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Prior to the commencement of a new season, we all search for clues as to "what we can expect. In essence, we're looking for things on which we can pin our hopes, writes Liverpoolfc.com columnist Paul Tomkins. If your team has just had a good season, it's almost impossible not to see a continued upward trajectory. You feel you're on a roll. And if you've fallen below expectations, you're looking for things that signal you can get back on track. Right now, I'm trying not to align all my expectations with the Anfield performance against FC Gomel, but it was precisely the kind of fast, incisive, pass-and-move football Brendan Rodgers' promised. While the opposition was modest, they were at least match-fit; and it has to be noted that home games against inferior opposition can sometimes result in the flattest performances, especially if there's a first-leg away win already in the bag. The pressure was off, of course, but it was encouraging to see such an effervescent display. Bayer Leverkusen - managed by the modern legend that is Sami Hyypia - are obviously a far better side than Gomel, but after less than 72 hours, and as a mere friendly, Liverpool were never going to be as sparkling. Even so, a Liverpool team only at 70 per cent full-strength cruised into a 2-0 half-time lead, before the mass of substitutions, which resulted in a 3-1 win on the afternoon. Some very good players have left this summer, mostly due to age, personal circumstances and contract situations. Liverpool have retained plenty of experience - Gerrard, Carragher and Reina in particular - but it looks like being a younger squad, as some evolution takes place. Only Arsenal had a younger average age for their starting XIs than Swansea last season (although Liverpool's was fairly young already), so clearly Rodgers likes to use youngsters. At the same time, you can't eschew all experience in the process. Liverpool's players aged 23 or younger with Premier League experience include new boys Borini and Allen, plus Henderson, Coates, Carroll, Kelly, Spearing, Sterling, Shelvey, Robinson, Flanagan and Wilson. And of course, two of the star men, Suarez and Lucas, are only 25. But even without making signings, new players naturally emerge from the edge of the squad. Coates has immense potential, but as I frequently note, young centre-backs tend to be punished for their mistakes (due to their proximity to goal leaving no leeway), and Coates isn't the pacy type who can easily atone for his own errors. Indeed, the young Uruguayan is in the Sami Hyypia mould: very tall and intelligent, with good technique, but not the quickest. At Coates' age, Hyypia had been rejected by Newcastle and Oldham. At 21 he was still in Finland, and he didn't move to a big club until reaching Liverpool at 26. Hyypia spent four seasons in Holland, at Willem II, but Liverpool got him very cheaply, without any serious competition. By contrast, Coates - a Copa América winner at just 20 - is miles ahead at the same stage of his career. Of course that doesn't mean he'll go on to emulate the great Finn; but it helps puts Coates' progress into context. Jonjo Shelvey, signed in May 2010, has started to look the part over the past few months. His tackling can still be too aggressive for the modern game, but he plays like someone beyond his 20 years. Raheem Sterling, signed around the same time, and who began making late substitute appearances towards the end of last season, really announced himself as a first-team player against Bayer Leverkusen. A televised prestige friendly, and within three minutes he'd scored a quite brilliant goal. It is already a trademark type of goal: similar to a couple of the five he scored in one youth team game. He will frequently look to cut inside when stationed on the left, and once in the area, the curler into the far corner becomes the most obvious finish. But the way he used strength as well as pace to get in front of the full-back, the weighting of his touch taking him clear of the covering defender, and the inch-perfect execution of the shot, showed that even if teams know what he wants to do, it can be hard to stop. (Teams know that Lionel Messi will try and shoot left-footed if he can, but they can't stop it.) But of course, Sterling is still very raw and has a lot to learn, and indeed, faded away after that amazing start. That said, his left-foot cross in the second half was the kind of thing I like to see, along with the times he tried to beat his man on the outside. Even though he (narrowly) failed to find Carroll's head, and lost the ball when dribbling, it's important to keep defenders guessing. And of course, Lucas is fit again. Several external observers seem to note that he was only appreciated by Liverpool fans once he was seriously injured last autumn; but he had been voted the player of the season in 2010-11. He is, however, the epitome of the young, new recruit who struggles to adapt to a new club, country and system, but improves steadily for a while, and then dramatically. It can also be about stepping out of the shadow of world-class players, with his best only coming once Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso had moved on. It can't be easy when you are still learning the game and are expected to step in as cover for such players, against whom you will inevitably be judged. And hopefully Steven Gerrard, who missed so much football in the previous couple of seasons, can return to his devastating best. I'm pleased to see that Rodgers has returned him to a more advanced role, which is where I feel he can best influence games. As he gets older, he needs to rely on picking up clever positions to create and score goals, rather than being expected to go box-to-box, and tearing into tackles. He still has good stamina and a turn of pace, but he remains one of the best players around when it comes to making an decisive impact in the final third. Joe Allen and Fabio Borini will both add new dimensions. Borini can offer Kuyt's goals and work-rate but with added pace, although he lacks the experience (but then a 21-year-old can represent the future in a way that a 32-year-old can't). The Italian is particularly good at hitting his shots on target, and that's an improvement the Reds need to make on 2011-12. And Allen is the kind of tempo-dictating player Liverpool haven't had since Alonso's departure (although Lucas is showing increasing capability at relentlessly retaining possession). Will Stewart Downing perform better in a new role, as a left-footed right-sided attacker? He'll perhaps be under less scrutiny a year on from his transfer. That said, he started last season very impressively, but a failure to score or gain a league assist (despite creating several gilt-edged chances) seemed to dent his confidence; this season he already has a goal, so he's under less pressure already. Andy Carroll showed against Leverkusen that he's lean and fit, and the cleverness of his turn when working space for his goal showed that he's no mere target-man. When he's confident his touch is good, and while Rodgers may favour exceptionally mobile strikers - and at times, with them dropping deep and wide to create space for midfielders, no strikers - I don't think you can say that the big No.9 cannot play fast-moving football kept on the deck. He has also shown a good work ethic. The worry can be that defenders use him as a panic ball, and the fact that, as he's not a sprinter, he can't run in behind defences. The price tag has also never helped him, but he showed towards the end of last season that he was coming to terms with expectations. Finally, Jordan Henderson seems to be underrated by a lot of people. His movement and first-time passing is very good, and though he didn't look too comfortable out on the right last season, that time spent in the team will have helped him progress as a player, just as Lucas had to endure some stick at the same age. It's all a learning process. Sometimes when a manager changes things his team can struggle for cohesiveness and a shared wavelength. But equally, when things go well very quickly, it can have a surprise quality that diminishes with time. In football, the constant evolution of any side's play is countered by opposition knowledge. You can't stand still. While some early season impacts may prove to be mere temporary highs, a passing style of football often relies on increased understanding, which comes with games and training sessions. All in all, Liverpool look in pretty good shape for the season ahead, and if everything clicks, top four shouldn't be impossible. For me, top six, but racking up close to 70 points, should be a realistic aim; but overall, a sense of improvement - be it gradual or instant - and of heading in the right direction, has to be the main objective." Tomkins: Cautious 12-13 optimism - Liverpool FC good piece imo, particularly the bits about Coates and Henderson showing a balanced view on their situations, obviously added a bit of spin to make it all sound rosey with it being an official website piece but well worth a read

