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Liverpool v Braga (agg 0-1), 16R, L2, Kick-off: 20:05 From the pre-match interview [YOUTUBE]fMdf592msWM[/YOUTUBE] From the Pre-match press conf [YOUTUBE]cuvEtGvKwho[/YOUTUBE]

--------------Pepe--------------- Kelly---Soto------Wilson---Aurelio --------Lucas----Meireles--------- Maxi----------Cole-----------Pacheco ---------------Kuyt---------------- subs Gulacsi Agger Johnson Poulsen Spearing Sterling Ngog 2-0 LFC Cole Wilson

Beckham, Prince William, Cameron, Barnes etc should just say one thing to the corrupt bastards. "We invented the game, if we want to host it, then we should host it - you wouldn't have a game if it wasn't for us - The end!". "Oh and in the future if we want it - we will host it!"

Against the Yanks. GET THE FUCK IN.

Backing the African lads in this, fuck Brazil and Dunga the shitcoat wearing, Captain Haddock wannabe.

Seriously all i see is shite about the Mancs and Blueshite seriously people are just obsessed we are LFC we are better than that.

Sorry if this was already posted.... Rafa: I didn't talk to The Sun - Liverpool FC Rafael Benitez today moved quickly to rubbish a report in this morning's Sun claiming he had given an "exclusive" interview to the national newspaper. The Liverpool manager said: "It is important for me to reassure our supporters that I have never spoken exclusively to this newspaper - and never will. "The quotes they used from me are taken from an event I attended yesterday in Spain."

If you think Rick Parry "sold the Family Silver" Lucas has has done that plus thrown in his Grannies ashes ..... Star Wars the sitcom Lucasfilm eyes animated 'Star Wars' TV comedy - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety

I mean on paper, I am amazed how United are creating numerous chances in games, challenging for the title, still in the Champs League and already winning a Cup this season. I really don't think they are any better than us on paper. They are highly reliant on Rooney and if anything we have more top class attacking threats as we have two world beaters (on form) in Torres and Gerrard. Not only that they should have been really hindered this summer by losing Ronaldo and Tevez this season - more than we should have been hurt by losing Alonso and Arbeloa (the later who has been upgraded by Johnson). They have even had numerous injuries in defense, losing eight defenders at one point and having to play Carrick and Fletcher in central defense. Reina, Johnson, Mascherano, Gerrard and Torres would all walk into the United first team - with some others probably being close such as Benayoun for example. I guess that's what a world class manager in Ferguson offers, getting the best out of players, unlike Benitez this season. He tells his players to go out and play, create chances and it pays off. If we got a manager like Mourinho in the summer, I think he could get the best out of our players, who on paper should be challenging for the title. There is not too much wrong with our team (on paper), we just need a change to give the players a lift, some optimism and get them performing... as at present everything is flat and I believe our manager has gone stale. A good change in the summer and there is no reason why we can't be challenging for the title, as we did last season... but that's what has to happen, a change and the right one.

Liverpool * 25 Reina * 05 Agger * 12 Aurelio (Insua 38) * 20 Mascherano * 23 Carragher * 08 Gerrard * 15 Benayoun * 17 Maxi * 21 Lucas * 09 Torres * 18 Kuyt Substitutes * 01 Cavalieri, * 22 Insua, * 34 Kelly, * 40 Ayala, * 04 Aquilani, * 19 Babel, * 24 Ngog 1. 2. 3. Thanks.

Credit to Rafa for this, it gives us great width. Not many managers are fit to set up their teams to do this.

