A Former No.7 Moulds His New Side Around His Current No.7

 

It was a family feud, Pep Guardiola did not want his brother agent to have a profit and thus vetoed a deal that would take Luis Suarez to Barcelona last January, Barcelona bought Ibrahim Afellay instead and the rest as we say is history.

Suarez is growing into a Kop idol at Anfield, he is getting the love that the kopites used to shower on Fernando Torres. Joining at a time when Fernando was agitating for a move to Chelsea there were talks that he could have been talked out of it and asked to give one last try but Torres grew impatient and we were deprived of a mouth watering partnership that would have surely guaranteed goals.

Suarez meanwhile has gone from strength to strength as he has seamlessly adapted himself into the hustle and bustle of the Premier league. Technically excellent, good balance, neat quick feet and equally adept at either foot he has added a new dimension to the attacking and brave Liverpool that are taking shape under the careful eye of Kenny Dalglish.

He has been a revelation for the last three games in a false no.9 position that Messi has made so famous. Leading the line from the front, he uses his footballing brain to drop of into pockets of space with his intelligent movement to link up with teammates. His excellent close control and link up play with his teammates as shone through as he has made a blistering start to the season. His long term fitness and stamina could very well come into play in the latter half of the season when he starts feeling the after effects of the Copa America and a non-existent pre-season he has had this time around.

The midfield signings have been good, although some of them might have been uncalled for given the riches that were already on disposal. Meireles has found himself on the brink of the substitution bench for no fault of his own and must be wondering what has he done wrong to warrant this. Similarly Kuyt was very unlucky not to have started the first game of the season and could have to face similar days as those later on, as Dalglish would try to keep everyone happy. The most notable non-existent benchwarmer has been Joe Cole, its been surprising that he has not been moved on this season. A move to Spurs seemed on the cards but has not materialized yet, it could in the coming days come to fruition though. I still feel the revival Cole could make Liverpool into more of a fearsome team than they now currently are.

Defence has been a problem as has been their problem in maintaining clean sheets. Jose Enrique could well solve the troublesome left back problem and the emergence of the highly promising Martin Kelly and other academy lads Robinson and Flanagan gives everyone hope that this academy still has the capability to produce world class talents that could follow into the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors.

The squad is a very competitive one and have all the capability required in mounting a title challenge should they have a good first half and stay in contention come January after the christmas period.

It would take a lot to heal the wounds that have been inflicted onto the fans by the sheer unproductivity and the inability of their team to win a league title in 21 years. The signings look promising, the display at Bolton last afternoon gives every fan inside Anfield a reason to stay optimistic of their team's chances this season.

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AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT

For all the attacking might of Barcelona, it really leaves me wondering whether they have missed a trick by not signing a centre half. That area really looks worrisome with doubts over the long term fitness of talismanic captain Carlos Puyol, surely the short Mascherano could not be the answer if the Catalans would have to make a trip to their bogey ground of Stamford Bridge.

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As transfer window draws to a close wonder whether we would see another deadline day worth 100mn pounds. Nervous times for the managers ahead.

War at Wembley

The final at Wembley is one which has a past courtesy the two teams. Both Barcelona and Manchester United played each other at this very stage 2 years back in Rome and at that time it was the Catalan Giants who shoved away Ferguson's men to win the title. This time around though Manchester United look prepared to take on Barcelona not wanting Barca to be their nemesis once again.

To be gifted is one thing and to actually use that gift is another thing and Barcelona surely are doing that having the most gifted players in the team. Barca under Pep  are as strong as a team can be and are just one step away from being labelled  as one of  "The best teams ever". Their 'taka taka' football has mesmerized everyone even their enemies. They have been despised off the field but on the field you would be left in awe. Manchester United on the other hand have one of the most mediocre teams they could ever have. Having said this I would not take away any credit away from them, for the way they have stepped onto the field this season always brimming with confidence and always hungry for more success. A lot of this could be attributed to Sir Alex's 'winning mentality' which surely is gonna be ManU's 12th man against Barca. If they do manage to win the title it would be sweet revenge for their defeat in 2009 though they wouldn't want to admit it. Also it would enhance their reputation as being one of Europe's best teams a tag which they have always strived to maintain.

The verbal sparring between the respective camps of Manchester United and Barcelona has largely been complimentary but no less illuminating than the sniping that marred the latter's semi-final with Real Madrid. Some of my favorites are here..

