I’m not going to tell you to go and see it. Chances are, you probably already have.

The fact is though, 80% of Liverpool fans know where it has all gone wrong – Tom Hicks and George Gillett. The other 20% of Liverpool fans walk around with their head up their arse cursing Rafael Benitez for not signing David Villa and continuing to play Lucas Leiva.

Rafael Benitez has now left, and in comes Roy Hodgson. Will this satisfy the fans who called for our idiotic fans who called for the “Fat Spanish Waiter’s” head?

Whilst Roy Hodgson is a gentleman of the game, does he really have a clue what is going on at Liverpool Football Club? Christian Mark Cecil Purslow was appointed as managing director of the club in June 2009, with the sole task of raising £100 million in investment within a time limit. That time limit has since expired. Purslow has failed in his task. However, he seems to have added several lines to his job description as he is now in charge of buying and selling players at the club – maybe this is his way of raising the £100 million of investment to appease the banks. It is interesting that Purslow is making footballing decisions, when he was hired due to his financial background.

Purslow leaked to the media through is contacts that all our important players would leave the club if Benitez remained at the club come the start of the season. He did this in order to generate some support amongst fans for the sacking of Benitez. Since Rafa has left, there has been a massive exodus of players with a number of key players leaving. We have such a threadbare squad at the moment that our only recognised left back is a 16 year old youngster who has a played 10 minutes of competitive football for Liverpool. The club continues to seek to balance it’s books by raising ticket prices and selling players. The fact that we have not had a positive net transfer spend since 2008 should raise a few alarm bells, and so should the fact that we continue to be linked with players of the calibre of Paul Scharner, Luke Young and James Beattie. At this level of competition, money needs to be invested to remain competitive, especially with the likes of Manchester City spending frivolously.

The way Liverpool Football Club has been operating since Hicks and Gillett took charge in February 2007 has tarnished the so called ‘Liverpool way’ that Bill Shankly worked so hard to build. Tom Hicks, George Gillett and Christian ‘Cecil’ Purslow are sucking the life out of the club and Bill Shankly would be looking down from above with a deep sadness, but the Spirit of Shankly lives on.

Having lived in Lancaster for the majority of the last few years due to my University commitments, I am only a modest match goer. I go to the match when I can afford it and when I can get tickets and I average around half a dozen matches a year. My family has never been big on football, my dad never used to take me to see Liverpool play at Anfield from an early age. My love for Liverpool is a purely self ignited passion. The time has come however, to make a sacrifice even if it only makes a little difference. I do not wish to continue to line the pockets of George Gillett and Tom Hicks. I do not wish to continue to pay for their ‘expenses’. I no longer wish to go to the match whilst those two parasites are owners of our once great club.

Rafa Benitez has gone, and Roy Hodgson is now the 18th manager of Liverpool Football Club. We will back him to the hilt, and he faces a difficult and unique challenge as he manages us during these difficult and uncertain times. I say ‘manage us’, but really I just mean ‘coach’ seeing as Mr Purslow seems to be taking on all other key footballing aspects.

With a new era now underway at Liverpool, it is time to reflect on a man who has given me some of the happiest footballing memories of my life – Rafa Benitez. European Champions. FA Cup Winners. Highest ever points total in the league. Number 1 ranked team in Europe.

Rafa is a great manager who is now in charge of the current Italian and European Champions Inter Milan. Not bad for a “Fat Spanish Waiter”, eh? I wish him great success in Italy, and seeing as his family are staying in Liverpool and Rafa has said that he expects to live in Liverpool again one day, maybe we will even see him back at Liverpool in the future. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, for me Rafael Benitez was our modern day Bill Shankly.

