Liverpool Category
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Vale Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers’ top 10 quotes
Liverpool have sacked Brendan Rodgers, the man who liked to talk in parables. He’s was much the Jesus of middle-management-style football coaching. Here were his greatest hits…
1. ”It was a perfect away performance, apart from the first 10 minutes.”
2. “I’ve always said that you can live without water for many days, but you can’t live for a second without hope.”
3. On Luis Suarez: “He is a real warrior of spirit.”
4. “My biggest mentor is myself because I’ve had to study, so that’s been my biggest influence.”
5. “I am not a power freak.” (We think the lady doth protest too much!)
6. “I started coaching for one reason and that was to make a difference for people, not just as footballers but as human beings.”
7. “When we have the football, everybody’s a player.”
8. “You train dogs, I like to educate players.”
9. ‘I think there’s three players who will let us down this year — the cause, the fight, everything – and I have written them down already in these three envelopes. Make sure you are not in one of the envelopes.”
10.”I use a quote with the players,“Per aspera ad astra”, which is Latin for ‘through adversity to the stars’.”
Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers sacked, moves one step closer to England job
No sooner had his Liverpool side drawn 1-1 against Everton in this afternoon’s Merseyside derby than Brendan Rodgers found himself out of a job.
According to the BBC, the decision to can Rodgers was made by the Liverpool higher-ups at 18:30 BST, just hours after full-time.
Announcing the news via a joint statement on the official Liverpool website, owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner and president Mike Gordon said:
We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Brendan Rodgers for the significant contribution he has made to the club and express our gratitude for his hard work and commitment.
All of us have experienced some wonderful moments with Brendan as manager and we are confident he will enjoy a long career in the game.
Although this has been a difficult decision, we believe it provides us with the best opportunity for success on the pitch. Ambition and winning are at the heart of what we want to bring to Liverpool and we believe this change gives us the best opportunity to deliver it.
The latest from the club’s owners is that they are hoping to appoint a new manager – and Jurgen Klopp is runaway favourite to take the gig – in a “decisive and timely manner”.
And here’s us thinking Brendan, for all his many and obvious flaws, wasn’t doing too bad a job at Anfield.
Ruthless business.
And how about Rodgers for England? He’d be good. He has vision.
Posted: 4th, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (2)
Liverpool: Brendan Rodgers would make a great England manager
Liverpool are looking limp under Brendan Rodgers. Jurgen Klopp is the media’s favourite to take over should Rodgers get the boot. In the Times Matt Dickinson asks readers to pause and remember that Rodgers is no fool. A talented manager, which Rodgers certainly is, does not become rubbish.
There may be fun to be had with @DeludedBrendan and the mocking tweets but, beyond the David Brent gags, the Rodgers who emerges from Gerrard’s book deserves to be taken seriously; a sharp tactician, a strong communicator, an astute improver of players.
Sometimes he can get a little carried away and, as Gerrard notes, he is ambitious perhaps to the point of ruthlessness. But there emerges a portrait of an upwardly mobile manager who, if unwanted by Liverpool at the end of this season, would be very welcome in an England tracksuit as the successor to Roy Hodgson.
Rodgers for England? You hear it and it makes sense.
…Rodgers is the one with top-level coaching and managerial experience, a record of improving young players, especially English ones. Or, as he once said in one of those quotes that seem to polarise opinion: “My life’s work has been trying to show that British players can play.”
Dickinson quotes from Gerrard’s book:
Read Gerrard recount in compelling detail about when he went to see Rodgers because he felt off-form and could not fathom the problem. The speed with which his manager came back with detailed analysis about a lack of head movement, and how it was affecting the tempo of the captain’s passing game, is striking. There are plenty of stories from Gerrard of Rodgers’ ability to motivate as well as innovate. The book is littered with lines like “the training sessions were among the best I had ever experienced while his man-management was excellent, generous and imaginative”; “it needed a bold appointment from the owners — and I think they got it right with Brendan”; “Brendan came across as a nice man, and a good person, from the start”; “a very human man-manager”.
Of course, there is some blunt criticism, too; a dubious signing or two and, most notably, a critique of that fateful, gung-ho approach against Chelsea with the title at stake fuelled by “an overconfidence in Brendan’s team talks” and not recognising the need to temper his boldness.