Nemanja Vidic - "There should be some respect for us. Barcelona are favourites for this game. We are fine with that. They are a good team and play some good football. But we not a club that has won nothing over the years. We are Manchester United."

Pep Guardiola - " I admire them. Manchester United are a fantastic rival, but they have an advantage because two years ago we beat them. You can't be favourites against Manchester United anyway - they are a great team. They sold Cristaino (Ronaldo) and they are still winning."

Rio Ferdinand - "Revenge is not the right word, but I do have regrets about the 2009 final defeat to Barcelona. I was gutted, devastated by the end of that game. Nobody likes to lose a cup final but it was one of the worst feelings I have ever had in my career. We just didn't perform  as we should have done last time. This time we have to give a better account of ourselves."

Pep Guardiola - " I hope  that they (the players) feel it could be their last Champions League final. In 1992 we thought  that we would never play  a European  Cup final again. I want my players to feel the same. We cannot waste this opputunity."

A comparison I would like to make is between AC Milan vs Liverpool and now Barcelona vs Man United.

2005 - Istanbul - Liverpool came back from 3 goals down to win on penalties.

2007 - Athens - AC Milan win the final 2-1 against Liverpool

2009 - Rome - Barcelona beat Man United 2-0

2011 - Wembley - ?

Is this a sign of a Manchester United victory or will Barcelona reclaim their crown they lost to Inter Milan last year. The whole world is waiting, the whole world is watching.

EPL: Survival Sunday

With the premier league title already won, all eyes would be on the fight for 3rd and 5th spot and most importantly the spots in the dropzone. Only one game left, the battle is no doubt hotting up and the teams are feeling the heat and so are their managers.

3rd place is direct entry into Champions league and Manchester City are the news boys in this game. Arsenal with already a barren run wouldn't want to miss out on this consolation prize. However City at the Reebok Stadium would try to strengthen their chances by winning against Bolton which would add to their FA cup title.

Tottenham would have wanted to reclaim 4th spot and once again prove that they aren't one timers in Europe. However a defeat to Manchester City washed away those dreams. 5th place would have been guaranteed if not for Liverpool's resurgence under Kenny Dalglish. A home game for Spurs is a boon and 5th spot is in their hands except if they wish to gift it to Pool for their outstanding comeback this season.

5 Teams..Only 3 Survive..

A spot in the relegation zone is always dreaded and there are not less than 5 teams who are trying to avoid ending up there. Blackburn, Blackpool, Wolves, Birmingham City and Wigan will try to give their all for an extended stay in the Premier League. Staying up is important not only in terms of playing against better teams and a chance to fight to be the best in England but also what comes along, which include a bunch of incentives like sponsorship and income from television rights. Better placed the team is at the end of the season better are the chances of increasing the income is what drives clubs to fight for a place in the Premier league. Lets see which team has a better chance of surviving tomorrow.

Blackburn Rovers:

v Wolves (A).. Since winning the title in 1995 Blackburn's fortunes have been on the decline. They have been relegated once in 1999 and tomorrow they face Wolves who themselves are fighting relegation. Against a team which has the motive of staying up and also has had a decent last 6 games scoring 8 of the available 18 points,  it's gonna be a tough one. Steve Kean has a big job at hand and only a win will keep his head from rolling..

My prediction: Blackburn 2 -1 Wolves

Wolverhampton Wanderers:

v Blackburn (H).. A home game is an advantage, but 8 points in their last 6 against Blackburn's 6 points in the same number of games will surely add as an added boost.  However even with 2 points more than their previous campaign they find themselves still with a chance of going down. Mick McCarthy will consider himself unlucky if  that does happen and a sack will be awaiting him.

My prediction: Wolves 1 - 2  Blackburn

Blackpool:

v Manchester United (A).. Do I need to mention that Blackpool will be playing their last game against the Champions of this season. Blackpool would be happy that Manchester United have already secured the title, else it would have been only destination for them, back to the championship. With a relaxed oppostion Blackpool should try to get their points, however even after resting a lot of players Manchester United will be far too strong for them. I see them going only one way, going down.

My prediction: Manchester United 3 - 1 Blackpool

Birmingham City:

v Tottenham Hotspur (A).. Birmingham's last few games have been disastrous with one draw and 4 losses in their last  5 and Tottenham would be in no mood to do them any favours tomorrow after having lost their Champions League spot and now with Europa league qualification spot on the line. However Spurs have been scratchy lately and this cannot have come at a better time for Birmingham who had a good campaign last year just like Blackburn but now are trying to save their skins. Relegation is not new to them but hopefully for them they can scrape through tomorrow.