List of memorable victories under Rafa:

Liverpool 4 Manchester United 1 (Old Trafford) – Premier League – 2009

Liverpool 4 Real Madrid 0 (Anfield) – European Cup – 2009

Liverpool 5 Newcastle 1 (St. James Park) – Premier League – 2008

Liverpool 2 Inter Milan 0 (Anfield) – European Cup – 2008

Liverpool 4 Arsenal 1 (Anfield) – Premier League – 2007

Liverpool 2 Barcelona 1 (Nou Camp) – European Cup – 2007

Liverpool 3 West Ham 3 (Liverpool win on penalties) (Cardiff) – FA Cup Final – 2006

Liverpool 3 CSKA Moskow 1 (Stade Louis II) – Super Cup Final – 2005

Liverpool 3 AC Milan 3 (Liverpool win on penalties) (Istanbul)  - European Cup Final –  2005

Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (Anfield) – European Cup – 2005

Liverpool 2 Juventus 1 (Anfield) – European Cup – 2005

Liverpool 2 Arsenal 1 (Anfield) – Premier League –  2004

Liverpool 4 Fulham 2 (Craven Cottage) – Premier League – 2004

Penny Street, Chancellors Wharf, the canal, Bowland College, Mike, the 2A, the cleaners, Inspire Gym, washing, ducks, James, The Cutting Room, The Carleton, Phil, The Friary, lectures, lecturers, seminars, practicals, trainers, snooker, posters, running, house parties, long hair, Friday Fury, alcohol, exams, freshers reps, The Sugarhouse, skin heads, dissertation, Liam (twat), Walkabout, snow, Lancaster, drunk lectures, no lecturers, Cuba, Graeme, Halloween, freshers repping, The Great Hall, iPhone SDK, the Internet, Greggs, Ste, Keystones, Stiff ‘un’s, the porters, Starvin Marvin’s, the 3, LUSU housing, Eduroam, the IT box, the underpass, Liquid, sick, Elements, 4Chan, Java, hangovers, badminton, girls, Alex Square, The Cupcake Factory, Hustle, Toast, Euro 2008, a Seat Ibiza, Colette, Purple Card, posters, loud music, Mint, Subway, Wilkinson’s, Mood, C, pool, jeans in a freezer, Morecambe, great food, broken beds, leaflets, swimming, The Minor Hall, foam parties, Vue Cinema, The Yorkshire House, stir frys, the chippy, stolen roadwork signs, computers, a bookcase full of empties, camping, shagging, Snakebite, Angela, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, ASDA, InfoLab21, Team Fortress 2, chippy chips, fireworks, cleaning, the castle, rain, Football Manager, visitors, Hidden, Counter Strike, Dave, The Waterwitch, John O’Gaunt’s, The White Cross, Alonso, the Pub Quiz, FIFA 2010, the World Cup, Natalya, Graduation.

Goodbye Lancaster University!

Why the absence? To be succinct, my dad passed away in early January and I lost the urge to write. I was – and I still am to an extent – a somewhat empty shell. I have experienced the hardest five months of my life, not least because of the death of my dad but because of everything else which came with it. The only spark of happiness in my life came from a special girl, and she knows who she is.

In terms of my time at University, my final year exams and dissertation have now been and gone. I am simply now awaiting the results of my degree. To be perfectly honest, I have suffered a lot academically over the last five months. My head hasn’t been in the right place and this has affected my dissertation and final year exams without a doubt. It’s not an excuse, it’s the truth. I was so motivated at the start of the year to fight for a 2:1 degree classification – I averaged just over 57% in my second year and I believed it was feasible – but that is now impossible and I’ll be lucky to hang on to a 2:2. I think you know there is something fundamentally wrong when you break down in a final year University exam over something as simple as writing your middle name (my dads first name) on the exam paper.

Until I find out my final degree classification from the University I am unable to plan too far into the future. I have no idea what the next year of my life will entail, it all hangs on the result of my degree.

There is some much needed good news in my life however – a temporary job has floated my way – and I’ll be working and living in Lancaster until the middle of August developing an iPhone app for a company based at Lancaster University. I am not allowed to disclose information about the actual app itself, but it is exciting  and the eventual aim is to get it on to the iTunes App Store.

iPhone app development is something I hold experience in, and it is also something that excites me. As part of my dissertation I developed an app for the iPhone, an app which I plan to further develop during the rest of 2010 and release to the iTunes App Store hopefully in time for Christmas. I am certainly eagerly awaiting the release of iOS 4.0! Hot diggidy daym yo!