Jason Burt has also talked of Rodgers being the ideal England candidate:
The FA needs direction, maybe even an evangelical approach. It intends to keep Hodgson in place until the completion of the 2016 European Championship when his contract expires, when he will be close to celebrating his 69th birthday. He is likely to go then, so the clock is ticking as regards his successor. The answer seems clear: it should be Brendan Rodgers…
Here is a man who clearly has “ that vision thing”. Not just in an identifiable and entertaining modern style of play – you could put his Liverpool team in any colour shirt and they would be recognisably Liverpool – but in developing players as people. He has both a “holistic” approach, to borrow Manchester City’s phrase, and a much deeper sense of pastoral care and social responsibility.
It does not matter that Rodgers comes from Northern Ireland. The FA should read his words and call him, to discover if he would want to be involved in finding “that vision thing”. Hodgson should welcome his input. It would not undermine him.
And then there is Steven Gerrard, who says:
“The way he [Rodgers] plays would suit England. He would improve the possession football you need at international level. His man management is brilliant. At tournaments, in the heat, it is absolute torture and we need to keep the ball better. If you want someone who would get the team playing and the players would enjoy working with, it would be Brendan.”
Rodgers for England. It makes sense.
Posted: 2nd, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (2)
Liverpool balls: football genius picks Neymar over Ings
Banteriser Jimmy Bullard has a plan to make Liverpool great. Jimmy, last seen being irritating (surely, engaging in hilarious bantz – ed) in the I’m A Celebrity jungle has been talking to the Express.
Bullard has been hired by Ladbrokes Rugby’s ‘Who’s Got The Balls’ campaign, a truly dire marketing strategy in which punters are invited to see if Bullard or Austin Healey (Strictly Come Dancing, Hole In The Wall, The Weakest Link, Pointless Celebrities and more) can decide “once and for all” if celebrity footballers or rugby players are tougher.
One test of fortitude would be to see how long anyone can spend in room with Bullard before begging for mercy. But while Ladbroke’s make ready the punishment room, Bullard turns his mind to Liverpool.
“They haven’t bought enough. They bought ok, but Roberto Firmino has not produced. They got rid of top quality and they haven’t got that back. With the likes of Suarez going and not getting world quality, for me as a fan I want to see a world-class striker join. I wanted to see a Neymar or someone to replace Suarez. They took a risk with signing Danny Ings from Burnley.”
But Neymar! Had only Brendan Rogers the wit to have bought Brazil’s brightest star from Barcelona.
Posted: 1st, October 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Liverpool: Klopp says ‘come and get me’ but only if you change
Is the next Liverpool manager to be Jurgen Klopp? If it is then changes will need to be made says the Daily Mail:
Klopp will only take Liverpool job if transfer committee is scrapped
Joe Bernstein writes:
Jurgen Klopp would demand the end of Liverpool’s transfer committee if he is to succeed Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager.
That’s not exactly new news is it. Back in May, the Metro said the same thing:
The German would demand FSG remove the current four-man committee that decide which players Liverpool decide to buy or sell, leaving Klopp himself to have more influence on the club’s transfer targets.
But is that even correct? In August Klopp said he wasn’t keen on doing transfers:
“The Premier League is very exciting. And we do not only think about the top four because there are some other great clubs below them. In Germany there is a clear separation between manager and sporting director and I think in principle this is very good. Jürgen does not like to speak to players’ agents or to carry out a transfer. So we have to see which is the most useful arrangement.”
But none of it matters because Liverpool don’t want Klopp. talkSport told us that:
Such are the facts in the mainstream media.
Posted: 28th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: Rodgers senses ‘hysteria’, 33 new players and Manchester United move miles ahead
The Sunday Times says “Liverpool as far from the top as they’ve ever been”. Is Brendan Rodgers’ side that bad?
Jonathan Northcroft:
Rodgers surely also knew, from last year, that when you churn playing staff in the summer it is hard to find consistency. His latest spree, featuring eight arrivals, was lauded by supporters seeking change — but after 33 signings, for £292m, in three years, is it not stability that Liverpool need?
Recruitment defines most reigns. It is likely to do so with Rodgers. The 33 have been an unbalanced crew, including five No 10s, 10 strikers and only two wingers…
There is another five-year anniversary approaching, of John W Henry’s takeover in 2010. The pledge was “to first focus on stability rather than change”. Can Rodgers weather trouble and finally get a restless club to settle?
Another noble Henry 2010 objective was to “return Liverpool FC to its rightful place in English and European football, successfully competing for and winning trophies”. But look through the squad. How many would get in the first teams of Liverpool’s rivals in England — let alone Europe?
