mooks

What a coincidence - you just convinced me to defer to your superior knowledge and ignore all the facts by your pithy statement "Total revisionism that".

Rafa Benitez the clear fans’ choice for LFC By This Is Anfield on May 21, 2012 http://www.thisisanfield.com/2012/05/rafa-benitez-the-clear-fans-choice-for-lfc/ Opinion polls across all major Liverpool FC fans websites have revealed that former manager Rafa Benitez it the clear fans’ choice to fill the vacant hot seat at Anfield. Results were recorded from This Is Anfield, Red and White Kop, LFC.tv, YNWA, Est1892, Scouse Not English, RAOTL and LFC Reds/Anfield Online, and found Benitez was the clear favourite on every single forum. From a total of almost 4,000 votes across the websites, Benitez polled an average of 59% – a clear majority. The second favourite was former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas, with Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp in third. In some instances, Benitez polled over 70%, even when listed alongside several other candidates. The Spaniard, who has openly admitted his desire to return to Liverpool, is seen as having ‘unfinished business’ by many supporters who feel that the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett halted the development of Liverpool under his reign. Benitez, who still resides on Merseyside, is reportedly not being interviewed for the vacancy by owners FSG, leaving Villas-Boas and Wigan boss Roberto Martinez as the current favourites. A separate poll on This Is Anfield asking fans to choose between Martinez or Villas-Boas returned a huge 85% majority for Villas-Boas. While Benitez may divide opinion among the media and some supporters, most recognise the huge achievements he made during his five years at Anfield and would welcome a return for him to work under the new owners to continue his legacy.

The fanbase had nothing to do with Purslow, Broughton & Ayre getting rid of Rafa. The fanbase was divided about Rodgers even before the first loss. I fail to see what you're getting at.

I've only watched highlights and to be honest I'm feeling more confident with Mignolet in goal. Arsenal's first goal, for example, is one where I just have the feeling Mignolet would have got a hand to it. The real test will come when Mignolet drops a clanger (or two) leading to a goal. His shot-stopping ability is superb but it is then we will find out whether he has the requisite mental toughness to keep goal for Liverpool.

Huh? Rafa was the clear fans' choice to replace Kenny. Indeed, he was so far ahead in a multi-horse race it was ridiculous.

Hillsborough inquests in Warrington September 30, 2013 By Mike Whalley http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1568760/liverpool-hillsborough-inquests-held-warrington Fresh inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans who were victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster will be held in the Cheshire town of Warrington, the corner has confirmed. Lord Justice John Goldring has told relatives of those who died that the precise venue for the hearings will be announced "in due course". The victims of the disaster were crushed to death on an overcrowded section of terracing at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough, home of Sheffield Wednesday, on April 15, 1989. Original inquests, conducted by Dr Stefan Popper, returned verdicts of accidental death in March 1991. Campaigners have maintained that those verdicts, and the manner in which the inquests were conducted, prevented a proper investigation into the role of the police and emergency services on the day of the tragedy. An independent report, published in September 2012, cleared fans of any blame for the disaster and highlighted the extent to which the police and emergency services had attempted to cover up their own culpability. That report has prompted a series of legal moves designed to bring those to blame for the tragedy to justice. The original inquest verdicts were quashed in December, two months after the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), the UK's police watchdog, announced that it would carry out a two-year investigation into both the role played by officers on the day and the subsequent cover-up. A second investigation, focusing on possible criminal behaviour by any people or bodies with responsibility for fan safety at Hillsborough, was set up in December and is being headed up by former Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart. Since then, Lord Justice Goldring has set about putting together plans for the fresh inquests with a series of three pre-inquest hearings in London. At the first of those, in April, the coroner confirmed that the inquests would be held in the North West of England, closer to Liverpool, rather than in London -- although an exact venue was not specified at the time. At the second, in June, he confirmed that the new inquests would begin on March 31, 2014. The third and final pre-inquest hearing is scheduled to take place next Monday, October 7. At that hearing, families of the victims believe they will learn more about the inquest process. Legal representations are set to be made by all interested parties, including the Football Association, South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield Wednesday FC, as well as lawyers for the victims' families and the separate investigation teams.

Last 5 PL games: Liverpool: WWWDL Arsenal: WWWWW Tottenham: WLWWD Man City: LWWWL Man United: LMFAO

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

True, I thought Genghis had potential in his early days But I consistently called out Purlsow for being a c*** and never tried to portray him as a knight in shining armour who saved the club. And that's really all that matters.

Good post

You're calling out Ayre yet you defend Purslow? Strange.