Liverpool and Chelsea will be kicked out of the Champions League | Mail Online Liverpool and Chelsea will be kicked out of the Champions League By Rob Draper, Mail on Sunday Chief Football Writer Last updated at 1:11 AM on 28th February 2010 Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City all face the extraordinary prospect of being excluded from the Champions League and Europa League in two years because of the huge financial losses they continue to suffer. European football chiefs insist they will enforce a ban on those clubs unless they radically reduce their multi-million pound losses. And though Manchester United will escape censure despite their £716million debt, because they are still making a profit at present, Liverpool's precarious financial state means they face a huge crisis if they wish to meet UEFA's tough new rules. The regulations will be published this summer in a bid to prevent further clubs going into financial meltdown, as Portsmouth have done this week, and will outlaw the kind of support that owners Roman Abramovich and Sheik Mansour have provided Chelsea and City. UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino insists that the bodies set up to regulate the new rules will not baulk at throwing out clubs who cannot balance their books, whether they be Real Madrid or Liverpool. Infantino said: 'It is not our objective to exclude clubs, but if there are rules, it is our objective that those rules will be respected. For this reason we have established the club financial control panel, chaired by Jean Luc Dehaene, who is the former Prime Minister of Belgium. I don't think somebody like him would be afraid of anything. 'They are independent to oversee the rules and pass any potential sanction to the disciplinary committee, which is also independent and which will decide the sanction. 'But the rules will be the same for everyone and of course they will be enforced the same for everyone.' UEFA's drive for what they call financial fair play is the biggest shake-up of elite football since the formation of the Champions League in 1992 and represents a direct challenge to the Premier League's financial model, which has allowed excessive borrowing and rich benefactors to fund many clubs, factors which caused the demise of Portsmouth. The renewed threat from UEFA, who will finalise their new rules this summer, will wholly undermine Manchester City's plans to spend further millions this summer. City recorded a loss of £92.6m last year and that figure is likely to balloon still further after the extraordinarily expensive signings of Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure. UEFA are likely to demand that by the time the 2012 regulations come into force, City are on course to break even, which seems highly unlikely, unless they slash their wage bill and decline to enter the transfer market. Liverpool, too, are at huge risk given that last year they posted losses of £42m and had to pay £36.5m interest on their debts, which the Anfield club claim have now been reduced from £350m to £237m. UEFA will give clubs two years to put their accounts in order and will allow a transitional period in the first two years of the scheme, but they insist that clubs such as City and Liverpool cannot simply continue as they do now and expect to be cleared for competition. Infantino added: 'The rules come into force in 2012-13 and at the beginning there will be some sort of transitional period, which we are defining. But it doesn't mean that a club cannot be excluded in 2012 if the situation is extremely bad and getting worse. 'From this summer the clubs will know what the rules are going to be and if a club doesn't do anything and think that rules will only apply after 2012-13, that's a wrong calculation.' Infantino confirmed that, at present, United would meet UEFA's criteria because last year they made a profit, even though their enormous debts cost them £68.5m in interest payments. 'United is, of course, very well managed by David Gill and as long as they can still make a profit at the end of the year, it's fine. In the long term, though, the question is whether they can still afford this debt.' Liverpool though have been warned that their financial model will have to change, putting owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks under further pressure to secure new funding. 'They have to look at not making these £40m losses every year. And one of the ways of not making them is to reduce the debt, or to reduce the salary of the players, though that has sporting consequences.' Chelsea have at least embarked on a campaign to wean themselves off the funding of Abramovich, having reduced their losses from a staggering £140m in 2006 to £44.4m last year and, if they can continue at a similar rate, would be likely to meet UEFA's criteria. Infantino said: 'Chelsea is a good example as a few years ago they said that their objective was to break even and now it will be underlined by some rules. If everyone plays by the rules this inflation which raises higher salaries and transfer fees, will decrease. It will be a big change and I don't think the owners will be unhappy. On the contrary, what they are saying to us is that they would be happy of they don't spend their personal fortune on this.' When the rules are applied, UEFA will assess a club's accounts over a three-year period so that making a loss for a single season would not be punished.

