Liverpool F.c.

[StevieH]

do you mean fourth place alfie? because if mcmahon is genuinely saying that liverpool can still win the league he wants sectioning.

i'm beginning to lose faith that we will finish top four anyway, and frankly if we don't we'll have got what we deserved. too many players have performed poorly this season and the manager's had a bad one too. if we don't secure some sort of significant investment it could be the start of a very slippery slope.

[BlueScouse]

Mc Mahon said that he thought Liverpool would finish 4th not because they were better than the other teams,but that the otherteams had more games to play,not big enough squads or that the players would bottle it and lose heart if they lost a game.

I reckon Liverpool will finish 6th or even 7th,but should be high enough to get into the Europa League next year.Assuming Chelsea win the FA Cup.

[StevieH]

Mc Mahon said that he thought Liverpool would finish 4th not because they were better than the other teams,but that the otherteams had more games to play,not big enough squads or that the players would bottle it and lose heart if they lost a game.

I reckon Liverpool will finish 6th or even 7th,but should be high enough to get into the Europa League next year.Assuming Chelsea win the FA Cup.

mcmahon's talking out of his hoop as normal then, we're not 'too good' to finish outside the top 4 at all any more than arsenal were a couple of seasons ago when a dodgy lasagna got them in ahead of spurs at the last minute.

good to see another blue on here by the way - is that all of you now?

[rixalex]

the manager's had a bad one too

Finally!

[StevieH]

the manager's had a bad one too

Finally!

never said he hasn't rix. you can go back among my previous posts if you're that arsed. just haven't bought into the kneejerk mass panic about calling for his head. he's still a top class manager, has had a bad year though.

[rixalex]

the manager's had a bad one too

Finally!

never said he hasn't rix. you can go back among my previous posts if you're that arsed.

Mate, i believe you when you say you never said he hasn't. My point was rather, you never before said that he has - until now - long overdue, in my humble, unimportant opinion.

Bout time you laid some of the blame at his feet.

[StevieH]

the manager's had a bad one too

Finally!

never said he hasn't rix. you can go back among my previous posts if you're that arsed.

Mate, i believe you when you say you never said he hasn't. My point was rather, you never before said that he has - until now - long overdue, in my humble, unimportant opinion.

Bout time you laid some of the blame at his feet.

i've undoubtedly done that on a number of occasions this season too rix. i've questioned a lot of his decisions this season and a lot of them have been un-rafa like choices. he's by no means blameless. but i will not join those liverpool fans calling for his replacement after one season of regression on the back of five of progress.

[alfieconn]

do you mean fourth place alfie? because if mcmahon is genuinely saying that liverpool can still win the league he wants sectioning.

i'm beginning to lose faith that we will finish top four anyway, and frankly if we don't we'll have got what we deserved. too many players have performed poorly this season and the manager's had a bad one too. if we don't secure some sort of significant investment it could be the start of a very slippery slope.

Yeah sori meant 4th don't know what came over me

[MSingh]

do you mean fourth place alfie? because if mcmahon is genuinely saying that liverpool can still win the league he wants sectioning.

i'm beginning to lose faith that we will finish top four anyway, and frankly if we don't we'll have got what we deserved. too many players have performed poorly this season and the manager's had a bad one too. if we don't secure some sort of significant investment it could be the start of a very slippery slope.

Yeah sori meant 4th don't know what came over me

I always say there are Leagues within the League anyway, Top 3 have their own League, Villa, Spuds, City, Liverpool & normally Everton have their one this Year with Liverpool joining it & leaving the first League etc etc until we get to the bottom, where you'll find our League...

[whichschool]

do you mean fourth place alfie? because if mcmahon is genuinely saying that liverpool can still win the league he wants sectioning.

i'm beginning to lose faith that we will finish top four anyway, and frankly if we don't we'll have got what we deserved. too many players have performed poorly this season and the manager's had a bad one too. if we don't secure some sort of significant investment it could be the start of a very slippery slope.

Or it could be a blessing in disguise as they septics might realise theyre not going to come fourth for a long time with the status quo and decide to jump ship.

Thing is the only people left who have money to throw away are the Saudis theyve been speaking to, surely this isnt what those fans protesting are after no matter how many Torress's they potentially get you.

[imola]

do you mean fourth place alfie? because if mcmahon is genuinely saying that liverpool can still win the league he wants sectioning.

i'm beginning to lose faith that we will finish top four anyway, and frankly if we don't we'll have got what we deserved. too many players have performed poorly this season and the manager's had a bad one too. if we don't secure some sort of significant investment it could be the start of a very slippery slope.

