Liverpool thread

[Darren]

Originally Posted by aliando

hopefully we'll do the job tonight and go on to win the thing, but I'm still skeptical about our chances in the league next year, and still worried that only 3 places will go into the Euro Cup following this...

I might have misread it somewhere,m but was under impression top 4 still qualfied. But top 3 go in automatic, 4th goes into a tougher draw for a group spot than before?

[Darren]

Originally Posted by peteg40

Wish we could play you lot everyweek

3 games wins 3.... draw 0..... lost 0... for 12 against 4

Seriously gl with the thread

What a difference 14 months makes
Sick of the sight of us yet?

[AJ]

Originally Posted by Darren

I might have misread it somewhere,m but was under impression top 4 still qualfied. But top 3 go in automatic, 4th goes into a tougher draw for a group spot than before?

Correct. You'll have to face off against teams from Italy / spain / Germany.

it's been strucutured to ensure teams from smaller nations make it through, why uefa want to weaken the CL i'm not sure.

[WorkingForTheEnemy]

Im guessing its at an attempt to try to return it to being the "Champions" League without actually removing qualifying spots from the bigger nations.

[davidmphill]

Excellent result, honestly thought it was all over when Arsenal scored the 2nd. Fcuk me Walcott has come pace on him, looks a good player in the making for sure.

Dubious penalty but you take whatever you get at this stage and its not nice to hear Wenger complaining but its understandable.

That Torres fella knows how to take a goal, cracking finish. Bring on more Cockneys!

[Pot rice]

As a Liverpool fan, that really was one of the best games I've seen for ages. I think I must have had 5 or 6 heart attacks watching it - especially when Arsenal got their second.

All's well that ends well though and what a strike that was by Torres! Bring on Chelsea - oh to hammer Man Utd in the final.

[SteveO]

I grew up as Liverpool fan but don't really care anymore and have fell out of love with watching football but I have to say that was the best game I've seen for years.

Had Theo Walcott finished that goal off himself it would have been classed as one of the greatest goals ever. Great strength for such a little fella.

[AK1979]

I wish we hadnt equalised now to be honest. I wouldnt feel half as bad as I do now.

[drawback05]

I am not a Liverpool fan, so here is a non-red contribution. What I saw/learnt.
1.Torres and Babel are class, Kuyt and Crouch work their socks off, Mascherano is the new spoiler a la Makelele (always follow through with your second foot after a tackle, just to be sure !).
2. I'm Irish, but I'm sure all the English fans must have smiled when Walcott sprinted through and the 'spoiler' lunged at him and missed him - a little like 1986 in reverse !
3. And this is the biggie. This Liverpool side will not win the Premier League. Imagine of you were in the Kop, spending your hard-earned watching your heroes week in week out and someone said. "Tonight will be one of those special European nights, where Liverpool will raise their game, as they always do". Wouldn't you think - hang on, these guys are pulling over 60K per week. Why don't they play like this all the time ? Let's look at the facts.
Here's a number 97
That's the number of points that they have been behind the league winners over the last 4 season's averaging out at 24 points per season. They are currently 14 points behind.
That would mean, them having to win 8 more games per season. It just doesn't seem possible.
Here's another number 1990
That is the last year they won, the real measure of champions, the old Division 1, then Premiership, now Premier League. I don't think Benitez is the man to lead them there, and I see him as the stumbling block, not the squad. he had a better bench to choose from yesterday, hell, he had a better 11, not having to pick Senderos. I think Mourinho could do it, though his conservatism might not go down well with the fans. You need to have the Man Utd attitude that all games are equal and that 3 points won in August is the same, shock horror, as 3 points in May ! I will be laying Liverpool on betfair a lot more confidently than my lay this season, Arsenal at 10/1. I have been sweating for 2 months until recently !!
4. It was a great footballing night, and one of the best games I've seen in ages. I thought Arsenal would sneak it as usually a Stevie G (where was he for most of the game ?) error costs his side (usually England though !). This is not a 'knock Liverpool' post (so please no "You're just knocking Liverpool" posts !)

[Jonesy Knows]

I agree on some of your points drawback but not all...

Stevie G was played out of position last night and did have a poor game by his standards but I can never recall him make a mistake for Liverpool which ultimately cost us a game!

Stevie G playing for England I agree does not play as whole heartedly as he normally does for Liverpool but that is simply because he does not have the same understanding with those who are put around him in the England team as they are constantly chopped and changed in the England games.
At least for Liverpool when it is changed he has the experience of playing with whoever it is alongside him in training and knows where players are likely to go or where they are likely to pass to.