Look at the economics: in 2010, Liverpool’s wage bill topped Arsenal’s and was just £10m behind United’s and £12m behind Manchester City’s. Now it’s £71.5m behind United’s, £62.5m behind City’s, £23m behind Arsenal’s. Liverpool have never seemed further from Henry’s goal and for reasons neither he nor Rodgers fully control.
Says Rodgers:
“There’s a hysteria around the club. We’ve lost fewer games than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in all competitions – two. It’s a huge club, a worldwide, iconic club, so the scrutiny on it is huge. It doesn’t affect us. We’re working hard and trying to integrate players back into the team….There is a group of people that don’t want me here. Myself and the players stay very calm and work very hard.”
But it’s about belief. City and Arsenal have lost in the Champions’ League. Can Liverpool even get there?
Posted: 27th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Transfer Balls: Chelsea will lose Eden to Real Madrid and Barcelona want Coutinho from Liverpool
The Premier League bloats whilst La Liga gloats. News via the Sunday Times is that Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho are “wanted in Spain”. That pretty much means Real Madrid and Barcelona are eyeing the players.
Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, says Hazard is the man to ignite Real. The 24-year-old is the current Professional Footballers’ Association Young Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year. He’s the best the PL has to offer. But the feeling is that should Real come knocking Hazard will want out of Stamford Bridge.
Coutinho, Liverpool’s club’s sole representative in the PFA Team of the Year, is being watched by Barcelona. Surely the Nou Camp holds more attraction than being the brightest light in a Brendan Rodger’s team that seems to make it up as it goes along.
Posted: 27th, September 2015 | In: Chelsea, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: since March Rodgers’ Reds haven’t beaten a team higher than 16th in the Premier League
Liverpool are not all that good. For a club that has spent vast sums of cash, Brendan Rodgers team are pretty dire. The current league positions of the past five team Liverpool FC have defeated since mid-March are:
Bournemouth – 16th (and they were very, very lucky to beat them)
Stoke – 17th
Aston Villa – 18th
Newcastle – 19th
QPR – relegated.
Surely Brendan Rodgers is doomed.
Posted: 26th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comments (4)
Liverpool balls: Rodgers gets the ‘axe’ and refuses to ‘quit’
Is Brendan Rodgers heading out of Liverpool FC? The Sun and the Daily Mirror each have a take on the story.
David Maddock, the Daily Mirror, September 25:
The Liverpool manager retains the support of his club’s American owners, for now. The 42-year-old is pragmatic enough to know the backing that came – surprisingly strongly – from the other side of the Atlantic this week will not endure unless there is a seismic shift in performance
Ken Lawrence, The Sun, September 25:
His [Rodgers] language — in terms of what he says as well as his body — suggests he now thinks it inevitable Fenway Sports Group will get rid of him. Rodgers might have been referring to a statement prepared AFTER the American owners had ended his three–year tenure when he declared: “I know I’ve given it everything.”
And in a second story also from September 25 by Ken Lawrence:
BRENDAN RODGERS’ biggest fight is against the enemy within — not the critics determined to see him sacked. They say you never walk alone at Anfield but the Liverpool boss is becoming isolated from his Fenway Sports Group employers. Ahead of tomorrow’s must–win clash at home to struggling Aston Villa, the sound of silence from principle owner John W. Henry and chairman Tom Werner is deafening.
Have Fenway Sports Group backed him or not? The Mirror says ‘yes’ the Sun says ‘no’.
One day on and the Mirror declares that “defiant” Rodgers “shrugs off critics”:
Or as the Sun puts it – Rodgers “looks resigned to the Liverpool axe”:
Rodgers is defiant and resigned?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 26th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (2)
Liverpool balls: Ings and Coutinho in a Daily Mail hit and glum
You know the routine: the Daily Mail buys some paparazzi photos and then creates a story around them. It’s got some photos of Liverpool footballers driving into the club’s training complex. The man with the long lens gives the Mail a scoop:
Glum-looking Liverpool players check in for training ahead of Carlisle clash as pressure continues to mount on Brendan Rodgers
Photos are captioned:
Liverpool striker Danny Ings, who scored against Norwich, doesn’t look too pleased as he turns up for training
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 23rd, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp is ‘waiting for Bayern Munich’ who aren’t waiting for him
Jurgen Klopp would be a good fit for Liverpool. But the Daily Mail says the German is “ready to snub Premier League to replace Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich”. To which you have to wonder, are Bayern Munich ready for Klopp, who managed rivals Borussia Dortmund and has stated a desire to look for a “project“.