Yeah sori meant 4th don't know what came over me

I always say there are Leagues within the League anyway, Top 3 have their own League, Villa, Spuds, City, Liverpool & normally Everton have their one this Year with Liverpool joining it & leaving the first League etc etc until we get to the bottom, where you'll find our League...

its maybe something to do with you being spurs alfie delusion, is what its normally called

[spongeman]

Lille 1 Liverpool 0

We should never have sold Sami, hes having a great season in Germany.

I think we should splash the cash an get the great one.......

[StevieH]

what great one? and what cash?

dog's arse of a season this.

[rixalex]

I think we should splash the cash an get the great one.......

Do you mean The Special one?

[StevieH]

makes me laugh that some liverpool fans think that mourinho would actually move to liverpool. take a 50% pay cut minimum, pay higher level of income tax, have absolutely zero transfer budget to play with, work under a pair of fraudulent lying gobshite owners and possibly have to sell key players to service debt repayments. we're not a particularly attractive job right now.

[rixalex]

makes me laugh that some liverpool fans think that mourinho would actually move to liverpool. take a 50% pay cut minimum, pay higher level of income tax, have absolutely zero transfer budget to play with, work under a pair of fraudulent lying gobshite owners and possibly have to sell key players to service debt repayments. we're not a particularly attractive job right now.

Maybe he's looking for a challenge...

[StevieH]

makes me laugh that some liverpool fans think that mourinho would actually move to liverpool. take a 50% pay cut minimum, pay higher level of income tax, have absolutely zero transfer budget to play with, work under a pair of fraudulent lying gobshite owners and possibly have to sell key players to service debt repayments. we're not a particularly attractive job right now.

Maybe he's looking for a challenge...

when's he ever given the impression that he's interested in a challenge? biggest-spending club in portugal, unlimited funds at chelsea, champions of italy. . .he'll be off to one of madrid, manyoo or portugal next imo.

[carmine]

makes me laugh that some liverpool fans think that mourinho would actually move to liverpool. take a 50% pay cut minimum, pay higher level of income tax, have absolutely zero transfer budget to play with, work under a pair of fraudulent lying gobshite owners and possibly have to sell key players to service debt repayments. we're not a particularly attractive job right now.

Now that's selling it Stevie. I don't think that i'd even take the job

[SouthernSeaKirin]

I'd be surprised if any manager with any sense would take the job at the moment... Mourinho's going to go to Madrid I'd say - you need someone with his ego to manage all those in the dressing room.

We're stuck with Rafa and, in my opinion, that's not necessarily a bad thing... He's done wonders given that he's not been able to compete on a level playing field with Utd and Chelsea and although Wenger hasn't splashed the cash, he's been in the league for 13 years....

Last season we played some of the best football I've ever seen us play (i'm not that old) and that was down to Rafa - don't believe all this nonsense about us having to go for broke - he'd been building to this for years. You don't beat Man Utd at Old Trafford 4-1 and Real Madrid 4-0.....

Having been hamstrung by Rick Parry for years - should've signed Dani Alves but his dallying - and now the Y*$*s i wouldn't blame him if he walked out on us. Christ he made them a profit this summer....

I hope we can sell the club this summer - India's richest man is interested - and get some backing for Rafa and a new stadium and then lets see what happens...

Its funny - well it's not, it's tragic - but the last time we finished 2nd in the premier league, everything went Pete Tong the next season and we did the same failed in the group stage and did miserably in the league....

well, as the old song goes YNWA....

[rixalex]

makes me laugh that some liverpool fans think that mourinho would actually move to liverpool. take a 50% pay cut minimum, pay higher level of income tax, have absolutely zero transfer budget to play with, work under a pair of fraudulent lying gobshite owners and possibly have to sell key players to service debt repayments. we're not a particularly attractive job right now.

Maybe he's looking for a challenge...

when's he ever given the impression that he's interested in a challenge? biggest-spending club in portugal, unlimited funds at chelsea, champions of italy. . .he'll be off to one of madrid, manyoo or portugal next imo.

If his track record is anything to go by, i think you are right.

[longstebe]

Another great result!!!!

Away from home has been very poor.

Whats the next away game, the mancs?

Will keep on watching and hoping.

[StevieH]

thing is longstebe we'll probably turn up against the mancs and get a result. but balls out performances and guts have been too few and far between this season. let's bloody beat pompey at home first shall we? and i watch us these days with an air of resignation rather than hope.

[Penkoprod]

Anyone else get the impression that, even Benitez himself isnt all that bothered anymore?

Against Wigan at the weekend, and Lille last night, he wasnt his animated self.

