goals as everything goes through him. If you look at Sanchez return at Arsenal compared to at Barca you see the difference. I hope he succeds there otherwise City would prob put a bid in for him.

Bournemouth top of the championship now. Also noticed things are looking very grim for Sami, in the relegation zone with only 3 wins from 21 games played in the league all season. I don't think he has recovered from shadowing Hodgson. Hopefully Hyppia gets some results there if given a chance to turn it round.

He lost the 2nd leg 2-0 against River so not to be this time. Not sure about his dates though , Houllier did not become manager until the start of 1998. Guessing just typos.

Good read this, get off football manager and spy on football managers... Juan Carlos Osorio: ‘I spied on Gérard Houllier’s training sessions for two years’ Juan Carlos Osorio stares at his feet, his fingers twitching in his pockets. “I’m very sad,” he declares, “both me and the players are hurting a lot today.” He kicks a piece of turf and lifts his chin from his chest to look blankly into the distance. As manager of the 14-times Colombian champions Atlético Nacional, he has lifted the last three league titles and won two domestic cup competitions. He is the most successful manager in the history of Colombia’s most successful team and was inspired into football management after a spell living across from Liverpool’s training ground where he watched Gérard Houllier’s team night and day. And yet, there’s still something missing. For Osorio, that something has become an obsession; a continental trophy that will catapult his name to global attention and allow him a stab at his dream job: to manage in England. Last Wednesday, his opportunity finally arrived. After a tense penalty shootout victory in the Copa Sudamericana semi-final against São Paulo the week before, the stage was set as Atlético Nacional hosted the Argentinian giants River Plate in the home leg of the final. With almost 60,000 fans piled in to the Atanasio Girardot – capacity 44,000 – Nacional put in a memorable first-half performance. “They couldn’t handle us,” Osorio says “we played with such intensity.” But at half-time and for all their dominance, Nacional only had Orlando Berrio’s strike to show for it. After the break, the tables were turned. A former Arsenal trialist, Sebastián Pérez, hit the bar for the home side early in the second half, but a few minutes later River equalised and in the end the Argentinians could have gone on to win it. “It was a historic chance to beat a historic rival and we blew it,” Osorio moans. “I’m distraught.” Several minutes later at a petrol station on the outskirts of Colombia’s second city Medellín, Osorio is locked in debate with the guy filling up his car. “Profe, forget about it, there’s no use crying over spilt milk, onwards to the second leg.” Osorio spins off his driver’s seat and looks the pimply teen in the eye. “You can mess up in the small games that don’t matter, but not ones like this. This does matter.” During lunch, over coffee in a local bakery, and then on the football ground at his kids’ school, the 52-year-old engages with anyone who approaches him on where it all went wrong. While his 10-year-old son trains, for more than half an hour on the sidelines Osorio berates the child’s PE teacher for daring to use player tiredness as an excuse for the collapse. “That would be the easiest excuse, but it just isn’t true, we got scared and we bottled it.” Back in his car, the phone calls pour in as Osorio liaises with players, agents and the club chairman. “This is my life, I talk football and I spend time with my kids.” Talking football is an understatement; he lives and breathes the game. Born in 1962, Osorio was an average player at his local side Deportivo Pereira before packing it all in to go and study in New York. For 13 years he attended Southern Connecticut State University while saving money for a trip to England. In 1997 he crossed the Atlantic heading for Liverpool to study a Science and Football degree at John Moores University. “I learnt so much from England,” Osorio says. “When I arrived there I tried several times to watch Liverpool training sessions, but they wouldn’t let me in.” Undeterred, Osorio began banging on the doors of the local houses that overlooked the ground. “11 Crown Road,” he beams. “I saw there was a crack in the brick wall so I walked up to the house opposite and demanded to live there. I explained what I wanted to do and the owners organised a meeting in which they allowed me to stop there. I spent almost two years in that house, and was very happy.” It was during Houllier’s time in charge at Anfield and the then 35-year-old Colombian would wake up early every morning and peep out of his bedroom window, scribbling away in endless reams of notebooks on what he saw. “If it was raining I had to watch from the window, but if it was a nice day I would drag a table out and watch from outside and over the brick wall. At night I would do the same or go and watch the academy.” In 1997 Osorio returned to the United States as assistant at the Metrostars – now known as New York Red Bulls – before a call from Kevin Keegan, the then manager of Manchester City, who convinced him to return to England as a conditioning coach. Indelible marks from his time in England still remain, in particular Osorio’s manic squad rotation policy that was surely inspired by watching Houllier’s Liverpool. In over 200 games in charge at Nacional, Osorio has never once fielded the same back-to-back team, with even the goalkeeper chopped and changed from one game to the next. “That’s something I learnt from England where everybody rotated. In Colombia that was something very new and at first everybody was against it,” Osorio says. Keeping players fresh has been essential this year as Nacional have racked up a staggering tally of 85 games – and counting – that is surely a world record for 2014. But there’s no doubt that Wednesday’s second leg against River is the most important. So much so that Osorio has said he will do something special to mark the occasion. “There are few clubs as big as River Plate, so I have said that if we win I will get an Atlético Nacional tattoo.” Lifting the Copa Sudamericana trophy would also edge Osorio a little closer to one day fulfilling his dream. “I deeply admire the English game,” he says. “I would die for the opportunity to one day manage there.” http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/10/juan-carlos-osorio-gerard-houllier-liverpool-colombia

Be surprised if he left in Jan he seems to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. Maybe like Suso he will agree the move for the summer. I still think he is likely to sign an extension if Rodgers has his way.

On a more positive note his repetitive blaming of juggling games will hopefully make the owners know if they fire Rodgers, an experienced man is needed next summer.

RR I think it is fair to say Cole is a cunt. I was just giving the other side of how clubs escape criticism and there role is conveniently overlooked at times. It is easy to have the player as the greedy entitled cunt in most cases. History shows Cole was worth that extra 5k and if he was promised verbally 60k and then got 55k in writing he may have had a point of being a bit pissed. It brings me on to the next point you make. As we already have Sterling we do not need to go the extra bit. I disagree totally, if you have a very very good 20 year old who is also English with no injury problems and seems a good kid. Do as much as you can to keep him. I agree he is not at the level of Fowler at his age but that is no sleight. What would a Fowler be asking for in 2014, not far off Hazard wages I guess. Is he world class, of course not. But he is not asking for world class wages is he?. That you could have a debate about if 70k wages are underpaying a player is laughable, however most seem to say that is considered at the lower end which is another tedious debate itself. I do agree with you that young players are poorly advised and should always look to be at a club where they can play regular to reach their potential. I guess the other side is playing with better players also helps players to grow. I'm pretty sure Sterling learned more from playing with Suarez and Gerrard in 18 months than he could have learned at Qpr in a career. Will his agent say, play with Ronaldo, James and the rest, will be the next stage of your development. What can you learn from playing with Allen, Lambert and the rest you are being stifled. I hope not as my hunch is Sterling is very settled here. One other thing, Danny Murphy mentioned something that Henderson is having similar contract problems and he only has 18 months left. His negotiations started around a year ago and still not signed. My hunch is, it has as much to do with this bonus package, where they all want less bonus better flat wage.