Sami Mokbel has the news for Daily Mail readers:
Jurgen Klopp wants to ascertain his chances of landing the Bayern Munich job before considering a switch to England.
Says who?
Sources claim Klopp is actively plotting his next move and is keeping his options open knowing the managerial landscape will change over the weeks and months of the season.
How can he actively plot anything in the knowledge things change? Is Mokbel seriously suggesting Bayern will sack Guardiola – and that the Spaniard will be sacked before the Liverpool board calls time on Brendan Rodgers time at Anfield?
But it is understood Klopp is keen to discover where he stands in Bayern’s list of potential replacements for Pep Guardiola before making a decision on his future.
Go that? If Klopp is at, say, number, 3 on that list, say, will he sit tight and wait? What about number 2, or number 9 or number 312? What is his plot?
Mokbel than gets to the only fact of his entire article:
Guardiola’s long-term future is unclear with his contract due to expire at the end of the season.
PS: Back in April 2015, Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern’s honorary president told Sky Germany:
“Of course I could imagine Klopp as Guardiola’s successor. When I was president, we often talked about Klopp and believe he would fit very well at Bayern. Klopp is definitely an option at Bayern. The question is, how long Guardiola will be in Munich. I hope for a long time, but Klopp would be considered….
“I can’t imagine Guardiola would leave in 2016. He likes Munich. He has had success with the team and he knows that he can succeed in the future. He has everything he wants.”
To which Klopp said: “I couldn’t care less what is said about me.”
Posted: 17th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (2)
Liverpool: El-Hadji Diouf says Stephen Gerrard ‘doesn’t like black people’
El-Hadji Diouf has snapped back at Steven Gerrard in the wake of comments the former Liverpool captain made in his new autobiography about the gob-happy Senegalese forward and his general conduct during his ill-fated stint at Anfield.
For the unaware, Gerrard accused ex-teammate Diouf of having “no real interest in football” and “caring nothing for Liverpool” in his latest tome, My Story, also adding that the way Diouf spat a “huge globule of gunky phlegm” at a Celtic fan during a UEFA Cup match in 2003 summed up his “contemptuous and spiteful demeanour”.
Gerrard writes:
A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli – and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf.
Well, it looks like things are about to get unnecessarily ugly, with Diouf responding to Gerrard’s criticism by making some potentially serious allegations to Portuguese radio station Radio Future Média:
We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli at Liverpool. I warned him. Liverpool isn’t a team that accepts black people unless they are English. It’s common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn’t English, but that I’m no pushover. All the time I was there, he never dared looked me in the eye.
With the accusations of racism out of the way, Diouf went on to suggest that Gerrard is simply jealous of his glorious achievements:
Gerrard is just jealous. What I have done in football, he did not. When I came to Liverpool, I came up with the status of boss and he lives there. I am respected in world football, the greatest football experts have appointed me among the seven best players in the World Cup, the top 100 players of the century.
Everywhere I go out of my country, they worship me. Wherever he goes outside his city of Liverpool, he will be insulted.
Feel free to make your own minds up people.
We’re just not feeling up to getting involved with this one.
Posted: 15th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Liverpool balls: Rafa Benitez has Steven Gerrard’s number in phone call spat
Steven Gerrard has told us about his gashed penis, how he bleeds Liverpool red and “hates” Manchester United. Now Gerrard uses his new book to reveal his thoughts on former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez.
“I can pick up the phone and speak to all of my previous Liverpool managers, except for Rafa. It’s a shame because we shared the biggest night of our careers – the 2005 Champions League victory in Istanbul – yet there is no bond between us.”
Benitez, now manager of Real Madrid, has responded:
“I have read the quotes and I believe he is wrong because what we have to do is enjoy. And out of the respect that I have for Stevie and for the value and appreciation I have for him, and for Liverpool and the supporters I think it’s best to just let it pass.”
That’s a dignified response from a man who has thrived in the hotbed of top-flight football management – and whose family still live in the Liverpool area.
But Rafa had one more thing to say:
“He has brought out a book and now I’m the Real Madrid manager, that sells.”
Wonder what Rafa will have to say when his own book hits the shelves?
