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.

Have to admit it ... I just love this guy ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liverpool CAN win Premier League title this season! Moses insists Reds can maintain challenge with 'top lad' Suarez still to return By Adam Crafton PUBLISHED: 21:53 GMT, 20 September 2013 | UPDATED: 23:17 GMT, 20 September 2013 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2427172/Victor-Moses-insists-Liverpool-win-Premier-League-title-season.html?ico=sport^headlines Victor Moses has arrived at Anfield with a twinkle in his eye and a stark warning: Liverpool are ready to win the Premier League title. For a club that has failed to win it for 23 years, that’s quite an assertion. Indeed, 1990 was some year. There was the reunification of Germany, the release of Nelson Mandela, the Gulf War and the end of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister. Michael Knighton was doing keepy-uppies on the Old Trafford pitch as Manchester United finished 13th. Liverpool’s title win in May was their 10th in 15 years and Moses was born in the December. That means he’s never seen Liverpool win the title, so why the confidence? ‘Look at the way we have started so well,’ Moses explained, speaking to Sportsmail at a launch event for EA SPORTS FIFA 14. ‘We’re still unbeaten and there are enough quality players here to win the Premier League. ‘A lot of people are saying Liverpool can be in the top four, but we believe in ourselves. We are confident we can be looking beyond the top four.’ Top of the table after three wins and a draw, and with last season’s 30-goal talisman Luis Suarez — described by Moses as a ‘top lad and an amazing striker’ — still to return, the winger may not be alone in wondering whether this could be Liverpool’s time. He said: ‘This year is a lot different. If you look at the way the table is at the moment, anyone can win the league. It’s not only about two teams, so why not Liverpool?’ Moses is with Liverpool on a season’s loan from Chelsea, but this is not the first time he has linked up with Anfield boss Brendan Rodgers. Their relationship can be traced back almost eight years to when a 14-year-old Moses was at Crystal Palace and Rodgers was manager of the Chelsea academy. ‘I’ve known the gaffer from when I was 14 and he wanted me to go to Chelsea,’ revealed Moses. ‘We had a chat and I was expected to move there. 'He phoned and I told him I was going to go.’ Moses breaks into a boyish grin and begins to giggle: ‘But then I had another think about it and didn’t turn up. ‘I just didn’t go. I didn’t ring him or anything, I just didn’t go and stayed at Palace. ‘I thought there was no point going to a bigger club like that and not getting in the first team, not playing.’ So has the manager forgiven Moses for his indecision? ‘I think so!’ said Moses, smiling. ‘I was still little then. It was schoolboy stuff. I was 14. 'I started playing in the first team when I was 16 at Palace and I started playing in games against the gaffer’s teams. ‘I played against Reading and then Swansea so I played against him twice. I think I scored against them the second time as well! 'He didn’t mention it. He let me off! 'Now it’s my chance to pay him back for the respect he’s shown in coming for me again.

Lovely tribute to true legend Francesco Totti. Hopefully Stevie's light continues shining for another 5-6 years. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long play the King by Julian De Martinis Sep 20 2010 http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/asroma/id/774 On paper, renewing the contract of a soon-to-be-37-year-old for an additional two years might seem like a foolish move. Thirty-seven is, after all, an age at which few players play the sport anymore or rather move to lower leagues, for one last paycheck. Goalies aside, not many are in the physical and mental condition to continue to play top level football. The most notable exception to this rule seems to be defenders, especially center-backs, who can compensate for a lack of speed with exceptional reading of the game. Francesco Totti is none of the above: not a center-back, not a defender, not a goalie, not a player who’s moving to lower leagues. He’s arguably not even human. Totti will be playing for Roma until the summer of 2016 – and perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that it’s no surprise. This was a widely expected move for the club, not just because Totti is the side’s captain and best ever player, not just because he is truly a living legend, but because it’s nothing less than earned. After the fall of the Sensi family and the early Luis Enrique reign, it seemed that time may have finally caught up to Totti. It took him until January the year the Spaniard was in charge to finally notch a goal, struggling as the offense did under Enrique’s style of play and with regaining form after injury. His tally improved as the year went on but at the end of the season he had scored a mere eight goals: his lowest tally in a decade. Then, Zdenek Zeman. Totti’s revival under last season’s coach simply cannot be underplayed. Tucked back into a left wing role with the freedom to roam central, it was as if he suddenly had new legs. He looked fitter. His passing was better. He led the team by example, scoring twelve goals in Serie A. He was thirty six. This season, it didn’t take until January to notch a goal. It took slightly over half of one match to get his first assist, and a mere three games to put a splendid finish into the net to get on the scoresheet. Time? Francesco Totti. Francesco Totti, time. He’ll deal with you when he wants. Romanisti now have the joy of watching Totti play on for another two seasons beyond the end of this one. His early form under Rudi Garcia suggests that the Zeman effect has not worn off at all. Instead, Totti is much like a fine wine, like that rarest of top class centerbacks that can close down the world’s best attackers despite a loss of mobility. It’s a story that could have had no other real conclusion: with a contract running out this summer, and Totti in such splendid form, retirement would have been immensely foolish and a transfer away from Roma nearly unthinkable. Even comments at the new kit unveiling, suggesting that this jersey would be the last he played in, seemed like a twofold joke/tacit acknowledgment to the fact that his current contract was ending rather than an admission that he would be gone by next summer. For Roma, today there are no disappointments. The king signs on and long play the king.

