Lou

..actually I think it was £30 for those of us that don't get in on a freebie As he's getting so much stick, I'm going to defend Kev on this one. I can watch the reserves for free any time and I don't expect to have to pay £30 for the privilege. Last night's game was priced on the basis that it was a cup quarter final versus a big team and I think we had the right to expect that Rafa would field a side that befitted the occasion, especially after the FA Cup exit. He didn't and, in doing so, I think he cheated the fans who paid to watch last night (most of whom had travelled to the tie twice). My love affair with Rafa hasn't ended (maybe it's a little damaged) and I don't think the result will have any bearing on the Barca game. So this is not a knee-jerk reaction. But 15 hours after the end of the game this is the one issue on which I still feel really angry. I just hope that none of the kids have taken a serious knock to their confidence. In general I applaud playing some of them in this competition. But the way to do it is to feed one or two of them at a time into a strong and balanced side that is playing well. Had Rafa done so then I think he could have rested one or two key players and still come out of last nights game with a decent result

I'd have kept Crouch on but Garcia was woeful for the second game running and I couldn't see where any improvement was coming. His passing was awful and he was constantly knocked off the ball.

I thought Guthrie did well and appears to have the physique to compete at this level. The other lad (whose name I can't spell either) looked a bit lightweight though it would have helped if he'd been given the ball occasionally.

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You often find this in other professions that are generally male dominated - you have to be better to be taken seriously. It would be political correctness gone mad were Newall not able to criticise female officials in case he was accused of being sexist (as is the case on occasions with debates on immigration being stifled amidst inappropriate accusations of racism). But he is deserving of the criticism on this occasion. If any woman is up to the job then she should be given the chance. It's not as if their male counterparts are doing a great job at the moment. But the comment did spark some great debate on Radio 5 last night. One 'fossil' rang in and suggested that any woman who wanted a 'mans-job' or who had short hair (!) must obviously be a lesbian because it wasn't natural. Woman should be at home having babies and cooking

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The conclusion to many, if not all, of these rumours seems to be 'and therefore it would be better if Stevie left LFC and joined <insert name of big club in Spain or Chelsea or Man U>'. IF (and it's a big if) the lad's got problems then going somewhere else is not going to make them go away. In fact the very best place he can be is at LFC where he is surrounded by family and friends. The fact that it's always touted as the solution to his supposed problems is probably the biggest give-away that it's a made-up-story and designed to unsettle him and the team

I was told the 'rumours' by several people yesterday. It's amazing how ALL of the conversations started with 'My mate who's an Evertonian told me etc etc'. Robbie was our best player by a country mile for a while and the 'rumours' doing the rounds in the city while he was at the top of his game were never ending and generally without any foundation whatsoever. Now Stevie faces the same situation and the best thing we can do is to laugh them off and stop them spreading because, even if there were the remotest truth in any of them, he should be left alone to deal with them privately. Meanwhile it would be really nice if the Bluenoses stopped obsessing about our players and got themselves a life.

It's a matter of credibility. I long ago stopped believing the rubbish the Daily Post was pedalling about the new ground situation and the Mirror is, I believe, oft referred to as the Manc Times and loves nothing more than a good muck-stirring story about Liverpool(whether it's true or not). Xabi said a few weeks ago that he paid no attention to the Press who label a team as world beaters one week and no hopers the next. When the paper in question appears to have an agenda then there's even more reason not to pay attention.

The Daily Mirror printing a muck-raking story about Liverpool is as much of a surprise as the Daily Post producing yet another pro-groundshare article I think (and hope) that the players and manager have too much sense than to believe everything they read in the papers

It would be nice also if those who are not interested in football and Liverpool in particular left the tickets to those who are. As we were leaving from the Blackburn game, two women emerged from the Ladies and said "Oh, has it finished" (though I have to say that their make-up and hair was immaculate ) Last night someone asked me if I was a steward (must be the red coat) and if they could leave at any time because they found the place claustraphobic and they didn't like crowds. If your spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, siblings, kids, parents or whoever are not interested, then LEAVE THEM AT HOME

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No mention of the fact that they could have lost their opening fixture were it not for two refereeing howlers? It goes with the victim mentality that says only Everton are ever victims of injustice

According to a City fan, the Bluenoses spent all match having a go at him because of his brother. Then when he showed them a bit of flesh in response, off they went to the police for a good whinge. Tis a bit like the derby game when they spent the game goading Fowler with the nasty smackhead chants and then were outraged at the line-sniffing incident (and yes it was stupid of Robbie but their reaction was hypocritical in the extreme)

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I had the misfortune to listen to the odious Garry Richardson this morning on Radio 5. I tend to switch off most weeks as he seems to regard investigative journalism as asking a person the same question over and over again even though they refused to answer it the first time. He mentioned the issue of clubs refusing access to the BBC and condemmed it. He then said that he'd trailed an interview previously with Stevie and he hoped to be able to broadcast it some time. The implication was definitely that Liverpool are refusing the let them air it and that we're banning access. But I saw no evidence of Rafa refusing to speak to anyone yesterday. It's probably another case of the BBC talking up this issue when they actually having nothing to talk up