Penciled in at the bottom of this article: Let's be more attacking now, says Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard | Football | guardian.co.uk Steven Gerrard has called on Liverpool to show more adventure in their quest for a top-four finish and Europa League triumph that would, according to manager Rafael Benítez, erase the disappointments of this campaign. Liverpool advanced into the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday night with a 3-1 win over Unirea Urziceni in Bucharest and set up a meeting with the French side Lille. It was the first time in five months that Benítez's team have scored more than two goals in a game and was also notable for the 33rd European goal of Gerrard's Liverpool career, taking him clear of Alan Shearer in the list of all-time British goalscorers in continental competition. Victory in Romania came at a price for Liverpool, who yesterday confirmed Martin Skrtel suffered a broken metatarsal against Unirea and will also be without his fellow central defender, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, due to suspension against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow. The length of Skrtel's absence is still to be determined. But Gerrard believes the improvement in Liverpool's attacking edge at the Steaua Stadium has set a standard the team must continue to meet to secure qualification for next season's Champions League. "It was slightly worrying that we were not creating enough chances in recent matches," admitted the Liverpool captain. "But that's what made the performance against Unirea so pleasing. Now we've got to get the balance right between now and the end of the season. We've got to be good defensively but have a bit of bottle and be a bit risky in the final third as well. You have got to keep making chances." Gerrard said he is gradually returning to form after an injury-plagued campaign. "I've suffered injuries at bad times and when I have been coming back from injuries, my form hasn't clicked straight away. But I can see signs that it is coming back," said the midfielder, who will captain England in the friendly against Egypt next week. "The target now is to try and win the Europa League and finish fourth. That would be a bit of a nice way to finish a disappointing season." On paper Liverpool have an inviting Premier League run-in and with Fernando Torres returning from injury, albeit expected to start only on the bench against Blackburn, plus Yossi Benayoun fit again, Benítez is confident of delivering another strong finale to achieve fourth place. The Liverpool manager said: "We are normally strong towards the end of the season. If we can finish in the top four and do well in the Europa League then maybe things earlier in the season will be forgotten easier." Benítez reiterated his belief that pre-season expectations on Liverpool bore no relation to the financial reality of a club that spent only what it raised through player sales last summer. He said: "We know it has not been the best season but that is because the expectations from some people were too high anyway. That's the main difference for me. But if we can improve now, and end up in the top four, it will have been a very good achievement – even more so if we stay in the Europa League to the end. "People do have short memories and if we can finish well, it can all change. People think of one game, or maybe just two or three and no more, but that is normal in football now. When you have been in Europe for a long while, like we have, we know you just have to keep going and working hard." Liverpool have appointed Manchester City's former head of communications, Paul Tyrrell, as their new head of press

W T F ?

Hey Ladies and Gentleman of TLW Just wondered if any of you guys had two spares for the Home game on the 11th April against Fulham. I promised my misses I would take her to a Liverpool Home Game before she gets too heavily pregnant and I have missed out on tickets quite a lot this season due to working every hour god sends me. Its been ages since I've been able to come up to a game myself so I know how hard it is to get tickets even being a e season ticket member and fan card.. Unless you work for Carlsberg Lucozade or Thomas Cook I get no chance at the moment. Thoughts please you Red Boys Rhys :(

Everton v Man Utd/Chelsea - Nothing But the Best I'm pretty sure someone in their marketing department must be a red. They just make it so easy.