The temporary job over the summer also provides me with something which I am in dire need of; money. I have more or less maxed out my interest free student overdraft, and whilst that account remains interest free for 12 months after I leave University I need to start digging myself out of the small financial hole I am in.

My car (and my 33 pairs of trainers!) have hit me hard financially over the last few year. The gearbox went on my car during the back end of April – during my exams as is typical – and although I was able to save some money and obtain the required parts myself, it still set me back nearly £1,000. Sheeeeeeeeeit.

I have certainly been continuing with my running during 2010, and it was always a target of mine to run a Half Marathon. I achieved this in March when I ran the Liverpool Half Marathon with a time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 11 seconds – not bad considering I sprained my ankle two weeks before the Half Marathon and was unable to do any training during that time.

I love the buzz of running, the sense of euphoria it delivers after a good workout is one of the best natural highs I have felt in life, but injuries are a bitch and have certainly not helped my progression as a runner. I have weak ligaments and tendons in my right ankle from when I broke it some four years ago, and I also have a form of mild tendinitis in both knees. More irritatingly though, I have started to pick up a variety of reoccurring muscle injuries – calf and hamstring tendon strains – when I have been running, something which has damaged my confidence in my body in terms of being able to run at the speed I used to.

To be honest, I think the reason I have started picking up such injuries is due to the fact that I have been neglecting the gym a lot during the last few months – simply due to academic obligations – so hopefully this is something I can work on. I honestly loved participating in the Liverpool Half Marathon, and I am a competitive lad who will strive to improve his time next time around in 2011. I also intend to participate in a number of other 10K and Half Marathon events, and all this training and racing will hopefully lead me to the ultimate goal of completing the London Half Marathon sometime in my life.

During my absence, I’ve taken time to re-evaluate what I wish to gain by continuing to write blog entries. I never set out to rack in hundreds of visitors and comments when I created Unknown Logic back in 2007 – that was never my aim. My aim was simply to satisfy a somewhat small urge of doing some writing, whilst being able to look back on how my life changed years down the line.

I am going to continue to write stuff that matters to me, without the obligation of having to write hanging over me. If some of you find a sense of interest or enjoyment in what I write – nice swan.

Twenty one years may of passed since the terrible events at Hillsborough, but the 96 who lost their lives will never be forgotten.

John Alfred Anderson (62)
Thomas Howard (39)
Colin Mark Ashcroft (19)
Thomas Anthony Howard (14)
James Gary Aspinall (18)
Eric George Hughes (42)
Kester Roger Marcus Ball (16)
Alan Johnston (29)
Gerard Bernard Patrick Baron (67)
Christine Anne Jones (27)
Simon Bell (17)
Gary Philip Jones (18)
Barry Sidney Bennett (26)
Richard Jones (25)
David John Benson (22)
Nicholas Peter Joynes (27)
David William Birtle (22)
Anthony Peter Kelly (29)
Tony Bland (22)
Michael David Kelly (38)
Paul David Brady (21)
Carl David Lewis (18)
Andrew Mark Brookes (26)
David William Mather (19)
Carl Brown (18)
Brian Christopher Mathews (38)
David Steven Brown (25)
Francis Joseph McAllister (27)
Henry Thomas Burke (47)
John McBrien (18)
Peter Andrew Burkett (24)
Marion Hazel McCabe (21)
Paul William Carlile (19)
Joseph Daniel McCarthy (21)
Raymond Thomas Chapman (50)
Peter McDonnell (21)
Gary Christopher Church (19)
Alan McGlone (28)
Joseph Clark (29)
Keith McGrath (17)
Paul Clark (18)
Paul Brian Murray (14)
Gary Collins (22)
Lee Nicol (14)
Stephen Paul Copoc (20)
Stephen Francis O’Neill (17)
Tracey Elizabeth Cox (23)
Jonathon Owens (18)
James Philip Delaney (19)
William Roy Pemberton (23)
Christopher Barry Devonside (18)
Carl William Rimmer (21)
Christopher Edwards (29)
David George Rimmer (38)
Vincent Michael Fitzsimmons (34)
Graham John Roberts (24)
Thomas Steven Fox (21)
Steven Joseph Robinson (17)
Jon-Paul Gilhooley (10)
Henry Charles Rogers (17)
Barry Glover (27)
Colin Andrew Hugh William Sefton (23)
Ian Thomas Glover (20)
Inger Shah (38)
Derrick George Godwin (24)
Paula Ann Smith (26)
Roy Harry Hamilton (34)
Adam Edward Spearritt (14)
Philip Hammond (14)
Philip John Steele (15)
Eric Hankin (33)
David Leonard Thomas (23)
Gary Harrison (27)
Patrik John Thompson (35)
Stephen Francis Harrison (31)
Peter Reuben Thompson (30)
Peter Andrew Harrison (15)
Stuart Paul William Thompson (17)
David Hawley (39)
Peter Francis Tootle (21)
James Robert Hennessy (29)
Christopher James Traynor (26)
Paul Anthony Hewitson (26)
Martin Kevin Traynor (16)
Carl Darren Hewitt (17)
Kevin Tyrrell (15)
Nicholas Michael Hewitt (16)
Colin Wafer (19)
Sarah Louise Hicks (19)
Ian David Whelan (19)
Victoria Jane Hicks (15)
Martin Kenneth Wild (29)
Gordon Rodney Horn (20)
Kevin Daniel Williams (15)
Arthur Horrocks (41)
Graham John Wright (17)