My prediction: Tottenham 2 - 2 Birmingham

Wigan Athletic:

v Stoke City (A).. Wigan were tipped to be relegated even before West Ham but a few games with character has given them a chance of staying up.. For Wigan survival sunday began on 15th May when they faced West Ham who went up 2-0 in the first half. But just like Wigan of the recent, a show of courage got them back not only in the game but also in the survival race sending West Ham to the championship. On 22nd May it's gonna be a full circle for them if manage to survive at Stoke. Of late they have managed to hold on and I don't see any reason why they can't do it tomorrow.

My Prediction: Stoke City 0 - 1 Wigan

Final day always has it's share of drama and I don't expect that to lessen one bit tomorrow. The excitement is building up and for a few teams the whole season is down to tomorrow, down to one final game. It's make or break time. Special mention about Martin Skrtel(Liverpool) and Leighton Baines(Everton) who have played every minute of this Premier league season and are expected to play the full 90min on Sunday. Speaks volume of their strength, both physical and mental.

38 games, 9 months, 1 Premier League title ends on Sunday. It's time to say Adios to this season with the wait for next already having begun...

SQUEAKY BLUE TIME

Chelsea visit Old Trafford this Sunday and will provide a much sterner test than the one posed by Schalke last night, who were quite frankly made to look every bit the 10th best team in Bundesliga by a rampaging Man Utd side, who have been nothing short of sensational in Europe this season.

Promised land beckons for the team that emerges victorious this weekend at Old Trafford with a draw doing no good to Chelsea's renewed title credentials. Its Chelsea's stunning form of late since last March, when they turned a 1-0 deficit at half time against United into a 2-1 win by the final whistle that has rather made what would have been a casual stroll to the title into a nervy one. A run of results that have made the Red Devils look nervously over their shoulders since the last few weeks. The relentless march of the Blues went largely unnoticed as very few considered them a serious threat to United, as they had been swept aside with consummate ease over the two legs in the CL quarters over a month ago. But that tells only half the story as Chelsea who have been raking up wins, United on the other hand kept on drawing or loosing games at crucial stages to leave the door open, annihilation at Anfield, failure to score at St.James Park, allowed Chelsea to creep back into the reckoning, and not to mention the spiritless performance at Emirates last weekend when United sprang into life only in the final ten minutes by the time it was too late.

The outcome of the game will go a long way in deciding whether the title heads north to Old Trafford or stays in West London for another year. An unbeaten streak is at stake , a run that began 13 months ago when this very same Chelsea side took the title to London by the virtue of an offside Drogba winner. Chelsea will be much better equipped to damage United with David Luiz back into the line-up, a noticeable absentee the last time these two sides met.

A fitting titanic battle to decide who wears the premiership crown between the two best teams in England. Dont go expecting for some playacting, petty fouls, dives and bust-ups on the field and the chances are you will come back entertained.

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AND WHILE WE ARE AT IT,

Gooners might be a happy lot this week, a change in ownership has not bought about a change in working of the club which was the very thing they had been dreading when Stan Kroenke bought the Club last month. Wenger still thinks he has a title winning squad at his disposal and is ready to sign new kids this summer and yes like always to beat the competition from fellow rivals Arsenal have decided to hike ticket prices again to make them the most expensive team to watch in the entire Britain.

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What a job King Kenny has been doing at Anfield since January. He has breathed new life into the players, Dirk Kuyt has started scoring again rather than whipping crosses from outside the box, Lucas has started to look a cross of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano and has been the engine of the team. Suarez has been one of the signings of the season, Carragher inspirational and he should be the next in line to take over the reigns when Kenny leaves the dugout, but that discussion is for a different age altogether. The Reds have started playing beautiful football again which was not seen for the best part of the last decade. All hail King Kenny for making Anfield a happy place to be, two to three astute signings and they could be challenging for the title rightly so next season, a summer of optimism awaits. Good Times ahead.

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Roman Abramovich would be a fool to sack Ancelotti in the summer after this brilliant run of form. It clearly shows that the team is united, right behind their manager and ready to work their socks off for him. Enough of meddling Roman, be patient and you could well be buying a ticket for the showdown in Munich this time next May, Don't forget to sign some cheques this summer though.

