Liverpool-Kop

David N’Gog’s dive was a disgrace, but Liverpool fans deserve the harshest criticism

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:03:00 +0000

There are no two ways about it: David N’gog deliberately deceived the referee to win a penalty. There was no contact, no hint of a foul and no reason to go down. It was cheating, pure and simple. I don’t blame N’gog though; I blame (a)pathetic Liverpool fans who are happy to condone cheating if it gains the team an advantage.

I feel sick after watching N’gog cheat to save the game for Liverpool. I guess that makes me less of a fan though because according to some enlightened fans, it’s okay to cheat when Liverpool are desperate/need a win/need some luck/insert spurious reason here.

Having scanned a few LFC ‘fan’ boards, here are a some examples of the kind of delusional reasoning and cretinous rationalizations common amongst (what seems to be) a growing section of Liverpool fans:

SIX CRAZY MINUTES

Gerry_A_Trick - 'You make a tackle like that in the box and don't make contact with the ball, you've got to expect to give away a penalty. About time we got a bit of luck anyway'.

LadyRed - 'I'm proud of Ngog, his team were desperate and he stepped up. It's okay to dive when your team's desperate'.

Brendan - 'Not a penalty, who cares, 2-2'

The Bunnyman - 'I don't like cheating either... but needs must'.

Rafa4pm - 'I'm just gutted he didn't manage to dive for a second pen'.

Keniget - 'I don't think anyone is genuinely proud of our players diving, but tonight is really a perfect example of a situation in which all morals have to be put to one side. It was a great run, N'Gog spotted an opportunity and made it look good. The club is in the shit and whilst a draw is bad, a loss would've been even worse - he stepped up and I'm glad he did'.

THIS IS ANFIELD

Red Reid - 'Stop being so high and mighty! Lets face it diving’s part of the game if you can use it to get ahead y not the other team will do it to you! when the prem cut it out with vide replays thts fair enought but for now. i say well done lad at least u saved us a point'.

Hope in your heart - 'Look at that piece of action again, and you'll see that he jumps, yes, but only to avoid Carsley's tackle who was coming in with absolutely no chance to touch the ball. This penalty isn't lucky. It's a stone-wall penalty!'

Geraint - 'All the indignation about diving. I say if they are going to keep letting Dogba and C Ronaldo get away with it then I dont mind if we get some penalties too'.

Copelandinho - 'N'Gog winning the penalty with a dive, should we be annoyed with him? Certainly not. He had the desire to win at any cost. I wish the rest of them had the same mentality'

OFFICIAL SITE MESSAGE BOARDS

mkd - 'Normally i'd be appalled by that dive, but we're so desperate for a result right now i couldn't care less'.

StevienNando - 'Great performance. dont care about the dive, im sorry but we deserved that bit of rub of the green today'.

RED AND WHITE KOP

Gareth - 'Dodgy dive. Will get pilloried. Who cares?'

Illmatic - 'As for the dive well I couldnt give a monkeys that he conned the ref given our luck at the moment'.

Brunny - 'To tell you the truth. While the law is as it is, and with all the diving the Birmingham players were doing claiming late challenged, and the diving in the rest of the prem. It is well worth a try. The rest of the league do it and maybe get a yellow, but that is the risk. The amount of time yossi gets into the box and someone sticks a leg out then straddles it pisses me off. Just go over it and its a goal'.

You get the picture. Check out any Liverpool fan forum across the net and you will ignorant comments like this. In many cases, you'll also find that anyone who dares to suggest that perhaps diving is wrong will usually be labeled as ‘uptight’ or ‘on their high horse’ or ‘sanctimonious’.

What kind of a freakish, regressive world do we live in where cheating is accepted/encouraged and those that speak out against it are in the wrong?!

The funniest thing is the hypocrisy of these so-called ‘fans - at some point in the past they will have been foaming at the mouth because of a Ronaldo or Drogba dive, but as soon as a Liverpool player dives and gains a welcome advantage it suddenly becomes okay!

Fans who hold these ignorant views are an embarrassment. You don’t ‘support’ the club by accepting and encouraging cheating because it has the opposite effect – over time, such apathy will sully the name and integrity of the club.

Do we really want to become known as a club where cheating is encouraged and accepted?!

Every fan has a duty to criticize ignorant ‘fans’ who hold repellant views along the lines of the above. Every fan has a duty to preserve the integrity of the club by shouting down these ethically challenged idiots.

And if you want another example of what 'real' fans think about diving, take a look at this video clip, where fans on the Kop actually encourage Gerrard to dive.

At one point, you can clearly here someone say 'You should have dived there Stevie and won a penalty':

This is, unfortunately, the reality, not just of Liverpool fans but of many fans in general: They are happy to accept diving and cheating if it gives their team some kind of advantage.

It is NEVER acceptable to cheat in football. I used to be in the majority with that view but it seems I am increasingly in the minority.

How depressing is that?

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

EXCLUSIVE - The REAL level of Liverpool FC's current debt and interest payments

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:28:00 +0000

Misinformation and agenda-driven exaggeration are the key factors at play when it comes to reporting the true level of Liverpool FC's debt and interest payments. The anti-Liverpool media and fan's group SOS exaggerate the figures in a bid to whip up anti-Owner sentiment. Well, Liverpool-Kop can now exclusively reveal the true state of the club's current debt/interest level under Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

According to Spirit of Shankly's website:

* Liverpool FC has an overall debt-burden of £350m

* Interest payments for this debt are around £30m each year.

Various inflated figures have also been advanced by the media, with figures of around £300m debt and £40m worth of interest payments being common.

Well, a reliable source close to the club has kindly clarified the situation and provided accurate, up to date figures detailing the current levels of debt/interest.

1. The Owners have reduced the club's debt level to £200m (plus a £37m pound facility for stadium soft costs).

2. Current interst payable per year is less than £20m.

3. EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) was £47m last year and will rise by a further £18m when the Standard Chartered/Carlsberg deals kick in.

4. After the club's equity raise, debt will be less than 3 X EBITDA, which is very conservative, and FAR less than the other top clubs

So - as you can see (and as this site has argued repeatedly over the last few months), things are improving off the pitch. The debt level is decreasing, interest payments are decreasing, and over time both figures will decrease even more.

Forget the spin, forget the tabloid/SOS exaggeration and blatant anti-owner agenda: These are the facts, and in my view, they're very encouraging.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Why MARTIN'O NEILL is the right man to (eventually) replace RAFA BENITEZ

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:17:00 +0000

On the 30th May 2004 (before Benitez was appointed), I wrote a post on ThisIsAnfield.com arguing that Martin O Neill should get the Manager's job ahead of Benitez and Jose Mourinho. Five years later and O'Neill is apparently one of the favourites to become the next Liverpool manager. Well, my opinion has not changed: For me, O'neill is the only man for the job.

Before the 'Rafa Can Do No Wrong' brigade joins forces with the 'Rafa Benitez Anti-Defamation League' and collectively start foaming at the mouth, let me reiterate my position on Benitez's job:

1. I am totally against sacking Benitez mid-season. In my recent interview with Republik of Mancunia, I stated the following:

Rafa will not be sacked, nor should he be. Liverpool have never sacked a manager mid-season and the club is not going to start now, especially after last season’s 2nd place finish

I have always been consistent on this point.

2. When the time comes, I do not believe Benitez should be sacked anyway. Given his affinity with the fans and the success he has achieved in Europe, he deserves better than that.

3. Benitez should be given till the end of the season, irrespective of how things go over the next few months. And if things have not improved, and/or Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League, he should walk away at the end of the season of his volition.

Anyway - here is the text from my post 5 years ago: 'Martin O'Neill is the only man for the LFC job'.

----------------

It really makes my blood boil to read apparently knoweldgeable Liverpool Fans dismissing Martin O Neill as a managerial candidate so easily. For me, O Neil is the ONLY candidate LFC should be considering.

Whenever his name is mentioned the usual misguided generalisations are wheeled out: Long ball merchant, Scottish League is shite, no track record in Europe etc.

YAWN.

What track record did Bob Paisley have in Europe before becoming Manager?! Who knew Bill Shankly before he revolutionised Liverpool FC forever?! What managerial experience did Kenny Dalglish have before moulding arguably the most breathtaking Liverpool team ever?!

Martin O Neill is clearly destined for greatness. He is a born winner. He's been there and done it. He's won the European Cup as a player under Brian Clough, a Manager that Bill Shankly admired. Martin O Neill knows what it takes to win at all levels yet the same old tired excuses are repeatedly wheeled out.

Why?

Wherever O'Neil has gone he has worked wonders. He works with what he has, and operated within the confines of a given job and always does the business. The quality of the Scottish league or the status of Leicester City are irrelevent - his achievements are what's important. O'Neill has proved that he can adapt to any situation and come out on top. O Neill does what needs to be done to succeed. That is the sign of a true winner.

In my view, Liverpool need a British Manager at this stage i.e. someone with a vast knowledge of English Football. Someone who needs no time to adapt to the Premiere league. Someone who will bring the best out of players, instill passion, fight and desire and make each player proud to wear the shirt.

That man is O Neill. It is not Benitez or Mourinho.

Not that I don't believe Mourinho and Benitez to be good Managers - they undoubtedly are class Managers. I just feel that in the long term, they are not the answer.

With superior quality players at his disposal, Martin O Neill would turn Liverpool into Premiership and European Champions again. Of that I have absolutely no doubt. All this talk about hoofball and route one football is just bull. Within the sphere O Neill has worked in thus far, the minute budgets and and type of players he's had, that type of football (on occasion) has yielded results. At Liverpool it would be a different story. Quality players, bigger budget etc - O'Neill would work wonders.

Once again, I just cannot understand why so many LFC fans criticise O Neill. I have yet to hear any proper arguments that are not based on generalisation. I would argue that Shanks and Paisley would approve of O'Neill and his passion, motivational skills and ability to bring the best out of players.

At the end of the day, the plain fact is that the entirety of Liverpool Football Club's success has come from having British Managers at the helm: Shanks, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish. Historically, almost all successful British teams have been led by British Managers: Busby, Stein, Shanks, Paisley, Revie, Clough, Ferguson, Kendall, Graham among others. When English teams dominated Europe in the late 70's early 80's it was British Managers who were at the helm.

On a related note, it's also worth noting that many of the most successful teams across Europe have been led by Managers who manage in their own countries. Recently I'm thinking of Mourinho at Porto, Benitez at Valencia, Capello at Roma, Hitzfeld at Bayern, Ancelotti at AC Milan, Del Bosque at Real Madrid [And currently: Guardiola at Barcelona; Ferguson has re-established United's dominace; Veh at Wolfsburg' Hitzfeld again at bayern in 2007; etc.]

Martin O Neill is ready to take the step up. He could create a new dynasty at Anfield. If we miss out on him for the quick fix of Benitez or Mourinho then Manure will snap him up when Ferguscum retires, signalling another era of United dominance. We cannot allow that to happen.