Debt-laden Portsmouth have been called "completely dysfunctional" as they prepare to become the first Premier League club to enter administration. Accountant Nick O'Reilly of Vantis, who recently examined the club's books, said Pompey's business methods had gone "against all good governance". "I came away not knowing who controlled what," O'Reilly told BBC Sport. Portsmouth will enter administration on Friday and be docked nine points, leaving them facing certain relegation. With debts of about £60m, they were due to face a winding-up order on 1 March over an unpaid £11.7m tax bill owed to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. However, that action was suspended when the Fratton Park club declared earlier this week its intention to go into administration unless a buyer for the club could be found. Phil Hall, spokesman for Pompey owner Balram Chainrai, claimed four parties were interested in a possible takeover but Thursday's deadline passed without any indication that a deal was close. Administrator Andrew Andronikou, of insolvency experts UHY Hacker Young, will now begin the process of cutting costs at the club to try to keep it as a viable entity. Chainrai became Portsmouth's fourth owner of the season earlier this month, taking 90% of the club's shares after previous owner Ali Al Faraj defaulted on loan payments due to the Hong Kong-based businessman. Pompey's financial woes have been well documented. Players have been paid late on four occasions this season, while the club is also involved in a separate dispute with former owner Sacha Gaydamak over whether they have missed a deadline in paying a £9m chunk of the £28m they owe him. The Premier League also withheld £2m of transfer payments recently and diverted a £7m slice of TV revenue to Chelsea and Watford to cover the signings of Glen Johnson and Tommy Smith respectively. Portsmouth, currently bottom of the table with only 16 points, are also being sued by former defender Sol Campbell for £1.7m for unpaid image rights. Despite their precarious financial position, O'Reilly, the accountant who prepared the financial statement that Pompey had to submit to the High Court earlier this month, is hopeful the club will continue to exist. "I remain confident Portsmouth will survive," he said. "They'll do a deal with creditors, though HMRC is spitting feathers because Portsmouth have been a serial late payer. "The club could end up a few leagues further down the football pyramid, but for the majority of Pompey fans that will be a good result. "A perfect result would be a properly constituted board." Portsmouth are likely to need between £22m and £26m to keep the club going until the end of the season. But with Fratton Park having been sold to Chainrai, they have effectively just one asset remaining - the players. According to the club's accounts, the playing staff is worth £23m, although the board claim the squad is worth much more. "Unlike Newcastle, Portsmouth don't have a large fan base and lots of corporate facilities," added O'Reilly. "They are completely dependent on TV rights. "Buying clubs will know that Portsmouth have to sell and will extract the best price they can. Not only that but players like David James have no resale value at all." Portsmouth employ nearly 600 people - directly or indirectly - and O'Reilly warned them to expect a "rocky" time ahead. "The next few months are crucial to the business," he said. "People will lose jobs, but hopefully the club will come out the other side." Having been through Portsmouth's books, O'Reilly believes that having had four owners this season - Gaydamak, Al Faraj, Sulaiman al-Fahim and now Chainrai - decision-making at the club became paralysed. "There has been blind inertia to what has been going on," added O'Reilly. "When Sulaiman al-Fahim was out of the country, no decisions were being taken and the board were having to firefight. "Ali Al Faraj took over and he brought in executive director Mark Jacob and various consultants, but that caused further inertia. "What you want is clearly defined lines of communication, with decisions being followed through. "When the administrator takes charge the club will have one person making decisions and he can start managing." Former Portsmouth manager Paul Hart, sacked in November after just four months in charge, was saddened by the club's plight but thinks administration could provide a platform for a "fresh start". He told BBC Radio 5 live: "I think the club can be strong again if they use some foresight and planning and adopt a restructuring programme. "It looks like administration is necessary and hopefully will give the club a chance to recover." Hart added: "The supporters have been long suffering and there are some very good, conscientious people who work there we should be thinking about because their jobs are in a precarious position. "The players have done very little wrong and conducted themselves well. There are a lot of good people at the club and we tend to forget them." BBC Sport - Football - 'Dysfunctional' Portsmouth to enter administration

See if you can beat my shameful 7/10 Football quiz: Liverpool in Europe | Football | guardian.co.uk