Instead of spending a good deal of the match, up on his feet shouting and gesticulating instructions from the technical area, he was more interested in making notes sat on his arse in the dugout. VERY unlike him, to say the least !!!!

Penkoprod

[spongeman]

Read Torres talking about needing 5 or 6 world class players in the summer.....

Id say if we d'ont finish 4th hes gone.

Can we even beat Portsmouth tonight ??

[bkkjames]

Curious to see if the FA / Prem will do anything to Mr. Gerrard considering Rio got done up for the same thing?

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard in another spat after swinging arm fells Michael Brown in Portsmouth win

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 11:53 PM on 15th March 2010

Liverpool last night notched a much-needed win in their race for Champions League qualification but the victory was overshadowed when Steven Gerrard appeared to floor Portsmouth's Michael Brown with a swinging arm.

The Reds' captain escaped a yellow card but was immediately substituted in the second half of the 4-1 triumph at Anfield.

Only a week ago Gerrard found himself in a similar situation for an alleged v-sign made at referee Andre Marriner in the defeat at Wigan. That went no further as the official said he had seen the incident at the time and decided it did not warrant any action.

Liverpool's hero was Fernando Torres, who scored his 14th and 15th goals in the Premier League this season, with Ryan Babel and Alberto Aquilani - registering his first in English football - also on target before Nadir Belhadj's late consolation.

Steven Gerrard of Liverpool gestures as Michael Brown of Portsmouth lies injured

But Gerrard's apparent forearm to the back of Brown's neck was the main talking point of the evening.

Referee Stuart Attwell was very close to the incident but took no action but it remains to be seen whether he will be asked to look at it again by the Football Association. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is confident, however, that Gerrard will escape retrospective action for the clash.

'I don't think so,' said the Spaniard when asked if he was worried about punishment against his captain. 'I haven't seen it but I was asking and I think it was nothing.'

Benitez also played down the immediate substitution of Gerrard, adding: 'We were thinking of changing Torres, Glen Johnson and Gerrard and we did it.'

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant said he also did not see the incident but felt Attwell should have spotted it.

'I didn't see it. I will speak with Michael Brown and then I will tell you,' he said. 'They told me the referee was four metres away from this so I think the referee needs to see from four metres what I didn't from 40 metres,' he said. 'Personally I like Steven Gerrard. I think he is a good player and a fair player.'

Benitez was more happy to talk about his team's performance. 'It was a good game. We were trying to play well for the fans and score goals,' he added.

'It was an important goal in an important week. It was really good for Aquilani and really good for the team. He has shown he has quality and he will have more confidence and that is good.

'We have seen a lot of players playing well today and that is good for me because it gives me more (selection) problems.'

Grant refused to lay the blame on goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown, whose clearance straight to Gerrard set up Torres' first goal.

'Jamie is a good goalkeeper. I will not speak about mistakes because it is part of the game,' he added.

'We started the game okay, we played how we wanted to play and then came the first goal and we lost our shape and they scored a second and third goal in seven minutes and the game was finished.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...l#ixzz0iIi0NAGF

[StevieH]

did you watch the match james?

[bkkjames]

did you watch the match james?

Sadly no Stevie but apparently quite a few did. Don't shoot the messenger.

[StevieH]

well the daily hatemail reporter clearly didn't. "Referee Stuart Attwell was very close to the incident but took no action" - yes he did, he saw the incident and gave a freekick to portsmouth. meaning any retrospective ban for gerrard would be against the rules.

[bkkjames]

well the daily hatemail reporter clearly didn't. "Referee Stuart Attwell was very close to the incident but took no action" - yes he did, he saw the incident and gave a freekick to portsmouth. meaning any retrospective ban for gerrard would be against the rules.

well Stevie according the Google there are 640 articles reporting the same thing including your fav The Guardian..

Liverpool's win would have been more emphatic still had Stuart Attwell awarded a penalty when Glen Johnson was scythed down by Nadir Belhadj midway through the second half, though equally Liverpool would have been down to 10 men had the referee spotted Steven Gerrard's elbow on Brown, an assault that may jeopardise his involvement against Manchester United on Sunday should the official be invited to review his decision. Attwell penalised Gerrard for flooring Brown yet could not have seen the nature of the foul, otherwise a red card would have been produced. Benítez said he had not seen the incident.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/ma...-premier-league

[StevieH]

no james, read that paragraph again. that reporter is saying that the referee saw the incident and penalised gerrard. he then contradicts himself by saying that the referee may be 'invited' to review his decision, something he cannot do having ruled on it at the time. referees can only judge incidents post-match that they didn't see at the time, as with ferdinand.

Edited March 16, 2010 by StevieH