----------------

The key point here about O'Neill is this: wherever he has managed, he has take the team as far as it is realistically possible to go (taking into account players at his disposal, transfer budgets etc).

Wycombe Wanders

Took them out of non-league football and into Division 2 (via successive promotions) in under 4 years. For a club of Wycombe's size, the best they can ever realistically hope for is Division 2, which is borne out by the fact that since O'Neill left, they have never risen higher than that.

Leicester City

Promoted to the Premier league in his first season, after which they finished ninth in 1997, tenth in 1998 and 1999, and eighth in 2000, outstanding results for a newly promoted team, and arguably the highest that Leicester City could ever hope to climb in the top league. In fact, their league positions were arguably an overachievement.

O'Neill also took Leicester City to the League Cup final 3 times in 4 years, winning twice along the way, a by-product of which was European football in the UEFA Cup.

Liverpool fans may scoff at the league cup, but as I stated earlier, you have to consider the context, quality of the team/players, and the resources available.

Celtic

In O'Neill's Celtic won the domestic treble. He was the first Celtic manager to take the team into the revamped Champions League, something he achieved three times. He also took Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville, which was in extra time to a Porto side coached by...José Mourinho.

In his five seasons at Celtic Park, O'Neill won three League titles, three Scottish Cups, and a League Cup. He also oversaw a record 7 consecutive victories in Old Firm derbies, and in season 2003-04 Celtic created a British record of 25 consecutive victories.

Very impressive stuff. Yet people will tear this down by saying 'but it's only Scottish football'. Nonsense. As Celtic Managers post-O'Neill have discovered, you can't just turn up and expect everything to click into place - it takes managerial expertise, something O'Neill has in abundance.

Once again, O'Neill took a club to the very maximum of what they were capable of achieving. Is it realistic to expect a club like Celtic to win the Champions League? Arguably, no. It hasn't happened in over 40 years, so there's no shame in Celtic's failure to win or reach the latter stages under O'Neill.

Aston Villa

Villa had the longest unbeaten start of any Premiership side in 2006-07 (9 games), not losing a league game until 28 October. Villa's final points tally was 50, an improvement of 8 over the previous season.

Villa just missed out on a UEFA Cup spot on the final day of the 2007-08 season by finishing 6th. They scored 71 goals, (their best ever tally in the Premier League and best tally since winning the title in 1981), gained 60 points which was Villa's highest points tally since the 1996-97 season, and were the 3rd highest goalscorers.

After 25 games of the 2008-09 season the club were third in the table on 51 points, 2 points above Chelsea on level games and 7 points above Arsenal in 5th place and on course for a place in the Champions League for the first time since 1983. Villa eventually finished 6th for the second season running with 62 points, 2 more points than they finished with the previous season.

Given the cash the top 4 clubs in England have, is it realistic for Villa to establish themselves in the top 4? Arguably, no. So far, O'Neill has taken Aston Villa almost as high as it is possible for them to go in the league. And let's not forget that, currently, Villa are ahead of Liverpool in the table, a position helped by their 3-1 win at Anfield earlier in the season.

What I am trying to get at here is this: O'Neill has a knack of taking every team he manages to apex of what they are able to achieve, and he uses the style of football that is inherent in that team to achieve success.

Look at it another way: Given the expectations/resources available, could any other manager have done any better at Leicester, Wycombe, Celtic, or even Aston Villa?

At Liverpool, I have no doubt at all that O'Neill would take the club to the apex of what it is able to achieve. He would not use long-ball football because that is not the style to which Liverpool FC is accustomed.

As we saw last season, the current squad (Alonso aside) is capable of winning the league. O'Neill would bring one magic ingredient to the party that Benitez (IMO) seriously lacks: Effective man-management/motivation skills.

For me, this is the missing piece of the jigsaw at the moment. And if O'Neill can bring Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor with him to Liverpool, even better!

Three-phase plan for success

Ultimately, I see Liverpool's future success (and eventual winning of the Premiership) as a team effort and three-pronged process:

1. Gerard Houllier dragged Liverpool out of its 90s malaise and turned the club back into a professional organisation at all levels. He reinstalled a measure of self-respect and took the first steps in re-establishing the club's credibility in Europe.

2. Rafa Benitez has built on Houllier's work and truly established Liverpool as a feared European force. Suspect purchases and man-management issues aside, Benitez has also put together a squad that is capable of challenging for the league, something Houllier never achieved. Unfortunately, Benitez took the team as far as he could in the league last season (my opinion of course).

3. Martin O'Neill will take Liverpool to the next level - just like Rafa utilised Houllier's squad to win the Champions League, O'Neill will utilise Rafa's squad to win the Premiership.

Equation for Premiership success at Liverpool

Martin O'Neill + Current squad + Ashley Young + Gabriel Agbonlahor + Motivation/Man-management skills = Premiership title.

----------------- Reina

Johnson ------- Carra -- Agger ------ Insua/New left back

-------------------- Masch

------------ Gerrard ----- Aquilani

Benayoun --------------------------- Young

------------------ Torres (With Agbonlahor as cover)

Looks like a Premiership-winning team to me.

NB. Any comments that contravene the comment policy will be automatically deleted. Please see the amendment in the 'Site News' section at the top right of the page.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Even more proof that FERNANDO TORRES is a better striker than Wayne Rooney

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:46:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I looked at the creative impact of Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney over the last two complete seasons. Torres was streets ahead of Rooney in almost every way, but some people (i.e. Man U fans in denial) argued that it was an unfair comparison as they played in different positions. Well, since Torres and Rooney are both now playing the striker role, I've taken a look at the last 10 games to gauge how things are going this season.

Here is a brief recap of the results from my previous analysis:

T=Torres
R=Rooney
ST = Starts
SB = Sub
G = Goals
A = Assists
M = minutes on pitch
GPM – Goals per minutes
GPG – Goals per game
CRPM – Creative ratio per minute
CRPG – Creative ratio per game

SIDE BY SIDE - Totals: 2007-present

	ST	SB	M	G	A	GPM	GPG	CRPM	CRPG
T	76	15	6800	58	10	1/117	1/1.5	1/100	1/1.3
R	86	14	7599	41	26	1/185	1/2.4	1/113	1/1.5

SIDE BY SIDE - Goals per game/goals per minute: 2007-present

GPM 07

GPM 08

GPM

GPG 07

GPG 08

GPG 09

1/98

1/163

1/95

1/1.4

1/2.2

1/1.1

1/183

1/208

1/125

1/2.3

1/2.8

1/1.5

As you can see, Torres is far superior to Rooney when it comes to overall creative impact.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the last 10 games for each player:

GPM

GPG

730

1/104

1/1.4

805

1/268

1/3.3

As you can see, so far this season there is no comparison: Torres is inarguably the better striker. Just look at the facts! Torres' record of one goal every 104 minutes dwarf's Rooney's poor showing of a goal every 268 minutes. The same goes for goals per game.

Rooney apologists pointed to his number of assists being greater than Torres' over the three year comparison period (in the first article), but even that cannot be used as an excuse this season as Torres and Rooney both have 1 assist each so far.

And let's not forget that Torres has been carrying an injury for the last few games - if not longer - and despite that, he still outperforms Rooney.

The most symbolic proof of Torres' superiority over Rooney came in the recent Liverpool victory over United at Anfield. Torres played through the pain barrier, and when someone needed to step-up, who was it? Rooney?

No. It was Torres who made the difference, whilst Rooney struggled to make even the most negligible impact on the game.

Whilst it is true that there are still plenty of games to go this season, when I conduct the same analysis in May, the results will still be the same: Torres will be streets ahead of Rooney.

There can be no argument: Torres is, by far, a more consistently effective striker than Rooney.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

How Liverpool fans forced 'Spirit of Shankly' to change its xenophobic approach to the Owners

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:51:00 +0000

For the last few months, this site has attacked Liverpool FC fan’s group ‘Spirit if Shankly’ for its juvenile, counter-productive approach to ousting Liverpool FC’s owners. After raising awareness, putting SOS under public pressure and showing how the majority of fans are against their ‘Yank Liars Out!’ campaign, it seems that SOS has now realized that in order to be taken seriously, organized mob-mentality is not the right way to do things.

The issue of how SOS chooses to represent Liverpool fans has been debated in the following threads over the last few months:

GILLETT'S COMMENTS: Amid the Xenophobia + sensationalism, fans are missing one important thing…

GEORGE GILLETT interview: Did it REALLY happen? I'm not so sure. And here's why...

POLL: Is Spirit of Shankly's xenophobic “YANK LIARS OUT” approach compatible with the ‘Liverpool Way’?

POLL: “YANK LIARS OUT”: Is SOS’s approach compatible with the ‘Liverpool Way’ doing things?

In the post "George Gillett interview: Did it really happen" my ulterior motive was to draw out representatives of SOS onto a public forum in order to engage them in discussion about their ‘Yank Liars Out’ mantra. This worked, and in that thread, Graham Smith (Secretary of SOS) demanded that I print a retraction for the story. I replied offering SOS the following deal:

“I have a deal for you: remove all references to YANKS from your site and literature (including Yank Liars out! etc) and promise Liverpool fans that such derogatory terms will not be used again, and I will remove the article from my site”.

Graham replied:

“No, sorry it doesn't work like that. You have published an article that makes allegations of fabrication, fraud and embellishment without any evidence of your own. You now try and squirm away from this by linking a retraction to the Union's website and campaign tactics. Well this sort of sleight of hand will not work”.

As I said above, my goal was to anger SOS reps to the extent that they felt the need to defend the organization in public, which is what they did. Having done that, I could raise the issue of their derogatory approach to Hicks and Gillett in public, capture their responses for the record, and allow other fans the chance to directly challenge them in a public forum.

Liverpool fans voted in our poll and made their position very clear:

Online Surveys & Market Research

1600 fans have voted so far, and the majority are clearly in favour of SOS becoming a more professional organization.

Well, this concerted pressure on SOS seems to have worked. In an interview with Gareth Roberts’ LFC blog ‘Well Red’, the following question was asked:

WR: The use of the word 'Yanks' on the SOS website and in banners/literature etc has been highlighted by some critics who accuse the union of being xenophobic. What's your response?

To which SOS responded:

"Recently, we have been working on a new campaign called 'Tom and George - You're not welcome here' along with banners such as 'Tom and George - You Tell Lie$' so it further highlights how we are not intending to be xenophobic in our pursuit to get the owners out. Our quarrels are with Hicks and Gillett as individuals and not as a nationality".

It appears that SOS has seen the light and has acknowledged that a xenophobic approach is not the way forward. Not only that, all traces of the 'Yank Liars Out' mantra appears to have been removed from their website.