Why does it hurt when I pee? I got it from the toilet seat It jumped right up N grabbed my meat

Brian Reade column: Like Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, Gerard Houllier at Aston Villa is being FOUND out by fans rather than DRIVEN out; plus Liverpool and Andy Carroll - Brian Reade - MirrorFootball.co.uk Like Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, Gerard Houllier is being FOUND out by fans rather than DRIVEN out By Brian Reade Published 23:02 01/04/11 (5) Recommend (6) It would be nice if UEFA’s veteran technical advisors occasionally descended from their Ivory Towers to admit the flaws in their own ability. I’d have more respect for men such as Roy Hodgson and Gerard Houllier (who when “resting” between coaching jobs are flown round the world by UEFA to compile critical reports) if they confessed their own technical limitations. If they admitted that when it comes to the highest level of management they may just be out of their depth. Instead, both arrogantly wave away any criticism of their ability with the dismissive air of pseudo-intellectual academics. As Hodgson faces his old club today, he’s telling everyone it was the fans who got him the sack at Anfield. That every Kopite wanted Kenny Dalglish appointed last July, which meant he was doomed from the off. That’s just not true. There was no mass call for Dalglish to succeed Rafa Benitez. The majority of supporters may have been ­underwhelmed by Hodgson’s appointment but backed it and willed him to succeed. They only started calling for Dalglish five months into ­Hodgson’s reign when they were in despair over most of his woeful summer signings, his negative tactics and his clear inability to motivate world-class players. They concluded that Hodgson’s coaching strengths lay in helping lower-to-mid-table teams punch above their weight, which made him the wrong man for Liverpool. To carry on blaming the fans for his abject failure only serves to prove his blindness to his own limitations. Even if he beats Dalglish’s side today and pushes relegation ­strugglers West Brom closer to safety, it won’t vindicate his ­reputation but serve to confirm it. Houllier, it seems, is equally blinded to his own culpability in Aston Villa’s fall from top six side under Martin O’Neill, to relegation fodder under him. Indeed, he blamed a recent defeat at Bolton on the zonal marking system he inherited from O’Neill. But apart from the fact Villa didn’t defend corners zonally under O’Neill, Houllier has been in charge since last September. So why didn’t this technical genius change it? This week, he pointed the finger of blame at his players. Not just the indisciplined like Richard Dunne and James Collins, the banished like Stephen Warnock, but those who turn it on for their country yet turn it off for him. “We’ve a squad half-full of international players so should be able to cope,” he said, before claiming the manager may be responsible for the results “but the players are responsible for the game”. Feel free to unravel that denial of guilt if you can. Houllier has never been short of excuses. He still puts his failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup as France boss totally down to one poor David Ginola cross. At Liverpool, he refused to see that not getting anywhere near winning the Premier League or Champions League meant he had ultimately failed, instead painting his time there as an unmitigated success. Who will he blame if Villa fans’ anger towards him reaches breaking point and he is forced out at the end of the season? Probably them. No doubt, like Hodgson, after he’s pocketed his hefty pay-off, he will put his sacking down to their hostility rather than his lack of ability. Despite the truth being, that, like Hodgson at ­Liverpool, Houllier isn’t being driven out, just found out. But when it comes to them writing their own technical report into their time in charge, don’t expect them to admit it. As long as UEFA view them as coaching geniuses of the highest calibre, so will they. Read more: Brian Reade column: Like Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, Gerard Houllier at Aston Villa is being FOUND out by fans rather than DRIVEN out; plus Liverpool and Andy Carroll - Brian Reade - MirrorFootball.co.uk Sign up for MirrorFootball's Morning Spy newsletter Register here

HAND GRENADE!!!! 'Liverpool is my home and I will come back' Dion Fanning Sunday October 03 2010 'Football is a lie.' Anybody who has spent any time with Rafael Benitez will have heard these words. There are a million lies in football, a hundred thousand ways for the flimflam men and the bullshitters to prosper. For Liverpool to prosper, it was concluded that Benitez would have to leave. His exit, it was said, would lead to an explosion of joy among the ranks of the players who had been worn down by his obsessiveness, his relentless demands and his cold, cold heart. The club, it was said, needed a break from his plotting. Things could only get better. Today, as Benitez's Inter Milan face Juventus at the San Siro, Liverpool play a team one point above them in the Premier League: Blackpool. Before the game, the supporters will be marching in the streets in protest against Tom Hicks and George Gillett whose duplicity Benitez did so much to expose. The chief executive Christian Purslow, brought in to sell the club, is still there, still looking for owners, still reassuring the key players that all will be well. Within days, Liverpool could be in administration but, for many Liverpool fans, the possible nine-point penalty (there could be a loophole which allows Liverpool to avoid it which would almost certainly lead to a legal objection from Liverpool's challengers) is preferable to Hicks and Gillett refinancing. On the pitch, Roy Hodgson, the man Purslow appointed, appears to have made things worse. And all it took was the removal of Benitez to bring the feel-good factor back. Many ignored the complexities involved in managing a club owned by leverage kings while Benitez was in charge. Only now is the extent of his achievement becoming clear. His refusal to play the media game or to back down or to be pragmatic in any way alienated those who form opinion. For a long time, nobody listened to their opinions at Anfield. In the last year, they did. "Did we make mistakes? Obviously," Benitez said last week. "But 82, 86 points, four trophies, three more finals in a difficult time when the owners were changing, when the chief executives were changing. A lot of things were changing. Now people can see it, no? It was a big, big problem." Benitez took the hits but held the club together. If he was shunned by the opinion-formers, it wasn't because he wasn't political. In the last year he went, as one ally puts it, "to war". He always felt there was a better way to do things Benitez wants to look forward to his challenge at Inter, it is how he has persuaded himself a football man should be, but he cannot shake the sadness about his departure from the club and the city he and his family love. Those who know him well say he is more relaxed now than he was during that draining final twelve months. After three hours in his company on Wednesday, I could see why his friends want him to talk to the media more often. David Conachy, the Sunday Independent