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Delight for Liverpool, Misery for Manchester City

Carroll brace helps Liverpool rout Manchester City

I sat down to write a post about Chelsea's game against Manchester United the next day and I realize, there's a game tonight. Liverpool vs Manchester City. And could I miss this one, definitely not.

As a neutral enjoying this one was so much fun. No pressure when a goal was scored and when a chance was missed. It was the Red's who broke their shackles eventually wrapping up the game by a 3 goals scored in the first half courtesy Andy Carroll and Dirk Kuyt and treating me to some fine display of football.

Considered to be the one of the fiercest strike partnerships in England following their move to Anfield this January, a lot is still being expected from Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez and neither one of them are ready to disappoint. Both of them are in their infancy at Liverpool playing their 4th and 6th game respectively and Suarez has already been among goals. And it was Carroll's turn to prove that he worth each penny paid by Liverpool, the most expensive British's footballer of all time. And it took just about 13 minutes for him to open his Liverpool account after Meireles strike was blocked by Kompany, a ripping low half volley went past Joe Hart who had no chance to stop it. What a sweet strike!! On the other hand Manchester City's problems compounded when Tevez left the field with what seems to be a hamstring which might keep him out of the FA cup semifinal clash against Manchester United.

Liverpool kept up the pace and were again rewarded when their persistence to keep the ball even in the crowded opposition box paid off when Kuyt slid in a low finish, despite several blocks by the City defenders off Liverpool players, making it 2-0. This would have delighted Dalglish and compounded Mancini's problems. And even before City could realize the poor state they were in, a left wing cross by Meireles was headed in by classic Carroll beyond Joe Hart. It took only 94 seconds for Liverpool to score their 3rd after they had scored their 2nd and by now Mancini must have been scratching his head, realizing that come May, he might be sacked.

2nd half was more of attack and defend for Man City while Liverpool kept moving forward in search of the 4th goal. It was only some alert goal keeping by Joe Hart which prevented Liverpool from scoring more goals. David Silva came in for James Milner on 58' and it was difficult to understand what purpose Mancini was serving by having Silva on the bench and substituting Milner who by far was a better player on the night. 90 minutes didn't come at a better time for Man City as they were defeated by only 3 goals.

Carroll was outstanding and so was the whole Liverpool team. They showed great character to comeback from last week's defeat against West Bromich Albion. The fans were seen backing the players each time they touched the ball especially young John Flanagan who made his first team debut playing at right back helping his team keep a clean sheet and was impressive throughout the game. On the other hand for Manchester City when the whole team tries to do their best there is one guy who can undo all the good work. Mario Balotelli, the 20 year old bad boy who is in a team which wants to win, and play at the highest level. His work ethics, his discipline are non-existent and he playing along with a player of Tevez's class who gives his 100% all the time is a shame. When at Inter Mourinho said that he didn't want this bloke around the sidelines too. The Special One also said: "The guy has incredible qualities, but sometimes does not know how to use his brain." Such comments can only make one realize that this guy is not gonna help any team unless he learns to use his talent in the right way.

Liverpool were rampant while the result could be damaging to Manchester City's European dreams. With Tottenham in sniffing distance the game against Spurs at the fag end of the season could be yet another 4th place decider just like last season where Spur's nicked City to play in the Europe where they have gone a long way. For under-pressure Mancini these seem to be the last two months in England and his exit seems inevitable following City's failure to meet the ambitious expectations of the club's Arab owners. Even a win over bitter rivals Manchester United in the FA cup semis doesn't seem to guarantee a safe haven in England. Time to pack your bags, Mr Mancini and time for Liverpool to reward Dalglish with a permanent deal. Shouldn't be far away!!!

Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United. The Sweet Sound Of Silence

Do you hear it? No? Listen closely. Can't you hear it? "All I hear is silence" I hear you say. That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the sweet sound of silence when Alex Ferguson refuses to speak to the media whenever things don't go his way. So, how did such a joyful event come to pass? Well for starters, Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-1 on Sunday keeping the title race very much open.

 

Both Liverpool and Manchester United came into this match on the back of defeats to West Ham and Chelsea respectively. Arsenal had drawn with Sunderland the previous day. This was a great chance for the league leaders to consolidate their lead at the top. Well, that is if they won the match. For the match Liverpool lined up with Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio, Gerrard, Lucas, Kuyt, Meireles, Maxi, Suarez. Manchester United had 11 players on the pitch and Phil Dowd.