Posted: 15th, September 2015 | In: Books, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: Klopp wants the job if Rodgers is sacked
Is Jurgen Klopp heading to Liverpool? German nespaper Bild says the former Borussia Dortmund manager is interested in replacing the verbose and smug Brendan Rodgers at Anfield.
Under Rodgers, Liverpool are directionless and uninspiring. What is the plan? What is the pattern? Rodgers is operating under a cloud. The fans are losing their faith in the manager. There is a sense that he will leave sooner rather than later.
Klopp actually says nothing to Bild. But his ‘friends’ do. The affable German has already rejected the chance to manage Zenit St. Petersburg and Olympique Marseille. Liverpool would be a great fit.
Posted: 15th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comments (5)
Liverpool balls: Norwich City are always rubbish in the dial-in Premier League
The Premier League is a predictable, dull affair. Take former Liverpool player Danny Murphy talking about the Reds to the BBC:
This is a big season for Liverpool and for Rodgers…
It’s a big season for every club.
The fixture list has not been kind to Rodgers with trips to Emirates Stadium and Old Trafford in Liverpool’s first five games but now they have two home games against Norwich and Aston Villa.
Every team plays every other team home and away.
It is never quite as easy as it looks on paper, but two home games against teams in the bottom half of the table are exactly what Liverpool need and I think they will go for the jugular against Norwich – look to dominate and score goals.
Danny, this is the League table:
Norwich are above Liverpool.
Sad that the Premier League is such a procession of the richest clubs rising to the top that teams like Norwich and their accomplishments can be so easily dismissed.
Posted: 14th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment (1)
Liverpool balls: Stephen Gerrard gets a gash on his penis in Bournemouth
Nice tackle
In today’s extract from Stephen Gerrard autobiography, the Daily Mail shares this anecdote with readers:
“The magic of the FA Cup was bloodied on the day my penis was cut and then stitched shut on an unromantic afternoon in Bournemouth last year. It was eye-watering. I tried to close down a winger to block his cross but felt a stinging in my privates. I thought, ‘S*** — that doesn’t feel right!’ It was stinging like f***. The gash looked pretty bad, right across the middle. There was plenty of blood. I needed four stitches and the lads were absolutely p*ssing themselves. You can imagine the jokes about inches and stitches and my future performances at home.”
File under: ball control.
Posted: 13th, September 2015 | In: Books, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool fan wins £4000 compensation for police-induced Manchester United toilet trauma
Liverpool fans Kieth Culvin (correct spelling) has been awarded £4,000 after suing Greater Manchester Police over a false arrest claim. In 2013, Culvin was at Old Trafford to watch Liverpool take on Manchester United.
After the match, police held back the Liverpool fans, treating them as criminals without any crime having been committed. Culvin needed the toilet. As an adult who paid his way to watch the match, he expected to be able to visit the little boy’s room. But having raised his hand and asked permission, the police told him to wait.
This was despite an agreement between supporters’ group The Spirit of Shankly and the GMP that the loos would be available for Reds’ fans kept in the stadium after the final whistle. Culvin claimed he was negotiating with the police at the time when a local copper took a tumble near him, leading the authorities to wrongfully arrest the Liverpool fan for an alleged assault.
However, the case against Culvin was eventually dropped when mobile phone footage cleared him of any wrongdoing. Here’s the footage…
Following that, the still aggrieved fan launched a legal case of his own against the GMP, culminating in the £4,000 payout.
He said:
I think the outcome vindicates myself – I did nothing wrong. My worry is that other supporters might not know they can pursue these matters further if it happens to them. I think more should, as that is the only way we will get behaviour changed and as supporters be treated properly. I’ve still continued to meet with GMP to discuss policing of supporters at Old Trafford and thankfully no other issues like this have occurred so far.
Amanda Jacks of the Football Supporters’ Federation, who supported Culvin in his legal action against the GMP, said:
What made the real difference here… was Kieth himself having the presence of mind to ask his fellow fans to use their mobile phones to film events as they unfolded.
Who police’s the police?
Video: Spirit of Shankly
Posted: 11th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: Steven Gerrard reveals what would have made him stay at Anfield
The Daily Mail is puffing its interview with former Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard.
I might have stayed if Liverpool offered me the right job, reveals the Kop legend
Might have. Before we get to his latest words, it’s worth recalling what Gerrard said in May 2015:
“I am looking forward to being able to breathe and play football under a little less pressure and going back to days when maybe before I was in the first team at Liverpool when you really enjoyed your football and there’s not that responsibility and pressure.”