photographer, was surprised by his warmth and wit, having expected a brooding, more explosive, presence. But Benitez is wary too. Football is a lie and he has observed how some use the media to promote their versions of the story. At one point, he jumps from his seat, refusing to pose in a certain way because it is, he says, the kind of picture one of his enemies would sit for. Above all else, he is wary of being a phoney. Liverpool, it was said, needed a manager who would put his arm around a player's shoulder. But they can't hug out their problems, as Hodgson is discovering. "Everybody has weak points and I have weak points for sure," Benitez says. "People say I don't put my arm round the shoulder. It's not true. I am talking to the players every day. I like to know about them but my priority is football." His priority has always been football. "I have been doing this job all my life," he says and it is barely an exaggeration. "Always in my head I was a manager." He talks about his childhood in terms of football. His father was a commercial director of a hotel -- "he didn't like too much football" -- and a busy man so "I remember my mother taking me to the Bernabeu for training". His career as a player was ended by injury but he was ready. Managing is his lifetime's work. He sleeps a few hours each night and he is always thinking of ways to be better. He may think too much. "I think the manager is eternally dissatisfied because he wants more and more and more. I'm this kind of manager. I like to improve, to do better every time. Some times you know that you will need more time so you have to be calm but still you have to improve." Does he ever look back on his great nights with pride and contentment? "I have notes of everything, every single season, every single day. What I did this, or how I changed my approach to a player. One hundred per cent, I am analysing and I am always talking to my staff." It's hardly The Time of Our Lives with Jeff Stelling. Benitez couldn't act clubbable. Last month, Jamie Carragher gave an interview in which he talked of the need for Liverpool to get back to traditional values. "We've had situations like Martin O'Neill and Steve Bruce criticising Liverpool and they were right," Carragher said. "We shouldn't be getting involved with stuff like that. Everyone else should look at Liverpool and say they have dignity, class. I mean, like the way people look at Arsenal." It was unfortunate timing as Arsene Wenger then spent the next month fighting with everyone, including match officials. "I didn't see his quote but I like Carra as a player and he has to keep focusing on doing things well for Liverpool. Maybe he has an opinion but I don't think Shankly would agree with him. For me the manager of Liverpool Football Club has to defend the club and his players against everyone. The name of the other manager doesn't matter. If you know the story inside you will understand why these managers are talking and I think for our fans it's very clear. "If you see the friends that these people have you will understand why. It's obvious that there are people who are close to some people and they like to protect each other." Benitez was apart and, equally as dangerously, became convinced of his own separateness. Again, it is the way he believes a manager has to be. "When you work hard and you have an idea and you want to carry on with your idea people say 'oh you are stubborn'. I think you have to have a conviction when you work with the players, when you know the players and when you talk with your staff. It's essential if you want to convince them. All the managers have the same idea." He was a physical education teacher and one of the ways he sees himself as different to his predecessor at Inter, Jose Mourinho, is in his approach to footballers. "I like to teach them. I am sure if they learn they will know things for the rest of their lives. If you can win in one year with the best players, saying we have to win this game, this game, the next game that's one way. But when you teach them the way and you ask them how to do things, it's different. At the end, they will know and they will remember all their lives." He is trying to change things at Inter while keeping the things they did well under Mourinho. Before he arrived in Milan, he read in the Spanish press how Mourinho could control everything from his manager's office at the Angelo Moratti Training Centre. There was a window with a panoramic view that allowed him to see all that was happening on the training fields. During my time in Benitez's spartan office on Wednesday, I couldn't see this window. Football is a lie. Mourinho's achievements cannot be disputed but Benitez would not be the man he is if he didn't think he could do more. "The players are happy because we are trying to play more football, more on the floor, the passing is better. They were doing good things in the past and especially in the transition, the counter-attack, they were quite good. Now we have more possession but it takes time to adjust. It will be almost impossible to win more trophies in one year, we know that, but at least we will try to win some of them with style." Inter are top of Serie A but one defeat is a crisis in Italy. He has the squad that won the European Cup, but he may have liked to have new faces to challenge the players who achieved so much last season. Benitez is not going to rest on somebody else's laurels. On Wednesday night, Inter beat Werder Bremen 4-0. It was an important result but again perhaps football lied as it was not a performance that merited 4-0. Inter suits Benitez too. He looks to Turin, to Juventus and sees the questionable powerbase of Italian football. He looks to the south, to Rome and sees the capital with its influence and he looks to Milanello, AC Milan's famed training camp and he sees Silvio Berlusconi and his authority. Italy is the kind of country where a man can collect enemies. His friends from Liverpool are still around. They are thinking about Inter now but they form a government in exile, always aware of what is happening at the club they love. He has changed, he says, everybody changes. The former Real Madrid manager Luis Molowny, who died earlier this year, once told him that it is important to be patient. Molowny's name is written on a piece of paper pinned to his office wall so his advice is on his mind. He says he is more patient now than he used to be. The signings that didn't work out at Liverpool might be among the things he'd change. "I'll say it again, we made mistakes. But people are talking about players who were not good enough, if you put five or six of these players together, the cost would be five million. It's not easy to wheel and deal and at the same time to win and sign players like Torres, Reina, Mascherano, Aquilani, Skrtel, Johnson, Lucas Leiva, Agger or Kuyt." These are the players he left behind. "I was very clear that when I left we had a better squad than we had in the past, and a better team. We knew we had to bring in better players. We left a good team, a very good team. A lot of people are talking about the legacy but the legacy is fantastic. When I left the club, Mascherano, Benayoun and Riera were there, along with Carra, Gerrard, Spearing, Darby. Insua, Cavalieri and Shelvey. They cannot talk about legacy when Purslow and Hodgson signed seven players. They have already changed the squad." Gerard Houllier said he left a legacy too, claiming that in Istanbul the players told him it was his side that had won the European Cup. "I didn't see Houllier on the way to Istanbul or at half-time," he said sardonically. "After the game, I gave him permission to come into the dressing room and we couldn't get him out, even with boiling water! That's a Spanish expression." Among Benitez's mistakes were Robbie Keane and the alienation of Xabi Alonso in one crucial summer. Keane was, he says, a "good player and a fantastic professional who needed a target man with him". But, crucially, Gareth Barry was Benitez's priority. "Barry was the first but I was not doing the business and I couldn't control it. The timing was a problem. I thought we had the money and it was obvious we didn't have the