Enjoyed that I have to admit

Pepe Reina references highlighted as it appears Rafa threads may be off limits ;)/>/> Benitez gets the measure of Milan once again by James Horncastle Sep 23, 2013 When Rafa Benitez went to bed on Saturday night, he had a lot on his mind. Milan might change their formation. There was a distinct possibility that they'd play with three strikers instead of two, with a playmaker in behind. "Honestly I don't know [what they'll do]," he said. Before deciding how Napoli would set up, Benitez revealed he'd sleep on it and hablar con la almohada. "Who speaks Spanish here?" he asked at his pre-match press conference. "What's almohada in Italian?" It's cuscino - pillow. Benitez would talk with his pillow. It's remarkable what comes to you when you're asleep. "The pillow suggested the line up to me," Benitez smiled the following day. "It's very intelligent." Giandomenico Mesto would play instead of the injury carrying Christian Maggio on the right of Napoli's back-four while Blerim Dzemaili looked fresher than Gokhan Inler so he'd partner Valon Behrami in midfield. It might be said Benitez could not have dreamed of a better night against Milan. But of course he could. He'd lived one. To many of those watching on Sunday, what came to mind was Istanbul, or an element of it at least. Sky Italia's presenter put it to studio guest Billy Costacurta that Milan experienced the same kind of black-out in the opening six minutes of the first half of Sunday's 2-1 defeat at San Siro as they did in the second half of the 2005 Champions League final against Benitez's Liverpool. They were all over the place. First Behrami was allowed to run from inside his own half straight through the middle, exchange a pass with Lorenzo Insigne, get the ball back and find himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, only to volley a shot over the bar. Then Cristian Zapata gave the ball straight to Marek Hamsik too. Released by his team-mate on the edge of the area, Gonzalo Higuain dragged an effort just wide of the post. Milan were doing the club's great tradition of defending yet another dishonour shortly afterwards when they conceded from an all-too familiar scenario: a set-piece. Jose Maria Callejon angled in a free-kick, Raul Albiol peeled off to the far post, nodded the ball back across goal where two Napoli players were all alone. If Miguel Britos missed the header, Hamsik was prepared to mess up his mohican. But he didn't have to. The net bulged. "In these opening minutes [Napoli] seemed like Sacchi's Milan," wrote Gianni Mura in La Repubblica, a huge compliment for a disciple of his like Benitez. "They played from memory, at a very high rhythm." One of football's paradoxes, though, is that sometimes teams need to go behind before they start playing and that was the case with Milan on Sunday night. "Apart from the first 10 minutes, it was the best game of the season for us," coach Max Allegri argued. Before the game, he'd told Mario Balotelli that, in light of the fact he'd be playing in front of Napoli's president Aurelio De Laurentiis, a film producer, it was time he became a leading man, not a supporting actor. The nuance here was that, until now, the 23-year-old has never played a full season as a starter for a club. Can he play at a consistently high level three games a week? Not if he's suspended he can't, which we'll get to in a moment. In many respects, this encounter wasn't so much Milan versus Napoli as Balotelli versus Napoli. He worked Pepe Reina twice before half-time and, like the rest of his team, felt they deserved a penalty after Juan Camilo Zuniga bundled over Andrea Poli in the area. Balotelli would eventually get his chance from the spot, but not before Higuain had doubled Napoli's lead eight minutes after the interval when he received a throw-in, cut inside and then sneaked a shot that Abbiati really should have saved inside the near post. Lamentably there was no Decibel Bellini, the San Paolo stadium announcer, to call out "GON-ZA-LO" or a home crowd to respond "HI-GUA-IN" over and over again, as there had been in Napoli's 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday, but it was a great feeling for the No.9, not least because it brought an historic triumph closer. With four goals in his last four games for his new club, Higuain has made supporters forget Edi Cavani in a hurry. The game, however, wasn't yet beyond doubt. Held in a full nelson by Britos and clattered by Albiol inside the box, Balotelli was awarded a penalty. He'd never missed, scoring each and every one of his last 21. In addition to death and taxes, Balotelli converting from the spot had come to be considered as one of life's certainties. But Reina, who saved seven penalties from nine at Villarreal in the 2003-04 season, had done his homework. For 20 minutes prior to Sunday's game he had sat down with Napoli's goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero and analysed Balotelli's technique. They discovered a pattern. When he halts his run up, he tends to go one side. When his run up is fluid, he tends to go the other. The variable is whether the 'keeper moves or not before he kicks it. Reina didn't, instead staying concentrated on his line. And so, from the 'tells he'd been told to look out for, he went right and made a save that left no one in any doubt that this was to be Napoli's night. Balotelli, though, wasn't done yet. He hit the bar with a wonderful hooked shot, forced Reina to tip another of his efforts over for a corner and eventually pulled one back with a curler from outside the box that crept inside the post. Perhaps feeling he should have had another penalty after Mesto went through the back of him, Balotelli unfortunately lost his temper at full-time, taking his shirt off and getting all up in referee Luca Banti's grill. Already booked, he was shown a red. The reaction in Monday's papers was measured. "Yes, we know he missed the pen and was sent off," wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport, "but the game against Napoli showed that without Balotelli this Milan would end up in the bottom half of the table." With Stephan El Shaarawy injured and yet to replicate the sort of form he showed in the first half of last season, there's certainly some truth to that. Milan are only a point better off than at this stage a year ago and are already eight adrift of the leaders, but it's early days and with the run they went on from October to May in 2012-13 still fresh in the memory, judgement should be reserved. As for Napoli, this was a night to savour. A week after finding themselves alone at the top of the table for the first time since the Diego Maradona era and just days after overcoming a German team for the first time since the 1989 UEFA Cup final, they beat Milan at San Siro for the first time since April 13, 1986 too. That's quite the tri-fector. Coincidentally enough the score on that day 27 years ago was also 2-1, a Maradona goal not too dissimilar to Higuain's separating the two sides. Matched stride for stride so far by Rudi Garcia's Roma, who notched their fourth win in a row with victory in the derby against Lazio on Sunday afternoon, making this their best start to a campaign since 1960, the centre of power, at least for now in Serie A, has changed from the north to the centro-sud or centre-south. Will the shift endure? That is the question. One imagines Juventus will have a thing or two to say about that. But a shuffle in the pack of contenders certainly captures the imagination. Curiously, this is also the first time in 44 years that teams coached by two foreign managers have led the way in Serie A at this stage of the season. Benitez can sleep easy. Dreams of leading Napoli to a first Scudetto since 1990 must cross his mind. Who knows, it might be through more pillow talk over the course of the season that he comes to figure out how they can win it.

