Runehammer

Not a pop at you but I'm seeing this line trotted out time and time again on LFC fora recently and I wonder where the f*** it's coming from? Isn't it a fact that this is our best start under Rafa to date, both in terms of points scored and closeness to top of the table? Fair enough our performances have been less than stellar (too put it mildly) but frankly I don't give a monkey's if we're top in May and the one undisputed fact about Rafa's teams is that they finish stronger than anyone else. Thus I'd say that the signs are actually good, based on facts alone and that some of the more outrageous criticism of Rafa at this stage seems extremely bizarre.

Yes but the point is that the Mancs and Chelsea have only needed to bed in a couple of new faces to an already gelled unit, there is no way we are at that point yet and our promising start flattered to deceive - rather like Man City's really. Give Rafa at the very least one more season, he should only really need to bring in one or two faces himself then. He may have been in the job for four years but his situation was hardly equitable with Mourinho's at Chelsea, more like Ferguson's really and he's doing a helluva lot better if you compare his and Ferguson's first seasons head to head.

Taken as a whole the masses believe that Rafa rotates more than any other manager in the league, I suspect they still believe zonal marking is fatally flawed too. Last season it was our away form that was awful, now it's supposedly our home form, most now appear to believe that Rafa still doesn't understand English football, despite outperforming every other team in the division from October onwards I believe. The simple fact is that this is Rafa's best start in the league and yet people want him sacked. The main reason I'm pissed about it is that I believe it's mostly fans being sucked in by the media. We've had a crap CL so far this season but so what, the Mancs have had well over a dozen but no bugger ever bangs on at them for it.

I used to love coming on here but lately it's so depressing, it's how I imagine Newcastle boards to be. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Shankly's Liverpool, forty odd years later and funnily enough Rafa's Liverpool won't be either. This is where Istanbul comes back to bite him on the a***. The team he inherited was extremely poor and it's taken him this long to assemble a squad that he's happy with, hopefully not 100% happy with, but getting there all the same. Expectancy is raised for sure but realistically it's still too soon to truly expect a title win yet (tho' despite a helluva lot of what's written on this, and other boards, we are currently still in with a shout), and it's foolish to moan about the Mancs and Arsenal who only need to add a player or two to an already gelled squad, we are still very much in the gelling stage and it shows. All told I wouldn't be surprised if it took Rafa 7 years to bring home 19, but I hope it's earlier. I will guarantee one thing tho' if the people calling for Rafa's head get their way, we will get nobody better and I doubt I'll see another title win in my lifetime (I'm 50 btw). In closing I would just point out that if the internet and media overkill was around in the 60's we would probably still be in the 2nd tier of English football as Shanks would have been gone before he'd even half started the job.

God forbid the king of self-importance ever manages our club, even when Chelsea have beaten us under Mourinho, I still think Rafa had him tactically out-thought on all but two occasions. Anyway the other point I'd chuck into the mix here, is that it's going to be even more difficult for us to win the title again because due to media spin we are the one team of the "big 4" that everybody else regards as beatable (or at least they feel capable of nicking points), nobody much will roll-over against us as they often do against the Mancs, Arsenal or Chelsea.

Mancs then Chelsea mainly because of Kenyon, I hate him more than anyone else in the game.

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Plus Finnan, I thought he was pretty good, Carra and Hyppia weren't that bad either, just below their best, the whole midfield was dire tho' and that was the real problem. Pepe was far and away our best player tho'.

See Luton's 3 times taken penalty against Bristol Rovers this past weekend where the same Luton player encroached twice.

That's because he got his oar in first and his lawyers have written to every major UK newspaper: “Mr Usmanov was imprisoned for various offences under the old Soviet regime. We wish to make it clear our client did not commit any of the offences with which he was charged. He was fully pardoned after President Mikhail Gorbachev took office. All references to these matters have now been expunged from police records . . . Mr Usmanov does not have any criminal record.” That's not exactly true allegedly, as the article goes on to explain. Link here: http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/archives/2007...er_usmanov.html

Donation sent, and my deepest sympathies and condolences for the family. YNWA

I agree with Zoob that it's frustration, both with his own form and, for me, there's been a shortage of targets for him to hit this season as compared to last.

I'd have started with Kewell instead of Zenden.

Also, regarding Kewell's temperament, he's shown some bottle by battling through his injury disasters, a lesser person would have called it a day by now I'd have thought. It seems the poor bugger has barely been fit since he arrived so, having come this far, we owe him the chance to give us a full season. Unless he breaks down again of course.