SOS will, of course, never admit that they were shamed into changing their tune by this site, and the fans who voted in the poll, but given the fact no other media entity or Liverpool FC site had ever raised the issue before, this clearly must be the case.

So - well done to all those Liverpool fans who voted for change. Well done to all those fans who tried to persuade others that attacking the Owners on a personal level was crass and undignified.

Having a fan’s group is a great idea, and one that I and other Liverpool fans would love to support, but only if it is a professional organization acting in line with the Liverpool Way of doing things.

Hopefully this is the first step to SOS becoming a fan’s group of which ALL fans can be proud.

NB. I personally do not agree that the Owners should be ousted as I believe that the long-term future for the club is looking more encouraging all the time.

Sometimes, things have to get worse before they get better.

That has definitely been the case off the pitch, and (unfortunately) the same principle applies to the way things are on the pitch at the moment.

However, any fair-minded person can see that Liverpool is making great strides off the pitch, and I'm sure that this will be reflected on the pitch sooner rather than later.

Jaimie Kanwar

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Three reasons why RAFA BENITEZ will not be sacked

noreply@blogger.com (Taf McDonald) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:34:00 +0000

There is a growing section of Liverpool fans who believe that sacking Rafa Benitez is the way forward at the moment. TAF MCDONALD disagrees, and explains why he believes there is no real possibility that this is going to happen.

Before Rafa's future can even realistically be called into question at least two of the following three things need to happen.

Losing the backing of his players

One thing that was abundantly clear to me in the Lyon game was that 11 men went out there to give there all for the club and their manager. Even those who do not get regular games gave their all.

The one player who did pick up some criticism was Voronin but he was chasing everything and to be honest I thought he was just trying too hard, and thus forcing himself to make mistakes.

I think the same is true, in part, of Benayoun. He was his usual skillful bag of tricks but at times near the end he looked like he just wanted to do it all. They were all giving their all.

Then I noticed something interesting following each near miss. Everytime something didn't quite go right there was a look to the bench; an apologetic look? Maybe it's just me but I took some of these desperate looks to Rafa as a sign of 'I'm so sorry'.

Managers who have lost their team do not play like our team did last night.

Losing the backing of the club's mangement

Well we can nip this one in the bud quite quickly can't we? There aren't many left in the upper echelons of the Anfield hierarchy to come out and publicly give Rafa their backing.

George Gillett, Kenny Dalglish, Christian Purslow have all come out and backed Rafa and confirmed that he is there for the long haul and that, at the moment, we must all pull together and ride the storm.

Mention should also be given to other Premier League managers who have all come out and backed Rafa. Talking about the lunacy of a manager with Rafa's record attracting this kind of speculation. I agree with Paul Tomkins that Arsene Wenger needs a special mention for what he has recently said.

Losing the backing of the fans

They're fickle things some of them fans, always have been always will be. Ever demanding with aspirations that must be met, failure should not be an option. It's amazing that some think 11 games in and 9 points behind the leaders and 7 behind last season's champions is failure. We are nowhere near calling anything failure yet!

The short term view taken by some is astounding and I will ask again, where are we getting anyone better from? Rafa has a record admired by most, before and during his tenure at Liverpool, under what have been difficult circumstances.

Then, despite the barrage of criticism from the media and some sections of the fan base, he comes out confident and quoting you'll never walk alone. You'll never walk alone unless you don't win the next few games? Doesn't sound like the Liverpool way to me!

Despite all of the above Rafa continues to enjoy support from the majority of fans. I have been in all sorts of forums over the past few weeks (enough to make my head spin) and I am confident that this is true.

There are pockets of nay sayers, aren't there always? But on the whole he has not lost the fans' support. I always find it ironic that the press continue to talk about his cold, hard demeanour and yet he is idolised and /or respected by most of us.

So there you go 0 out of 3 at the moment and I don't see it changing anytime soon. I'll leave you with one final thought every Man U and Arsenal fan I know keeps going on about Rafa's time being up.

Interestingly I was saying and hoping for the same thing when Ferguson's and Wenger's names were in the spotlight! When they start telling me we should give him a bit longer I'll start worrying.

Taf Mcdonald

This article was originally published after the Lyon game. The read the complete article, please visit Taf McDonald's blog here: http://mcdonaldtaf.blogspot.com/2009/11/three-reasons-why-rafa-will-not-be.html

You can also follow Taf on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcdonaldtaf

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Why was XABI ALONSO banned from publishing a goodbye letter to Liverpool's fans?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:23:00 +0000

It has been revealed that Xabi Alonso may have been prevented from writing an open-letter to Liverpool's fans when he left the club. Given the Spaniard's contribution to the club, I find this to be very disappointing.

Both John Arne Riise and Luis Garcia wrote open letters to Liverpool fans when they left the club, both of which were published on the official Liverpool FC website.

Alonso was recently interviewed by 'The Times', in which the following was stated:

"This is when the conversation turned to Benítez, with whom his relationship changed perceptibly during the 2007-08 campaign...it was an acrimonious split, but even if his name has become taboo around Anfield — it was not his choice that he did not publish an open letter to the supporters on the club’s website, as John Arne Riise and Luis García had upon leaving".

Clearly, the implication here is that Alonso wanted to publish an open letter but was not allowed to do so. Why?

Is it fair to stop a player saying their goodbyes just because they wanted to leave the club? Sounds like internal club politics at play here, which is a shame.

Despite this, Alonso was, as always, the epitome of class with his comments about the club, and offered public support to the beleaguered Rafa Benitez:

“I still have great respect for him [Benitez]. I’m very grateful to him for the five great years I had at Liverpool. Of course the situation isn’t the best right now, but he knows how to turn it around. It’s not the Liverpool way to sack a manager after a few bad results early in the season. He is the right man for the club. It wouldn’t be a good decision to change the manager. He’s a great manager.”

I for one would've liked to have seen a letter from Alonso. Such humble displays are rare in the modern game, and in my view, it's this kind of thing that sets Liverpool apart from other clubs.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

EXCLUSIVE – The real cost of XABI ALONSO and LUIS GARCIA’S Liverpool transfers

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:38:00 +0000

Yesterday, I looked at the real cost of Jan Kromkamp’s transfer to Liverpool. Today, I attempt to establish the true cost of Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia, two of Rafa Benitez’s most successful signings.

At the time of both transfers, the BBC reported that Garcia cost 6m, but in their report for Alonso’s transfer, a fee was not specified. The official LFC site lists Alonso as a 10.5m purchase but has no figure for Garcia.

Having looked at countless sources across the net (news sources, LFC sites etc), the most common figures quoted for both players seem to be:

Alonso – 10.5 - 10.7m
Garcia – 6m – 6.5m

The Liverpool FC annual report for 2004 tells a different story**:

As you can see, the initial cost Alonso, Garcia and Antonio Nunez was 13m, which is huge difference from the figures quoted above.

Notice the wording: the club has acquired the registrations…for a TOTAL fee of approximately 13m.

Total fee.

It is widely believed that Nunez was a makeweight in the Michael Owen transfer. The official LFC site states:

Nunez became Rafael Benitez's second signing since taking over as Liverpool manager when he arrived at Anfield in August 2004 as part of the Michael Owen transfer to Real Madrid.

Now, even if that was the case, and Nunez was included in the 13m figure for valuation purposes (unlikely in my view), the reported 10.5m and 6m fees for Garcia and Alonso still do not add up.

So what does this mean?

Clearly, Alonso and Garcia cost less money than we thought. Instead of a combined 16.5m, it’s 13m, with Alonso probably being the more expensive player.

It could be that Alonso’s 10.5m fee is correct, and Liverpool paid only 2.5m for Garcia; or Alonso could actually cost between 7 and 10m. There’s no way to know for sure.

It could also be the case that Liverpool actually paid money for Nunez, which is what the annual report is suggesting. If that is the case, then the fees for Alonso and Garcia are even smaller.

In any event, if both players combined cost approximately 13m together, then that is a truly superb piece of business by the club, especially given how influential both players turned out to be.

These figures will also make a difference to overall gross and net spend when considering Liverpool’s spending under Benitez.

Remember, my aim here is accuracy, and I don’t think you can get a more accurate source than Liverpool FC’s own financial records.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

EXCLUSIVE - The real cost of Jan Kromkamp's Liverpool transfer

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:03:00 +0000

It is widely believed that Liverpool acquired Jan Kromkamp for free as part of a player-exchange with Josemi. Every official source that has looked into Liverpool's transfer dealings has stated the same alleged fact. Well, after some research, that myth can now be debunked - Liverpool actually paid a surprisingly large transfer fee for the ineffective Krompkamp, the amount of which some may find surprising

According to Liverpool's annual report for 2005, Kromkamp cost the club £4.3m!

The deal for Josemi quite clearly seems to have been a completely separate transaction.

The official Liverpool FC site states the following about Kromkamp:

Dutch international Jan Kromkamp became Rafael Benitez's first major signing of 2006. He arrived at Anfield from Villarreal in a swap deal that involved Josemi moving in the opposite direction.

The implication here is that Kromkamp did not cost the club any money. Based on the evidence above, this is quite categorically untrue.

So - £4.3m for a player who made a grand total of 18 appearances and was shipped out after 7 months. Excluding the player's salary, Krompkamp cost Liverpool £241,000 per appearance.

Was this money well-spent?

No - In my view, it was a complete and utter waste of £4.3m of Liverpool FC's money.

I highlight this issue to illustrate that not everything is as black and white as the media or fans make out when it comes to transfers.

I find it disturbing that every media outlet and every official source (including all newspapers; the BBC and every Liverpool FC site) failed to conduct even rudimentary research into the true cost of this transfer.

This is why the majority of Liverpool FC transfer breakdowns currently available on the internet are woefully inaccurate.

Figures like this will also have an impact on the club's net spend over the last 5 years, something that seems to be quite a hot topic at the moment. The question is, how many other inaccurate transfer fees are floating around in cyberspace?

£4.3m for Krompkamp?

Surely one of the most financially irresponsible transfer in Liverpool FC's recent history?

EDIT - 9PM

I feel the need to clarify/add a few things after the comment discussion below:

Aim of this article

The aim of this article was merely to clarify Kromkamp's transfer fee. Every analysis of Liverpool's spending on the net (including analyses by 'The Times' and 'The Daily Mail') fails to provide a monetary value for Kromkamp's transfer. Given the fact he cost 4.3m, this is blatantly inaccurate.

This is relevant because the failure to include any transfer fee leads to inaccurate gross spend/net spend results.

I feel that it is important for the truth to be made available, and would argue tha this is preferable to the inaccuracies and exaggerations currently being perpetuated about Liverpool's transfer spending.

I am researching transfer fees under Benitez in order to paint an accurate picture of what has been spent and recouped, and I am doing this purely for information purposes, not to attack Benitez.