money." Benitez had rumbled Hicks and Gillett before this but as they scrambled and failed to find the money for Barry, his plans unravelled. The collateral damage was significant too: Xabi Alonso was lost. "In the last season Alonso played his best season for us. That is the reason people are talking about him. It was his last year when he gave us his best." In Alonso's last season, Benitez drove his team towards the title. Liverpool finished second, a stunning achievement given his resources and the apocalypse that was heading Liverpool's way thanks to Hicks and Gillett and the recession caused by men like them. Benitez's handling of the attempted sale of Alonso the year before alienated the player and ensured he would go. But Benitez planned to replace him with Alberto Aquilani and the Montenegrin Stevan Jovetic. The sale of Alonso was a controversial and ruthless decision and, as so often at Liverpool, he wasn't allowed full control of the solution. Instead he was given half of what he asked for. Suddenly the money disappeared, as it tends to when working for the indebted. Benitez's last season began with Liverpool as many people's title favourites. But the manager couldn't conceal the club's problems anymore. "It was a long time, it wasn't just one thing," he says of the process that wore him down. "The feeling was that something was wrong, we couldn't do what we wanted to do. We were preparing the signings and the sales but we could see that we have some targets and we didn't do it." Christian Purslow was the new chief executive. Rick Parry had infuriated Benitez with the pace at which he got things done but he insists there was nothing personal. "I had a very good relationship with David Moores and Rick Parry but the only thing I wanted to do was to do things quicker because we didn't have too much money. To be fair, sometimes we were doing good business without big money and sometimes we lost players. After the Americans arrived, everything changed. I thought it would be easier the first year, we signed Torres and everything was going well but little by little we had some money problems and all the decisions were subject to the money issues." It is the most understated way of describing the meltdown. The last season became attritional. Stories filtered out about an unhappy squad, how Rafa had lost the dressing room. "It's not true that I lost the dressing room. It was obvious that maybe some players were not happy but the majority of the players were very good professionals who were surprised by these stories in the same newspapers by the same journalists. Who was leaking them?" He wasn't looking to be loved but he believed he would stay at Liverpool. Last week Christian Purslow remarked that "Rafa's exit was about as clearcut a case of mutual consent as I have ever been involved in in my life. Both sides thought it was time for a change, both sides said so at the time, if you go back and check." Benitez saw his comment. "I read that he said this -- I was preparing for the next season but after the meeting with Mr Broughton and Mr Purslow I realised that I had to accept the offer they made. I was very sad and my family were devastated when we realised after these meetings that we would leave. I knew I had to go." He will not be drawn on what changed but after a couple of summers being denied the money he thought he was getting, it's not hard to conclude that his transfer budget and the money he would get from player sales had something to do with it. He remains attached to the place. He is aware of the protests against Tom Hicks and George Gillett but doesn't want to talk too much out of "respect for the fans and the club". All he knows is that the club is still looking for investment a year after being told the cavalry was on its way. Christian Purslow is nobody's idea of the cavalry. Benitez spent last year waiting for the investment, meeting with potential investors. Now he has a new challenge while survival is Liverpool's. But Liverpool is a part of him. It is the place he and his wife call home. "I am monitoring carefully everything that's going on there. I have a lot of friends there and I received a 'Justice' scarf from the Hillsborough families group that is in my office at home. Again out of respect I think it is important that I talk a little bit about the past but especially about the future. For me, at this moment, that is Inter Milan. I keep my house there, we are based in Liverpool and in the future we will be there again." Right now, he thinks about Inter and the challenges but he knows more than most what football can bring and how he might return. "You never know, football is football. It could be in five years' time, ten years' time, two years' time. We have two years of a contract here, we are really pleased here, the people are very nice, the fans are very similar to Liverpool fans, with passion, so everything is going well." But Liverpool is home? "Yeah-it's the only house we have. Liverpool is my home and I will come back." In his last year, he fought many battles in pursuit of victory in one war. He wanted the right to do things as he wanted to do them. He wanted so much, he always did, and he always wanted more. Those close to Benitez dismiss Purslow as a man who thought he knew too much about too many things. It is a criticism many have thrown at Rafa too. They saw him as a political animal and he was unwavering in his belief that his way was the right way. But they underestimated him too, they always have. They concluded that he was cunning. He wasn't cunning, he just wasn't as pliable as some expected. With his dishevelled appearance and his lack of personal vanity, Benitez is football's Lieutenant Columbo. And he is always looking for 'just one more thing'. The obsessional pursuit drove him mad and brought him into dangerous conflict with the powers that remain at Liverpool. But he knew no other way. He didn't ask for much: only perfection. On Wednesday, David Conachy was pushing Rafa for more pictures. He doesn't like having his picture taken or, more precisely, he doesn't like having a certain type of picture taken. Dave wanted to take every type of picture. "Just one more," Dave said to him several times. "You always say just one more," Rafa smiled, looking at his watch, as he tried to get away. "He's a perfectionist, Rafa, you can understand that," I said. Rafa looked at me. "I didn't say it was bad. It's just dangerous." Sunday Independent 'Liverpool is my home and I will come back' - Soccer, Sport - Independent.ie

Not by a long, long way. But he sums up in this article what I've been saying all along so I have to agree with 95% of it. THE RISE AND FALL OF RAFA BENITEZ | News Of The World

Both clubs these two manage are up to their eyeballs in debt. Both clubs have a reputation for playing football in the right way. Both managers apparently undermined by senior figures above them at the club putting them in what would seem like untenable positions. Both managers apparently have had their bosses bidding for players behind their backs that they may not want. Both managers apparently have had their employers leaking stuff to the press to force them to quit. One handles himself with class and decorum and gets on with the task of doing the right thing by his club until the end of the season and earns the respect of his players in doing so. One plays political games basically to cement his own position first and foremost and when being linked to other jobs plays coy games with the media thus manipulating the supporters in the process. One has hardly spent a penny in his time at the club and has tried his best with the resources at his disposal despite a disappointing season has his team trying to play the right way. One has spent a fortune trying to create a winning team and has had a disappointing season has his team playing the worst football seen at the club in years. Both managers will probably be leaving their respective clubs in the near future. One will leave with class and dignity with his fans best wishes. One will play the political game right until the end and will leave kicking and screaming about how hard done to he has been. It isn't hard to guess who is who.