The wait for a title again I agree with in that after Dalglish left us Liverpool had an ageing team and the likes of Souness came in and destroyed the mentality of Liverpool and Managers since have not really had the time and funds to compete over the course of a long premiership season. Also Liverpool have to blame the PR side of the club in not utilising our dominance in the 70's & 80's and take it on as Man United have. Whatever Liverpool have done on that side of things is only to follow the likes of Man United & Arsenal after they have bred success from it. Also our Academy for younger players has not been best utilised as the Managers since Dalglish have not really brought through the talent like the likes of Man United & Arsenal. The unfortunate truth is Liverpool have not pioneered enough like Arsenal & Man United and we have been playing catch up!
Still we wait for the New Stadium to be built after nearly 10 years of planning whilst Man United continue to extend theirs getting in excess of 70,000 fans every other week whilst Liverpool get just in excess of 40,000.
Arsenal also have a great New Stadium pulling in excess of 60,000 fans.
It all has to hurt and have an effect on Liverpool being able to muster a decent challenge each season. Also add to the fact Man United & Arsenal have given their Manager the time to put build their success hence why they have the longest serving current Managers.

Solution:
We have to stand by Benitez as he has brought us unbelievable success in the relative short period he has been at the club and he will erode the gap between Liverpool and the likes of Man United, Arsenal & Chelsea as he builds the squad which is able to compete for the full season. To bring somebody else in at Liverpool will only take Liverpool further behind.
We also need to get the New Stadium built as we cannot compete financially otherwise - unless we got a Mr Abramhovich to buy us success!


.

[drawback05]

Good points, and you're right. SG errors I can recall were only for England.
As for Benitez, if he is to kick on and bring in the title all he has to do is play his best 11 every week, and when they go 2 or 3 up, sub off and rest 3 players each time. The rotation policy isn't the right way to go. You have to keep neck and neck with whoever is at the top of the table, all the way through as you can both Chelsea and Man Utd are not dropping points at all these days. In the old days of the league, finishing 4th would be unacceptable for this club.
As regards the new stadium. Yes it will increase revenue, you just need not to lose the atmosphere (and to have this for all league fixtures) I think the genuine fans want a league title now. I am a fan of lowly Leeds and we are currently struggling against what I would consider Liverpool's third side, Tranmere, but yet I can say that we were league champions more recently than Liverpool. Its been a long time considering that - I had hair then !!

[whycantistayawayfromdogs]

Originally Posted by drawback05

and when they go 2 or 3 up, sub off and rest 3 players each time.

to the premier league i hope you enjoy your stay, it really isnt that easy....

[Darren]

Another day, another rift. For what its worth I'd get rid of the lot end of season - Parry, Hicks and Gillett. Clubs become a bit of a soap opera thanks to Hicks, and Gillett hasn't imo the funds to invest. Rick Parry isn't good enough at his job either.

Did Moores just go for the money when he sold then? Certainly doesn't look like the money we invested in finding a good buyer was well spent.

Parry fights Hicks' order to quit Liverpool



Chief executive believes he has support to stay on

Rift between US co-owner and Gillett worse than ever

Andy Hunter
Friday April 11, 2008
The Guardian


Rick Parry, centre, in happier times with George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Photograph: Christopher Furlong / Getty



Liverpool's bitter power struggle intensified last night when the co-owner Tom Hicks' demand for the resignation of Rick Parry received a public and defiant refusal from the club's chief executive.
Less than 48 hours after Rafael Benítez had guided Liverpool to the Champions League semi-finals Parry was sent a letter by the club's Dallas-based co-chairman asking him to hand in his notice. In a three-page document Hicks criticises the chief executive's relationship with Benítez, which has been strained for some time, and the commercial running of the club.
Article continues