In fact, tomorrow I will publishing another article looking at the transfer fees of two of Benitez's most successful signings. It turns out they were alot cheaper than people think. This information will actually make Benitez's transfer spending look even better. Why would I do this if I wanted to paint him in a bad light?

I am only interested in the facts, and if the facts end up showing that Benitez's performance in the transfer market is better than he's currently given credit for then I'm perfectly fine with that. And based on the research I've done so far, that could well be the case.

Swap deal?

The consensus amongst fans and the media seems to be that Kromkamp and Josemi was a swap-deal. That may have been the public face of the deal (as both players were going to each others' respective clubs), but my argument is that the deal was actually two separate transactions, and this is reflected in the annual report.

Logic seems to dictate that if they were one transaction there would be some kind of reference to this in the report. There isn't. What is the point/where is the benefit in presenting things in a manner that does not reflect the reality of the situation? The report is explicit:

* Baros, Diouf and Josemi sold for 13.84m
* Kromkamp bought for 4.3m

Why doesn't it say something along the lines of:

Josemi sold for X amount as part of a player exchange with Kromkamp, who was acquired for 4.3m

Where is the reason to hide this information?! At the very least, when considering Liverpool's gross/net spending, the fees used must reflect what is stated in the annual report.

Josemi - sold for 4.3m?

It is possible that Josemi was sold for 4.3m but in my view it is not very probable. He made only 23 appearances for Liverpool AND suffered a couple of niggling injuries along the way. As such, I believe that Liverpool probably received a nominal fee for Josemi.

People should remember that this is only my opinion. At no point have I suggested this is fact. The article itself contains one major fact (Kromkamp's fee) and my opinions about that fact. People in the comment section seem to have a problem with me arguing that Josemi might have gone for a nominal fee, but they argue that he could've been sold for up to 4m. It's just a difference of opinion.

I think anyone who thinks about this sensibly would reject the possibility that Liverpool could make 200% profit on Josemi (!). As I said above, it's possible, but not very probable.

Jaimie Kanwar

Now watch the typical 'you're a manc' comments roll in. Is the truth no longer important?

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

ALBERTO AQUILANI is finally fit after 10 weeks yet he still doesn't get on the pitch. Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:43:00 +0000

Why didn't Alberto Aquilani play any part of the Lyon game? Can someone please explain to me the logic behind keeping him on the bench for the full 90 minutes because I just don't get it.

Aquilani was on the bench against Lyon therefore he must be fit. He was even warming up at one stage. With Liverpool desperately needing to win, why was Aquilani not introduced into the game?

Lyon were poor all night, and like Liverpool, their team was also plagued with injuries. They were nowehere near full strength for the majority of the game and their collective nervousness was palpable.

Just the kind of environment in which you'd expect a player like Aquilani to thrive. After all, he is renowned for his passing ability and long-range shooting ability, is he not? Surely both attributes would've come in handy against Lyon at some point?

What would've been the problem with Aquilani replacing Lucas (or Mascherano) in the 70th minute? What is the point of having the player if you're not going to use him, especially when the team is decimated by injuries.

If there was never any intention of playing Aquilani then why not just leave him in Liverpool to work on getting fitter? Why drag him to France to sit on the bench?

Why must Benitez be so cautious? How is Aquilani supposed to get match fit if he's never played? Yes, he has a history of injuries but he's going to have to play sooner or later; he can't be needlessly wrapped in cotton wool all the time.

And it's not as if Rafa Benitez is saving him for the next league game, is it?! LYON was the game that needed to be won, and all of Liverpool's available assets should've been used to achieve that goal.

The game was there for the taking, and if more positive, attacking substitutions had been made earlier in the game then the outcome might have been different.

Instead, Liverpool paid the price for Benitez's caution once again.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

VIDEO - Liverpool CAN beat Lyon tonight. Just take inspiration from the recent past...

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:55:00 +0000

Gerrard out. Johnson out. Aurelio out. Torres half-fit. Several other players doubtful. Two defeats in three CL games. Third in the CL group table. eight defeats since the start of the season. Liverpool have no chance of beating Lyon on their own ground, right? WRONG.

Liverpool thrive on being underdogs and if history has proven one thing about the club it's this: in times of adversity, and when everything looks hopeless, Liverpool can and will triumph.

As a small reminder of Liverpool overcoming the odds, take inspiration from the following fantastic results:

Liverpool v Olympiakos (December 2004)

Liverpool needed to win by two clear goals to make it through to the knockout stages:

Liverpool v AC Milan (May 2005)

Liverpool were 3-0 down at half time. The game was dead, right?

Barcelona v Liverpool (February 2007)

No one thought Liverpool would come away with a victory at the Nou Camp, but it happened:

Marseille v Liverpool (December 2007)

Liverpool needed to win in Marseille:

Liverpool v Inter Milan (February 2008)

The pressure was on Rafa prior to this game. A victory was essential:

Real Madrid v Liverpool (March 2009)

Another vital away victory in the CL:

Some heartening facts:

* Lyon have failed to beat an English club at home in their last 5 attempts (4 draws; 1 defeat).

* Liverpool have won their last 4 away matches in France and five of the last seven against french clubs overall.

As long as Rafa puts out the right team, with aces in their places and no weird formations, Liverpool can and will get a result against Lyon.

Believe :-)

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

POLL: Should RAFA BENITEZ risk a half-fit FERNANDO TORRES against Lyon?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Rafa Benitez has admitted that Fernando Torres is carrying a hernia injury. Given the consequences of aggravating that injury, should Torres be rested against Lyon to avoid a longer-term problem...or should Rafa take a risk and play him anyway?

Yesterday, Benitez had this to say about Torres' injury:

"We know Fernando has a [hernia] problem, and we have to manage it. The positive thing is that he is improving, and he is in less pain each time he plays and trains.

"Hopefully if we can continue doing well with him, he will not need an operation, that is our idea. Now it is a question of how he feels and what will happen if he plays".

If Torres has a hernia then there is a strong chance that this injury could be exacerbated if he plays against Lyon. This could then lead to a lengthy stay on the sidelines.

Surely there is no benefit in playing Torres if it means Liverpool lose him for two months afterwards?

It's a tough decision for Rafa: play Torres and risk a long-term injury situation. Don't play him and risk elimination from the Champions League.

I personally would not blame Rafa him if he started Torres on the bench or left him out of the squad altogether. If the players are used in the right way, Liverpool are still capable of beating Lyon.

What do you think?

Online Surveys & Market Research

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

ALBERTO AQUILANI - The truth about his transfer fee. How much will he REALLY cost?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:16:00 +0000

There seems to be a lot of confusion over how much Liverpool paid/will eventually pay Roma for the services of Alberto Aquilani. Figures such as £20m, £17m and £5m (!) have been bandied about, but the truth is the total outlay could (potentially) turn out to be much more.

On the 8th August 2009, Roma released official details of Aquilani's transfer fee. The fee is broken down as follows:

Four cash installments:

* €5m upfront
* €3m by 4th January 2010
* €7m by June 30th 2010
* €5m by June 30th 2011.

Base transfer fee = €20m/£18m

Further Add ons include:

* €300k for every year Liverpool qualify for the CL from 2010/11 to 2014/15.

* €250k every time the player reaches 35 appearancs; 70 appearances; 105 appeances and then 140 appearances.

* €1m the first time Liverpool either wins the Premier League or Champions League by 30 June 2014.

* 5% of any future transfer fee paid to Roma.

ANALYSIS (all figures converted to pounds using today's conversion rate)

* If Liverpool qualify for the Cl every year from 2010 to 2015, a further £1.3m will become payable. How likely is it this will happen? Liverpool have featured in the CL in 8 of the last 9 seasons. There is no reason to think this will not continue.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £1.3m (Based on CL qualification every year)

* If Aquilani reaches 140 appearances, a further £900k will become payable. Is this possible? For Aquilani to achieve that figure, he would need to make a measly 28 appearances each season for 5 years. This is clearly achievable.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £900k

* If Liverpool win the league or CL by June 2014, a further £900k per trophy will become payable. Is it possible that Liverpool might win the league and CL in the next 5 years? Absolutely.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £1.8m

* 5% of any future transfer fee to be paid to Roma. As an example: If Aquilani stays for the full 5 years of his contract he will be 30 years old. If he then leaves, it is unlikely that Liverpool will recoup the initial outlay (due to his age). So - if we conservatively estimate that Liverpool receive half the original price, that would net the club £9m.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £450k (5% of 9m)

* Using the fact that only €5m has been paid so far as some kind of excuse/way to manipulate net spend is not fair or accurate. The total amount of the base fee will still have to be paid in less than 2 years!

CONCLUSION

The following is definite:

* Liverpool will pay £18m for Aquilani.

The following is highly probable:

* £2.2m will become payable as a result CL qualification/appearance levels

* £450k (or whetever fee we get for him) will become payable when Aquilani is sold. (This figure is just for the sake of debate - I'm not saying this WILL happen!)

The following is less probable but still possible:

* £1.8m will become payable as a result of winning the league/CL

POTENTIAL TOTAL COST OF TRANSFER - £22.45m

For the purposes of illustration, I have conservatively estimated Aquilani's eventual sale fee. It could easily go the other way - a club could come in with an Alonso-size offer, in which case Liverpool would have to pay even more to Roma.

So - almost £22.5m (potentially) for Aquilani, a player who 2.5 months into the season has not yet made his debut in the league or Champions League. And this is not taking into account any signing-on fee. Phillipp Degen received a £2m SO fee, so Aquilani's could be equally significant.

Given Aquilani's injury history, who got the better deal here - Liverpool or Roma?

If Aquilani turns out to be a superstar then the eventual total outlay will, of course, be worth it. If, however, the Italian turns out to be another flop, then we're looking at a large amount of wasted money.

From what we've seen of Aquilani so far, he looks calm, composed and comfortable on the ball - just what we need right now! I personally have no doubt that, if he stays fit, Aquilani will become an important player for Liverpool.

Let's hope he's a roaring success....starting at Lyon tomorrow night :-)

Jaimie Kanwar

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Rafa Benitez's 10 BEST SIGNINGS for Liverpool FC

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Miller) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:36:00 +0000

Last week I posted what I believed to be Rafa Benitez's 10 biggest transfer blunders. This week, as promised, I take a look at the 10 best signings during the Boss's 5 years in charge. And there have been some absolute corkers!

When you think back to the squad Rafa inherited (Traore, Biscan, et al), it is clear that our squad is now superior in almost every way.

A few of you may be surprised I am writing this article at all, but let me just say to those of you who believe different - I am not anti-Rafa, I don't hate Scousers and I am very much a Liverpool fan (32 years and counting) and always will be.

Anyway, enough of that, let's get down to business. Here are what I believe to be Rafa's top 10.

Fernando Torres

Universally recognised as one of the very best strikers in the world today. At 25, he is probably not even in his prime yet. Must be worth at least four times what we paid for him in 2007. Loads of top teams looked at him including Man U, but Rafa took the plunge and has turned him into a world-beater * every top team would love to sign him.