The Mail’s exclusive are is a trail for Gerrard’s” explosive book”, which the paper is serialising.
Says Gerrard:
“Yeah, I do miss it. I miss everything about it. When I switch on the TV and see the stadiums, with 50, 60, 70,000 people — the aggression, the intensity, the tension. I am jealous. I miss the build-up, competing with better players, I miss being Steven Gerrard, Liverpool captain and walking out in front of my people with that pressure and trying to get a result for them.”
But the bit we want to know is how Gerrard could have remained at Anfield?
“Ability-wise, I could still play but physically I couldn’t play every game at my age… I might be contradicting myself here but what would have kept me at Liverpool into this season was the chance of shadowing Brendan Rodgers and his staff as well as playing. Those ideas were only mentioned to me after I had announced I was leaving.
“I don’t know if I am going to be good enough to be a manager, or a No 1, No 2, No 3 or No 4. Liverpool replaced coaches Colin Pascoe and Mike Marsh in the summer, so they were looking for a new No 2, or No 3 or No 4. I would have been tailor-made to fill one of these roles, as well as making myself available as a squad player. I could have been a good squad player, a good sub, as well as getting management experience that money can’t buy.”
So much for being able to breathe.
“I’d have stayed on as a squad player if I’d had the chance to learn more about management or coaching. I left with all the doors still open, but yes, I could still have been at Liverpool now.”
Posted: 11th, September 2015 | In: Books, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Manchester United v Liverpool: police control scum fans inside a bubble
Manchester United host Liverpool in the weekend’s big Premier League match. The 5:30 kick-off gives time for fans to get to the game, soak up the atmosphere (and that’s the atmosphere outside the ground not the sit-down-shut-up funereal quiet imposed inside it), make a day of it and have fun.
Well, unless the Greater Manchester Police get involved. They have issued a set of rules that turn football fans – spending money in shops and pubs around the ground – into a citizen sub-class for whom free movement and free speech are a step too far. Fans are being punished for crimes they have not committed…yet.
The GMP rules:
1. You cannot drink alcohol on the street in Manchester city centre or Trafford (the borough where the ground is)…
You can. But the police say you must not.
2. There are no pubs in the area of the ground which cater for visiting supporters.
But you can’t bring your own because the police won’t let you open it.
3. Liverpool fans will be able to get a drink in the ground – a maximum of two alcoholic drinks per visit to bar per person…
A quota. Know your limit.
4. All drinks (including soft drinks) will be decanted and these arrangements are the same for home fans situated near to the segregation line.
Ever go to the theatre and have your over-priced drink decanted into a cheap plastic beaker?
5. I would like to remind all supporters that pyrotechnics are dangerous and are not welcome by the majority of fans. It is an offence to enter a stadium with such an item and those engaging in this behaviour risk arrest, prosecution and also a banning order.
No flares. Most fans don’t like them, say the police. Have most fans been asked?
6. Potentially there may well be a hold back at the end of the game – all fans will be updated about this during the game by public address announcements in the stadium. We will minimise the duration of this as far as we can but I feel it has been successful in recent league games at minimising any issues on the forecourt. During any holdback, the police will work closely with the stewards, and we will do our best to ensure that fans can access toilet facilities during any holdback. This will need to be done in a controlled manner to help regulate the numbers accessing the toilets at any one time.
And then this bit of hideous balls. Liverpool and Manchester United fans are now viewed as part of PR England:
As always, the TV cameras and media will be focused on one of the biggest club fixtures in the world. I hope that supporters from both sides act in a responsible manner and enjoy the game, no matter what the result.
Because it doesn’t matter if your team got thumped 5 nil so long as you didn’t swear on the telly and asked the police to use the toilet.
Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
Liverpool: Steven Gerrard’s Anfield return in the MSL off-season, Beckham’s two clubs and the brand
Steven Gerrard will not play for Liverpool in the MLS off-season. Well, maybe. MLS Commissioner Don Garber goes on the record:
“I don’t think so. And I had not heard that was something that was being contemplated…”
Garber recalled when David Beckham joined AC Milan from LA Galaxy in 2009:
“And people in our country said: ‘what? he plays for two teams? and you are trying to build a sport’. It was a challenge getting people to understand that. You then realise if he is playing for the Galaxy and Milan what a great thing that says about your league…
“(But) I don’t believe we are going to see many more off-season loans happening in our league particularly at what I would call the high-level designated players. It’s been a couple of years (since it has happened). I don’t remember the last one we have had – Robbie Keane with (Aston) Villa, (Thierry) Henry with Arsenal (both 2012).”