---

---

The motive behind the letter, however, is believed to centre on Hicks' belief that Parry has sided with George Gillett in the fight for majority control at Anfield and the relationship he has maintained with Dubai International Capital during the company's attempts to purchase Liverpool. It may also be a retaliatory gesture after Liverpool's commercial director, Ian Ayre, was given a dressing down by Gillett this week.
However, in a sign that Parry enjoys the continued support of Gillett, the co-owner who reiterated he would not sell even 1% of his 50% stake to Hicks when he met directors at Anfield on Tuesday, Parry has vowed to remain in his post. His resignation would have to be approved by the Liverpool board - a body that comprises Parry, the former chairman David Moores, Hicks, Gillett and their sons, Tom Hicks Jr and Foster Gillett - and Parry believes he has enough support there to fight.
Parry is believed to be taking legal advice over the fact Hicks' demand was not initially discussed at boardroom level and over texts allegedly sent by Tom Hicks Jr to Liverpool supporters groups, in which Parry's future presence at the club was called into doubt. Last night Parry said: "It is my intention to remain focused on the job of serving Liverpool Football Club to the best of my abilities."
Parry did not see Hicks' letter until he returned last night from London, where he had attended a Football Association hearing into Liverpool's appeal of the additional two-match suspension handed to Javier Mascherano for his recent sending-off against Manchester United. The appeal was dismissed and Mascherano will now serve the final part of a three-match ban against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
The former Premier League chief executive, who has held the role at Liverpool for more than a decade, has been at the centre of the fractured relationship between Gillett and Hicks for several months. His recent plea for the warring co-owners to resolve the ownership issue, one that "is certainly not conducive to long-term planning and managing the club," as he told the BBC, is also understood to have fuelled Hicks' determination to oust Parry.
Both the Texan and Gillett have been attempting to secure new investment that would enable them to purchase the other's 50% stake since Hicks vetoed his co-owner's attempts to sell to DIC, the investment arm of the Dubai government. Hicks had considered allowing DIC to purchase 49% of Gillett's holding, giving him the other 1% and majority control, but withdrew from negotiations when the company insisted on running Liverpool by committee. Hicks has since held talks with the US investment bank Merrill Lynch about borrowing the capital to buy out Gillett, although the latter has declared he has no intention of selling to Hicks.
The impasse also prompted DIC yesterday to confirm it will not re-enter negotiations until the dispute is resolved. Its chief executive, Sameer al-Ansari, said it remains interested but will await the success or otherwise of Hicks' attempts to take control before making a renewed play for the club and for Gillett's holding. "You have two partners who do not see eye to eye. And we decided that we pull out completely. Let them sort out their problems," said Ansari, whose company was prepared to pay £510m for Liverpool, giving each of the Americans a £40m profit on his investment. Ansari added in an interview with Arabian Business magazine: "We will continue to be interested and would love to own the club."

[Darren]

Stevie G errors have happened for Liverpool. Plenty of moments of madness in getting sent off earlier in his career and more recently against Everton early in the match. Or how about that backpass for Henry to score against Arsenal when the game was 1-1 iirc

Another against Chelsea in the League Cup final in 05. Still he has pulled us out of many holes

[leespam]

Not a Liverpool fan (and it's not really Liverpool-related ) but there's loads of 'em at work and one of them sent me this that gave me a tickle:

Gran in Tesco boss planning war

The 50,000 seat stadium would see 71 houses bulldozed A grandmother from Merseyside has applied for planning permission to demolish the home of Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy. Dot Reid is retaliating against plans to bulldoze her home and 71 others in Kirkby, to make way for Everton's new stadium and a Tesco supermarket. The 58-year-old said Sir Terry, who lives in a mansion in Hertfordshire, deserved a taste of his own medicine. She plans to turn the site of the Tesco boss's house into a community garden. The grandmother lives on Spicer Grove where there are a mix of bungalows and houses, which would be bought under a compulsory purchase order and demolished under the plans. She helped set up a housing co-operative which was given government money to build the homes, which were finished in 1992. I want Sir Terry to have a taste of what we have to put up with Dot Reid She said: "These are more than just houses, they are homes. "I have been living under the threat of losing my home for 18 months now and it is very stressful. "I want Sir Terry to have a taste of what we have to put up with. "When we found out about the plans by Tesco and Everton, we thought it was disgusting." Mrs Reid has submitted an application to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council in Hertfordshire for permission to demolish Sir Terry's 1930s mansion in Cuffley. 'Publicity stunt' Mrs Reid has plans for the site. "It's going be a nice community area. Trees and ponds and a little play area for the children, somewhere for the old people to go and sit and relax." A council spokeswoman said: "Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has received a planning application from a resident of Kirkby relating to the demolition of a property in Cuffley and use of the space as a community garden. "This application will go through the normal planning process." A spokesman for Tesco said: "This is just a publicity stunt. "Unlike this application, for our application we spoke to hundreds, if not thousands, of residents in Kirkby, the vast majority of whom recognise this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity which will create 2,000 jobs."

[Darren]

Only in Liverpool!

[davidmphill]

Quality!!

