Lou

I just hope the matchday hospitality packages don't start impacting seriously on the crowd and atmosphere. Whenever Alan Green commentates on a game at Wembley these days, he goes ballistic at the number of empty seats that remain for a significant portion of the second half. On Saturday in the Main Stand, two women emerged from their half time drinks 15 minutes into the second half (and deservedly had a load of abuse hurled their way). If the two blokes who were with them are on this forum, then perhaps you'd like to explain to them that there are many people out there who'd have loved the opportunity to watch a game live and that they should have been doing the same instead of sitting in the lounges. Even better - next time leave them at home

Totally agree. I don't think he misplaced a single pass up to midway through the second half and much of it was one-touch football. It's a shame he tired so quickly because he'd have been a contender for MOTM otherwise. The biggest disappointment for me was Babel. I expected to see El Zhar get knocked off the ball easily as he looks so slight but he had a decent game. Babel on the other hand looked really lightweight and Stevie/Carra need to introduce him to the concept of 'getting stuck in'. It's great to have our captain back to normal though - he made some great runs forward and should have had more than one goal. The dick-head who phoned in 606 and said he left at half time because he was so out-raged that Stevie/Carra played must surely have been a Bitter in disguise

I must have missed his condemnation of refs when decisions incorrectly go their way I'm also at a loss as to why he thinks we would comment. Apart from the 180 minutes we play them during the season, he and his little club are largely an irrelevance to us. If he spent less time looking at us and more at himself and his team, he might have more to show for the millions he's spent

That would rely on them not being obsessed with us. I recall Wyness being asked a question about the timescale for their new ground and he responded by suggesting that it would be built before ours. He had no reason to mention us but he did. When you listen to phone-ins it's amazing how often Bluenoses have more to say about us than their own team. Most of their ex-players also seem unable to resist the odd snidely remark in our direction. Since their focus is so much in Anfield's direction I don't know why they don't just give up with their own team and support us instead

Whenever we win a derby you can pretty much guarantee that Stubbs will spend all the following week whinging about something in The Echo. If he spent less time talking to The Echo and more time letting his football do the talking then maybe he'd have more to show for his career on the medal front (and of course it would have helped if he'd signed for a big club )

Ditto the manager. He played a weakened team which was utterly ridiculous at this stage of the group. You play your strongest 11, get the points on the board and then rest players when your progress is guaranteed. It was obvious to everyone that Momo and Leto were having absolute nightmares and both should have been hauled off at half time if not before. I cannot imagine what Rafa was thinking about tonight.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

All this comes from a man who was behind Steve McClaren in the list of suitable candidates for the England job...enough said

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

There was a great moment towards the end. The ball ran loose and Voronin raced to get it like his life depended on it - we were 6-0 up at the time! I think the whole team has stepped up on the effort front this season. We've been used to seeing this from Carragher week-in, week-out but they're all doing it now and we've got the skill to back up the hard work.

Dad was a Red (no longer match-going after starting a family) so I always said I was a Red without fully appreciating what it meant. Two things got me hooked during the mid-sixties. We used to go to my nanas every Saturday and my uncle, a passionate Red, would stay there when he was home on leave from the air-force. About 6 o'clock my nana and I would go into the kitchen and butter loads of rounds of bread. They would sit in a enormous tower on the kitchen table next to the sauce bottle waiting for the prodigal son to return from his afternoon on the Kop. He'd duly arrive back with a bag of chips in one hand and the Football Echo in the other and we'd all sit round while he made chip butties and gave us a detailed match report. His trips to the match always sounded such a fantastic experience. Then in 1965 my Dad and Grandad sat me down in front of the old black and white TV to watch the 65 Cup Final with them. It was so exciting and everyone was so ecstatic afterwards and that was it for me - a devoted red.

I'm not sure how much research they have done given some of the statements Wyness has been spouting. I'm still perplexed why he thinks they'll lose 10,000 fans if they stay put. I suspect that 50k has been selected because too many questions would be asked if they don't increase capacity and it's a slightly bigger number that what they've got already. I'm also surprised there are so many obstructed views for the home fans (not having sat with them for a long while). I thought they'd shifted the away fans to occupy all those seats?

I'm not sure how you justify this statement given that Goodison Park is not filled regularly despite the club offering special deals and advertising tickets/season tickets on a regular basis. Building a better/bigger stadium guarantees you nothing - as the empty seats at Bolton and Middlesborough prove.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

I queued up for a while this morning. It was the usual story - just 2 windows open. But they did have 2 crowd control stewards. Maybe if they opened more windows there wouldn't be a crowd and then they wouldn't need those stewards From a personal point of view this was the first convenient moment that I could go, But from talking to a few people I think that many have waited till the June salary cheque was available :-)

But how much of this is down to Rafa's immediate post-match comments and would you be so negative without them? Like the rest of us Rafa was probably extremely frustrated at watching a final that we could, and probably should, have won regardless of the size of past/future transfer kitties. Were he a mere ticketless mortal who was stuck back in Liverpool at the time he'd probably have been venting his spleen on this forum. And like us mere mortals who reach too soon for the keyboard when we're wound up after a game, he probably regretted it afterwards and is nowhere near as p***ed off as he sounded.

I remember getting in early (generally around 2) to get a great spot and soak up the atmosphere .......and then have a 6 foot tall 6 foot wide beery smelling neanderthal arrive from the pub at 5 to 3 and stand in front of me I also remember how scary it could be when we attacked the Kop and everyone tumbled forward. But it was also great fun at times

No luck for me or my sister

Ditto. Not sure if it was the same game..but I queued from before lunch to get into the game vs Leeds in the 73-74 season (1-0 to us, Heighway). That was their best league season ever and it was probably THE match of the season. I also queued for ages to get into the last game of the season vs Villa - when we won the league and Avi Cohen scored at both ends. Despite getting there early, the Kop gates shut just as I was getting to the head of the queue. So I legged it down to the Anfield Road and queued with the Villa fans for the away end. They had nowt to play for and were happy enough to have a Scouser in their midst. They even moved to give me a better spec for the presentations. Can't see it happening these days (and I wouldn't try it!)

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

Saw him on Saturday morning. Looked like Montse was making the most of a free Saturday to drag him round the shops (that'll teach him to get knocked out of the FA Cup early). Hopefully she was looking for a new watch

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.,This content is not viewable to guests.

I suspect you're wasting your time pointing this out to any Bluenose because the suckers really have fallen for it lock, stock and barrel. They don't seem to realise that 'self-styling' can end up making you look really ridiculous. It would be a bit like me declaring I was a Claudia Schiffer look-alike. If I said it often enough and made enough flags about it, I might start to believe it after a while and it could make me feel superior. But it wouldn't make it true (sadly) and it certainly wouldn't stop others around me having a real good laugh at my expense. We have the status of the most successful football club in the country. We earned it, it's recognised everywhere and we didn't have to award it ourselves to make us feel superior:D