Tom Hicks and George Gillett are the real problem at Liverpool http://timesonline.typepad.com/thega...liverpool.html Tony Barrett Tom Hicks and George Gillett have pulled many stunts in their time, the most obvious one being their purchase of Liverpool Football Club on the back of a string of promises they were unlikely ever to keep. But even that is starting to look a minor ruse in comparison to their convincing of so many people in football that all of Liverpool’s myriad ills will be rectified by the removal of Rafael Benitez is manager. They haven’t done it publicly and they haven’t done it with statements questioning Benitez’s ability or pronouncements doubting his aptitude to manage one of Europe’s greatest clubs. They have done it by stealth, fading into the background after advice from the two PR firms employed by Hicks – both of whom had their costs met, until recently, by Liverpool. The idea may have been simple but the results have been startlingly effective. While the worst owners Liverpool could ever have wished for have been able to get on with their comfortable lives in the USA without fear of being challenged about their failings and, let’s tell it like it is, their ongoing destruction of one of the most famed institutions in world sport, Benitez has had to face the full glare of the media spotlight to discuss his own limitations and those of his team on almost a daily basis. This has meant all discourse about Liverpool has been dominated by questioning of Benitez’s signings, his team selection, his substitutions – the furore over Fernando Torres being taken off at Birmingham is only just beginning to die down weeks after it happened – and his apparent coldness. Let’s get one thing straight – this is not a defence of Benitez. As he himself has pointed out, the Liverpool manager has made some big mistakes over the last couple of years and even his greatest admirers would be hard pressed to defend signing the likes of Andrea Dossena, Philipp Degen, Robbie Keane and, judging by his injury-ravaged travails this season, Alberto Aquilani. Benitez’s performance over the past 12 months has not been of the standard required and he has to accept his share of responsibility for an absolute abomination of a season in which Liverpool have lost 19 times and limped from one setback to another. At a normal club which is well run and equally well financed, a tumble from genuine title challengers to also-rans would guarantee only one thing for the man in charge – instant dismissal. But Liverpool are anything but a normal club. They are one which is crippled by inordinate levels of debt (heaped on them by Hicks and Gillett), one which has been riddled by boardroom in-fighting (started by Hicks and Gillett), one which cannot compete at the top level in the transfer market (because of the failings of Hicks and Gillett) and one which is in a state of continuous and insidious limbo (because of Hicks’ and Gillett’s sale process and ridiculous asking price). It is one where the solution to such limbo is seen to be the appointment of a Chelsea-supporting chairman (to break the boardroom deadlock caused by Hicks and Gillett), where Benitez is handed a five year contract complete with a £16 million payout which means the manager cannot be sacked when things go wrong (as agreed by Hicks and Gillett), where the oft-promised and desperately needed new stadium remains a pipe dream (another failing by Hicks and Gillett) and where the future is becoming increasingly bleak and uncertain (thanks to Hicks and Gillett). There is a blame culture in football whenever things go wrong but sometimes fingers can be pointed in, if not the wrong direction, then certainly one which allows those who are the biggest culprits to escape the full weight of criticism that they deserve. Since Liverpool’s predictable defeat at the hands of Chelsea at the weekend, page after page of editorial comment has been devoted to the failings of Benitez. Some of it has been entirely fair and some of it has been preposterous – does anyone with a modicum of commom sense really believe that £1.5 million Sotirios Kyrgiakos was signed as anything other than a squad stop gap because of a chronic lack of funds or that the retention of Danny Murphy would have cured all of Liverpool’s ills – but whatever your opinion of Benitez you cannot have failed to notice a similar lack of critical column inches being devoted to Hicks and Gillett. Out of sight clearly means out of mind as far as sections of the British media are concerned. Never mind the fact that Liverpool have spent much of the last three years shipping in the region of £100,000 in interest payments every day, a haemorrhaging of money and resources which would jeopardise any business, never mind one which is unable to invest to anything like the same extent of its major competitors. Again, it must be stressed that Benitez has been his own worst enemy at times during this American enforced era of austerity. His net spend is often used as a defence when his failings in the transfer market and there is some justification to such arguments, particularly given the fact that should Fernando Torres be sold this summer the £70 million he would fetch would all but wipe out Benitez’s spending over and above what he has recouped. But even this should not be allowed to detract from the fact that it was Benitez who scouted and recruited Aquilani, Riera, Degen, Voronin, Dossena, Aquliani, etc. They are his purchases and none have improved Liverpool and when resources become scarce their shortcomings were only ever going to be increasingly exposed. It is a matter of administering blame where blame is due and Benitez has to take his fair share, anything else would be to create a farcical situation of managerial infallibility and a vacuum of responsibility. But the overwhelming accountability for the horrendous mess that Liverpool find themselves in must lie with the buffoons who described themselves as “custodians”. It is they who heaped the debt onto the club which means they cannot sensibly afford to sack the manager. It is they who gave Benitez the five year deal that tilted the balance of contractual power too much in his favour. It is they whose failings have gradually reduced Liverpool’s ability to compete at the transfer market. It is they who have singularly failed to provide anything by way of convincing and decisive leadership ever since they were handed the keys to the Shankly Gates in February 2007. By all means criticise Benitez. By all means call for him to be replaced. Everyone has a right to such opinions, after all. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that at least his motives are genuine, he wants success for both himself and his team. The ostensible motives of Hicks and Gillett are to bleed Liverpool dry before moving onto their next leveraged buyout and it is they who must carry the can for the sorry state of a football club which looks increasingly doomed with every passing day, a feeling that will only intensify tomorrow should Manchester City beat Tottenham and put themselves in line for a place at the top table of European football that used to be Liverpool's but one which they may not even be in a position to take up for years to come.