The game started off in quite a lively fashion with Liverpool dominating. Luis Suarez, who really is looking like a great buy by Liverpool, had a half-chance to score but failed to control Raul Meireles' pass. This was just a taste of the things to come. At the other end, Berbatov had a shot glance off the post with Reina beaten. But the breakthrough came at the 34th min with Suarez producing a moment of magic, skipping past 3 players and passed the ball to Dirk Kuyt who had no trouble tapping it in at less than 2 yards from the goal. Five minutes later it was Nani who was the provider with a bizarre header back to Kuyt from Suarez's cross. Kuyt headed the ball in, again from less than 3 yards from the goal. 2-0 to Liverpool.

You could sense the frustration coming out from the Man Utd camp. Things reached a boiling point when Jamie Carragher tackled Nani harshly with his studs making contact with Nani's shin. The referee Phil Dowd, who had a decent game so far, reached for the yellow card to be shown to Carragher. But Nani (who was seriously injured. Apparently.), clearly not satisfied with this, walked around to face the referee showed him the wound. Dowd didn't appear too impressed with the theatrics. But Nani isn't someone who gives up so easily. When Gerrard placed his hand on his shoulder, he somehow felt extreme pain and fell down again. Now just to be clear, the tackle was really rash. Carragher should have been more careful and in my opinion, it was a straight red card. But when I saw Nani prance around like a tearful ballerina trying to get players sent off, all I could think about was the story of the boy who cried wolf. You deserve what you get, You reap what you sow, are some other phrases that spring to mind.

Play resumed after Nani was stretchered off to well deserved boos. Shortly after that Rafael, a graduate of the Paul Scholes Tackling School, flew in two footed on Lucas which caused another ruckus with Martin Skrtel losing his cool and shoving the defender away. Suarez endeared himself to the Liverpool fans even more with his cheeky tug of Rafael's hair during the fracas. Phil Dowd finally blew the whistle bringing an entertaining 1st half to an end.

The second half started with Manchester United dominating and Liverpool sat deeper inviting the pressure. Compared to the first half, the second was fairly subdued. Liverpool were close to scoring a couple of times, but somehow couldn't find the breakthrough. It finally came in the 65th min. Luis Suarez's freekick was saved by Van Der Sar, but Dirk Kuyt was there to put in the rebound into the net to complete his hat-trick. Liverpool 3-0 Manchester United. Game Over.

Hernandez got a late consolation for the away team with a header from Berbatov's cross denying the hosts a clean sheet. But overall, a good day for Liverpool.

Mr.Ferguson showed the world(again) that he's a sore loser with a self imposed media blackout. The only reaction to come out of the Man. Utd camp was Rio Ferdinand's tweet - "Bad result, no excuses." For someone who's been in the game for so long, behaving so petulantly is disrespectful to the fans of his team.

But everyone else is enjoying the sweet sound of silence.

So here's hoping the blackout continues for a very long time!

 

Liverpool FC - The future. Bright or Dark?

I'm writing this piece because there seems to be a general feeling that the sacking of Roy Hodgson was a sign of impatient owners and a fickle fanbase. So this will hopefully provide a balanced view of the situation.


Kenny Dalglish's reign as Liverpool manager has begun with two defeats in a row. One was a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United in the F.A cup and the other was a 2-1 defeat to Blackpool in the Premier League. So are these worrying signs? In my opinion, no it's not.

To understand the situation the club is in right now, we need to go back to the time when Rafa Benitez was the Liverpool manager and the club had just been taken over by Tom Hicks and George Gillett had taken over the club in 2007. After the 2-1 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League. Rafa said that Liverpool needed to move quickly in the transfer market . His exact quote was "I don't want more money than anyone else, I'm not saying I need £40million to spend on top strikers. But if we have money I need to use it, and the key is to use it quickly. We need to move quicker than Chelsea and Manchester United, and this is a crucial time. It is not always a question of the amount you pay, but how quickly you move. I have targets in mind and if we cannot make a major signing in the next week I will be disappointed. If we miss out now, it might be a struggle to make the top four again next season." Now what was the significance of this statement at that time? I spend most of my time going through various Liverpool FC forums. There are some users there who have contacts at the club (apparently). But whenever they've posted any info, more often than not it's turned out to be true. So, what's the significance of Rafa's quote? It gives us a glimpse of what was going on behind the scenes at that time at the club.