Xabi Alonso

Rafa pipped Real Madrid for his signing. An unbelievably cultured midfielder who provided us with 5 years great service. He improved immeasurably under Rafa and was sold to Real Madrid in the summer for roughly 3 times what we paid for him.

Pepe Reina

Like many of us, I had no idea who Pepe was when we signed him. Has turned out to be one of the best keepers in the world and one of our best ever. Unlucky to be around at the same time as Casillas, otherwise would have a shed load more Spain caps than the 18 he has. At 27, he is not even near his peak yet.

Daniel Agger

The nearest centre back to Alan Hansen I have ever seen. Cool, calm, strong and superb at playing out from the back. A great shot when he gets in range. When he is fit, it is easy to see the assurance he brings to our defence. Still young for a centre back, will get even better.

Peter Crouch

Must admit, I was left scratching my head when we signed Peter, it seemed like a bit of a joke, especially after the goal-less start to his career with us. Proved to be a very shrewd signing though and gave us something different. A real handful for defenders on his day. Sold for a tidy profit too.

Yossi Benayoun

Like Peter Crouch, I wasn't convinced when we signed Yossi. He has improved every year with us though and is now genuinely among our most important players. Provides spark and guile around the box. If sold today, you would think it would be for far more than the £5m we paid West Ham for him.

Javier Mascherano

Another signing from West Ham. Not sure what their manager Alan Curbishley was doing, keeping Javier on the bench, clearly he didn't fancy him. Another example of Rafa having a sharp eye though. Has turned him into arguably the best holding midfielder in the world. Captain of Argentina. No wonder Barcelona want him so bad.

Martin Skrtel

This man is built like an Oak tree, super strong. A no-nonsense defender who you can imagine forming a defensive partnership with Agger for the next 10 years. Again, young and likely to continue improving.

Alvaro Arbeloa

Has Rafa to thank for improving him and completely turning around his career. Very solid and steady, if unspectacular. The fact he was sold to real Madrid tells you everything about the progress the man had made.

Fabio Aurelio

Just got back into the Brazil squad. Cultured left foot and a great free-kick technique (remember Old Trafford last year?). Signed for free, clearly a player Rafa trusts. There would be no shortage of takers should we ever cash-in.

Alex Miller

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

REVEALED: The amusingly inverse thought process of PEPE REINA

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Football fans are regularly accused of being 'fickle' but, as Pepe Reina proves with his latest comments, it seems that footballers also fall into that category!

September 12th - Liverpool had lost 2 of the first 4 league games. Clearly down in the dumps, Reina stated the following:

"We all want to win the league but right now it's not a realistic objective. There isn't frustration, there's resignation. We know what's in the squad; we can't do anything about it. All we can do is roll our sleeves up, work hard and try to win matches.

Surely far too early to be calling time on the club's title ambitions?

Fast forward six and a half weeks: Liverpool have lost a further 6 games in all competitions, and Reina now has a very different view:

"It [The League] is not even close to being over".

Admirable optimism...but you've got it backwards, Pepe! Surely it should be the other way round?! The 'it's not even close to being over' comment should've been made in September, and the 'the league is not a realistic objective' comment should've been made after the Fulham defeat ;-)

I'm just highlighting this because I found it funny, but Reina has a point. The league is still theoretically possible; and even if it's unlikely, the team needs to go out there believing it's possible.

This kind of winning mentality is what is needed in the team, and it can only have a positive knock-on effect on performances.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Liverpool fans: It's time to KEEP THE FAITH!

noreply@blogger.com (Jody Daniels) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:44:00 +0000

Despite 8 defeats in 15 games this season, JODY DANIELS refuses to give up hope, and is confident that if Liverpool fans keep the faith, their loyalty will eventually be rewarded.

In my view, fans publicly chastising the club Manager/Owners (or accepting the pessimistic, bias and prejudiced stories written by the media) is totally against the spirit of Liverpool FC.

What happened to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”? What happened to giving credit to where its due?

It took Bill Shankly two years to get Liverpool FC promoted back into the League Championship (in 1962), and only two years after that did he win the First Division title in 1964.

In 1965, Shankly guided Liverpool to winning our first ever FA Cup. All this after he made some radical changes at the club, getting rid of many players and transforming training facilities and routines.

The point is it took Shankly five years just to get the club promoted and then win its first major trophy in years. Five years to drill a certain mindset and system of play into his squad of players which would transform them into a trophy winning team.

Rafael Benitez should be granted the same luxury – time. In Rafa’s first five years, he has already guided the club to winning four trophies, and that’s with a club in transition.

We should not allow our lust for silverware stand in the way of a long term vision, which our new MD, Christian Purslow, calls “The Plan”:

“You only have to look at the Premiership era and our two major competitors in the last 10 to 12 years to see the benefits of longevity.Liverpool Football Club is on a long-term journey and that journey is to be the most successful club, firstly in our country and secondly in the world and you don’t do that by worrying about short-term results. You do that by having long-term plans centring on the people and the strategy. Rafa Benitez is absolutely central to that plan.”

I am tired of hearing fans, commentators and “football experts” saying that Manchester United are the most successful football club in England.

They are not!

The claims that Liverpool FC is a mediocre club or plays boring football is complete and utter rubbish! Lies like these get repeated ad nauseum in the media and eventually end up being accepted as fact.

First we need to ask - What makes a club successful?

The committed support from fans? The amount of money and resources invested in a club? How this money and resources are used? Consistent quality performances of a team?

The Answer should be obvious: All of the above.

Now, what proves that success?

The Answer - History! Record books don’t lie, it might not tell the entire truth of what happened throughout a season, but it does present the outcome of match results.

Liverpool FC is still the most successful football club in the United Kingdom (based on trophies won from 1871 to 2009). There are some pundits and “experts” who wish to refute this because of their bias toward Manchester United, but the facts are plain to see:

It is quite close, but Liverpool FC has won a total of 58 trophies to date, while Manchester United has won 56. Clearly, Liverpool FC is still the more successful club in England. That’s not arrogance, that’s just taking a snapshot of what the records show - both these clubs are only deemed successful because of what they have achieved in the past.

Now some may say this is just another manifestation of an inferiority complex, but I think its essential to know your past so you understand where you have come from – only then you can plan where you’re headed.

Is Liverpool FC a boring team – do they play boring football under Benitez? Are they mediocre? NO! Liverpool FC were top league goal scorers last season (2008/ 2009) with 77 goals (9 goals more than Arsenal, Chelsea and United), and this season, we are already riding high in the goalscoring charts despite our poor run of form.

The above statistics do not mean that fans should not criticize the team when they don’t play well. Neither does it mean that Rafael Benitez is infallible or beyond reproach.

All I’m saying is treat the manager and team fairly, and cut the club some slack by not jumping onto every media-inspired anti-Liverpool campaign that surfaces.

As far as trophies go, the records show that Liverpool FC is always in the mix for winning top honours – that is part of what makes Liverpool the club that it is.

For the short term, we need to be patient; support the club; keep the faith, and believe in the possibility that successful new chapters will be added to the club's already illustrious history.

Jody Daniels

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

POLL: Should Liverpool re-sign JOHN ARNE RIISE?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:18:00 +0000

John Arne Riise would (apparently) like to return to Anfield in January. Would the Norwegian be a good addition to the team, or is Liverpool well covered on the left?

There doesn't appear to be any official source for this rumour but I think it's worth discussing anyway.

RAFA - When did it become acceptable for Liverpool FC to LAY DOWN + DIE?

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Bill Shankly once said: “Aim for the sky and you'll reach the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and you'll stay on the floor”. Against Fulham on Saturday, Rafa Benitez didn't aim for the sky or the ceiling; he didn't even aim for the floor! With his cautious approach and maddeningly incomprehensible decisions, Benitez went against everything Liverpool FC stands for and committed the ultimate footballing sin: he gave up and conceded defeat.

Fulham was a must-win game, and despite 4 defeats in 10 league games, the title was still a possibility. As Liverpool fans, it's our duty to believe that. The players had to believe and the manager had to believe it. That is the Liverpool way - believe you are the best then go out be the best.

Yes, there were players out injured, but that is no excuse. Manchester United were comprehensively beaten last week without Steven Gerrard and Alberto Aquilani. Fulham are not in the same league as United, and even without several of our top players, there was enough quality in the team to win the game.

Liverpool dominated much of the game, and Fulham scored against the run of play. Torres leveled the game with yet another fantastic goal. The game was wide open. Everything to play for. Then, Benitez did the unthinkable:

He waved the white flag and surrendered.

With only 60 minutes gone, he took off Torres, a move of such exasperating caution that I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was real. Benitez explained his decision thus:

“We decided to take him off just after the hour because I want to protect him and don't want to lose an important player like Fernando for one month”.

What about protecting Liverpool FC's dignity and pride?!

Yes, there was a possibility that Torres might get injured again, but sometimes you have to take that chance, especially when a win is essential, which it was. Torres played 80 minutes against United and then had 5 and a half clear days off, yet we're supposed to believe he wouldn't be able to handle an extra 20 minutes on the pitch?!

Benitez continued to display a losing mentality with the ridiculous substitutions of Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt, both of whom were removed while Liverpool were LOSING and in desperate need of a goal.

To add insult to injury, Benayoun was replaced by Nathan Ecclestone, who had never before taken part in a Premier League game. Don't get me wrong - it's great for Ecclestone to get his chance, but at the expense of (arguably) Liverpool's best player on the day?

Benayoun was clearly angry at being taken off, as he had every right to be. His winning mentality was clearly still intact, whereas Benitez had already relinquished his.

Again, are we to believe that keeping Benayoun and Kuyt on the field for an extra 10-15 minutes would’ve made them too unfit to play in the Lyon game next week?! Of course not!

Benitez himself admitted that Liverpool were ‘in control’ of the game - why not try and build on that and go all out for the win? Why sabotage the team's chances to build much-needed momentum and confidence by making such unnecessary substitutions?

A manager of Liverpool FC has a duty to instill a winning mentality into the team and to display that winning mentality with every decision he makes.

Did Benitez do this against Fulham?

Throwing in the towel is unforgiveable. Yes, we have an important game against Lyon coming up but that doesn’t justify Benitez giving-up and waving the white flag when the going got tough.

How many times have Liverpool won games at the death over the last two seasons?! Indeed, in the corresponding fixture last season, Liverpool beat Fulham with a goal in the 90th minute!

With 30 minutes to go there was every possibility that Liverpool could've scored another 1 or 2 goals, and I personally have no doubt whatsoever that if Torres, Benayoun and Kuyt had stayed on the field, Liverpool would’ve won the game.

Instead, the game was catastrophically lost. Benitez basically sent out a signal that winning a game to SAVE LIVERPOOL’S LEAGUE SEASON was not important enough to fight for.