He went on to trail a competition where the Premier League winners and the FA Cup winners would take on their MLS equivalents in a mini-tournament.
“I would love to find a way that we could play our FA Cup champion and our league champion against an FA Cup and league champion tournament and play it in New York City every year. I would love to do that. If not every year, then every four years because I know they have other places that they want to go to grow their brands. Overall there is no doubt that there are opportunities for the MLS and Premier League to work more closely together on either a tournament or some other type of activity, but that (an idea) is about as far as it has gone.”
The “brand”. One day footballers will be ‘brand ambassadors’. Something to look forward to, there…
Posted: 9th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Sports | Comment
SEO Football: Liverpool ‘move’ Clyne in robot news masterclass, Daily Telegraph link Arsenal to Cavani
SEO Football: a look at mainstream media football news stories written for robots.
The Daily Express.
Scoop 1:
Liverpool star Nathaniel Clyne set for shock move
WHAT? He only joined in the summer!
The England international has been eyeing up the £600,000 house next to Rodgers’ Merseyside base…
Ah. He’s moving house.
Scoop 2:
Chelsea ace Terry in Arsenal transfer admission
John Terry is joining the Gunners? It’s an “admission“, after all.
JONN TERRY has revealed he would never leave Chelsea
John Terry not leaving Chelsea. Or to put it another way: “Terry in Manchester United transfer admission.”
Scoop 3:
Paul Pogba: Why I turned down £69m move to Chelsea
Pogba says he had no desire to leave Juventus. Mentions of Chelsea: nil.
The Express makes two headline out nothing by headlining another story:
Pogba’s Chelsea vow
Daily Telegraph:
Scoop 1:
Man Utd news: David de Gea could play against Liverpool
Or to put it another way: “David De Gea might not play against Liverpool.”
Scoop 2:
Gunners to bid for Edinson Cavani in January
That’s according to The Star via The Express, via some vague reports in Spain… According to said Spanish reports, PSG are willing to sell the striker if they receive a bid of around £45m.
Arsenal will offer £45m for a sub-Giroud finisher in January?
Such are the facts.
Posted: 8th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, manchester united, Reviews, Sports | Comment
England balls: Arsenal striker out for six months as Hodgson considers options
The Sun says England manager Roy Hodgson has issued a “warning” to injured strikers Danny Wellbeck and Daniel Sturridge.
HODGSON has warned Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge that time is running out.
Arsenal’s Welbeck is injured; Liverpool’s Sturridge is returning from a long injury-enforced layoff. Was Hodgson so crass as to “warn” the players of anything? Wouldn’t he better served encouraging them?
Hodgson says Welbeck will not return to action for another six months, as opposed to Arsenal’s view that it will be a three-month absence.
What Hodgson also said was:
“I can only hope that Danny recovers a bit quicker and then hits the ground running as soon as he does return. Daniel Sturridge is a bit the same. It’s a year since he played for me. The two of them are always in my thoughts because I think they are very good players and they did extremely well for the national team when I was coaching.”
Not a warning of any sort, then.
In the Indy, the talk is of “a Plan B for if they are without Daniel Sturridge and Danny Welbeck”. Says Hodgson:
“I’ve got to make certain that there are a few Vardys and Kanes and Walcotts and that because we can’t keep going around talking about the ones who aren’t there.”
Adding:
“We’ve got to be quite sanguine about it and we mustn’t start thinking ‘When this one comes back, we’ll be better still.’ We can’t do that. We’ve got to make sure we’re good with the ones who are playing.”
Hodgson makes entirely sensible comment. Read all about it.
Posted: 7th, September 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Tories attack disabled Liverpool fan they once praised
Liverpool fan John Smith has been winning plaudits for his work with the disabled.
The Mirror reported on August 18:
A lifelong Liverpool FC fan who overcame his disabilities to become a club charity coach has been recognised by the Prime Minister. John Smith, from Croxteth, was presented with a Point of Light award at Liverpool FC’s match against Bournemouth for his commitment to teaching wheelchair football to people with severe disabilities.