Interesting Interview with Alvaro Arbeloa in the latest edition of World Soccer by Sid Lowe. Have reproduced the Q & A relating to Liverpool and the last one to rotation. Should be noted he is not criticizing the manager, just comparing from his experiences. However, it provides clarity to the debate on how the team are and have been setup under Rafa and what many have alluded to in regards to how mechanical we are and the influence Rafa has had on that and the man-management debate. You began your career at Real Madrid. Moving to the Bernabeu from Liverpool last summer must have been like a homecoming for you…? Yes, but it’s a different Madrid and a different me. When I left without a buy-back option, thinking the door would remain shut. I’m glad to have been wrong. I took a decision that I thought was right at the time and I still think so. It’s hard to make the first team. The pressure is intense; there wasn’t the stability that a fantastic generation of youth teamers perhaps needed. And, as for me, I wasn’t ready. This summer, I was. Things have fallen into place: the return of the president [Florentino Perez], my situation at Liverpool, my development. I’ve been lucky. How important were Liverpool and Rafa Benitez in your development? Hugely important. It was a wonderful opportunity and a great experience. Rafa is very, very, very demanding. He pushes you extremely hard. To work with him you have to have patience and understanding; you need to accept what he’s like. There’s no doubt that if you can work with him, he improves you. He’s correcting you every single second, always wanting more. That was good for me. So was going to the Premier League because it’s so much more physical. It made new demands, developing sides of my game that I hadn’t developed in Spain. What stood out most about English Football? The fans, the folklore, the atmosphere, the feeling, the intensity. There’s a respect, a kind of deference, towards tradition and indentity. In Spain, the team has to carry the fans; in England it’s the other way round. Madrid’s fans demand the best, Liverpool’s fans help you produce it. What are the biggest differences between Manuel Pellegrini and Rafa Benitez? Pellegrini gives the players more freedom, he’s not so intense and has more of a soft approach. The style is different. We play two-touch, there’s more willingness to take risks; Rafa doesn’t want you to take any risks ever. Rafa’s happy to score the first and sit back; Pellegrini is the opposite. He’s more focused on possession. They’re different concepts, and both perfectly acceptable. But should Liverpool and Rafa let go a bit? Do they need to be freer, more creative? Rafa was a bit more attacking last season. Liverpool follow Rafa’s instructions very closely. What Rafa wants, the team does. Rafa works hard during the week and a lot of the time the team plays on memory. That’s very good in certain situations, but there are momentsthat you need to think or yourself and do something unexpected. If the opposition works you out, you need you need another option. Sometimes, within [benitez’s] framework, doing something unpredictable is hard. Every player knows what he wants. The 1-2-3 you work on in the week is the 1-2-3 you produce in the matches. AT times that can be a bit robotic. Was it a relief to leave Liverpool? I was sad to go, but as soon as I saw I had this opportunity there was no way I could turn it down – the chance to come home and to be part of an incredible project. Are you suggesting team rotation is therefore necessary for psychological factors rather than physical reasons? Yes, for sure. If you have a player who hasn’t played for five or six games, there’s the risk that he will switch off. He’ll not give his all, he won’t train as hard. It’s not just about making sure all the players are physically right but that they come to training thinking they have a chance of playing, that they compete – and, as a consequence of that, oblige their team-mates to compete too. You make sure people are happy and working. TO do that they have to know that there’s a place to fight for. Players want to play, especially in a World Cup year.

It's been a long time coming. About six months in fact. Not since the demolition of Hull in September have we seen the reds take a team apart the way they did last night. The football was good, we scored four goals and but for the woodwork we'd have matched the scoreline from the Hull game. Granted, it was only Portsmouth, but fairs fair we played well in this game and it was good to see. To read the full report, click here

Sunday January 17 2010 If Liverpool think they are in trouble now, just wait until Rafa walks Liverpool's traditional January crisis has momentum this year. Perhaps this is because it follows on so swiftly from their December crisis which had been directly prefaced by a November crisis that in itself was merely an extension of the October crisis which would not have come about except for their September crisis simply being a continuation of their August crisis that was merely a hangover from their close season debacle. For much of last season they were in crisis too, even for the long periods when they were top of the league. During those troubling times it was generally agreed that Rafael Benitez must be doing something right, although nobody could agree on exactly what it was. The best they could often come up with was the signing of Javier Mascherano. He deserved no credit for signing Fernando Torres. That was a no-brainer, except for all the smart men who didn't sign him. Winning matches was then at least a part of it, but there has always been a great reluctance to give Benitez credit for that, with the view often being that he won the wrong ones. He didn't understand the English game, they said, as he went on to win the European Cup, perhaps giving the fans their finest moment in Liverpool memory, something they have, much to the displeasure of the media, been reluctant to forget about ever since. Last season, Liverpool challenged for the title, performing as well as they had in 20 years, beating the teams they were supposed to beat. Now that Liverpool have stopped winning matches, there is no reason to search desperately for reasons to praise Benitez. Liverpool are a team designed for knockIf -out competitions and now they have lost the main feature of teams designed to win knock-out competitions: the ability to win matches. For some perspective out of the reach of the phone-in callers who wonder why Peter Crouch is not playing for Liverpool (Crouch turned down a new contract at Liverpool so it would be an egregious breach of employment law if they continued to select him now) or suggest David Bentley as the missing link, it is worth revisiting Liverpool's January crisis from last season. There were a number of reasons to criticise Benitez last January, but the main one was his treatment of Robbie Keane who, according to the critics, hadn't been given a chance. Keane started nearly every league game during his time at Liverpool but, again, that didn't matter. Keane rarely starts for Tottenham but that is understandable because Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe are untouchable. If he leaves White Hart Lane, nobody would see it as a failure of Harry Redknapp's famed man-management skills. In some ways, it is the same this season. Liverpool have had a poor time, but, in the context of this crazy season, only the exit from the