The most disappointing thing, however, is the damage done to the club's winning mentality. Liverpool didn’t just lose; thanks to Benitez, Liverpool are now losers in the truest sense of the word.

Jaimie Kanwar

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Rafa Benitez: He hasn’t got a clue...has he?

noreply@blogger.com (Chris Severs) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:29:00 +0000

If you believe what you hear - and what you saw against Fulham - you’ll probably believe the wolves are at the door for Señor Benitez. However, I’ll try to put things in perspective without using an array of cringe-worthy Halloween puns.

What happened against Fulham was a disaster, and a game we shouldn’t have lost going into. It was supposed to be the continuation of a blinding run where we brush aside the opposition and march to the top of the table; it was supposed to keep the media hounds and kneejerk fans at bay. Unfortunately, for those of us who support Rafa, it was everything we didn’t want.

Over the last few years I’ve become increasingly adept at taking defeats on the chin. I try not to let the emotion of the occasion overwhelm me and I try to see things as an outsider looking in.

What I see is a team struggling with everything from form to injuries to ability. The squad we have currently is probably better than the squad that had people drooling at the mouth last year as we swept aside Madrid, United and Aston Villa with ease. At the moment however, the team we’re putting out isn’t better than last years usual team.

You don’t have to be a genius to see that this season our major flaw is our consistency. Last year they said “you need to top the draws”, so we haven’t drew. “You drop too many points at home” so we’ve battered the teams we drew against last year. The team has gone through massive changes, as has the club structure. Changes breed inconsistency.

We’ve had changes throughout the hierarchy of the club with Dalglish, Purslow and Ayres rising to important positions, Rafa also had changes to his contract which gave him more power. Xabi Alonso left among others, and we made two important 1st team signings (Both whom didn’t play this evening) in Johnson and Aquilani, among other squad reinforcements.

The major changes unfortunately, are unforeseen and come week in week out in the form of injuries. I can only imagine our treatment room at the moment resembling a terrorist attack, bodies strewn across the tables. We don’t have unlimited physio resources and I’m worried that injured players aren’t getting the best out of the physio’s because of overloading.

Anyway, back to the changes. The constant chopping of the team is showing itself in our results on the pitch. With players being injured so much and missing training, it must be hard for the team to train together consistently and then display that on the pitch. Especially with the international breaks disrupting things.

Steven Gerrard apart (who looks doomed for a year of frustration), the majority of our players seem on the cusp of things and close to a general return, including the much anticipated Alberto Aquilani. I hope that once we start to get people out of the doctors and onto the training pitch, things will start to click on match day.

I realise Liverpool aren’t the only team with problems, Everton for example have been struggling to get 11 senior players on the pitch, as have a few others in the Premiership. Getting consistency on the pitch though does have it’s affect, whether you see it as an excuse or not.

Arsenal and Chelsea have had relatively consistent teams since the start of the season and that’s showing dividends for them. United have had troubles, but their squad is much larger and more expensive than ours (despite what some would have you believe).

Regardless of injuries and excuses though, we do have only ourselves to blame. I think we have too many leaks in our team that require plugging. Insua, although potentially a quality addition, needs a rest. He’s often exposed, especially when tracking back and I think we really need better cover in there for the crocked Aurelio.

Torres as we know needs better back up. Babel isn’t cutting it, Riera never lived up to his promise and Voronin couldn’t buy a goal. January is looking important for Benitez as we really do need better options, who we buy though is anyones guess.

The two man team jibe is offensive to the rest of the team and it’s ridiculous to accuse us of that. It just so happens that our two best players have struggled with injury over the last year, any team would miss Gerrard and Torres.

I think the pundits who throw that at Liverpool are lazy in their analysis, there are much deeper and complicated issues surrounding Liverpool’s recent form than ‘Torres never played’.

Torres has been carrying an injury for the last 2 weeks and is unable to complete a 90 minute game. From where I was watching the game, it seemed as though people thought it was more important to risk Torres long term than try and solve his injury problems.

The main problem of course is patience, will the fans give Rafa and his squad the time? I hope so, we’re currently in our worst run of form since Rafa started his Liverpool tenure.

With the midweek game against Lyon to come, I don’t want to say ‘things can only get better’ as that would be a bit of a fib, but we must keep our heads focused on the long run.

It may be hard to see the light though when a few fans infront of me watching the game were lambasting Rafa for playing ‘that new £20m lad Aquilani at centre back’, who then went on to state ‘I don’t think he’s worth £20m, he’s only good for heading the ball’.

Therein lies the fickleness of football; and it's at times like that I have to wonder why I follow football.

Arsenal are being lauded as flying high, Liverpool as down in the dumps. The difference between us in the league?

4 points.

That’s the apparent difference between a man staring down the barrel and a man wandering in the stars.

Chris Severs

VIDEO: Fulham 3 - 1 Liverpool (All major incidents)

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Zamora 1-0

Torres 1-1

Nevland 2-1

Degen red card

Carragher red card

Dempsey 3-1

Last week's victory over Manchester United means NOTHING unless...

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:28:00 +0000

...Liverpool beat Fulham today. Yes, the team is suffering from injuries but there is still enough quality in the squad to get a result.

Javier Mascherano summed it up perfectly during the week:

"The win [against United] is important, but it's only three points. We have to keep going...we know we cannot drop important points in the future. If we want the three points against United to be of value then we have to show this kind of performance again in the future. Now we have won we cannot stop. We have to keep this going.

"We've shown we have a good squad, not just a good team, and we are pulling together. If we want to fight for something we have to keep showing what we did against United. We cannot relax just because we have won this game. That's the main message."

Absolutely spot-on. In my view, Fulham is a must-win game. Johnson and Gerrard may be out, but on paper, Liverpool is still a better team. Aquilani may also be out but his absence cannot be used as an excuse as he has not yet started a league game this season.

Liverpool's recent record against Fulham in the league is encouraging:

LAST 10 PREMIERSHIP GAMES

Won - 7
Lost - 2
Drew - 1
For - 21
Against - 7

Last season, Fulham played 442 and Liverpool played 4231 (Gerrard and Torres played): If Rafa goes for 4231, I would play the following team:

-------------------- Reina

Skrtel -------- Carra --- Agger -------- Insua

-------------- Masch ----- Lucas

Kuyt ----------- Benayoun ----------- Aurelio

-------------------- Torres

If Liverpool go 442, I favour the following team:

----------------------- Reina

Skrtel ------------ Carra -- Agger ----------- Insua

Kuyt ------------- Lucas --- Masch -------- Benayoun

---------------- Torres ------ Ngog

Whatever happens, I sincerely hope we don't see another repeat of the 343 formation used against Sunderland. Knowing Rafa's stubbornness though, I wouldn't bet against it...

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

Liverpool ‘sliding towards mediocrity’? Agenda-driven NONSENSE and an INSULT to the club.

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Whether it’s empty, half-baked ‘Spirit of Shankly’ rhetoric or brainwashed fans jumping on the ‘Hicks and Gillett are the devil’ bandwagon (without actually knowing WHY), there is a damaging and pointless agenda being peddled in the press at the moment by alleged Liverpool fans that needs to be highlighted.

For me, Spirit of Shankly has no real credibility outside its cadre of easily-led weak-minded fans, all of whom are desperately eager to hurl xenophobic epithets and march around like yobs in a pointless effort to rid the club of its current owners.

Worse than that though is Liverpool fans in the press who use every article they write to further Spirit of Shankly’s spurious agenda.

A prime example of this Tony Barrett’s article in ‘The Times’ yesterday, in which he slated the owners for not yet having built Liverpool a new stadium. Mr Barrett’s comparison with Spurs’ new stadium was tenuous at best, but the part of the article that really stood out was this:

“It is becoming abundantly clear that the longer Hicks and Gillett remain at the helm of one of the world’s greatest clubs, the more likely it is that that club will continue its slide towards mediocrity”.

Mediocrity?

Where? How? Mr Barrett states that the Liverpool will ‘continue’ its slide into mediocrity, which presupposes that the club is already on its way there.

Any fair-minded person viewing the situation with any objectivity at all would see straight away this accusation is completely unfair and untrue.

And what a gigantic insult to everyone connected with the club. Despite the efforts put in by the players, the manager, the fans, the new managing director and everyone else, the club is apparently on the verge of ‘mediocrity’?!

How, exactly?

In his previous two articles, Mr Barrett also attacked the owners, using the same old ‘Spirit of Shankly’ clichés, but he never once explains WHY Liverpool are allegedly heading for mediocrity.

But this is typical of Liverpool fans at the moment – so many are foaming at the mouth about Hicks and Gillett but when you actually ask them to explain WHY they have such vitriol towards the owners, they can’t tell you. All they do is come with the same old generalised crap:

1. They put the club in debt
2. The ‘lied’ about having a ‘spade in the ground within 60 days’.
3. They talked to Jurgen Klinnsman behind Rafa’s back
4. They heaped interest payments on the club

And blah blah blah.

The business and commercial realities behind the above are completely and utterly ignored, but fans don’t care about that; they’re seemingly not interested in the intricacies of business or the realities of how the world really works.

All they care about is the fact that owners are AMERICAN, which gives them a stick with which to beat them (Bravo, Spirit of Shankly!).

And consider this: how has any of the above ADVERSELY AFFECTED the performance of the club? The answer is, it HASN’T.

So, back to the ‘mediocrity accusation: is there any truth to it all. Let’s see – since Hicks and Gillett arrived at the club:

1. More money has been spent on transfers than at any other time in Liverpool's history, including:

20m – Torres
20m – Keane
20m - Aquilani
18.6m – Masch
17m – Johnson
16m - Dossena + Riera
11m on Babel

That is just the bigger fees. The club also broke its transfer record for a defender when signing Martin Skrtel.

2. Rick Parry was ousted from the club, something the majority of fans wanted.

3. Christian Purslow, a highly educated, business-savvy lifelong fan and season-ticket holder was appointed to increase the club's commercial prospects. This was undoubtedly a good move, especially after the abject commercial underachievement under Parry and Moores.

4. A new shirt sponsorship deal reputedly worth 80m over 4 years has been negotiated

5. A new (non-sponsorship) deal with Carslberg is in the offing, which could bring in more money for the club.

6. Liverpool has continued to look for ways to increase investment in the club, and Christian Purslow is confident that new investors will be found ‘within 3 to 6 months’. With his track record so far, is there any reason to doubt him?

7. Torres, Gerrard, Kuyt etc all signed on new long-term deals.

8. Despite intense friction with the owners, Rafa Benitez was signed to a new long-term deal, making him practically unsackable.

9. Benitez was given license to make sweeping changes to the club’s youth set-up and the Academy.

10. Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish was brought back to the club in an Ambassadorial capacity, something that is great for Rafa, great for the players and great for everyone connected with the club.