Rafa Benitez was quizzed about his weight in a bizarre press conference in Bucharest, prior to Liverpool's Europa League last 32 return leg with Unirea Urziceni. The Liverpool manager has occasionally complained of harsh treatment from the English press but has never experienced anything like the line of interrogation adopted by Romania's media, in a first-floor suite of the team's hotel barely an hour-and-a-half after their charter jet touched down at Bucharest Airport. He had already been grilled about travel arrangements that have been viewed in some quarters as a sign of disrespect towards Unirea, when local journalists turned up the heat with a string of provocative questions One asked how it felt to be taunted about the sack by opposing fans, another wanted to know the salary he would demand to coach a Romanian club and a third told him he had piled on the pounds since Liverpool's Champions' League final triumph over AC Milan nearly five years ago. To Benitez's credit, he answered each one with a broad smile after stoutly defending his decision to delay departure from Liverpool until the middle of the afternoon, thereby foregoing the chance to train at Thursday night's venue, the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest. The inquisition began with a suggestion that, by flying in late and heading back to Liverpool straight after the final whistle, he was taking the threat of the Romanian champions lightly. 'Not at all,' he replied. 'I just had to work out what would be the best preparation for the team, and I just felt that working on formations and set-pieces at Melwood before, rather than after, a three-hour flight would be the right option. 'As for after the game, if it goes to extra-time, the plane will wait, because it is a charter. Don't make the mistake of thinking we are taking anything for granted.' It got personal after that, as he was bluntly asked how he coped with standing in the technical area and hearing opposing supporters chant: 'You're getting sacked in the morning.' Unruffled, the under-pressure Spaniard claimed: 'I don't listen to them. When you are on the sidelines, watching your team, you are not aware of anything else. You are in the zone and concentrating only on what is happening on the pitch. Anyway, I don't always understand. My English still isn't all that good. Benitez was just as diplomatic over another direct query about what 'fee' he would expect to take over a side in Romania. 'It's not just about money,' he said. 'It's about being at the right club, and I feel I've got the right job now at Liverpool.' With press officer Ian Cotton trying to wind up proceedings, the best was saved until last as the gentleman who brought up the subject of sack-related chants had the final word. 'Mr.Benitez,' he said. 'The last time I saw you was at the 2005 Champions' League final, and your, erm, silhouette seems to have changed since then. Why is that?' Breaking out into a grin, Benitez responded: 'It is the stress of having to answer so many questions from the press. Thank you and goodnight.' Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez gets grilled by Romania's press and asked: Why are you so fat? | Mail Online

From the Guardian: If city can't afford to pay him what he wants then we'd probably have no chance. He'd still be better than anything we have at right midfield mostly because he has some pace but as good as he is going forward he also impressed me defensively when I've seen him this season. Hard to believe he is 28. Shaun Wright-Phillips turns down new Manchester City contract • Winger has seen new arrivals receive bigger salaries • Manchester City are unwilling to meet his wage demands Shaun Wright-Phillips has turned down a new contract with Manchester City and is said not to feel 'appreciated'. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images Roberto Mancini's problems with his Manchester City players have extended to Shaun Wright-Phillips after the England international turned down a new contract because he felt he was not being offered enough money, a development that has left the winger starting to begrudge the men in power at Eastlands. Wright-Phillips, 28, will have two years to run on his £60,000-a-week contract at the end of the season but that deal was signed a few weeks before the Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover established a new pay ceiling at the club. This will be the last major contract of Wright-Phillips's career and he wants to take advantage of the immense riches available to the club by moving closer to the higher earners such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Touré and Carlos Tevez, all of whom earn in excess of £100,000 a week. City have responded by telling him they have no intention of increasing his pay so significantly, on the basis he will be 30 when his contract expires, an age that counts against any player who relies so heavily on pace. There is also a disparity between the length of deal the player is craving and what the club's chief executive, Garry Cook, and football administrator, Brian Marwood, are willing to offer. That has left the Wright-Phillips camp complaining that the City hierarchy seem more interested in rewarding new signings rather than players who have a genuine affinity with the club. Since Wright-Phillips rejoined City from Chelsea 18 months ago he has seen players such as Wayne Bridge, with a weekly salary of £90,000, join on higher wages and is said not to feel "appreciated". In that time he has earned in excess of £4.5m. Mancini has not been involved in the negotiations but the dispute can be added to a number of problems for the City manager, ranging from Patrick Vieira's poor form and discipline to the much-publicised argument with Craig Bellamy and growing concerns about Stephen *Ireland's level of performance. After winning his first four games Mancini's management style has come into question with only two wins from seven games going into tomorrow's FA Cup fifth-round replay at Stoke City, and the Italian is acutely aware that his team's last hope of silverware is in jeopardy. "Mentally the players must be strong," he said. "We must try to play football when we can but if that is not possible we must play the ball in the air and jump and fight for every ball and concentrate at set pieces." Tevez has been in Argentina for 10 days after the premature birth of his daughter and will not be involved against Stoke, but Mancini said the club's leading scorer would be back in time to play Chelsea on Saturday. "He had a serious problem but now I think he has resolved this problem and it's important that he comes back."