Rest In Peace

For more information on the Hillsborough disaster please visit http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough/

Justice for the 96.

You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Robert born and raised in Speke, Liverpool, with his mother Estella and father Philip, his sister Margaret and brothers Raymond and Kenneth.

Robert spent time living in Runcorn, before moving to Wigan due to work commitments. He had two children in Martyn and Rachael during his time in Wigan, before moving back to Liverpool, this time in the village of Melling.

Robert was an intelligent man who owned his own window and conservatory manufacturing company. He had a passion for DIY, and took great care and pride in moulding and furnishing his own house.

Robert also had a natural talent for mechanics. He worked in a car garage as a young adult. Robert enjoyed mechanics as a recreational activity, and enjoyed working with cars. He built his own kit car, rallied minis and even owned his own Porsche during his younger years! He even taught his son Martyn to drive.

Robert enjoyed tending to his garden on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He would spend hours getting the garden just right, he also took delight in buying broken petrol lawnmowers and fixing them in his spare time before selling them on.

Robert was not a fan of many sports. Albeit being a Liverpool supporter when questioned, Robert managed to evade becoming an avid follower of football during his life, a big achievement considering Liverpool is an eccentric football city.

However, Robert was a big fan of Formula 1, a passion for the sport was brought on by his love for cars. He followed the sport for many years, and some of his favourite drivers included Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill. He used to enjoy cooking a family dinner on a Sunday afternoon before sitting down to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Robert also took joy in building and putting together computers. He played a big part in instilling a passion for computers in his son Martyn, who is now studying Computer Science at University.

Rachael spent a lot of time with her father, and regularly used to help him tend to the garden as well as other general household activities. Robert was a man who enjoyed spending time with his children, and passing on knowledge to them.

Robert was also a lover of pet birds; he kept several budgies as well as a parrot through the years. He was a patient individual with all animals, and always made sure they were cared for and loved. Freddie was Robert’s favourite budgie, and he invested hours of his time giving attention to his little feathery friend. Freddie is a talking budgie and is now somewhat of a YouTube sensation, all due to Robert.

He will be greatly missed by all those who loved and cared for him.

As we leave behind the annoyingly so-called ‘noughties’, perhaps now is a good time for reflection on the last ten years.

For me, the last decade has been a big one, as I transformed from a 10 year old kid to the most amazing man in the world now at the age of 20. The growth of my first pube and Liverpool’s European Cup win were particular highlights. A big decade indeed.

For me, 2010 will be a year that will shape my future. If I cross my fingers and toes and bury myself in a deep book from now until the end of June, I may come out of Lancaster University with a 2:1 degree classification in Computer Science to my name. Hopefully.

