The La

And then 7-1 back home? Rush and Wark with a hattrick apiece and Walsh with the 7th, if I remember correctly. York had put Arsenal out in the round before

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There are some links on the audio/video thread on RAWK. The 'hotfile' ones worked for me

The man is beyond parody, he really is England manager Roy Hodgson says Raheem Sterling's international career will not be rushed and denied the call-up was to head off Jamaican interest. The 17-year-old winger was called into the squad for Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine after Theo Walcott withdrew through illness. "He mustn't think he's become part of the set-up and has made it," Hodgson said of the Liverpool teenager. Of the Jamaica link, Hodgson added: "That's not why I've called him up." Tottenham's Jake Livermore and Southampton's Adam Lallana were also called up to gain experience and are not in contention for starting places. Play media Hodgson on Sterling call-up Sterling, who was born in Jamaica but moved to England as a child, was the most eye-catching selection, however, and Hodgson said: "When you bring someone in who has only burst on the scene in the last couple of games I'm causing headlines to be written. "I've spoken to [sterling's club manager] Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool and cleared this up with him. He's satisfied. "I've explained the thinking behind him coming in and I'll make it clear to Raheem. He'll be pretty lucky to get close to the pitch because there were plenty of players who were chosen in front of him." Hodgson added: "I can only hope he takes it in the right way and that it's great to be invited into the England set-up. "He has to try, next time, to make sure he is one of the original 23. We'll be watching him before October and see whether he'll merit a place in the squad." Hodgson also dismissed suggestions that Rodgers was worried about Sterling being fast-tracked too soon. "I was under the impression Brendan did think he was ready for the Under-21s," he said. "I don't think Brendan has given me the impression he didn't think he was ready. He thought it was nice for him to be soaking up the atmosphere around a big game. "We're talking about a young and precocious talent. It has been a meteoric rise and we're all concerned we dampen expectations as much as we can. "We'll be making it clear to Raheem 'look it's a great start, there's interest in you, but don't read too much into being here other than we're watching you.'" Jamaica coach Theodore Whitmore hoped Sterling might consider playing for the country of his birth but Hodgson said: "I'd hope the chance to play for England is sufficiently interesting. I'm prouder of the English football shirt than to do that [select Sterling to ward off Jamaica interest]. "If Raheem decides he wants to play for Jamaica he goes with my blessing but I'd like to think he'll have the right desire to play for England because I think he's a potential English player." My link

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Normally the A's / Sox games is about 60% Sox fans. It was about 10% on Friday. I have no idea whether they get a cut of away gates and I'm sure Fenway will continue to be packed out

Don't want to derail the thread but there are advantages to coming fifth in the AL East versus coming third in the AL East. If you're going to blow up a side, sometimes it's good to go the whole way. They were poor before but now they're going to be worse. The dessicated corpse of Scott Podsednik getting regular game time is exhibit A here

It HAS affected their performance. I was at the Colosseum on Friday to see Oakland put 20 runs on them en route to a whomping sweep. It may be in their interest to drop performance levels, however due to next year's draft

It is different in baseball, though. There are competitive advantages to being really s*** rather than slightly s*** (high draft picks etc.) Good baseball administrations will know when it's not going to happen for a team and not waste time propping up a losing side by throwing good money after bad. What they're doing with the Sox appears bold, forward thinking and logically sound to me - they've cut payroll to build it again with different players. Baseball, with no relegation, is stable enough for a side to throw their hand in and deal again next year - it's an established practice and the sides who are going "all in" like the Dodgers are decimating their future prospects to do so. It's a genuine "bread today / jam tomorrow" choice with either option having risks and rewards. Unfortunately, football is very different. The same metrics don't work. I think they're either out of their depth in football or simply not arsed. Either way, I think the last week has ended the "wait and see" period for me. This lot are not managing the club with any significant degree of competence and I don't think things are going to get better at any stage.

Polish Newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza is heavily linking us with a winger today My link

A very bad moment for you my batrachian friend

I think Downing's probably a good stats player, puts a shift in, plays in a position where there aren't many decent alternatives. You're right though, mindset is they key and he seems to not fancy himself out there

Every Liverpool manager right back to (if I remember right) Ged fluttered their eyelashes at Downing. For some reason he was always high on the Christmas card list, probably because left sided wingers are pretty thin on the ground, but it kind of seemed inevitable that he would end up playing for us at some point

I think Henderson could be a superb player in the formation we're trying to play and he's one of the most natural "get and give" players on the books. I also could see Downing having a good season if he gets a bit of confidence. That's what makes it interesting when they don't feature - maybe they're being held back because we're waiting for offers?

Clearly they're still looking at arrivals. Maybe one clear target and one in the madness of deadline day - kind of like Bellamy last year. Two more forwards, one of them central with a bunch of goals in him would be the ticket. It surprised me that Shelvey was the replacement for Lucas and not Henderson today. I wonder if they're thinking of dealing Henderson as a backup plan if they can't shift Adam and Spearing. Might also explain Downing's lack of involvement in the last week.

Interesting comments from Rodgers in the post match press conference. He mentioned hoping to bring "some more players" and then said "a few more." It would surprise me if we brought in more than one, tho be honest but maybe there's the intention to do more than that

Doesn't sound promising. He's chosen the mixed grill afterwards, poor lad. Doesn't sound like someone who's been given first dibs at a mountain of butties

You don't have a transfer market in baseball so to build a team you either develop your own players, swap them for other players or sign free agents. Payroll is everything and those players had $166MM owing to them. Basically, the Sox shifted half their lineup for one top prospect and a bunch of interchangeable nobodies = INSANE However, they also got to free up a huge amount of payroll to help rebuild. My guess is, other than Adrian Gonzales, they'd have swapped the rest for a tin of beans. Roughly equivalent example would be swapping Downing, Cole, Adam, Carragher and one asset such as (say) Skrtel for Tello and some B Team players. On one hand, it would be madness but if there are no transfer fees and you're purely looking at payroll it has a logic to it. Personally, I think that the Sox have done well here. Hope so - f***ing hate the Dodgers

Not sure I like the sound of this "Phil Kirwin." IWho is he?

OK. One word, two syllables. For the first syllable, I point at a part of the human body between the ribcage and the thigh The second syllable, when reversed could be some sort of circuit

I don't think you're being paranoid at all. That's f***ing disgusting

David Hodgson I think

I'm sure Dave Whelan has riled the Liverpool board up no end this summer. I'm sure there is a temptation to fire a broadside (however unwise). However, if you're going to waste a bullet on Dave Whelan, that was a pretty crap and witless way to do it. I bet he spluttered it out with a smirk on his coupn just like Paul Boateng ruminating on Herman the Tosser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVNgN_qSDp4