11. Liverpool finished 2nd in the league on 86 points, the club’s best performance in the league since 1990.

12. For the first time ever, Liverpool received a top-level transfer fee for one of its players, i.e. Xabi Alonso. Think of previous top players who have left – Michael Owen and Steve McManaman are two prime examples. What did the club receive for them? A pittance.

13. Last year, the club made the largest operating profit in its history. I repeat: the club made its LARGEST OPERATING PROFIT IN ITS HISTORY.

So - I ask you: where is the alleged 'mediocrity' into which Liverpool is supposedly sliding?! Liverpool are not even close to that, but according to Tony Barrett and ‘The Times’, that is exactly what is happening.

Things are looking bright for Liverpool. Yes, H+G have made mistakes and conducted themselves in an inadvisable manner at times BUT it should be remembered that the media frenzy has been fed by everyone EXCEPT H+G.

Benitez has used the press to further his own agenda; Spirit of Shankly has fanned the flames of (baseless) discontent, and Liverpool supporting journalists in the media are also jumping on the bandwagon.

As I said earlier, arguing that Liverpool FC is ‘sliding into mediocrity’ is not only FALSE, agenda-driven nonsense, it is a gigantic insult to the club, its history and everyone who has worked hard to build the club up over the years.

Where is the fairness? Where is the ability to see the positive things that have happened since H+G took over? Anyone with a long-term view can see that despite some short-term hiccups, Liverpool are on the right track.

But that’s not good enough for the anti-Owner brigade, headed by ‘Spirit of Shankly’, whose damaging message is peddled in the media by its minions, who are so blinded by their irrational hatred for the owners that they cannot see the damage they are doing to the club.

But this kind of thing is nothing new. It’s called ‘Groupthink’, a well-known concept/thought process that has blighted the world for hundreds of years.

Groupthink is a concept that was identified by Social Psychologist Irving Janis and refers to faulty decision-making in a group. Groups experiencing groupthink do not consider all alternatives and they desire unanimity at the expense of quality decisions. Janis defined Groupthink as:

“A mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action”.

Janis devised eight symptoms indicative of groupthink:

1. Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.

2. Rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group's assumptions.

3. Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.

4. Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, biased, spiteful, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.

5. Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of "disloyalty".

6. Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.

7. Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.

8. Mind guards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.

This is precisely what is happening with regards to the Owners and Liverpool fans at present. As such, it is imperative that fair-minded Liverpool fans rise-up and challenge this kind of cancerous collective thought-process.

Finally, I challenge Tony Barrett to explain - with specific examples - how Liverpool is allegedly ‘continuing to slide into mediocrity’.

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Rafa Benitez's 10 biggest transfers blunders?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex Miller) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

No matter what happens from now until the end of the season, and whether we finish in the top 4 or not, there are a number of recent transfer deals that bother me greatly - signings, sales or missed opportunities that could've improved our squad and afforded us more depth than we currently have.

The deals relevant to last season may even have turned some of those nagging draws in wins, maybe giving us enough points to have snatched the title from Man Ure.

Instead, we continue to be massively reliant on Fernando Torres and Stevie Gerrard for inspiration, both of whom are prone to groin problems.

This leaves us very vulnerable, and after having witnessing Rafa mould 'his' team over the last 5 years, it is not good enough. Also don't forget, of those 2 we rely on so much, Gerrard was already here before Rafa arrived.

There have been plenty of players come and go in Rafa's 5 years and a great many of his signings have been decent. Torres, Alonso, Reina, Benayoun, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson and Mascherano are just a few I could name.

Others are bubbling along nicely and may prove shrewd signings, Insua and Ngog are 2 such players that spring to mind. Despite the decent deals, there are 10 deals/missed opportunities that stick out like a sore thumb, and may eventually come back to haunt us.

For all of you who think I am bashing Rafa (again), I will soon balance the argument with a follow-up piece outlining Rafa's 10 best transfer deals.

1. Michael Owen

Available on a free in the summer, and would have taken a massive pay cut and practically crawled back to Anfield to sign had Rafa given him any sign of encouragement. Not the player of old, but a great player to have as cover for Nando or to bring off the bench.

Was Rafa worried about what the media would say if he was sat on the bench for too long? The press don't get on Sir Alex's case on this issue in a way you suspect they would were he at Liverpool.

2. Sami Hyypia

I believe we should not have let Sami go. He would have played a large part for us already this season due to injuries at centre back and he may have had the calming influence we seem to have lacked when Agger was out.

3. John Arne Riise

Another player sorely missed from a morale point of view as much as in the squad. Liked by the other players, he would have been more useful for us than Dossena has proved to be, not to mention the money we would have saved in the process.

4. Andrea Dossena

What can I say about Dossena? Two or three good games in over a season and unlikely to play in the first team as he is behind Insua and Aurelio in the pecking order. Surely he will be offloaded in January? The £7m could have been better spent elsewhere.

5. Alvero Arebloa

Like Riise, another fullback we miss. I know he wanted to go, but surely we could have hung on to him for at least another season. Would have provided genuine competition for Johnson, something Degen certainly doesn't provide.

6. Robbie Keane

No matter what the circumstances of the actual signing of Keane, he was treated poorly by the club. I feel that with the right encouragement and a little more time, he would have come good. Look at him go this season. It's a crying shame; and we haven't seen his transfer fee go back into a replacement, have we?

7. Peter Crouch

Like Keane, with a little more 'love' from the management he may have been more likely to sign a new contract. After all, he seems happy on the bench at Spurs. Again, was the media reaction to him being on the bench an influence in his sale?
Like Owen, the press don't give Harry Redknapp the same criticism we received.

8. Craig Bellamy

What is it with us and strikers? Golf club incident aside, I was impressed with Bellamy in his season with us and genuinely sorry to see him go. He flourished at West Ham and that was reflected in the transfer fee Man City were willing to pay. Again, he could have been some player for us.

9. Xabi Alonso

The biggest shame of all. Xabi was desperate to work with Rafa ahead of his move to us from Spain. The relationship turned sour after he wanted to miss a game to be present at the birth of his baby (fair enough). Let's not even talk about the Gareth Barry affair. It seems certain that Alonso would still be with us if it weren't for those 2 incidents. The £30m we received seems scant consolation somehow.

10. Alberto Aquilani

Perhaps too much is expected of Alberto. When you hear the views of former teammates like Riise and managers like Arsene Wenger talk about him, he sounds like some player.

The problem with his signing is that we may not see the best of him until next season, which is too late. I hope I am wrong, but he will need to get up to speed quickly or hope us fans are patient with him. Fingers crossed on him staying fit.

Alex Miller

18 reasons to be positive about LIVERPOOL FC right now

noreply@blogger.com (Jaimie Kanwar) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:36:00 +0000

Despite the doom and gloom of the last few weeks - and amid the continued misplaced vitriol towards the owners - there are plenty of reasons for Liverpool fans to be positive at the moment.

As many people who visit this regularly will know, I take a critical, realist approach to LFC. Within that approach, I always try and be fair, and there is plenty of evidence for that on the site. Contrary to popular opinion, I am definitely a fan of the club, and I always give credit where credit is due.

So - here are 18 reasons why I believe it is a great time to be a Liverpool fan...

1. The draw curse has been broken!

10 games league played – no draws! After 24 league draws in two seasons – some of which were responsible for Liverpool losing the title last season – it is great that the team is no longer drawing league games on a regular basis.

Yes, we’ve lost 4 games instead (!) but in the grand scheme of things, it is better to win more and lose a few more than draw too many games.

2. Fernando Torres

Despite not firing on all cylinders so far this season, Torres already has 9 goals and 1 assist in 9 games, which is a fantastic return. Torres is clearly one of the best strikers in world football and as long as he’s fit, Liverpool always have a chance.

It should also not be forgotten that without Hicks and Gillett at the club, Liverpool would (in all probability) not even have Torres.

3. Yossi Benayoun

It seems that Benitez has finally realized what I and others have been arguing for the last year or more: start Benayoun and he will invariably score or create a goal.

The Israeli is a fantastic creative force and he has proved this time and time again. He deserves to be an automatic starter, just like Steven Gerrard, Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Jamie Carragher.

4. Still in touch with the leaders

Despite losing 4 of the first 10 league games, Liverpool are only 6 points off the top of the table, and only 4 points behind Man United. Overcoming those gaps is an eminently achieveable task.

The 1989 side overcame a 17 point deficit to clinch top spot (before that final game with Arsenal). The league is certainly not lost yet.

5. Goals galore

Despite 4 defeats, Liverpool are currently joint second highest scorers in the league (with Chelsea), ahead of Man United.

6. Two-man team?

Once again, the spurious myth that Liverpool is a one-man/two-man team was debunked with the superb victory over Man United, achieved for the second year running without Steven Gerrard. As I’ve highlighted, Liverpool do perfectly fine without Gerrard, Torres or both.

7. Gerrard coming back from injury

Steven Gerrard is due to return from injury against Fulham this weekend, which will undoubtedly be a boost for the team.

8. Alberto Aquilani

Summer signing Alberto Aquilani has recovered from injury, and after a brief run-out with the reserves recently, is set to make his full debut against Arsenal in the Carling Cup tonight.

Liverpool have suffered because Xabi Alonso was not replaced from the start of the season, but as I highlighted above, we’re still in touch with the leaders, and if Aquilani is as good as everyone says he is then his presence in the team will only boost Liverpool even more.

9. Return of the Dane

Daniel Agger has recovered from injury and has now taken his rightful place in the team alongside Jamie Carragher. And as we saw against Man United, it’s like he’s never been away.

10. Return of the King

Jami Carragher’s form seems to be improving, and he clearly benefited from playing alongside Agger at the weekend. If that partnership is allowed to blossom then Carra’s form will undoubtedly improve even more.

11. Back-up players making their mark

The much-maligned Lucas Leiva showed his worth against United at the weekend - he was at the centre of everything positive Liverpool did; he put himself about and seriously disrupted United’s midfield, and to cap it all off he created the killer second goal.

Lucas has been steady and effective all season, but despite that, he must – IMO – make way for Alberto Aquilani and take his place as a squad player.

12. Youngsters starting to make their mark

Liverpool’s record of bringing through young players under Rafa Benitez is pretty atrocious, but could that be in the process of changing? For once, it seems we have some youngsters who genuinely have the potential to make the breakthrough.

This season, David Ngog and Emiliano Insua have put in some good performances; Martin Kelly impressed against Lyon; Dani Pacheco is showing his quality in the reserves, and Kristzian Nemeth is doing the business abroad for AEK Athens.

13. Reserves doing well

Liverpool’s reserve team is currently joint top of the Reserve League:

This is another indication that the club’s young players are making their mark.

14. Fantastic shirt deal

New managing Director Christian Purslow recently negotiated a profitable new shirt deal with Standard Chartered, which could net the club 80m of much needed income over the next 4 years.