During the four week Christmas break from University I have been dividing much of my time between Lancaster and Liverpool, something made much easier now I have my lovely car.

With it being my last year in Lancaster, I thought it would nice to spend a bit more time up there. I also find I can get more work done up in Lancaster, with the added bonus that I can go to the gym or on a cheeky run down the canal. Some of my friends stuck around in Lancs, so there was also some good craic to be shared.

My last term at University has been fun. Everything is just great. I’ve met new people, I’m enjoying where I live, and life just seems to be going well. Maybe I have even met someone special.

All it remains for me to say is, Happy New Decade!

With pre-season hopes of a first title win since 1990 on the back of last seasons refreshing title challenge now in tatters, as well as a premature exit from the European Cup, many fans are calling for Rafa Benitez to be given the boot from Liverpool.

The way I see it, there are three options open to us at the moment. The first option would be to give Rafa time with the current playing squad in order to hopefully propel us up the league and into a European Cup place.

The second, the much preferred and sadly most unlikely option, would be for the Yank twats to realise that the squad needs investment and back Rafa in the transfer market come January.

The final option would be to relieve Rafa of his position. Many modern Liverpool fans are impatient, uneducated beings from Southern England who have never been to Anfield and simply sit in their comfy armchairs watching Liverpool on the tele. Sacking Rafa is their preferred option. However, I ask those people, if Benitez were to be sacked, whom would you replace him with?

Jose Mourinho is one name put forward as a potential new manager of Liverpool. However, how could we attract Mourinho to Anfield? Imagine the following: ‘Hey Jose, do you fancy leaving Inter Milan to manage Liverpool. We can offer you 50p a season for a transfer budget, as well as many broken promises. Oh, and you have to service our £30 million a year interest by selling your best players. Up for it?’

Rafa is, in my opinion, our modern day Bill Shankly. In the five years he has been at the club he has turned us from a club on the decline, battling for 4^th place, into one of the best teams in the world.

This season may not have been very successful so far, and I realise at the moment we are actually battling for 4^th place, but Rafa has revolutionised almost every aspect of our club, and in a way he has been a victim of his own success at Liverpool. By winning the European Cup in his first season at Anfield, many fans expected a similar instant success in the league.

To win the league, you need a quality squad and not just quality players. Rafa has slowly been building up a quality squad over the last five years, and it is working. Working on limited funds, Benitez has bought numerous players for comparatively small amounts. Some of these signings have worked out well, others have not, but Rafa has not been afraid to ship them on and slowly, but surely, our squad is improving.

Most people point to players like Voronin and Degen still holding a squad number and warming the bench. Do you think Benitez wants players of such quality in the squad? The sad truth is that these players were signed on free transfers in order to boost squad depth, simply because Hicks and Gillett treat Liverpool Football Club like a franchise, sucking up all it’s profits without investing in the playing squad. Instead, if Rafa wants any form of transfer budget, he has to sell players. Make no mistake; the Yanks are the cancer of Liverpool Football Club.

Our form this season has been poor. Confidence is low and the players just do not look arsed. We lost Hyypia, Alonso and Arbeloa during the summer, and even though we brought in Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, our squad is not as strong as last year. Johnson is a good player, although defensively suspect at times. Aquilani is still not completely match fit, however, his time will come.

Last season, finishing 2^nd in the league with a club record number of Premier League points was a massive achievement. Many people thought that we could make a step up and win the title this season.

For Liverpool to progress and win the title this season, a number of things were needed. Stability at the club would be vital, Rafa would need to be backed in the transfer market, and finally, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres would need to remain injury free. None of which happened.

Injuries to key players have hit us hard, confidence is low, the turmoil at the club is still occurring and our dirty laundry is being aired in public. Bill Shankly must be turning in his grave, as every blade of glass he built when creating the Liverpool way is being slowly destroyed.

What now for Liverpool Football Club, Rafa Benitez and the cancer in the form of George Gillett and Tom Hicks? The story of our season is not over yet, and I’m sure there is a rocky road still to walk down… but we will never walk alone.

Merry Christmas to all