Prime Minister David Cameron was full of praise for the 39-year-old:
“For many people conquering disability to play wheelchair football would be enough of a challenge, but John has gone so much further. Through his key role in Liverpool’s Respect 4 All programme, he is sharing his wheelchair football skills with others and helping to make football more accessible for disabled people. What John is doing at Liverpool is inspirational and I am delighted to recognise him as the UK’s 317th Point of Light.”
John Smith features on the Number 10 official Facebook page.
On August 21, the Disability News Service had more on John Smith:
A disabled football coach has been recognised by the prime minister with a national volunteering award, even though that work is threatened by a legal battle over the “bedroom tax” with work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith…
Because he lives alone in social housing, in a two-bedroom adapted bungalow, he was forced to find an extra £12 a week towards his housing costs after he was told he was not entitled to a second bedroom because of the government’s “spare room subsidy removal policy”, also known as the bedroom tax.
This meant that Smith had to cut down on his spending on food while fighting the decision through the tribunal process, a battle which he said caused him to feel “very stressed”.
Last September, he won an initial appeal, on the grounds that he needed his spare room to store essential independent living aids, including his second wheelchair and a bath chair, as well as equipment he uses to play and coach wheelchair football, boxes of specialist powdered food, a bag of swimming equipment, and a punch-bag he uses to keep fit.
The room is also used to store a table football game that he plays with friends.
But after his initial victory, the work and pensions secretary appealed against the tribunal’s ruling, putting at risk all of Smith’s volunteering work and social and community links.
Now he is having to await the result of test cases in the Supreme Court, in which the bedroom tax will be challenged on the grounds that it discriminates against disabled adults like him.
Nice.
Posted: 6th, September 2015 | In: Liverpool, Politicians, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Watch: Arsenal’s Petr Cech saves Arsenal – Liverpool saved by bad refereeing
On Petr Cech’s home Arsenal debut he gifted West Ham a 0-2 victory. Tonight against Liverpool he kept the Gunners in the game, keeping out a bending shot from Liverpool’s lively Philippe Coutinho with his fingertips.
What a save this was from #Cech! Keeping @Arsenal in the game. #AFCvLFC https://t.co/uKyyaK2Qv8
— Top Eleven (@topeleven) August 24, 2015
And then against Benteke – who should really have scored:
#Benteke save Great save #LFC #AFCvLFC pic.twitter.com/CWdntZMZzO — Justice For the 96 (@TheHoodedClaw66) August 24, 2015
At the other end, Arsenal scored a perfectly good goal wrongly adjudged offside:
Arsenal disallowed goal – https://t.co/W7R5sZf7uz
— Anfield Online (@anfieldonline) August 24, 2015
Lucky Liverpool – again.
Posted: 24th, August 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Reviews, Sports | Comment
Arsenal: Wenger on Sterling, Benteke and beating Liverpool
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been talking ahead of his side’s match with Liverpool. The Sun heard the same words as us but headlines its version of events: “Wenger in Kop strop.” Utter balls, of course.
On Sterling’s Departure
“They refused to sell us Luis Suárez, so I cannot feel too much sympathy for them. Liverpool are in a position that they can make their own decisions.”
On Sterling
“I personally rate Raheem Sterling. I personally don’t think that Sterling was making a lot of drama. It’s just during the transfer window. During the season the boy was quiet, never made any stupid statement or noise. With Suárez, [Daniel] Sturridge, Sterling, they scored over a hundred goals. To do that you need special quality, and Sterling was part of that.”
On Form
“You need to be strong at home, that is for sure. “If you want to win the championship you need to win your home games. It can happen that you lose the odd game, but overall you need home strength. Against teams who came only to defend, we didn’t find the goal. But it happens to all the other teams as well. Normally you would think over 19 games you can sometimes be unlucky once or twice. Most of the time if you really dominate the games you will win. Liverpool will be a different game than West Ham. Against West Ham, we conceded from a set piece and after it was difficult.”
On Benteke
“Yes we will work on it [stopping him]. We managed to deal with him in the [FA Cup] final. Then again, every game is a new challenge and we have to show that we can do it. He has the stature, he is good in the air, protects the ball well.”
On New Players
“It’s an impossible job [keeping everyone happy] but that’s why I tell you I always get asked two questions — why don’t you buy more players, and how do you keep them all happy now? You have to get the numbers right. If you have a certain number of players who think they will never have a chance to play, it kills something. Not enough players creates too much of a comfort zone.”
Arsenal host Liverpool tonight.
Posted: 24th, August 2015 | In: Arsenal, Liverpool, Sports | Comment