Hicks & Gillett weren't the owners that the fans had hoped they'd be. Their list of promises included beginning the construction of the new stadium would start within 60 days of their purchase of the club and letting the manager buy "Snoogy Doogy" for the team if he wanted to. Who or what this snoogy doogy is a mystery to this day. Hicks & Gillett had bought Liverpool using a leveraged buyout. Though I don't understand the concept completely, what they did was to buy the club by taking a loan using the club itself as collateral. Sounds weird? Welcome to the world of high finance! Anyway Hicks & Gillett put a lot of debt on the club. They informed the manager, Rafa Benitez, that he would have to sell players to finance any new player purchases. This isn't a very smart thing to do if you need to compete at a high level. So over the years Liverpool have lost Bellamy, Crouch, Alonso, Mascherano, Benayoun to name a few without adequate replacements. Some might say Liverpool's chase of Gareth Barry was the cause for Alonso's departure which actually strengthens my point. What Rafa had wanted was to keep Alonso and but Barry. But since the owners wouldn't fund it, he had to make a choice. Alonso's previous two seasons weren't so good so Rafa made the decision to offer him to various clubs. But the move fell through, Alonso had his best season as a Liverpool player and then went to Real Madrid the following season. The money from the Alonso sale went straight into the owners' pockets.( Before someone screams Aquilani, let me clarify that the his purchase wasn't a straight cash deal. )

So Xabi Alonso left the club after the 08/09 season where Liverpool got their highest ever points total in the Premier League, but lost the title to Manchester United. Alberto Aquilani was brought in for the following season, but since he was injured, he only played a part towards the end of the 09/10 season. We all know what happened that season. The team simply collapsed, with Alonso's absence playing a very big part. Liverpool finished 7th and Rafa Benitez left the club by mutual consent (read: sacked). At this point of time, the future was bleak for the club with the burden of debt starting to become heavier. The club was struggling to keep up with just paying off the interest of the loans. It wasn't the best situation for anyone to be in.

The club appointed Roy Hodgson as the new Liverpool manager. He was brought in to steady the ship, so to speak. He was seen as someone who would keep things under control while the club was being sold. But things didn't work out as expected. Roy not only lost games against teams that normally should be beaten easily by Liverpool, he also alienated the support by his bizarre comments. Referring to the fan protests against Hicks & Gillett as something that was unfortunate and an obstacle, saying Northamptom town as formidable opponents, saying a against Everton at Goodison Park would be utopia were just some of the gems Roy came up with.

The new owners were very patient with Hodgson but clearly their patience was running out. So just a couple of days before Liverpool's FA cup tie with Manchester United, Hodgson left the club by mutual consent (again, read: sacked) and Kenny Dalglish was appointed as manager till the end of the season. Was this a knee jerk reaction? It does not seem so. All decisions made by the new owners seem to be made with careful thought behind it. So although the situation might seem bad, I think all Liverpool fans have reasons to be atleast a little optimistic.

Very little has been said about the Liverpool FC's new owners , The Fenway Sports Group. The fact is that they are very serious people with a long term vision. One has to keep in mind that these people have brought the World Series to the Boston Red Sox in 2004 , a team that had not won it since 1918. They achieved just two years after taking over the team. While it would be unrealistic to expect Liverpool to be winning everything in sight after two seasons, I think it would be fair to assume that these people know what it is to be in charge of a team whose fanbase is starved of silverware. It is well known that the owners place a lot of emphasis on youth development, which is always a good thing. The short term results might not be so good, but you can be quite certain that for the long term, Liverpool Football Club are in safe hands.

Uncle Woy is gone!

So finally the Liverpool owners have had enough with the genius that is Roy Hodgson. Liverpool Football Club have announced that Roy Hodgson will leave the club and Kenny Dalglish will take charge till the end of the season.

This is really good news and hopefully will lift the team ahead of the trip to Old Trafford to meet Manchester United for the third round FA cup clash. Kenny Dalglish is the greatest Liverpool player ever as well as one of the best managers we've had. But he's been out of football management for a long time now, so we'll have to see how things work out. But I'm confident it'll be better than anything Hodgson has ever done in his whole career. He's (Kenny, not Roy Hodgson) won three European cups, seven league titles and five domestic cups in his time at Liverpool. He became a player-manager at Liverpool in 1985 and guided the team to a FA cup and League double. He won 3 league titles and two FA cups from 1985 to 1991.

So let's see what happens tomorrow. I wasn't looking forward to the match with Roy in charge, but with King Kenny back, I'm a little more optimistic. Whatever the result tomorrow I'm confident that the team will not be playing hoofball anymore. That's good enough for me for now.