[mileni4uk]

Gillett hits back at Hicks in row

Gillett (left) and Hicks are not on speaking terms

Liverpool co-owner George Gillett says he will not sell his shareholding to Tom Hicks and has accused him of creating "turmoil" at the club.
Gillett was responding to Hicks's claim that he is preparing a "very attractive offer" to buy out his fellow American.
The relationship between the two men broke down some time ago, leading to civil war breaking out at Anfield.
Hicks wants Liverpool chief executive and Gillett ally Rick Parry to quit, labelling his tenure a "disaster".
But Parry has the support of Gillett and a majority in his favour among the club's six-man board.
Gillett said: "I am saddened at this latest outburst from Tom Hicks.
"Here we are, a few days away from a vital Champions League semi-final match and Tom has once again created turmoil with his comments.
"Tom should stop. He knows that Rick Parry has my support and that airing his comments in this way will not change my position.


"His failure to discuss this with the Board or the management committee is significant."
Parry told Radio 4's Today programme: "I'm accountable to the board and this is not something the board has discussed with me.
"I think I have a responsibility, indeed a duty, at the moment to try to keep things on an even keel when there's a degree of turmoil off the pitch.
"The club will survive, we've got a Champions League semi-final coming up, there are a lot of important things to be done at the club and that's our focus."
Hicks says Parry should stand down because he feels the club needs a fresh injection of commercial clout.
"Look at what's happened under Rick," Hicks told Sky Sports. "It has been a disaster. "We have fallen so far behind the other leading clubs.
"We should have the stadium built by now. We have a few major sponsors when we should have 15.
"We have still got the top brand in the world of football but that's no good if you don't know how to commercialise it.

What do you think of the latest in the Anfield boardroom battle?

"Rick needs to resign from Liverpool FC. He has put his heart into it but it is time for a change.
"You have to be able to work with the manager and Rick has proved he can't do that."
Hicks says he is preparing a "very attractive offer" to buy out Gillett as the power struggle within the corridors of power at Anfield deepens.
He also insists he will not sell to Dubai International Capital, who came close to taking over the club before the arrival of the two Americans.
"If George doesn't sell - because I am not going to sell - I guess we stay in this position that we are in," added Hicks, who echoed Gillett's recent claim that their relationship had broken down.
And Hicks has tried to assuage fans by saying that if he gains overall control of the club he will offer Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez a one-year contract extension.
Benitez's current deal runs until 2010 and, judging by Hicks' comments, it seems the Spaniard may have a fragile relationship with Parry.

He (Gillett) and Rick set up the meeting in New York with Jurgen Klinsmann - I did go to the meeting along with my son Tom Tom Hicks

"If I were to buy George out the first thing I'd do is offer Rafa a one-year extension to make sure he is going to be here up to when we get the stadium," said Hicks.
"Hopefully we could have some success and then extend him again.
"Rafa and the players have their heads down. They are playing great. We communicate regularly.
"I know he feels comfortable with the way things are going."
Hicks out with Gillett over the design of the new stadium, and he has also been the target of abuse from fans for having talks with former Germany manager Jurgen Klinsmann about replacing Benitez.
But Hicks said: "George became good friends with Klinsmann a year ago.
"I get this call from George out of the blue in which he says 'have your people do some research on Klinsmann'.
"He and Rick set up the meeting in New York. I did go to the meeting along with my son Tom.
"Rick Parry had already met with Jurgen alone for a couple of hours when we arrived. We all then spoke to him for another four hours.
"Afterwards I told the truth to a reporter who asked the question and suddenly it is 'Tom Hicks tried to get Jurgen Klinsmann'. George initiated it but we all participated."

[Pot rice]

As a Liverpool fan, I am sick to death of these 2 Americans. They obviously bought the club with the view to making a pot load of cash rather than for the love of football. Some might say that's OK as it's just a business but I disagree. Endless fights and off the field rants have done nothing for LFC this season and I'm suprised they've held it together on the field as well as they have in the circumstances. It's time for these two to sort out their differences and clear off and let someone invest in the club who cares about it.

[Pot rice]

Originally Posted by Pot rice

As a Liverpool fan, I am sick to death of these 2 Americans. They obviously bought the club with the view to making a pot load of cash rather than for the love of football. Some might say that's OK as it's just a business but I disagree. Endless fights and off the field rants have done nothing for LFC this season and I'm suprised they've held it together on the field as well as they have in the circumstances. It's time for these two to sort out their differences and clear off and let someone invest in the club who cares about it.

Sorry, rant over. As someone who used to stand on the Kop as a kid, this whole situation just pisses me off.