I think I know what he means, winning in Istanbul has been a bit of a millstone in some respects, and the book has kind of been balanced out tonight, with the better team losing in both matches. To have lost in 2005 and won tonight would possibly be a more accurate reflection of where we actually are in terms of progression. As some on here have already mentioned, this small setback could well be the catalyst for putting together the final pieces for a serious assault on the League title. I do believe this to be only a small setback as I am very confident that this won't be the last European final we contest before the decade is out.

Fair points regarding Xabi staying on but I think that yellow card was also a factor.

Oh I'm sticking with MSV alright, I saw them beat Bremen 3-0 back in '75 so they'll always be my favourite German side.

I copied your post to this other forum and got a response from the Bremen lad, which I thought was decent so I'll share it: Of course there are many things true. But first, Schalke isn't the most popular club in Germany. It's still Bayern Munich. No club has more members than Bayern in Germany. That is no neutral argument and has to be a sign to read this text with adequate scepticism. Schalke was founded by coal mine workers, that's true. This club was always a worker-club. But the time changed and there are a lot of old Schalke fans who are still in favour but do not "love" Schalke anymore. It's not the Gazprom deal... That shows that the author doesn't know anything about this contract. Gazprom is just a sponsor (no rights) and it's the second best (after Bayern) in Germany. If you take the whole amount of 125 million euro it's true, but you have to take the amount of one year and Bayern is getting more money. Schalke sold their viewer receipts. An english businessman bought for a very good price (unknown) the whole viewer receipts of 25 years. So Schalke is paying every year a special rate. Anyway. Schalke boosted their squad with this money in a very offensive and aggressive way. They talked with the best players of the rivals before they extend their contracts. So they got some good players for free (Krstajic, Ailton, Ernst from Bremen, Bordon from Suttgart, Lincoln from 'Lautern) or had to pay for some other players (Kuranyi from Stuttgart). There are even more examples... The team who won the Uefa Cup in 97 was a team which was fighting in every match (They were caled "The Eurofighter"). That were players who have never won something in their life before and the whole country was celebrating this title with them. But know Schalke is a big label. It's not the worker club anymore it's company which is profit-oriented. The real Schalke fans are dieing. These one who see the workers-club. They are old. The last years Schalke developed from a special club of the working class to a Bundesliga giant which wants to buy the success. --> like many clubs in the world... The fact that they have to have success, that they are able to pay the yearly rates is not in the interest of the fans. And it's a way many German neutral fans or fans of other clubs do not like; me too. 10 years ago I liked Schalke but that changed. I don't know the analogy to Newcastle. Maybe you can compare the "Toon" and the "Ruhrpott", maybe the people are similar but I'm sure that Newcastle do not have to pay millions of debts? Finally Schalke bought success with money they wouldn't normally possess. That's a actual list of creditworthiness of the Bundesliga: Quote (index last year) 1. Bremen 1,56 (2,27) -0.71 2. München 1,86 (1,86) - 3. Stuttgart 1,86 (2,07) -0.21 4. Hannover 2,00 (1,93) +0.07 5. Leverkusen 2,01 (2,01) - 6. MöGladbach 2,01 (2,06) -0.05 7. Frankfurt 2,35 (2,43) -0.08 8. Bielefeld 2,37 (2,83) -0.46 9. Nürnberg 2,41 (2,92) -0.51 10. Hamburg 2,46 (2,46) - 11. Mainz 2,46 (2,46) - 12. Aachen 2,48 (2,48) - 13. Bochum 2,50 (2,50) - 14. Wolfsburg 2,52 (2,53) -0.01 15. Berlin 2,60 (2,67) -0.07 16. Dortmund 2,60 (3,02) -0.42 17. Schalke 2,90 (2,90) - 18. Cottbus 3,14 (3,21) -0.07 What I can shortly say about Schalke: They do have great fans but the club about-face (???). I hate undeserved success, so I'm celebrating every Schalke loss!

Thanks for posting that, it's a cracking read. I post on a general football forum where we have a resident Bremen fan so I tend to have a soft spot for them (tho' MSV Duisburg are my favourites) but I think I'm going to have to switch allegience from Werder to Schalke. Tho' I really can't see Stuttgart slipping up at home to Energie Cottbus.

I'm sure he'll be desperate to provide one too.

Yep he's even managed to "outdo" Don Revie's Leeds team of the 60-70's on that front.

Unfortunately I believe you are spot on.

I disagree, I'd put Steve Coppell there since he's achieved miracles with Reading and played good football to boot. I do wonder tho' if his mate Demento has decided to retire at the end of the season and Allardyce has been chosen as his successor.

Cudicini is around 34 tho' and has only averaged about 20 games (probably less) per season throughout his career. Carson obviously has the desire to actually play and some ambition, it also doesn't help that Reina is also young.

That's true but, even if they had no current injuries to contend with, PSV are a shadow of that side.