Champions League has been truly damaging. The FA Cup remains an irrelevance and would have been ignored by those who now stress its importance if Liverpool had won it. The crazies have been bolstered by comments from ex-players like Ronnie Whelan. In the devalued currencies of punditry, Whelan is the Zimbabwean dollar, but he found a few places where his money was good last week. As the phone-in callers deal in the superficial, it is worth contrasting the praise handed out to Alex Ferguson last week, when it became known that he was acting under some severe financial constraints, with the treatment of Benitez. Despite starting with a number of advantages like a massive stadium and a team used to winning titles, United are now utterly dependent on Wayne Rooney. Liverpool, at least, are utterly dependent on two players. Benitez has never known a day at Anfield when the club wasn't being spectacularly badly run. Since the sale to Hicks and Gillett, the problems shared have become problems doubled. Last week, Liverpool's new owners were again giving an indication of how far they had sunk when Tom Hicks Jr resigned after telling a fan in an email to "blow me, f**k face, go to hell, I'm sick of you." This was pithy and to the point but, in the age of outrage, it understandably provoked a lot of anger among Liverpool fans. It did not change their fundamental position on any member of the Hicks family. They wanted them out beforehand and they wanted them out afterwards. Hicks' wild email made no difference and, it has become so normal, that nobody even wonders about the disruption to the team. Nothing that Benitez achieves seems to change the view that Liverpool are in crisis. So this season seems to be a continuation of the bad years, bad years when Benitez was winning against all odds. He has made a few mistakes. Perhaps he should not have talked about Liverpool's debt to such a degree as it has undermined the club and, in constantly looking to re-sign Emile Heskey, he has looked like being the first employee who instigates his own constructive dismissal. He is probably too far gone now. The forces he tried to take on, the media he treated with contempt in particular, create their own momentum and affect confidence. Liverpool are a complex, dysfunctional club and they judge Benitez on the superficial to the end. Liverpool have been talking about their disappointing season since they lost to Aston Villa in August. The reality is that only in recent weeks has the league title become virtually impossible but I would guess privately Benitez hasn't ruled it out. Benitez remains true to a value system that he has employed since he arrived. On Wednesday night, once more he refused to engage and, once more, it was another reason to criticise him. The presenters, the reporters and the phone-in callers all seemed to assume they were more upset about the defeat to Reading than Benitez. In their world, so free of compassion, perspective and insight, they were probably right. In the real world, they were, as so often, wrong. So I hope he stays true to his code as they hound him from the job. He has been a resounding success but it may be time to walk away. He deserves more than the contempt of pundits like Whelan. Benitez cares too much. He should address those who have stacked the odds against him and, one last time, tell the truth in language they might understand: "Blow me, f**k face. Go to hell, I'm sick of you." If Liverpool think they are in trouble now, just wait until Rafa walks - Other Sports, Sport - Independent.ie

I know we give him alot of attention but fuck me, he's outdone himself this time! Guess who he picked as his 'Worst Team of 2009', go on, guess... What a thick, thick cunt.

Gerard Houllier, the man who once lectured in Liverpool and who many perceived at the time to be the 'epitome' of the Liverpool Way. A Man who gave LFC it's honour back, but was part of a period which saw most of it taken back. We as Liverpool Fans are generally faithful, we stand up for our own in the face of adversity and lies. We look to defend when criticised and always stand by our own. A two fingered salute the establishment. Even when shit hit the fan with the likes of Houllier and Roy Evans a large proportion of our fans where faithful to the end, however at what cost? The Liverpool Way is a term branded about a lot by fans, the press and managers alike. Other than being a website and a fanzine. What is the Liverpool way? You ask one fan what it is, and you ask another and you will probably get two totally different responses. Personally, I think whatever the Liverpool Way is, it isn't a tool, it isn't a methodology, not any more, not since Shanks and Paisley, it's nothing more than a loose term to describe ones own feelings towards Liverpool FC. I always believed LFC was different to all other clubs, I suppose you ask a Fulham fan for example and he'll tell you the same thing, but with ourselves I just see this long list of honours both physically and in terms of being an honourable club. There is something special about this club, whether that is the 'Liverpool Way' I have no idea, but when you follow this club the sacrifices that many people have made for this club it all seems to show the importance that the club has with many peoples lives. This season has seen us in one of the worst runs since the 'Darkest days of Houllier'. We play awful football, our team is performing worse than it should be, and all after one of the most successful campaigns since we last won the league. Are we just in the middle of a full cycle, has our best chance to win the league gone for good, and are the similarities with Houllier's last years simply too strong to be 'similarities'? Everyone remembers when it went wrong with Houllier, or at least many people feel as if they know it went wrong. We stood by him for a while, we gave him the benefit of the doubt, after all this was a man who 'Gave us our pride back'. However, the rest is history and he never recovered. I have stated before the similarities between both reigns, but one thing which convinced me this is going the same way is the posting. Not just on this, but on every other Liverpool forum. I see posts defending the manager, which I myself have no problem with but it gets to the point where it is almost mind-numbingly frustrating to read, it isn't really about defending the manager. It goes back to my original points, it's a two fingered salute to the establishment. I am specifically talking about punditry, and Andy Gray. Now look, Andy Gray, he's neither here or there for me, he's a product, he's marmite, he says some things that make sense, and he chats some absolute horseshit. With Andy Gray, the truth usually hurts, but the one thing I notice about him is that he knows the way, but doesn't know how to drive the car. Take for example, the 'Zonal Marking' argument. I myself have no problem with it, it's a proven system and has worked many times for us. However this season, it hasn't don't ask me why, but it just hasn't and we are now into December and it looks as if WE MIGHT actually be back to normal, although thats too early to indicate just yet. I have read many posts criticising Andy Gray but I find myself saying 'Hang on, he may not know the solution, but we do have a problem, why is our questioning aimed at this man but not Benitez' Andy Gray in many peoples eyes is that 'establishment' he's part of that awful, nasty band of bastards that are