Any predictions? I can see this causing people a lot of confusion in who they want to win in the fact that it's between choosing out of their hatred of Mourinho or their hatred of Chelsea. Personally, I'm pretty ambivalent to either so I'm not particularly arsed. And is it just me or is Carlo Ancelotti starting to look like Frankie Howard more and more with each passing day?

Real Madrid star plays down Alonso spat with United legend 24 February 2010 - 10:49 | Sport.co.uk Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has played down the public spat between the former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo and ex-Liverpool FC midfielder Xabi Alonso, that ensued during their recent 6-2 La Liga victory over Villarreal. The former Premier League players appeared to have a dispute over who should take the penalty which resulted in Madrid’s sixth goal. Ronaldo, who left Manchester United in the summer in a world record £80 million deal, initially took the ball, before a number of teammates, notably Raul, decided it should be taken by the former Liverpool FC midfielder who was yet to score for the club he too joined in the summer. The former Liverpool FC star subsequently scored his first goal for Real Madrid, however his teammate and Manchester United legend Ronaldo was clearly irked by his former Premier League rival’s decision to take the penalty and appeared to snub Alonso’s goal celebration. Despite the public spat at the Bernabeu, Higuain, who took penalties for the club last season dismissed any notion of a bust-up. Both Alonso and Ronaldo left the Premier League in the summer, after enjoying glittering careers at Liverpool FC and Manchester United. The former was embroiled in one of the most protracted transfer sagas of last summer which resulted in Anfield supremo Rafa Benitez eventually relenting in allowing the Spaniard to move to the Bernabeu for a reputed £30 million. Ronaldo was granted his leave from Old Trafford a year after he expressed his desire to fulfil his boyhood dream of playing for Real Madrid. Sir Alex Ferguson maintains Ronaldo is still the best player in the world. The Real Madrid forward told Spanish TV station Canal+: "These are circumstances of the game, Xabi had the vision of scoring his first goal for Madrid and nothing more," "If I'm called upon then I'll take it, but the takers are as previously designated," "Kaka takes them very well, has not missed any, and so do Cristiano, Raul... and Xabi did very well.”

Whats the best debut by a Liverpool player you have seen? For me (as a 30 year old) it takes some beating to get past Rob Jones or even Arbeloa.

Got a text today off a mate and he and a few other fellas were sitting round on their breaks today in work coming out with football questions and one of them gave my mate the task of naming a Liverpool XI were the first letter of the first name of the player is also the same as the first letter of their surname- ie Bob Bolder. Haven't really had a chance to think about it but I've got: GK: Bob Bolder RB: Alvaro Arbeloa CB: CB: LB: RW: CM: CM: LW: CF: Kevin Keegan CF: Alf Arrowsmith If there's enough for a manager and a subs bench then sound!

Forget if we deserved the win, or what they deserved, with minutes to go against our closest challenger Beni took contact from the defender, should Beni have gone down to win the 3 points (assuming we'd converted the pen of course!) ? yes or no ?