Guz

Remember the fella who was crying in Istanbul, turned round and thought "f*** it, I'm gonna take my shirt off, swing it over my head and not give a f*** about what anyone thinks about me". That was class

Awful stadium to get to and out of. Stuck in the middle of what looks like a parking lot, nowhere to drink and useless stewards refusing to tell you where to go

I agree in general. 11 points is not a HUGE gap and is a more accurate reflection than 05/06 when, as you say, Chelsea lost a couple of silly games near the end. We're not a shambles or a shaky side as evidenced by the number of lossess but we need that edge to our game The annoying thing with this season is the number of times we've been thinking we're within touching distance but not taken advantage of it. If we'd beaten City away and Wigan at home like we should've the league table would've looked so so much better and given us a lot more confidence. Sounds obvious yeah but we've dropped too many points at critical times in the season and too many big players not performing in January. We're close, but this final step is the hardest

I didn't realise having a go at other clubs is the only way to keep your best player or get the most money for him. Got no problem with him starting an auction but there are other ways in the media without having a go at a club for putting in a bid.

As a fanbase yes, the club in the public eye certainly didn't. Rafa didn't go crazy at Mourinho or Chelsea in public. Infact we did nothing and just sat back publically and tried to sort it between ourselves and Gerrard in private. Rafa has dropped it in public (he never brought up in the first place) but O'Neill obviously doesn't want to. Two weeks in a row he's had a rant about us and Benitez and all stemming from a newspaper article ffs. It's not really lacking class and I don't particularly care but just find it a bit stupid really. There was a chance to drop it in public but he refused to take it. Obviously he's desperate to keep Barry but it looks like he's also looking to drum up interest from other potential parties like Arsenal or Chelsea. I dont blame O'Neill for doing it I guess but we never did that with Gerrard. Dont think I or many of our fans would think that to be honest but the papers etc. would. Most neutrals etc would be talking about Gerrard's desire to win trophies, captain the national side, not going anywhere with Liverpool etc etc.

Exactly. The mind boggles. If he'd just kept his mouth shut last week then there wouldn't be much of a problem.

I think he's been too s*** and lazy too many times this season. Oh, and the fact that the new lad had bagged over 30 goals in his first season. I like crouch, hope he stays but he's found his level as a squad player. He hasnt been treated like a dog ffs, he's still played in bigger games than he would ever have dreamt of as a youngster and owes his current status in world football to Rafa Benitez and Liverpool Football Club. The only other manager who wanted to take a gamble on him when he got relegated with Southampton was Harry Redknapp. We're not going to change to accomodate him, if he's not willing to sit on the bench most games then so be it and go. Dont make a big deal out of it. If it were someone like Carra or Reina then yeah i'd be worried about them leaving but it's Peter Crouch ffs. There's no point in us wasting time on working out what he wants to do. Looks like he's nailed on to leave to be honest.

Rafa's job was on the line till December. Isn't that why we marched from the sandon before the Porto game? Incase you missed it the owners drew up a contract for a new manager, they wanted Benitez sacked. He was told to shutup in public. He knew the knife was hovering behind his back with the owners waiting for a single big slip up before sticking it in completely. Rafa knew it, we knew it and i'd be damned if the players didn't know it. The s*** since the end of January really has been between Hicks and Gillet. Rafa has become bullet proof and been pretty much kept out of the mud slinging in public. The two situations (atleast publically) really weren't the same. Yes we are 4th on merit, deserve to be there etc. etc. and no, I'm not making excuses for the players or the management staff but to totally ignore a season of complete turmoil off the pitch is doing a dis-service to the amount of damage it can cause. It will never be quantified because it's impossible to do so but i'm sorry but you can't just ignore it.