1. Mignolet 2. Moses 3. Sterling

Sterling in the clear: Assault trial of Liverpool winger collapses after ex-girlfriend's 'disappointing' testimony By Graeme Yorke PUBLISHED: 16:14 GMT, 20 September 2013 | UPDATED: 17:35 GMT, 20 September 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2426971/Raheem-Sterling-Case-dropped-Liverpool-winger-assaulting-ex-girlfriend.html?ico=sport^headlines The assault case against Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling collapsed on Friday when his former girlfriend gave 'disappointing' evidence to support the prosecution's case. Sterling, 18, was alleged to have attacked 19-year-old model Shana Ann Rose Halliday following a row about a text message, Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard. But Sterling, from Southport, was formally found not guilty by magistrates when the Crown Prosecution Service and he now goes into the Reds' game against Southampton in the clear. He entered a not guilty plea at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court last month, having been arrested on August 8 following an incident in Page Moss, Huyton, Liverpool. He was granted conditional bail and arrived at the same court last Friday afternoon for the start of his trial. Anthony Leo, Chairman of the bench, said Miss Halliday had given 'unfavourable evidence'. Miss Halliday, from Liverpool, was crowned the winner of England’s Top Model of the World beauty pageant earlier this year. She went on to contest the pageant’s world final in Egypt and reportedly works as a sales assistant for the Hollister clothing chain. A distraught Shana appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court today and gave evidence from behind a screen. She said: 'We had a heated argument because I seen a text message on his phone. It started because I was trying to get his phone. We just kept arguing. We were just name calling. I started it. 'Ten minutes after we left the restaurant we stopped at a service station. When we got back, he told me to get out of the car and I said I wasn't because it was raining. 'He said you've got to get out of the car. He pushed me and said I'm done. 'I pushed and shoved his chest and hands and he pushed and shoved my arm and back.' Jamaican-born Sterling, who lives in the leafy Liverpool suburb of Woolton, was remanded on bail before returning to Liverpool Magistrates Court for trial. The England under-21 international trained with the Liverpool squad this morning before going to court. Reports suggest that the couple where driving when the assault began and his black Range Rover Evoque came to a screeching halt, before the altercation continued in the street. The couple had earlier been celebrating her 20th birthday with a meal out and the row is understood to have taken place afterwards. On the night Sterling was arrested he wrote on Twitter: 'This food is getting dealt with,' before posting pictures of his meal. Miss Halliday was crowned the winner of England's Top Model of the World earlier this year before contesting the world final in Egypt. The Liverpool winger, who joined the Reds in 2010, scored in his side's 4-2 Capital One Cup Second Round win over Notts County last month. He also netted in England under 21s 6-0 thrashing of Scotland only days after the alleged incident. The winger could feature for Brendan Rodgers' men who look to maintain their unbeaten start to the season when they take on Southampton at Anfield tomorrow.