really nasty to our manager'. But we need to get it into our head IMO that we are currently in the middle of one of our worst runs going, questions are always going to be asked, and they are always going to be asked at the biggest clubs. Now I couldn't go this far without mentioning the owners, and as the cancer as I believe they are, we still need to get back to basics, we are not accountants, Net Spend, wages etc. Football isn't that complicated, you can point to other clubs, but one thing has stood that we are still one of the biggest clubs in the land, with the best players at our disposal, make no mistake we are still the club that many clubs admire and strive to emulate. We finished 2nd last year, it wasn't an over-achievement, we where exactly where we needed to be in terms of a '5 Year Plan'. Don't let finances dictate expectations, we did well last season, and we could have done better. Skip forward to this summer, we lost Alonso however that being said he didn't star in our win v United. Anyway we sold Alonso, replaced him with Aquilani and strengthened our defence. The title winners United lost the best player in the world, replaced him with a winger from Wigan and an injury prone relegated striker in Owen. That is essentially what happened last summer. Now how come we are worse? How come we are now in this position. It isn't the owners, the owners....you know what, fuck it you know the story and the arguments of this season...So I'll skip to the end. When we sacked Houllier we went down the same route as we did when we first got him in. 'The 5 Year Plan' ever since we last won the league, each manager has been given the 5 year plan, the 5 year plan to deliver the league. Each manager nearly coming close to winning it, but always having different, fatal flaws. My question is now, do we go against 'The Liverpool Way'? Do we go against the mythical methods that are supposed to bring us the league, but haven't since 1990? Football is a changed game, especially in this league, you earn nothing but pointless brownie points striving to be different but always falling short. Are we giving Benitez more time because people feel we are duty bound because people believe in these methods, or are we giving him it because we believe he can rectify this situation? Or are we simply going around in an endless cycle, one step foward, two steps back 5 more years and a terrible last two. Have we been in this situation before? Is it about time we took ANOTHER approach, is it about time we tried something different, is it about time we actually put the CLUB first? I admire loyalty, I always have done and always will do, but I find myself falling out of love with the manager, with the team just like I did with Houllier, I find myself looking at the side and going 'Why the fuck aren't we doing better?' I want to be proven wrong, but I feel as If I've been down this muddy, dark road before. Big wins against Everton and United pale into insignificance when compared to losses v Villa and Fiorentina. 5 Years down the line, this isn't good enough 7 Years ago, we gave Houllier more time, and found ourselves worse off. Is it about time, we actually done something different, is it about time 'The Liverpool Way' was used as motivation for the club, rather than the manager? I really don't know where I am going with this, so I just leave you with a simple opinion. We are going back to the days of Houllier, another manager could have done better with what he has, if we don't get rid of Benitez soon it will be too late, we need to make a decision fast before we get too far away that we need to go back to the 5 Year Plan.

FORMER Liverpool FC striker Stan Collymore is calling on Steven Gerrard to leave Anfield "in search of the Premier League". Collymore believes the Reds ace will never win the ultimate goal while with Liverpool and he says many players in the current squad are not good enough to play alongside Gerrard. "It's time for Steven Gerrard to put his loyalty to Liverpool to one side and go in search of the one honour that has eluded him - the Premier League," he writes in his latest column for MirrorFootball.co.uk. "He's not going to see that day while he's wearing a red shirt and as sad as it is for me to say this as a former Liverpool player, I think it is time for him to leave Anfield. "I was at Blackburn on Saturday and players like Lucas, Rieira and Kuyt don't deserve to play with him to be honest." Collymore thinks Gerrard has more chance of winning a domestic title with Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Inter Milan. He said: "I've seen him lift the European Cup and I'd love to see him lift the Premier League trophy, but it won't be as a Rafa Benitez player and I'm not sure it will ever happen for him as a Liverpool player. "I'm not saying this to try and wind up Liverpool fans. I just think it would be a tragedy if after seeing inferior players to him like Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick win the title, he didn't. "I know he says he wants to stay at Liverpool, but the only thing that is keeping him there is the fact that he's a Scouser and that he has the club in his blood. "Ultimately, he owes Liverpool b***er all. He's done more than any other player over the last decade to bring success to Liverpool. "It's time for someone else, like Alberto Aquilani, to take on that pressure and free him to go. "He shouldn't feel that he has to stay to pacify the fans and they should let him go and win the title he deserves before it's too late."

Its been a while since I have been on here. I was a a regular poster not so long ago, before we went on a serious loss of form. I have not been avoiding this place due to a user but due to the great negative reaction that it generates when the team suffers. I have not read all your different reactions to the team but some of the media stick that we have been getting has been uttelry abysmal and nothing short of shocking. Rafa Benitez has done great things for this club, in short he has pulled us out of the dark ages of the UEFA competition to the Champions League football. He has turned us from 4th and 3rd place hopefulls to a top 4 team. Its a step up no matter how you twist. We have once again an exciting academy which is overseen by a Mr. Daglish who is also helping Rafa out in his most hour of need. But its not about what the man has done is it? Lets forget about how we won the Champions League under him and all the good he has done and lets focus on how the fucking S*n has called the Liverpool team Ex-verpool. Its enough to get my blood boiling. In the end, we lost our focus against Fulham, Sunderland, Aston Villa and all of our other losses. Yes I do blame Rafa for what our team is going through. Yes I do think our bench lets the cutting edge beffiting Liverpool. Yes I do think something has to be done. But I am NOT asking for Rafas head. I still stand by a manager that has done so much for our club. Even in our darkest hour, when all will lose hope I still will stand firm and support him because quite simply, Rafa is a pragmatist. He does things for the good of the team, even if that means taking off our most creative of players when we are 2-1 down. It means he saw something that wasnt right, that you or I did not see. In the end I stand by him, in the end I accept Rafa being our manager and to guide us through another storm. In Rafa I still trust. In our first team I trust. Pity I cant say that for our squad.