That and Chelsea's Wigan result. Mancs being held to a draw at Blackburn isn't a huge surprise to be honest because Blackburn are a decent team and obviously the point will turn out be very valuable for them. But in the run in, at home to a relegation candidate - you shouldn't be drawing a game like that and dropping 2 very sloppy points. They f***ed it up with that result. Fat head will no doubt be celebrating with the mancs next week, up to big Emile to sort it out

A poor flat game apart from a 15minute spell in the 2nd half. 11 points off the top, not the grand canyon gap some would make out but obviously too big

Hope we keep a clean sheet, would put Pepe top of the pile AGAIN. But of course, we all know it's because he plays in front of the world's greatest defence and most defensive team ever to have played the game of football and that he never ever makes any saves

Why would he lie ffs? You're right about the hamstring, even more precarious if there was a problem with it before the game. He is the manager who bought the player and has wrapped him in cotton wool for the last 3 weeks unless we badly needed him because he knows how f***ing good he is. If Benitez says he was injured, he was injured. No doubt if he starts today and looks ok Rafa will get lotsof stick for the substitution

It was in the Echo the same day as the Midlands express & star so it's not so clear cut which end it came from. And as already said, O'Neill was the one that confirmed this and really made it public. If one broadsheet is to be beleived Barry was not personally aware (apart from the local newspaper reports) of the bid anyway. It's not like we've been running to every media/press outlet in the country telling them we want Barry or talking to the player. From O'neill's perspective he's gonna try his best to keep Barry but if that's not possible he'll do his best to make it seem like totally the player's intention the leave, try to get a bidding war going and will try to squeeze every penny out of the sale

I like Keane and think he's a good player but if there was any chance of Spurs selling him they would demand a farcical fee, it would be nowhere near worth it so it's a non starter

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No wonder O'Neill is gutted

We are doing a swap deal including Riise and George Gillet for Barry. Best business this club will ever do

In the starting line up, our wide positions consisted of... Riise Arbeloa Benayoun Kuyt All decent players who have their own qualities but to be perfectly honest I would describe them all as average or mediocre. They all have roles at the club still but if we dont have a single class wide player away to chelsea we're going to struggle. I'm hoping for big things from Babel next year but apart from that we don't really have anything else. Aurelio is our best full back but is too crocked to be relied on long term.

No one is blaming Sami. Just saying he struggled at moments yesterday and f***ed up with the penalty. He IS a legend though and he has had a great season. He's been a terrific servant for 10 years so it's just unfortunate he had a tough game last night. Riise on the other hand... Refs missed a couple of decisions over the two legs yes but I thought they were pretty good in general to be fair to them. I find it hard to blame the officials after the number of defensive errors we made

Too many defensive f*** ups over the two legs (well, last night and last 30 seconds at Anfield where we didnt stop the cross and ginge headed into our net). We gave away four goals far too easily. For a team that prides and has built its success on defensive solidarity and being tough to beat, we really gave away four s*** goals. Chelsea didn't have to work hard enough to score against us whereas they have had to bust a gut to do so previously. Thats my biggest disappointment - we were the makers of our downfall. We're a better team relative to Chelsea compared to last season and 2005 but shot ourselves in the feet repeatedly. Mind you, over two legs Rafa had to make 2 defensive substitutions (Aurelio and Skrtel) which he wouldn't have done previously and they definitley didn't help. Not an excuse, just another contributory factor. I would've liked to have see Babel on instead of Pennant. Thats the biggest thing Rafa got wrong IMO. But Pennant has played well in his last two games and it's not like he brought no a defensive minded player. We still wanted the win and Rafa thought as fresh impetus would help. Torres, if he was injured then he was injured, although Barret in the echo seems dubious.

Would have been nice if Riise had helped him out instead of spinning around in the penalty box clueless to Drogba's position. First save was excellent but I think Pepe will think he can palm it out further than he did.

Whilst I agree with the general sentiment and think we have made some progress in our football this year, I think we have more issues to settle than 12 months ago. One is the centre back situation when Agger comes back and the other is wingers and full backs. We started tonight with Riise, Arbeloa, Yossi and Kuyt. No offence to those 4 players, they all have some good qualities but we cant have such mediocrity running through all the wide players in the team. I am expecting an explosive season from Babel next year, which leaves one wing and probably the left back area too if we're assuming that Carra, Finnan and Arbeloa will occupy the right back slot through the season

So Tom Hicks was in the ground and shock horror of shocks we dont win the game and end up getting knocked out. So that makes what - Barcelona (0-1), Milan, Mancs, Arsenal (1-1) and Chelsea x2

True. But small details like Mascherano and Arbeloa stopping a cross, Riise heading a ball 2ft off the ground, losing track of Drogba in the box etc. etc. are all little things that we work on and under Rafa have prided ourselves on doing very very well. Yeah I wouldve liked to see Babel on after we scored but its speculation as to what effect it may have had. We definitley made lots of small defensive errors though and in the end thats what cost us