I think the next logical step is for a high profile ex-player to come out. That is difficult enough in itself and the feedback would help current players gauge the reaction if they were to come out. (btw, I'm not even considering the possibility that there are no gay Premiership players - it is a statistical certainty that there are and always have been.)

Ha! If posting a Kenny Dalglish interview makes you a WUM then that is some pretty potent stuff you're smoking. In any event, I'd far rather be a WUM than a WOT

Why do you say that?

There is a current Rafa thread open. It's Kenny himself who has brought the issue up - are we supposed to ignore it?

Couldn't find another active Kenny thread and thought this was worth posting. _______________________________________________________________________ Dalglish denies failure as Liverpool boss September 20, 2013 http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1558169/kenny-dalglish-denies-failure-second-stint-liverpool Kenny Dalglish believes he over-achieved in his final season as Liverpool manager, suggesting he deserved more credit for guiding the team to two Cup finals at Wembley. Liverpool won the Carling Cup before losing narrowly to Chelsea in the FA Cup Final in a thrilling end to the 2011/12 campaign, but it was not enough to save the Anfield legend from losing his job Now Dalglish has claimed the current Liverpool side would welcome a similar outcome to this current season under manager Brendan Rodgers, even though he admits the club need to secure a return to the Champions League sooner rather than later. "What those boys achieved in 2012 was fantastic. To win the Carling Cup and to get to an FA Cup final was beyond any expectations," Dalglish told the Daily Mirror. "Liverpool is a massive football club and they had not won anything for six years when I got there, but we won something in our first season. "People will turn around and say we finished eighth in the league, but how many points would you swap for three Wembley trips? That League Cup was a trophy for Liverpool Football Club. I don’t see that as anything but a positive. It's always pleasant to get a winner's medal. "It might be more rewarding to qualify in Europe after finishing fourth, but who remembers that game when you finished fourth to get there? Winning a Cup final against Cardiff at Wembley and walking away with the Carling Cup was a day to remember. "Yes, I would have loved to have finished fourth and I would have loved to have won the Champions League and won the Premier League, but it was never going to be achieved overnight." Even though Dalglish admitted he was hurt by his sacking by the club's current owners, he has confirmed he would return to the club if asked to fulfil an ambassadorial role in the future. "I've always said that I'm happy to help Liverpool Football Club in whatever way I can and that hasn't changed in any way, shape or form," he added.

I thought VM was sensational in the first half - the best all-round performance by one of our players this season. I assume the reason he is not in more people's top 3 for MOM is because he tailed off in the second-half (in his first competitive start of the season). I hope people aren't assuming that he'll be a Sturridge MK II and flourish into an unstoppable force with us. Having watched him a fair bit under Rafa I would say both his first and second half performances were anomalies. He is extremely disciplined and tenacious with exemplary fitness levels. He is the anti-Downing in terms of his attitude and I have little doubt he will add to the team this season before, hopefully, making the move permanent.

Exackerly

Carralegend, Sion and Ant disappeared without a trace. Hmmm ...