Purslow: “I think this will almost certainly come to be seen as the best shirt sponsor deal that’s been done by anyone anywhere in the world...It’s an enormous increase on our existing shirt deal – a multiple of that. We’re not interested in being second best or third best – and I think this is an example off the park where we are going to be best in class.“

15. More cash from Carlsberg

Even though Carslberg will no longer be Liverpool’s sponsors, Purslow plans to negotiate an ancillary deal with them, which could net the club another 5m per season.

Purslow: “I must say Carlsberg have been fantastic partners for Liverpool FC over a very long time and I am very confident that we will enter into a new and different partnership with Carlsberg next season when they cease to be our shirt sponsor.

"I expect Carlsberg to be heavily involved in Liverpool Football Club going forward. Their chief executive and I have discussed that and they have expressed a strong desire for that to happen. When the ink is dry on this new shirt deal with Standard Chartered then I expect us to quickly sit down with Carlsberg and work out what that will look like".

16. New investors within 6 months

Liverpool continue to look for ways to increase investment in the club, and Purslow is confident that new investors will be found sooner rather than later. And with his track record so far, is there any reason to doubt him?

Purslow: "There has been a huge amount of interest in the club from some extremely wealthy and expert investors, but it will take three to six months to pull that together. It means there will be new investment into the football club. Mr. Hicks and Mr. Gillett have no plans to sell their shares. We will be issuing new equity to new investors, broadening our ownership."

17. Torres and Gerrard: Going nowhere

Purslow was recently explicit and absolute on the subject of Gerrard and Torres being sold, stating categorically that both players were ‘not for sale at any price’:

18. Kenny Dalglish is back at Anfield!

What a fantastic coup for the club! Having The King back at Liverpool can only have a positive effect on everyone connected with the club, especially Rafa Benitez. Indeed, Benitez has already indicated how helpful it is to have Dalglish around:

Benitez: “I had a quick chat with Kenny and said thank you [for his recent support]. He has experience, he knows the club, he knows the city, the fans, and he has more experience than me here. When we were bringing Kenny in, we knew we were bringing in someone with experience who could help us stick together.”

For obvious reasons, there is no way I can be accused of blind faith for this article (!). Things will change; mistakes will inevitably be made again - and I will highlight them - but for now, onwards and upwards! ;-)

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!

HICKS + GILLETT: The truth about Liverpool FC's sensationalised debt problem

noreply@blogger.com (Taf McDonald) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:16:00 +0000

Scaremongering about the extent of Liverpool FC's debt under Hicks and Gillett is rife these days, with fans groups and the media alike painting a picture of irreversible gloom and impending financial meltdown. What is the truth of the situation? Do H+G deserve such villification? TAF MCDONALD analyses the reality of Liverpool FC's debt level, and comes up with some surprising results.

There appear to be three main complaints about George Gillett and Tom Hicks: The first two involve lying and expense claims. The third complaint is the level of debt heaped on the club, something that has not been helped by media sensationalism, misunderstanding and misrepresentation.

So - is the debt a failing of the new owners and should they be held accountable?

Well as much as some may not like this next statement - it is their club and their company, ergo they can do what they like. We the fans are its consumers and until something changes we are locked together until H&G sell or the fans decide to support someone else or start a new club. Neither look likely at this stage.

So I set off trawling through the company accounts of the 'Top 4' and tried to generate a picture of the true state of affairs. Are we really about to self-combust or is this simply media and fan hype? Should we be worried - is there anything to hold the owners to account for? Well the answers aren't easy ones, but I'll try.

Please note I have taken the last filed accounts for each club and the figures will have moved since then (for example we are reported to have reduced our debt by £60m so far), I have also rounded all figures to the nearest half million.

CLUB DEBTS

Straight down to it:

Liverpool Football Club has £227.5m of debt which, while a colossal amount of money, is less than:

Arsenal's £280m

Chelsea's whopping £616m.

We are also not too far away from the lowest debt in the top 4 - £210m recorded by Manchester United.

Where I believe there was/is a problem is that our debts are heavily weighted towards our current liabilities, which need to be paid within 1 year. I assume this is down to the bank refinancing which was completed earlier in the year. At the last accounts we had:

£202.5m of our debt to repay within the coming year.

Compared to:

AFC - £80m

CFC - £105m

MUFC - £146m

Ideally, our debts would have been refinanced over a longer period pre-credit crunch, which was probably the plan at a time when funding was freely available from the banks.

Today, it's a different world - loan monies are not so freely available and banks are taking advantage where they can.

This affects all football clubs not just ours.

Who from the 'top 4' splashed the cash this summer? Even United after cashing-in on Ronaldo were quiet. Coincidence, or clubs bolstering their balance sheets at a time of uncertainty?

I have to confess that I have a degree of sympathy with H&G. They are demonized in the harshest possible terms, but what for exactly? Without them would we really have the quality of players we have now? Probably not, and Rafa would still be scrambling about for bargain-basement players.

H+G have also undertaken a restructuring program to modernise our club and yes, the stadium is on hold. But in business you can't get the best facilities and best materials (players) and best management without spending money.

It is a question of priorities and timing. The credit crunch timing was lousy for all businesses and certainly not the fault of H&G.

ABILITY TO REPAY THE DEBTS

LFC has the lowest turnover of the four clubs: £159m, generating a profit of £8m. In comparison:

The highest turnover was CFC with £190m but a loss of £70m... yes £70m!

The most profitable was AFC who made £48m out of their £183m turnover.

MUFC reported a turnover of £180m generating a profit of £23.5m.

This only represents one year's results though so I looked back at the last 5 years results for each club.

MUFC were the most consistent performers averaging a £15.5m profit per annum.

AFC pretty much broke even with a 0.5m profit

LFC lost £5m per year.

This was dwarfed by Chelsea's £84m per year losses.

Despite this, Liverpool is the club everyone talks about as being 'in trouble'.

Clearly, the club that stands out as unable to repay their debts in the short to medium term is CFC with the highest debts and biggest losses. The biggest worry for their fans should be that without Abramovich they will probably not even be able to service their debts, never mind pay them back.

This is not a position LFC appear to be in.

In fact, with serious potential yet to be realised, the possibility of the banks 'pulling the plug' - or us not being able to sell the club - is arguably very slim, especially when you compare 'apples to apples', which I'm trying to here.

In a recent post on my blog, I raised criticism about the old regime's failure take advantage of the commercial opportunities open to LFC and turn it into a football global powerhouse.

In that regard, I believe Christian Purslow is finally pushing LFC in the direction it should have been going 20 years ago. Take our £5m loss per year and add an additional £20m from the new bank sponsorship, plus a possible £5m for keeping hold of a reduced Carlsberg deal (and this before even considering any other new ventures), and things already start to look a little rosier.

When H&G came in and bought LFC I am sure they could see the untapped potential of the business and the club, as on and off the pitch success are inextricably linked this has to be good for all of us.

THE PARENT COMPANIES THAT OWN THE CLUBS

After looking at the clubs I turned my attention to the parent companies of each club. This is where all of the debts of ownership are held and I found something interesting. Remembering that we are the club that is (allegedly)in such strife, take a look at the total debt level of each top 4 club:

CFC - £850m

AFC - £674m

MUFC - £620m

LFC - £446m.

Conversely, the sales (turnover) of our parent company is lower than our competitors

MUFC - £256m

AFC - £222m

CFC - £210m

LFC - £162m

I am more convinced than ever that our failings in the past are biting us on the backside, but this is something I am sure Mr. Purslow and his management team are working on.

Despite these figures, we have a team which remains in the top 4 in the country, finished second in the Premiership last season and is classed as a contender for all competitions.

SUMMARY

A scoring system and league table is quite obviously called for in this context. As we are looking at the debts and the ability to repay I have taken:

1. The holding company's total debts (worst case scenario)

2. Adjusted for every pound of average club profit for the last 5 years - AV P+L

3. Last year's profit/loss from the football club - P+L (LY)

4. Last year’s profit/loss for the holding company - HC P+L (LY)

5. And for every pound of turnover from last year - TO (LY)

So we're taking the total debt and reducing it with every pound of profit or turnover or adding on any losses (ability to repay). The lowest score wins.

Club	Debts	AV P+L	P+L (LY)	HC P+L (LY)	TO (LY)	Score
LFC	446m	5m	8m	-42m	162m	323m
MUFC	619.5m	15.5m	23.5m	-21.5m	256m	346m
AFC	674m	0.5m	48m	36m	222m	367.5m
CFC	850m	-84m	-70m	-84.5m	210m	878.5m

If that's not enough look at the holding companies in isolation. There is a simple ratio which will show the relative position of the company's debts to income.

For every £1 of sales MUFC achieves there has historically been £2.54 of debt incurred.

For AFC it's £3.04 debt for every £1 of sales

For CFC £4.05 debt for every £1 of sales

For LFC it is £2.75 of debt for every £1 of sales.

All my calculations clearly indicate that we are not the worst performing of the 'top 4'. In fact, we appear to be either the 1st or 2nd best performing in all of the calculations relating to debt.

THE DOWNSIDE

There is a downside though. We are reliant on our banks to continue loan finance for the foreseeable future unless an investor comes in. But consider this, so are hundreds of businesses across the UK and all of the other top 4 clubs in the Premiership.

Consider Chelsea losing Abramovich, or, Abramovich losing his billions (which some say he is already doing). I believe no one will buy CFC as they won't want to take the debts on and the banks would not be able to see a way back to solvency for the club.

Abramovich appears to have literally tried to buy the Premiership for the fun of it, but there is no sign of prudence for the longer term stability of the club which has been applied to ours.

I imagine (because as much as I would love to I can't spend a week, or month, or years mulling through their business asking questions) that the pressure comes from the structuring of the debts. The banks are probably using this to their advantage and renewing short term deals.

This keeps the pressure on the club and no doubt strangles cash flow at transfer time. Think of your bank saying ‘yes you can have a mortgage but we want the money back in 12 months!’

Two possible fixes are a relaxation of lending policies as the global financial recovery continues and/or the ongoing actions taken by Christian Purslow to push our club to where it should be i.e. increasing profits.

Clearly, a new ground and a sensible annual transfer budget will keep us competitive and successful, generate additional revenues/profits, and set us up as the football global powerhouse we should have been years ago.

FINAL NOTE

Before any accountants come in on this I am aware this is not the official way of assessing the liquidity of the business but I could be here all day analysing accounts.

I could come up with all sorts of bamboozling data and ratios but I just wanted a quick snapshot of the state of affairs, along with a simple explanation.

I hope I achieved that.

Taf McDonald

To read more from Taf McDonald, please visit his blog here: http://mcdonaldtaf.blogspot.com

You can also follow him on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcdonaldtaf

----

Join the site's new Facebook page!